Lemming Tracks: Due to Lack of Interest, Monday has been Canceled

The Lemming decided to take Monday off, sort of.

However, just so you won't have checked this blog in vain, here's a short selection of posts the Lemming's committed over the last couple years.

• "Evidence of Human Compassion: 500,000 Years Ago"
  (October 13, 2010)
• "Nuclear Weapons, Space Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, and Getting a Grip"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Data-Driven Art: For an 'Overwhelmed' 'Hive Mind???' "
  (January 27, 2010)
• "Better Ideas From France: A Hamster Cage for Humans"
  (November 11, 2009)
• "Warp Drive Might Not Be Stable: Physicists Take Another look at Alcubierre's Work"
  (June 12, 2009)

The Lemming expects to be back tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

Air France 447: How Not to Handle a Stall

Air France flight 447 was supposed to take 228 folks from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Instead, it crashed into the Atlantic. Nobody survived.

That was in June, 2009.

Searchers found wreckage of AF 447 this year: on the floor of the Atlantic, more than a mile under water. They also recovered the flight's data recorders. Pieces of the 'black boxes,' anyway.

A French agency, the BEA, has been looking into why the Airbus fell out of the sky.

Part of the BEA report hit the news today.

Before getting into that, here's what the airline had to say about the accident, in part:

"...Air France praised the three pilots, who 'demonstrated a totally professional attitude and were committed to carrying out their task to the very end,' the airline said in a statement...."
(Wall Street Journal, via FoxNews.com)

That statement may be accurate.

The French BEA's early report shows that the Airbus engines were working normally when the airliner went into a stall: and during the three-plus minutes it took for the airliner to fall into the Atlantic.

The Airbus A330's pitot tubes, a sort of air speed sensor, are known to have trouble with icing. The pilots knew about that, or should have. The pilots also should have known what to do if the things iced up. And what to do if the airliner stalled.

Instead, they did the opposite.

Nose Down During a Stall: Not Up

"Black Box Shows Air France Captain Was Absent When Descent Began"
The Wall Street Journal, via FoxNews.com (May 27, 2011)

"The flight recorders from an Air France plane that crashed nearly two years ago show that the captain only arrived in the cockpit after the plane had begun its fateful 3 1/2-minute descent, officials said Friday.

"The initial findings of the French air accident investigation agency, the BEA, based on a reading of the black boxes recovered from the ocean depths, found that the captain had been resting when the emergency began....

"... 'At the time of the event, the two co-pilots were seated in the cockpit and the captain was resting,' a BEA statement says. The captain returned to the cockpit about 1 1/2 minutes after the autopilot disengaged at 2:10 a.m. and 5 seconds, Coordinated Universal Time....

"...Reacting to wildly fluctuating airspeed indications ... pilots of an Air France jetliner in 2009 continued to pull the nose up sharply - contrary to standard procedure - even as the Airbus A330 plummeted toward the Atlantic Ocean, according to information released Friday by French accident investigators.

"The long-awaited factual report, though it doesn't include any formal conclusions about the cause of the June 2009 crash that killed 228 people, provides details about a prolonged stall that lasted more than three and a half minutes. Throughout the descent, according to the report, 'inputs made by the [pilot flying] were mainly nose-up' and the 'angle of attack,' or the position of the longitudinal axis of the plane in relation to the airflow 'remained above 35 degrees.'

"If an airplane has entered an aerodynamic stall, which means its wings have lost necessary lift to remain airborne, from their earliest training pilots are taught to immediately push the nose down to regain speed, lift and maneuverability.

"The report also paints a somewhat unflattering picture of a seemingly confused cockpit, with the crew making extreme inputs to their flight controls and the engines spooling up to full power and later the thrust levers being pulled back to idle. At one point, according to the report, both pilots sitting in front of the controls tried to put in simultaneous commands....

"...Pilots are trained to avoid such simultaneous commands."

Oh, dear.

Figuring out what went wrong won't bring back any of the 228 people who died on Air France 447. But it might show how to keep another air crew from - apparently - making the same mistakes.

Related posts:

• "Air France 447: Part of a Black (Orange, Really) Box Found"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 28, 2011)
• "Black Boxes are Fine: Glass Boxes Might be Better"
  (August 23, 2010)
• "Air France 447: Weather, Technology, and Questions"
  (June 13, 2009)
• "Air France Flight 447: What's Known, What's Not Known"
  (June 12, 2009)

More:

• "Crash Report Shows Confused Cockpit"
  Andy Pasztor & Daniel Michaels, Business, The Wall Street Journal (MAY 27, 2011)

Lemming Tracks: France, the IMF, and Special Rules for Special People

The Lemming will be back with something else, later today.

First, though, a look at cultural values:

"Is Polanski haunting the Strauss-Kahn case?"
BBC News (May 18, 2011)

"Comparisons between the legal troubles of the film director Roman Polanski and Dominique Strauss-Kahn are being made on both sides of the Atlantic. Could the case of Polanski - given sanctuary in France after fleeing sex charges in the US - have any impact on the fate of the IMF chief?

"Prosecutors were among the first to draw parallels between the two cases, arguing in court on Monday that if Dominique Strauss-Kahn were to leave the US, France would be under no obligation to send him back to face trial.

" 'He would be living openly and notoriously in France, just like Roman Polanski,' said chief assistant district attorney Daniel Alonso.

"Judge Melissa C Jackson quickly dismissed the idea.

" 'I will note that Roman Polanski has nothing to do with this,' she said. 'I am trying to be objective, and I am not going to judge this individual on the basis of what happened with Roman Polanski.'..."

As a general rule, that actually makes sense: not judging one individual on the basis of what another individual did.

On the other hand, Roman Polanski was sheltered by France. After the brilliant and talented film director, ah, 'seduced' a 13-year old girl.

And Americans wanted to prosecute Mr. Polanski: imagine!

'Beyond Good and Evil?'

France, being much more open-minded about such affairs, realized that Mr. Roman Polanski was a brilliant and talented film director - and shouldn't be inconvenienced by those Americans:

• "France shows support for Polanski after sex crime arrest"
  CNN (September 28, 2009)

I've discussed Mr. Polanski, tolerance (French style), and differing cultural values in another blog:

• "Roman Polanski, Queen Boudicca, France and Special Rules for Special People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 28, 2009)

I'll admit that, in a sense, I'm quite intolerant. I do not think that there should be special rules for folks who are very talented, or who have lots of money.

Which puts me at odds with French values. The values of some 'proper' French folks, anyway:

"...The French culture and communications minister, Frederic Mitterrand, said he 'learned with astonishment' of Polanski's arrest. He expressed solidarity with Polanski's family and said 'he wants to remind everyone that Roman Polanski benefits from great general esteem' and has 'exceptional artistic creation and human qualities.'..."
(CNN (September 28, 2009))

Attractive as the notion might seem, I really do not think that 'superior' persons are "beyond good and evil."

Also, as I said yesterday, I hope that France is culturally diverse - that the IMF chief's good old boy network isn't typical of all French citizens.

---

America isn't France

"Strauss-Kahn arrest: Maid 'scared but will testify' "
BBC News (May 18, 2011)

"The maid who has accused International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is "scared" but will testify against him, her lawyer says.

"Jeffrey Shapiro says when the 32-year-old woman discovered Mr Strauss-Kahn's identity a day after the incident she feared for herself and her daughter...."

"...The woman came originally from the West African state of Guinea. She arrived in the US seven years ago with her daughter and had been in her job at the Sofitel hotel for three years...."

I think it's possible that IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn might have once gotten away with (allegedly) abusing a hotel maid - particularly one from Guinea, west Africa - in America. A half-century or so back.

I was born during the Truman administration, and remember the learning curve this country country has been on. I think that over the last several decades, many of us have gotten more comfortable with the idea that folks don't have to look 'European' to be taken seriously. We also got used to rock music, but decided to let disco die - and that's another topic.

America is not, as I wrote yesterday, perfect. I'm quite certain that you'll find jerks here. But, like I said, we've learned that a hotel maid from Guinea deserves to be heard.

Enough said.

Related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: Culture, Values, and 'She Asked For It' "
  (May 17, 2011)
• "Rape isn't Nice, and We Shouldn't Do It"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 17, 2011)
• "Roman Polanski, Queen Boudicca, France and Special Rules for Special People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 28, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
  Particularly
  • Emotion Trumping Reason: Not Limited to the War on Terror

In the news:

• "Is Polanski haunting the Strauss-Kahn case?"
  BBC News (May 18, 2011)
  
• "Strauss-Kahn arrest: Maid 'scared but will testify' "
  BBC News (May 18, 2011)
• "France shows support for Polanski after sex crime arrest"
  CNN (September 28, 2009)

Lemming Tracks: Culture, Values, and 'She Asked For It'

I generally write as 'the Lemming' in this blog. I've explained why before. (April 18, 2011) This post is more serious than most, though, so I'm dropping the 'editorial we' stuff.

A rich, influential, man was accused of trying to rape a hotel maid. He apparently left a cell phone and DNA at the scene. The gentleman was detained on an airliner, which prevented his return to a country which might have shown him more consideration.

I think some reactions to this accusation may be due to cultural values in the gentleman's home country. I also think that rape isn't nice.

The 'Good Old Days' - Weren't

I was born during the Truman administration, and I remember what some folks here in America seem to regard as the 'good old days.' I don't mind a spot of nostalgia now and then. But I remember the trailing edge of Happy Days - and idyllic it wasn't.

The "double standard" for men and women was a very real part of America. We had a set of values that:

• Accepted phrases like
  • 'she's as smart as a man'
  • 'He's a man, so that's different;'
• Expected husbands to spend their nights drinking with 'the boys'
  • But were shocked when a woman did the same thing
• Congratulated young men who 'scored'
  • While devaluing the young women who gave points

It wasn't all about sex. I remember the 'good old days' when being drunk was often a socially-acceptable excuse for almost any behavior: from groping your secretary to killing someone in a hit-and-run. In my opinion Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and other organizations, did us all a favor by pressuring America's judiciary into treating drunk driving as a crime.

The '60s happened for a reason, I think - and that's almost another topic.

I spent my teen years in the decade of grooviness, and still think 'those crazy kids' made some valid points. Like there being more to life than making more money, and having the most expensive house, car, and wife on the block.

Rule of Law, Equal Rights, and Other Inconveniences

America is not perfect. Definitely. There have been times when I took a long, hard, look at leaving. I live where I do today by choice. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 3, 2008))

Again, America is not perfect. On the other hand, this country has a legal system which is supposed to take the rights of the accused into account. Even if the accused is someone on the low end of the economic scale. There have been times when the principles of equal treatment were not honored. Moving on.

This country also allows folks who aren't wealthy, and who do not have prominent social status, to bring charges against others. Even if the person charged is someone 'important,' and the accuser is a 'mere' laborer.

Even if facing the accusation is inconvenient for the person charged.

That, and our 'innocent until proven guilty' principle, are high on the list of reasons I stayed in America.

'She Asked For It'

I haven't followed this particularly aspect of American culture closely, but I think the 'she was asking for it' excuse for rape has worn a tad thin. Still, I could be wrong.

Before someone who was the victim of a badger game has a fit: yes, I know. Some women are not entirely scrupulous. So, for that matter, are some men.

I'll even concede that some women exhibit lack of good judgment which, directly or indirectly, has led to sexual assault.

But - and I realize how judgmental this may sound - in my opinion:

• Rape is not nice
  • And people shouldn't do it
• 'She asked for it' isn't an excuse
• Women are people
  • Even poor ones

The Gentleman and the Hotel Maid

It's possible that Dominique Strauss-Kahn left his cell phone and DNA at the Sofitel hotel for quite innocent reasons. And had no idea why he was caught before getting out of the country.

It's even possible that the hotel maid who says he tried to rape her is making the whole thing up. I doubt it, but it's (remotely) possible. In my opinion.

Or maybe the sex was "consensual," and she later changed her mind. Again, it's possible.

Or - and I think this is possible, too - maybe a very rich, very influential, very important man who has a very important job, saw a hotel maid and decided to have a little 'fun.'

Not realizing that America is 'puritanical' when it comes to rape.

Different cultures, after all, have different values. As alleged honor killings, and the rape and subsequent abandoning of an eight-year-old child in America have demonstrated.¹ (Please note! My ancestors are all immigrants - most recently to North America. I do not feel that all immigrants smell bad, dress funny, and break laws. Some do, but the same can be said of 'regular' Americans.)

Foreigners, Rape, and the Frontal Cortex

I'm slightly sympathetic with folks in France who seem furious that one of their own was accused of rape - and treated like any other person accused of a serious crime.

Americans are "foreigners" everywhere except in part of the North American continent. I suspect that many folks are not at all comfortable when a 'real person' who shares their language and culture is detained by foreigners.

Besides, in some circles 'everybody knows' what those Americans are like. And that's almost another topic, again.

I've been told that there's a sort of inverse relationship between emotional intensity and activity in the frontal cortex, where we do much of our thinking. Rational thinking, that is: not the sort of emotion-soaked free association that makes for ripping good stories and effective marketing. My opinion.

Briefly, I'm told that as emotions rise, the frontal cortex shuts down.²

I suspect that some of the wilder statements coming out of France are associated with that phenomena. Plus, I understand there's an election coming up over there. One here in America, too. Yet one more topic.

And now, some of what I've been reading:

---

Brazil is 'Puritanical,' Too??

"Brazil wants IMF chief from emerging nation: source"
Edition: U.S., Reuters (May 17, 2011)

"Brazil believes the next head of the IMF should come from a large emerging market country, but does not plan to pressure actively on the issue because Europe is likely to keep its 'stranglehold' on the job, a senior government official told Reuters on Tuesday.

" 'We think it would be appropriate to have someone from emerging countries,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

" 'We believe India and Brazil would be good options. But we also believe that Europe is likely to keep its deep stranglehold on the position, and so we're not planning to push very hard on this issue for now,' the official added.

"The future of the International Monetary Fund's leadership has been in doubt since Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested on Saturday in New York and charged with attempted rape...."

I wouldn't mind seeing another French citizen in the top IMF post, provided the person was qualified - and knew that assaulting hotel maids is considered gauche in some countries. Or, rather, allegedly assaulting (alleged) hotel maids. I'll get back to "alleged" and American news.

I wouldn't mind seeing an American citizen in the top IMF post, with the same reservations.

I also wouldn't mind seeing someone from Brazil, India, or Singapore running the IMF - provided the person was competent and honest.

Not that I expect to see a non-European or Euro-American in the post soon. I have the impression that the 'proper sort' in America, at least, haven't quite come to terms with the idea that "natives" aren't "natives" any more.

And never were.³

---

Shock, Elections, and "Alleged"

"French reaction to IMF chief's arrest ranges from shock to sympathy"
CNN (May 17, 2011)

"The arrest of International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges he allegedly sexually assaulted a New York hotel housekeeper sent shock waves through France, where he was widely seen as a front-runner in the country's 2012 presidential race.

"As Strauss-Kahn sits in New York's Rikers Island detention complex, however, reactions in France ran the gamut -- with some questioning whether he was the victim of a political set-up and others concerned over what they see as a rush to judgment by Americans and the U.S. media in particular.

"Many French were disturbed by published images of Strauss-Kahn in handcuffs. A French law passed in 2000 prohibits the publication of images of suspects in handcuffs or in court in order to protect defendants' presumption of innocence.

"In America, where there are no such laws, Strauss-Kahn's arraignment was televised and clips played on various networks. 'Perp walks,' in which defendants -- accompanied by police -- walk in front of photographers handcuffed, are standard fare...."

Again, I don't think America is perfect. I'm quite certain that America changes. We're not the same country that we were in 1776, 1865, or 1967. The "perp walk" may disappear.

What folks in France may not realize is that news media in this country is - controlled is such a strong word.

Let's say that there are legal inducements that encourage broadcasters and journalists in America to make sure that viewers know that a person is innocent until proven guilty, and that the alleged actions mentioned in a legal accusation are just that - alleged - until proven in a court of law.

Happily, the shakedown period during which those rules were introduced is over, and we don't hear alleged every second alleged sentence or so in alleged coverage of alleged trials - you get the idea. There was a mercifully-brief period where superfluous "allegeds" were worthy of parody. In my opinion.

I have some sympathy for folks in France who were "disturbed" by photos of their IMF head being treated as if he was an American citizen. On the other hand, I don't think folks in this country would be enthused over changing our rules when wealthy, influential, 'important' people are caught trying to leave the country. After being accused of a crime.

Of course, the French gentleman allegedly had no idea that he'd tried to have sex with that hotel maid.

And it was her idea, anyway.

I'll get back to that.

---

He's Got Money, Why Shouldn't He Leave?

"IMF chief, denied bail, prompts shock in France"
Edition: IN, Reuters (May 17, 2011)

"Dominique Strauss-Kahn spent a third night in a New York jail, prompting expressions of shock among some in France that the IMF chief had been denied bail on attempted rape charges that may scupper his French presidential hopes.

"His allies in the Socialist party, some jockeying for position ahead of a primary contest which had been tipped to hand the candidacy to Strauss-Kahn, met for crisis talks on Tuesday but said they would not change the selection timetable.

"French politicians and commentators reacted with surprise and anger at the New York judge's decision to remand Strauss-Kahn, once the biggest threat to conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in an election due next April. His parading in handcuffs before the world's media, bedraggled and unshaven, appeared particularly stark.

" 'He is a brave man on whom a contemptuous fate has been inflicted,' former Socialist culture minister Jack Lang told Europe 1 radio, complaining of a 'lynching'...."

As I noted before, there's an election coming up in France. Enough said.

As for bail? That can be denied if a court decides that the accused is a flight risk.

Considering that Strauss-Kahn was caught on an airliner headed out of the country? Assuming that he might want to go where his friends are isn't all that crazy, in my opinion.

I also believe that wealth does not give a person the right to assault another, and then avoid consequences.

---

Rape Isn't Seduction?

"The 'Seduction' Myth: What the French Still Don't Get About Sex"
Judith Warner, Time (May 17, 2011)

"Dominique Strauss-Kahn has not been convicted of any crime. Neither would it be appropriate to indict French society - the pervasive sexism parading as a celebration of 'difference,' the self-indulgence of the 'caviar left,' of which he is a prime exemplar - for his (alleged) behavior. To do so, after all, would be to fall into the same facile trap as the various French commentators who, in the days since the International Monetary Fund chief's arrest in New York for sexual assault and attempted rape, have fallen all over the case as an example of American sensationalism and, of course, classic 'Puritanism.'

"But still.

"The arrest of the 'great seducer,' as Strauss-Kahn is commonly known in France, on charges of notably unseductive behavior toward an immigrant single mother working as a hotel housekeeper, while shocking as a violent criminal act, didn't come entirely out of the blue for those who have closely observed his behavior toward women over the years. And that behavior has occurred in, and perhaps been encouraged by, a culture that takes a complacent, even complicit attitude toward inappropriate, sometimes predatory sexual behavior on the part of powerful men, normalizing it, even sometimes romanticizing it, under the catch-all cliché of gallic seduction...."

I've mentioned cultural differences before.

As for the tone of this op-ed? Judith Warner is, after all a woman - and - - - enough said?

A trifle more seriously, I hope that France is a culturally-diverse country. And that the IMF chief and his friends are not typical of all French society.

---

'It Was Consensual Sex'

"IMF Biggie's Lawyer: Sex With Maid Was Consensual"
MyFox New York (May 17, 2011)

"International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's defense attorney looks set to claim the French politician's alleged assault on a Manhattan hotel maid was actually a consensual sexual encounter.

"During Strauss-Kahn's arraignment hearing Monday lawyer Ben Brafman told a packed criminal courtroom, 'The evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible encounter.' The New York Post cited a source as saying, 'There may well have been consent.'

"However, in a conflicting report, France's RMC Radio said Strauss-Kahn's legal team had evidence he was at a restaurant with his daughter at the time of the alleged assault. His lawyers maintained Strauss-Kahn left the hotel at midday Saturday, had lunch and then took a taxi to the airport, according to the report...."

'It was consensual sex?' That's a fairly common defense here in America: I notice it most often when a celebrity tries to rape someone - and the victim isn't properly awed. When testimony and physical evidence are against the accused, it's probably the best of a set of unpalatable choices for a defense attorney.

As for being elsewhere at the time of the alleged assault? That might be true. If so, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers had better have witnesses. Other than his daughter. Security footage with a time stamp, showing Strauss-Kahn arriving at and leaving his alibi would help the defense. A lot.

---

Bail, Hallway Nudity, and the IMF

"IMF chief faces pressure to resign as scandal ripples across Europe"
CNN (May 17, 2011)

"Austria's finance minister suggested Tuesday that the head of the powerful International Monetary Fund should consider stepping down after his arrest over an alleged sexual assault at a posh New York hotel.

" 'Given the circumstances that his bail was not granted, he should think about whether he is damaging the institution,' Maria Fekter told reporters in Brussels, Belgium, during a meeting of European finance ministers.

"A haggard-looking Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a man who has helped bail out desperate countries in need of cash, was himself denied bail Monday by a Manhattan Criminal Court judge. He will spend the next few days in an 11-by-13-foot cell at New York's Rikers Island jail complex.

"Authorities say the IMF chief has had just one visitor, but declined to elaborate.

"The accommodations are a far cry from a $3,000-a-night luxury suite where he allegedly chased a housekeeping employee down a hallway while nude and sexually assaulted her. The IMF chief paid a hotel room rate of $525, according to IMF spokesman William Murray...."

I don't know all that much about French culture or politics - but my guess is that Dominique Strauss-Kahn still has a shot at the presidency.

Apparently he has a 'good old boy' network back in France to explain how he's a hero who's being mistreated by foreigners.

With the right spin, this trial might actually work in Dominique Strauss-Kahn's favor.

As for his job at the IMF? That may not be secure. Sure, he's French: but some folks in other countries don't seem to be quite as impressed with that as they could be.

---

"An Unbearable Cruelty" - Good Old Boy Gets No Respect?

"If found guilty, IMF chief could face upto 25 years in prison"
Vaiju Naravane, The Hindu (May 16, 2011)

"France today woke up to shocking pictures of the usually well-groomed and dapper IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn being led away, handcuffed, unshaven, tie-less and grim faced from the Harlem police lock-up where he spent the night for DNA tests that will ultimately prove or disprove his case. Mr. Strauss-Kahn, popularly referred to as DSK in France, has been charged with attempted rape, unlawful imprisonment following accusations by a hotel chambermaid in New York that he sexually assaulted her.

"More than the handcuffs, the scruffy look or that he was on a grubby New York street accompanied by police officers rather than in the gilded salons of high finance surrounded with bankers and courtiers, it was the look of utter devastation on Mr. Strauss-Kahn's face that so shattered his countrymen.

"Socialist leader Manuel Valls said: 'I've never seen anything like this in my thirty years in politics. Never have I felt so shaken. He is a longtime friend and the pictures I saw this morning were of an unbearable cruelty that brought tears to my eyes.'..."

I sympathize with Manuel Valls - a little. Change - being forced to confront new or unfamiliar circumstances - can hurt.

Perhaps it truely was "an unbearable cruelty" to see pictures of a good old boy: jailed just because he got frisky with some no-account hotel maid. Allegedly.

---

Power, Position, and Zipper Issues

"Sex, lies and the reckless choices of the powerful"
Caren Bohan and Tabassum Zakaria, Edition: IN, Reuters (May 16, 2011)

"Sex and power are no strangers. History is littered with tales of the powerful and privileged felled by sex scandals.

"But make no mistake. If IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is found guilty as charged of attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York City, he would be in a league virtually of his own.

"Few have been accused of a violent crime like Strauss-Kahn. The world financier and French presidential hopeful was charged on Sunday with criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape in New York City after a hotel maid said she was assaulted.

" 'Politics and power and sexual harassment certainly have a long history,' said Michele Swers, associate professor of government at Georgetown University. 'This being an attempted criminal rape is, I think, of an order of a different magnitude.'

"There is no shortage of powerful leaders who fell from grace for affairs, prostitutes and groping. Sexual indiscretions have weakened governments and buried political careers on both sides of the Atlantic, today and in ages past...."

Attempted criminal rape is, I think, a serious charge.

But then, I'm an American. From some points of view, I would say that.

High-profile people with zipper issues are - as the professor said - nothing new. The current governor of California, for example, has been supporting an illegitimate child for about a decade. (CNN)

For what it's worth, I think cheating on one's spouse is not right - but at least the governor acknowledged the child. And that's almost another topic, yet again.

As for the IMF chief? I don't think 'but everybody's doing it' is a good excuse.

---

Pakistani Village Honour, IMF Executive Status, and Getting a Grip

"Pakistani rape victim fears silence after acquittal"
Rebecca Conway, Edition: IN, Reuters (April 24, 2011)

"A Pakistani woman who was gang-raped and became a human rights campaigner says she worries other women will not speak out after Pakistan's highest court upheld her alleged attackers' acquittals.

"Mukhtaran Mai was allegedly gang-raped in 2002 to settle a matter of village honour. Unlike most rape victims in Pakistan, who rarely speak up, she filed a criminal case against 14 men. Six were convicted and sentenced to death later that year.

"But the Lahore High court later acquitted five and commuted one sentence to life in prison in 2005. On Thursday, Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld the Lahore court's decision.

"She said the verdict could prevent other women from speaking out against Pakistan's culture of punishing women through violence, mutilation and sexual assault.

" 'I feel now women will not speak out,' she told Reuters. 'They will stay in their homes ... Other women will not speak out because people in their area will look on them badly and they will not get justice.'

"But, she said, 'it becomes like a chain -- if one woman gets justice, then the others will'...."

'That's different,' or maybe not so much.

In Pakistan, you have an alleged gang-rape to uphold village honor.

In New York City, you have an alleged attempted rape for unknown motives.

In both cases, you have a woman who apparently lacked the social standing to be treated seriously - although I think there's evidence that the American court system is acting as though the hotel maid deserves attention.

Other than the sort of attention she allegedly got in the alleged hotel.

I think Mukhtaran Mai got it right: "...'it becomes like a chain -- if one woman gets justice, then the others will'...."

---

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Pedophile Priests, Ephebophilia, and Facing Facts"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (mostly links)
• "No Room for Muddled Motorists: Drunk Driving and Dallas"
  (September 5, 2010)
• " 'I am the Office Girl' "
  (April 13, 2010)
• "Boyfriend Wants Nude Pics? Girlfriend Texts Too Much? You're Not Alone"
  (February 7, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
  Particularly
  • Emotion Trumping Reason: Not Limited to the War on Terror

News and views:

• "Brazil wants IMF chief from emerging nation: source"
  Edition: U.S., Reuters (May 17, 2011)
• "French reaction to IMF chief's arrest ranges from shock to sympathy"
  CNN (May 17, 2011)
• "IMF chief, denied bail, prompts shock in France"
  Edition: IN, Reuters (May 17, 2011)
• "The 'Seduction' Myth: What the French Still Don't Get About Sex"
  Judith Warner, Time (May 17, 2011)
• "IMF Biggie's Lawyer: Sex With Maid Was Consensual"
  MyFox New York (May 17, 2011)
• "IMF chief faces pressure to resign as scandal ripples across Europe"
  CNN (May 17, 2011)
• "If found guilty, IMF chief could face upto 25 years in prison"
  Vaiju Naravane, The Hindu (May 16, 2011)
• "Sex, lies and the reckless choices of the powerful"
  aren Bohan and Tabassum Zakaria, Edition: IN, Reuters (May 16, 2011)
• "Pakistani rape victim fears silence after acquittal"
  Rebecca Conway, Edition: IN, Reuters (April 24, 2011)

---

¹ The term "honor killing" is not considered polite in some circles, here in America: but I think it is an adequate, and easily-understood, term to describe situations where a man kills a member of his family because he's in a snit.

I've discussed this, and other cases of clashing cultural values, in other blogs

Again, please note. I do not believe that all immigrants are criminals, or that all Americans beat up people they don't approve of:

• "No Open Season on Transgendered People, Please!"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 26, 2011)
• "Eight-Year-Old Raped - Time to Think and Pray"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (July 25, 2009)
• "Muzzammil Hassan's Beheaded Wife No Honor Killing - Move Along"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 19, 2009)
• "Sandeela Kanwal, Chaudhry Rashid: Honor Killing? Maybe, Maybe Not"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 9, 2008)

² I've discussed emotions, thinking straight, and related topics, before:

• "Japan, Good Taste, Common Sense, and a Duck"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 15, 2011)
• "The Horror! Monster Comics that Scared Congress"
  (October 31, 2010)
• "Hating People: Not a Good Idea"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (January 22, 2010)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
  Particularly
  • Emotion Trumping Reason: Not Limited to the War on Terror
  • "Lies, Quagmires, and Straight Thinking"
    Another War-on-Terror Blog (May 14, 2008)

³ The phrase, "white man's burden" may be out of fashion: but I suspect that the attitude is still with us:

• "Sudan, Darfur: My Take"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (January 8, 2011)
• "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 6, 2010)
• "Haitians, God and Faith: Maybe Americans Can Learn Something Here"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (January 17, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Haitians: They're 'Natives,' Right?

A Thought for the Day: About Cheese

"How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?"
Charles De Gaulle, in "Les Mots du General", 1962
The Quotations Page

Picasso Art, an Electrician, Miffed Heirs, and a Lawyer

"Picasso treasure trove surfaces in France"
(November 29, 2010)

"Hundreds of unknown Pablo Picasso works worth tens of millions of euros have surfaced in France in the hands of a 71-year-old retired electrician who says they were gifts from the master.

"Dating from the first third of the 20th century -- considered Picasso's most fertile period -- the 271 pieces are valued by experts at more than 60 million euros (80 million dollars), France's Liberation newspaper reported.

"And the new-found drawings, paintings and studies are now at the heart of a legal tug-of-war between the electrician, Pierre Le Guennec, and the artist's heirs who believe they must have been stolen and have filed for charges.

" 'No one can seriouly believe that the artist made these gifts, it's completely crazy,' the Picasso family's lawyer Jean-Jacques Neuer told AFP on Monday.

" 'This electrician, who claims to have been a long-time friend, has never been heard of despite the fact we now know every detail about Picasso's life.'..."

The Lemming doesn't know enough about Picasso's life to have an opinion about the artist and the electrician. On the other hand, I don't think it's impossible that Pablo Picasso might have known someone and not told the family lawyer. I'll leave it at that.

On the 'up' side, it's nice to have so many previously-unknown works by Picasso come to light.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Picasso: Painting as 'Sum of Destructions' "
  (February 6, 2009)
• "Think You Can Outpaint Picasso? Here's Your Chance!"
  (August 26, 2008)

'I was Dead, But I'm Better Now'

There's a bit of dialog from a drama that goes something like this:

"I thought you were dead."

"I was, but I'm better now."

That's fiction. This is fact - or news, at any rate.

In France, a woman died - officially. Doctors said so.

Her sons, mere laymen, wouldn't let the doctors unplug the woman's life support system.

An example of ignorance and sentiment overruling the superior minds of Science and Medicine?

Maybe.

It's a good thing for the woman that her sons kept her plugged in, though. She woke up later.

Here's the story:

---

"'Clinically Dead' Woman Alive and Well"
Human News, Discovery News (October 20, 2010)

"A woman pronounced 'very certainly clinically dead' at a French hospital woke up hours later after her sons refused to turn off her life-support system, medics and the woman said.

"Doctors were preparing cancer patient Lydie Paillard, 60, for a chemotherapy session when she passed out, the director of the Bordeaux Rive Droite private hospital Yves Noel told AFP on Wednesday.

"A doctor managed to resuscitate her and put her on a ventilator but then, having consulted other doctors, called Paillard's sons to break the news that their mother was 'very certainly clinically dead.'

"But her sons would not turn off the respirator and she was then transferred to the university hospital of the southwestern French city where a scan revealed that she was in fact not brain dead, Noel said...."

Not to be morbid, or macabre: but this is one reason why I haven't checked off that 'organ donor' option on my driver's license. My wife knows that I'm quite willing to have parts harvested: but I don't want to wake up on a dissecting table after some hotshot medico decided I was dead.

The Lemming can understand how the medical types made that little mistake. The woman's 60 - and old folks die all the time, right? Besides, an unconscious person doesn't look all that different from a dead person: particularly if breathing is on the shallow side.

The Discovery News article doesn't give enough detail to suggest just why doctors were so eager to write Paillard off.

More, about medical ethics (it shouldn't be an oxymoron), organ transplant, research, and my take on the subjects, is in another blog. I'll admit to a bias: I think life is precious, even if a person isn't young, good-looking, and in perfect health.

• "Stem Cell Research: Backed by the Vatican, No Kidding"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 28, 2010)
• "Organ Transplants, a Boy's Life, and Japanese Laws and Customs: This Catholic's View"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (June 14, 2009)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)

Benoit B. Mandelbrot, Fractal Geometry: Math, Art, and Science

"Benoit Mandelbrot, Father of Fractal Geometry, Dies at 85"
PCMag.com (October 17, 2010)

"Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry, has died at the age of 85, the AFP reports. The French-American mathematician discovered mathematical shapes called "fractals," and developed a geometry that was used to analyze naturally occurring shapes that were previously thought unmeasurable.

" 'Fractals are easy to explain, it's like a romanesco cauliflower, which is to say that each small part of it is exactly the same as the entire cauliflower itself,' Catherine Hill, a Gustave Roussy Institute statistician, told the AFP. 'It's a curve that reproduces itself to infinity. Every time you zoom in further, you find the same curve.'

"Fractals are said to be infinitely complex and can be found in things like clouds, snowflakes, and mountain ranges. Physics, geometry, and finance are a few of the many areas to which Mandelbrot applied the theory. According to an article in the U.K.'s Telegraph, Mandelbrot's book 'The Fractal Geometry of Nature' has sold more copies than any other book on advanced mathematics.

"Mandelbrot first started studying the concept while working as a research fellow at IBM in the 1950s, and it revolutionized the field...."

Fractal equations and computers' number-crunching capacity also brought mathematics and art together. That image displays a Mandelbrot set: created by Wolfgang Beyer with the program Ultra Fractal 3. (Beyer uploaded it to Wikimedia Commons - click the picture to see a larger version.)

At least, the Lemming thinks that's art - since it's got aesthetic appeal and was made with a human instrumentality.

There's more about Mandelbrot in the news:

---

"Benoit Mandelbrot"
Telegraph.co.uk (October 17, 2010)

"Benoit Mandelbrot, who died on October 14 aged 85, was largely responsible for developing the discipline of fractal geometry – the study of rough or fragmented geometric shapes or processes that have similar properties at all levels of magnification or across all times.

"Before Mandelbrot, mathematicians believed that most of the patterns of nature were far too complex, irregular, fragmented and amorphous to be described mathematically. Euclidian geometry was concerned with abstract perfection almost non-existent in the real world. Mandelbrot's achievement was to conceive and develop a way of describing mathematically the most amorphous natural forms – such as the shape of clouds, mountains, coastlines or trees – and measuring them. His work has become the foundation of Chaos theory – the mathematics of non-linear, dynamic systems.

"In the 1960s Mandelbrot, a research fellow with IBM, began a mathematical analysis of electronic 'noise' which was sometimes interfering with IBM electronic transmissions, causing errors. Although the nature of these errors was not understood, IBM scientists noted that the blips occurred in clusters; a period of no errors would be followed by a period with many.

"Examining these clusters, Mandelbrot noticed that they formed a pattern and that the closer they were examined, the more complex the pattern seemed to become...."

PCMag.com described Mandelbrot as a "French-American," but there's a little than that involved. As Telegraph.co.uk put it:

"...Benoit B Mandelbrot (he awarded himself a middle initial, although it stood for nothing) was born on November 20 1924 in Warsaw, Poland, into a family of Lithuanian Jewish extraction. His father made his living selling clothes while his mother was a doctor, but the family had a strong academic tradition and, as a boy, Mandelbrot was introduced to mathematics by two uncles...."

The Lemming thinks it'd be easier to say that Benoit B. Mandelbrot is from Earth, and leave it at that.

Aside from making nifty pictures, Mandelbrot's fractal math has helped solve problems - like figuring out why Earth didn't freeze, a couple billion years back. (June 6, 2010)

More about Mandelbrot:

• "Geeky Math Equation Creates Beautiful 3-D World"
  Wired (December 9, 2009)
  • With pictures
  • About Mandelbulb
    • A three-dimensional Mandelbrot fractal
• "Benoit Mandelbrot"
  biographies, The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

The Eiffel Tower: Still Pretty Cool

the official site of the Eiffel Tower
(English/UK version)

"...The end of the XIXth century saw a considerable number of inventions that have revolutionized our lives, from the telephone to car racing and the vaccine against rabies. At the time, Jules Verne was writing his futuristic novels, France was building a colonial empire, trade was prosperous and the industrial revolution was in full swing. Things were moving, everything was changing. This period, sometimes called 'the spring of technology', was a time of creative effervescence, crowned by Gustave Eiffel's 'Grand Iron Lady'. The 'A' over the Champ-de-Mars symbolized the beginning of a major movement that has continued to this very day...."
(From "All you need to know about the Eiffel Tower," on the official site of the Eiffel Tower)

The Eiffel Tower is possibly the most recognizable landmark in Paris. It was also, when it was built, one of the world's great technological / engineering marvels. One thing I particularly appreciated about the *.pdf-format document I quoted, above, was the glimpse at 19th century history, culture and technology. It's good, I think, to be reminded now and then of what the 'good old days' were actually like.

Take rabies, for example. 'Rabies shots' are no fun: but now people in many parts of the world don't have to die if they're bitten by an infected animal.

All things considered, I'd rather live now.

But that's another topic.

Back to that landmark of Paris and its website.

It's visually impressive, and fairly 'intuitive' to navigate. A refreshing combination. Some of the main sections are: News; Practical Information; Children's Corner; Documentation (That's where I found that 'all you need to know' document); The Tower At Leisure (includes a virtual tour and wall paper); Professional Services; Employment Opportunities.

And, of course, there's quite a bit about how to get there and what to do when you do.

Bullet Trains in America: United States Transportation Enters the 20th Century (It's About Time)

America's "bullet trains" are in the news this week. Don't rush out to buy tickets, though: that $8,000,000,000 initial investment will only go so far - and there's a lot of work to do.

This post is a bit off-format, so please bear with me.

"Bullet Trains?" That's So Sixties

Japan got the first seriously high-speed rail passenger service up and running in the sixties, with the Shinkansen. Other countries followed. Not America: but at least we made the transition from coal to diesel-electric locomotives.

China's Shanghai Maglev went into service around 2003. Indonesia's considering upgrading their rail system:

"Indonesia's Big Rail Plans"
Asia Sentinel (January 13, 2010)

The article has some interesting technical and economic details, using China's Shanghai Maglev as a real-world example.

I'd like to see America use magnetic levitation technology for rail service: but I'll settle for my country catching up with where Japan was around 1965.

What's the Big Deal With "Bullet Trains?"

It's not just that I like technology. The Interstate highway system was more than just a new bigger set of roads: it was a new kind of road system.

President Obama claimed that a new high-speed rail system would increase productivity in America. I'm inclined to believe it. I remember the "good old days," before the Interstates.

I haven't been able to verify this, but someone on the FOX News network asserted that the Interstate highway system increased America's productivity by 25 percent. I think that's plausible. I've driven on the old surface roads, and on the Interstate system. If you want to get somewhere, faster, with fewer stops and - if you drive sensibly - better mileage, you use the Interstates.

"Bullet trains" could make the same sort of difference.

High-Speed Trains in America: Finally

"Superfast Bullet Trains Are Finally Coming to the U.S."
Wired Magazine (January 25, 2010)

"Believe it: Bullet trains are coming. After decades of false starts, planners are finally beginning to make headway on what could become the largest, most complicated infrastructure project ever attempted in the US. The Obama administration got on board with an $8 billion infusion, and more cash is likely en route from Congress. It's enough for Florida and Texas to dust off some previously abandoned plans and for urban clusters in the Northeast and Midwest to pursue some long-overdue upgrades. The nation's test bed will almost certainly be California, which already has voter-approved funding and planning under way. But getting up to speed requires more than just seed money. For trains to beat planes and automobiles, the hardware needs to really fly. Officials are pushing to deploy state-of-the-art rail rockets. Next stop: the future...."

The basic assertion of the Wired article, that America is, quite late in the game, starting to look seriously at developing high-speed rail passenger service, is in the news. And, in my opinion, it's a pretty big deal.

The article also has a handy timeline, "Fast Trains: A Brief History," showing what they say are milestones in high-speed rail transportation since the 19th century.

One of them is this remarkable item:

"1897 90 mph

"Midland Railway, England
"It took almost a decade for England to regain its dominance with a record-breaking run aboard an 8-foot-long, eight-wheeled locomotive from Melton Mowbray to Nottingham."

If you're not familiar with English measurements, a foot is very roughly 1/3 of a meter.

A locomotive eight feet long would be, well, small. Let's put it this way. I'm five feet, seven inches tall (1.7 meters). I can, without stretching, reach up and touch something seven feet from the ground. Then there are the wheels. If that eight-foot-long locomotive had four pairs of wheels, they'd be an average of two feet in diameter, max - assuming that the length of the locomotive included the wheels.

That's a small locomotive.

I didn't find any reference to that little 1897 locomotive, or its speed record, except in the wired article. Which, as a researcher, makes me a little cautious about accepting the rest of the article on faith alone.

Happily, there's quite a bit about high-speed trains online: from reasonably believable sources. I'm leaning on news services here, since the American and Indonesian transportation systems' moving into the 20th century with high-speed trains is - news.

America Catching Up to the 20th Century

"President Announces Billions for High-Speed Rail"
MyFOX Phoenix (January 28, 2010)

"Promising jobs and cash, President Barack Obama came to Tampa on Thursday to unveil his plan for a series of high-speed rail projects in Florida and around the country.

"Obama and Vice President Joe Biden made the unusual joint trip to announce the awarding of stimulus funds for creation of a 'bullet train' between Tampa, Orlando, and eventually Miami.

" 'We're not only going to be providing a better way to transport people, we're going to be taking cars off congested highways, reducing carbon emissions, and saving billions of dollars in human productivity just sitting in traffic jams,' Vice President Biden explained, moments before introducing the president. 'Most important, we're creating jobs.'..."

I'm not on the same page as the current American president: but what he said about high-speed rail transport makes sense. And has, for decades.

More:

"High-Speed Rail Approaches Station"
The Wall Street Journal (January 26, 2010)

"The iconic needle-nosed Japanese "bullet train" could speed through the swampy marshlands of central Florida if Yoshiyuki Kasai, the chairman of Central Japan Railway Co., gets his way.

"Mr. Kasai on Monday announced efforts to bring the shinkansen, Japan's bullet train, to the U.S. JR Central's push to enter the U.S. comes as Washington prepares to announce how $8 billion in federal stimulus money set aside for high-speed passenger-train service is carved up.

"JR Central is up against some tough competition, however. Dozens of international companies, including Germany's Siemens AG, Canada's Bombardier Inc., France's Alstom SA and General Electric Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. of the U.S. all are clamoring for a piece of the pie, which is meant in part to create U.S. jobs. The Obama administration is expected to announce as early as this week what projects will receive stimulus funds.

"The $8 billion "is oversubscribed by a factor of eight to one," said Richard Lawless, chief executive of U.S.-Japan High Speed Rail, a consulting company JR Central created to market the bullet train. 'Of all the corridors we looked at, the one that looks the most promising and immediate is Florida.'

"The proposed Florida high-speed rail would cost a total of $3.5 billion to construct, including rolling stock, JR Central said.

"Congress attached 'Buy America' provisions to the stimulus spending aimed at favoring U.S. firms. But JR Central has structured its package in the hopes of meeting those provisions. Officials from U.S.-Japan Maglev, another JR Central consulting company, said they would ask Florida companies to construct the infrastructure for the train, including the signals and track. Part of the rolling stock, or cars, would be built in the U.S. by U.S. companies.

"JR Central is marketing two types of high-speed technology: the shinkansen, which travels as fast as 330 kilometers per hour; and the magnetic-levitation, or maglev, train, which can run up to 581 kph , but is more expensive and in only limited use so far...."

That "buy American" thing is probably sensible, in the short run. But even if the whole high-speed rail service in America was built by outside contractors, let's remember: the trains would be running here in America.

That excerpt is longer than what I usually use: but I wanted some of the details in this post.

High-Speed Passenger Rail Service in the 20th Century

Here's what the rest of the world has been doing, in terms of passenger rail service, for the last four decades.

Shinkansen, Japan

"UPDATE 2-JR Tokai targets Florida bullet train deal"
Reuters (January 25, 2010)

"Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai) (9022.T) will join rivals in competing to develop a high-speed railway line in the U.S. state of Florida, as the former state-owned firm looks to sell its super-fast train systems overseas.

"A consulting firm hired by the company said a railway line connecting Tampa, Orlando and Miami in Florida was one of the most promising targets for its Shinkansen bullet trains as the route would be exclusively used by high-speed trains.

" 'I expect competition for the contract to be fierce in Florida. We will be the last to join the bidding,' JR Tokai's Chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai told a news conference. 'But I believe our Japanese system will be the most suitable for the line.'

"Kasai did not say which other firms were competing for deal, although JR Tokai's global rivals include Canada's Bombardier (BBDb.TO), Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE) and France's Alstom (ALSO.PA).

"U.S.-Japan High-Speed Rail, the consulting firm working for JR Tokai, also said that lines between Las Vegas and Los Angeles could be candidates for the company's products...."

More about the Shinkansen, the world's first "bullet train:"

"Shinkansen History"
Japanese Lifestyle

TGV, France

"Early TGV History"
TGVweb

Here comes the 21st Century: Shanghai Maglev, China

Shanghai Maglev Official Website - 上海磁浮官方网站

This website - the part I linked to is in English - is geared more for people who plan to travel on the Shanghai Maglev, than for a student. Cool graphics.

"maglev train shanghai complete video presentation"

wowiejunior, YouTube (June 8, 2006)
video, 5:35

Cruising speed? 267 miles an hour. Distinctly subsonic, but for a land vehicle ("flying at zero altitude"): impressive. Particularly for a walk-around-inside passenger service.

Part of the narration: "...a city with a proud tradition, but always open to the new...." presents an idea I think Americans could seriously consider.

The video reminds me of America, before the sixties. But that's another topic.

Fashion Designers: Who Designs What the Rest of Us Wear?

"I see you’ve been shopping in Paris, Lamar…"
Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (January 23, 2010)

"Dear Mr. Basler:

"It's me again, the actual attorney representing some men's fashion designers. You will recall that my clients are outraged at the biased way you cover their industry, always making it appear their creations are not something regular guys would wear.

"Yeah, I remember you. Last week you demanded that I run the last three men's fashion pictures from our photo wire, which I did, and they were beyond hideous. What's eating you now?

"My clients are furious that those three photos were from a Fashion Week in BRAZIL. That's hardly fair.

"So now, we DEMAND that you visit a more cosmopolitan, sophisticated fashion venue.

"We DEMAND photos from Paris fashion week. Then, you'll truly see men's clothing designed with taste and finesse. My clients are waiting...."


(from REUTERS/Benoit, via Oddly Enough, used w/o permission)
"Models present creations by British designer John Galliano as part of his Fall-Winter 2010/2011 men's fashion show in Paris January 22, 2010. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier"

Then, there's the photo of a creation from Berlin Fashion Week January 22, 2010.

As I've said about one or two other phenomena: You can't make this sort of thing up, folks.

Related posts:

• "More Fashion Weirdness: You Can't Make This Stuff Up"
  (January 22, 2010)
• "Sustainable High Fashion?"
  (March 17, 2009)

Diane de Poitiers' Elixir of Youth: Side Effects Include Death

Odds are, you've already seen this: it's one of those weird news stories that everybody, from the Tri-City Herald to WJAC.

"Study: Too much drinkable gold for king's mistress"
The Associated Press (December 17, 2009)

"A British medical journal has published findings saying a mistress of 16th-century French King Henry II may have died from consuming too much drinkable gold.

"When French experts dug up the remains of Diane de Poitiers last year, they found high levels of gold in her hair. Since she was not a queen and did not wear a crown, scientists said it was hard to see how jewelry could have contaminated her hair and body...."

Odds are, a sort of "drinkable gold" killed her. It was a sort of youth-preserving medical treatment that was popular at the time - for women with enough disposable income to afford the stuff.

The Associated Press isn't known for playing practical jokes on its clients, but I did a little checking, anyway. Sure enough, "drinkable gold" was a sort of elixir of youth at one time. Toxic, ineffective, and ultimately lethal: but popular.

Notes on Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 3
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

"...Drinkable gold is "a preparation of nitro-muriate of gold deoxydized by some volatile oil, formerly esteemed as a cordial medicine; drinkable gold." See Johannes Agricola's Treatise on Gold 4...."

That link to "Treatise on Gold 4" leads to:

"Joannes Agricola - Treatise on Gold"
Chapter 4.
The Alechemy Website

"Another Process for the Preparation of Oil of Gold

"Take purified gold, 2 Lots; quick silver, 8 Lots. Make of them an amalgam such as goldsmiths make when trying to gild. Put this ground gold in a leather and dry the quicksilver off it...."

Don't laugh. Alchemy started out as a serious - and useful - study of materials. The basic designs of beakers, crucibles, and most other glassware you see in chemistry labs today were the work of alchemists.

Then, alchemists discovered that they could get the equivalent of government grants if they said they could turn lead into gold. Or, in this case, preserve youth.

Better Ideas From France: A Hamster Cage for Humans

"Getting away from the rat race?"
Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (November 11, 2009)

"These days, lots of readers come to me and say, 'Bob, we’re tired of staying in luxury hotels when we travel. We would prefer to experience what it's like to be a small rodent.'


(French architect Frederic Tabary, from Oddly Enough, used w/o permission)

"Really? You get that a lot?

"All the time. So I tell them about 'Hamster's Villa,' over there in France, where for $148 you can sleep in the 18th century caretaker’s room designed to give the impression of living in a hamster’s cage, complete with a six-foot wheel to run in...."

Actually, it looks fun. I'm not sure I'd wear the hamster hat, though.

And, for people with that kind of disposable income, "Hamster's Villa" looks like a fun way to get a little exercise, and get some (possibly long-overdue) play time in.

More ideas - good, dubious, and strange - at "Better Ideas From ... "

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.

The French Revolution's Calendar: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

"Sept. 22, 1792: Day 1 of Revolutionary Calendar"
This Day in Tech, Wired (September 21, 2009)

"1792: It's 1 Vendémiaire of An I in the French Revolutionary Calendar, the first day of the first month of the first year of the First Republic of France. It’s the day the National Convention proclaimed France a republic, but no one would know about the new system of marking time for another year, when the calendar was imposed retroactively.

"When people who study the French Revolution read about the Uprising of Vendémiaire or the Insurrection of 12 Germinal An III, most simply scratch their heads and wonder, Vendémiaire? Germinal? An III? What's that all about?

"Few ever bother to learn what these dates mean. In fact, they are part of the French Republican Calendar, aka Revolutionary Calendar, which replaced the Gregorian Calendar in France from 1793 to 1805...."

We got quite a bit out of the French Revolution: the metric system of measurement; demonstrations that the guillotine was useful for whacking off heads in wholesale lots; and a career-changing opportunity for a Corsican whose name provided psychologists with the catchy name, "Napoleon complex."

Ah, those were heady years.

It must have seemed such a good idea at the time. All the revolutionaries did was:

• Overthrow the king
  • Happened all the time in Europe's feudal period
• Break into churches
  • Hardly a new idea - this was the late 1700s
• Smash religious statues
  • It'd worked so well for the Lord Protector, about a century before
• Put a nattily-dressed serious thinker who said terror was a virtue necessary to maintaining the state in charge of the whole blowout

Hey, what could possibly go wrong?

Anyway, the Wired article gives chapter and verse of a new-and-improved calendar (now without those horrid religious holidays!). That lasted a lot longer than many enemies of the state did.

Eventually, France pulled itself back together - with help from that Corsican I mentioned - and went back to using that boring old Gregorian calendar.

One of the features that appealed to me in the 'revolutionary' calendar was putting the start of the year at a logical point in the annual cycle: at the autumnal equinox.

That's a nifty feature. Although if it had caught on, the new calendar wouldn't have stayed in line with Earth's equinoxes. Precession and all that, you know.

The calendar had 12 months of 30 days each. I know: That left them five days short. The slack was taken up by five festivals: one each for Virtue, Genius, Labor, Opinion and Rewards. Groovy.

You Think Daylight Saving Time is Bad? Try Metric Days

Finally:

"...Revolutionaries even attempted a metric day of 10 hours of 100 minutes each of 100 seconds each. With 100,000 seconds per day, this metric second was about 14 percent shorter than the one we know, of which 86,400 make a complete day...."

Plumpiemousie - an Endearing Home Page

Plumpiemousie

"One day I realized I could fly away...
So I sat down in front of my computer and created
my FIRST BLOG...
Up to now I've never stopped...such fun !
I've created all the blogs you can see on this front page underneath...Alexiabeille, Sisabeille...etc ...are mine...they're all parts of my own self...
Click on the GREEN LINKS to open them..."

"Dear friends,
My English blogs aren't updated regularly...difficult to work on so many ! but don't hesitate to visit the French ones...The home page is underneath...
and thanks for being so faithful !!!
Love from Mousie"

"Endearing" is probably the best word to describe this blog. Or metablog. "Sweet" might do, too. What comes first is a sort of introduction to the blogger's god-mother, an imaginary dwarf, "living deep inside libraries and bookshops?", Grandma Mousie, and others.

You'll get more out of recent posts by this blogger if you understand French - but I'd say it's worth visiting just for the whimsy of the home page.

Henri Matisse: a Pretty Good Set of Biographical Information

Henri Matisse
Answers.com

• Born: 31 December 1869
• Birthplace: Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France
• Died: 3 November 1954
• Best Known As: French artist and leader of the Fauve movement

"Henri Matisse is considered the most important French artist of the 20th century and, along with Pablo Picasso, one of the most influential modernist painters of the last century. Matisse began studying drawing and painting in the 1890s. A student of the masters of Post-Impressionism, Matisse later made a reputation for himself as the leader of a group of painters known as Les Fauves. An ironic label given to them by a critic (it means "wild beasts"), the name reflected Matisse's aggressive strokes and bold use of primary colors...."

That's how the Answers.com page on Henri Matisse starts. Most of the information's what you'll pick up elsewhere online - although Answers.com has, I think, one of the more thorough and accessible collections of text and pictures.

I was particularly interested in a paragraph at the end of Answers.com's copy of a Wikipedia page:

"...Henri Matisse's grandson, Paul Matisse, is an artist and inventor living in Massachusetts. Matisse's great granddaughter Sophie Matisse is active as an artist in 2009. Les Heritiers Matisse functions as his official Estate. The U.S. copyright representative for Les Heritiers Matisse is the Artists Rights Society...."

The links on Answers.com led back to Answers.com pages (fair enough - they like to generate internal traffic). I did a quick search and found the URL for Artists Rights Society: arsny.com.

Arsny?!

Artists Rights Society uses the acronym ARS - probably inspired by "ars longa, vita brevis", attributed to Hippocrates: or, 'Life is fleeting, but art endures.' ("The Trouble with Art" Ronald R. Thomas) And ARS is in New York City: N. Y.: so a good, memorable URL for the outfit is arsny.com - until someone pronounces it.

Getting back to Henri Matisse.

I was glad to learn that his descendants, some of them, are keeping up the sort of creative work that Henri Matisse did.

'Drinking the Stars' - Dom Pérignon, Advertising, and Facts

"Aug. 4, 1693: Dom Pérignon 'Drinks the Stars' "
This Day in Tech, Wired (August 3, 2009)

"1693: Champagne is said to have been invented on this day by Dom Pierre Pérignon, a French monk. It almost certainly isn't true.

"Because Dom Pérignon lived at the Benedictine abbey in Hautvillers at the time of his 'invention,' the village in France's Champagne region, not far from Èpernay, is generally regarded as the birthplace of the bubbly.

"But like many historical claims, the night they invented champagne appears more fanciful than fact. Sparkling wine certainly existed before Dom Pérignon arrived on the scene, although it would be unrecognizable today as champagne. But whether he invented the champagne method single-handedly is doubtful.

"This much is true, though: He made an enormous contribution by developing the technique that finally produced a successful white wine from red wine grapes, something vintners had been trying to accomplish for years. That was a major step toward the development of modern champagne, probably the major step...."

This Wired article gives a pretty good overview of what Dom Pérignon contributed to the development of champagne - and what he didn't. That "drinking the stars" remark, it seems, goes back to an advertisement published a couple centuries after Dom Pérignon's time, for example.

It's got some factoids of the sort I enjoy seeing: like the name Champagne coming from Latin campania, used by Romans because the land there resembles that of Campania, south of Rome.

The Storm - Fancy Footwork and Fine Art

"The Storm"
Pierre-Auguste Cot, oil on canvas, 1880
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

"This painting was commissioned from the artist in 1880 by Catharine Lorillard Wolfe under the guidance of her cousin John Wolfe, one of Cot's principal patrons. When it was exhibited at the Salon that year, critics speculated about the source of the subject...."

In my considered opinion, this work was inspired by Daphnis and Chloe by Longus - a Greek romance recorded sometime around 200 A.D.; or something else.

I also think that, from the position of their legs, their feet are going to get seriously tangled in less than a second.

Still, it's a cool painting.

And, apparently, the inspiration of a science fiction story. Which is another topic.

Sort-of-related post:

• "Where do Writers Get Their Ideas?"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (August 7, 2009)

Better Ideas From France: Naturists as Diet Plan Assistants

"Presenting the butt-naked diet?"
Oddly Enough Reuters blog (August 6, 2009)

"People often say to me, 'Bob, how do you stay so thin?'

"Of course they’re just being sarcastic and cruel, but it happens I am on an unusual diet these days, and expect to be ready for a Cape Cod beach vacation by November.

"My secret? I've gone on the 'Live with saggy naked people diet.'

"It's easy. You just live for a few weeks in a resort for 'naturists,' which is what wrinkly naked people call themselves these days, and you go where they go...."

I was born in the Truman administration, so I think of people like this as "nudists."

I think it's a bit inaccurate to refer to all naturists/nudists/whatever as "saggy naked people' - but the writer has a point.

First, since it's possible that you have, for philosophical or other reasons, decided to walk around without clothes now and again: try not to be offended. Nudism / naturism / or whatever is a bit off the 50th percentile when it comes to lifestyle - and that sort of thing does, like it or not - get noticed.

Naturists in the photo I linked to aren't that badly out of shape, actually: there's another photo, showing a number of them (mercifully from the rear) lined up at a food counter that makes the writer's point a bit better. For people living in the early years of the Information Age, they're in reasonably good condition.

People Wear Clothes for a Reason

But they're also walking demonstrations for why the rest of us wear clothes. Aside from giving us a measure of protection against solar-heated auto seats, sharp corners, and the jolt of ultraviolet radiation you'll get in sunlight.

I know: humans are slightly photosynthetic: we use UVB to make vitamin D. That's EM radiation with wavelengths between 320 and 280 nanometers. Sunlight is good for you, and it damages your skin after a while.

I've got the same genetic melanin deficiency that those naturists have, so although I see to it that I get a few minutes exposure most days, I don't try to get a 'healthy tan.'

And, judging from the distinctly pasty look of some of the naturists, neither do they. Smart people.

Those photos were taken at the Heliomarin Centre in Montalivet, France, according to the blog.

And, getting back to the topic of that post: you're not very hungry now, are you? See? It works!

More ideas - good, dubious, and strange - at "Better Ideas From ... "