Portmanteau.

A Buddhist Trip Through Bangkok.
Worth a quick look just for the pics.
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/thanong/2009/04/24/entry-1

You know it’s a funny thing but I talk to a lot of people and almost all of them believe in some benevolent power. They’ll often be willing to talk about Back Holes and whether the Universe suffers from Alzheimer’s; losing information into the Hole never to be seen again.
However, most believe in Balance, that for everything you lose you gain something else.

It’s probably that all the people who believe the latest scientific theories are too busy hiding inside their Ipods (or whatever they’re called) to want to chat.
I don't believe that many people really believe all those crazy theories it's just that the media wants us to believe they do ;O)

In the end I’ve come to believe that most of these theories come from failed SciFi writers who can’t write anything interesting so they become theoretical scientists and get paid for their science fiction that way.

I’m not talking about the boffins who bring us new technology, who actually have theories that have practical applications.

I mean those guys who talk about exploding nothings, curving space (but nothing to curve), and life springing into existence by accident.
The same guys who have told us that life is simply Evolution, without ever attempting to explain where the rules of evolution come from.

Here’s a 42” widescreen colour TV, son of a 32” widescreen colour TV. Son of a 26” colour TV, son of a 22” black and white TV, son of a…
yes, we get it, survival of the fittest.

People buy what people want and if you don‘t adapt you‘re dead. But why do animal evolve? They just like to keep up with the latest fad?

Talking monkeys this week, flying pigs the next? If it’s really to do with the most successful procreators it’s no wonder that the average IQ seems to be dropping alarmingly… but it makes you wonder why rabbits don’t rule the world ;O)

Updates on the virus.
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16350697

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16362277

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16370341

You know it makes you wonder if all these polls they have nowaday are deeply squewed simply by the type of person who bothers to respond.

I noticed a "Who's Your Favourite George?" poll recently.

There were about 8 options but I was certain it would be between George Harrison (late Beatles' lead guitarist) and
George Clooney (actor, heart-throb and political activist).

George from ASDA won!???

Mine is Formby.

Ah, the master of syncopation! If he'd been on the list he might have won, Ewan - but not in an internet poll perhaps.

Those were the days, when the boy next door could lean on a lamp-post and, without glamour or good looks, play his ukulele well enough to become a film star.

I suspect I must have meant skewed in my earlier post but I like squewed - there something pointed about it ;O)

Facebook tips...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROYzrm5SBM

Donkey grips...

http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/thebigdebate/Frenzied-dog-is-fou...

Heartwarming somehow.

Almost forgot.
After saying I never meet any scientists on my travels I met three today.

Very good discussions, particularly with the last chap, who realised my thoughts on the aether were similar to those of Neils Bohr. Of course I've had to add a few ideas :O)

I think that either Borh or Einstein might have found similar answers had they not believed that an aether makes no practical difference and applied Occam's Razor.

In the end, that was their biggest mistake, the aether makes all the difference in the world :O)

Mind you, I think it adds weight to my arguments now that I have discovered that Tesla also said:
"How can NOTHING be CURVED!?" bright man our Nikola!

While I'm at it...
I was surprised that my earnest scientist hadn't come across Zeno's paradoxes.

The one of most interest to the aether theory is a lovely example of the relationship between the discrete and the continuous.

I can't remember exactly how Zeno framed it but this will give you the idea.
Imagine you are stood on a bridge and you drop a stone into the water.
Well, actually you drop the stone but it never reaches the water... why not?

Because to reach the water the stone has to fall half the distance, and then again half the remaining distance, etc.

So like a frog that always jumps half the remaining distance to the middle of a pond it never gets there.

Mathmatically speaking it's like trying to get to 2 by adding 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8... etc, you can get as near as you like but you never get there.

Now, that's not the whole argument, the clincher is that Zeno argued that it was an infinite set and that since each member took a finite time then the journey of the stone to the water was an infinite one.

So why does the stone hit the water?
Because the Universe is NOT continuous, it is discrete, there is a point at which there is no halfway anymore and the stone hits.

If there is no Aether what is discontious?
How can NOTHING be discrete?

So if you search for Absolutes what is the absolute minimum?
Yes, you know don't you Mr Scientist because it already has a value.
The size of the absolute minimum nothing; what's the length of a Planck? 16.163×10^−36 metres - only in a square world perhaps :O)

What is thirteen going on fourteen?
Why the Universe of course - if you believe that we can possibly know what was happening 13.7 billion years ago.
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16532757
Maybe the LHC only cost seven billion dollars but what's the electricity bill? How many people need to swap to low wattage light bulbs to offset that? http://www.abctales.com/story/mangone/light-dark

If you're one of those who believes everything that scientist say here's a book that's NOT for you.
It tells the story of Jan Hendrik Schön whose lies were so influencial that their repercussions still reverberate through the physics community.
"How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World!"

How did he get away with it for so long and why haven't you heard about it?
Maybe because it might make you wonder just how much of modern physics is founded on theories which DO NOT FIT THE FACTS!

"Why did so many top experts, including Nobel prize-winners, support Schön?" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0230224679/ref=dp_p...

More examples of expensive scientific frauds: http://www.nasw.org/users/essreich/

First we are told that we will all have to have ID cards, now, every UK home will have a 'smart meter'!

It will save meter readers from coming - which they rarely do anyway - and perhaps it will be able to cut you off without access to your supply.
But can anyone see how calculating how much energy you are using will save 2.6 million tons of CO2?

At an estimated cost of 7 billion quid isn't that almost 3 thousand quid a ton?
How many trees would that grow to not only suck up the CO2 but give us cleaner air, a prettier environment and an increased sustainable wood source?

There are also rumours that GCHQ is monitoring all our Internet and telephone communications... is Big Brother brother Brown?

I notice Mr Milliband says that Gordon's big brain will get us out of this mess...
Maybe he'll sell the rest of our gold that's bound to help.
If only the economy was an expense sheet we'd be one of the richest countries in the world... or is that the poorest?

The curious phenomenon of young women dying in pairs has made another appearance, this time Thailand.
I first noticed it the other day when two were found dead in a 'chemical accident' that was later claimed as suicide.
Next two girls holidaying in Turkey and now these two who died about 8 days ago in Phi Phi Thailand.

Well, I suppose it goes in threes or it Opus Dei making sure :O)
I notice one of the Thai deaths was an American named Jill St. Onge.
The other, Julie Michelle Bergheim, was a Norwegian.
I'm not sure when the girls died in Turkey.

The only connection between cause of death that I can find at the moment is breathing problems ...
but the authorities are being very tight-lipped.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/05/11/thailand.mystery.deaths/index.html
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2009/may/12/bc-eu-britain-turkey-de...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5268845/Chemical-alert-after-two-...

They was all pirates. Arrrr!

Here's something 'they' don't want you to see!
http://seekingalpha.com/article/134820-the-worst-case-scenario-someone-h...

While Google goggles will Alpha assimilate :O)

Wolfram says his Alpha creation is not so much a search engine as a "computational knowledge engine."
Like a search engine, but users can pose complex questions.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/197894

Well worth watching how this progresses!
It seems Mykle was right - less than 12 months.
http://www.abctales.com/story/mykle/introduction-classylang

It was only when I started reading an old BBC news report from Jan 2007 about the 'Spanish flu' (which killed well over 40 million people) that I realised it was the same strain as the latest 'Swine flu', H1N1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6271833.stm

It seems that, to date, only about 8,500 people have been infected by the 'swine flu' and so far just 75 have died and yet millions upon millions of Tamiflu are being sold worldwide.

Interestingly although UK-based GSK make Relenza at less than half the price of Swiss-based Tamiflu it is little used because it has to be snorted.
The strange thing is that the use of Tamiflu has already produced H1N1 resistant strains - "There was resistance against a seasonal strain of H1N1, where Tamiflu was not effective for a certain number of people."
a Roche spokeswoman said. Hmmm...

"Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the 'Centers for Disease Control and Prevention' for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/health/09flu.html

So although it currently works for the 'swine flu' it is more or less certain that it is only a matter of time before resistant strains appear - especially if it is widely used.

In August 2005 an article in The Lancet claimed that Relenza was just as effective as Tamiflu and caused fewer side effects - since Tamiflu can trigger self-harm in youths it is difficult to see why we are stockpiling Tamiflu and not the UK-based GlaxoSmithKline product.
Mind you it seems Relenza can cause lung spasms and I'm sure that would be very unpleasant.
Maybe we should all get the 'mild version' of the flu now and just get it over with.

At least when Tamiflu inevitably stops working we should still have Relenza to fall back on.

It makes you wonder just how common these H1N1 viruses are and if the present one is related to the 1918 virus which had long since died out before Canadian scientists recreated it!

Epidemics.
1918 - H1N1
1957 - H2N2
1968 - H3N2
2003 - H5N1
2009 - H1N1?

Have you ever noticed how things seem to go in threes?
So I'm waiting for one more to say "Will you trust us please?"
We've had it from the bankers, we've had it from MP's
Will the third be doctors as flu brings us to our knees?

I spend several hours a day talking to people. Anyone and everyone who is over thirty and doesn't look down when I approach.
What I find is that the opinions we are offered as representative of modernity are in fact nonsense.
These 'opnions' are either those that the media wish to foist upon us or, perhaps, opinions of people who respond to internet opinion polls and know little of life beyond the computer screen.

Most people seem to believe in a 'benevolent power' but I do find the odd atheist and quite a few agnostics.

What almost everyone agrees on is that we have lost our way, as a society and as a player in the larger game.
The suprising fact is that there seems to be no concensus about who, or what, to blame.
Immigration, lack of morality, simple greed, alienation etc.
Strangely almost no-one seeks to blame the obvious culprits -
The Shepherds, the people who we have allowed to shape our collective destiny.

Why do the sheep always blame each other when it is obviously the leadership which has been to blame?
It's almost laughable the way people have reacted recently to the 'revelation' that some bankers and MP's are crooks - what a shock eh :O)

It is finally starting to dawn on people that maybe it isn't fair for some to be worth more than small countries while millions starve.
Isn't fair that rich crooks can steal millions and keep their jobs while poor crooks rot in over-crowded jails.

That it isn't right to run around the world killing some people we don't agree with and happily cheering when we get a good 'score' but don't do anything about places like Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Burma (Myanmar) which are far more our responsibility than Afghanistan or Iraq.

The Afghan government's claim of 140 civilian deaths in Farah would make it the single deadliest incident from an air strike since 2001.
The Americans are saying it was only 20 to 30.
Meanwhile NATO said that another 8 or so civilians were likely killed yesterday but hasn't claimed anybody else was.

Do you ever wonder why we are killing so many people in Afghanistan? Well, here it is:

The campaign against the Taliban began in late 2001 after the militants refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders wanted by the U.S. for the September 11 attacks on America.
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=147431180

Shows what I know - I thought all the Al Qaeda leaders were in Pakistan.

Maybe we should all simply blame ourselves because we pretend to believe them when they tell us - "We do it for YOU!"

~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~8~*~

Update - An Afghan government list claims 93 children, 25 adult women and 22 adult men died.

However, the U.S. military says too few graves were found at the site but admitted that the massive bombs dropped on the houses would make it difficult to examine any remains...
"We blew those buildings apart. There's not going to be much to bury.”
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=147434148

OK
A well articulated summary of the situation Mangone. It really does make one wonder who, if anyone, is in charge.

One, two, three, what are we fighting for?
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090601/reyes?rel=rightsideaccordian

A strain of the H1N1 'Swine flu' which is resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir) has been found in a flu patient in Thailand and plans are being made to switch to the alternative antiviral drug Relenza (zanamivir).

Makes you wonder whether the UK would admit to a similar strain here considering the size of our stockpile!

Oxford University researchers have published the results of a study which warns that Tamiflu can harm children and cause vomiting and consequent dehydration and hospital treatment.

The study suggests that children with 'Swine flu', who were otherwise healthy, would be safer not taking either Tamiflu or Relenza!

Dr Carl Heneghan a GP and Universtity lecturer said the research shows that the current policy of giving Tamifu to children was an inappropriate strategy in most cases as the drawbacks outweighed the benefits!

If you check out the benefits of Tamiflu when used to treat the present 'mild' strain of Swine Flu you might wonder if, in the majority of cases, it's a huge waste of money and a senseless strategy that will only hasten the spread of resistant strains!

When I was a small child I remember seeing American cartoons where villains in striped T-shirts wearing little black eye masks used to steal bags of money marked $$$.
I suppose English cartoons were the same but with the bags of money marked with three pound signs.
The reason I mention this is that there has long been controversy over the meaning of the number 666 and it has long been obvious to me that it is simply the number of money.

It is claimed that 666 is the number of the beast and that this beast is the source of all evil.
People have suggested that it stood for Rome but the Bible goes to great pains to state that "The LOVE of money is the ROOT of All EVIL"
As for the number of the beast on the forehead or on the hand it is simply those whose minds (head) or actions (hand) are controlled by the love of money!
Simple really, as it was meant to be. Nowadays we confuse cleverness with wisdom, education with knowledge and look for the ingenious when we should be looking for the obvious :O)

So how to recognize someone who loves money from someone who is simply lucky enough to have plenty... know a tree by its fruits.
If the greedy are still paying themselves huge bonuses while all around are struggling then it should be fairly obvious...
and we are forced to ask ourselves why is this allowed to continue???

This looks like a step in the right direction:
EU agrees on bonus claw-back call http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8260238.stm

Meanwhile scientists are suggesting that we build mechanical trees to help solve the growing problem of how to capture and store carbon...
it begs the question of what's wrong with natural trees? Perhaps it is simply that there is no great glory or profit in using the obvious -
or maybe the wild fire problem is getting so wide spread that only mechanical trees are deemed a safe investment.

Yesterday, I mentioned my theory that Julius Caesar was assassinated by the Illuminati http://www.abctales.com/forum/2009/09/16/handy-sequel-generator
and it set me thinking...
didn't they use the same trick then as they still use today?
Convince people that it is their patriotic duty to kill so as to preserve Democracy :O)
Et tu...

Makes one wonder how far 'they' would go if Obama gets too many new ideas.

Yes, but I think Obama's popularity will probably have to wan a lot before 'they' (and there could be several 'theys') decide to take drastic action.

Interestingly, I came across an old article which reminded me once again how different the world would probably have been if Al Gore had been president.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2277698.stm - 'Mr Gore is now accusing Mr Bush of trying to replace international law with the notion that there is no law but the discretion of the president of the United States.'

Without Bush it's doubtful if Blair would have been made into the Middle East envoy and achieved this... http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/18/tony-blair-israeli-award

In fact he'd probably never have been welcomed by the pope into the RC church and certainly not have founded the Blair Faith Foundation : http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-god-blog/2009/09/faith-foundation-....
Sholto Byrnes asks "If his faith is so important to him, why did he wait until he left Downing Street to convert to Catholicism?"

Talking about Obama, this article simply, yet beautifully, captures the state of play in Obama's attempt to reform the bankers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/why-obama-wont-be-able-...

I found a few references to the 18 year sentence given to Da Torpedo, Chuck.

Most of them are too provocative to risk giving a link to but The Bangkok Post serves the bare facts without comment.

It's not explicit in the link but I take it 15 years is the longest you can get for a single Lese Majeste offense
Her 18 year sentence was for 3 seperate charges, relating to 3 speeches she made... she was given 6 years for each.
Makes you wonder what the penalty is for murder in Thailand...
I suppose that too depends on what colour T-shirt you wear!

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/152894/18-years-in-jail-for-da-tor...

I see His Majesty is back in hospital. Wonder if the equation will change much without him?

I doubt it will have and major effect, Chuck.
Fortunately the word is that His Majesty is not seriously ill and we all hope He will be better soon!

It is important to stress that it is NOT His Majesty The King who makes charges of Lese Majeste, in fact almost anyone can do that and it is up to the courts to decide whether the accused are guilty or not.

However, the King often pardons people who are convicted of Lese Majeste.

I have a bad case of majestic lesions. Is there an ointment you can recommend? Or are you talking about the games monkeys play as if they were real things?

Since majestic lesions is a problem that effects potatoes you could try selling your couch!
I recommend medicinal compound (Lilly The Pink's).

As for Box monkeys - what do they know of real?

I'd recommend an extended stay in Thailand. Everything will become clear.

Good Idea, Chuck, I'll be there tomorrow :O)
Ah, you probably mean Steven.

Yes, I'd recommend an extended stay in Thailand for almost anyone who has the stamina to get there!

I have to amit that I'm something of a fan of Arianna Huffington.
I'm also a fan of Michael Moore and a sucker for love stories so this was right up my alley, or should that be wall street?

Capitalism: A Love Story...
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/barack-obama-must-see-m...

I don't really know much about the background to Buddhism - beyond the story of Siddhartha Gautama - but it seem to vary with Taoist, Hindu and many other influences adding to the literature.
I would be very grateful if anyone can assist me with a better understanding of Mara!

I find the biggest hurdle for me in totally accepting Buddhism is the lack of a Devil.
The Christian Satan seems to have developed from a friend of God's - who, if we are to believe what we read in Job, gets invited to a lot of God's parties - into an evil devil!

Buddhism has Mara who at first seems a relatively minor figure in mythology as the lord of the sixth heaven of the "desire realm" of the Triloka... (probably adapted from Hinduism).

Yet the Buddha indicated that the mind, mental states and mental consciousness are all declared to be Mara.
So Mara symbolizes the entire existence of unenlightened humanity
In other words, Mara's realm is the whole of samsaric existence that saturates every nook and cranny of life.
So, as in Christianity we are told that the Devil (Mara) is in charge of the Earth.
Mara, like Satan, seems to have grown in power over the years...

The Pali Canon explains :-

Mara behaves like a demon using deception, disguises, and threats.
He possesses people, and he uses all kinds of horrible phenomena to terrify or cause confusion.
Mara's most effective weapon is sustaining a climate of fear...
whether the fear be of drought or famine, death or disease, poverty or terrorism.

Identifying with a desire or fear tightens the knot that binds one to it and so strengthens its hold.
As the knots tighten People become controlled by their fears and desires.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, like the Devil, Mara tempts and terrifies.
Yet how have these two demons grown so much in power?
What spreads and strengthens their temptations and terrors?

The MEDIA???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talking about the media - I notice that Al Jazeera is still claiming that the Bush administration were selling arms off the back of the Iraq War… it makes you wonder if that was why Bush’s buddy was so keen on attacking Iraq as a means of venting the collective American spleen after 9/11.
Well, after all he was right… there were no good targets in Afghanistan - and no TV facilities to relay for broadcast the US Shock and Awe capabilities

Meanwhile, I notice that certain powerful media Israeli supporters have been using every possible excuse to attack Obama, especially on Fox news. Makes you wonder if Obama was chosen so that his administration could play the race card to counter the anti-Semitism card.

The fact that neither factors are really the issue and that it’s simply about money and power will probably never dawn on the vast majority of viewers who simply like to see their news presented to suit their prejudices.

As for Fox news I’m amazed that no-one seems to notice that it gets closer each day toward being the Republican’s answer to a glamorised Jerry Springer Show :O)
Still, if Jerry employed regular trailer trash ‘presenters’ to attack people they disagreed with on air then I suppose they would end up looking and sounding somewhat like Hannity before long.

I don't know how many of you have seen the 'documentary' film 'Food Inc' but I am interested in any thoughts as to whether anyone thinks that modern Democracy might have simply become an extention to the "Market".

I'm wondering if, in some form or other, people's votes are simply evaluated on a monetary basis and therefore the wishes of the many can be out weighed by a single rich vote.

In other words - has Capitalism transformed Democracy into a system in which the wants of the rich will always win over the needs of the poor???

I don't know why but I find this the funniest attempt at a scam I've ever received :-

United Nations Trust Funds Switzerland
Department of Humanitarian Affairs
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland.
::: YEAR 2009 EMAIL PRIZE AWARDS :::

Dear Winner, We at United Nations (UN) global office likes to officially Congratulate you for the draw that was just held by our organization which featured you as the second place winner.

Our organization holds promotions each year just to promote our Global publicity and reputations as we plan to exploit more corners of the world.

This promotion is just one of various ways we are presently using to Achieve this global vision of ours.
Your email address was luckily drawn to be this year's Second place winner a cash prize of $550,000 Usd. (Five Hundred And Fifty United State Dollas).

This money we believe will enable you makes some impact in the society.

small spuds. i had one from ban ki moon last week

So was mine, Peaceful, I just didn't want everyone to think I was name dropping :O)

When contacting the claims Officer you should include the following ***
Your Full Name:.........................*** Address:..................................***
Phone number:..........................*** Age:........................................*** Gender:....................................*** Occupation:..............................***
Winning email and Winning ID:.......***
Marital Status:...........................*** Country:...................................

We know you must be excited and very happy about this news you have just received from us and the truth is that we are doing this to put Smiles into homes and hearts of people worldwide.
Special greetings from the entire Staffs of United NationsTrust Funds Worldwide.
Signed, Mr. Ban Ki-moon (UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL.)

Do you ever wonder about change?

For instance why is Obama struggling to make good on his election promises?
It's because all things resist change!
If you go here http://www.answers.com/topic/inertia you will find this :-
2.Resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change: the inertia of an entrenched bureaucracy.

However, not much point in banging on about that as it will not make any difference.
So, instead I thought we might consider how difficult it is to get conventional wisdom to change.

I've argued long and loud that just because Newton found a working model of gravitation for our Soar System there was no reason to believe it would work Universally. It's like a child who has never been beyond the back garden assuming that the whole country is composed of lawns, flowers, garden huts and surrounding fences.

However the fact that the Universe is full of spiral galaxies which don't spin as predicted - absolutely nothing like as predicted - hasn't made the accepted wisdom change it has merely made them invent dark matter as an explaination.

The fact that CDM (cold dark matter) doesn't really explain the actual rotations either hasn't seemed to dampen the enthusiasm of its proponents who maintain it helps better explain other phenomenon like correctly predicting the results of gravitational lensing observations.

It just makes me wonder how much money and resources is being wasted trying to find phantoms to prop up obsolete theories which don't fit the evidence but have a huge amount of ego commited to them.

It wouldn't be so bad if there was actually any usefull end product but the best we can hope for is the slow synthesis of a new theory which, even if it is a much better fit with the actual data, will not really make any practical difference to anyone but the theorists who claim that all knowledge is important.

Can't we have more knowledge on how to fix the planet and reverse the global weather changes???

Once we've done that then these great minds can go back to inventing ever more unlikely explainations as to why their latest theories don't fit the facts... or of course they could bite the bullet and look for ones that do.

Ah yes, that's exactly how physics progresses. Scientists propose whatever they like the sound of and their friends all go along with it. Physics is just a ragbag of favourite ideas connected by social networking.

I believe you because my physics education ended somewhere pre-GCSE and I've tried to fill in the gaps by reading descriptive books from Amazon. I now believe I have some physics knowledge. What a ridiculous idiot I am.

http://www.abctales.com/story/mangone/diary-albe-altar-boy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for something completely different...

Reading David McAuley's Magic Roundabout Blues
http://www.abctales.com/story/davidmcauley/white-van-mans-magic-roundabo...
It occured to me that I often write silent songs
I never write then down so they are never finished and quickly fade.
I wonder if most people do this and it's the ones who do write them down who come here :O)

Here are a couple of examples from the last half hour...

Feelin' blue, sniffin' glue, stuck on you.
Fellin' high, wonderin' why, hello sky.
Hopin' you, will be true, Sweet sexy Sue.
Hopin' luck, will not suck, and we'll... have fun ;o)

If you ever need a shoulder I have two.
I'm reserving both exclusively for you
For I will always be there
To hold, to help, to share
For my darlin' you are all I want to do.

If you ever need a miracle I'm your prayer.
If you ever need a friend then I'll be there
If you ever need a light to illuminate your night
My Darlin' if you need me I'll be here.

If you ever need a hand to hold
When life is hard and nights are cold
If you ever need a rock then I'll be here!

That's really good Mangone. You're a natural lyricist.

That's extremely kind of you to say Brooosh!

I was walking through the park yesterday chatting to someone about the fall of man - the eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

I argued that it lost us Paradise because it saddled us with the tyranny of decision.
For many the agony of choice, of selecting the best option, of worrying that there may be a better solution which they have missed, takes up so much of their life that they don’t really have one!

I could see that the discussion would be endless and so I wondered off around the lake and, as usual the black swans came to pester me. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” they said.
I realised that it was about time I did… after all what’s the point of trying to perfect your dream?

Scientist have come up with a revolutionary new method of reducing the production of carbon dioxide.
“We’re simply removing oxygen from the air.“ said Arthur Boffin.
“We’ve only tried it out on a small scale yet but the results seem very positive so far” said another boffin.
“It’s possible that the process may have unforeseen drawbacks once we scale it up and go into global operation.” said Arthur “but we can deal with them as they arise.”

"Any acid left Arhtur?" ;O)

Update
Project scrapped after the government declare that a certain amount of oxygen is neccessary for a healthy diet.

"How can we expand the frontiers of science with such blinkered thinking?" questioned Arthur.

"No wonder these politicians stink they're all skunks." said the other boffin.

"Nah, there all brandy and cigar people... talking of skunk..."

Scientists revealed today that the world economic books are is in good shape after experts discovered that 95% of the world’s money supply had simply been converted into Black Dollars by “mark-to-model” derivatives. Of course Black Dollars are invisible and can only be detected by careful statistical analysis of the investment habits of high roller stock marketeers.

Toward this end CON has proposed a huge ABCD (American Black Cash Detector) which it is predicted will find the missing assets in less than 20 years.

The cost of the ABCD should be less than 7 billion dollars and - as the very same rocket scientists who helped develop Derivatives in the first place are on the team - the chances of success is statistically significant.

It is probable that running costs will be high but can we afford not to try?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is hypothetical matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.

Only about 4.6% of the mass of Universe is ordinary matter.
About 23% is thought to be composed of dark matter.
The remaining 72% is thought to consist of dark energy…

Sounds like an excellent idea to me Mangone. Perhaps the ABCDs could be bundled with some Credit Default Swaps? I'm sure there would be a market.

This bit has been added because Mangone edited his.

Yes, good thinking Chuck!

I'm betting on the LHC, it rekons it will help us learn more about the Big Bang - I'm sure it will... well, the survivors ;O)

Shouldn't think so David we'll all be too busy trying to be somewhere else!

Maybe we should build a better world or at least save the one we have before we contine to throw good money after bad on a machine that's so complex they can't get it to work - thank God!
If and when they do it will be time to get out of Europe...

I’m not sure how long they have been trying to get the LHC working but if you follow the link you will find this :-
“University of Geneva honours LHC project leader at 450th anniversary ceremony.”
http://www.lhc.ac.uk/latest-news.html
:O)

The LHC is not primarily about building a better world. Rather, it allows us to test theories and ideas about how the Universe works, its origins and evolution.
http://www.lhc.ac.uk/index.html

'Maybe we should build a better world or at least save the one we have before we contine to throw good money after bad on a machine that's so complex they can't get it to work - thank God!'

Let me guess....unpublished Einstein quote? (The typo gave it away).

I note that most ‘experts’ claim that gravity causes time dilation which means clocks run slower.
However since increased gravity compresses and increases acceleration, both of which would make a pendulum swing quicker, then it’s obvious that clocks must run faster unless inertia is also increased.
Being an aspect of relativity I expect that it simply appears that the clocks run slower to the lighter headed observer ;O)

;O)

Since when did you become my school master FTSE?

I don't mean to be impolite but why should I consider responding to your demands?

When Noah shouted to his friends to warn them of the flood
They all just simply laughed at him convinced that they were good.
Only bad men drown they thought and we haven’t been too bad
So when it started raining hard they just clung onto what they had.
Gold doesn’t float - they did not fare well; it was farewell to the lot…
For goodness is not what you are - so much as what you are Not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passes

You cannot drown out lust and greed
within us all that demon seed
Few are left who try to weed
even less those who succeed.

Time again for darkening skies
as Greedy grabs and Clever lies.
Fools who swallow their own shit
forgetting they invented it.
Once again the foolish think
that they won’t perish in the drink.
Just a harmless little song
they want us all to sing along.
“We are clever we are bright
we shine lanterns in the night.
There is no God; this planet‘s ours…
let’s burn the trees and pick the flowers!
Live for today, that‘s all there is…
religion is the old Show Biz’
Science is the only way -
unless it questions what we say.
For we are us and you are too
all we do - we do for you!"

We give you freedom,
give you votes,
give you TV’s,
give you coats

In return all we require
is that you feed the funeral pyre.
Kill the Earth with a plague of cars
then come with us and live on Mars.

Since you've quit being so persistent I will answer the first of your questions ( How soon after the LHC starts will we die).
I note you only have one story on ABC - 'Cat in my Garden'...
a deeply philosophical piece which aptly demonstrates your keen intelligence and scientific mastery.
Now if you take that cat and place it in the same predicament as schrodinger's cat how long will the cat survive?
Take that and time and cube it and put it in your favourite drink with a nice bit of lemon rind and there's your answer ;O)

Thank you!

Dark Matter as a function of human opinion is fairly simple - if enough people stop believing in the scientists who hypothesise it then it will quickly fade away.

If you read the blurb about the LHC you will find that it claims that it will help scientists fill in the blanks between modern theory and the Big Bang.
That is, they reckon they are sure what the Universe looked like in the very beginning and they reckon they know what it looks like now but they don’t know what happened in between.

I’m just one of those people who thinks you should work backward from where you are.
How can you know what the Universe looked like umpteen billions of years ago if you still don’t know what it looks like now. Sorry, of course they do know what it looks like it’s just that most of it is invisible!

You ask about Neutrinos well they were, in a strange way, the precursors to Dark Matter and Dark Energy as it was hoped that they would have mass and that would explain the 97% (or more) of the mass missing from the Universe (according to theory).
The latest theory is that they do have mass, probably, but it isn’t enough to make up more than the odd percent so it looks like we’re stuck in the Dark age until someone discovers Bright Matter ;O)

People never learn do they? Only very, very, intelligent people can see the Universe’s new clothes! But that's all of us isn't it?

The King is in the altogether , he’s altogether as naked as the day that he was born!
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/k/kingsnewclothesthe.shtml

Is there more to this video than meets the eye?

http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/11/03/breaking-news-bbc-bruiser-floors-drun...

Home or abroad?
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150647616

Home or abroad? It's a shame that Bush and his gangster cronies made the wost military blunder in history by leaving Afghanistan for Iraq, the Taliban would be another footnote. Well, I suppose that's arguable, there was Waterloo and Hitler's cracked notion to invade the Soviet Union. Looks like Mr. Howells would prefer to fight the Taliban in your neighboorhoods. Don't skimp on weapons, be serious and go fully automatic. We once had these minutemen...

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have devised a new, more accurate, method of counting which is based on more precise figures from 10 states.

The latest figures indicate that about 22 million Americans contracted the Swine flu virus in the last six months with some 98,000 hospitalised and it is estimated that 3,900 people have died including 540 children!

Your dream come true?

I have had bad dreams recently but they have been of floods and earthquakes, Dendrite.

I fear we are due a nightmare but I will be surprised if Swine flu is the main feature.

I see, point taken and something to think about.

Two NASA ‘spaceships’ were recently crashed into a luna crater called Cabeus in the hope of finding billion year old water.
It has been suggested that it could be used to sustain travellers…
“I’m just nipping to the moon for a quick pint of Old Loony but I won’t be long Flo!”
“I hope it isn’t going to cost The Earth Andy!”

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=150861908

"The barely visible plume knocked into the air..."?????
Good to know they've sorted an atmosphere - what next MacDonalds?