Ancient Coins, Buried Treasure, Archaeology, and All That

"Ancient coins worth $15 million found by amateur treasure hunters after 30 year search"
FoxNews.com (June 27, 2012)

"After a search that spanned three decades, two amateur treasure hunters have uncovered the biggest ever hoard of Iron Age silver and gold coins in the UK -- weighing a full ton and valued at $15 million.

"Reg Mead and Richard Miles found the stash using a high powered metal detector called a deepseeker. What they discovered was a large block of clay containing 30,000 to 50,000 gold and silver coins dating from the 1st Century BC.

"The coins - which could have been buried to prevent Roman troops from getting them during Julius Caesar's invasion of the British Islands - come from Armorica, modern day Brittany and Normandy. They have been buried for more than 2,000 years...."

Coins, Value, and Points of View

What gets the headlines is "ancient coins:" the idea of buried treasure. How much contemporary money this lot of obsolete coinage would bring on various markets is important. But so is what the coins can tell about who buried them and when.

Let's take a hypothetical example. Say someone digging up an old barn in Pennsylvania, one that hadn't been used since about 1800, came across a coin about the size of an American quarter. The coin looks really old, and one side shows a somewhat under-dressed woman with a shield.

Evidence of a pre-Columbian civilization? Relic of Atlantis? Nope. It's an American quarter. It's old, but not that old. Those numbers at the bottom, "1917," indicate the year the coin was minted: which makes it about 95 years old. That's old, but nowhere near as old as the barn.

Depending on where the coin lay in the ruins of the barn, its presence might be evidence of what's happened at the site since the barn was abandoned.

That's the sort of value archeologists see in old coins. Pottery is even better, since it's a lot more common than coins, and nearly indestructible. Sure, fired clay breaks easily: but the shards will last longer than any civilization has so far.

Never Mind the Gold Nugget: Show Me That Broken Pot!

And, since the way folks make pottery changes over time, and different places have different styles of manufacture, a bit of broken tableware found in a long-buried trash pile can tell a great deal about the folks who threw it there.

Here's another hypothetical case. Let's say archeologists were digging through a trash heap left by the folks who built the Watson Brake mounds. That's in what folks recently took to calling Quachita Parish. They found most of a pot like the one in that photo. Those bits of broken pottery would be, in their own way, incredibly valuable.

Also very hard to explain: and that's another topic.

Secret Location: For Good Reason

"...Further excavation is taking place at the secret location by archeologists keen to get to the bottom of the ancient discovery, while it is kept secluded from the threat of looters.

"Ownership and value of the findings could take months to determine and are subject to the island's Treasure Act. It is estimated the coins could be worth £10 million (US$15.6 million).

"The coins are understood to date back to the Late Iron Age, a time when the armies of Rome's Julius Caesar were advancing north-westwards through France, driving the tribal communities towards the coast."

Folks have been known to do odd things to get money. Keeping the location of that archaeological site secret sounds like a good idea. One hyperventilating treasure hunter with a pick and shovel could irretrievably destroy evidence left in the ground in Jersey.

Archeologists know what to look for: and how to pick apart archaic detritus. That's another reason that the Lemming doesn't miss 'the good old days.' A famous, or infamous, enthusiast may have shoveled his way through the real walls of Troy, trying to find the fabled city. Whether or not he did may never be known. About Troy: what you see in the movies is Hollywood spectacle. Troy itself is quite real: all nine cities.

And that's yet another topic.

Not-totally-unrelated posts:

• "Ancient Dodecahedrons, and Crocodile Clocks"
  (June 15, 2011)
• "Stone Spheres of Costa Rica"
  (January 10, 2011)
• "Stonehenge II: Woodhenge Found Near Stonehenge"
  (July 23, 2010)
• "People in Britain 800,000 Years Ago: Pollen, Mammoth Bones, and Tools"
  (July 8, 2010)
• "Saxon Gold Hoard! Worth Lots of Money! Also, a Wonderful Look into 7th Century England"
  (September 24, 2009)

Phone Hacks, Privacy, Pie-Throwing, and a Ranting Lemming

The Lemming's posted about a pillar of British journalism, upholder of the peoples' right to know, and inspiration to spunky girl reporters, before:

• "Milly Dowler, News of the World, and Old-School Journalism in the Information Age"
  (July 7, 2011)

Apparently, the Information Age equivalent of dumpster diving isn't considered quite cricket in the U.K. - and may be called skipping on the other side of the Atlantic.

Examination of this serious matter - in the land that brought Parliament, police without guns, and Monty Python's Flying Circus, to the world - has gotten to the pie-throwing stage.

Literally.

"Murdoch attacker is a 'renowned left-wing activist who had targeted Barclays and Vodafone' "
MailOnline (July 19, 2011)

Pie Throwing: Are Shape-Shifting Space Aliens Involved?

"The pie-thrower who attacked Rupert Murdoch is a renowned activist who is one of the founding members of a left-wing protest group.

"Comedian Jonnie Marbles - real name Jonathan May-Bowles - has been involved in protests in the past, it has been claimed.

"Moments before he carried out the attack he wrote on Twitter: 'It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat'...."

Oh-kay.

Pie-throwing seems to be more a matter of British culture than British governance - and is a reminder that communities with a population over one probably won't be particularly homogeneous. Which doesn't mean what you may think.

Transparency time - or, the Lemming, unmasked!

If you follow this blog - honestly, don't you have anything better to do with your time?

Where was the Lemming? Transparency. Revelations.

If you follow this blog, you're probably aware that the Lemming is - human. A middle-aged fellow, named Brian Gill, living in a small town in central Minnesota. Which is, at the moment, hot enough to melt butter. Inside. With the air conditioner going. Six months from now - and that's another topic.

The Lemming is "apathetic," in the sense of not going ballistic over whatever intellectual fad is in fashion at the moment - the Lemming's seen too many 'and we're all gonna die' predictions come and go to work up any real enthusiasm.

Although it seems that cancer may cause cell phones - and it may be a conspiracy:

• " 'Cancer Causes Cell Phones!' - or, not"
  (July 18, 2011)

And 'everyone' knows who's really behind the CIA, Wall Street, and the British Royal family: the shape-shifting, space-alien, lizard men! In fact, the Lemming's read that British royalty are those very space aliens who run the world! It's a 'conspiracy,' of course. Or something.

Not that the Lemming believes it.

It's more likely that space aliens would be fairly easy to spot. And might work openly. As reporters.

Standards, News Corp, and Transcript Highlights

"Transcript Highlights: Brooks Gives Evidence "
(July 19, 2011)

"Former News Of The World editor Rebekah Brooks follows Rupert and James Murdoch in being questioned by MPs over the phone-hacking scandal. Here are transcript highlights from the hearing.

"News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James, the News International chairman earlier faced the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

"It is made up of chairman John Whittingdale (JV), Therese Coffey (TC), Damian Collins (DC), Philip Davies (PD), Paul Farrelly (PF), Alan Keen (AK), Louise Mensch (LM), Adrian Sanders (AS), Jim Sheridan (JS) and Tom Watson (TW).

"Rupert Murdoch is referred to as RM and his son James JM. Rebekah Brooks is referred to as RB.

"JM: It is a matter of great regret, my father's, and everybody at News Corp and these are standards that these actions do not live up to, the standards that our company tries to live up to all around the world.

"JM: It is our intention to put these things right, to make sure they don't happen again.

"RM: This is most humble day of my life.

"JM: The company relied on both the police having closed the investigation and the repeated assertions that there was no new evidence for them to reopen their investigation...."

Seriously, (allegedly) hacking into phones and (allegedly) publishing very personal, very private, information from families who had already been stressed - isn't, in the Lemming's opinion, nice. Or, more to the point, necessary.

Even if it was in the cause of selling more newspapers. Or 'the public's right to know,' or whatever.

This collision of old-school journalism, Information-Age technology, and folks who don't admire Investigative Reporters (who save the world from corruption and five o'clock shadow) quite as much as we're told we did, back in the 'Good Old Days.'

Remember - these are the opinions of a ranting Lemming, who remembers the 'Good Old Days.,' And never wants to go back.

"Humble" - Now that the Scandal's Known - And It's Not Their Fault?

"Murdochs deny blame"
Karen Kissane, The Sydney Morning Herald (July 20, 2011) (It's 'tomorrow' there now)

"THE most powerful media mogul in the world described it as 'the most humble day' of his life. But Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, have told Britain's parliament that they had not been aware of any wrongdoing at News International.

"And when asked if he bore ultimate responsibility for the phone hacking scandal, the 80-year-old Mr Murdoch answered flatly 'no.'

"Instead he said responsibility laid with those he trusted to run the business and 'the people they trusted'...."

The Lemming's a little sympathetic with Murdoch and Murdoch. Outfits as big as News International are - big. It's possible for folks between the top and bottom of the organization chart to get - ah, creative - with journalistic integrity, strict observance of the law, and common decency.

After all, they're journalists - higher beings, beyond good and evil. Sort of like doctors. Some of them. No, wait. That's Nietzsche. And yet another topic.

Back to Murdoch and Murdoch. The Lemming thinks they may really have had no idea of what was going on in their business. Things have changed quite a bit in the last eight decades, particularly in any field that deals with information.

The Lemming's age is about midway between the Murdochs - younger and elder. Thanks in part to a remarkably checkered job history, the Lemming noticed the death of Disco, end of the Cold War, and advent of 'social media.'

Someone running a 'media empire' probably heard of those things - but may not have quite understood just how much had changed. And that's another topic, for another blog:

• "Why Your Boss Doesn't Understand the Information Age"
  Starting a Small Business Without Losing My Mind (August 9, 2010)

Back in Apathetic Lemming of the North - somewhat-related posts:

• "Citibank Card Data Hacked!! (but keep reading)"
  (June 9, 2011)
• "Lemming Tracks: Anonymity, Blogs, and Making a Point"
  (February 10, 2011)
• "The Trusted Identities in Cyberspace National ID Card Won't be a National ID Card"
  (January 8, 2011)
• "FCC, the Internet, Regulations, Freedom of Speech, and a Ranting Lemming"
  (December 23, 2010)
• "Facebook, Privacy, Small Town America and a Village of 6,830,000,000 people"
  (May 31, 2010)

Milly Dowler, News of the World, and Old-School Journalism in the Information Age

Ah, the 'Good Old Days,' when:

• Spunky girl reporters caught thieves and smugglers
• Superman / mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent fought "a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!"
• Fearless investigative reporters saved the world from
  • Corruption
  • Killer Robots

Those stories had entertainment value. And there was a sort of truth behind them. Not that a Kryptonian flew over a city called Metropolis, or that spunky girl reporters had experiences quite like Jane Arden's.

Then, there's the real world of old-school journalism. The Lemming suspects that they don't quite understand the information age:

Hacking, Scandal, and News of the World

"News of the World to close amid hacking scandal"
BBC News UK (July 7, 2011)

"This Sunday's issue of the News of the World will be the last edition of the paper, News International chairman James Murdoch has said.

"In the past few days, claims have been made that the paper authorised hacking into the mobile phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and the families of 7/7 bombing victims.

"Mr Murdoch said proceeds from the last edition would go to good causes.

"Downing Street said it had no role or involvement in the decision.

"The News of the World is the UK's biggest selling newspaper and has been in circulation for 168 years...."

Generally, the Lemming's sorry to see a business that managed to last from the 19th to the 21st centuries go away. In this case, News of the World may be more of a phoenix, than a dying swan:

News of the World: Phoenix Act Coming?

"...Labour MP Tom Watson told Sky News it was 'a victory for decent people up and down the land, and I say good riddance to the News of the World'.

"But Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said: 'All they're going to do is rebrand it' and former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, who alleged his phone was hacked, thought the decision was simply a gimmick."

Not to seem too cynical: but the Lemming thinks Clarke and Prescott may be right. News of the World seems to be a huge cash cow - far too valuable to throw away.

Besides, the Masses are pretty much stupid and have rotten memories - right?

There may have been a time when 'the Masses' really were borderline-illiterate, easily-duped pawns for whoever was feeding them alleged facts and 'expert' opinions.

Today? Not so much.

If a 'new' newspaper pops up in the United Kingdom - one that 'just happens' to have the same staff as News of the World? The Lemming thinks folks in the United Kingdom will notice. Giving at least some of the journalists new names might help. Referring to the new names as pseudonyms would give the false identities a literary flavor - think Mark Twain.

'All the Bad Guys Are Gone - Pretty Much - Trust Us'?!

News of the World's political editor, about his "fantastic" paper:" 'They cleared out all the bad people. They bought in a great new editor, Colin Myler, and his deputy, Victoria Newton, who had not been sullied by any of the things that had gone on in the past.

" 'And there's nobody there, there's hardly anybody there who was there in the old regime....'..."
(BBC News,¹ emphasis by the Lemming)

The Lemming has wondered if some of these communications professionals ever listen to what they say. "...nobody there,... hardly anybody there?!"

Spunky Girl Reporters, Investigative Reporters, and Change

There really was a time when "spunky girl reporters" were showing a post-Victorian America that women could be smart, active, capable - and not be 'bad girls,' or 'loose women,' or whatever.

That was before WWII, Rosie the Riveter, and certainly before the '60s.

There was a time when "investigative reporters" saved the world from corruption and five o'clock shadow. Newspapers said so - and they wouldn't print something if it wasn't true, right?

Much as the Lemming likes tradition and nostalgia: 'Watergate' happened in the '70s. 1970s, to be sure - but it's still more than three decades back.

There have been a few changes since 1974:

• Camcorders
• Personal computers
  • Lots of personal computers
• THEORYNET
• Lots of acronyms
  • TCP/IP
  • HTTP
  • WWW
• Smartphones
• Arab Spring²

These days, 'the Masses' aren't the stereotype drawling louts or village idiots of 'the Good Old Days.' If a newspaper publishes information that probably came from someone's private data? Some of us will figure that out, maybe even prove it: and word will spread. Fast.

Superman isn't Real - Sort of

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman isn't real. There isn't a Kryptonian refugee living on Earth. For that matter, there isn't a planet Krypton. Not the one in the comics, television shows, and movies.

But parts of the Superman stories were 'real:' the parts that reflected some aspect of human nature or experience. Otherwise, it's very, very, unlikely that anyone would have bothered with Kal-El - much less made Superman into a cultural icon.

A Purple-Skinned, Orange-Eyed Space Alien: and Today's News

Please bear with the Lemming - this does connect with News of the World and journalism.



No, the Lemming doesn't think that News of the World is really run by shape-shifting, space-alien lizard people.³

Phil Foglio's film noir/science fiction Buck Godot comic book detective stories aren't serous fiction. Well, they are, in a way - but not very. Quite a few pages seem to be written for laughs. And all of them for entertainment.

The gags, though? The Lemming doubts that they'd be very funny if they didn't reflect some facts. Or things that readers thought were facts, anyway. Like this 'history' excerpted from one of the Buck Godot comics:

Journalists as Predators?

A sort of unnecessary (the Lemming hopes) disclaimer: this ain't 'real.' The quote is from a comic book.

"In the Prime Mover's comprehensive overview of sentient and semi-sentient life within the sphere of the Gallimaufry: Why We're Better Than All Of You Put Together, there are various appendices which deal with predators that feed upon sentients. Journalists are placed within this category....

"...these concepts were eventually accepted, and the number of journalists a healthy civilization could support was worked out by the mysterious (and, incidentally, scandal-ridden) Mathemagicians of FftFwand, with a very complex and practically incomprehensible formula....

"...Nobody really understood it, but as it called for the euthanasia of vast herds of journalists, nobody really tried too hard.

"When the last editorial writers had been shipped off to the re-cycling vats, it was noticed that things seemed a lot quieter, a lot less tense, and things weren't nearly so bad as people had thought they were. Stress levels went down, and the new system was dubbed a success...."
("THE HERODOTUS COMPLEX: NOTES BY P'OILGOF LIVY / Chapter 6; The Fourth Estate," BUCK GODOT zap gun for hire (October 21, 2008) [emphasis by the Lemming]

The Lemming does not advocate hunting down journalists.

On the other hand, the Lemming thinks folks who make a living in traditional newspapers should think about why the lizard-like reporter is (somewhat) believable - and why at least some folks think the idea of recycling editorial writers is - funny.

Substitute "editorial writers" with some low-status, but necessary, job title - like "janitor" - and the joke isn't so funny. In the Lemming's opinion - your experience may vary.

The Lemming thinks folks in any profession should be a little concerned, when readers of a modestly-successful series of stories think that wiping out all but a handful of their number is funny.

Facts, Assumptions, and Perceptions

Remember the list at the top of this post? The one that included spunky girl reporters and fearless investigative reporters? Those were stock, stereotyped, characters at various times.

Which readers and viewers accepted, the Lemming thinks, because folks either believed that the stereotypes were 'real,' or were willing to do so for the sake of an entertaining story.

That's fiction, and light entertainment. There's probably little harm in much of it.

When folks start taking the stereotypes - and the assumptions behind them - seriously? That, the Lemming thinks, can be a problem.

Particularly when folks believe that

• They're Superman
  • Earth's only hope against Lex Luthor
• Being reporters means they can do anything, because
  • 'The public has a right to know'
  • Or whatever slogan is in vogue

Whether or not that's what happened in News of the World - the Lemming doesn't know.

Wake Up: It's the 21^st Century

Some folks seem to be in positions where they can get all the 'facts' they need by reading their own books, press releases, and articles. Worse, their colleagues, friends, and acquaintances, get their facts the same way.

Over-simplified? A little, maybe.

But the Lemming's glad that he didn't have a 'successful' career - and so had to keep up with changes in technology and the social order:

• "Why Your Boss Doesn't Understand the Information Age"
  Starting a Small Business Without Losing Your Mind (August 9, 2010)

It's seems fairly easy for folks living in relatively small communities, with little taste for contact with 'outsiders,' to start believing that their preferences are principles, their biases are facts, and that anybody who doesn't agree is - - - an outsider:

• "About a New York City Fire: but Mostly About the News and Assumptions"
  (April 12, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Dunseith, San Francisco, and People
  • People are People
  • Ignorant, Isolated, Villagers? That's So 14th Century
• "The New York Times, Insularity, and Assumptions"
  (October 21, 2008)
  Particularly
  • The New York Times: A Fine Old Family Business
  • The New York Times and the News: You Can't Please Everybody
  • Make a Few Little Mistakes... Embarrassments at The New York Times
  • 'All the News We Feel Like Printing'
  • From the Pier-Bound Shores of Chelsea to the Austere Grandeur...

What does this have to do with News of the World, and other journalists who learned their trade when newsprint was king?

Maybe nothing - and that the 168-year-old newspaper's embarrassment is a one-of-a-kind fluke.

Or maybe too many old-school journalists don't quite believe that 'the Masses' really can collect and share information - fast. And, worse, draw their own conclusions, instead of waiting to see what reporters and the editor tell them they're supposed to think.

Imagine a World With No Reporters? Be Careful What You Wish For

The Lemming thinks that too many reporters and editors haven't quite come to terms with the idea that Watergate is history, and that broadcast network news is no longer cutting-edge journalism. And that a combination of deadline pressure and time zones put editorial decisions for most of America in the hands of a small number of east coast newspapers. The Lemming's posted about that before:⁴

• "The New York Times and the Information Age: Culture Shock?"
  (June 10, 2010)

The Lemming is also very, very concerned about folks who want to 'save the children,' 'safeguard democracy,' enforce niceness, or attain some other goal - by controlling what the rest of us are allowed to know.

McCarthyism wasn't a good idea - political correctness wasn't an improvement - and the Lemming sincerely doesn't want to go back to the 'Good Old Days,' when 'I only know what I read in the papers' might be true for many folks.

So, much as recycling editorial writers, or imposing pre-publication controls on 'those people over there,' might appeal to a desire for a calmer, more tranquil, and more orderly society - - - the Lemming thinks that freedom of expression is important. Very important.

Related posts:

• "Japan Nuclear Power Plants: Behind the Breathless Headlines"
  (March 12, 2011)
• "Lemming Tracks: Internet Freedom; or 'Be Careful What You Wish For' "
  (April 19, 2011)
• " 'Search Neutrality:' Deciding What We're Allowed to Find?"
  (January 22, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Power to the People: REAL Power
• "Lemming Tracks: Erin Andrews, Policing the Internet, and Power to the People"
  (July 29, 2010)
• "Georgia Bigfoot Hoax: Rube Duped by Sophisticated Humor?"
  (August 21, 2008)

Background:

• "Lemming Tracks: Egypt Government Shuts Down Internet: It Can't Happen Here?"
  (January 29, 2011)
• "What is an Information Gatekeeper?"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (August 14, 2009)
• "Writers, Editors, Publishers, and the Marketplace of Ideas"
  (August 17, 2007)
• "Why Blogs Will Thrive"
  (August 10, 2007)

---

¹ More from that BBC News article, about the 'nobody's here - hardly anybody' thing:

"...News International has refused to comment on rumours that The Sun could now become a seven-day-a-week operation.

" 'What happens to The Sun is a matter for the future', a spokeswoman for News International said. The Sun, another News International tabloid, is currently published from Monday to Saturday.

"The spokeswoman also refused to say whether the 200 or so employees at the paper would be made redundant, saying: 'They will be invited to apply for other jobs in the company.'

"The News of the World's political editor, David Wooding, who joined 18 months ago, said it was a fantastic paper.

" 'They cleared out all the bad people. They bought in a great new editor, Colin Myler, and his deputy, Victoria Newton, who had not been sullied by any of the things that had gone on in the past.

" 'And there's nobody there, there's hardly anybody there who was there in the old regime.

" 'The people are very clean, great, talented professional journalists and we pull out a great paper every week. And we're all paying the price for what happened six years ago by a previous regime.'..."

² Actually, 'Arab Spring' is still happening - and that may not be the name it winds up with. Instances of traditional establishments failing to deal with Information Age social structures aren't limited to the Middle East, for starters. The Lemming's discussed part of that readjustment in another blog:

• "Libya, Syria, Bahrain: Journalists Uncooperative; 'the Masses' Worse"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (March 29, 2011)
• "Zimbabwe, Where Watching the Wrong Videos is Treason"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 25, 2011)
• "Information Technology, People, and a Changing World"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 23, 2011)
• "Bahrain, Foreign Troops, and - Maybe - the Last Stand of Kings"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (March 18, 2011)

³ See:

• "How to Not Sound Crazy - or - THE PARANOIDS ARE AFTER ME!!!"
  (June 12, 2011)

Those space-alien, shape-shifting lizard people are among the Lemming's favorite conspiracy theories. And quite real. Not space aliens ruling the world - there being an unusually colorful conspiracy involving lizard people:

• "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 14, 2009)
  Particuarly
  • Someone to Blame

⁴ The Lemming doesn't have anything against The New York Times. It's an old, established paper, and serves a useful function. But not, in the Lemming's considered opinion, a reflection of national character. The Lemming harangued about that in another blog:

"From the Pier-Bound Shores of Chelsea to the Austere Grandeur...

"The New York Times, serving all the land: from the pier-bound shores of Chelsea to the austere grandeur of the United Nations Plaza; from the verdant wilds of Van Cortlandt Park to the cloud-capped towers of Broadway.

"The Big Apple's a diverse and wonderful city, and is America's biggest city. But it isn't America.

"I see The New York Times as a hometown paper with a long history and a dedication of bringing news of the world to its readers: people who live in the boroughs of New York City. I don't expect The New York Times to reflect my interests or views, any more than I read The Straits Times of Singapore to find out what's going on here in Minnesota, or to get a view of the world that takes American Midwestern interests into account...."
(Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 21, 2008)

St. Patrick's Day, Michael Gough, and Love

"Batman's 'butler' Michael Gough dies at age 94"
The Associated Press, via News10.net (March 17, 2011)

"...He died of old age at home in England on Thursday, surrounded by family, his ex-wife Anneke Wills said through her agent.

"Wills said in an obituary posted on the Doctor Who website: 'As his body was deteriorating this week, he said that he wanted to hang on for St. Patrick's Day. And he did, just. In the end ... there is only love.'..."

His IMDB biography says that Michael Gough had roles from the voice of the Dodo Bird in Alice in Wonderland (2010) to Spintho in Androcles and the Lion (1946) And, like the AP article said, Alfred in Batman movies (1997, 1995, 1992, 1989) and Dr. Who (1966-1983).

More:

• "Michael Gough (I) (1917–2011)"
  IMDB

A Cause for Our Time: Campaign for Real Gravy

Campaign for Real Gravy
realgravy.co.uk

"Join Brian and Elaine Rey, and Gordon Ramsay in their national campaign for people to dump the granules and get back to making their own real gravy.

"Together Brian and celebrated chef Gordon Ramsay have been marching around Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria in a quest to persuade members of the public to go back to making real meaty gravy...."

It is with a sense of guarded optimism that the Lemming contemplates this effort to restore meat, vegetables, and taste to British dining. In a world which seems to have lost its way in a maze of frozen dinners and instant pudding, these brave souls stand as champions for good, old-fashioned gravy. British style.

Seriously? The Lemming thinks they've got a good idea. And, although the Campaign for Real Gravy folks would love to have you purchase their products: homemade gravy is something that really can be made at home. Not from a kit.

Or what appears to be some sort of feed bag.

No, wait: on closer examination, that's an apron.

In the words of Gilda Radner, "never mind."

It's the Lemming's opinion that "real" gravy, made in parallel with meat and vegetable dishes, tastes better than what comes out of a box: even after the latter's mixed with water and heated in the microwave.

It's probably even better for you, although the Lemming's not all that inclined to join the natural food faddists. There's been too much save-a-tree-shoot-a-beaver thinking - make that association - about the innate superiority of "natural ingredients." "Natural" is fine: but let's remember that arsenic and hemlock are "natural ingredients." And that's a rant. Or, rather, a wrap on that topic.

On a not-entirely-unrelated topic:

• "post hoc ergo propter hoc"
  • "The logical fallacy of believing that temporal succession implies a causal relation"
    (Princeton's WordNet)

Now, in a spirit of transparency and disclosure, the Lemming states categorically that Campaign for Real Gravy was found as a direct result of watching Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America. Which doesn't have all that much to do with gravy or home cooking - not directly, anyway.

The Campaign for Real Gravy started, according to the website's About page, at an establishment with the improbably British name "The Fenwick Arms, situated in Claughton near Lancaster."

Which reminds the Lemming of the Grand Duchy of Fenwick and Dry Gulch. It's the Lemming's opinion that the names of places in the American west, like Deadwood, South Dakota, or Tombstone, Arizona, 'sound funny' in part because they mean something in contemporary English. We're used to names whose sounds didn't change all that much as languages evolved: like Londinium, although that frontier town's name did change a bit.

Oddly enough, there really is a Dry Gulch. In Antarctica. That's one of the the relatively few places on Earth where winters are rougher than Minnesota's. And there's a Dry Gulch (townofdrygulch.com), a tourist trap in Findley Lake, NY - with one of the more memorable - and annoying - collections of distracting Web effects the Lemming has seen in recent years.

Maybe the "Dry Gulch" website was designed by a relative of one of their competitors. The one in New York State, not the Antarctic one. The Dry Gulch, Antarctica, page was put together by someone who realized that somebody else might want to actually read the thing. Not be impressed by a bouncing image and "call us" text flowing from the cursor.

And that's yet another topic.

Related (?) posts:

• "Chef's Table: Not a Workbench; Not in McDonald's"
  (March 3, 2011)
• "Lychee Nuts, Litchi Nuts: Either Way, They're Edible"
  (February 18, 2011)
• "Parsnips are Not Carrots"
  (January 9, 2011)
• "Crumbs!"
  (October 23, 2010)
• "The History of Sausage - By a British Barbecue Company"
  (September 28, 2010)

Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming

"Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds"
CNN (January 5, 2011)

"A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an 'elaborate fraud' that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday.

"An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes the study's author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was 'no doubt' Wakefield was responsible...."

Strong Words, No-Nonsense Response

Wrangling over the results of a scientific study is par for the course in medicine, or any other science. It's how researchers discover what's real and what isn't. It's also not unusual for the accuracy of data to be questioned: particularly when the results depend on very precise interpretations of very fuzzy facts.

What happened with the Wakefield study seems to be something quite different. It looks like Wakefield shot at the side of a barn, so to speak, painted a target around the hole, and claimed a bull's-eye.

Faking data - cooking medical records until they support some claim - is not how valid results are achieved. It's a serious charge, and if the folks who made it are serious: some sort of action would be expected.

Looks like they're serious. Wakefield isn't "Dr." Wakefield any more: not in Britain.

Back to the article.

Incompetence is One Thing: Fraud is Another

"...'It's one thing to have a bad study, a study full of error, and for the authors then to admit that they made errors,' Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor-in-chief, told CNN. 'But in this case, we have a very different picture of what seems to be a deliberate attempt to create an impression that there was a link by falsifying the data.'

"Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license in May. 'Meanwhile, the damage to public health continues, fueled by unbalanced media reporting and an ineffective response from government, researchers, journals and the medical profession,' BMJ states in an editorial accompanying the work

"Speaking to CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360,' Wakefield said his work has been 'grossly distorted' and that he was the target of 'a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns.'...."

Faking Medical Records: What's the Big Deal?

It's no surprise, in the Lemming's opinion, that Wakefield denies being a world-class liar. If nothing else, a medical license is a ticket to one of Western civilization's more lucrative careers. Then there are books and movie rights to sell: but perhaps the Lemming is being too cynical. Or, not.

Anyway, what harm could possibly come from scaring folks out of getting their kids immunized against childhood diseases like measles and polio?

"...The now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates dropped sharply in Britain after its publication, falling as low as 80% by 2004. Measles cases have gone up sharply in the ensuing years.

"In the United States, more cases of measles were reported in 2008 than in any other year since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, the CDC reported...."

The only way to tell whether or not those kids with measles would have gotten the bug if they'd been vaccinated would have been to separate the American population into two demographically-similar groups; vaccinate one, not vaccinate the other; and see what happened.

That wasn't done. Happily.

There's more in that CNN article, about:

• How some folks who know Wakefield think he's a really nice guy
  • And couldn't have lied to the world
• What's happened to others as a result of the apparently-bogus 'research'

Now, the Lemming is going to rant a little about what's called "medical ethics," and related topics.

Medical Ethics Shouldn't be an Oxymoron

It could happen, though. We got the Nürnberg Code after places like Dachau gave eugenics and related ideas a public relations problem.

That should have put an end to using people as unwitting guinea pigs.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment kept going, though. Until 1972. Given the mores of the time, it wasn't all that serious a breach of the Nürnberg Code. The subjects weren't important people at the time. Not the sort that got admitted to the 'right' sort of country clubs.

There's a reason the Lemming isn't all that nostalgic: and that's another topic. Several.

A German chancellor's efforts to clean up Europe's gene pool, as the Lemming said, was a setback for those who would like to see a fitter, stronger, purer human race. Still, the idea that folks who don't match some standard are fair game for research didn't die.

Starting in 1964, the Willowbrook State Hospital in New York injected hepatitis virus into severely retarded children. the injections were billed as 'a vaccine against hepatitis.' That was true, sort of. The survivors of the experiment had an immunity to hepatitis.

Although it didn't make the news, in 1951 a doctor in the upper Midwest decided to keep quiet about a baby's congenital defect. All in the interests of science, perhaps.

Eventually, a doctor with somewhat less flexible ethics told the infant's parents what the score was. Using that baby as a sort of lab rat is part of why the Lemming takes medical ethics seriously. And that's almost another topic:

• "Is it Wrong to Kill One Person on the Chance that Someone Else Might Benefit?"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 30, 2010)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)

Change Happens: Deal With It

For the last half-century or so, loyal acolytes of Bishop Ussher have been insisting that the world - the universe - is only a few thousand years old. And that human beings have always been just about exactly the way we look now.

Other folks have been convinced, at various times, that:

• An ice age is coming
• The spotted owl is facing extinction
• Global warming is gonna kill us all

Then there are the poor souls with a foot in both camps.

It seems to the Lemming that one thing these occasionally-hostile views have in common is an at-best ambivalent attitude toward change.

That's understandable, in the Lemming's opinion. The 20th century, and the 19th, were very exciting times. Two centuries ago, we had a world of horse-drawn plows and candles. In rapid succession, we got Bessemer converters, typewriters, telephones, light bulbs, television, robot spaceships and Twitter. And that's just the technology.

We also found out that the universe makes a whole lot more sense if we assume that it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 14,000,000,000 years old and really, really, big.

The Lemming doesn't mind taking the world as it is and marveling at it, and learning new skills every few years to stay employable: but not everybody's like that.

Actually, the Lemming enjoys living in a world where the present isn't like the past, and it's nearly certain that more change is coming. Fast.

Living in an evolving world means that you won't find a recipe calling for fresh trilobite: but in the Lemming's opinion it's an exciting ride.

Posts more-or-less about change:

• "Four Dimensions, 11 Dimensions, Cosmology and People"
  (March 23, 2010)
• "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 6, 2010)
  Particularly
  • NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DOLTS
• " 'I Can't Understand It' "
  (May 20, 2010)
• "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 20, 2009)

Still more links:

• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture"

Remember When Everything Caused Cancer?

Born during the Truman administration, the Lemming remembers when everything caused cancer. Or heart disease. Sometimes both.

That fad seems to be over, but it's been replaced with new-and-improved reasons to live scared. Times change - but in some ways, they don't. Yet another topic.

Trust: Carefully

The Lemming remembers when doctors were almost worshiped. The notion that 'doctor knows best' may still be around. But the Lemming hopes it's being tempered with caution and a bit of common sense.

Like deciding whether or not to get inoculated against some disease. There are risks, either way. The trick is to learn what they are and make a reasoned decision:

• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)

'The Government Oughta Do Something'

It's been a long, long time since the Lemming thought it was a good idea to rely on 'the government' to solve problems or 'make things right.' And that's yet again another topic again. Not necessarily for this blog:

• "Dred Scott, the Slavery Compromise, and Who to Trust" A Catholic Citizen in America (February 2, 2009)

"Trust Your Feelings, Luke?!"

The Lemming likes the six Star Wars movies: including the one with that famous "trust your feelings" quote. George Lucas is, in the Lemming's opinion, a top-notch movie maker.

The Lemming has nothing against emotions, but they don't play well with reason.

It's the Lemming's opinion that various goofy ideas that have gotten traction owe their success to folks thinking with their endocrine system.

Still, it'd be a slightly less colorful world if a few folks didn't become convinced that space aliens were against nuclear weapons, or that shape-shifting lizard people were the 'real' rulers of the world:

• "Nuclear Weapons, Space Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, and Getting a Grip"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Haiti's Earthquake Caused by - You Guessed it - Yankee Imperialists"
  (January 21, 2010)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1, and Having Someone to Blame"
  (May 2, 2009)
• "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 14, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)

Vaccination May Make Sense: Or, Not

The Lemming isn't going to assert that vaccinations are always a good idea. Or that they always aren't.

As with so many other things, 'it depends.'

The trick, as the Lemming sees it, is to do your own research. And remember that an article using terms like "scientific study" and "computer models" don't mean that some notion is true - or that it isn't.

Related posts:

• "Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Now! Or, Not"
  (January 3, 2011)
• "Vaccination, Edward Jenner, History, and the Human Condition"
  (December 15, 2009)
• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)
• "Not-So-Silly Science: Women Who Look Like Women are Healthier"
  (January 7, 2009)
• "Silly Science: Hourglass Figure Not Good for Women"
  (December 17, 2008)

More, on another sort of silly science, in this blog:

• "Lemming Tracks: Climate Change is the New Global Warming?"
  (December 6, 2010)
• "Lemming Tracks: Ice Age, Global Warming, Climate Change, and Living Scared"
  (November 19, 2010)
• "Earthquakes, Nuclear Winter, the End of the World, and All That"
  (February 28, 2010)
• "Global Warming: on Pluto. And Mars"
  (December 14, 2009)
• "The Unchanging Sun and Earth's Climate"
  (August 28, 2009)

Still more, elsewhere:

• "The Decade of 'Junk Science' "
  Doug Bandow, Cato Institute (May 10, 1999)
• "Fair Hearing for Breast Implants?"
  Steven Milloy, Junk Science, Opinion, FoxNews.com (February 25, 2005)
• " 'FDA ends ban on silicone breast implants' "
  Walter Olson, Overlawyered (November 20, 2006)
• "What Causes Cancer? 7 Strange Cancer Claims Explained"
  Megan Johnson, Health, US News and World Report (October 19, 2010)

---

The non-Lemming resources listed above don't necessarily march in lockstep with America's dominant culture. No surprises there: 'the establishment' has changed in the last half-century. The lot that's running the country now hasn't - in the Lemming's opinion - been all that eager for Americans to start asking questions about the "science" we're fed. And that is yet again another topic.

10/10/10 10:10 - Hedgehogs!

On this 10th minute of the 10th hour of the 10th day of the 10th month of 2010, let us remember: hedgehogs!

---

Hedgehogs: Africa!

"Hedgehog"
African Wildlife Foundation

"Physical Characteristics

" 'Small enough to fit in your hands but too prickly to hold' is a good description of the hedgehog. Though small, it is by no means defenseless. Thousands of stiff, sharp spines-harder and sharper than those of a porcupine-cover the animal's back and sides, like a pincushion filled with needles.

"Even though spines, or quills, provide the hedgehog with effective protection, the animal's most striking characteristic is its practice of curling up into a tight ball, with its spines sticking out in all directions. When the hedgehog rolls up, a special, highly developed circular muscle that runs along the sides of the body and across the rump and neck contracts and forms a "bag" into which the body, head and legs are folded. The hedgehog curls up if disturbed or frightened-only the strongest predators, such as the badger, can pry it open. It also sleeps in this position, so is rarely caught unprotected.

"Habitat

"Hedgehogs inhabit a wide range across a variety of climates and terrains in East Africa. Although not found in the Americas, other species of hedgehogs live in different parts of Africa, Europe and Asia, as well as in New Zealand, where they have been introduced. Their distribution on the different continents is, however, very local. They must have dry shelters on well-drained soil and a good supply of ground-dwelling insects and other invertebrates. Suburban Nairobi meets these habitat conditions, where hedgehogs are reported to be abundant...."

And here the Lemming had thought of the hedgehog as a British critter.

---

Hedgehogs: England!

Turns out, there are hedgehogs in England, and they've got friends there: the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

The British hedgehogs get in the news now and again:

"Bald hedgehog is found abandoned"
BBC (November 5, 2009)

"A bald hedgehog abandoned by his mother in a garden in Norfolk is being treated at a wildlife rescue centre in a bid to encourage his spikes to grow.

"Baldrick, named after the character from the television programme Blackadder, was brought to Foxy Lodge wildlife rescue centre, Great Yarmouth.

"He is now being cared for by Tonia and John Garner in the hope he can be eventually released into the wild.

"Treatment includes antiseptic scrubs and baby oil massages...."

Don't laugh: Baldrick the little bald hedgehog needs was abandoned, after all.

---

Hedgehogs: The World!

Let us not forget that we live in a global village, that no man is an island, and all that. Which may explain the International Hedgehog Association.

Never heard of the IHA? Here's how they explain themselves:

"The IHA is a registered charitable non-profit organization established with the purpose of educating the public in the care and betterment of hedgehogs and to facilitate the rescue, welfare, promotion and care of hedgehogs everywhere...."

Yes, indeed: pursuing the betterment and promotion of hedgehogs everywhere.

---

Hedgehogs: Academia!

"The phylogenetic relationships of insectivores with special reference to the lesser hedgehog tenrec as inferred from the complete sequence of their mitochondrial genome."
PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health (February 2003)

And that was just the title. Here's the article's abstract:

"The complete mitochondrial genome of a lesser hedgehog tenrec Echinops telfairi was determined in this study. It is an endemic African insectivore that is found specifically in Madagascar. The tenrec's back is covered with hedgehog-like spines. Unlike other spiny mammals, such as spiny mice, spiny rats, spiny dormice and porcupines, lesser hedgehog tenrecs look amazingly like true hedgehogs (Erinaceidae). However, they are distinguished morphologically from hedgehogs by the absence of a jugal bone. We determined the complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome of a lesser hedgehog tenrec and analyzed the results phylogenetically to determine the relationships between the tenrec and other insectivores (moles, shrews and hedgehogs), as well as the relationships between the tenrec and endemic African mammals, classified as Afrotheria, that have recently been shown by molecular analysis to be close relatives of the tenrec. Our data confirmed the afrotherian status of the tenrec, and no direct relation was recovered between the tenrec and the hedgehog. Comparing our data with those of others, we found that within-species variations in the mitochondrial DNA of lesser hedgehog tenrecs appear to be the largest recognized to date among mammals, apart from orangutans, which might be interesting from the view point of evolutionary history of tenrecs on Madagascar."

Finally, on a lighter note: links to earlier posts on hedgehogs and similarly cute critters.

Related posts:

• "Your Daily Adult Requirement of Cute: A Little Hedgehog"
  (May 29, 2010)
• "Peter Rabbit, Two Bad Mice, and Beatrix Potter"
  (May 12, 2010)
• "Brillo the Hedgehog and the Crunchy Treat"
  (May 11, 2010)
• "Wimbley the Hedgehog"
  (April 27, 2010)

Churchill: Oh, the Cigar! Oh, the Horror!

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP

---

"Spot the difference: How today's airbrushing PC censors decided Churchill could do without his cigar"
MailOnline (UK) (June 15, 2010)

"The face is instantly familiar, the two-fingered salute unmistakable.

But are these actually the same photograph of Sir Winston Churchill?

In the original photograph the war leader has his cigar gripped firmly in the corner of his mouth.

But in the other image - currently greeting visitors to a London museum - his favourite smoke has been digitally extinguished.

Which is a little embarrassing for the staff at the charitable trust, because the photograph features on a giant poster hanging above the museum's main door.

So just who did pinch the great man's Havana?..."

There's a short list of folks who didn't play an obvious role in re-imagining Winston Churchill. So far, though, who should be given the - credit? - isn't at all clear:

"...But intriguingly the museum, which gives all profits to charity, declined to name who put together the display and, crucially, who enlarged the image for the poster...."

You'll have to read the rest of the article to get the MailOnline's take on this weirdness.


(from MailOnline, used w/o permission)
The doctored photo is the center top one: MailOnline's copy is larger than this thumbnail.

Winston Churchill? Never Heard of Him

Actually, I have. But given the emphasis on history that's been the norm for the last couple generations, a little background may be called for.

Winston Churchill wound up being Sir Winston Churchill before he died in 1965. He was England's Prime Minister during World War II. (those who haven't heard of that, either, will find a little about it in Churchill's bio)

When he took office, there was fairly good reason to think that German forces, carrying the German Chancellor's vision of a new and improved Europe with them, would shortly cross the English Channel and start remolding Great Britain into something acceptable to the National Socialist German Workers Party.

The British weren't, for the most part, all that keen on the prospect.

One of Churchill's best-known remarks, at least when they were generally known in the English-speaking world, was "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." That doesn't sound like the most uplifting thing to hear: but for a British public who had gotten used to hearing their leaders say the sort of thing that politicians do, it must have been a refreshing change of pace.

Germany didn't succeed in turning Europe into a fit place for 'Aryans,' by the way. But that's another story.

Naughty Winston / Nice Winston

That tidied-up photo of Winston Churchill reminds me of the way 'naughty' books were Bowdlerized in Victorian times; how General Custer wasn't portrayed as an ambitious doofus a half-century ago; and how important it was to keep up with the latest politically correct terminology the last time I did time in American academia.¹

Let's take a look at Nice Winston and Naughty Winston.

Naughty Winston

I suppose I should have warned you. We're not used to seeing people smoking cigars, these days.

When Churchill was Prime Minister, we didn't know as much about the effects of chronic smoking on health. Well, on most people's health Winston Churchill lived into his nineties.

That isn't a peace sign he's making, by the way. Until the sixties, that two-fingered gesture meant 'V for victory.'

About smoking and health? There's a large body of evidence that smoking isn't a good idea. There are also some debatable claims, but for the most part folks who smoke stogies regularly don't live as long as Sir Winston.

Nice Winston

Credit where credit is due: whoever altered this photo did a pretty good job of making that cigar disappear.

I don't think it's a good idea to fake pictorial records like this - but from a technical point of view, that forgery was a good job.

What's the big deal? Let's take some of hypothetical examples from American history

George Washington

George Washington: first American president, among other things. And a dude who sported long hair.

Considering how hysterical 'real Americans' were about long hair on men, back in the sixties, it's a little surprising that George W. didn't get a makeover. I suppose they had more sense than to try.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman, you've probably heard of: if you're an American, and have been paying attention for the last few decades. She was an abolitionist, among other things.

If you're at all familiar with American culture: consider what would happen if someone took that photo, gave her a nose job and made her look like a white woman. Make that a white man. (I can - barely- imagine someone trying to justify a stunt like that on the basis of traditional role models.)

I would be rather upset, myself. She made a contribution to American history - and that's what she looked like.

Back to Winston Churchill: the Real One

Winston Churchill and the cigar? Okay, let's say cigars aren't particularly safe to smoke. Is that a good reason for making nice-nice with a photo? Winston Churchill helped pull the United Kingdom out of World War II. And he smoked a cigar.

Deal with it.

In a way, it's nice to know that do-gooder crackpots aren't an American monopoly.

Joking aside, The Lemming thinks there's an important lesson to be learned here. As the article says:

"The altered image was spotted by museum visitor David McAdam.

"He said: 'I pointed out this crude alteration to a museum steward who said she hadn't noticed the change before, nor had anyone else pointed it out.

" 'Viewing the now disfigured image reveals just how unhinged the vociferous anti-smoking lobby has become. So much for the notion that only communist tyrants airbrushed history.'..."

Sadly, it's not just the "vociferous anti-smoking lobby" - this sort of ideological distaste for unwanted realities goes back decades, and is by now a deeply cherished tradition in American academia, at least.

Related posts:

• "Denver, the Daniels Mansion, the Mayor's Wife, and a Fire Pole"
  (June 15, 2010)
• "No Beer Between Meals? What's Denmark Coming to?"
  (April 9, 2010)
• "Yogi Yorgesson's 'I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas' and the Hamms Bear"
  (December 15, 2009)
  • Includes Shocking, BANNED LYRICS!

More about traditional information gatekeepers, and the tribulations they're experiencing in the Information Age:

• "Internet Freedom: 'What are the rules? Who decides?' "
  (March 23, 2010)
• "Google, China, Censorship, Compromise: 'Totally Wrong;' or, Not"
  (March 23, 2010)
• "Google Stops Censoring Service: And This is News"
  (March 22, 2010)
• "Criticism is Terrorism: Chavez and Twitter Terrorists"
  (February 1, 2010)
• "Net Neutrality, Comcast, the FCC, Censorship and Freedom"
  (January 9, 2010)
• "About Google, Change, and News"
  (December 6, 2009)
• "Times Change: The Wall Street Journal Now Top-Selling Daily"
  (October 14, 2009)
• "What is an Information Gatekeeper?"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (August 14, 2009)
• "Sounds of Silence: 2009"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (March 31, 2009)
• "William Felkner vs. College Conformity: Traditional Information Gatekeepers Face Another Challenge"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 16, 2008)
• "The New York Times, Insularity, and Assumptions"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 21, 2008)
• "DC Gun Ban, Online Censorship, Individual Rights, and Power to the People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (June 27, 2008)

---

¹ Times change - but people don't. Not all that much:

• "Four Millennia of Human Nature: I Think Qoheleth is Right"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (August 3, 2009)

Interview With a Rhododendron

"A Good Day For Geraniums"
guardian.co.uk (March 15, 2010)

"Earlier today Phil Brown was relieved of his managerial duties by Hull City and placed on gardening leave, leaving Brown 'very disappointed' but his geraniums 'delighted'.

"Yet more proof of the fickleness of football's fates. Had Boaz Myhill pushed Denilson's shot away from goal, rather than straight back in front of it directly to the feet of Nicklas Bendtner like a total bleeding idiot, in the final moments of Saturday's match against Arsenal Hull would have secured...."

The article's content may not be all that interesting to folks who don't follow British football: and a perhaps-surprising number of Earth's 6,790,062,000 or so people don't. You might enjoy the style, though, and the image of reporter interviewing plants:

"...In an exclusive interview with one of the inhabitants of his garden, which we sadly had to make up because it can't speak...."

Worlds First Bionic Fingers? Could Be

"'World's First' Bionic Fingers Unveiled "
Sky News (December 8, 2009)

"A former concert pianist has told of her joy at getting what scientists in West Lothian claim are the world's first bionic fingers.

"Maria Antonia Iglesias, from Catalonia, Spain, said the motor-powered devices allow her to pick up a glass, hold cutlery and write for the first time since she lost her digits after an illness.

"The fingers were made by the inventors of the bionic i-Limb hand when they realised more could be done for the 1.2 million people worldwide who have missing digits...."

The article gives a pretty good look at another new medical technology. I remember when first-generation hip implants like the ones I've got now came out. Sure, it's nice to be "natural." But me? I'm rather glad to have corrective lenses and hip implants, and the fillings in my teeth.

There's a video in the SkyNews article, BTW.

Related post:

• "Next-Generation Prosthetic Hand - and Intel Says Direct Neural Interface Brain Chips by 2020"
  (December 2, 2009)
• "Neural Interface for Stroke Victims: New Medical Technology"
  (May 22, 2008)

All the Tea in China

"History of Tea"
United Kingdom Tea Council

"Tea is so much a part of everyday life in Britain that we might never stop to think about how a unique plant from faraway China became the nation´s favourite drink. But the history of tea is fascinating, and in this section we can follow its story from the earliest times in Imperial China right up to its present place at the heart of British life.

"Read about the exotic beginnings of tea.

"Discover how tea was brought to England by a seventeenth century queen, and how important the tea trade was to the British East India Company, one of the most powerful commercial organisations the world has ever seen.

"Learn how the phenomenal popularity of tea in the eighteenth century led to widespread smuggling and adulteration, and about the murderous lengths smugglers went to to protect their illegal trade...."

Smuggling? Murder? The British certainly have been serious about their tea!

There's a 'brief history of tea' - and a look at the Boston Tea Party - from a non-colonial point of view.

The United Kingdom Tea Council has a fine website - with a great deal more than cursory background on tea. However, they've changed the website's structure at least once since one of my sources posted links, so if this post's links lead you nowhere, and you still want your spot of tea - so to speak - here's where you (should) find their home page:

• United Kingdom Tea Council
  www.tea.co.uk

Paris Fashions: Yes, They're Supposed to Look Like That

"It's a festering skankfest of zombies, Clancy!"
Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (October 8, 2009)

"Lamar, you mark my words, tonight is a turning point in our luck with the babes.

"But it don't make sense, Clancy. Why would professional models date guys like us?

"I don't know, but my friend says they worked the Paris Fashion Week, and they’re coming here straight from the show. You don't get to be a model unless you're hot! So just chill, Lamar, I'll let you know when I see them coming… OH MY LORD!..."


(From Oddly Enough, used w/o permission)

That's a selection from the work of a British fashion designer's Spring/Summer 2010 collection - no kidding - presented (intentionally, I presume) during Paris Fashion Week.

Seeing what apparently has become of the civilization founded by the likes of Athelstan of Wessex and Charlemagne leaves me speechless.

Vivaldi With Verve: Sue Son Plays 'Storm' on Britain's Got Talent

The audience reacted to one of the 'storm' sequences from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons, played by violinist Sue Son.

"Britain's Got Talent / Sue Son - Britain's Got Talent - Show 4"

BritainsGotTalent09, YouTube (May 2, 2009)
video 4:24

The video's an excerpt from an episode of Britain's Got Talent. Sue Son had gotten a second chance as a soloist - more at sueson.co.uk - and did, I think, a remarkable job. That's not a particularly easy piece for violin. Unhappily, Sue Son didn't make it to the final.

Meet Casper, the Traveling Cat

"Pet cat catches the daily bus for four years"
telegraph.co.uk (July 30, 2009)

"A pet cat has caught the same bus regularly for four years.

"Casper, which is 12 years old, boards the No3 service at 10.55am from outside his home in Plymouth, Devon, and travels the entire 11-mile route before returning home about an hour later.

"On the route, the cat passes an historic dockyard and naval base, a city centre, several suburbs and the city's red light district.

"He has been making the journey for so long that all First Bus drivers have now been told to look out for him to ensure he gets off at the right stop. ..."

His owner named him Casper because he'd disappear for hours at a time.

The Telegraph article gives a pretty good look at this particular facet of an older cat's lifestyle. Casper prefers the back seat, and "is quite quick for his age" - which comes in handy, when getting into a vehicle designed for much larger creatures.

I'm particularly drawn to this article because Casper looks a little like Boots - who was gray in most of the places where Casper is black - who was a big part of my childhood and youth.

Yet Another Art Blog: This One Actually Looks Good

This is PaulBaines.co.uk your source for street art, iconic art, underground art, investment art, and more

or maybe it's

Indoor Street Art Paul Baines

Whatever, this is another art blog. WAIT! This one is a bit special.

It's not the traditional semi-19th-century fine art gallery: and it looks good.

Okay, the first thing I thought when I saw it was "Andy Warhol!" But that's just one of the graphics.

I liked the "BUY ART" "READ RANT" navigation graphics on the home page.

I'm still not sure what the title of the blog is, but it's by someone in the United Kingdom who wrote, "I take a logical and atavistic approach to art. I filter the popular media and public opinion, raising notions of false hindsight and the collective consciousness. The power of the media, the intellectual endowment of the ruling elite, and the deconstruction of language have led us to a unique point in history...."

So, if you like atavistic popular media intellectually endowed by false hindsight of the intellectual elite's intellectual endowments - or what ever it is he meant - You'll probably like this blog.

The posts aren't quite what I expected: The first I glanced over was titled, "Talking with the Dead."

San Serriffe: A Lovely Lot of Islands That Really Aren't There

"San Serriffe "
Museum of Hoaxes

"On April 1, 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a seven-page “special report” about San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles described the geography and culture of this obscure nation.

"The report generated a huge response. The Guardian‘s phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. However, San Serriffe did not actually exist. The report was an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke—one with a typographical twist, since numerous details about the island (such as its name) alluded to printer’s terminology...."

There's quite a bit of detail about the San Serriffe archipelago in this article. Enjoy.

London Tube Announcer: Sense of Humor London Underground Bosses: Not so Much

Really funny spoofs of London Underground announcements - but please, do Emma Clarke a favor, and wait a few days before following these links.

Emma Clarke's voice is familiar to people on the London Underground. She's a voiceover artist who, among other things, did those announcements like "mind the gap."

Then she recorded some spoofs of her own announcements, and put them on her website. They're funny, by the way.

A newspaper interviewed her, and decided that she didn't like a particular part of the Underground. When that hit the fan, she explained to another paper, "The Times" (UK), "I did not say that the Northern Line was dreadful. I did say it’s a challenging line. What I did say was dreadful was the thought of being in a Tube train listening to my own voice."

My guess is that the Tube bosses decided that she had besmirched the fair reputation of their tunnels. That would explain why they decided not to use her services any more.

Emma Clarke's website has been overwhelmed by the international attention her spoofs have gotten. She left this message:

"Hi - thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, my site is currently overwhelmed by the sheer number of people wanting to download MP3s of my spoof Tube announcements. Please check back in a day or so."

"Thanks, Emma."

---

Until Emma's website is back online, here are transcripts of some of those spoof announcements, taken without permission - and with no guarantee made or implied of their accuracy.

• "Would the passenger in the red shirt pretending to read a paper, but who is actually staring at that woman’s chest please stop. You’re not fooling anyone, you filthy pervert"
• "Passengers are asked not to drop litter on the train. Please use the tramps provided"
• "Would the passenger in the pinstripe suit and thousand-Pound glasses who obviously works in the media please take one step forward on to the track"
• "Passengers are reminded a smile is a friendship signal, not a sign of weakness"
• "Would passengers filling in their Sudoku, please accept that they are just crosswords for the unimaginative and are not more impressive because they contain numbers"
• "Residents of London are reminded that there are other places in Britain outside your stinking city and, if you remove your heads from your backsides for just a couple of minutes, you may realize the M25 is not the edge of the Earth"
  (some New Yorkers seem to have the same problem)
  Speaking of Americans:
• "We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly"

Mrs. Nesbitt's Place: Home, Garden, Photos

Mrs. Nesbitt's Place: her garden, friends, business, the beautiful area she lives in, and photographs about her home. Quite charming.

More of What Makes Blogging Fun: National Colour, or the Flavors of English

I was guided to a review of a soccer match in Britain: not quite a blog, but a good example of what I wanted to discuss.

One of the many things I enjoy about the Web is the opportunity it gives me to read English in something other than the dialect that's common around here. I'm not talking about the embarrassing and/or funny oddities committed by people who don't have a firm grasp of English. You've run into that sort of thing: barely-decipherable text, apparently written by someone armed with foreign-phrase book with the English title, "Your, too, Can Wrote Engish."

Back to that soccer match review. I'm not a great soccer fan, but I enjoyed reading a piece written by a Singaporean who wasn't trying to 'sound British,' but had selected British English for this piece.

So, for fans of soccer and/or language, here's Match Report: Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 2.