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"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

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Archives for March 2005

Octopuses Walk On Two Feet

March 25, 2005 by Jack Steiner Leave a Comment

“WASHINGTON – Octopuses, known for using camouflage to avoid predators, have been observed apparently trying to sneak away by walking on two arms while pretending to be a bunch of algae. Two kinds of octopus were seen to use different ways of walking along the sea floor, researchers were reporting in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.

The movements were discovered by Christine L. Huffard of the University of California, Berkeley, who was studying underwater video camera tapes of the animals.

Berkeley professor Robert J. Full said Huffard was studying octopus movement as part of a robotics project. He said the researchers use examples from nature in designing robots; one project is to build a soft robot.

Octopuses trying to avoid being eaten usually hold still to camouflage themselves. But by walking on two arms, these two types were able to move quickly while using their other arms to disguise themselves.

Two individuals of O. marginatus from Indonesia wrapped six arms around themselves, looking like a coconut on the sea floor. They ten used the two rear arms to move backward.”

This is really interesting. I found it fascinating.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

‘Mein Kampf’ a Best Seller in Turkey

March 24, 2005 by Jack Steiner Leave a Comment

This is somewhat disturbing to read.

“ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkish bookshops have a best seller, but some of them are hesitant about giving it too much display.

It’s “Mein Kampf.”

The popularity of Adolf Hitler’s book, filled with anti-Jewish diatribes and dreams of world domination, is puzzling some Turks. Does it reflect rising anti-Semitic or anti-Western sentiment in Muslim Turkey? Or anger over Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and the war in Iraq (news – web sites)? Is it a backlash against the country’s moves to join the European Union (news – web sites)? Or does it simply offer a cheap thrill?

At least two new Turkish-language versions are out in paperback and selling for as little as $4.50, but they could run into legal trouble. They were printed without the permission of the Finance Ministry of the German state of Bavaria, which was given control of Hitler’s estate after World War II and is keen to suppress the book.

German diplomats in Turkey have been told to explore court action. “The book ‘Mein Kampf’ should not be reprinted,” says Bavarian Finance Minister Kurt Faltlhauser. “The state of Bavaria administers the copyright very restrictively to prevent an increase of Nazi ideas.”

Last month the ministry said it was seeking legal action to stop the book’s publication in Poland.

“Mein Kampf” — meaning “My Struggle,” was written in the 1920s and has long been widely available in Arab countries, but no increase in sales has been noted there lately. So Turkish analysts are hard put to explain why tens of thousands of copies have been sold here in recent months.

Lina Filiba, executive vice president of Turkey’s 25,000-member Jewish community, called it “disturbing.”

She said price and media attention were major factors, but also pointed to a “worrying trend” of anti-Semitic publications such as “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” being sold even in bustling department stores.

“Metal Storm” by Orkun Ucar and Burak Turna, a novel imagining a war between Turkey and the United States, is Turkey’s top seller. Conspiracy theory books sell well and the press is extremely critical of the United States and Israel.

Filiba tied the phenomenon to the European Union’s Dec. 17 decision to open membership talks with Turkey, a move long sought by Turkish governments but unpopular among those who fear it will expose their country to permissive European influences.

“I think there’s an increase in anti-Semitic, anti-American, and anti-foreigner feeling that has paralleled Dec. 17,” Filiba said.”

I think that are a lot of sores festering around the world. There seems to be a large push by people to blame their troubles on others, regardless of whether the scape goat is the real source or not. It is a disturbing development.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Origin of Garden Gnomes

March 24, 2005 by Jack Steiner Leave a Comment

Here is a little excerpt about the Garden Gnome. And Might I add that I am not a fan of placing them in my yard, but it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round.

“GRAEFENRODA, Germany (AFP) – With his jolly face and little paunch, Reinhard the potter resembles the garden gnomes he produces by the dozen in this little village in Germany where, they say, the phenomenon began.

Reinhard Griebel grew up surrounded by gnomes in Graefenroda, tucked in the forests of the eastern German state of Thuringia.

This village of 3,500 people claims to be the birthplace of “nanus hortorum vulgaris”, or the common garden gnome, which local folklore says was dreamed up by a local potter in 1880.

The craftsmen of the village, including Reinhard’s great-grandfather, wasted no time in capitalising on the idea and, in the land where the Brothers Grimm created Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the popularity of gnomes spread fast.

“With his red hat, his lantern, his wheelbarrow and his basket on his back, he is the very image of the miners who used to work in this region,” Reinhard said.

“He’s small enough to worm through the mineshafts and always full of the joys of life.”

Germany was in the throes of the industrial revolution and workers on their Sunday off found they liked having a decorative touch to add to the garden where they would sit and relax before returning to the daily grind.

Before long, garden gnomes had conquered all four corners of the world.

For Reinhard, the reign of the gnomes reached a low point in the days when the communist regime in East Germany banned them because they were considered a capitalist symbol, although they were happy to export them to the West in return for hard cash.

Since the mines shut down in this region, gnome manufacture has become the lifeblood of the village. And there is no shortage of work — Reinhard estimates there are more than 18 million garden gnomes in Germany alone.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized

A Purim Prophecy- The Nazis

March 24, 2005 by Jack Steiner 1 Comment

There is a tale that I heard a number of years ago. The story suggests that within the Purim story there is a prophecy regarding the Nazis. You can find a link to it here and here. There are a number of other links, but I’ll let you find them.

To save you time I’ll cut-and-paste from Go West Young Jew and give you the story as he transcribed it.

“When listing the ten sons of Haman who were hanged (Esther 9:6-10), three letters, namely Taf, Shin, and Zayin, are written smaller than the rest (most printed texts reflect this; if yours doesn’t, look in another). The commentaries offer no explanation for this other than that it is a prophecy. The letters “Taf-Shin-Zayin” represent the Hebrew year 5707, corresponding to
the secular year 1946-47.

On October 16, 1946 (21 Tishrei, 5707) ten convicted Nazi war criminals were hanged in Nuremberg. (An eleventh, Hermann Goering, a transvestite, committed suicide in his cell.
The Midrash tells us that Haman also had a daughter who committed suicide.) As if the parallel were not obvious enough without further corroboration, Nazi Julius Streicher’s last words were, “Purimfest 1946.”

As mentioned you can find more references and remarks about this story around the net. I’ll leave it for you to form your own opinion regarding this tale.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

He Thought I was a Girl

March 24, 2005 by Jack Steiner Leave a Comment

When I was 12 I was mistaken for a girl, not in person. I didn’t look anything like a girl and I didn’t dress like one so that never would have happened. Nope, it was my voice.

I don’t remember what time of year it was, but my mother had taken my sisters along to run some errands so I was home alone. I do remember that being able to stay by myself was a relatively new privilege and that I felt very grown up to have the house to myself.

At some point during the day there was a knock on the door so I went to see who was there. When I looked through the little peephole there was a man at the door. He was wearing a sports coat, but it was open and I could see that he had a gun in a holster.

I would have pretended that no one was home, but as I approached the door I yelled out “who is it” and received a reply along the lines of “Ma’am this is the FBI” or some other similar identification.

I didn’t believe him because I couldn’t imagine why the FBI would be at my door. And I had never seen someone carrying a gun through my neighborhood so I was a little anxious and just a little nervous.

So when I responded to him I said that I was getting dressed and then he said “that’s ok ma’am, I can wait.” I was furious that he thought that I was female, but I was still frightened by the gun so I called the police and told them that there was a man with a gun at my door.

I went into one of the bedroom and waited for the police to arrive. Just a few moments later a squad car pulled up and two officers got out and went to speak with the man at the door. I saw all of this happen because I was watching it through the blinds in one of the bedrooms.

It only took a few minutes for the police to confirm the man’s identity but to me it felt like a long time. They came to my door and told me that I had done the right thing in calling them, but that I shouldn’t be scared because he really did work for the FBI.

It turned out that the reason he was there was because my next door neighbor had applied for a job working for President Reagan in the White House. So per SOP the FBI engaged in a background check upon her and wanted to speak with us about that.

Years later the thing that sticks out to me more than anything is not that the FBI was at the door and not the gun, but the irritation I felt at being called a girl by that guy.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Majority Leader DeLay Calls On God In Schiavo Battle

March 24, 2005 by Jack Steiner Leave a Comment

“DeLay, admonished last year by the House ethics committee for three separate matters, now faces questions about foreign trips funded by outside groups.”

Someone needs to speak with old Tom about a few things. I wonder if his G-d approves of corruption. Let’s see what he has to say about the charges against him.

“DeLay, in addressing the Family Research Council, said, “The other side has figured out how to win and defeat the conservative movement, and that is to go after people personally, charge them with frivolous charges.”

I guess that he thinks that his G-d approves of his behavior. Now he and I have a different set of beliefs, mine include taking responsibility for my actions. When I do good things I want the credit and when I do not than I deserve to take the hit for that too.

To me the sickest thing about this most recent indiscretion is the bringing religion into this matter for political gain. The Schiavo situation should be a private matter, regardless of where you stand on it there should be some dignity but people like DeLay rob it of that.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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