[historical accuracy] storm brews over what is being taught

There are certain issues which do not grab the immediate attention. They seem too abstruse, too far removed from our focus of interest and yet they really are deserving of our attention because of the ramifications if we do not focus on them.

One such issue is history. History is written by the winners, yes; and history is also written by the unrepresented, who then ... read more and comment here.

[cosmos] how many planets are there - really

8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or 53?

According to Hubble:

Our solar system officially has nine planets and one star: the Sun. In order from the Sun out, the planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The discovery of an object larger than Pluto in 2005 rekindled the debate over whether such objects, belonging to the "Kuiper Belt" - a collection of icy bodies located beyond Neptune - should be called planets. Pluto itself belongs to the Kuiper Belt.

On Sunday, July 31st, 2005, CNN’s Sara Weisfeldt and Kate Tobin ran an item which questioned the 9 ... read more and comment here.

[film] emmanuelle beart bares her soul

At the time of Claude Chabrol's 1994 drama about a jealous husband who suspects his ravishing young wife of having an affair, Chabrol said Emmanuelle Beart had "the face of an angel and the body of a whore". This comment has dogged her ever since and she sighs each time she hears it.

"In France, the public has this image of me as very sexual. I am always fighting against that. This is just one of ... read more and comment here.

[holy smoke] signs of the times or just bad luck

I just can’t get over Oliver Kamm’s comment, to paraphrase and interpret him, about bloggers being derivative and using the main stream media’s pieces for their own commentary and opinions.

I detest doing this and the only way around it I can see is to access multiple sources and build an article of my own, as the mainstream usually does. But not always. How many pieces have you seen with AP or Reuters tags?

Anyway, this one is news this morning and there are no other sources, so I’ll have to run it as is. Sorry.

A monster lightning strike, captured by a Sydney Morning Herald reader during a freak storm in the city yesterday, narrowly missed luxury yachts owned by the likes of Nicole Kidman but almost wiped out a yellow sloop moored at ... read more here and comment.

[world] hezbullah move on to their next step

Three Hezbul Mujahideen terrorists belonging to Barmullah in the Kashmir valley supposedly joined the CRPF and were put on duty outside Manmohan Singh's official residence on Race Course Road, an unnamed Indian news channel claimed on Tuesday night.

The antecedents of the three were discovered in an investigation of a carbine which went missing from the Prime Minister's residence in 2004. Head constable Raj Kumar was later compulsorily retired, while the three terrorists ... read more and comment here.

[off their brains] political correctness gone mad again

As one of the supposed beneficiaries, one has to just shake the head and wonder at the mindset of the people in control of things:

Broadland Council bosses in Norfolk, England, are planning to axe long-service awards for staff - in case they are accused of being ageist when new laws come into force in October that make it illegal to discriminate against someone on the grounds of how old or young they are.

What! Is that really how people spend their time now - dreaming up this sort of drivel?

[health and living] one way to avoid a heart attack pt 1

Does the fact that you’re currently reading this indicate that I’m a cyber-junkie?

Does the fact that my computer-geek mate asking me, the day before yesterday, what the hell I’d done to the configurations indicate a techo-phile?

What about my VW from a few years back – sitting on 205 tyres and flared arches, big-bore, extraction, stabilizers, pre-amp and amp, surround sound system – does that indicate a frenetic brain?

Or tearing through the forest with a Halda occupying the glove compartment and the navigator beside me having just given me a wrong turn and the nose 270 degrees up an embankment causing a four car pile up behind me – what does that indicate? ... read more and comment here.

[world] sharp practice in high places in canada

I love this one, not so much for the shenanigans it uncovers, which appear to be the same the world over but for the way Daniel Leblanc, of the Globe and Mail [Toronto] writes it up:

When two-high ranking federal advisers left Ottawa for London in June, the stated purpose was to learn about British experiments in public-private partnerships. But the outcome was far less clear-cut, leaving officials scrambling for damage control.

“A number of London people who are important to Canada were not at all pleased,” a federal source said ... read more and comment here.

[mr. badger asks] any problems with these notices

• In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not to read notis.

• In another Japanese hotel room: Please to bathe inside the tub.

• In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

• In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk

Read twelve more notices and comment here.

[life] part two of dr phillip mcgraw's 10 lifelaws

Part 1 of this article was run on Thursday, August 10th, comprising a paraphrasing of the first 5 of Dr. Phillip McGraw’s 10 life laws. This is the second part:

Lifelaw 6 - There is no reality, only perception. We all view the world through individual filters - our personalities, attitudes, points of view - which influence ... read more and comment here.