World's Oldest Joke?

Well, I'm sure this isn't the oldest joke in the world - just the oldest recorded instance of a joke. Jokes have most likely been around since humankind first appeared! An interesting report, nonetheless, and I thought the jokes are rather funny! From ABCNews.com/Science and Technology World's Oldest Joke Traced Back to 1900 BC July 31, 2008 LONDON (Reuters) - The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today. It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap." It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton Thursday. A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second -- "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish." The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons -- "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key." "Jokes have varied over the years, with some taking the question and answer format while others are witty proverbs or riddles," said the report's writer Dr Paul McDonald, senior lecturer at the university. "What they all share however, is a willingness to deal with taboos and a degree of rebellion. Modern puns, Essex girl jokes and toilet humor can all be traced back to the very earliest jokes identified in this research." The study was commissioned by television channel Dave. The top 10 oldest jokes can be viewed at www.dave-tv.co.uk. (Reporting by John Joseph; Editing by Steve Addison) Copyright 2008 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Saudis Ban Pet Dogs and Cats

Isis sent me this article. Unbelievable! Unbelievable. Next up on the agenda: banning women. Yep, I expect the Saudi government to start culling females soon. Saudi Arabia bans sale of dogs, cats in capital By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 31, 2:26 PM ET RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Every single man knows: Walking a dog in the park is a sure babe magnet. Saudi Arabia's Islamic religious police, in their zeal to keep the sexes apart, want to make sure the technique doesn't catch on here. The solution: Ban selling dogs and cats as pets, as well as walking them in public. The prohibition went into effect Wednesday in the capital, Riyadh, and authorities in the city say they will strictly enforce it — unlike previous bans in the cities of Mecca and Jiddah, which have been ignored and failed to stop pet sales. Violators found outside with their pets will have their beloved poodles and other furry companions confiscated by agents of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the official name of the religious police, tasked with enforcing Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic code. The commission's general manager, Othman al-Othman, said the ban was ordered because of what he called "the rising of phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families" as well as "violating proper behavior in public squares and malls." "If a man is caught with a pet, the pet will be immediately confiscated and the man will be forced to sign a document pledging not to repeat the act," al-Othman told the Al-Hayat newspaper. "If he does, he will be referred to authorities." The ban does not address women. The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat announced the ban in its Wednesday edition, saying it was ordered by the acting governor of Riyadh province, Prince Sattam, based on an edit from the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars and several religious police reports of pet owners harassing women and families. Commission authorities often do not formally announce to the public new rules that they intend to implement. Officials from the commission and Riyadh city government could not be reached for comment Thursday, which is a weekend day in Saudi Arabia. The English-language Arab News reported on the ban Thursday. So far, the prohibition did not appear to have any effect in Riyadh. It's extremely rare, anyway, to see anyone in the capital walking a dog — much less carrying a cat in public — despite the authorities' claims of flirtatious young men luring girls with their pets in malls. Salesmen at a couple of Riyadh pet stores said Thursday they did not receive any orders from the commission banning the sale of pets. Cats and dogs were still on display. "I didn't hear of the ban," said Yasser al-Abdullah, a 28-year-old Saudi nurse, who was at one pet store with his 3-month-old collie, Joe. Al-Abdullah, who also owns an 8-month-old Labrador, said a couple of Western friends had been told to get off the streets by the religious police for walking their dogs. "I won't allow the commission to take my dogs from me," he said. The religious police prowl streets and malls throughout the kingdom, ensuring unmarried men and women do not mix, confronting women they feel are not properly covered or urging men to go to prayers. They also often make attempts to plug the few holes in the strict gender segregation that innovations bring. In 2004, for example, they tried to ban cameras on cell phones, fearing that men and women would exchange pictures of each other — though the prohibition was quickly revoked. There was no word whether commission authorities intend to expand the dog and cat ban beyond the capital. The prohibition may be more of an attempt to curb the owning of pets, which conservative Saudis view as a sign of corrupting Western influence, like the fast food, shorts, jeans and pop music that have become more common in the kingdom. Although it has never been common to own pets in the Arab world, it's becoming increasingly fashionable among the upper class in Saudi Arabia and other countries such as Egypt. In Islamic tradition, dogs are shunned as unclean and dangerous, though they are kept for hunting and guarding. In large cities around the Middle East, stray dogs are considered pests. [This may be because the most ancient association of dogs is with Goddesses - death goddesses and huntress goddesses. Islamic scholars ignore their religion's own expropriation and incorporation of ancient Saudi goddess symbols and rituals and seek, instead, to stamp out all religious association of god with the Divine Feminine. Foolish men. They can never stamp out the Goddess. In many of the earliest board games we know about, the gaming pieces were called "dogs." In many areas throughout the world where chess was/is played by "natives," dogs replaced some of the playing pieces in hand-carved chess sets.] The ban on cats is more puzzling, since there's no similar disdain for them in Islamic tradition. One of the Prophet Muhammad's closest companions was given the name Abu Huraira, Arabic for "the father of the kitten," because he always carried a kitten with him and a number of traditional stories of the prophet show Muhammad encouraging people to treat cats well. [Guess Muhammad had a soft spot for the ancient goddess Sekhmet, depicted as a lioness; or perhaps the goddess Bast, depicted as a sleek cat with long curving tail].

The Strongest Women's Tournament

Frank "Boy" Pestano's column: Friday, August 01, 2008 Pestaño: The strongest women’s tournament By Frank “Boy” Pestaño Chessmoso I SELDOM feature women’s tournaments—not because I am biased—but simply because there are only a few of them. However, if it is billed as the strongest women’s tournament ever, I guess every chess player has a right to know what is it all about. The North Urals Cup is in its third edition and is ongoing in Krasnoturinsk, Russia from July 26 to Aug. 3. Here are the players and their background. I am enumerating their accomplishments as very few chess players know about women chess and it is about time to show them our respect. Koneru Humpy (India) is an International grandmaster with a rating of 2622. She is a semifinalist of the World Cup (2002), semifinalist of the World Women Championship (2004), winner of the super tournament “North Urals Cup” (2005), and first placer in the individual and the team categories (Asian Games 2006). Stefanova Antoaneta (Bulgaria) is an international grandmaster with a rating of 2550. She is the European Champion (2002), Women World Champion (2004), and two-time champion of Russia (team “AVS”) (2005, 2006). She also won 3rd place in the Russian Championship (team “AVS”) (2007), winner of the male GM tournament in Salona (2007) and finished the Gibraltar Masters 2008 with an ELO performance of 2690. Cramling Pia (Sweden) is an international grandmaster with a rating of 2544 and is a WGM since 1982 and International Grandmaster since 1992. She is the women’s European champion (2003), vice-champion of Sweden among men (1987, 2000), winner of the European Club Cup with the team of Monaco (2007). She also won second place in the Ataturk Masters Ustanbul (2008). Sebag Marie (France) is an international grandmaster with a rating of 2529 and a winner of the European Youth Championship (1999, 2000, 2002), two-time champion of France (2000, 2002), and a quarterfinalist of the World Women Championship (2006). [Sebag won her third and final GM norm by virtue of her performance at the 2008 European Individual Chess Championships]. Muzychuk Anna (Slovenia) is another international grandmaster with a rating of 2504. She is the champion of Ukraine among women (2003), Russian, Slovenian, German Club Cup champion, European Club Cup vice-champion with “AVS” (2007), and the winner of the international women tournaments “Moscow Open” and “1st Ladies Open” (2008). Xu Yuhua (China) is an international grandmaster with a rating of 2483 and winner of the zonal tournament (1993, 2001), World Cup (2000, 2002). She is also a member of the World Olympiad Team Champion (2000, 2002, 2004), and is the Women World Champion (2006). Ushenina Anna (Ukraine) is an International grandmaster since 2007 with a rating of 2476. She is the champion of Ukraine among women (2005), member of the Olympiad champion team (2006), member of the third-place finisher in the World Women Team Championship (2007). Pogonina Natalya (Russia) is an international grandmaster with a rating of 2469. She is the European champion among in the 16-Under and 18-Under women (2000, 2003), the European rapid chess 18-Under champion (2003), third placer in the super tournament “North Urals Cup” (2007), vice-champion of European Club Cup with “AVS” (2007), first placer in the Russian team and the second placer in the World Students’ Championship (2008). Here are the standings after the 3rd round: Stefanova 2.5,Ushenina, Sebag, Yuhua 2.0, Pogonina, Muzychuk, Koneru 1.0, Cramling 0.5. Obviously it has been a disappointment for the top seed Koneru who started with two losses against Stefanova and Sebag and Cramling, who is the most experienced, who only has a single draw.

More on the Phaistos Disc

The New York Times picked up the story about the Phaistos Disc possibly being a hoax. (Photo from NYT article by Judith Lange

July 30, 2008, 11:30 am
A Fake Ancient Disc?
By John Tierney

Now that we’ve disposed of the bogus “pre-Columbian” crystal skulls, we can consider a potential new hoax: the Phaistos Disc, whose purportedly ancient text has long resisted scientists’ efforts to decipher it. My colleague Bina Venkataraman explains the newest twist on its inscrutability: The hundred-year-old mystery of a famous ancient artifact, according to one art history scholar, might be summed up with a single word: hubris.

In the current issue of Minerva, an art and archaeology journal, Jerome M. Eisenberg calls the famous Phaistos Disc, thought to be a story or sacred text of unknown but ancient origin, a fraud. The flat, circular clay disc is about six inches in diameter, and its purpose and stamped pictographic script have been the subject of scholarly debate over the last century.

Until now, most scholars believed that Luigi Pernier, an Italian archaeologist, excavated the Phaistos Disc in Crete in 1908. Dr. Eisenberg asserts that Mr. Pernier created the disc himself, because he was jealous of the accomplishments of archaeologists like Federico Halbherr, who discovered the “earliest legal code found in Europe” in Crete in 1884, and Arthur Evans, who excavated the palace at Knossos, also in Crete.

In the article, Dr. Eisenberg builds a case to prove the disc is forged using painstaking detail about its symbols, discovery site and composition. He says that its “cleanly cut” edges and uniformity do not match up with the period’s clay tablets, which were baked only by accident in the fires that destroyed ancient palaces. That the script remains impossible to translate, he added, bolsters the view that Mr. Pernier created it to outshine his contemporaries. At a conference this fall in London, Dr. Eisenberg and scholars who defend the disc as authentic will discuss the artifact’s origins face to face.

Dr. Eisenberg’s argument sounds strong to me, and I’m curious to hear Lab readers’ thoughts on what this little episode says about competition in archaeology. But I’m also happy to hear from anyone who wants to defend Mr. Pernier, and anyone who cares to take a stab at deciphering the symbols and finding a message — maybe something like, “I can’t believe anyone would fall for this scam.” Or just a simple excuse from Mr. Pernier: “Hey, you know what they say: publish or perish.”
*********************************************************************************** There were comments - and a rebuttal:

16. July 31st,2008 7:17 am
Dr Jerome M. Eisenberg has written this article without knowing the work of the French scholar Jean Faucounau. This scholar, author of c. 30 papers and books on the Phaistos Disk’s problem has found the answer to ALL the enigmas which have led Dr Eisenberg to his theory. The conclusion is that the Disk is NOT a forgery — it is NOT “undecipherable” — it is NOT Minoan — its hieroglyphs are NOT borrowed from diverses Civilizations, as written by Dr Eisenberg — etc.The true culprits of this mess are the Redactors-in-Chief of the A.J.A. who have refused to print the reply by J. Faucounau to a biased and erroneous paper published in 2000 in this journal, under the signature of the scholar considered as “THE” best specialist in the field.
Jean-Henriet F.
— Posted by Jean-Henriet Faucounau

Discovering How Greeks Computed in 100 B.C.

From The New York Times By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD Published: July 31, 2008 After a closer examination of a surviving marvel of ancient Greek technology known as the Antikythera Mechanism, scientists have found that the device not only predicted solar eclipses but also organized the calendar in the four-year cycles of the Olympiad, forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. The new findings, reported Wednesday in the journal Nature, also suggested that the mechanism’s concept originated in the colonies of Corinth, possibly Syracuse, on Sicily. The scientists said this implied a likely connection with Archimedes. Archimedes, who lived in Syracuse and died in 212 B.C., invented a planetarium calculating motions of the Moon and the known planets and wrote a lost manuscript on astronomical mechanisms. Some evidence had previously linked the complex device of gears and dials to the island of Rhodes and the astronomer Hipparchos, who had made a study of irregularities in the Moon’s orbital course. The Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes called the first analog computer, was recovered more than a century ago in the wreckage of a ship that sank off the tiny island of Antikythera, north of Crete. Earlier research showed that the device was probably built between 140 and 100 B.C. Only now, applying high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography, have experts been able to decipher inscriptions and reconstruct functions of the bronze gears on the mechanism. The latest research has revealed details of dials on the instrument’s back side, including the names of all 12 months of an ancient calendar. In the journal report, the team led by the mathematician and filmmaker Tony Freeth of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, in Cardiff, Wales, said the month names “are unexpectedly of Corinthian origin,” which suggested “a heritage going back to Archimedes.” No month names on what is called the Metonic calendar were previously known, the researchers noted. Such a calendar, as well as other knowledge displayed on the mechanism, illustrated the influence of Babylonian astronomy on the Greeks. The calendar was used by Babylonians from at least the early fifth century B.C. Dr. Freeth, who is also associated with Images First Ltd., in London, explained in an e-mail message that the Metonic calendar was designed to reconcile the lengths of the lunar month with the solar year. Twelve lunar months are about 11 days short of a year, but 235 lunar months fit well into 19 years. “From this it is possible to construct an artificial mathematical calendar that keeps in synchronization with both the sun and the moon,” Dr. Freeth said. The mechanism’s connection with the Corinthians was unexpected, the researchers said, because other cargo in the shipwreck appeared to be from the eastern Mediterranean, places like Kos, Rhodes and Pergamon. The months inscribed on the instrument, they wrote, are “practically a complete match” with those on calendars from Illyria and Epirus in northwestern Greece and with the island of Corfu. Seven months suggest a possible link with Syracuse. Inscriptions also showed that one of the instrument’s dials was used to record the timing of the pan-Hellenic games, a four-year cycle that was “a common framework for chronology” by the Greeks, the researchers said. “The mechanism still contains many mysteries,” Dr. Freeth said. Among the larger questions, scientists and historians said the place of the mechanism in the development of Greek technology remained poorly understood. Several references to similar instruments appear in classical literature, including Cicero’s description of one made by Archimedes. But this one, hauled out of the sea in 1901, is the sole surviving example.

Goddess Okota

From The Daily News (sunnewsonline.com) Okota Fiesta : Celebrating the goddess of love and unity By FEMI SALAWU Wednesday, July 30, 2008 After several years of isolation from their cultural heritage, the people of Arigidi-Akoko in Ondo State recently celebrated the maiden edition of Okota Festival between July 21 and 22. The festival which was inspired by the highly benevolent Okota river goddess who generations of Arigidi-Akoko has come to regard as the harbinger of goodwill as well as a major source of refuge during the pre-colonial wars that almost truncated the existence of the town. Okota goddess is a highly revered deity among the people of Arigidi-Akoko and has been credited with potent supernatural powers. Oral tradition has it that, while barren women were being provided with fruits of the womb, afflicted persons had received healing after tasting the water from the Okota river. Apparently, in a drive to reunite with its ancestors and showcase the cultural heritage of the town, the Otunba Gani Adams-led Olokun Foundation organised the two-day fiesta tagged Okota Festival 2008 under the theme: Promoting one of African Deities for Positive Social Change and Development. As a major addition to the main event, the festival featured a beauty pageant on the opening day. The keenly contested event which paraded about 14 participants had Opemuti Oluwabamike, an 18 year-old undergraduate of the University of Ado-Ekiti emerging as the first Miss Okota. The beauty queen walked home with the grand prize of a Mercedes Benz 190 car and is expected to be the face of the Okota Festival for a year. Expressing her gratitude in an emotionally filled voice, Opemuti said, “I want people to know more about the history of Okota river and its contribution to the development of the town.” A situation similar to the Osun-Osogbo Festival was reenacted during the grand finale. As early as 7am, a large crowd comprising villagers and tourists had gathered at the palace of Zaki of Arigidi-Akoko. The palace and its adjourning streets was a beehive of activities ranging from trading to cultural displays. The king, Regent Adebimpe Olanipekun Fagbola offered prayers on behalf of the people to the gods for protection, long life and fruitful farming. Arigidi-Akoko has since been ruled by a regent following the death of Oba Aunmo Olanipekun early last year. Regent Adebimpe Olanipekun Fagbola, daughter of the late king has been holding forth since March last year pending the selection of a substantial royal father which is said to be in progress.Led by the elders of the town and notable sons including Otunba Gani Adams, National Co-ordinator, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), the crowd filed in a procession to the riverside where sacrifices including a live cow were offered to appease the Okota River goddess. The crowd, which almost became uncontrollable but for the security mounted by OPC members could not be tamed for long. Immediately after the sacrifices, a mad rush to the river ensured as many scooped water from the river and offered prayers not minding the pollution arising from the huge human traffic. For Iya Osun Adewunmi, an Osun-Osogbo priestess who claimed to have been born beside the Okota River, “Whatever problem you bring to the river goddess will be answered. The river goddess welcomes all and sundry but does not condone thieves and liars.” She added: “Our nation is yet to realize the huge impact which occasion like this have on national development. Nigeria was founded with cultural institutions and because of western religion, we have neglected our foundations. This is why we are experiencing what we are seeing today.” While tracing the Okota River to the history of the town, Otunba Gani Adams, one of the illustrious sons of the town noted that at inception, people of the town had maintained a pact to set aside a day annually to celebrate the deity but due to Western civilization, the tradition had long been forgotten. The activity was followed by a special ceremony held at the palace which attracted dignitaries including Hon. Felix Ogunmilade Abboy, executive chairman, Akoko North/West, Oke-Agbe, Mr Segun Ajiboye, chief press secretary to the governor of Ondo State and several traditional rulers. Other attraction at the event include cultural displays and performances including Ewi rendition by veteran Yoruba actor Sulaiman Ayilara a.k.a Ajobiewe. Ajobiewe's performance, which was accompanied by dance interpretation by his troupe, was followed by different cultural displays by groups from neighbouring towns. The curtain fell on the Okota Festival 2008 celebration with a performance by popular fuji musician, Saheed Osupa who thrilled the audience with several indigenous lyrics. While commending Gani Adams for his great vision towards bringing the attention of the world to the town, the Regent called on indigenes of Arigidi-Akoko within Nigeria and in the Diaspora to join in the efforts to revive traditional institutions in the town as well as showcase its tourism potentialities to the world. Ambassador Segun Olusola, who graced the event commended Gani Adams for promoting Yoruba culture. The elder culture activist also expressed his joy at the efforts of cultural orientation by the Regent of the town who had spent a part of her life to build a professional career as Mortgage Broker with JP Morgan in America. The elder statesman also called on government to throw its weight behind the Okota Festival.

Deysi Cori Wins World School Chess Championship

30 July, 2008 [ 10:45 ] Peru's Deysi Cori wins World School Chess Championship in Singapore Young Peruvian chess player, Deysi Cori, won today the World School Chess Championship in the Under-15 category in Singapore, after defeating Vietnamese Thi Mai Hung Nguyen. 15-year-old Deysi Cori achieved 7.5 points during the eighth round of the tournament, which was unattained by her nearest competitors. The young female chess champion is followed by Indonesian Dewii Aa Citra, with 5 points; and Mongolian Anu Bayar, also with 5 points when there is only one more round to play. As if that were not enough, her brother Jorge Cori is only half a point away from winning the world championship in the Under-13 category. Jorge played today with Indian Pranav Zantye and achieved 7 points, while Iranian second seed, Idania Pouya, has 6 points.Peruvian Jorge Cori will face Indonesian Masruri Rahman for the world championship tomorrow. News source: ANDINA

Giant Chessboard Attracts Audiences

In a sea of non-stop bad news in the press, this is good news. I believe this report is out of Savannah, Georgia (www.connectsavannah.com) JULY 29, 2008 The Miller Gambit BY ROBIN WRIGHT GUNN LAST TUESDAY evening in Forsyth Park, Autumn Hennessy sat in silence on a shaded park bench south of the big fountain. With her mother nearby, Autumn sat alone among 40 or so people observing the first night of play on a giant chess board painted in muted green and beige on the park’s concrete walkway. At the age of “almost 5,” Autumn was far younger than most others watching the inaugural series of chess matches. Out for her regular early evening stroll with her mother Suz and infant sister Esmee, Autumn observed the goings-on like an old pro. “I like the green and white, and the chess pieces,” she said. “The black team got four pieces, and the white. They’ve got the same amount.” As of last week, giant outdoor chess is new to Savannah, but not to Autumn. “You saw them in Portugal, remember Autumn?” prompted her mother, recalling a vacation last year, prior to the family’s move to Savannah from their home in England. “I don’t remember that.” She paused. “Okay, I do,” she said, then lost interest in the game to pat the head of Lexi the dog, out on a walk with her owner, publisher Frederic Beil. Like the Hennessy’s and Beil, Inoussa Kouama stumbled by chance onto the newly painted board game. A native of Burkina Faso, Kouama was on his way to catch a bus back to his southside home, after meeting with local community leaders in hopes of launching a Pan-African Festival in Savannah later this year. “I think it’s cool, seeing people play games instead of doing something else,” he said. “I watched my dad play since I was a kid. My dad is a politician. Politicians like to play chess.” Perhaps that’s why Chatham County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis was among the spectators on Tuesday. Other movers and shakers on hand included SEDA Director Rick Winger, Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill, and public relations superstars Marjorie Young and Jennifer Abshire. The chess board has been in the works for several months, starting as an idea in the head of Chris Miller, the guy with the pony tail and the paradoxical “gee whiz/can-do” attitude. To garner enthusiasm for the chess board, Miller used the same “do it yourself and work with the system” approach that pulled together local support for his past projects — The Creative Coast Initiative (now The Creative Coast Alliance) and lectures by urban visionaries Richard Florida, James Kunstler, and Charles Landry. After securing permission from the city’s Park and Tree Department, Miller took a live oak tree leaf to a paint store to create a matching green concrete stain for the dark colored chess board squares. “The beige is the trim color from buildings at Park and Tree,” said Miller. “Department director Dave White was very enthusiastic about the idea, and helpful in shepherding it through” the approval process. For several weekends last month, Miller painted the board onto the concrete himself, with help from a few Forsyth Park regulars he met along the way. Preliminary help also came in the form of another Miller—Willie Miller, a downtown fixture and whiz at chess, who helped test out the two-to-three feet tall pieces on Gaston Street earlier this summer. Miller played two matches Tuesday, winning the first and losing the second. “You know they do this in Europe all the time,” he said. “I like the whole ordeal, it’s comfortable, relaxing, it’s a peaceful, thinking game.” After watching several matches, Chris Miller stepped up to the board, taking on opponent K.C. Drummer, familiar to many downtowners for making flowers out of palmetto fronds. “You have a lot of spectators coming by which I’ve never seen before,” said Drummer. “It’s very promotable.” “It’s not going to change the world, eliminate poverty, or improve the schools. But all it takes is one kid to see something new that he hasn’t seen before and have it change his life in some small measure,” said Miller. “Chess teaches kids strategy, delayed gratification, how to lose gracefully. It’s a metaphor for success in life. Of all the things I’ve done, this is the one I’m the most proud of.” Hours for the Forsyth Park chess games are Saturdays and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.

Nigerian Women Battle for Olympiad Spots

Chess Trial: Adegboyega, Jeje Lead Others to Final StageBy Femi Solaja 07.29.2008 After four days of intense chess display, 12 players have qualified for the final stage of the World Chess Olympiad trial put together by the Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) which was rounded up at the National Stadium, Lagos Sunday. Adebayo Adegboyega, a veteran of several World Chess Olympiads, showed shades of genus in the middle games as he led 29 others with 5.5 points out of seven games Swiss-round event in the male section out of which six players qualified for the final stage of the trial. The other five qualifiers in the category are: Benjamin Omorere also with 5.5 points, Kolade Onabogun, Ajibola Olanrewaju, Charles Campbell and Bomo Kigigha all who finished with five points respectively. In the crucial final game, veteran Campbell exploited his better prowess in Nimzo Indian Defence (b6) on move four over youthful John Fawole, who failed to keep the tempo in white colour and a dubious h4 move on 48 gave his opponent’s light Bishop a wide control of the board and at the brink of time forfeit cause an exchange of Queens but when the smoke cleared, the young prodigy was a pawn down and surrendered on move 73. In the female action, the trio of Elizabeth Coker, Tolu Jeje and Uwa Obasi led the final qualification with five points each while Modupeola Adesanya, Folusayo Togun and veteran Rachael-Edward Dappa all picked the remaining slots for a chance in the final Olympiad trial which will come up next month from 13th-17th at the SWAN Secretariat at the National Stadium, Lagos. The final trial will be held on a round robin basis and will produce three players from each category while the two from Nigeria Players in Diaspora will make up the remaining two to complete the five players that will represent the country at the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden Germany in November.

Who's That Lady?

Amidst the colorful decoration of the Shriners Temple replete with Art Deco artifacts (such as the gold-leaf brass torchier lamp still with original fixture and shade), gold leaf paint details and soft leather-upholstered chairs (the original tapestry had, alas, long since worn off and could not be affordably replaced), Michelle strikes a Las Vegas Diva pose for photographer dondelion.

Humpy Falls Twice in North Urals Cup

Unprecedented as far as I'm aware - GM Koneru Humpy has lost her first two games in this elite women's event! She lost R1 as white to Stefanova; she lost R2 as black to Sebag. Game 3 started at 3:00 p.m. today. Does this mean that Koneru is overrated as the second highest rated female player in the world? I don't think so. What I do think is that several of the players at this year's North Urals Cup are underrated because they play mainly in women-only events (Marie Sebag may be the exception, as she recently earned her third and final GM norm playing in the Men's section at the Individual European Chess Championships).

A Queen's Desperate Cry for Help

From Haaretz.com Last update - 21:43 27/07/2008 'The land, my lord, will be lost forever' By Ran Shapira "To the king my lord and my sun: These are the words of your servant, Belit-nesheti [literally, "mistress of lions/lionesses"]. I fall at the king's feet seven times over. I must tell the king that this country is witnessing [acts of] hostility and that the land of the king, my lord, will be lost forever." A Canaanite queen from one of the cities in Palestine's lowland sent this desperate request in the 14th century B.C.E. to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The name of the city ruled by Belit-nesheti is not mentioned in this letter or in others that depict violent acts that aroused in her a justified feeling that she was facing a dire threat. During that period, the city of Gezer, and the Ajalon and Sorek valleys were the scene of events that seriously challenged the rule of Belit-nesheti and other monarchs. In another letter, she conveys the following information: "The Apiru have written to Ajalon and Zorah and the two sons of Milkilu [king of Gezer] have been almost beaten to death. I must inform the king of this act." In yet another letter, she relates that one of the cities in the area under her rule has fallen to the Apiru, and she calls to the king, "I beg the king to save his land from the hands of the Apiru, before it is too late." The Apiru, mentioned in various documents from different parts of the ancient Near East, were a people that had been uprooted from society and which had abandoned its native land. They formed bands that engaged in robbery and in the collection of protection money, and they served as mercenaries whom the rulers of the various Canaanite cities under Egyptian rule at the time recruited as a military force when they wanted to attack their enemies. The Apiru were supported by the powerful rulers of neighboring cities who sought to seize control of her city. Her cries for assistance from Pharaoh, who was during this period the supreme ruler of the region and of a number of Canaanite cities, elicited no response, as indicated by the findings that have recently been discovered in Tel Beit Shemesh, about a half-hour's drive from Jerusalem. Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman, both of Tel Aviv University's Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, have been conducting excavations there since 1990. In their scholarly opinion, the city was devastated in a monstrous wave of violence; the remnants extant from that massive act of destruction have been uncovered in the past few weeks. In Tel Beit Shemesh, site of this ancient Canaanite city, archaeologists have discovered entire walls that collapsed in a huge fire, which apparently occurred in the mid-14th century B.C.E. Evidence of the desperate attempt made by Belit-nesheti and her subjects to defend their city is provided by bronze arrowheads discovered among the fallen bricks. They perhaps indicate that the capture of the city was preceded by a battle. Belit-nesheti's letters are part of a collection of letters written in cuneiform in the Akkadian language (the lingua franca of that era) on clay tablets, that was discovered in the late 19th century in Egypt in Tel Amarna, which is located midway between Cairo and Luxor. The letters belong to the royal archives of King Amenhotep IV, the husband of the celebrated Nefertiti. He carried out a religious revolution, transferring the royal capital from No-Amon (present-day Luxor) to Amarna. The king, who changed his name to Akhenaten, deposited in the archives of the new capital some of the royal correspondence dating from the reign of his father, Amenhotep III. After Akhenaten's death, his son, the boy-king Tutenkhamun, abandoned the new religion, which was a form of sun worship, and returned to the old capital. Apparently, the clay tablets that were left at Amarna, which are the remnants of what the Egyptian foreign ministry's archives contained in the 14th century B.C.E., bear the texts of letters that dealt with matters that had already been agreed upon; the Egyptian officials no longer needed them for their contacts with neighboring world powers or with the governors of the Canaanite cities that were under Egyptian control. The archives also contain letters that, like those from Belit-nesheti, were sent by governors of these Canaanite cities to the Egyptian king. The letters are primarily complaints about neighboring rulers and about the precarious security situation in Canaan under Egyptian rule. They also contain numerous reference to the Apiru. Most of the letters are signed by men; thus, Belit-nesheti, the female governor of a city (a very high position), is an exception in this male-dominated environment. Scholars have noted that, except for the letters quoted here, we have no information on Belit-nesheti's family or biography or on the circumstances that led to her playing such a high-profile rule; what is clear that she was extremely unusual for women of her era. Full article.

The Goddesschess Muses

Who are those gorgeous women? Mix beauty with brains and you get us - three of the women behind Goddesschess! That's me on the left (no longer sporting my auburn locks), Isis and Michelle (who is sporting auburn locks this summer). Photo taken by dondelion on 7/25/08.

Barbados Seeks to Develop Women's Chess

From the BarbadosAdvocate.com Chess pushing to revive the number of ladies on the board Web Posted - Sun Jul 27 2008 Vice President of the Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) Rohan Waithe has plans he is eager to set in motion, and one of them is the development of women's chess in Barbados. Speaking to Barbados Advocate Sports, Waithe, who is also the Member Development officer with the association, pointed out, " For the immediate future, we will be looking to revive the Barbados Ladies Chess Association, with the aim of making tangible efforts at increasing the number of females playing.The Inter-school girls has not yet been played this year, but it is vital if we are seriously looking at taking ladies chess to a higher level. We have many bright sparks among the junior girls, and with sustained coaching and high-level competition, this should augur well for the future." He noted, "We have a vibrant inter-school programme with over 300 students from primary and secondary school taking part in this years inter-school tournament, along with 75 players in the under-12 national championships. There are several juniors who came through this programme who have done well regionally like Justin Blackman, Martyn Del Castilho, Shamel Howell and Alex Jackman. However, what we need to do is get the transition from the Junior ranks to senior ranks. In the past, we had several clubs in various communities, so that outside of school, juniors had an opportunity to play chess with seniors. We need to urgently revive those community clubs." "We will soon have a big international junior tournament, the Sagicor Barbados Junior Open Tournament starting August 11. We are also sending Male and Female teams to the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden Germany in November, he added. "Over the next few years, our goal has to be producing another International Master, along with Kevin Denny. This means providing training for our best juniors and seniors. We would need to have an ongoing coaching programme probably sourcing coaching from overseas. To sustain this development we need to look at regional tournaments such as the Pan-American and Central American Tournaments. This is essential as we need to play high level chess constantly," Waithe argued. Waithe acknowledged that hosting tournaments as well as travelling even regionally is costly. "Naturally funding is also a major concern, we are grateful for the assistance of the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA), National Sports Council (NSC), and corporate Barbados." (AP)

North Urals Cup 2008

The event has started - I visited the website a few minutes ago, no standings available yet from Round 1. Here is a link to a press report about the opening ceremony and press conference, etc. by Anna Burtasova, with a smoking photo of Antoaneta Stefanova.

Chess History: Article by Carmen

Carmen Romeo (chief librarian, research assistant and widow of chess historian IM Ricardo Calvo) has an article published at the Spanish language Chessbase: La Valencia literaria del siglo XV, el manuscrito de Schacs d’amor y sus tres autores. The English translation will be published at Goddesschess when we receive it.

An Interesting Emblem

There are dozens of chairs in this style at the Shriners' Temple in Milwaukee, all marked with this interesting embossed emblem on the back. I thought the central part shows a double-headed dragon; dondelion says it's a double-headed sea-horse. This chair was the only example of its type on the floors on which ladies are allowed (we were not allowed to tour the lower floor where, our tour guide said, most of these chairs are located). Michelle snapped this photograph on 7/25/08.

It is only now, in looking at the photo, that I noticed that the central block of the double-headed dragons (or sea-horses) is enclosed in an embossed square composed of four blue cross-like medallions on each of its four corners and three "sacred eyes" (shaped like the vesica pisces) on each of the north, south, east and west bands enclosing the design in the central block.

This photo also shows some of the beautiful tile-work that decorates the Temple and the rich color-ways that were used in its construction: black, white, tawny orange, gold, blue, mauve-pink. Our guide told us that each tile was individually laid by a family of Italian tile-layers (a father and four sons) who did all of the tile work throughout the Temple and close examination of the floor, walls and columns confirms this. Buildings in the United States just aren't built like this any more.

Goddesschess: The Next Generation?

Through a series of interesting "coincidences", Michelle has adopted a nickname for herself, a long-standing tradition among the Goddesschess crew.

This photo was taken on 7/24/08 in the "hallway" linking the original War Memorial Center/Milwaukee Art Museum with the Calatrava Addition. It shows a pensive Salome Alexandra, perhaps contemplating her future.

Sightseeing in Milwaukee

Michelle snapped this photo yesterday of the gingerbread gazebo at The Wisconsin Club in downtown Milwaukee.

The club has recently undergone extensive renovations - a new logio-style restaurant has been added across the front of the building and the grounds fronting West Wisconsin Avenue have been altered and replanted and new fencing added along with an "improved" entrance. I thought the old entrance was just fine. Unfortunately, some old trees were removed, but a few were saved, including a fine old Osage Orange. The ornate gazebo is a popular spot for wedding photos.

At The Wisconsin Club's website (a fancy affair with too much "Flash!") this structure is called a "belvedere." Okay - whatever, darlings!

Shriner's Temple

No need to tell you that Isis and Michelle are beautiful - I've got their photographs plastered all over this blog and in our anniversary articles at Goddesschess! Here they are outside the Shriner's Temple in Milwaukee. The Temple is a replica (but not in marble) of the Taj Mahal.

Yard Work

The lawn service I hired to do some major yard work (tree and shrub trimming, edging the garden, lawn aeration, weeding) arrived a week ago Friday and tamed the wilds of my backyard before Isis and Michelle arrived. Here's a shot of one of the workers putting an edge on the large garden bed in the backyard. This is a view from the deck.

Summer and Squirrel

My backyard would not be half so entertaining without the squirrels. dondelion snapped a photo of this little fellow surveying his wild kingdom from atop a fencepost in a corner of my garden a few days ago.

Ancient Trade Patterns Revealed in Tomb Goods

From Ansa.it July 24, 2008 Tomb reveals ancient trade network Adriatic coast linked with Mideast, North Africa and Greece (ANSA) - Ancona, July 24 - The tomb of a woman who died around 2,600 years ago on the eastern Italian coast is helping archaeologists piece together the vast trade network that once linked this area with the Middle East, North Africa and Greece. Experts working on a tomb near the port of Ancona say the site contains over 650 artefacts from the 7th century BC, including numerous items made in other parts of the world. ''This tomb is of extraordinary importance, as it contains the only known funerary finds in the area of Conero dating from this time,'' said the Archaeology Superintendent for the Marche region, Giuliano de Marinis. The pieces demonstrate that an extensive network of contact and trade once linked this section of the Adriatic coast not only to Sicily and southern and central Italy, but also much further afield. The tomb contains artefacts manufactured in sites as far away as modern-day Egypt, Rhodes, mainland Greece, the Palestinian Territories and Anatolia. ''This discovery fills in a big gap in our knowledge and helps define the role this area played in past centuries,'' continued De Marinis. ''For example, it shows that items from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean passed through here en route to other parts of the Italian peninsula''. Of particular value are five glazed pottery pendants, which were made in Egypt. Probably used as amulets, they are each six centimetres in length and are shaped like seashells. Also of special interest are a bowl and lid, intricately decorated with horses, and a cowry disc from the Indian Ocean. This latter was considered a fertility symbol and was reproduced in Ancient Egyptians tombs. Among the other items contained in the tomb were pendants of ivory, glass paste and amber, scarabs, and belts of buckle and bone. The head of the archaeological project, Maurizio Landolfi, said: ''These items were possibly transported to the Marche along with consignments of amber, which was in great demand for decorating jewellery and homes''. Over the last two years, over 200 tombs have been uncovered in the area, particularly around the towns of Sirolo and Numana.

Politiken Cup

Chess femme standings after Round 7: (20) IM Victoria Cimilyte 5.5 (30) IM Tania Sachdev 5.0 (63) IM Monika Socko 4.0 (78) WIM Ilena Krasenkova 4.0 (94) WFM Evgenia Pavlovskaia 4.0 (102) WIM Olena Dvoretsja 4.0 (137) WIM Christin Andersson 3.5

Interesting Chess Set

Giant chess set situated in the Pere Marquette Lodge in the Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, Illinois.

$68,000 Chess Tables

The city of Chico, California, paid $68,000 for six (6) concrete chess tables in City Plaza. Say what? Are they paved with diamonds? Story.

Bejing Strong-Arms Grieving Parents

Local government leaders have repeatedly promised to get to the bottom of why a staggering 7,000 classrooms collapsed in the quake, killing about 10,000 children. But there is little evidence that they have conducted more than a cursory examination, and there are hints of a cover-up. Even as negotiations with some parents continue [those who have not already been pressured or strong-armed into signing 'settlement agreements'], local governments have bulldozed the remains of many schools, appearing to close the door on a full investigation. The issue remains one of the most delicate facing the Chinese government. Many parents accuse local officials of negligence or corruption during the construction of the schools. Some say they still hope the central government will take action, and they plan to go to Beijing to file petitions after the Olympics. “We don’t want to get the government in trouble ahead of the Olympics,” Mr. Yu said. “We don’t want to hurt the nation’s image.” Poor suckers. You can read the full story at The New York Times - if you can stand it without getting sick to your stomach. I, for one, will not watch a single moment of the Olympics on television. I hope a gigantic earthquake such as has never been seen before strikes Bejing and swallows everyone and everything up during the Opening Ceremony. Justice would scarce be served by such a happening, but it would be something, some small bit of recompense and evening out of the scales.

Women in Archaeology: Gill Juleff

Exeter archaeologists create exhibition for Sri Lanka Updated: 22-Jul-2008 09:19 by: Martin Williams An Exeter archaeologist, who became a comic book heroine in Sri Lanka after working there for 20 years, is returning to the country with her students to set up a museum exhibition. Dr Gill Juleff of the University of Exeter became well known in the 1990s for discovering the large-scale iron industry that existed in Sri Lanka in the first millennium AD. Now she is returning to the country, accompanied by five of her students, to create an exhibition for one of the country’s most important museums. On 23 July, Dr Juleff and her team will travel to the Martin Wickramasinghe Museum of Folk Culture in Koggala, on Sri Lanka’s south coast. Working with museum staff, they will have a month to produce a new exhibition on Sri Lanka’s ancient heritage in iron production. The exhibition will include a full-size model of a wind-powered furnace and accompanying display material. Dr Juleff’s research has focused on understanding the unique technology that was used to make steel in Sri Lanka in the first millennium AD. Working with archaeologists, both local and international, she discovered a type of furnace that made use of the monsoon winds to generate heat of up to 1600 degrees celcius. As well as being published in the leading scientific journal Nature, her discoveries captured the imagination of people across the island. When she returned to Sri Lanka last year she was surprised to find herself immortalised in an educational comic book: Steel Industry in Ancient Lanka. Dr Gill Juleff of the University’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources said: “After so many years of hard fieldwork in deep rural parts of the island, walking everyday in the forest and getting to know local villagers, it will be a treat to spend a month on the coast working in the relative comfort of a museum. It is also a wonderful opportunity to give back something to a country that I love and that has given me so much. We will be working with Sri Lankan colleagues who have collaborated with the project for many years and for us all it will be chance to bring the results of our work to a wider audience. If anyone is holidaying on the south coast of Sri Lanka near Galle they are welcome to visit the museum in Koggala and see the work in progress.” Last summer, Dr Juleff returned to Sri Lanka with a group of students to carry out a series of experiments on a model of a wind furnace. It was during this visit that she met Rupa Saparamadu, author of Steel Industry in Ancient Lanka and daughter of one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent writers, the late Martin Wickramasinghe. Now, working with the Martin Wickramasinghe Museum Trust, Dr Juleff and her team will create a new exhibition for the museum that Rupa Saparamadu runs.Five undergraduate archaeology students were selected for the projects based on their applications, in which they had to demonstrate their commitment to the project and outline the skills they could bring to it. First year student Kay Hamilton would not have been able to afford to take part in the project had it not been for the high level of subsidy, which came from the Exeter Alumni Exploration Fund. A keen amateur blacksmith, she will be using her skills to create the model furnace with her fellow students and local craftsmen. She said: “The iron industry is a topic of immense national pride among Sri Lankan people, so it’s a great honour to be asked to create this exhibition. I also feel a great sense of responsibility to get it right as it is such a prestigious project.” The Museum has asked the group to make an exhibit that will last for 10 years. Though they have done as much preparation as possible, the students do not yet know what materials and tools will be available to them. Their first task will be to find materials that will stand the test of time in hot and humid conditions. As well as presenting technical challenges, the trip will be an opportunity for the students to develop skills in interpreting and communicating academic information through the exhibition panels and display items. Second year student Matt Saunders, also a keen amateur blacksmith, said: “With archaeology you can get trapped in an ivory tower, but if you don’t try to help other people understand and celebrate their heritage there isn’t much point in making these discoveries.”

Jackie Peng Wins Age Group

From YorkRegion.com Richmond Hill Jul 21, 2008 12:03 PM Ten-year-old Jackie Peng called checkmate on the nation, as she brought home the national chess crown for her age group in Quebec City Sunday. Representing Ontario, the Richmond Hill girl, a Crosby Heights Public School student, went undefeated, winning six and drawing one match to claim the Canadian title. The Grade 5 student is spending her summer preparing for the World Youth Championships this October in Vietnam. The tournament will be more like a Peng family vacation, Jackie’s mom Xuekun Xing says, as Jackie’s little sister Janet placed third in the nationals and will also compete at the world’s.

Vacation!

Mr. Don arrived safely. The weather has been hot and humid but today dawned cooler, still humid. The grass is greatly overgrown and needs to be cut but it's far too wet! Isis and Michelle arrive tomorrow! Today the gardeners are coming to spruce up the yard, and I put Mr. Don to work hacking back grape vines and pruning the junipers. We've cooked out 2 nights in a row, yummy! I will blog as time permits - just catching a few minutes here now. I don't want you guys to think we're dead! Now, back to my vacation...

Indus Valley Article in Science Magazine

Just came across this blog - All Things Pakistan:

Science Unmasks New Knowledge about the Indus Civilization
Posted on July 20, 2008 Filed Under Adil Najam

It reports on an Andrew Lawler article in the June, 2008 issue of Science Magazine - available online only by subscription. I will probably subscribe just to get access to the full article.

The Indus Civilization is a fascinating connumdrum. We can't figure out the written language - heck, as far as I'm aware there isn't even a consensus that those symbols found on seals and pottery ARE actually writing.

This article looks to be the most comprehensive treatment in a popular science magazine to date - written in understandable terminology (no "terms of art" by archaeologists clouding things up) and this map which really shows how widespread the Indus influence was - and how close some of the Indus sites were to such cities as Shar-i Sokhtah in the border area where modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran all meet.

It is sad, silly and frustrating that scientists on either side of the borders of India and Pakistan cannot work together and combine their efforts in collaboration to advance knowledge of the Indus civilization because of religion and politics! Why can't people realize that in the flow of history, gods come and go; the gods of thousands of years ago are dead to us today, and thousands of years from now (if we manage not to destroy all life on this planet in the meantime), the gods of today will be dead, too. But knowledge - that is something that can live forever.

Ivana Furtado Wins Award

From The Navhind Times Ivana wins Gulab award for best sportsperson NT NETWORK MARGAO - Goa’s young chess wonder, double U-8 world champ and Dempo’s Goodwill Ambassador Ivana Maria Furtado won the Gulab Award for best sportsperson for the year 2007 on Sunday. The award was received on Ivana’s behalf by her brother Keegan at Gomant Vidyaniketan, here. Mr Eduardo Faleiro, Commissioner for NRI Affairs was the chief guest. Meanwhile, two-time world under-8 girls champion Ivana Furtado, who is presently competing for the title at Asian Youth chess championships in Tehran (iran), also remained in joint lead in the under-10 girls after compatriot M Mahalakshmi proved equal to her in a keenly contested game. Both the Indian girls now have 3.5 points apiece and continue to be atop the table with five more rounds to go. ************************************************************************************ Report on Ivana Furtado at the Asian Youth chess championship from The Press Trust of India: From our chess correspondent Tehran (Iran), July 20 (PTI) Twice world under-8 girls chess champion Ivana Furtado faltered and went down to compatriot G K Monnisha while M Mahalakshmi continued to roll in the under-10 girls section of the Asian Youth chess championships now in progress here. With just two rounds to come in the 9-rounds event, Mahalakshmi emerged as the sole leader on 6.5 points out of a possible 7 and now enjoys a huge 1.5 points lead over nearest rivals. Barring a debacles, Mahalakshmi's gold is confirmed. After losing her 5th round game against compatriot Swetty Patel, Ivana Furtado lost her second successive game to remain on 4.5 points. The Goan girl who holds a unique record in the world championships, will now have to wait for the Asian title till next year.

Who Came First?

Latest geological evidence supports theory that Europeans arrived first in North America. First Humans To Settle Americas Came From Europe, Not From Asia Over Bering Strait Land-ice Bridge, New Research Suggests ScienceDaily (July 17, 2008) — Research by a Valparaiso University geography professor and his students on the creation of Kankakee Sand Islands of Northwest Indiana is lending support to evidence that the first humans to settle the Americas came from Europe, a discovery that overturns decades of classroom lessons that nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge. Valparaiso is a member of the Council on Undergraduate Research. Dr. Ron Janke began studying the origins of the Kankakee Sand Islands – a series of hundreds of small, moon-shaped dunes that stretch from the southern tips of Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana into northeastern Illinois – about 12 years ago. Over the past few years, approximately a dozen Valparaiso undergraduates have worked with Dr. Janke to create the first detailed maps of the Kankakee Sand Islands, study their composition and survey wildlife and plants inhabiting the islands. Based upon the long-held belief that most of the upper Midwest was covered by a vast ice sheet up until about 10,000 years ago, Dr. Janke said he and other scientists surmised the Kankakee Sand Islands were created by sand in meltwater from the receding glacier. That belief was challenged, however, when he and his students discovered a year and a half ago that the islands were composed of sand that had come from Lake Michigan – something that should have been impossible with the Valparaiso Moraine standing between the lake and the Kankakee Sand Islands. “That created a lot of problems with what we had previously believed about ice covering this entire area,” Dr. Janke said. “How could it get over the Valparaiso Moraine and be deposited there?” Figuring out that puzzle required taking core samples from some of the remaining islands and the development of a new test by one of Dr. Janke’s colleagues to determine when sunlight last shone on the sand. The answer that came back – the Kankakee Sand Islands were born between 14,500 and 15,000 years ago from Lake Michigan sand – was startling. “We thought the area was completely covered by ice at that time,” Dr. Janke said. “That was a really earth-shattering result for us.” Yet it also supports research showing that North American Clovis points – a particular type of arrowhead that represents the oldest manmade object on the continent –identically match arrowheads found in Europe and made by humans at approximately the same time. And just within the last year, new research has provided strong evidence that a large meteorite struck the ice sheet covering North American and melted much of the ice shortly before the formation of the Kankakee Sand Islands. “Our research at Valparaiso supports this other recent research because it indicates there wasn’t a massive ice sheet covering North America that would have allowed tribes to cross over from Asia via a Bering Strait land-ice bridge,” Dr. Janke said. Dr. Janke’s research on the formation of the Kankakee Sand Islands is continuing this summer, with a focus on determining whether the islands closest to Lake Michigan are younger than the southernmost islands. At one time, approximately 1,200 of the islands stretched out in a series of curved bands north and and south of the Kankakee River that are separated by a few miles and mirror the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Though many were destroyed by human settlement, about 700 still exist today. Dr. Janke and his students also have been active in the Woodland Savanna Land Conservancy, an organization working to protect the Kankakee Sand Islands. Scott Osthus, a recent graduate who worked with Dr. Janke to map the Kankakee Sand Islands and support their preservation, enjoyed being involved in the research effort. “During my four years at Valparaiso, I saw how interesting and significant the Kankakee Sand Islands landscape is,” Osthus said. “I want to see this area preserved because it is so historically significant.” Landowners have donated a handful of islands to the trust for preservation, and Dr. Janke is hopeful that others will follow their lead and perhaps eventually build enough support for some of the islands to be incorporated into Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore or their own state park. “The Kankakee Sand Islands are archaeologically significant, with numerous Native American artifacts and burial grounds still present in the surviving islands, and they provide crucial habitat for native wildlife and plant species,” Dr. Janke said. “I’m hopefully the sand islands can be protected so we can continue to learn about and appreciate them.”

5th Polgar National Invitational for Girls

Lubbock welcomes top young American female chess talents Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, July 20, 2008Story last updated at 7/20/2008 - 2:02 am The fifth annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, the most prestigious all-girls national chess championship in the United States, will commence next Sunday right here in Lubbock. This prominent national championship will take place over six days, from July 27 to Aug. 1, at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion on the Texas Tech campus. Each state can nominate one talented young female chess player, the top 18-year-old or younger from the state. Thousands of girls compete annually in local, state, regional, national and world events to earn the esteemed invitations. Tech will host this esteemed event for the next 10 years. In addition, TTU will award a four-year academic scholarship each year to begin the following year to the highest-finishing player who has not graduated from high school by August. The rules and conditions of this event can be found at http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/06/rules-and-conditions-for-spni.html. In addition, thanks to the generous sponsorship from the Provost's office, all players will receive free accommodation (based on double occupancy) on TTU's campus, as well as all meals during the six-day national event. Past champions are: • 2007: Julia Kerr (New York) and Eunice Rodriguez (Florida) • 2006: Abby Marshall (Virginia) • 2005: Anya Corke (California), Alisa Melekhina (Pennsylvania), Abby Marshall (Virginia) • 2004: Roza Eynullayeva (Massachusetts) Below are the 50 participants in this year's championship: • Alabama: Hannah Hellwig • Arizona: Sayaka Foley • Arkansas: Crystal Qian • California (Northern): Rebekah Liu • California (Southern): Nisha Deolalikar • Colorado: Alexandra Lasley • Connecticut: Alexandra Wiener • Delaware: Ann Marie Fitch • Florida: Rita Mirchandani • Georgia: Ananya Roy • Hawaii: Ashbea Oyadomari • Idaho: Erica Barkell • Illinois: Sonya Vohra • Indiana: Emily Tallo • Iowa: Dhrooti Vyas • Kansas: Katrina Pritchard • Maine: Sorel Edes • Maryland: Fiona Lam • Massachusetts: Michelle Chen • Michigan: Ashley Carter • Minnesota: Morgan Mahowald • Mississippi: Melanie Newell • Missouri: Joanna Gossell • Nebraska: Elizabeth Oliver • New Jersey: Eve Zhurbinskiy • New Mexico: Rebecca Anne DeLand • New York: Linda Diaz • North Carolina: Amelia Wheeless • Ohio: Rebecca Lelko • Oklahoma: Michelle Farell • Oregon: Taylor Bailey • Pennsylvania: Shinan Jin • South Carolina: Hannah Whatley • South Dakota: Kaitlynn Loos • Tennessee: Autumn Douthitt • Texas: Sylvia Yang • Texas: Rheanna English • Texas Alternate: Sarah Garza • Utah: Jamie Olsen-Mills • Virginia: Susan Brown • Washington: Leanne Hwa • Wisconsin: Mira Ensley-Field • Wild Card: Victoria Bian • Special Invitation: Georgia Olvera • Special Invitation: Courtney Jamison • Special Invitation: Brianna Conley • Special Invitation: Angel Bohannon • SP National Open Qualifier: Claudia E. Munoz • SP World Open Qualifier: Annie Wang • SP World Open Qualifier: Alisha Chawla Here is the tournament schedule: July 26 • 6 p.m.: "Warm-Up" Quads (G/30) in the Lubbock Room of the STU building. July 27 • 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Opening ceremony. • 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Round 1 of SPNI. July 28 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 2 of SPNI and round 1 of Parents/Friends Open. • 7 p.m.: SPNI Chess Puzzle Solving Championship. • 7:30 p.m.: Free chess lecture by Susan Polgar. July 29 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 3 of SPNI and round 2 of Parents/Friends Open. • 7 p.m.: SPNI Blitz Championship. July 30 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 4 of SPNI and round 3 of Parents/Friends Open. • 7 p.m.: SPNI Bughouse Championship. July 31 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 5 of SPNI and final round of Parents/Friends Open. Aug. 1 • 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Round 6 of SPNI. • 2:30 p.m.: Closing ceremony. I would like to invite everyone to come by the Frazier Pavilion during the event to check out the exciting championship and meet some of the top young talents of America.

Medieval Russian Chess Piece Excavated

Archaeologists find 600-year-old chess piece in northwest Russia 14:51 18/ 07/ 2008 VELIKY NOVGOROD, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Archaeologists in northwest Russia have discovered a chess piece dating back to the late 14th century, a spokesman for local archaeologists said on Friday. "The king, around several centimeters tall, is made of solid wood, possibly of juniper," the spokesman said. The excavations are being carried out at the site of the Palace of Facets, in the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. The palace is believed to be the oldest in Russia. According to the city chronicles, chess as a competitive game emerged in Veliky Novgorod, the foremost historic city in northwest Russia, in the 13th century, but was banned in 1286 by the church. However, besides the king, archeologists in the region have found a total of 82 chess pieces dating back to at least the 14th century, showing that the game remained popular among the local population despite the church ban. In late May, archaeologists in the ancient city uncovered a number of medieval baby bottles. Medieval Slavs made feeding bottles by attaching leather bags to the wider part of a cow's horn. The babies drank milk from holes made in the tip of the horns. The first historical mention of Veliky Novgorod was in 859 AD. City chronicles say that by 862 AD it was already a stop on the trading route between the Baltics and Byzantium. The city will celebrate its 1150th anniversary in 2009.

What Does This Stone Really Mean???

Vacation has begun. Posts until 7/28 will be sporadic. From the Liverpooldailypost.co.uk Academics ponder riddle of church’s ancient stone By Liam Murphy July 19, 2008 (There is a photograph of part of the "stone" but I'm not going to use up valuable bandwidth publishing it here, it does not show anything!) AN ANCIENT Viking burial stone kept in a south Wirral church has become the centre of an archaeological dispute. The stone at the Church of St Mary and St Helen, in Neston town centre, which has been broken over time prior to its discovery, clearly depicts a man and a woman with an angel flying overhead. Archaeologist and TV presenter Mark Olly said the stone is “as unique as the death mask of Tutankhamun”, but has disputed the interpretation placed on it by other Viking experts. The stone depicts a warrior and a woman who – say orthodox archaeological interpretations – are a couple, with the stone possibly marking their joint burial site. But Mr Olly insists the woman depicted on the ornately carved stone is actually a Valkyrie, which would make this already unique artefact even more intriguing. The stone itself has had a chequered history, having been used as a lintel in the church in the 1980s, and eventually recovered and put on display. The top portion of the stone has been broken off at some time, taking with it key parts of the carving. Mr Olly said: “This stone shows the story of a Viking’s life, you see him with a spear, deer hunting, and it could also be the oldest depiction of jousting. “I think it shows a warrior and he is dying. When you look at the other carved characters, they are all men.” This view is disputed by other scholars who see this particular part of the imagery on the stone as a wife beckoning her husband. Wirral Viking specialist Professor Stephen Harding prefers the view that the stone is already fascinating for a number of reasons. He emphasises that he and the other members of the research team working on the cross, Dr Martin Cooper of National Museums Liverpool, Dr Roger White, Academic Director of the Ironbridge Institute in Shropshire and Dr Peter Rossiter believe the Viking couple are the deceased man and wife whom the cross is commemorating. In a bid to come to a conclusion over the real meaning of the stone, it has been scanned by experts from NML and an animation shows it being attached to what could be the missing portion. The scanning process also means the rock could be recreated – in stone or some other substance, depending on cost – and used as a tourist attraction for Neston and the church.

Chinese Authorities Attack Grieving Parents

From The New York Times Grieving Chinese Parents Protest School Collapse By EDWARD WONG Published: July 17, 2008 BEIJING — Hundreds of parents protesting shoddy school construction that they said led to the deaths of their children in the May earthquake were harassed by riot police officers on Tuesday and criticized by local government officials, the parents said Wednesday. Local officials were also trying to buy the silence of the parents by offering them about $8,800 if they signed a contract agreeing not to raise the school construction issue again, several parents said. The confrontation between the parents and the police officers erupted on Tuesday morning as 200 parents protested outside government offices in Mianzhu, a city in the earthquake-ravaged Sichuan Province, said Liu Guangyuan, a protester who lost a son when a school collapsed. It was the latest in a series of protests held by grieving parents, many of whom lost their only child in the earthquake. With an eye to the approach of the Olympic Games in Beijing next month, however, the Chinese authorities have ordered the police to crack down on the rallies. Chinese news organizations have also been told by the central government not to report on the schools, and all journalists have been barred from approaching the collapse sites. The parents in Mianzhu on Tuesday were demanding that the government offer a full report on why Dongqi Middle School collapsed, killing at least 200 of the school’s 900 students. The Chinese government has reported that a total of 7,000 classrooms collapsed during the May 12 earthquake, and by some estimates 10,000 of the nearly 70,000 confirmed deaths were of schoolchildren. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, many local governments promised to investigate the school collapses, but parents across Sichuan Province complained that they had yet to receive any reports. The parents of the Dongqi schoolchildren gathered at 10 a.m. and demanded to meet the mayor, but no officials came out for any serious discussion, said Mr. Liu, a carpenter. Instead, an official, saying that the parents were violating public security laws, “ordered us to leave within two minutes,” Mr. Liu said. “Then the riot police started pushing and dragging. Some of the outraged parents got into physical confrontations with the police. I saw eight or nine parents carried away to patrol cars parked on the side.” Mr. Liu said he had heard that the parents were taken to a police station, but it was unclear exactly what happened to them. A person answering the telephone at the Mianzhu government offices on Wednesday said officials were in a meeting and could not talk to reporters. Mr. Liu said that the parents of Dongqi students were offended by the offer of money from the Sichuan provincial government if they agreed to drop the issue. The amount “is far from enough to appease the grief,” he said. Mr. Liu said the parents of children who attended Dongqi Middle School would petition their case at higher levels of government. Dongqi Middle School was built in 1975 and renovated in 1981, Mr. Liu said. “When my son entered the school in 2006, they promised to build new buildings,” he added. “This was written in the enrollment welcome letter. But they didn’t keep their word, and then the earthquake happened.” Zhang Longfu, whose daughter died in another Mianzhu school that collapsed, said parents at that school had also been offered $8,800 plus a pension upon retirement in their 60s if they signed a contract acknowledging that their children died in the schools because of the earthquake and agreeing not to disturb reconstruction efforts. “Parents are generally concerned about the contract and are not willing to sign it because they’re afraid that by signing it, they’ll be admitting that their children’s deaths are not related to the shoddy school building,” said Mr. Zhang, whose daughter died in the collapse of Fuxin No. 2 Primary School. Mr. Zhang said some leaders of the parents group met on Tuesday with the vice mayor of Mianzhu, who he said acknowledged that the schools were poorly built and had some hidden safety problems but insisted that the earthquake was ultimately responsible for the collapses. Hundreds of parents also held a rally on Tuesday in Shifang to protest government attempts to give them compensation in return for silence, according to a report from Radio Free Asia, a nonprofit news agency that receives financing from the United States government. The report said that the local government was offering to hand out $14,600 to each household in which a child had died in a school collapse. Zhang Jing and Huang Yuanxi contributed research.

Mosaic Mystery

What happened to the Roman era mosaic floor that was reported there in the 1930's? Mosaic mystery 8:50am Wednesday 16th July 2008 By Emma Clark » FEARS have been raised that parts of the city's old Roman town - which lies beneath Verulamium Park - have disappeared. Archaeologists say there is a genuine concern that parts of the old town could be missing. Their concerns came to light on Sunday during a dig. The experienced team from St Albans District Council dug up part of a second century manor house buried under the park expecting to find a colourful mosaic tiled floor, discovered by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in the 1930s. But instead they were greeted with remains of the room's foundations. Simon West, who heads the team, believes Sir Mortimer could have taken the ancient pieces and sold them on for a penny each in the 1930s. Now he fears that other ruins recorded by him in the area may not be there either. Mr West, who has been digging with his team since last Monday, said: "It was certainly a surprise to discover that it was no longer there. "We wanted to dig up this room to take modern records and see if it had changed, so we have fulfilled our brief but unfortunately in a negative way. "It does make me worry whether this is a one-off or whether other parts of the old Roman town that were recorded by him are also missing. "We will have to look into making further excavations to find out." But there could be other reasons for the mystery. Mr West added: "There could be two other explanations. Mr Wheeler could have taken the pieces to complete another more important mosaic or he could have sent them off for conservation work which was never completed, but you would have expected him to have recorded that. "This is not a criticism of him if he has taken them and sold them on, there were no controls in those days so he would have been quite free to take them, but it would have been nice if he had told us." Verulamium Park, named after the Roman town, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country and is recognised as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The site was dug up for the first time in the 1930s by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who was hoping to find a British Pompeii, and recorded all his discoveries. Two months ago the council was given permission by English Heritage to excavate the small area - the first dig on the site for ten years - and tied in the work with National Archaeology Week.

Supporting Local Chess: Announcements

• From the Advocate Weekly.com, for Berkshire and Bennington Counties North Berkshire Chess Club, ongoing, Wednesdays 6-9 p.m., membership free and open to all. Mass MoCA, 85 Marshall St., North Adams, MA. Info: Rick Dovey, 802-823-5545.
• From NWANews.com (Northwest Arkansas News) - I don't know if this is a weekly meeting or an announcement for a special event. Fayetteville Chess Club, 7-11 p. m., Arsaga's, 2418 N. Gregg Ave., Fayetteville; 521-7018.

Goddess Adeona a/k/a Abeona

I'd never heard of this Goddess! I came across her name tonight under a search for "goddess news" in a service that offers to track down your stolen laptop computer, LOL! Well, no laughing matter to someone who has had a laptop stolen.

The ad said Adeona was named after the Roman goddess credited with guiding children back to their parents.

So, I thought I'd do some digging about to see if I could find out more about her.

According to the Encyclopedia Mythica, in a brief entry by Micha F. Lindemans: The Roman goddess who guides the child back home, after it has left the parental house for the first time.

Not very informative. Then I found this intriguing tidbit at Wikipedia: 145 Adeona is a rather large Main belt asteroid. Its surface is very dark, and composition likely of primitive carbonaceous material. The Adeona family of asteroids is named after it. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on June 3, 1875 in Clinton, New York and named after Abeona, a protector of children in Roman mythology.

So, the goddess is also called Abeona? She is also called Adiona according to this entry from "The Obscure Goddess Online Directory" (goddess, I just love the internet!):

Adiona is the Roman Goddess of Safe Return. Like Abeona, She is sometimes considered an aspect of Juno; They both protect children, like Juno, who as the Roman Goddess of Mothers is especially concerned with the young. Together Adiona and Abeona teach the young child to walk and watch over her or his first steps; this theme of protecting the first steps of a child also extends to their protection of grown children who move away from home for the first time. Adiona's name comes from the Latin verb adeo, "to approach or visit" as well as "to take possession of one's inheritance"; perhaps the connection between these two meanings lies in the idea of "to come home again". Adiona is believed to watch over children as they go to and from school, and to especially preside over bringing them home safely. She is also said to protect travellers. Though it might look it, Her name is not related to the Spanish adios, "goodbye", which means "go with God". Alternate spelling: Adeona

Abeona is specifically a Goddess of Partings: She is usually mentioned with Adiona, who is in charge of returning the child home safely.

Her name is not related to Spanish 'adios?' Really? So the experts say. But I've formed my own personal opinion on the subject, and I'll never again hear the word "Adios" without thinking of this Goddess who is in charge of guiding the footsteps of grown children home safely once again. After all, my Webster's says that 'adios,' from Latin root words a (from ad) and Deus (God) is "used to express farewell." Notice what this Webster's Dictionary definition does not say: it does not say this means "go with God." Ha!

I understand that vayo con dios mean "go with God," too. Well, they could mean the same thing, but common sense tells me that adios is the older usage that got co-opted by the patriarchy with its original meaning being erased over time, a mother goddess guiding the steps of her grown children back home once again.

Armed Forces Chess Star Becomes U.S. Citizen

From Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah
New citizen soldier looks forward to voting
By Amy Macavinta
Published: July 16, 2008
(Photo: Airman 1st Class Elena Dulger)

Some Americans have never registered to vote, and some who register don't always make it to the voting booth. And yet Hill Air Force Base Airman 1st Class Elena Dulger's face lights up the room when she talks about her first chance to participate in a democratic election.

Dulger, 21, is taking her oath of citizenship today, seven years and one day after meeting her father at JFK International Airport in New York. After becoming an official U.S. citizen, Dulger will get her passport, and she plans on registering to vote.

"A lot of people don't realize how important (voting) is," she said. "It is a privilege."

As an American, with her new passport in hand, Dulger will be traveling to Brussels, Belgium, where she will represent the U.S. Air Force in the NATO Chess Championship in August. She just won second place in the 2008 Armed Forces Inter-Service Chess Tournament in Arizona and will now be the first female player to compete in the NATO competition.

Dulger was born and raised in Moldova, a country that was once part of the Soviet Union. Both of her parents were teachers, but teachers there make $20 to $30 per month, and often less in small towns, she said.

Dulger's father taught her and her brothers to play chess at an early age. But it never was just a way to pass the time. It was a way "to jump over that Iron Curtain." Looking back, Dulger thinks her father had a grand plan for a better life.

It isn't always easy to obtain a visa for work, Dulger said. But a visa to represent Moldova in a competition was a different story. She has competed in France, Spain, Ukraine, Greece and other countries.

She arrived in the United States when she was 14, joining her father and a brother, who had arrived six years earlier. Her mother, who is divorced from her father, only recently immigrated, and another brother remains in Moldova.

In Moldova, poverty was much more than lacking the monetary means for survival. Dulger describes a culture difference that is so vast it is "like another planet." In her native country, a person could work two jobs and still have a hard time providing for a family. Volunteer work is simply not an option.

"You are so into trying to take care of your family that you don't have time for it," she said.

Dulger said the average life expectancy in Moldova is 50 to 60 years. In contrast, she stands amazed in a country where people can return to school to get a second degree and start a whole new life at 50.

Even education is entirely different, with options available here that are not even career fields in Moldova.

"You don't have to be what anyone expects you to be," Dulger said. "You can be anything you want to be."

That wasn't an easy choice for Dulger. She had gone through high school and enrolled in college. But she dropped her classes before the term had even begun.

"I wanted to do everything but was passionate about nothing," she said. "I didn't want to get a degree that I wasn't passionate about."

Dulger enlisted in the U.S. Air Force two years ago. Immigrants into the United States are allowed to join the military on a temporary basis, under certain restrictions. One is a provision that they become citizens before they are allowed to re-enlist. While military service is required in Moldova, it is an option in the United States — one that also gives her an alternate means of completing her education and a sense of accomplishment.

Becoming a U.S. citizen is something Dulger has waited a long time for. "I can do more," she said. "It opens a lot of doors for me, even in the military."

© 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company All rights reserved

Chess - Scares Away Drug Dealers

From WYKC.com
Cleveland, Ohio
July 16, 2008
Buckeye statue designed to inspire neighborhood renaissance

CLEVELAND -- There's a new statue that's starting to get attention in Cleveland, not just because of its size, but because of where it is.

On East 118th Street and Buckeye Road, what people talk about the most is the size of the new statue/sculpture. It towers over anyone walking or driving by.

It's an 18-foot, one-and-a-half ton green figure of a man celebrating with one hand while playing a trumpet with the other. A little dog listens on the side.

"My daughter keeps running up to the dog, because she thinks it a real dog," said neighbor Denise Thomas.

The statue celebrates the yearly jazz and blues festival on Buckeye. One was held just last weekend.

There's a broader and deeper purpose though, for the sculpture and the plaza that surrounds it.

The $400,000 plaza is the result of a collaboration of several private, public and foundation organizations -- The Buckeye Area Development Corporation, The City of Cleveland, Neighborhood Progress Inc., Cleveland Public Art, RTA, Parkworks, and Charter One Bank. "The plan is to turn Buckeye into an arts and cultural district," said Buckeye Development Director John Hopkins.

Through the year, the corner has has been known for fights, drug and gang activity. Now it has been reconstructed with the hope of building up the neighborhood rather than tearing it down. There's a tile bench surrounding the statue with pictures and information about musical instruments. There are also tile chess boards.

City Councilman Ken Johnson says he's already seen some older men playing chess there at 8 p.m. recently. "You know the drug dealers are not going to hang around when you've got guys playing chess," he said.

The sculpture artist is James Simon of Pittsburgh. The tile seating was done by artist Angelica Poza, who did the well-known "peanut painting" that could be seen for years on the Peterson Nut building across the street from what is now Progressive Field.

As with any work of art, there are some who are not impressed. "Frankly, I think it's ugly," said neighbor Brenda Davenport.

However, most of the response has been like business owner Christina Christian. "It shows so much culture", she said. "It makes you feel like we're keeping Buckeye alive."

Channel 3's Obie Shelton stood next to the new trumpet sculpture as well as the Free Stamp downtown. See the comparison. © 2008 WKYC-TV