[better technology required] ufo crashes in siberia

An unidentified flying object has crashed in Krasnoyarsk Region, Siberia, causing a forest fire, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Friday.

The crash took place in the taiga between the towns of Yeniseisk and Lesosibirsk, the agency said, quoting the local Interior Ministry Directorate. The crash was reported by local villagers and traces of forest fire could be seen. Air traffic officials said that no aircraft were scheduled to fly in the region at the time of the crash and no air vessels were missing.

A group formed of police investigators, representatives of the Transport Prosecutors Service and representatives of the aircraft safety watchdog Rosavianadzor has started to the site of the crash from Krasnoyarsk. The Local Emergencies Directorate has sent a helicopter to the site.

This is not good enough.

This blog feels that 1] these alien life forms should be required to submit documentation, in triplicate, on air safety standards compliance and craft reliability before entering terrestrial airspace; 2] should cease attempted abductions of terrestrial lifeforms henceforth until approval is granted 3] as this is a clear case of threat from alien sources [hostile], all citizens should report to their local ARP shelter Monday morning for implantation of the bio-data ID verichip in their right forearms.

[grimm tale] little red riding hood

One afternoon a big wolf was waiting in a dark forest for a little girl to come along carrying a basket of food to her grandmother. Finally a little girl did come along and she was carrying a basket of food.

'Are you carrying that basket to your grandmothers?' asked the wolf. The little girl said yes, she was. So the wolf asked her where her grandmother lived and the little girl told him and he disappeared into the wood.

When the little girl opened the door of her grandmother's house she could see that there was somebody in bed with a nightcap and nightgown on.

She approached no nearer than three metres from the bed when she saw that it was not her grandmother at all but the wolf, for even in a nightcap a wolf does not look the least like anybody's grandmother. So the little girl took an automatic pistol out of her basket and shot the wolf dead.

Moral. It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be.

James Thurber:Fables for Our Time [adapted]

[london olympics] just who should foot the bill

Lady Ellee asks: Should UK taxpayers pay towards the Olympics? Is it fair that London taxpayers should bear the full brunt of the astonomical costs for the 2012 Olympics, a national event that will benefit other parts of the country too?

Teri says: Here’s the sticking point Elle: It’s in London. If it had been somewhere like the Midlands or in the North then maybe a large number of people would agree that it’s fair to distribute the cost.

james higham says: It’s a good point about the dweller in the north. He’s hardly likely to get down and see them but on the other hand, he’ll bask in the national glory. I don’t know if it should be national or city. What about the expats too? Don’t they reap some of the radiated glory?

[food & wine] red wine, mediterranean diet, as we thought

New research from the William Harvey Research Institute and the University of Glasgow shows that red wines from areas of greater longevity in southwest France and Sardinia have higher levels of procyanidins - a type of flavonoid polyphenol with potent protective effects on blood vessels.

The team tested wines from two specific regions in southwest France and Sardinia, associated with increased longevity, to see if they differed to wines sourced from other countries across the world. The 'traditional' wines revealed surprisingly high levels of procyanidins, with often five to 10 times more than some new world wines.

Welshcakes Limoncello said… "Vino vecchio ed olio nuovo" = "old wine and new olive oil" - that's what they say the secret is here, James.

Forbes agrees: people who eat a "Mediterranean" diet rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes, cereals and fish have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers report. Another study finds that taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements slows cognitive decline in some patients with very mild Alzheimer's disease.

"It seems that this diet is [health] protective," Scarmeas said. "Taking into account that this diet is protective for other conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, obesity and a series of cancers, it seems to make sense to follow this diet anyway, and the diet may also protect from Alzheimer's disease."

It all seems pretty clear to me.

[freedom of speech] assault on the blogosphere gains momentum

Chicken Yoghurt has an important post on the freedom to blog and that many bloggers can’t see how they can be shut down if their host is offshore. CY refers to the Prime Minister’s senior policy adviser, his former press secretary and the director of the Press Complaints Commission and their views on what they’d like to do to the blogosphere. Also, former US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich:

“This is a serious, long-term war,” Gingrich added, “and it will inevitably lead us to want to know what is said in every suspect place in the country. It will lead us to learn how to close down every Web site that is dangerous.”

War? Yes, it is indeed a war and you can just see the wheels turning in their minds. At the moment they can’t touch the blogosphere so they’ll soon resort to the good ’ole Hegelian thesis-antithesis, translated into layman’s terms as: 1] create a crisis 2] raise cries from the populace to solve the crisis 3] step in with your pre-packaged solution which achieves your true aim.

The blogosphere is the only place left where the long term goals of these very dangerous people who purport to lead the country can be exposed. We still have the freedom for now but the Google shutdown last evening perfectly illustrated how tenuous is our ability to communicate with each other. The plug can be pulled at any time.

[space shuttle] haute cuisine out of this world

Space shuttle Discovery, meant to launch Dec. 7, will carry Thai chicken and two other dishes devised by Food Network star and TV talk show host Rachael Ray. She made the astonauts' meals in NASA's kitchens, the first from a food celebrity to fly on the shuttle. The meals will make "a nice … psychological twist for our crewmembers," says NASA food systems manager Vickie Kloeris.

Space station astronauts have already sampled Emeril Lagasse's jambalaya and mashed potatoes with bacon, devoured on the station in August. German station resident Thomas Reiter told Lagasse, famous for his New Orleans-style fare, that it was "perfect" for satisfying the crew's "longing … for spicy food."

Most of the shuttle food is freeze-dried or heat-treated and can last for months - freeze-dried shrimp cocktail and irradiated steak for example. Ray's dishes, which were cooked at NASA's kitchens, will get eaten despite the astronauts' tendency to skip meals because they'll go in the fresh-food tray, which holds perishables such as fruit and favorite snacks of the crew's choice.

Appearing on Ray's talk show in October, Discovery commander Mark Polansky, an avid cook, pronounced Ray's chicken "great." The crew can also dig into treats from crewmate Christer Fugelsang, the first Swede to fly in space: ginger cookies and moose pâté. More here.