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This sexy Italian graced the Table of Contents of the June issue of a popular alternative health magazine. It appears to be the shadow of a naked woman, complete with nipples. This photo looks like something right out of a Wilson Bryan Key book.You may remember his fun books, The Clam Plate Orgy , which explains why so many folks who can’t stand fried clams buy the clam plate at HoJo’s. Mr. Keys books are about subliminal messages in advertising. I’ve probably stated before that American psychology is largely directed toward predicting and manipulating the behavior of large numbers of people. Thus one of the earliest Behaviorists, John B. Watson , found a lucrative position in advertising after he was drummed out of academia. Key’s examples are pretty funny, and a lot of so-called experts state outright that he was insane. Well, what is insanity but being uncomfortably aware of unacknowledged details? But in most cases the experts give no reason other than...

The garden is well under way. We’re growing Roma, Better Boy and Early Girl Tomatoes; three kinds of peppers; eggplant; and several herbs and spices. I’ve already been cutting chamomile for a relaxing tea. On deck we have a few pots and flats of seedlings, some of which will go in this weekend. Basil, of course. Chives, Cilantro, Catnip. Peas and Morning Glory will climb the fence together. And of course lots of smelly flowers to discourage rodents of all sizes. Here are some pictures I took today while watering the garden. Click on the thumbnails to see full-size images.

UPenn’s Center for Resuscitation Science Interesting web site. It’s about how we define the moment of death. They are turning Emergency Medicine on its head. If you have advance directives, a living will or a DNR order, it’s because you don’t want to wind up a vegetable after a medical emergency or because you have an incurable, fatal condition. Advanced directives are NOT intended to force the ER doctors to let you die when medical treatment can easily fix you right up. With the exception, of course, of folks whose religion forbids medical treatment. When I was a whitewater rafting guide I had to be certified in Advanced First Aid and Life Support. This program took four weekends to complete. It was hard for me to put in that kind of sustained effort, now that I think about it, but it really helped my confidence on the job. The point of the course was to enable the guides to stabilize someone injured on the river until we could get real medical help. And ...

Fun conversation. Just wanted to share. The boss sent me a geometry puzzle as revenge for one I sent him to solve. I shared it with my favorite philosopher. This conversation ensued. ME, quoting the boss: You have a rectangular piece of material out of which are cut two regular polygons of arbitrary number of sides, position and size. (Both holes are entirely contained within the larger rectangle.) Devise a method for dividing the remaining material into two equal areas. Get back to work! K: Slice it through from edge-on. ME: The boss says “No.” He seems to think that the material can’t be split that way. Hmmmph. Where did he find cloth one atom thick? And why isn’t a nuclear blast a valid way of splitting it? Update 8/2008: The material is probably a monoatomic-thick graphite substance called “graphene.” No idea where he found it. K: I like nuclear blast; you collect the fallout into two buckets of equal volume. ME: I made an infinite num...

<rant> Email to someone I don’t even know who has been spamming me with chain letters. Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 09:57:50 -0400 To: ————- From: Leslie Subject: I’m blogging this. Thanks. Re: Gas War Did you write this in crayon? Or worse, did someone else write it in crayon and you merely forwarded it because you liked the big purple letters? You obviously didn’t think this through. If you do this you’ll drive the price up at the other gas stations… because most Exxon-Mobil gas stations are privately owned by local merchants, not by Exxon-Mobil because unbranded gas stations usually buy from the big oil companies, including Exxon-Mobil because when BP and Citgo and Hess and Lukoil stations run low on gas they’ll buy some at an exorbitant price from Exxon-Mobil because the small stations also increase their prices according to supply and demand – they have to make a living. Consumers don’t call the tune in a capit...

Ok, I went too far, propagating the “Muzzy Mouse” meme. It is ridiculous to stigmatize all Moslems based on the actions of a few WahhābÄ«m. We mustn’t forget that just a few years ago Catholic and Protestant Christians were murdering each other in the UK. Personally, I think it’s time for all religions to take responsibility for policing their extremists. Farfur the Mouse of Hamas’ al-Aqsa TV has been pulled off the air “for review.” Farfur is a Mickey Mouse clone whose job was to indoctrinate Palestinian children not with Islamic values, but with terrorist propaganda. Video clips showed a guy in a mouse suit pretending to shoot an AK-47, while a little Mousekahideen looked on. In a previous post I joked about Disney lawyers marching into Palestine. It appears that there is more to it, according to this article: Israelinsider.com: “Terrorist mouse” may have squeaked its last, as Hamas kids show angers Disney Hamas may not be mu...

FilmSpot: Ozzy Osbourne I bit the head off a live bat the other night. It was like eating a Crunchie wrapped in chamois leather. — Ozzy Osbourne