"Buddha's Skull Found in Nanking?"

Geez - who writes these headlines! LOL! Of course it's not the entire skull of Buddha - and actually - it's probably a bit of monkey skull or some such (I probably should not have said that - oh well). From the Telegraph.co.uk (where else?) 'Buddha's skull' found in Nanjing Chinese archaeologists have claimed that a 1,000-year-old miniature pagoda, unearthed in Nanjing, holds a piece of skull belonging to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai Last Updated: 12:26PM GMT 24 Nov 2008 The pagoda was wedged tightly inside an iron case that was discovered at the site of a former temple in the city in August. The four-storey pagoda, which is almost four feet high and one-and-a-half feet wide, is thought by archaeologists to be one of the 84,000 pagodas commissioned by Ashoka the Great in the second century BC to house the remains of the Buddha. Ashoka, one of India's greatest emperors, converted to Buddhism after waging a bloody war in the eastern state of Orissa. He is widely credited with spreading Buddhism throughout Asia, and across his kingdom, which stretched from Pakistan through Afghanistan and into Iran. The pagoda found in Nanjing is crafted from wood, gilded with silver and inlaid with gold, coloured glass and amber. It matches a description of another of Ashoka's pagodas which used to be housed underneath the Changgan Buddhist temple in Nanjing. A description of the contents of the pagoda was also found: a gold coffin bearing part of Buddha's skull inside a silver box. Although scans have confirmed that there are two small metal boxes inside the pagoda, experts have not yet peered inside. The pagoda is currently on display in the museum. Qi Haining, the head of archaeology at Nanjing Museum, told state media: "This pagoda may be unique, the only one known to contain parts of Buddha's skull". But he said there would be a lengthy process before the cases could be opened. In 2001, Chinese authorities found a case that was said to contain a relic of Buddha's hair, but declined to open the welded box in case it damaged the contents. De Qing, an expert in Buddhism in Nanjing, said: “The discovery of the relic will have a huge influence on the cultural history of Buddhism in China and will establish Nanjing as a premier site. It will be a great encouragement for Buddhists as well as for future studies. It is important for Buddhism as a religion to have these sarira, or relics, to show its followers. The more a Buddhist practises, the more relics will remain of him after his death. I am hugely excited. I think they should take the skull outside of the container, it is a sacred item, but it is not an untouchable item.” Siddhartha Gautama, who is believed to have been born in the fifth century BC, was a spirit­ual teacher and recognised by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age. Also known as Shakyamuni, or the Sage of the Sakyas, his teachings are contained in the Tripitaka, the canon of Buddhist thought. He is said to have attained Enlightenment, or to have become a Buddha, which means "Awakened One", at the age of 35, after 49 days meditating underneath a pipal tree. The second World Buddhist Forum, a gathering of monks and scholars from around the world, will take place near Nanjing next year in Wuxi.

Red - CCC (Color of Choice for Cavemen)

LOL! Okay, so I had a little fun with that caption - but this is no laughing matter. Through history the color red has been ripe (har!) with meaning. This is an interesting article speculating on the possible use of hematite (which yields red dye, etc.) in Stone Age China: From China Daily Red color ruled fashion world 15,000 years ago (Xinhua) Updated: 2008-11-26 23:19 ZHENGZHOU - The color red, which represents luck, happiness and passion in China, could have been used in clothing 15,000 years ago. Li Zhanyang, a researcher with Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said in an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday. Li has been leading an eight-member archaeological team doing excavation and related research on lake-based ruins in Xuchang, central China's Henan Province, in recent years. The Xuchang ruins made headlines in foreign media in January when State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced that Chinese archaeologists had found a human skull dating back at least 80,000 years in the ruins last December. According to Li, this month, their excavation team found from the soil strata dating back 15,000 years, or the late Paleolithic Era, at the Xuchang ruins more than 20 pieces of hematite, one of iron oxides commonly used as a dyestuff, alongside three dozen thin instruments made of animal tooth enamel, plus seven needles made of the upper cheek tooth enamel of a rhinoceros sub-species now extinct. It is the first time in China that iron oxide of such high concentration has been excavated from the ruins of the late Paleolithic Era, claimed Li. "Through excavation, we are confident that these hematite were deliberately brought to the Xuchang ruins from afar by ancient people, as Xuchang does not produce such minerals," said Li. The ruins used to be the location of a lake where activities such as clothes making, food preparing, water drinking were clustered, said Li. "I believe the people who lived there might have used hematite to dye clothes, which was quite different from Upper Cave Man at Zhoukoudian of Beijing who used hematite as a sacrifice to the dead, or from Europe, where ancient people there used hematite to draw cave murals." Li said lab work proved the thin instruments made of animal tooth enamel might have be used as articles similar to buttons in present times. "There has been evidence suggesting people dating back 15,000 years could have made advanced fur apparel. If that is true, the most popular color might have been red," said the Chinese archaeologist. The Paleolithic site at Xuchang was discovered in 1965, when Chinese scientists found animal fossils and stone artifacts from soil dug for a well. The most recent large scale excavation started in June 2005. The archaeologists declared in January this year that they found the fossil consisted of 16 pieces of the skull with protruding eyebrows and a small forehead from the excavation last December. That find was heralded as the greatest discovery since Peking Man and Upper Cave Man skulls were found in Beijing early last century. The Peking Man skull fossil dates back 200,000 to 700,000 years, while the Upper Cave Man skull fossils date back about 18,000 years. Besides the skull, more than 30,000 animal fossils, and stone and bone artifacts were found in the Xuchang ruins over the past two years. The pieces were fossilized because they were buried near the mouth of a spring, whose water had a high calcium content, according to Li.

Peruvian Finds Date Back to 3500 BCE

Evidence of human civilization in Peru keeps getting pushed back earlier and earlier... Story at The Latin American Herald Tribune November 25, 2008 Remains of 5,500-year-old Human Settlement Found in Peru LIMA -- A team of Peruvian and German archaeologists has discovered the remains of a human settlement 5,500 years old near the southern town of Nazca, south of Lima, the capital daily El Comercio reported Sunday. The archaeologists, who are members of the Nazca-Palpa project, said that the discovery was made in a sector known as Pernil Alto, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Palpa. The project is headed by Peruvian archaeologists Johny Isla Cuadrado and Elsa Tomasto, and by Germany's Markus Reindel. "The find consists of a group of homes in which 19 graves were found, including the remains of a child younger than 1 year old with possible evidence of having been mummified," said the daily. The paper went on to say that the find is the first discovery in southern Peru of an inhabited site corresponding to the late portion of the archaic period some 3,500 years before Christ. One of the project researchers said that the excavations made at the site since last October enabled the team to find the remains of eight small oval-shaped and circular homes made by digging deep pits in the ground. Also found were up to 19 graves of children and adults interred individually inside the homes, which would seem to indicate that they were buried there after the homes were abandoned. In some of the graves, archaeologists found carved bones and snail-shells, deer horns, necklaces and bracelets made from shells, but there was no concrete evidence of offerings to the dead or to dieties. The researchers are seeking to expand their knowledge about the culture of southern Peru in the early epochs from about 5,500 years ago up to the Inca civilization in the 16th century. The project is being funded by the German Education and Science Ministry, the Archaeological Commission for Extra-European Cultures and the German Archaeological Institute. EFE

Big Funding Boost for "Internet Archaeology

Great news for those interested in archaeology and making information on current and past discoveries readily accessible to everyone with an internet connection! Story from the Yorkshore Post Wednesday, 26th November 2008 US funding boost for web-based archaeology journal Published Date: 25 November 2008 By Brian Dooks FUNDING from a New York-based foundation will help York University make academic research material available online. The Andrew W Mellon Foundation has awarded 250,000 US dollars to the study led by Julian Richards, head of the university's department of archaeology and co-director of online journal Internet Archaeology. Prof Richards is looking at ways of using online publication to allow researchers to link their work to databases, video, audio and other information as well as stimulating academic debate. The latest research will build on work completed as part ofan earlier award-winning project, Linking Electronic Archives and Publications, or Leap, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under its ICT Strategy programme. Prof Richards said: "We're very excited about this project as it will allow us to work with North American archaeologists to create novel ways of publishing their research findings. "It builds on the success of the original Leap project, which won Best Archaeological Innovation and was highly commended in the Best ICT Project category at the 2008 British Archaeological Awards." The project will run until March 31, 2011. Internet Archaeology, hosted by York University, was established in 1996. It has over 70,000 hits per day to its pages from more than 120 countries.

2008 Chess Olympiad: Some Final Thoughts

It's all over for another two years, thank Goddess! I am now wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can possibly report on all of the news on the chess femmes in this Olympiad in my final column for Chessville. Well, I guess I'll have to make it the biggest (and hopefully the best) column yet, with a special section devoted entirely to the Olympiad. I still have a few days, it's not due to be published until the beginning of December. I foresee a four-day weekend of sleepless nights... There are now a wide variety of websites that provide first-class information on chess events - some more timely than others (but for those less "timely", always worth the wait, darlings). Here are those I am most familiar with - by no means all of the sites that provide news and insight into the happenings in the world of chess. Special thanks and unending admiration for the following - how the hell do they do what they do day after day after day...

• Kudos to GM Susan Polgar who did triple-duty - not only reporting information at her blog, but also serving as Chess Ambassador and English-Language Press Liason, as well as holding great interviews daily with players and personalities from the Olympiad. Thanks also to Paul Truong, the official photographer for this Olympiad, for his fantastic and candid photographs, round after round, from off days, the official opening, the official close, and everything in-between. I am appreciative of the great job that both Polgar and Truong did.
• I was very happy that Chessdom went back to its "live" blog for coverage of Round 11. I did not like the "live chat" experiment - most of the comments were boring, common, and disjointed. It was hard to follow what was going on. In the "live" blog, on the other hand, it was easy to follow the action as the time counted down toward the end of the games.
• The Week in Chess has set the standard ever since I've been online (December, 1998) and no doubt from before! Mark Crowthers lets nothing stand in his way of going the extra mile, whether it be going over games move by move to create and/or correct PGN notations or correctly identifying otherwise sometimes obscure players.
• I was very impressed with Chess Vibes - very current reports, great photographs and a slamming lay-out. How'd you do that?
• Europe E'checs provided much-needed information - in French (but they have English translation on some pages).
• Mig Greengard has such a wicked sense of humor! His Daily Dirt blog (part of Chess Ninja) provides much-needed insight and lots of laughs, but be warned: all types hang out there, compensated for with a collection of wits and sparkling commentators, most of whose commentary probably whizzes over the ignoramus heads of the thankfully relatively few a-holes. I believe (but have no proof) that a lot of chess femmes read the commentary there but generally refrain from commenting themselves - only a brave few every now and then wade in.
• Daaim Shabazz's The Chess Drum is a must-read for keen insights into the chess world in general and, in particular, for news about chess players that generally aren't covered elsewhere.

A few final thoughts: I'm still absolutely amazed that the American men were able to repeat their miracle Bronze performance from 2006 in 2008 Dresden! More incredible, at least to me, is the US Women's Team performance. I honestly did not think they had a prayer of winning a medal. I'm quite happy to say I was SO SO WRONG. And I will eat my wool beret tonight for supper. Hell, I need a new one anyway, this one was looking rather ratty...

I am absolutely convinced that what happened to the Russian Teams (Men - oh, I mean "Open" - and Women) was Divine Justice being meted out to Miniputin, the ass! LOL - do you hear laughter, Pharaoh er, Miniputin? That's the sound of millions of chess fans falling off their chairs and rolling on the floor busting a gut in hilarity at the performances of the oh-so-vaunted #1 ranked teams entering the Olympiad: Russian Men and Russian Women. Bwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhaaaaaaaa!

The Georgian Women won the Gold Medal The Georgian Women won the Gold Medal The Georgian Women won the Gold Medal

They're the only team other than USA and India I would care to see win the Gold. Sweet! Particularly Sweet since the Russian mobsters who put together the Women's World Chess Championship INSISTED that the female chessplayers of the world assemble in Nalchik, Russia, mere miles away from the GEORGIAN WAR ZONE after Russian invaded Georgia in August, 2008 a few weeks before the Championship was to convene. Those Russians particularly pooh-poohed the Georgian Women chessplayers' concerns - and the concerns of other Federations on behalf of their players - about sending their players to Nalchik.

Ha ha, Miniputin. The best is yet to come. Just watch what happens to your "vaunted" Ruble (Rubble?) in the coming months. Nothing personal against the players on the Russian chess teams - I suggest you emmigrate to Manhattan before President-Elect Obama takes office on January 20, 2009...

High Jinks at Politkovskaya Trial

From The New York Times: Bid to Remove Politkovskaya Judge By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ Published: November 25, 2008 MOSCOW— Russian prosecutors requested a new judge Tuesday in an increasingly confused trial of three suspects accused in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent investigative journalist, after the judge flip-flopped twice on whether to allow press coverage. The judge, Yevgeny Zubov, is accused of “violating procedural rules,” said Marina Gridneva, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor general’s office. She would not elaborate on the alleged violations, though she said Judge Zubov would be given the chance to decide whether to recuse himself on Wednesday. In a hearing on Tuesday, the judge once again decided to open the trial to the media, a second reversal on the issue, after 19 of the 20 jurors signed a statement saying they had made no official complaints about the presence of journalists in the courtroom, in opposition to the judge’s previous statements. Last week, Judge Zubov cited jurors’ fears about media coverage of the trial to bar journalists from the proceedings, overturning an earlier decision. The request to remove Judge Zubov adds to the confusions that have come to typify this closely watched trial, as well as the two-year investigation that preceded it. Supporters of Ms. Politkovskaya, a prominent investigative journalist and pugnacious Kremlin critic, accuse officials of botching the investigation into her killing, and have suggested tacit government complacency in her death. The three defendants are all accomplices. The police say they have yet to capture the person who shot Ms. Politkovskaya to death two years ago in a hallway of her apartment building, and investigators also say they have little information on who ordered the killing. In another twist on Tuesday, however, a defense lawyer in the case caused a stir in the Russian media when he announced that court documents indicated that an unidentified politician inside Russia had ordered the killing, contradicting authorities’ claims that a Kremlin enemy abroad was responsible. “During the investigation, the prosecutor general said that this was some great and horrible figure from abroad, but in the indictment we see that this is someone not so great and horrible, but a political figure inside the country,” Murad Musayev, the lawyer, said, according to Russian media. In a later interview, Mr. Musayev downplayed his statement, saying his remarks were meant to highlight the lack of evidence in the prosecution’s case. He denied that court documents identified any specific individual who ordered the killing. “This was the speculation of the investigator, who, for some reason, wrote this in the indictment,” he said by telephone. “About 98 percent of this case consists of guessing by the investigators.”

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So, it was just a guess that a high ranking political figure in Russia had anything to do with Politkovskaya's murder. Yeah, right.

Taliban Terrorists - Allah Will Spit in Their Faces for This

From The New York Times: 10 Arrested for Afghan Acid Attack By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA Published: November 25, 2008 KABUL, Afghanistan — The police in Kandahar Province arrested 10 Taliban militants they said were involved in an attack this month on a group of Afghan schoolgirls whose faces were doused with acid, officials in Kandahar said Tuesday. The officials said that the militants, who were Afghan citizens, had confessed to their involvement in the attack on the schoolgirls and their teachers on Nov. 12 and that a high-ranking member of the Taliban had paid the militants 100,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,275) for each girl they managed to burn. The girls were assaulted by two men on a motorcycle who were apparently irate that the girls had been attending high school. The men drove up beside them and splashed their faces with what appeared to be battery acid. Zalmay Ayobi, the spokesman for Gen. Rahmatullah Raufi, the governor of Kandahar, said the orders to carry out the attack had been given from a foreign country, although he did not identify it. The militants were arrested by the police last week. Mr. Ayobi said a joint delegation from the Interior Ministry and the office of the attorney general in the capital, Kabul, had arrived in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, on Monday to evaluate the cases of the suspects. The delegation, led by the deputy interior minister along with the governor of Kandahar, announced today that the suspects confessed their involvement in the attack, Mr. Ayobi said. He said Afghanistan’s courts would decide the attackers’ fate after the investigation was completed. At least two of the girls were hospitalized by the attack, their faces blackened and burned. The attack was condemned at the time by Laura Bush, who described the Taliban as “cowardly and shameful” for carrying out the attack. “The Taliban’s continued terror attacks threaten the progress that has been made in Afghanistan,” the first lady said in a statement, adding, “These cowardly and shameful acts are condemned by honorable people in the United States and around the world.” Mrs. Bush has been an advocate for the women of Afghanistan during her husband’s tenure. She has visited Afghanistan three times to put a spotlight on development and women’s issues, most recently in June, a trip cloaked in secrecy so she would not become a target of terrorists.

Southwest Chess Club of Hales Corners NEEDS HELP!

Oh no, disaster has struck! On this most wonderful of days, when BOTH U.S. chess teams earned Bronze Medals at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden (and IM Anna Zatonskih earned a Gold Medal for her performance on Board 2, and WGM Rusudan Goletiani earned a Silver Medal for her performance on Board 3 - that's 10 medals - count 'em darlings, TEN! for the good old under-funded USA), I received this email from Tom Fogec of my adopted chess club, the Southwest Chess Club of Hales Corners: The Southwest Chess Club needs your help in finding a new meeting location. As many of you know, we are currently meeting at the Layton State Bank in Greendale. Starting with the new year in 2009, that facility will no longer be available to us. We are asking members and friends of the club for any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions regarding a new playing site. Previously we met at the Village Hall in Hales Corners, which is still being renovated. Both sites were provided to the club at no cost, although the club might be able to pay a nominal rent. Sites such as community rooms, schools, colleges, churches, ethnic clubs, recreation centers, corporate meeting rooms etc. are often good choices. It would be very helpful if your suggestion included the name and phone number of a contact. Specifically we need a facility that can accommodate 25 to 40 chess players on Thursday nights from 6 to 11 PM. Please send me an e-mail or call me at 414-425-6742 with any suggestions. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can render. Tom Fogec Southwest Chess Club

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I am going to wrack my tired brain to see if I can come up with some plausible suggestions. Anyone out there reading this post - suggestions are welcome. What we really need is a rich landlord who is a chess fan with a vacant commercial space of adequate size with restroom facilities for men and women who is willing to dedicate this space to my adopted club for free - or a nominal rent. I'll pay $100 for a year...

BTW, Tom Fogec is a life member of USCF and rated 1618. He is one of the pillars of the Southwest Chess Club.

Testers Needed for a New Chess Game

Hola darlings! Out of the blue I received an email earlier today from a perfectly agreeable gentleman who is looking for people to try out a new chess game (and give critical feed-back) that is accessible for playing on an ipod or cell phone. I am ignorant of such devices, not owning either, so I cannot help. But I offered to post his company's offer here, and he accepted, so here is the information: My name is David Calkins and I'm with Newtoy Inc., a small startup game developer in Dallas, TX. I have an unusual request...We make games for the iPhone and iPod Touch and our first game is called Chess With Friends. It's a correspondence-style game that aims to reintroduce the joy of chess to a broad audience by giving players a game of chess in their pocket that they can play with their friends anywhere, anytime. The first version of Chess With Friends was released two weeks ago. It's gotten some good reviews so far, but we want to take it a step further and create something that chess-lovers will really love. Seems like the best way to do that is solicit some expert feedback. That's where you come in :) I was wondering if you (or any chess-playing friends, for that matter) have an iPhone or iPod Touch and would be interested in checking out a free version of our game? We'd really like to hear what you think. You can find out more about the game here. The game is currently offered free at the app store via this link:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=295436227&mt=8 Please send your feedback to David Calkins. Our legions of fans (all four of you), be kind to David and volunteer! Smooches, Jan

2008 Chess Olympiad - NEWS FLASH

UNBELIEVABLE. It seems US Women and Open Teams have tied for third place in their respective Olympiads after R11. Now it's up to tie-breaks to see who takes home bronze medals and in the Women's section, the gold. In the Open, Armena wins gold, Israel (!!!) takes silver. Russia goes home empty handed, drawing all their last games. In the Women's event, Poland and US are tied for 3rd place, Georgia and Ukraine are tied for 1st. Added 10:39 A.M. It's official - USA Men and Women each win Team Bronze medals. In addition, Anna Zatonskih wins an individual Gold medal for her performance on Board 2, and Rusudan Goletiani wins an individual Silver medal for her performance on Board 3! Congratulations to the US chess Femmes and to the US chess dudes, too. The medals are excellent news for U.S. chess. Now if only the USCF Executive Board could stop all the law suits and really start doing what is good for chess in this country - like coming up with some cash to back their players and offer better prizes at national events!

Kim Cattrall as Titian's Diana

(Photo of Kim Cattrall, 2007, from the Do Something blog) What a great story! I've never seen Sex in the City - not even in re-runs! I did add the recent movie to my Netflix list and it will be delivered in due course. I remember Cattrall for remarkable green eyes and being incredibly gorgeous and a good sport in "Big Trouble in Little China." Cattrall recreates art masterpiece 4 hours ago Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall has posed semi-naked in a recreation of Titian's masterpiece Diana and Actaeon. BBC Two's The Culture Show challenged Tom Hunter to create a 21st century version of the painting after he backed the campaign to raise £50 million to keep the artwork on public display. The painting shows Actaeon, while out hunting, accidentally happening upon the secret bathing place of Diana, chaste goddess of the hunt, incurring her fury. The National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery, London, have until the end of the year to raise the total sum to buy it, after which time it may be sold on the open market. Cattrall, who is from British descent, is a regular visitor to the National Gallery and a huge admirer of Titian's work. She said that viewing this painting is "like being in the presence of genius... it would be a tragedy if it were not on public view". Hunter is known for his recreation of old masters and is the only photographer to have had an exhibition at the National Gallery. He rose to the challenge of recreating Diana and Actaeon, enlisting Cattrall, who plays man-eater Samantha in Sex And The City, to take the starring role. Hunter said: "Kim is the perfect Diana. Just like the Greek goddess, she combines beauty with a sense of threat. She was a great sport and at 52 made an amazing Diana. She more than held her own among a room full of twentysomethings. "The picture can't of course hold a candle to the original which deserves to remain on public view. This painting is sublime and to lose it to a private collection would be a tragedy." Also featured in Hunter's version of Titian's painting are arts students from the Courtauld Institute and performers from West End burlesque show La Clique. The photograph was taken at the Arts Club in London's Mayfair. Copyright © 2008 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Redefining the Goddess

Salt Lake Community College Redefining the goddess Dominique Snow Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: Campus On Wednesday evening, Dr. Margaret Toscano, Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Utah, spoke at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts about images of the female body. Utah artist Shauna Cook Clinger introduced Toscano while promoting her own exhibition. Clinger's exhibit is currently showing at the UMFA. Her exhibition is called "An Innermost Journey." It explores the female body. "I know for certain that the paintings and drawings would love to meet you," Clinger said to her audience. Clinger and Toscano met in 1989 at a symposium. Clinger said that the power of Toscano's ideas and intellect soaked into the deepest part of her being. Toscano has taught since 1996, and has received two teaching awards at the U of U. Gender, mythology and religion are her focuses for study. She has written an article titled "The eyes have it," which explores the sexual desires of ancient Greek women. She ignores assumptions that are made of women. She thinks that Clinger's work rejects prisoners of biological destiny. "We live in a material world where we perceive ourselves as our bodies," Toscano said. The great power in visual and spoken images became realistic for us. They reflect a world where the universe is seen as organic and alive. In the Paleolithic period depictions of the human body have an emphasis on fertility. Scholars believe that these deities are goddesses. Inanna was the first goddess representing fertility, dignity, and strength. She was the queen of seven temples in ancient Sumar. Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis were goddesses that controlled the vital aspects of life. Females depicting goddesses were prevalent in religion until the Judeo-Christian times. The Western world speaks of God in male terms. Some see the return of the goddess in the Virgin Mary. She has a divine status - incorporating nurturing and compassionate qualities. Toscano said that Mormons also believe in a heavenly mother. Many people search for the female face of God. The Native American religion has Buffalo Woman, Spider Woman and the Corn Mothers. Pictures are able to change the way we see the world, so we no longer see women as objects. We have to be able to view everything from multiple points of view. There are both essentialist and constructivist views that define our definition of reality. Bodies and shapes change to fit the ideal in culture. Toscano sees this as society writing codes on our bodies. Throughout time, art depicting the female body has shown females differently. In 30,000 BCE, women held Venus of Willendorf during childbirth. The deity emphasized breasts and genitalia. Titian's Venus of Urbino showed the goddess humanized, exhibiting appropriate female behaviors. Manet's Olympia sexualized the female showing an even greater decline in the female deity. Olympia was seen as a prostitute and encompassed with shame. Toscano takes offense to the exclusive male control of female sexuality. Clinger uses her own body to convey her own truth. She reworks dark and light as important aspects of reality. According to Toscano, women cannot be defined by generalizations. Contradicting this, portraits will have a universal appeal. Stereotypes control and dismiss, while archetypes liberate and understand. There are many metaphors that deal with female power. "We experience life through our bodies, we see our bodies as conduit to a beautiful physical world we're a part of," Toscano said. Traditionally women have been given limited choices. Women are now being resexualized, breaking the simplistic pattern. Toscano has seen Eve be redeemed as a powerful symbol of feminism, instead of the depiction of a shameful temptress. Toscano finds one of the most powerful female images to be the birth of the goddess. She lifts her arms as the forgotten yet significant women of the past lift her out of the water. Mother earth and father sky need to unite to complete the myth of sacred marriage. This unites rationalism and intuitiveness. Toscano believes that mutual healing and blessings will be bestowed to those women who accept the masculine and men who accept the feminine.

News, Chess News and 2008 Chess Olympiad

Hola! dondelion has published a new edition of Random Round-up. This week's focus is China. At Goddesschess, RR is in the right-hand column, below Axis Mundae. This isn't chess news - but it's great stuff! 2008 Chess Olympiad: Round 10 Action reviewed at Chessvibes.com. At Chess FM, a video interview with GM Veselin Topolov. US keeps chess medal hopes alive in Chess Olympiad, an AP report from November 23, 2008 on the US Teams' Round 10 action. Tanraj Sohal Wins BC Junior Chess Championship 24 Nov 2008 by editor SURREY – Chess champ Tanraj Sohal, a Grade 7 student from Surrey, has done it again. The chess wizard has won the 2008 BC Junior Chess Championship held in New Westminster on November 8-9, 2008. He is the youngest BC Junior Chess Champion ever to win this trophy. This championship is open to all the BC junior chess players under the age of 20. The remarkable and gifted Tanraj just celebrated his twelfth birthday in October and is still in his last year at elementary school. Tanraj recently returned from a successful trip in Vietnam where he represented Team Canada at the World Youth Chess Championship (WYCC) held at Vung Tau Resort, near Hi Chi Minh City from October 19-31, 2008. His dad, Dr. Parmjit Sohal, was the Head of Team Canada Delegations which represented 24 players from all across Canada at WYCC in Vietnam. Just to keep things in perspective about the 2008 Chess Olympiad, where we focus on our favorite teams, of course, but mainly the top teams garner the bulk of publicity, an article about the Women's and Open Teams from Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyz female chess team wins twice on World Chess Olympiad 24/11-2008 08:52, Bishkek – News Agency “24.kg”, By Ksenia TOLKANEVA Kyrgyz combined girls’ chess team won twice in the framework of the ninth and tenth regular tours of the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, Kyrgyz Chess Federation reported to the news agency “24.kg”. Kyrgyz girls’ team defeated Norway 3:1. The victorious points were brought by Greta Lim and Irina Ostriy. Chyngyz kizi Ayjarkyn and Janyl Tilenbaev were tied. On November 23 our girls’ team met with Columbian chess players. In the result Kyrgyzstan has 2.5 points against the Columbian 1.5. However, they could not withstand to Croatia team. Only Irina Ostriy managed to make a draw, others failed- 0.5:3.5. Kyrgyz chess players will meet Israel rivals in the framework of the eleventh round. Kyrgyz men’s combined team met with Singapore rivals and defeated them, scoring 3:1. Bolot Takyrbashev and Tologon tegin Semetey finished their games with victory. Nurdin Samakov and Sadam Davletbakov were tied with Singapore chess players, gaining 0.5 points for the Kyrgyz team. Besides that, our athletes met with Uzbek chess players. The latter considered as one of the strongest ones. Only Tologon tegin Semetey managed to tie with Aleksey Barsov, 0.5:3.5. Tomorrow, November 25, Kyrgyz men’s team will play against the United Arab Emirates. Susan Polgar's column: Chess champ gives update from World Chess Olympiad in Germany Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, November 23, 2008 Story last updated at 11/23/2008 - 3:08 am

2008 Chess Olympiad

Now I know - I don't know how to read those charts at chess-results.com after all! Here's a new AP article mostly focusing on the U.S. team results in Round 10: US keeps chess medal hopes alive in Chess Olympiad By ROBERT HUNTINGTON – 4 hours ago DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — The U.S. men and women teams kept their slim hopes for a medal alive on Sunday after the men beat Germany 2.5-1.5 and the women rolled over Uzbekistan 3.5-0.5 in the 10th and penultimate round of the Chess Olympiad. On the top board in the open section, Ukraine edged Israel on the strength of Zahar Efimenko's win over Evgeny Postny to move into a tie for first-place with Armenia, which defeated Serbia 3-1. China moved into a tie with Israel for second, one half match point behind the leaders, after beating England 2.5-1.5. The Netherlands, Russia, Spain and the U.S. are all tied for fifth, a full point behind the leaders. In the final round on Tuesday, China will play Armenia, the U.S. faces off against Ukraine, Israel plays the Netherlands, and Russia is paired with Spain. On first board for the Americans, Gata Kamsky successfully defended the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez and drew against Arkadij Naiditsch. On board two, American Hikaru Nakamura defeated Igor Khenkin. The Germans picked up their only win of the day on board three when Daniel Fridman shredded Alexander Onischuk's kingside pawn structure and outplayed him in a long rook-and-pawn endgame. The U.S. also won on board four on Yuri Shulman's kingside attack against David Baramidze. In other open section results, Russia rolled over Slovenia 3.5-0.5; Spain defeated Bulgaria 3-1; Australia beat Brazil 2.5-1.5, and Canada took no prisoners in a 4-0 drubbing of Nicaragua. In the women's section, Poland moved into first place by edging Armenia 2.5-1.5 while the other leaders before the round, Serbia and Ukraine, tied 2-all. Georgia improved its medal chances by beating China 2.5-1.5. The American women's team got wins from Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih and Rusudan Goletiani on the top three boards, against Nafisa Muminova, Irina Gevorgyan and Hulkar Tokhirjanova, respectively. Zatonskih and Goletiani are almost assured of individual medals on their respective boards. Katerina Rohonyan gave up the only draw for the U.S. on fourth board against Nodira Nodirjanova. Just a point separates the top six teams with one round to go. Poland has 8.5 match points; Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine each have eight; Russia and the United States have 7.5. In the last round, Poland plays Ukraine, Georgia faces Serbia, the United States gets France, and Russia is paired the Netherlands. The 11th and final round is on Tuesday with no matches scheduled for Monday. Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

2008 Chess Olympiad

The grass is cut and the leaves are duly chopped up into bits - at least on the front lawn :) It was actually tolerable outdoors today, dressed with turtleneck, sweatshirt, winter jacket, globes, scarf and hat on - jeans too (I was not naked from the waist down, darlings). It took forever to chop up the leaves, and the tree on the next store neighbor's lot kept dropping more leaves on to my newly cleared grass with every little puff of breeze; I swear it was baiting me :) It took forever! Back and forth, back and forth...but at last, it was done. I got my work-out for the day, and I was pooped! The backyard is a mess - hopefully the day after Thanksgiving will be temperate enough to pull out the lawn mower and give it a last going-over for the season. We'll see. Here are the current Women's Olympiad standings after R10: Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 1 9 Poland POL 10 8 1 1 17 302,0 125,0 26,0 2 2 Ukraine UKR 10 6 4 0 16 343,0 122,0 27,5 3 4 Georgia GEO 10 7 2 1 16 330,5 121,0 28,0 4 10 Serbia SRB 10 7 2 1 16 277,5 119,0 25,5 5 7 United States of America USA 10 7 1 2 15 321,0 119,0 28,0 6 1 Russia RUS 10 6 3 1 15 298,0 121,0 27,0 7 3 China CHN 10 6 2 14 328,0 133,0 25,5 8 6 Armenia ARM 10 7 0 3 14 288,5 122,0 25,5 9 5 France FRA 10 6 2 2 14 275,0 108,0 28,0 10 11 India IND 10 6 2 2 14 274,5 120,0 23,5 11 16 Romania ROU 10 7 0 3 14 251,0 118,0 24,5 12 17 Netherlands NED 10 7 0 3 14 246,0 118,0 22,5 13 8 Hungary HUN 10 6 1 3 13 268,5 122,0 24,5 14 19 Greece GRE 10 6 1 3 13 260,0 99,0 28,0 15 26 Belarus BLR 10 5 3 2 13 252,0 99,0 26,5 16 47 Mongolia MGL 10 6 1 3 13 247,5 114,0 21,5 17 21 Israel ISR 10 5 3 2 13 239,0 111,0 23,5 18 13 Bulgaria BUL 10 6 1 3 13 235,0 105,0 24,5 19 29 Argentina ARG 10 6 1 3 13 222,0 99,0 26,0 20 33 Italy ITA 10 5 3 2 13 220,5 105,0 24,0 21 43 Uzbekistan UZB 10 6 1 3 13 217,5 113,0 22,0 If I'm reading this correctly, USA and Russia each have 15 points, #1 Poland has 17 points; Ukraine, Georgia and Serbia each have 16 points. Tomorrow USA plays France, which is in 9th place with 14 points. Any odds-makers out there figuring out who could possibly win? Here are the top match-ups for the Women for the final round tomorrow: 1 9 POL Poland 26 17 : 16 27½ Ukraine UKR 2 2 12 GER1 Germany 1 21½ 12 : 12 25½ Sweden SWE 20 3 4 GEO Georgia 28 16 : 16 25½ Serbia SRB 10 4 7 USA United States of America 28 15 : 14 28 France FRA 5 5 17 NED Netherlands 22½ 14 : 15 27 Russia RUS 1 6 16 ROU Romania 24½ 14 : 14 25½ China CHN 3 7 11 IND India 23½ 14 : 14 25½ Armenia ARM 6 8 8 HUN Hungary 24½ 13 : 13 22 Uzbekistan UZB 43 9 33 ITA Italy 24 13 : 13 28 Greece GRE 19 10 29 ARG Argentina 26 13 : 13 26½ Belarus BLR 26 In contention for individual medals: Board 1: IM Irina Krush in 10th place, with 6.5/9. In first place after R10, is GM Maia Chiburdanidze with 6.5/8. Board 2: IM Anna Zatonskih is holding down 1st place, yippee! with 7.5/9. Board 3: WGM Rusudan Goletiana is holding down 2nd place, yippee! with 8.0/10. Here are the top women by performance rating after R10: 1 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2489 Georgia 2697 6,5 8 81,3 1 2 IM Fierro Baquero Martha L 2361 Ecuador 2613 7,5 8 93,8 1 3 WIM Linares Napoles Oleiny 2261 Cuba 2603 8,5 9 94,4 4 4 WIM Majdan Joanna 2284 Poland 2592 8,5 10 85,0 4 5 IM Zatonskih Anna 2440 United States of America 2591 7,5 9 83,3 2 6 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 China 2588 7,0 10 70,0 1 7 IM Socko Monika 2434 Poland 2574 6,0 9 66,7 1 8 GM Cramling Pia 2550 Sweden 2569 7,5 8 93,8 1 9 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2468 Russia 2567 7,5 9 83,3 3 10 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2443 Armenia 2562 7,5 10 75,0 2 11 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2548 Bulgaria 2549 7,0 9 77,8 1 12 IM Dzagnidze Nana 2503 Georgia 2538 6,5 9 72,2 2 13 GM Peng Zhaoqin 2455 Netherlands 2538 6,0 9 66,7 1 14 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2483 Hungary 2534 7,0 10 70,0 1 15 WGM Zdebskaja Natalia 2419 Ukraine 2528 7,0 8 87,5 5 16 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2488 Ukraine 2528 6,0 9 66,7 2 17 IM Moser Eva 2376 Austria 2527 7,5 9 83,3 1 18 WGM Goletiani Rusudan 2359 United States of Amer. 2513 8,0 10 0,0 3 19 IM Krush Irina 2452 United States of America 2511 6,5 9 72,2 1 20 IM Khukhashvili Sopiko 2409 Georgia 2511 5,0 6 83,3 5 Can the US Women pull off a medal in this Olympiad? My hat (well-spiced) is ready for munching, ladies... How'd the US chess duds, er, dudes do? They're in 8th place with 15th points. In 1st is Armenia with 17, in 2nd is Ukraine also with 17, and in 3rd is Israel with 16. Where's Russia? Holy crap, in 5th place with 15 points, behind 4th place China also with 15 points. Guess the Americans aren't the only super-GM duds (although to be fair, the US duds aren't super-GMs).

2008 Chess Olympiad

Here is a photo of Narmin Kazimova playing Board 4 for Azerbaijan, in R10 playing against WGM Maria Leconte of France. They drew their game. Photo from the website europe-echecs.com. They have a nice spread put together. I tried the official Dresden website out of desperation to see if I could find out what was going on with the women's teams. What a nightmare! Only the top six teams showed up on the page, no matter what I did I could not get the USA teams to show up under either the Open section or the Damen's section! Narmin, what a head of hair! I'm jealous. As of now, the Russian women are beating the Hungarian women 2:0; France is beating Azerbaijan 2 1/2:1/2; Anna Zatonskih defeated Irina Gevorgyan of Uzbekistan for the only game score thus far in USZ v. UZB; China v. Georgia is at 1:1; Serbia and Ukraine are tied with 1/2 point each; and Poland is leading Armenia 1:0. Now I really must go out and mow over those leaves... Go Anna! She's in good stead for a medal on Board 2 with 1 round to go.

2008 Chess Olympiad: Krush v. Kosteniuk

The Internet Chess Club has started up a blog and at least for the time being everyone can see it, even if you are not a member. Macauley Peterson (I hope I spelled his name correctly) put together a piece on IM Irina Krush after she defeated Women's World Chess Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in R8 action, leading the US Women's Team to an upset defeat of the powerful Russian team. They were catapulted into 2nd place, but didn't stay there more than one night, unfortunately, as they lost their R9 match and fell back to 7th place. Today I've been trying to find commentary on the action but can't find it anywhere! The usually reliable Chessdom has gone to a "live chat" thing that is absolutely awful. Sigh. So, I'm going to go out and chop up leaves with the lawn mower. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow - I'd better get it done! Anyway, here is the link to the ICC Blog interview with Krush and the blog also has a link where you can play through the game.

2008 Chess Olympiad: R8 India News

The photograph says it all. Indian men held, women lose in Chess Olympiad Dresden, Nov 22: The Indian medal hopes in the 32nd chess Olympiad suffered a severe jolt after the men could only manage a 2-2 draw with Slovenia while the women lost 1.5-2.5 to Serbia in the eighth round here. For the men, Grandmaster P Harikrishna scored over Dusko Pavasovic but on the fourth board Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda lost with white pieces against Jure Borisec. The other two boards ended in draws with Krishnan Sasikiran signing peace with veteran Alexander Beliavsky and G N Gopal achieving the same result against Lenik Luca on the third board. Among the women, Tania Sachdev and Mary Ann Gomes ran out of steam and that cost the team dearly even as D Harika struck hard on the top board for the eves and defeated Alisa Maric. Tania lost to Natasa Bojkovic while Mary Ann found her nemesis in Irina Chelushkina. The other game between Swati Ghate and Andjelija Stojanovic ended in a draw. The Indian men slipped to joint 14th spot in the standings on 11 points out of a possible 16 and now face an uphill task to keep their medal hopes alive. Armenia remained in sole lead in the open section with a 3.5-0.5 drubbing of France and took their tally to 15 points. Israel follow the leader closely on 14 points with a fine 2.5-1.5 victory over Germany while Russia and Ukraine are now joint third on 13 points each with just three rounds remaining in the biggest chess event. The Indian eves slipped to joint 10th spot after the debacle against Serbia and they too will need excellent score in the remaining matches to come within striking distance of a medal. Chinese ladies played out a draw with Ukraine on the top table and remained in sole lead on 14 points here. The four-way tie for the second spot is currently shared by United States, Serbia, Poland and Ukraine who all have 13 points apiece. Harikrishna outplayed Pavasovic from the white side of a Reti Opening. The middle game saw the Indian initiating an attack through the center and everything fell in place thereafter. Harikrishna wrapped the issue in 53 moves. Sandipan Chanda missed out some chances against Jure Borisec in a Ruy Lopez game. Playing white the Indian sacrificed a Bishop in the middle game and had a certain draw in hand. However, playing for a win proved futile in the end as Borisevic found some defensive resources and won in 54 moves. The Olympiad is an 11-round Swiss with 144 teams in the open and 111teams in the women section. Bureau Report

2008 Chess Olympiad

AP news: First-place teams defeated in chess round 9 By ROBERT HUNTINGTON – 3 hours ago DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — The mighty were brought low as the first-place teams in both the open and women's divisions fell in round nine on Saturday. In the open division, Israel played the role of David, knocking off Armenia 2.5-1.5. On the women's side, Serbia edged China 2.5-1.5. The U.S. women's medal hopes suffered a severe setback as Poland beat them 3-1. The U.S. men, already virtually eliminated from contention by Russia in round eight, crushed India 3.5-1.5. There were a number of other upsets in the open section. Ukraine downed top-seed Russia 2.5-1.5; 22nd-seed Serbia beat fourth-seed Azerbaijan by the same score. Sixteenth-seed Vietnam held fifth-seed Hungary to a 2-all tie; and Slovenia beat Norway 3-1. England kept its medal hopes alive by beating Vietnam 3-1 on wins from Michael Adams and Nigel Short on the top two boards. Veteran Boris Gelfand led the way for the Israelis on board one defeating the world's seventh rated player Levon Aronian with Black, exploiting his opponent's weakened king position to win a pawn and then winning the ensuing rook-and-pawn endgame. Israel's other win came from Maxim Rodshtein on board four over Tigan L. Petrosian. The American men put on a strong performance that was probably too little, too late. Gata Kamsky beat Krishnan Sasikiran on board one when Sasikiran apparently missed an interpolation on move 34 and had to resign just two moves later. On board two, Hikaru Nakamura won a powerful game out of an unorthodox opening against Penteala Harikrishna. The American's other win came on board four where Varuzhan Akobian won a tactical melee against Geetha Narayanan Gopal. Today's results put Israel in first place with eight points. Armenia and Ukraine are tied for second with 7.5 points. China, England, and Serbia each have seven points. Ten teams, including the United States and Russia, have 6.5 points. On the women's side, Poland, Serbia, and Ukraine have leapfrogged China into a first place tie with 7.5 points. Armenia, China, and Georgia have seven points each. Hungary, Russia, the United States, and Uzbekistan have 6.5 points each. Round 10 of the 11-round event takes place here on Sunday. In other news, the president of the world chess organization FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who was injured in an automobile accident just before the event started, has arrived in Dresden for the FIDE Congress after being released from a Moscow hospital. Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Friday Night Miscellany - One Day Late

Hola Darlings! I worked last week Saturday 3.5 hours; today I worked 5 full hours. I could work 125 full hours and not get caught up, eek! The problem, of course, is the relatively new (but undeclared) firm policy that all administrative staff must "support" three people with billable hours. New support staff is not being hired, nor are admin people. Those of us who are here are expected to just "do more." Well, there is only so much one can do for three very busy billers in 37.5 hours a week. All the admin stuff I used to have time to do (years ago) during regular working hours is now done hit-or-miss as I can squeeze it in - or not at all. So, I decided recently to work a few Saturdays a month, in an attempt to put a dent in the backlog of work I have. Believe me, I HATE giving up any portion of my precious Saturdays and no amount of overtime pay can make up for that, but things are a horrid mess in my office. I cannot get done what needs to be done between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. As long as the firm wants to pay me for OT, I will grudgingly put in the extra hours. Sigh. I did not get home from the office (with a stop at the supermarket) until 3:50 p.m. this afternoon. My whole day - gone! Now I'm frantically playing catch-up! However, I did take some time out to feed my fat and sassy squirrels. I whistled out the patio door when I got home, loaded down with a fresh pound of mixed nuts (in shell), and they came running! Walnuts are the big favorite, but pecans are a close-second. Any of the mixed nuts, though, is preferred over the lowly peanuts that I also toss out in abundance. Geez - I'm spending a fortune on the best fed squirrels in Milwaukee County! LOL! There is good news, though. This morning, I pulled out a pair of jeans I had not worn for probably four years (they were far too tight around the waistline) and I was able to jump into them with practically no struggle at all! Wow - this weight loss/exercise program is showing tangible results in the figure department! Used to be I'd have to tug and pull and then more tug and pull and then lay down on top of the bed and shimmy/pull the rest of my way into those jeans, and then getting the waist band snapped close - that was a whole 'nother chore! No more - that's a thing of the past! WOW! I hardly had to suck it in at all to get the waist band snapped close. Amazing! So - although I have not dropped any more pounds (can you spell P-L-A-T-E-A-U) my body is definitely shifting the rest of its fat reserves around thanks to dancing to the Moulin Rouge version of Lady Marmalade five nights a week! I also do the We Will Rock You commercial featuring Britney Spears (I can never remember how the heck to spell her name), Beyonce and Pink. Let me tell you, Pink really rocked in that commercial, holy smoke! I play all three parts and dance around the den like a maniac, shaking my booty like there's no tomorrow, shimmying, stretching, pumping my arms, swishing my hips 180 degrees, snapping my hair as if it were long (it isn't -- I had it cut off in a short version of Victoria Beckham), all the while shouting at myself in between breaths 'MOVE MOVE' when I think I'm going to have a heart attack and drop dead on the spot. It's working. I'm up to 30 minutes of mostly high intensity "dancing" and curves are starting to appear out of what used to be blubber. There's still blubber to get rid of - it will take awhile - but it took awhile to put this blubber on. I proudly earned every pound, darlings, and enjoyed each and every ounce along the way! When I started out this "excercise" program (a desperate attempt to increase physical activity since the weather rules out yard work and any length of walking during lunch hour), I could not even dance to the entire rendition of "Smooth." Now I can do five "Smooth"s in a row with less than a minute breather in between, but that's a bit boring, I like to mix up my music videos. Thank Goddess for YouTube! Here's some "Miscellany" stuff for your pleasure. Take a look at these totally misleading headlines! Ridiculous! "Screaming Mummy" Is Murderous Son of Ramses III? This week's contribution from the National Geographic - which used to be a class act but, unfortunately, has degenerated in a desperate attempt to make money. Hell, memberships, which used to cost $35 a year (including the magazine), are now going for $15 a year! What? It's true, darlings! The Great Depression really IS here! Back to topic - the article DOES explain (several paragraphs in) that the "death scream" is the result of a very natural process of decomposition/decay of a corpse (even in a supposedly "frozen in time" mummy). In historical times - well into the early 20th century before "wiring" of jaws became commonplace in embalming procedures, it was routine to tie a red cloth underneath the jaw tied in a bow at the top of the head, in an attempt to prevent the "yawn of death" from occurring in the death. (the use of the color red is a whole different topic). That is why, for instance, in the 1951 version of the movie "Scrooge" (based on "A Christmas Carol," written by Charles Dickens in the early-mid 1800's) you see the ghost of Jacob Marley untie what looks like a rag from around his face, and then his jaw drops in a horrible exaggerated manner! The death scream or yawn of death - seen on the cinema screen! I can imagine the screams that evoked back then! I certainly has a certain YECH factor. I also recall seeing in the 1990's version of "Scrooge" a scene where Scrooge (played by the actor formerly known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek, the Next Generation) is at the funeral and they show the body of Marley in the coffin, Marley's face tied up with a red cloth (true to what was written in the original novel). What is misleading, of course, is that even if one dies a horrible death by slow poison or torture, or the worst possible death you can possibly imagine, once rigor mortis releases its grip on the body (and it always does), the corpse is totally maleable. So even if one dies screaming with eyeballs bulging out of the sockets, that is not what one sees in the coffin. This is a basic lesson from CSI:101. We, in the western world of the 2oth and 21st century, so removed from death and what follows with respect to the corpse make horror movies out of a basic natural process. Geez.

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Here is the second headline: Were Neanderthals stoned to death by modern humans? Makes it sound like a bloodthirsty horde of so-called "modern" humans deliberately hunted down and stoned to death the last few survivors of "primative" Neanderthal man. What a bunch of crap! The actual article is about innovation in the crafting of stone tools that may have given so-called "modern" humans an edge in hunting, etc. over so-called "Neanderthal" man. A lot of bunkum, but heck, maybe they get paid per word, just like Charles Dickens did back in the day, darlings. Okay, I'm starving, nothing to eat all day but 2 pieces of toast with my coffee this morning. I didn't intend to work as long as I did and I always intended to run out and get a Jimmy John's sub (they are lower fat than Cousins), but I never did. Now it's time to go downstairs and cook up some oven-baked pork chops - low fat, nutritious and, best of all, delish!