Judit Polgar Sighting at 9 Queens!

Upcoming event: The Unive Tournament in Hoogeveen takes place 16th-24th October 2009 with a new sponsor. The main four player tournament has: Vassily Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar, Sergei Tiviakov and Anish Giri. There is an open alongside. Details http://www.univechess.nl/ Unive Tournament Hoogeveen (NED), 16-24 x 2009 cat. XVII (2663) Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2746 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2693 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2697 Giri, Anish f NED 2517

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For a great chess lesson on using decoys from one of Judit Polgar's games as black against GM Yasser Seirawan (white), check out this page at 9 Queens. Hmmm, I think I need to study this really hard... 9 Queens is putting together a chess work book using games and puzzles exclusive from and by women: Coming Soon If you’d like to see more tactics like this from world-class female players, you’re in luck! We are putting together a workbook highlighting the lives and games of some of the best female chess players in the world, including Judit Polgar, Humpy Koneru, and Alexandra Kosteniuk. More information about how to get a workbook will be available soon! The workbook is due out in October. For further information, send email.

Update: The Topper Site, South Carolina

Hmmm, as far as I can tell, there is no new "news" in this account - reports from this site surfaced back in 2004 about evidence pushing back man's presence in North American to 50,000 years ago. It is interesting, though. I find it hard to believe that other than some archaeological evidence, DNA evidence points to a purely "Asian" origin for ALL so-called "native Americans." But they didn't get here 50,000 years ago. I believe the most recent "wave" of Asian immigrants (if present hypotheses are correct), arrived in northwest Canada from Siberia just a couple thousand years ago. And the "Clovis" people are popularly assumed to have arrived some 13,000 years ago. Did all of the people who made up the Topper encampment from 50,000 years ago, and all of their offspring, die off? Is the science wrong? And if so - whose science is wrong? What are we missing here? Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009 Archaeological treasure trove surfaces in S.C. By Liz Mitchell - The (Hilton Head) Island Packet HILTON HEAD — An archaeologist who’s been digging at the Topper Site in Allendale County for 11 years is uncovering new evidence that could rewrite America’s history. University of South Carolina archaeologist Albert Goodyear found artifacts at this rock quarry site near the Savannah River that indicate humans lived here 37,000 years before the Clovis people. History books say the Clovis were the first Americans and arrived here 13,000 years ago by walking across a land bridge from Asia. Goodyear’s discovery could prove otherwise. His findings are controversial, opening scientific minds to the possibility of an even earlier pre-Clovis occupation of America. The site is named for Beaufort County resident David Topper, a forester who led Goodyear to the site in the early 1980s. Goodyear only began intense examination of the site in 1998, after flooding of the Savannah River forced him from a nearby dig, according to several histories of the Topper site. Goodyear believes it was a factory for the Clovis people, where they came to make tools. He also believes it was used long before the Clovis arrived. So far, he’s found two sets of artifacts at Topper: • Stone flakes and tools made of flint and chert that date to the Clovis era • A fire pit containing plant remains that date to at least 50,000 years ago, which suggest man was in South Carolina long before the last ice age. “The controversy is heightened because that’s just about the time, according to old-world archaeologists, when our species were starting to move away from Africa and get into Australia,” Goodyear said. “That’s true, and there’s no reason to think it’s not... .. But the bottom line is are these artifacts really legitimately associated with 50,000-year-old sediments? And, based on our digging, I think the answer is yes.” Goodyear finished his 12th dig at the site earlier this month and said he’s found more artifacts there that were “undeniably human made” in the layers of dirt dating to pre-Clovis and Clovis eras. Dennis Stanford, head of the archaeology division and director of the Paleo-Indian Program at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, visited Topper earlier this month to observe the excavation. “The Topper site is probably one of the most important sites being excavated in the country today,” Stanford said in a news release. “It’s a whole new chapter of history unfolding. ... The Smithsonian stands for the acquisition and dispersion of science and knowledge to human communities, and that’s exactly what is happening here.” In the pre-Clovis layer, Goodyear found a “core,” which is rock altered by human hands that would have been used to quarry or make tools. This year, he also found more flakes and stone chisel-like pieces. In the Clovis layer, Goodyear found a scraper tool, which he has not seen before among Clovis artifacts. It suggests the people might have been skinning animal hides, which could mean they were living at Topper for a few months at a time, instead of just the few weeks they would need to make tools. “One scraper doesn’t prove anything,” he said. “But we’re wondering if there was another set of activities besides quarrying and making artifacts there. We are going to look at that next year. That would make Topper a much more complex site for Clovis.” Goodyear said the artifacts at Topper are “sort of the Clovis library.” “It’s what’s in their Sears and Roebuck catalogue,” he said. “From that tool kit you make inferences about what they are doing there. “What we are trying to get at is, how do these humans organize themselves across the South Carolina and Georgia landscape?” he said. “As we understand how the tools function and where they distribute, then we are going to be able to say, wow, they were much more sedentary than we believed, or they’re not and just use quarries to refill their gas tank.” Goodyear said Clovis artifacts have been found as far as 100 miles away. “We know they are moving,” he said. “But the question is, are there places where they’re staying for a while? We’re just wondering if there might be more to Topper than we know so far based on all of our digging.”

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Here's the old news from 2004: From Science Daily, November 18, 2004: New Evidence Puts Man In North America 50,000 Years

Illegal Antiquities Trade: Mesopotamian Vase

How will we ever solve this culture-destroying problem? Archeology 30.06.2009 Mesopotamian vase sheds light on Germany's artefacts trade A legal dispute surrounding an antique golden vase being held in a museum vault in Mainz shines light on the surprisingly important role Germany plays in the often shady world of antiques trading. The case sounds more like an esoteric crime novel than a simple legal tussle, involving as it does archaeologists, rare-coin dealers, customs officials, and the Iraqi embassy in Berlin. At its heart is a golden vase just six centimeters high that may or may not have its origins in ancient Mesopotamia. The vase is currently being held by Michael Mueller-Karpe, an archaeologist at the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz, Germany. Three years ago he was charged with providing the court with an expert opinion on the provenance of the object, which is at the center of a lawsuit over fencing illegally trafficked goods. Archaeologist refuses to comply Now Mueller-Karpe is ignoring a court order, and refuses to turn the vase back over to the customs officials who confiscated it. The Iraqi embassy in Berlin has asked him not to, he says. Apparently they believe the object is safer where it is. Contrary to reports in the German media, the Stuttgart Customs Investigations Office is not about to break into the vault at the Roman-Germanic museum and grab the vase by force. "I don't know how that rumor got started, but it's not true," said Dieter Peulen, the acting director of the Stuttgart Customs Investigation Office. He would, however, like to get the object back. "I've never seen anything like this before," said Peulen. "At the moment, [the vase] has been confiscated by customs. [Mueller-Karpe] doesn't own it. In my opinion, the court has requested him to give it back, and he should do so." The vase showed up in Germany years ago in the catalog of a Munich auction house, designated as a Mediterranean piece from the Roman Iron Age. But someone familiar with Mesopotamian art spotted it, and sued the auctioneer for breach of the Foreign Trade Law. Stolen objects transit through Germany As part of the suit, customs officials brought the object to the museum in Mainz to have its provenance checked. Mueller-Karpe said the vase is "most probably" around 4,500 years old, and believes it was stolen by grave robbers from the ancient royal cemetery in the city of Ur, Iraq. Its provenance may be researched further as the case moves through the courts, said customs official Peulen. International traffic in antiques and artefacts from Iraq has bloomed since the fall of Saddam Hussein. According to the Spiegel Online newsmagazine, of the 15,000 pieces that were robbed from the National Museum in Baghdad in the wake of the US invasion in 2003, just 6,000 have been returned. Many of the missing objects - and more stolen from grave robbers around Ur - make their way through German auction houses at some point on their travels. Indeed, the case sheds light on Germany's overall role in both antiques trading and antiques trafficking - a distinction that is often hard to make when it comes to the sale of ancient objects, experts say. 'Unfortunate' legal situation Germany was the last industrial country to sign a UNESCO convention on protecting cultural heritage, and its loose demands for documentation on exports of some ancient objects seen as being friendly to fencers and smugglers. "The legal situation in Germany is very unfortunate for us," the Iraqi culture attache in Berlin told Spiegel Online. The burden of proof, "especially for objects stolen by grave robbers," is too high, he said. "Even an expert opinion with a probability of provenance of 95 percent isn't enough for the courts." According to Mueller-Karpe, the two-handled vase - which he believes is a "miniature version" of a Sumerian-era vase that would have served a functional purpose - remains in the museum for the time being. He told dpa news agency that it would be too dangerous for him to give it back to customs authorities, since the Iraqis have threatened that anyone who is involved in helping fence stolen goods could face a sentence of up to five years in Iraq. Since he is frequently on archaological digs in Iraq, Mueller-Karpe said, the sentence threat means he would lose his opportunity to work. Author: Jennifer Abramsohn Editor: Kate Bowen

Ancient Writing: Cherokee Syllabary

From Archaeology Magazine Online. Sorry, I could not get the Cherokee syllable-figures to show up here. (Image: The earliest writing in the system developed by the Cherokee known as Sequoyah has been found in a Kentucky cave. (Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C./Art Resource) From the Trenches Ꮞ Ꮙ Ꮿ Was Here Volume 62 Number 4, July/August 2009 By Eric A. Powell The Cherokee known as Sequoyah. (Courtesy Fred Coy National Portrait Gallery) In 1819, Cherokee silversmith George Gist—better known as Sequoyah—completed work on the Cherokee syllabary, a written script in which each character represents a syllable. By 1825, most Cherokee had adopted the system and Sequoyah ( Ꮞ Ꮙ Ꮿ in Cherokee*) was hailed as a folk hero for inventing the first Native American system of writing in North America. Now University of Cincinnati archaeologist Kenneth Tankersley has discovered that Cherokee characters engraved alongside petroglyphs in a southeastern Kentucky cave are the earliest known examples of Sequoyah's syllabary, dating back to 1818, or perhaps even earlier. Tankersley, a member of the Cherokee Nation and Piqua Shawnee tribes, found the characters in a cave sacred to Native Americans as the burial place of Red Bird, a prominent Cherokee chief who was tomahawked to death in 1796 by two white men in a fur trading dispute. Red Bird was known to have created some of the petroglyphs in the cave, which include abstract ancient symbols as well as glyphs representing bears, bats, deer, and birds. Sequoyah had relatives who lived near the cave and he taught the syllabary to Cherokee boys studying at a local school called the Choctaw Academy. "It's likely that Sequoyah would have visited the cave at some point to pay respects to Red Bird," says Tankersley. "We also know that he visited caves for inspiration while he was working on his syllabary, and that he incorporated rock-art motifs into the system." Tankersley has identified 15 characters in the cave— Ꮢ, Ꮕ, Ꮇ, Ꮧ, Ꮐ, Ꮰ, Ꮋ, Ꮴ, Ꭵ, Ꮊ, Ꮶ, Ꮍ, Ꮗ, Ꮀ, Ꮻ— accompanied by a date carved in the same hand that could be 1818 or 1808. "The characters don't spell any words—they read almost like ABCs," says Tankersley, who is also intrigued by the ambiguous date. Accounts of Sequoyah's life agree that he started working on the syllabary sometime around 1809. If the characters in Red Bird's cave date to 1808, there is only one person who could have created them. "My gut tells me Sequoyah left these characters in the cave," says Tankersley. "But without a time machine, that's archaeofantasy. If it wasn't him, then it was someone Sequoyah taught at the Choctaw Academy, and who was practicing drawing them out just as we would practice our ABCs. Regardless, the person is leaving these characters alongside traditional symbols in a sacred place. For the Cherokee, this syllabary was sacred too." Tankersley points out that it's not surprising to find examples of Sequoyah's syllabary alongside petroglyphs. "In 1818 Cherokee were adopting the trappings of European life, living in three-story buildings, tending orchards, and eating off of china, but they were still visiting sacred places like Red Bird's cave and practicing their way of life," he says. "It's important to remember that Native American history and archaeology don't disappear after Europeans arrive." Eric A. Powell is deputy editor at ARCHAEOLOGY. *If you do not see the Cherokee characters, they are shown below: Sequoyah (oops, no they aren't) 15 characters © 2009 by the Archaeological Institute of America

Southwest Chess Club: Independence Swiss!

Sign up for a one day tournament this coming Sunday! Allen Becker has notified us of this great way to cap what promises to be a beautiful Independence Day weekend in Milwaukee:

Chessplayers, We are having a Swiss tournament this Sunday, to help fill a chess tournament void this holiday weekend. Note that due to insurance factors, all players must be club members (but you can join the club this Sunday, $10 per year, or Free for 18 and under or college students). We know this is last-minute publicity, but please consider coming to play. If you wish to indicate your intention to play, via email, that will be helpful to us. There is no "early" entry fee; you can sign up this Thursday at the club, or from 11:15 a.m.-11:45 a.m. on Sunday. Please note that we are in the lower level of the St. James Catholic Church's Parish Center building (immediately in front of the church). The address is 7219 South 27th Street in Franklin (just south of Rawson & 27th) . PLEASE Use the south driveway, and park in the south parking lot (the usual club lot). Here are the tournament details (with Flyer attached):

Independence Swiss Sunday, July 5, 2009 The Southwest Chess Club

** Club Members Only ** Can Join Club on July 5 FORMAT: Four Round Swiss System - Four Games in One Day USCF Rated (Dual Rated) -- ONE SECTION SWISS TIME LIMIT: Round 1: Game in 45 Minutes Rounds 2, 3, and 4: Game in 60 Minutes ENTRY FEE: $ 20 Checks payable to Southwest Chess Club (Club Membership: $10; Free if 18 or under or in college) SITE REGISTRATION: 11:15 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. ROUNDS: 12 Noon – 2:00 pm -- 5:00 pm – 7:15 pm Pairings by WinTD; no computer entries PRIZES 1st— $45 C $30 2nd— $40 D $30 A $30 E & Below $30 B $30 Overall prize structure based on 30 total entries; Class prizes awarded with minimum 3 players in each class. Tournament Directors: Allen Becker and Robin Grochowski SITE: Usual Club Location: St. James Catholic Church in the lower level of the Parish Center building (immediately in front of the church). The address is 7219 South 27th Street in Franklin, WI. PLEASE Use south driveway, and park in the south parking lot (the usual club lot). ENTRIES TO: Allen Becker —6105 Thorncrest Drive— Greendale , WI 53129 http://us.mc379.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=allenbecker@wi.rr.com 414-423-0206 (home) or 414-807-0269 (cell) Sets, Boards and Clocks Provided, but Bring your own clock Half point byes: available in Round 1, 2 or 3 if requested prior to round 1; not available in Round 4. _____________________________________________________________________________ Name: __________________________________________________ USCF ID#: ________________ Rating: _________ Expire Date: ___________ Address: ______________________________________ City: _____________________ State : _______ Zip: _________ Phone: ________________ e-mail Address: ________________

Musing on Stone Age Music

Reported here (and everywhere, it seems) was the latest about really old flutes discovered in Germany. This article wanders (and wonders) about really old music. You know what I'd really like to hear, a composition from the few remaining stone-age tribes in existence today, to get a feel for what music may have sounded like 30,000 years or so ago. Hmmm, with You Tube and whatnot, there should be something out there??? Anyone with a heads up, please let me know (if you read this). (Image: bones as musical instruments, image from Irish Musical Instruments). From The New York Times Pondering Prehistoric Melodies By DANIEL J. WAKIN Published: June 27, 2009 “I have a reasonable good ear in music,” says Bottom in Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” “Let’s have the tongs and the bones.” A Stone Age ancestor living near what is now Ulm, Germany, did Bottom one better. He took the hollow bone of a griffon vulture, carved five holes in it and made one of the first flutes known to exist. (Perhaps it was a she; there are lots of great women flutists.) [In fact, it has now been acknowledged that probably a majority of the cave artists were females; and it makes sense that, given the small size of the bone and ivory flutes that have been discovered, the smaller hands of female musicians would have plyed upon them, just like the smaller hands of female artists plyed the colors upon the walls of ancient caves where early people lived). This was at least 35,000 years ago — maybe even 40,000 years ago. Could it have been around the time of the birth of human-made melody, a period when speech perhaps began to develop? It must have been a fine improvement on the whack of tongs and bones. A report of the flute’s discovery last week gives rise to all sorts of speculation about the origins of music and how it creates a palpable link between us and our prehistoric predecessors. “It’s easier to think of them as conscious, autonomous individuals if they’re making music,” said Sato Moughalian, a New York-based professional flutist. “To make the step from just breathing to actually producing a sound requires a different sense of self.” At the least, the find delights flute players, who like to point out that their instrument (outside of percussion) is the most elemental of all. No reeds to blow past, no strings to make vibrate, no mouthpiece to buzz. “It’s very simple,” Robert Langevin, the principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic. “There’s no intermediate thing to produce the sound. Our way of breathing is similar to the way of singers.” And nothing is more natural to the human organism than breathing. Of course, Mr. Langevin and his colleagues play something much different than the cave flute. Their flutes are generally made of metal (sometimes even gold), have keys and pads that cover holes. They are also played sideways. The five-hole vulture bone flute has a notched end, across which the player blows. Its discovery was reported in an article in the journal Nature. Nicholas J. Conard of the University of Tübingen in Germany was one of the authors. He said an experimental archaeologist named Wulf Hein made a reproduction and recorded several tunes, including “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The flute’s basic scale replicates the notes accompanying the line “Oh say can you see,” Dr. Conard said. The flute and several other types found nearby indicate a high-level of musical and technological sophistication, he said. While the nature of the music they made at the time is unknown, “There had to have been Paganinis, Mozarts, Hendrixes,” he said. The discovery is also a reminder that music was present at the earliest flowering of human culture, an idea that musicians and music lovers can embrace with great joy, said Steven Stucky, a composer (who has written a double concerto for flutes and orchestra). “This must have been a fundamental part of life,” he said. It is, of course, impossible to establish how humans became musical. The song of birds and patter of rain may have provided examples. “Once humans got the musical bug going, I can imagine sort of looking at everything,” said Peter Schickele, the composer and alter ego of P. D. Q. Bach. “Can you hit it, can you blow it, can you make a sound out of it?” He added, “I’ve done a fair amount of that in my own life.” Dr. Conard suggested music strengthened and extended social bonds, perhaps contributing to the evolutionary survival of homo sapiens. The flute was found in an area also inhabited by Neanderthals, who — according to the archaeological record — did not appear to be very musical. About 10,000 years later, they fell extinct. [NOT a logical conclusion to this otherwise good article, but evidence of the author getting lazy and going for the easy punch line against "ape man" Neanderthal. Bad form, tsk tsk.]

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Wow - learn more about the ancient practice of using bones to make music: The Bones - Ancient to Modern, by Sue E. Barber

War Forces Archaeologists to Leave Indus Valley

...and leave it to the looters who don't give a flying fig about the historical significance of their "loot" -- all they care about is how much they can sell it for to a middle-man who, in turn, will sell it to an expediter who, in turn, will sell it to an expediter on the other side of the world who, in turn, will sell it to either a private collector or an unethical antiquities dealer who features "on the side" showings to wealthy individuals and less than ethical museum curators -- all off the books, of course. Indus Valley’s secrets to remain buried: Insecurity forces archaeologists to abandon excavations Daily Times.com.pk June 29, 2009 By Afnan Khan Archaeology Department official says embassies had been warning the experts to leave, Benazir’s assassination proved final straw LAHORE: Foreign archaeologists involved in excavation work to explore the Indus Valley Civilisation in Pakistan have left the country due to the war-like situation. The experts from the US, Europe and UK uncovered the mysteries of the Indus Valley Civilisation for the world during their research spanning decades. The teams, consisting of senior professors Dr Richard H Meadow, Professor JM Kenoyer, Dr Jean-Francois Jarrige and late Prof George F Dales, had conducted extensive research in different parts of Pakistan. A majority of the areas that were a part of the Indus Valley Civilisation became Pakistan after the partition of the sub-continent in 1947. Sources in the Federal Archaeology Department told Daily Times that the experts were working despite the tense security situation in the region after 9/11, but had to leave the country after the increase in the wave of violence and terrorism, which led to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Final departure: “Their embassies were already warning them to be careful while working in the areas like Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Taxila, Mehrgarh and other areas in Pakistan, all of them finally left the country after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,” an Archaeology Department official told Daily Times. The Indus Valley Civilisation, dating back to 2,600BC, mainly covered the area that is now Pakistan, with its traces in neighbouring countries like India, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. However, the sources said, the international experts were still keen on resuming the abandoned research work in the country, despite being worried about the security situation. They said the experts were wondering when, if ever, they would be able to resume their excavation. The sources said the researcher had now been compelled to focus only on the parts of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the Indian state of Gujarat, especially in the city of Lothal. This has deprived Pakistan of a chance to promote its soft image in the world. Prof Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, an internationally renowned authority on the Indus Valley, who had been researching in Harappa since 1986, told Daily Times that he spent a key part of his life working on the research work in Pakistan but was left with no other option but to leave the country after the assassination of Bhutto. Kenoyer said he was likely to visit Pakistan in 2010, in order to resume his high-profile research, but said the return totally depended on the law and order in the country. Federal Archaeology Department Northern Circle Director Salimul Haq told Daily Times that there was not a single foreigner working on any research or excavation project in the country. He said the department tried its best to facilitate the researchers, but their own embassies were sceptical about their stay in Pakistan. He said the local archaeologists were trying to take over the research work. Art historian Prof Dr Ajaz Anwar told Daily Times that local archaeologists lacked the expertise to continue the excavation work, as compared to experts from Harvard, Cambridge, Berkley and other globally acclaimed educational institutions. Anwar said the foreign explorers had been responsible for the excavations and explorations, and the locals had made almost no contribution. Anwar said the statue of the fasting Buddha, placed in the Lahore Museum, was damaged during its digging by the locals. He said the locals had stuck the broken arm of the statue with traditional cement, instead of using the appropriate material, despite the fact that it was damaging for the splendid piece of art. Famous historian Prof Dr Mubarak Ali said the departure of international archaeologists was a great loss for the country and the government should try to convince and facilitate these people to come back to Pakistan.

St. Paul?

Hmmmm, well, the Holy Father of Rome has announced to the world that bones discovered in a certain tomb in 2006 are, in fact, those of St. Paul the Apostle. This seems rather strange, since there was nothing in the article to indicate when or how theremains were moved from where they were, according to legend, originally buried, and where they ended up. Anyway, here is the article -- From Guardian.co.uk Pope claims human remains belong to St Paul Fiona Winward in Rome Monday 29 June 2009 Human remains found beneath the Vatican have been identified as belonging to St Paul, Pope Benedict XVI said, apparently laying to rest the mystery of a tomb first discovered in the city in 2006. Archaeologists found material and fragments of bone dating to the first or second century AD inside the tomb at the basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Vatican experts claim the tomb's position, underneath the epigraph Paulo Apostolo Mart (Paul the Apostle and Martyr), at the base of the main altar is proof that it belongs to the apostle. The pope said the tomb had not been opened but that a probe inserted through a small hole had revealed traces of purple linen decorated with gold sequins, blue material and red incense grains as well as the remains. "Small fragments of bone were carbon dated by experts who knew nothing about their provenance and results showed they were from someone who lived between the first and second century," he said. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that these are the mortal remains of Paul the apostle," he said, adding that the discovery "fills our souls with great emotion". The pope made the announcement from the basilica as he celebrated the end of the Pauline year, which has marked the 2,000th anniversary of the apostle's birth. It also comes a day after Vatican archaeologists uncovered what they believe to be the oldest icon of St Paul in a Rome catacomb, dating to the late fourth century. St Paul was a Roman Jew who converted to Christianity after he saw a light on the road to Damascus. His letters in the New Testament are considered highly influential in Christian thinking. Tradition holds that Paul was beheaded by the Emperor Nero around AD 62-65 and buried in a vineyard over which the Emperor Constantine built a basilica in 324. St Paul Outside the Walls is the second biggest church in Rome after St Peter's.

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But - this Dutch expert says no no no... No proof that Vatican bones are St Paul's, says Dutch expert Europe News Jun 29, 2009, 16:28 GMT Dresden, Germany - Responding to the claim by Pope Benedict XVI that the bones of St Paul have been found in Rome, a Dutch expert, Rengert Elburg, said Monday this can never be proven. Elburg, an expert on archaeological study of old bones and organic remains for the government of the German state of Saxony, told the German Press Agency dpa in an interview, 'It's impossible to establish that it's him.' Even a genetic analysis of the bones in a sarcophagus marked as Paul's would reveal nothing, because there were no proven descendants whose DNA could be compared. 'But the bones could tell you the sex and age of death of the person,' he said. A face could be reconstructed if a skull were in the grave. 'But we don't know how Paul looked, so that doesn't help identify the body,' he said. Elburg said scientists were likely to check for links to the historical account of the beheading of St Paul, the author of copious letters and first interpreter of Christianity. 'Traces of beheading can be identified with absolute certainty,' he said. The cut was usually found between the third and fourth vertebrae. Elburg counselled maximum precision in opening the sarcophagus, saying, 'It will be comparable to opening the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh.' Fabric in a coffin could fall apart at a touch. He said dry, outside air would not damage fabric or the bones. The presence of any clothing was likely to depend on whether the sarcophagus had been hermetically sealed for 20 centuries. 'Roman fabrics in the time of St Paul were of very high quality. They had wool, linen and even silk,' he said. The pagan Romans embalmed their bodies, but Christians did not, he added. 'Doubtless nothing like that was done with this early Christian person,' he said. The Pope said Sunday that a probe through a tiny hole in the sarcophagus at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Wall proved they contained remains from the time of Christ.

The Triple Chess Goddess Has Spoken

...to me. Specifically - in the person of GM Susan Polgar, in her column in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal (online version). How does she DO that? This is really spooky... This week's column is geared to no less than - BEGINNERS. Such as yours truly. Oh, I know I know, I've been playing chess for nearly 40 years now, and never progressed a whit in my game in all this time. The only thing I think I know about chess at this point in my life is that the end-game usually means there are many less pieces on the board and one has more room to run. It isn't as if I don't know these things - except I don't really know them at all. So - Polgar: Try these basic chess principles to help you become a better player Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, June 28, 2009 Story last updated at 6/28/2009 - 5:30 pm Here is the question of the week: What are some of the most important things novice/ scholastic chess players need to know about chess? Chess is a very easy game to learn, but harder to master [you ain't kidding]. Here are some very important principles in chess that will help you become a better player. • Control the center • Develop your pieces as soon as possible • Castle as soon as possible • Keep your pieces protected • Have lots of fun. Win with grade. Lose with dignity And once you've got the hang of the above, you should also remember: • Every move should have a purpose. • What is the idea behind your opponent's move? • Always think before you move. There is no take back in chess. So make your decision carefully. • Learn to make plans. Planning is one of the most important elements of the game of chess. • Analyze your games and learn from your mistakes. Every player, from beginner to world champion, makes mistakes. It is very important to go over your games to find mistakes and learn from them. • Pace yourself wisely. Oh oh... I am in trouble. Big trouble. I can't keep all of these things in my head! I can't keep even half of them in my head. There's a reason why some people do not play chess, and I'm Exhibit #1.

Shira Chess Challenge!

Training Update: Those of you who follow this blog know that I am "in training" for an upcoming three-game match against Shira Evans, which will start on July 31, 2009. Periodically I will be reporting here on my training progress. This is my second Update. (First Training Update) Don't ask me how I did it darlings, because I have no idea! But somehow I did finally get the Chessbase Lite thingy that Chess Daddy had sent to me to download properly to my computer. Or I should say, I managed to get it unzipped using a free unzip program, as I had managed to get it downloaded during First Training Update. I can now open it and "virtually press" all of the buttons and everything, like opening and closing the program! Except I cannot figure out how to get the data bases into the thingy. No data bases, no training. There's nothing inside of the thingy to do. End of story. You may no doubt have deduced by now that I am technologically challenged, just as I am chessly challenged. That's what comes from learning chess at the ripe old age of 18 - NOTHING! So, I am now into Plan B, and scrupulously avoiding calling Chess Daddy to see if he can talk me through how to get the data bases into the thingy. Plan B is to play as much chess as I can squeeze in. I am playing "correspondence" chess. I have two games going at present. They are both in early days (very early days). One is going okay, I think. The other - ohmygoddess! Let me put it this way, I should have resigned on move 6. I started with a standard opening, 1. e2 to e4. But early on I moved my left hand knightess out, thinking that, you know, like "control the middle of the board." BAD MOVE. The other side proceeded to make a series of moves that had me moving my knightess all over the place while he (or she) was slowly and steadily developing pieces. I saw exactly what was happening and I was helpless to stop it. CHESS SUCKS. Well, okay, to be absolutely fair, chess is a fine game but JAN AS A CHESSPLAYER SUCKS. But rather than resigning, that old Newton stubborness came to the fore and I stuck with it; I finally got my knightess out of danger (temporarily) and have now also managed to move a few other pieces into some semblance of defense (flimsy) - which isn't saying much as I'm playing WHITE. EEK! I fully expect to go down in flames (soon) in this game, but not without the best fight I can muster. We Newtons do not know the meaning of the word surrender. Ha! I swear to the Great Triple Chess Goddess, POLGAR SISTERS, that I will NEVER EVER move my left knightess out on move 2 again. EVER. No matter how tempted I may be to do so. EVER. I can tell you this much - I am now really THINKING about each and every move I make before I make it. And thank the Triple Chess Goddess that this is correspondence chess because I really do get a "take back" because I've been making some really crappy moves and then looking at the board a 40th or more time and going OHMYGODDESS, WHY DID YOU MOVE THERE?

Auction Watch

From Sotheby's, an auction held October 8, 2008. Arts of the Islamic World Sale: L08222 Location: London Auction Dates: Session 1: Wed, 08 Oct 08 10:00 AM LOT 84 AN IVORY CHESS PIECE, EGYPT OR SYRIA, 10TH-11TH CENTURY8,000—12,000 GBPLot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 17,500 GBP MEASUREMENTS measurements note4.5cm. height 4cm. diam. DESCRIPTION Of solid cylindrical form with rounded edges, one half of the top with a flat surface in keeping with the shape of the base, the other side split by the central raised boss, curves down each side, two large cruciform motifs incised on both the front and back, similar dot motif clusters on either side placed above the three band indentation wrapping around the object, drilled concentric circles to the base CATALOGUE NOTE This abstract form is an impressive example of a group of ivory chessmen with decorative patterns carved into the surface. Existent in the early Islamic centuries, this form has traditionally been associated with the arrival of the game from India. However it seems likely that both figural and abstract forms were already in use prior to this. This piece is a symbolic representation of both the 'King' and the throne which is demonstrated by the form of the chess piece. (Emphasis added) A related piece was sold in these rooms on 30th April 1998, lot 1. Closely comparable ivory pieces can be found at the British Museum (A. Contadini: 'Islamic Ivory Chess Pieces, Draughtsman and Dice' in Islamic Art in the Ashmolean Museum, ed. James Allan, Oxford, 1995, Part Im pp.111-154). Two more were excavated at Aachen in 1925 and are discussed with other examples by Manfred Eder (Bagdad-Bergkristall-Bernedictiner Zum Ex-orient des Schachspiels, Aachen, 2203 esp.pp.36-36 and 76-77). Further ivory pieces are exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and a larger version was sold at Christie's, 11 April 2000. A similar 'King' can also be found in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (Ernst Kühnel, Die Islamische Elfenbeinskupturen, Berlin, 1971, no.9, pl.V) Kühnel dates that piece to the eight or ninth century and attributes it to Egypt.

The Blenko "Chess Piece"

Gorgeous! From Heart of Glass blog: This stunning decanter made in 1959 stands just UNDER 15 " tall. The official Blenko color is referred to as Charcoal. The shape is fantastic, often referred to as the "Chess Piece". This was designed by Wayne Husted for Blenko in 1959, Blenko catalog #5922s. The base has the acid etched / sand blasted Blenko logo.

Ancient Wells in Cyprus

These wells are very old - dating back to 10,500 years ago to 9,000 years ago! There is a also a mystery surrounding the remains of a young woman found in one well: From Physorg.com June 24th, 2009 By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS , Associated Press Writer --> (AP) -- Archaeologists have discovered a water well in Cyprus that was built as long as 10,500 years ago, and the skeleton of a young woman at the bottom of it, an official said Wednesday. Rest of article (AP copyright). Coverage at BBC Online: Stone Age wells found in Cyprus Thursday, 25 June 2009 Archaeologists have found a group of water wells in western Cyprus believed to be among the oldest in the world. The skeleton of a young woman was among items found at the bottom of one shaft. Radiocarbon dating indicates the wells are 9,000 to 10,500 years old, putting them in the Stone Age, the Cypriot Antiquities Department says. A team from Edinburgh University has found six such wells, near the coastal town of Paphos. They are said to show the sophistication of early settlers. According to Thomas Davis, director of the Nicosia-based Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, "the fact that they were using wells and that they tapped into the island's water table shows heightened appreciation for the environment". The latest five-metre (16-foot) shaft to be discovered had small natural channels in the bedrock at the bottom, confirming it was a water well. In addition to a poorly preserved young woman's skeleton the silted-up well contained animal bone fragments, worked flints and some stone jewellery. The wells were unearthed by an excavator at a construction site. They date from the time that permanent settlements first appeared in Cyprus, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The "Alexander" Sarcophagus

An interesting feature article from the Wall Street Journal online edition: Masterpiece/JUNE 28, 2009, 11:39 A.M. ET Who’s in the Alexander Sarcophagus? Not Alexander the Great, though he battles heroically in its high-relief friezes By JUDITH H. DOBRZYNSKI Sidon, a port city about 25 miles south of Beirut whose rich history dates to 4000 B.C., was among the most successful of the Phoenician city-states. In the fourth century B.C., it fell to Alexander the Great, entering a Hellenistic age that lasted for more than 100 years until the Romans took over. It changed hands several more times before becoming part of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century. So it is not surprising that when, in the mid-1800s, archaeologists started exploring Sidon, they found treasures. The French turned up (among other things) a sarcophagus that belonged to a Phoenician king named Eshmunazar II and sent it back to the Louvre. Later, a Turk named Osman Hamdi Bey, who had studied in Paris, became director of the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul and began leading his own excavations in Sidon. In 1887, his team hit upon more than two dozen sarcophagi. Many were stunning, including the Sarcophagus of Mourning Women, which shows 18 comely, elegant females in varying expressions of grief; it’s now in the Istanbul museum. But the star discovery was clearly a fantastically beautiful burial chamber depicting Alexander in battle and at hunt in high-relief. One glance told the Ottoman archaeologists that it was made for someone special. Given its date—fourth century B.C.—and its Hellenistic style, they proposed that it belonged to Alexander. It didn’t, everyone now says. Alexander’s tomb has never been found (though a few academics argue that a sarcophagus found in Alexandria and now at the British Museum is his; the British Museum disagrees). The specimen in question, which nevertheless became known as the Alexander Sarcophagus, was likely carved for Abdalonymos, a gardener of royal blood who was made Sidon’s king by Alexander in 332 B.C. (some scholars disagree about this, too). But there is no debate about its status as a masterpiece. The Alexander Sarcophagus sits in a place of honor at the Archaeological Museum and is unmistakably a work of the highest artistic order, among the most important classical antiquities ever discovered. It is totally intact and in almost perfect condition. Despite its 2,000-plus years, it bears traces of the garish reds, yellows and other colors it once wore. Made of Pentelic marble—the same stone used for the structures on the Acropolis—the sarcophagus tells a story on each of its four sides. Two are battle scenes; two show hunts. Alexander, with his determined visage and curly cropped hair, is instantly recognizable and decidedly heroic. In fact, while the depictions on the friezes are accurate as to the style of arms and dress and detailed reputedly even to the fingernails (I couldn’t get that close), and while they are realistic, not idealized figures, the overall result contains more than a dash of propaganda. The first and perhaps greatest panel depicts the battle of Issus in 333 B.C., the crucial moment when Alexander of Macedonia defeated Persia for primacy in Asia Minor. The Persian emperor Darius III had expected an invasion and, because Alexander’s reputation preceded him, chose to lead his own army. But though Alexander was outnumbered, he outmaneuvered Darius tactically; his troops waged a fierce and bloody battle, destroying the Persian army. On this frieze, Alexander rides a rearing horse, charging a Persian and trampling another one underfoot. The sculpture is so three-dimensional that it practically steps off the stone. Alexander, his face intense, makes eye contact with a Persian he targets with a spear (presumably made of metal, and missing, as are all the spears made for the sarcophagus); the Persian cowers in fear. Nearby, an equally fervent pair of warring foot soldiers are at each other’s throats. And so it goes throughout what could be construed as six scenes: Alexander’s army shows its muscles, literally (especially the leg muscles), while the Persians are covered in historically accurate trousers and head coverings that conceal theirs. You can read the agony on the face of a dying Persian, one among many scattered on the ground. Alexander’s army simply shows determination. On the opposite long frieze, however, things have changed. Alexander is now in control of a unified country, and the Greeks and the Persians, still easy to discern by their dress (some Greeks are nude, and all are bare-headed), are happily hunting lion and stag together. Again, Alexander rides a rearing horse, his mantle flowing in the wind, a dog near his feet. He encourages the Persian—perhaps Abdalonymos—ahead of him, whose horse encounters a hungry lion. The lion’s claws pierce the horse, and his jaw bites its stomach. But Abdalonymos attacks with a spear, while another Persian prepares to land a blow on the beast with an ax. The second most prominent figure in both scenes, some scholars believe, is Alexander’s close friend from Macedonia, Hephaestion. The two short sides are similar, if simpler. One depicts the Battle of Gazza in 312 B.C.; in the other, Persians, including another figure thought to be Abdalonymos, hunt a panther. The Alexander sarcophagus is shaped like a temple, with a pitched roof adorned with carved scale-like tiles. Gargoyles sit on the edges. Small friezes have been carved in the pediments. Between the roof and the friezes, and below them, panels are trimmed in vine leaves, Greek labyrinths and egg-and-dart motifs. The proportions work. No one knows who made this exquisite object. Some experts have suggested that the hand of as many as six sculptors can be detected, but the work is so consistently good that you could have fooled me. There was a painter, too. Near the sarcophagus in the Archaeological Museum, the Turks have placed a model displaying what one part of the sarcophagus, Alexander on his charging horse, would have looked like had its colors remained. To eyes now expecting Greek artifacts to be white marble, the magenta, red and gold seem to clash. But even then, it’s easy to see a jewel of a piece. —Ms. Dobrzynski writes about the arts for The Wall Street Journal and other publications and blogs at Real Clear Arts.

Evidence of Grain Storage Predates Agriculture

Article at Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, complete with photographs, technical information, and proposed reconstructions of what the structures looked like. Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley Ian Kuijt (a,1) and Bill Finlayson(b) (a)Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556; and (b)Council for British Research in the Levant, Jubaiha, Amman 11941, Jordan Edited by Ofer Bar-Yosef, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and approved May 15, 2009 (received for review December 16, 2008) Published online before print June 22, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812764106 Here's a less technical summary from Yahoo.news: Study: Food storage began well before farming Associated Press Mon Jun 22, 5:51 pm ET WASHINGTON – People were storing grain long before they learned to domesticate crops, a new study indicates. A structure used as a food granary discovered in recent excavations in Jordan dates to about 11,300 years ago, according to a report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That's as much as a thousand years before people in the Middle East domesticated grain, the research team led by anthropologist Ian Kuijt of the University of Notre Dame said. Remains of wild barley were found in the structure, indicating that the grain was collected and saved even though formal cultivation had not yet developed. The granary was between two other structures used for grain processing and residences, discovered in excavations at Dhra', near the Dead Sea. The granary was round with walls of stone and mud. The researchers said it had a raised floor for air circulation and protection from rodents. The ability to store food is essential for the development of farming, the researchers said. "The granaries represent a critical evolutionary shift in the relationship between people and plant foods, which precedes the emergence of domestication and large-scale sedentary communities by at least 1,000 years," they reported. The research was funded by the British Academy, the Council for British Research in the Levant, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the University of Notre Dame.

Some Cave Artists Were Female

Well, duh. It amazes me that it took this long for the science dudes to figure this out! (Note: there are four, possibly five, hand stencils shown in this section of cave and they're all of female hands. I assme at least one of the artists was left-handed because it is the right hand that was stenciled). From the National Geographic News PICTURES: Prehistoric European Cave Artists Were Female June 16, 2009--Inside France's 25,000-year-old Pech Merle cave, hand stencils surround the famed "Spotted Horses" mural. For about as long as humans have created works of art, they've also left behind handprints. People began stenciling, painting, or chipping imprints of their hands onto rock walls at least 30,000 years ago. Until recently, most scientists assumed these prehistoric handprints were male. But "even a superficial examination of published photos suggested to me that there were lots of female hands there," Pennsylvania State University archaeologist Dean Snow said of European cave art. By measuring and analyzing the Pech Merle hand stencils, Snow found that many were indeed female--including those pictured here. (Also see: pictures of hand stencils through time.) —Photograph courtesy Dean Snow

A Tale of the Goddess Durga

Carvings tell story of ancient female solidarity Retno K. Djojo, Contributor, East Java Fri, 06/26/2009 1:08 PM Lifestyle Whatever the era or situation, women's issues have always cropped up, and the relief panels at Candi Tegowangi, in Pare, Kediri, are testimony that in East Java also, issues concerning the fate of woman were not swept under the carpet. Instead, they are made overt, portrayed on the temple's walls for subsequent generations to learn from the past and prevent problems from recurring. The beautifully sculpted relief panels at Tegowangi also show that female solidarity in defending their cause was a force to be reckoned with. It was someone no less than Prince Sadewa, one of the Pandawa brothers in the Mahabharata Hindu epic, who had a rude awakening to the presence of female solidarity when he was literally dragged by his mother, Goddess Kunti, to address the case of Goddess Durga. Though initially reluctant on being taken to face the hideous Goddess Durga and her ogress-like handmaids, Sadewa willingly conducted a purification rite. The relief panels show Sadewa sitting cross-legged and in deep meditation to undo the wicked spell cast upon Durga and her handmaids by Lord Shiva. Shiva, Durga's husband, had cast the spell on his wife in a fit of anger, rendering the beauty into something hideous. Realizing his mistake, he decreed that the spell could be undone with the help of Sadewa. The purification rite instantly restored beauty to Durga and her companions. Durga's honor was restored, and she became known in a new role as benevolent Goddess Uma. As token of gratitude she awarded Sadewa the title of Sudamala, which means "savior". The relief panels at Tegowangi, which date back to the Majapahit era, display exquisitely fine workmanship. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who mentioned the existence of this ancient temple in his journal The History of Java, admired the rich decorations on the temple's walls and staircase. The pillars and panels are adorned with sculptures in a great variety of forms, demonstrating the artisans' creativity. Entirely constructed of andesite, the temple, measuring 11.2 meters on each side with a height of 4.35 meters, was built as a repository shrine for an important dignitary of the Majapahit kingdom, Bhre Matahun, who died in 1388. But work on the temple's wall could not be completed, so a large portion on the temple's wall behind the 13th panel has been left blank. It should have contained the purging of wicked infiltrators into the Pandawa camp through the joint efforts of Goddess Uma and Sadewa. The temple staircase and parts of its platform, which functioned as a place for worship, have suffered severe damage, but visitors can still enjoy the excellent workmanship of those ancient artisans. Visitors to the temple should not waste the opportunity to view a smaller temple located just a stone's throw away from the main temple and enjoy another series of fine workmanship on the temple walls. The smaller temple, Candi Pariwara, measuring 4.34 meters on each side, has relief panels with animal figures, placed in rectangular, diamond or circular frames. The temple's staircase is guarded by ornate statues, including a lion figure.

The Earliest Wheeled Vehicles

Men and their toys! When I was in high school the guys who attracted the girls had muscle cars, 450 hp eight (or more) cylinder Roadrunners, etc., with jazzy racing stripes :) Those days are long gone, but men have always liked their wheeled toys. Here, for instance, is a specimen (in miniature) from the 2nd half of the 3rd millenium BCE; if I'm doing my math right, that is about 2500-2000 BCE. If that is a "nostril" I'm seeing, than this is probably a camel - otherwise, my first impression was "possibly a horse." My question is - why isn't it out in front of the cart instead of looking like a "camel figurehead" (like on a ship) built into the cart? It was obviously not meant to be a real-life representation of a camel-pulled cart. The camel has no legs, for one thing, and there are no reins showing. It seems it was not meant to represent reality. On the other hand, I could easily imagine this model as a very early rook (the old war chariot chess piece used by the Persians). (Image: Lyubov Kircho, Early Wheels: This model dates to near the second part of the 3rd millennium B.C. and shows one of the first known carts. The model is now in St. Petersburg's State Hermitage museum.) The title of the article below is a bit misleading, because nowhere in the body of the article does it mention when this particular model was discovered and excavated; instead, it mentions "a new analysis." That seems to be a tip-off that this particular artifact (and others) have been known for some time. Models of Earliest (Camel-Pulled) Vehicles Found Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News June 26, 2009 -- Some of the world's first farmers may have sped around in two-wheeled carts pulled by camels and bulls, suggests a new analysis on tiny models of these carts that date to 6,000-5,000 years ago. The cart models, which may have been ritual objects or children's toys, were found at Altyndepe, a Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlement in Western Central Asia near Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Together with other finds, the cart models provide a history of how wheeled transportation first emerged in the area and later developed. "Horsepower" is a common term today, but the ancients had bull-power, followed by camel-power, researcher Lyubov Kircho explained to Discovery News. "I think that the carts pulled by bulls were mostly used in agriculture in the 4th millennium, when the climate was more humid," said Kircho, who is at the Institute for the History of Material Culture at the Russian Academy of Sciences. His study, published in Russian, appears in the journal Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia. An English version has been accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists.

Friday Night Miscellany

Hola Darlings! The weather has turned somewhat more humane today, thank Goddess! The dew point has dropped from 70 to 58 and so I am able to breathe normally again. It's summer and hot, but bearable and, more importantly, I don't risk a weather-induced asthma attack by just walking to and from the bus stop! Tomorrow there is supposed to be a breeze, too, with the high temperature at only 81F, so I can get all of my yard work done. Tonight has a theme: Horrors of Mother Nature EEK EEK EEK!

• I'm starting out this Friday night's edition of the Miscellany with an incredible paranoid fantasy. I laughed so hard while reading it I nearly peed my pants! Well, okay, I did - but just a little bit...
• This is from http://www.infowars.com/. I haven't seen this site before (paranoid fantasies are not my thing) but I'm sure there must be a kazillion of them out there right now, probably multiplying like rabbits since - GASP! - a Black African Radical Islamist Nazi who is not even a US citizen and was born to a Commie whore mother is now President of the US of A. GASP! And his wife is a Zombie. GASP! The dog, too. GASP GASP!! And the dog was a Voodoo Priest in a former life (everyone knows that, YAWN). I selected a few particularly juicy selections from the lengthy article for your reading enjoyment, darlings. Perhaps we should email Ms. Minton and ask her to show us past articles she has written about such monstrous conspiracies that have come true! GASP!

Journalist Files Charges against WHO and UN for Bioterrorism and Intent to Commit Mass Murder Barbara Minton Natural News June 25, 2009 Using the “swine flu” as a pretext, the defendants [President Obama, numerous appointees, bankers, two pharmaceutical companies, and a host of others] have preplanned the mass murder of the U.S. population by means of forced vaccination. They have installed an extensive network of FEMA concentration camps and identified mass grave sites, and they have been involved in devising and implementing a scheme to hand power over the U.S. to an international crime syndicate that uses the UN and WHO as a front for illegal racketeering influenced organized crime activities, in violation of the laws that govern treason. . . .pharmaceutical companies consisting of Baxter, Novartis and Sanofi Aventis are part of a foreign-based dual purpose bioweapons program, financed by this international criminal syndicate and designed to implement mass murder to reduce the world’s population by more than 5 billion people in the next ten years. Their plan is to spread terror to justify forcing people to give up their rights, and to force mass quarantine in FEMA camps. The houses, companies and farms and lands of those who are killed will be up for grabs by this syndicate. Okay - go ahead and wipe out 5 billion of us but please, start with the asshole Ayatollahs in Iran. Problem is, if the world's population is reduced to 1 billion from over 6 billion, none of that property, natural resources and land that this alleged international criminal syndicate is going to suck up at bargain prices (or for free) is going to be worth a flying fig for hundreds of years to come because there won't be any people around to CONSUME. Duh! No people to consume, no way to make wealth. Obviously none of these criminals who form this international syndicate have read "The Wealth of Nations." Geez, what is this world coming to when supposedly highly educated super-criminals intent on taking over the world haven't even read "The Wealth of Nations?" The other obvious "gotcha" is this - if one is going to play Almighty Goddess and destroy most of the population of the earth, one had better make sure that one has considered ALL contingencies before executing one's plan. The problem is that if humans are attempting to play Almighty Goddess, they do not have Almighty Goddess' powers to control everything and anything or, even with the aid of the most powerful computers, anticipate everything and plan accordingly. Unleashing a lethal virus among the population - ala "The Stand" (probably the best book Stephen King ever wrote) introduces the chance for random mutations to develop, and there will ALWAYS be some people who will NOT DIE LIKE THEY SHOULD. Uh oh. Mother Nature can be such an unruly bitch. There will also be some people who will not be vaccinated no matter what - like me. And just what does this international criminal syndicate expect people to do once they start dying because they've been vaccinated? People are not as stupid as governments (and international criminal syndicates) imagine. We are usually just busy doing other things - like, uh, living! Thing is, they cannot vaccinate the entire population of the USA in one day so that we all die at the same time. There are simply not enough people around to poke people with needles to insure this. Do you suppose the people who have not been vaccinated at that point won't be able to put 2 and 2 together and shoot to kill anyone who attempts to come near them with a needle as they see wave after wave of vaccinated people dying? Come on, dudes.

• Nope - you can never anticipate what Mother Nature may or may not do. Here's an interesting example of how She acts in strange and uncanny ways - in ways that cannot be anticipated or even understood; even with a great deal of study we do not entirely understand how interrelated and complex is the system under which our Earth works. Check this out: Ozone hole has unforeseen effect on ocean carbon sink 12:54 26 June 2009 by Kate Ravilious

Yet more about the incredible possibilities (and potential horrors) that are lurking under Mother Nature's Terra Incognito. Here's a great teaser quote:

Research over the past two decades has shown that the energy trapped in ice within the permafrost and under the sea rivals that in all oil, coal and conventional gas fields, and could power the world for centuries to come. Imagine putting a match to an ice cube, and the damn thing bursts into flame... Ice on Fire: The next fossil fuel 24 June 2009 by Fred Pearce

• And yet another good trick Mother Nature played on stupid Homo Sapiens Sapiens (we're supposed to be the Crowning Achievement of EVOLUTION? Geez!) when Hurricane Andrew blew through Florida and environs in 1992, shattering windows of pet shops that released Burmese pythons (and who knows what else?) into the local environment: "...counting pythons in the wild is a daunting task. Scientists don't have an accurate estimate of how many pythons are in Florida. "It's certainly in the thousands, or tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands," said Gibbons."

And now, they're coming to get us, us northerners, slithering their way north as sure as shooting... Burmese pythons slithering their way north? By ALYSIA PATTERSON – 2 days ago

RUN - RUN FOR THE HILLS! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!

White Mares and Crop Circles

Epona is a Celtic horse goddess - a White Mare. A nice play of words could be made on Night Mare, and probably was, hmmm... Great Britain is known for the outlines of large white horses carved into underlying chalk deposits. Most of the horses aren't very old - at least, they cannot be classified as "ancient." There is one "white horse" that has drawn more than the usual attention by way of strang crop circle formations (for years). It's located near the Village of Alton Barnes in Wiltshire, England, on Milk Hill. This chalk horse outline is not ancient. It seems it was first created around the year 1812. Above is a photo of a current crop circle that appeared in a field lying below the Alton Barnes (or Milk Hill) white horse. The image is from Crop Circle Connector.com and was reported just a few days ago, on June 21, 2009. The first day of Summer. The photo was taken by Lucy Pringle. In this depiction, Epona reminds of an older goddess, The Mistress of Beasts, a/k/a Astarte a/k/a Artemis. In those older renditions of the Goddess, she is sometimes depicted as a tree (Tree of Life) flanked on either side by rampant deer-like creatures or other wild life, sometimes depicted as a Goddess or woman with a crown flanked by rampant wild beasts. This image of Epona is from Wikipedia and dates to the 4th century CE from Greek Macedonia, and depicts the Goddess Epona flanked by two pairs of horses. The four knights on the chessboard???

This Little Thing is Worth - Ohmygoddess!

From the Mail Online The beep that made me leap: Housewife discovers £250,000 gold treasure after seven years of hunting with a metal detector By Dalya Alberge Last updated at 11:18 PM on 24th June 2009 (Image: (c) David Crump. Tiny: The 2.8cm by 2.3cm treasure) After seven years of combing fields and beaches with a metal detector, the only thing housewife Mary Hannaby had to show for her hobby was an old dental plate. But all those efforts paid off when her first proper find turned out to be a 15th-century gold treasure valued at £250,000 or more. The find is thought to be part of a high-quality reliquary or pendant, and depicts the Holy Trinity. Mrs Hannaby, 57, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, heard her metal detector's tell-tale beep while out on one of her regular six-hour Sunday detecting walks with her son, woodcarver Michael, 33. For 500 years, the treasure had lain buried four inches below the ground, despite repeated ploughing. The discovery is all the more astonishing as this was not the first time the Hannabys had scoured the arable field between Ashridge and Great Gaddesden. 'You get a buzz every time you get a signal, but chances are it won't be anything,' said Mrs Hannaby. 'This time, it popped up all of a sudden,' said her son. 'You can literally miss things by inches. We couldn't believe it. We always dreamed of finding treasure.' And the pair struck gold again when the landowner refused Mrs Hannaby's offer to split the money equally and said he wanted only 30 per cent, saying he would never have known about the treasure if not for her. Under the Treasure Act of 1996, finders must report potential treasure such as gold and silver objects more than 300 years old. Finders are offered the market value for their discoveries which museums have first option to buy. At 2.8cm by 2.3cm, the treasure is barely larger than a postage stamp, but its importance is exciting experts. Roger Bland, head of treasure at the British Museum, describes it as an 'important find', and regrets that the museum does not currently have the funds to buy it. Carolyn Miner, sculpture specialist at Sotheby's, was 'awestruck' when the Hannabys first showed the treasure to her and will auction it in London on July 9. As one of only three of its kind to have survived, the find could be worth even more than £250,000, and its engraving is being compared to that of the Middleham Jewel, which sold at auction for £1.3 million in 1986 and was later resold to the Yorkshire Museum for £2.5 million. Former pub kitchen worker Mrs Hannaby hopes the sale proceeds will pay off her mortgage.

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Unbelievable that such a small piece could potentially be worth that much money. It doesn't appear to be even well done technically wise, compared, for instance, to some Scythian gold pieces I've seen that are a couple thousand years older. Ach!

Farrah Fawcett's Best Performance

Farrah Fawcett died today. I will always remember Farrah's performance in a made-for-tv movie I saw years ago. I couldn't remember the name of the movie or what year it was, but I found it at Amazon.com: "The Substitute Wife." She played a worn-out prostitute who was recruited by a farmer in the 1880's or thereabouts, whose wife was dying. The wife had sent him out to find a replacement woman who would take over as his wife and mother to their several children once she had died. I thought it was the best thing Ms. Fawcett ever did. Nuanced, hard and vunerable at the same time, proud and humble, weary-wise and yearning for love, that finally came, when all thought and hope had long since vanished from her life. Two VHS videos of this movie are going for $146.99 while I'm writing this. I suppose more may come on the market now, and the price will go even higher. Like lots of other people back then, I watched "Charlie's Angels." I wasn't particularly a Farrah fan (no sex appeal for me!), but I liked Kate Jackson and I thought the most beautiful of the three original Angels is Jaclyn Smith. The three of them together were (to steal a phrase) DY-NO-MITE!

Shira Chess Challenge!

Hola! I still cannot believe that I am doing this. For details, please see "Shira Chess Challenge" at Chessville. I've already run into BIG problems. I am so frustrated, I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs (and drinking lots of wine). Of course that won't solve the issues. My volunteer trainer, Kelly Atkins, has sent me some stuff I'm supposed to use to study. Fine. I needed WinZip to download it. Fine. I had previously downloaded a trial version of WinZip to my laptop before Mr. Don and I left for New York in May. So I fired the laptop up tonight and turned on the program, and tried to download the files Kelly sent me. No go. Seems the trial program has expired. FINE. They wanted me to BUY the program to download the files. No frigging way! I email Kelly - I'm not going to BUY this program to open a few files. Kelly emails back you can download this and that for free. I hunt around on the internet and find that. I figure out how to download that to my computer. Fine. After I get this THING downloaded to my computer and showing on my desktop, I get an email from Kelly with a different thing attached. Here, he says, download this. No thank you darling. Except I cannot get the thing I downloaded to work. I keep getting strange Windows-type messages that may as well be written in ancient Greek, I do not understand them. In addition to not understanding any of the buttons inside this program (Chessbase Lite) and what they are supposed to do or what they mean, and clicking on all of them doesn't do anything except generate more error messages, I cannot find the files that I THOUGHT I had finally managed to download - I saw them go SOMEWHERE on my computer - from the email attachments Kelly had sent to me. So I'm stuck. This is NOT FINE. When things are NOT FINE like this, it's time to pull the plug. I can feel my blood pressure rising rapidly and my ears are burning (always a really bad sign, people). So I'm moving to Plan B. I'll play online chess until the Match Dates and cross my fingers and hope for the best. I was suspicious about being able to learn anything from a database anyway. I HATE databases. The way I learn things is by having a real live person walk me through stuff bit by bit - whether it be learning how to type, or learning how to draw, learning how to smoke (which I gave up in 1989) or learning how to use a comptuer and a mouse. I was the last one at the place I used to work to get an actual desktop computer, and the very last person to learn how to use a mouse - and I was dragged, kicking and screaming and biting, all the way. It was an extremely traumatic experience for all involved. I couldn't even bring myself to touch the mouse thing for weeks, and continued to create documents using DOS. I thought it was absolutely repellant. Whoever dreamed up the horrid name of MOUSE for a computer tool? UGH! I still don't like it. I don't like it so much I use my right hand to use it, because I do not want to touch it with my real hand (I'm left-handed). Yes, I know, that sounds psychotic. I feel somewhat psychotic at the moment. I cannot learn stuff by staring at words on a computer screen or moving chess pieces around on a computerized board. Nothing sinks in, I don't "get" it. I'm just not built that way. Even for Shira, I'm not going to go out and hire a face-to-face trainer!

World's Oldest Flute?

Nah - the specialists rejected the oldest flute recovered from an archaeological dig and dated to 44,000 years ago because the archaeologist who uncovered THAT flute suggested it might have been made by so-called "Neanderthal" man. But this one (story follows) is a very important find, nonetheless. I just don't agree with their continued emphasis on a distinction between so-called "Neanderthal" and so-called "modern" human. But read this story - I think there's something else going on here. Prehistoric flute in Germany is oldest known By PATRICK McGROARTY, Associated Press Writer Patrick Mcgroarty, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 24, 1:30 pm ET BERLIN – A bird-bone flute unearthed in a German cave was carved some 35,000 years ago and is the oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered, archaeologists say, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture. A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot of the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. Together, the pieces comprise a 8.6-inch (22-centimeter) instrument with five holes and a notched end. Conard said the flute was 35,000 years old. "It's unambiguously the oldest instrument in the world," Conard told The Associated Press this week. His findings were published online Wednesday by the journal Nature. Other archaeologists agreed with Conard's assessment. [Of course they would, because to do otherwise might cast the entire taught "human time-line of development" in doubt and trash generations of work, including perhaps their own work.] April Nowell, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada, said the flute predates previously discovered instruments "but the dates are not so much older that it's surprising or controversial." Nowell was not involved in Conard's research. [I'll take the reporter's word for that - but perhaps she has an ax to grind - see below.] The Hohle Fels flute is more complete and appears slightly older than bone and ivory fragments from seven other flutes recovered in southern German caves and documented by Conard and his colleagues in recent years. Another flute excavated in Austria is believed to be 19,000 years old, and a group of 22 flutes found in the French Pyrenees mountains has been dated at up to 30,000 years ago. Conard's team excavated the flute in September 2008, the same month they recovered six ivory fragments from the Hohle Fels cave that form a female figurine they believe is the oldest known sculpture of the human form. Together, the flute and the figure — found in the same layer of sediment — suggest that modern humans had established an advanced culture in Europe 35,000 years ago, said Wil Roebroeks, an archaeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands who didn't participate in Conard's study. [It could equally suggest that "Neanderthal" man, who also lived in the cave (but dates of occupation were not given in this article), was more creative than the experts give him credit for.] Roebroeks said it's difficult to say how cognitively and socially advanced these people were. But the physical trappings of their lives — including musical instruments, personal decorations and figurative art — match the objects we associate with modern human behavior, Roebroeks said. [Like those 80,000 to 100,000 year old shells with drilled holes found in an African cave many miles away from the seashore? According to conventional thinking and time line, those can't have been made by so-called "modern" man, so who made them then?] "It shows that from the moment that modern humans enter Europe ... it is as modern in terms of material culture as it can get," Roebroeks told The AP. He agreed with Conard's assertion that the flute appears to be the earliest known musical instrument in the world. [Emphasis on earliest known. We don't know what else is out there, waiting to be discovered.] Neanderthals also lived in Europe around the time the flute and sculpture were made, and frequented the Hohle Fels cave. Both Conard and Roebroeks believe, however, that layered deposits left by both species over thousands of years suggest the artifacts were crafted by early modern humans. [Did the evidence show "Neanderthal" and "modern" human lived in the cave at separate times? Overlapping times? If overlapping, how was "Neanderthal" occupation distinguished from "modern" human occupation?] "The material record is so completely different from what happened in these hundreds of thousands of years before with the Neanderthals," Roebroeks said. "I would put my money on modern humans having created and played these flutes." [Oh, really? Wanna go to Vegas, baby?] In 1995, archaeologist Ivan Turk excavated a bear bone artifact from a cave in Slovenia, known as the Divje Babe flute, that he has dated at around 43,000 years ago and suggested was made by Neanderthals. But other archaeologists, including Nowell, have challenged that theory, suggesting instead that the twin holes on the 4.3-inch-long (11-centimeter-long) bone were made by a carnivore's bite. [Hmmmm, interesting, April Nowell pooh-poohed Ivan Turk's discovery back in 1995. Do these two have a prior history???] Turk did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. [One cannot assume that email ever reached him. I've sent lots of emails out and have never received a "bounce-back" that the email address was no longer a good one, but in fact, was not. And if the email did reach Turk, perhaps he had his own reasons not to respond, that have nothing to do with the Hohle Fels discovery.] Nowell said other researchers have hypothesized that early humans may have used spear points as wind chimes and that markings on some cave stalactites suggest they were used as percussive instruments. But there is no proof [how does one prove the use of wind chimes? And to which "other researchers" is she referring?], she said, and the Hohle Fels flute is much more credible because it's the oldest specimen from an established style of bone and ivory flutes in Europe. [What established style? Turk's flute was made out of bone and had two holes and an approximate length of 4 inches. Did Nowell do a comprehensive comparison of the two discoveries? Of Turk's discovery against all other bone flutes discovered thus far? No explanation is given for Nowell's extraordinary comment.] "There's a distinction between sporadic appearances and the true development of, in this case, a musical culture," Nowell said. "The importance of something like this flute is it shows a well-established technique and tradition." [This statement is ridiculous! First, what are the "sporadic appearances" to which she is referring? Second, what does she mean by "the true development of ... a musical culture? Is she distinguishing between someone "accidentally creating" a bone flute, and someone deliberately creating a bone flute? But how did the invention of the bone flute come about if not at first by accident? It was Nowell who dismissed the idea that a 43,000 year old flute discovered in a Slovenian cave by archaeologist Ivan Turk could have been created by so-called "Neanderthal." Why? Did Nowell already have a vested interested in her "modern" human theory in 1995? Is there something else going on here?] Conard said it's likely that early modern humans — and perhaps Neanderthals, too — were making music longer than 35,000 years ago. But he added the Hohle Fels flute and the others found across Europe strengthen evidence that modern humans in Europe were establishing cultural behavior similar to our own. [Again, assumes a distinction between so-called "Neanderthal" behavior and so-called "modern" human behavior, but does the available evidence really support this - or is it just being interpreted according to still existing 19th century prejudices and assumptions? Does someone have a book deal pending? I've no idea, but sometimes in this type of dispute money is involved, one way or another.] Egyptologists are starting to go back and re-examining records of excavations and artifacts recovered from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and, with new methods of analysis, are gaining new insights (and correcting erroneous assumptions that were made years ago). Perhaps the specialists who focus on prehistoric man could benefit from doing the same. Just saying...

Ancient Egypt: Potentially Really Important Findings

Here's the article from the Egypt State Information Service: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Archaeological discovery in Saqqara Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said on 23/6/2009 that a group of Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a number of ushabtis - an ushabti is a funerary figurine placed in a tomb as a substitute for the deceased, should he/she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife - and remains of animal bones and birds inside a hole near the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara. The Supreme Council of Antiquities team was originally rehabilitating the southern front of the step pyramid when they came upon this crevice, said SCA Secretary General Zahi Hawwas in a statement issued Tuesday. They also found a layer of cement inside the hole, Hawwas added. Golden shells were discovered in the southern tomb, the SCA official said, believing ancient Egyptians could have used them to decorate wooden caskets or to place on top of car tonnages (material composing Egyptian funerary masks). Hawwas said that the SCA group unearthed 30 granite blocs that, put together, [rest of sentence was not online at the time I copied this article]. Samir Abdel-Raouf, the head of the team, said they found adobe bricks bearing the names of Djoser's daughters and his different titles along the corridor, noting that all pieces are now being renovated to form a coffin in which the wooden casket is placed with the mummy of King Djoser inside. ************************************ This is not the clearest article. First it mentions a "hole," then a "crevice," and then a "corridor." There are major differences in what each means! My primary interest is in the bird remains. Are they as old as the Step Pyramid itself? From what dynasty might they be dated? Were there remains of FIVE birds discovered? Inquiring minds want to know. If anyone out there can provide more information on this discovery, please post info! Thanks.

Goddesschess Has a Makeover - Redux!

dondelion is continuing his fevered work on updating the look, feel and organization at Goddesschess.com. He has improved site navigation and updated many features (seen and unseen) in our quest to maintain now 10-years old (but who's counting) Goddesschess as a go-to website. Public Square (newly added, featuring announcements of interest and our ongoing sponsorships), Access Mundae (a summary of recently added articles and features with direct links), and Showcase (special focus) have found a new home in the right-hand column. Our popular Goddesschess search feature is now easier to find, located at the top of the right-hand column. Random Round-up, featuring weekly news about Chess, the Goddess, and Everything (and sometimes laying clues as to our ongoing research), is now featured in the center column, just beneath easy-to-use-navigation buttons to the Goddesschess blog, Chess Femme News, and a not-yet functioning Site Map (memo to self: email Mr. Don about that...) We hope you'll find this new and improved version of Goddesschess to your liking. Ten years online with plans for the next fifty...

Intact Thracian Setlement Discovered

Well - it was intact. Now that this article has hit the news (if it hasn't already been looted through leaks of confidential information from the digging team), after all the "hints" given in this article about the dig's location, it sure won't be "intact" for long. How stupid! Story at Novinite.com Bulgarian Archaeologists Uncover Intact Thracian Settlement Culture June 23, 2009, Tuesday A team of Bulgarian archaeologists has uncovered a Thracian settlement close to the southeast town of Nova Zagora. The team of Konstantin Gospodinov and Veselin Ignatov from the city of Burgas hope that their finding would be the first Thracian settlement to be uncovered in its entirety. The settlement is located along the Blatnitsa River. It had a moat around it, and include large buildings rising above the ground, news.dir.bg reported. So far the archaeologists have discovered remains of stored grain, weaving looms, pottery including imported ceramics made by the ancient Greeks. They have also found parts of decorations made of bronze, glass, and bones, as well as alloys of gold, silver, and copper. Among their most precious findings is a silver coin from the nearby Greek coastal town of Apolonia (today's Sozopol) dating back to 5th century BC. The coin is cited an example showing the trade relations between the Thracian-populated interior and the Greek towns along the Black Sea coast. The Thracian settlement in question existed in the 6th-5th century BC.

Southwest Chess Club: Upcoming Events

Hola darlings! My adopted chess club, the Southwest Chess Club - is a great place to spend a Thursday evening, so rumor has it. I've never actually been there, but then, I wouldn't wish to cause a riot by appearing before my adoring fans (cough cough) :) This Thursday, June 25, 2009, sees the final round of the Sizzling Summer Cook-off Swiss, a two section, three round tournament that began on June 11. Round 2 was held on June 18th. The third and final round starts promptly at 7:00 PM start time each night. Here are some upcoming events: SWCC Simul Kickoff: July 2 Lecture and a simul. This is a free event. Southwest Chess Club Championship: July 9, 16, 23, 30 & August 6 & 13 6-Round Swiss in One Section. Game/100. USCF Rated. EF: $7 (must be a member to participate). SWCC Membership $10 (can join prior to first round). (Two ½ point byes available in rounds 1 through 5 if requested at least 2-days in advance; no byes available for round 6.) TD is Becker; ATD is Grochowski. Location: St. James Catholic Church in the lower level of the Parish Center building (immediately in front of the church). The address is 7219 South 27th Street in Franklin. Parking in rear, enter through south door.