Friday, March 14, 2003

Sweaty Beast Update   (MSNBC News) "Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania said they found male perspiration had a surprisingly beneficial effect on women’s moods. It helps reduce stress, induces relaxation and even affects the menstrual cycle. ... In a study to be published in the journal Biology of Reproduction, researchers collected samples from the underarms of men who refrained from using deodorant for four weeks. The extracts were then blended and applied to the upper lips of 18 women, aged 25 to 45. " Yummy! "The findings suggested something in the perspiration brightened their moods and helped them feel less tense. ... Blood analyses also showed a rise in levels of the reproductive luteinizing hormone that typically surge before ovulation." That's it! I 'm swearing off deoderant. "There was no sign women were sexually aroused by male perspiration."   (SOURCE: Male sweat brightens women’s mood, msnbc.com) Never mind. 11:57:33 PM    comment [] The High Price of Bad Diplomacy   (Bruce Nussbaum)   “The U.S. has already lost the prewar battle over Iraq, whatever the outcome of a further U.N. vote. Even if it wins a fig-leaf majority vote in the Security Council, America will be entering its first preemptive war faced with opposition from nearly all of its allies and much of the rest of the planet. A world that rallied to America's side in unprecedented demonstrations of support after September 11 increasingly perceives the U.S. itself as a great danger to peace. How did things come to this? The failure of the Bush Administration to manage its diplomacy is staggering, and the price paid, even if the war ends quickly, could be higher than anyone now anticipates. The political effect of this foreign policy imbroglio is already obvious. It can be measured in tattered alliances and global tensions, eroding support for President George W. Bush, and big changes throughout the Middle East. What remains unclear are the economic consequences. In the end, they may be far more significant.” * * * “… Chief executives are beginning to worry that globalization may not be compatible with a foreign policy of unilateral preemption. Can capital, trade, and labor flow smoothly when the world's only superpower maintains such a confusing and threatening stance? U.S. corporations may soon find it more difficult to function in a multilateral economic arena when their overseas business partners and governments perceive America to be acting outside the bounds of international law and institutions.” (SOURCE:  The High Price of Bad Diplomacy , Business Week Online, via ip)   The article proceeds to detail the many foreign policy missteps of the current administration, describing how we have systematically alienated and insulted former friends and allies, and additionally pissed off long standing foes just for good measure. I mean, we may not like North Korea, but calling their Prime Minister a pygmy is probably not a good diplomatic move. Good reading, brief and incisive. And yet we will still have war, consequences be damned, quite possibly as soon as in a few days. 11:43:25 PM    comment [] Forbes Magazine: 5 Best Tech Blogs 1) Slashdot 2) TechDirt 3) Kuro5hin 4) Gizmodo 5) Reiter.weblogger.com 8:16:28 PM    comment [] I agree to this constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered. ... [It] can only end despotism, as other forms have done before it, when people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. Benjamin Franklin 7:55:57 PM    comment [] George W. Queeg (Paul Krugman) "Aboard the U.S.S. Caine, it was the business with the strawberries that finally convinced the doubters that something was amiss with the captain. Is foreign policy George W. Bush's quart of strawberries? Over the past few weeks there has been an epidemic of epiphanies. There's a long list of pundits who previously supported Bush's policy on Iraq but have publicly changed their minds. None of them quarrel with the goal; who wouldn't want to see Saddam Hussein overthrown? But they are finally realizing that Mr. Bush is the wrong man to do the job. And more people than you would think - including a fair number of people in the Treasury Department, the State Department and, yes, the Pentagon - don't just question the competence of Mr. Bush and his inner circle; they believe that America's leadership has lost touch with reality. If that sounds harsh, consider the debacle of recent diplomacy - a debacle brought on by awesome arrogance and a vastly inflated sense of self-importance. Mr. Bush's inner circle seems amazed that the tactics that work so well on journalists and Democrats don't work on the rest of the world. They've made promises, oblivious to the fact that most countries don't trust their word. They've made threats. They've done the aura-of-inevitability thing - how many times now have administration officials claimed to have lined up the necessary votes in the Security Council? They've warned other countries that if they oppose America's will they are objectively pro-terrorist. Yet still the world balks. * * * We all hope that the war with Iraq is a swift victory, with a minimum of civilian casualties. But more and more people now realize that even if all goes well at first, it will have been the wrong war, fought for the wrong reasons - and there will be a heavy price to pay. Alas, the epiphanies of the pundits have almost surely come too late. The odds are that by the time you read my next column, the war will already have started." (SOURCE: "George W. Queeg", New York Times)   I hate hate hate posting all these political screeds. I feel like I'm jumping on a bandwagon I have no real interst in being on. I am by nature a scholar, a technician of the sacred, and a traveler on the path, trying to keep my feet on the ground. (Don't really know what I mean there, but it sure sounds good) I have actually voted on occasion. But the times are forcing me to do these things, to raise my voice and bear witness to the times, to cry out in terror and disgust. It seems our ship of state hit an iceberg somewhere in the night and is gathering water deep in it's secret places. Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking, we are going down down down. How far we will go and what will be salvaged of this once proud vessel remains to be seen, but I have no doubt: We are in for some ugly and twisted days ahead. 7:54:49 PM    comment [] The Great Invocation From the point of Light within the mind of God Let light stream forth into human minds Let Light descend on Earth. From the point of Love within the Heart of God Let love stream forth into human hearts May the Coming One return to Earth. From the centre where the Will of God is known Let purpose guide all little human wills The purpose which the Masters know and serve. From the centre which we call the human race Let the Plan of Love and Light work out And may it seal the door where evil dwells. Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth. 1:21:02 PM    comment [] Happy Birthday Albert Einstein! "Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the moral universe within." Einstein archives "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals Himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings." Einstein for Kids "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Albert Einstein Picture Gallery "All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom." Einstein on Science and Religion "A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty... We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive." Einstein Biography and some Speeches "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker." Random Einstein Quotes Generator "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." Einstein Quotation collection (w/ related links at the bottom) "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." 1:04:43 PM    comment [] Comment on Comments I am using Radio Userland's built in comment system. Unfortunately, it does not inform me when someone actually leaves a comment. So excuse me if I don't get back to you. It's very exciting when I find someone has responded to a posting. I had someone rather well-known leave a comment recently and when I discovered the post I was all tingly.In a strictly intellectual manner of speaking.   As I 've mentioned elsewhere I would like to get a dialogue of some sort going here, as part of this grand experiment in groupmind that the blogosphere is becoming. More research is needed. I am figuring out things as I go. Tomorrow I will research to see if Radio Userland can be moddied to suit my needs. By the end of the weekend I will have set up something. I see that boing boing is using a service called quicktopic and theshiftedlibrarian is using YACCS. In the meantime, if anyone has any advice or suggestions in this regard, drop me an email! There is email icon right below the XML icon in the top left area of this page. I'm going to bed now. Buenos Nachos. 12:38:38 AM    comment [] New Corante Weblog:  BRAIN WAVES: neurons, bits & genes Zack Lynch has started a new blog focussing on neurotechnoloy. Allow him to introduce himself: The field of neurotechnology, the focus of this blog, encompasses numerous emerging technologies that will improve quality of life, cure disease and alleviate suffering. Neurotechnology also has the potential to redefine competitive advantage, restructure patterns of global production and make possible new modes of artistic expression. Groundbreaking advances in brain science (neurons), information technology (bits) and bioengineering (genes) have major implications for those researching the central nervous system and have us poised on the cusp of a thrilling new wave of innovation that I'll be chronicling and commenting on here. Up for discussion and analysis: the political, economic, ethical, and social forces that will shape the future of what will be one of the most important and fascinating stories of the coming decades. To receive Brain Waves daily by email, subscribe on the website. Also, please feel free to alert him to interesting articles, recent research, upcoming events, etc. This just came online, but there are posts on neuroaesthetics, DARPA research into nuerotech, and ... peanuts.  Happy Brain Awareness Week! 12:07:09 AM    comment []

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