October 22, 2009
Wake up indeed
Pat Condell, YouTube great and a man who is definitely one to listen to has posted a new video today. As usual, I agree 100% with what the man says. In his usual humor laden and distinctly British way he has issued a much needed warning to the US.
As many know about me, I support the Constitution. I feel, as Pat mentions, that it is truly the anchor of a great society. It is why so many for so long have risked everything to come here. And that is why we need to protect that which the Constitution grants us.
Watch Pat. Listen to Pat. He has a way with words that I could never have.
October 20, 2009
Jotaro has the Swine Flu
No, just kidding. I have been sick lately however. I’ve been battling a head cold for the last 4 days. Not a topic I would usually write about on the blog but I got several e-mails asking why no new post for awhile.
Well to put it simply, nothing new to report. I have been just laying low and working/reading/watching DVDs/training. Not the most exciting life, but hey, it’s mine!
I finally finished the Chinese Roswell book and have changed the “What I am reading” link in the blog roll. I have also been spending a lot of time on the “Abduction Stories Blog” in the blogroll. A lot of interesting stuff to read there. A few of the cases deal with Nome, Alaska, and possibly the upcoming movie The Fourth Kind.
So, I hope this puts the curious at ease. The rumors of my death are greatly incorrect (I’ve always wanted to say that!)
October 6, 2009
The Art of Manliness
Today I happened upon a blog that I found to be very informative.
I’ll be putting it in the blogroll as well. Some good reading, enjoy it!
October 5, 2009
I really don’t need a title here….
ROME (Reuters) – An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ’s burial cloth is a medieval fake.
The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ.
“We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud,” Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to illustrate the results at a conference on the para-normal this weekend in northern Italy, said on Monday.
A professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, Garlaschelli made available to Reuters the paper he will deliver and the accompanying comparative photographs.
The Shroud of Turin shows the back and front of a bearded man with long hair, his arms crossed on his chest, while the entire cloth is marked by what appears to be rivulets of blood from wounds in the wrists, feet and side.
Carbon dating tests by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Arizona in 1988 caused a sensation by dating it from between 1260 and 1390. Sceptics said it was a hoax, possibly made to attract the profitable medieval pilgrimage business.
But scientists have thus far been at a loss to explain how the image was left on the cloth.
Garlaschelli reproduced the full-sized shroud using materials and techniques that were available in the middle ages.
They placed a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbed it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face.
PIGMENT, BLOODSTAINS AND SCORCHES
The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, a process which removed it from the surface but left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. He believes the pigment on the original Shroud faded naturally over the centuries.
They then added blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains to achieve the final effect.
The Catholic Church does not claim the Shroud is authentic nor that it is a matter of faith, but says it should be a powerful reminder of Christ’s passion.
One of Christianity’s most disputed relics, it is locked away at Turin Cathedral in Italy and rarely exhibited. It was last on display in 2000 and is due to be shown again next year.
Garlaschelli expects people to contest his findings.
“If they don’t want to believe carbon dating done by some of the world’s best laboratories they certainly won’t believe me,” he said.
The accuracy of the 1988 tests was challenged by some hard-core believers who said restorations of the Shroud in past centuries had contaminated the results.
The history of the Shroud is long and controversial.
After surfacing in the Middle East and France, it was brought by Italy’s former royal family, the Savoys, to their seat in Turin in 1578. In 1983 ex-King Umberto II bequeathed it to the late Pope John Paul.
The Shroud narrowly escaped destruction in 1997 when a fire ravaged the Guarini Chapel of the Turin cathedral where it is held. The cloth was saved by a fireman who risked his life.
Garlaschelli received funding for his work by an Italian association of atheists and agnostics but said it had no effect on his results.
“Money has no odor,” he said. “This was done scientifically. If the Church wants to fund me in the future, here I am.”
September 30, 2009
Mystery of the Mayan
I found this article today:
Mysterious ruins may help explain Mayan collapse
A very interesting read. I hope that we’ll get to hear more about it in the future.
September 29, 2009
New links -
I posted new links in the blogroll. The first is Abduction Stories Blog in the “Alternate World” section.
I found this site while looking around for information on the upcoming movie The Fourth Kind. The movie deals with supposedly true events in Nome, Alaska involving a “Dr. Abigail Tyler” who uncovered evidence of mass abductions of the towns citizens.
There is a lot of internet talk of just how true this story is, or if it is this decades Blair Witch Project. Either way, I am excited about this movie because it is a chance to bring some awareness to the subject of Alien Encounters. I am sure that it will be “Hollywood-ized”, but I am still holding out some hope since the writer/director is an actual believer.
The films also features a strong reference to the Ancient Astronaut Theory (AAT) which is also of interest to me. My own research into both abduction accounts and AAT suggest a link between the two. Perhaps a continuing of the “Experiment”.
I have read several of the blogs post, and they are very good. If the topic is of interest to you, check it out.
I also added links to South East PA MUFON and World Mysteries to the “Alternate World” section.
September 28, 2009
The process of growth
This last Saturday I had a unique experience. Testing was held at the Gouken Dojo and I was privileged to be used as an uke (the person who receives the technique) for all of the people testing that day. This was a very interesting experience for me and gave me a chance to see some of the rank requirements for levels above my own. Not something that is done very often since testing in the Jinenkan is usually a private event. Originally I was to be uke for just two test, but due to some unforseen happenings, I got this opportunity.
I didn’t test this time around because I wanted to work on some of the requirements a bit more. While I don’t expect perfection, I do want to be able to pull off the key points of the techniques. I feel that if I miss those key points, then I am missing the essence of the techniques. So, next time I will test.
I have always believed that testing is an important part of martial arts training. Not for the “Pressure Testing” aspect that many believe testing is for, but for the chance to learn exactly what you need in your training and to learn exactly where you are in your training. If this step is skipped for whatever reason, then I believe an important part of the training is missing and the training is therefore incomplete.
On Wednesday I get that privilege again….
