09-30 to 10-01-07

Just dropping by to fill you in on a few things:

I am working on getting The Speakeasy back up and going. I was hoping I could just transfer the files from the old site to the new one and it would work, but the paths are different, so that isn't going to work. However, I think I can do a fresh install and then overwrite the data files with the old ones so that I can preserve the old structure and keep the users that have already signed up. No promises, but that's why I'm taking it slow and trying things. If nothing else, you can always just sign-up again. No one posted anything on the old boards anyway, so it's not like anything was lost except the user database.

Tomorrow I go back to court. I could not come up with the money needed to keep my lawyer, so I am going to ask for a court-appointed lawyer tomorrow. With it being a misdemeanor and all, they may tell me "it's not a big deal" - which has become a key phrase amongst the authorita in Decatur County, TN, when it comes to my case, but after spending 7 days in jail on a 12-hour charge stemming from a false arrest, I happen to think it a very big deal, so I'll try what I can.

I am putting together my defense on my own, just in case they tell me they aren't going to allow me to have a court-appointed lawyer or whatever. I don't know that that's legal, but then again, nothing about my case is particularly legal and that didn't stop them - hasn't stopped them yet, as a matter of fact - so I don't know.

I'm telling you this because, as I said, they haven't followed the rules yet, so I'm afraid of being thrown back in jail or just... I don't know what to expect, honestly. The point is, if you don't hear from me for 2-3 days, please raise some hell with someone! This most likely means I've either gotten thrown back in jail for something or I've gone all Silkwood...

Honestly, it sounds like some paranoid schizophrenic conspiracy theory, but if you knew the details of the case (I've discussed some of it over to The Rundown), you'd completely understand why I'm so nervous over what should be/should have been "no big deal."

A Death in the Meerkat Manor

I have yet to see Meerkat Manor, but I have seen the promos for it and understand it is Animal Planet's highest-rated show in their history. If you are a fan of the program, this is some sad news and a bit of a SPOILER:

Flower has died, long live Flower!

The matriarch of the Meerkat Manor clan was bitten by a snake and died during filming last year. While this has not been highly publicized, a message did appear on the Animal Planet's website a few months back. The cable network channel is planning a commemorative spot, an online tribute, and a press event in NYC to mark her passing. Further, there is a major motion picture in the production stages, entitled Queen of the Kalahari, documenting Flower's rise ot power prior to the events chronicled in the hit TV show.

R.I.P., Flower.

New Digs

Okay, I am still playing with things here and that's why I haven't had more posts coming through. Every time I change something it takes a few minutes for the entire blog to publish, so the fewer posts on there, the faster it goes through. That's why I'm holding off on the few bits I have until I finally hit upon a design and color scheme I like and decide to stick with.

Unlike The Rundown, where there's always a celebrity screwing up and new comics coming out, the paranormal and Supernatural don't happen on a regular enough basis to keep me busy here as often as I'd like to be. That's why I have the Things What Done Fell From the Sky column and other such as that to give you something to read. But as I said when I restarted this blog, part of the goal is to collect a lot of the "classic" accounts as an online resource as well as reporting on new things, so I will likely bring you some more recaps this week. But I probably won't post anything new until Monday or after, depending on what goes on tonight and tomorrow.

Hopefully by then, I'll have settled on a color scheme I like and have everything else in place, as well.

Remains Are Those of Romanovs

Scientists have tentatively confirmed that the bones found in Russia back in July appear to be that of the missing two children of the last Tsar's family.

The Romanovs were jettisoned from their throne and royalty during the Revolution. The family was shot, their bodies doused with acid, and then buried. The remains were discovered in 1991.

For years, several people claimed to be the "missing" heir, Anastasia, but none of the claims turned out to be true.

Full test results are still awaited, but experts say preliminary results appear to confirm that the remains are that of Alexei, heir to the throne, and Maria, his elder sister.

Alexei was a Hemopheliac and tended to by "The Mad Monk," Vladmir Rasputin. Rasputin was widely considered to possess Supernatural powers and there is actually a lot of circumstantial evidence to support that fact - not least of which being that he did, in fact, "cure" Alexei of his Hemophelia and was the only one who could stop the child's incessant bleeding on more than one occasion.

Rasputin was a hard-drinking womanizer and braggart and his boasts of an affair with the Tsar's wife led directly to both his death and the Revolution which killed the family.

All Work, No Reward Makes MD a Mad Boy

This is the kind of stalemate shit I was talking about; the kind of "simple" tweak that you can spend days researching, only to find out that there is nothing you can do, there is no workaround, and it is a "known" issue cleverly hidden so as to downplay the fact that they already knew it just isn't going to work:

Surf on over to The Rundown and let all the posts load, then go all the way to the end of the page. Down there, you will see some handy "Newer Posts" and "Older Posts" links. I have complained before that these links were not showing up here or on Weird Ink, both of which are published to The Weirding via FTP.

At various times, I've spent a few hours here and there trying to figure out how to do this. Well, tonight, I spent over four hours - 4 fucking hours! - going through every, single, possible trick I could find. I went through countless Help and Support posts, "hacks" for Classic Templates, and at least a dozen other things. I copied and pasted JAVA and HTML and tried and tried and tried to get it to work. I added new directories full of labels and archives and changed settings and changed them back and on and on. 4 hours...

FINALLY, at almost 4:00 AM this morning, exactly, I found a single post that said, basically, "Blogger Beta does not work with FTP and there is no ETA as to when these issues will be fixed and/or implemented."

That's what I've been saying about all the time spent working behind the scenes, actually doing important shit that you never see. I could have been working on getting up more of the main pages and departments, tweaking pages ready to be uploaded - the whole nine. Instead, I lost an entire day's work only to find out that Blogger already knew nothing I was trying was going to work. They just don't like to "Advertise" that fact, so they cleverly hid it amongst at least 1000 posts offering me a glimmer of hope.

This is why there haven't been any posts the past day or so. Sorry for that, but I was working. I am going to try one more approach, but it's a longshot, so I'm going to tweak the layout a little because it looks terrible. I'll cover this over to The Wording - where this discussion really belongs - but I wanted to let y'all know what I've been up to.

Into the Mild

Wow. This one has me a bit... woozy.

It appears that the entire Into the Wild series on Discovery is completely full of shit. According to new reports, star Bear Grylls and crew often receive help in the form of hotel rooms (replete with hot tub and internet access), use safety harnesses and other protective measures when undergoing "life-threatening" exercises, and even have some "discoveries" planted. The crew also sometimes helps Grylls fashion transportation and other necessities he is supposed to have made himself.

Show consultant, Mark Weinert, told reporters "If you really believe everything happens the way it is shown on TV, you are being a little bit naive."

Well, we don't - usually; but when we're told we're supposed to - when, in fact, that reality is the very basis of the fucking show - it tends to be a bit easier to expect. After all, Steve Irwin really died. Didn't he?

I don't mean to speak ill of the dead; I'm just making the point. We all know that certain situations and exchanges are staged when it comes to silly "reality" game shows like Survivor or Blow Out - hell, we expect it! Those shows just wouldn't be that interesting without some staging. But this is a whole other level.

What is it about this modern culture that makes people think that we all "got what we deserved" for being "dumb enough to believe them" when they openly deceive us? Yes, we want to be entertained, but if we're watching a "reality" show that purports to show us survival techniques or what we should do if we are ever caught in this situation or that, then we have every right to expect that what we are watching is what we were told we were watching!

And this extends all the way across the board, culminating in sleazy "contractual" deals and obligations, ala Girls Gone Wild, and even the agreements we're fished into with credit card and insurance companies. "Buyer Beware" may be a motto to live by, but we shouldn't have to be lawyers to avoid being defrauded by "reputable" companies, we shouldn't need an agent to go drinking in a bar, and we shouldn't need a SFX technician beside us when we watch "educational" programming!

Weird Ink Back Up and Blogs

I just wanted to drop a line to let everyone here know that Weird Ink is back up and running. I know I said I was going to try and shape this little ship up somewhat - and I am - but I have had to divide my time between everything online and off- and I really didn't sleep well at all last week, so I'm playing catch-up on a lot of things and am just doing a little at a time instead of pushing myself too hard (to the point where I burn-out and just don't want to fool with it anymore).

Like I've often complained about over to The Wording, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on - such as e-mail accounts and FTP settings, just to name two things off the top of my head - that even though you don't see them, they take time and effort to accomplish and have to be in-place before larger, more visible, areas are tackled.

But I'm not using that as an excuse; I am actively working on pages and areas offline for mass-FTP one day soon and, as I discuss over to The Wording today, I am trying to develop a more cohesive file and directory structure, which involves getting a little more technical and learning more about the programs I use, so there's a bit of a learning curve working against me here, too.

Still, even though it's taken me a week or so, I did get all the blogs back up and going, even if they aren't as perfect as I hope they will be one day (yet), so things are getting done.

Check out Weird Ink for tips and discussion on writing, The Wording for technical information on the website, and The Rundown for... just whatever the hell I think of... but mainly comics, entertainment, politics, and so forth.

Self-Proclaimed Prophet Found Guilty

Warren Jeffs has been found guilty on all counts by a new jury.

The self-proclaimed prophet and "descendant of Jesus Christ" was found guilty of, basically accomplice to rape, for coercing a 14-year old girl into marrying her older first cousin. The other big news here is that the jury was a new jury: one of the jury members was ejected earlier and a new jury member was brought in to replace him. The maximum sentence facing Jeffs is life in prison.

Jeffs was the leader of the FLDS, or Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect which espouses polygamy and arranged marriages. Jeffs went on the lam for nearly two years, even making the FBI's Most Wanted List, before being found with a carful of wigs, clothes, and other disguises. He is facing federal charges for flight as well as charges in Arizona.

Space Bugs Grow Stronger

Now this one's interesting:

Astronauts have discovered that bacteria acts and reacts differently in space, actually becoming more virulent. This has great implications for astronauts, as it proves they must be more hygenic when in orbit. The tests were undertaken using basic Salmonella, for which there is no known cure. Astronauts undergoing long space flights - such as to Mars - would have to be extremely careful and thoroughly hygenic in order to decrease the chances of infection. As one expert puts it, "You can't sterilize humans," meaning that microbes go wherever we do. Now that we know how these microbes change, we know that the risks in space are even greater.

What the article does not address - and what I was most interested in after reading it - is whether or not the microbes remained as strong once back in Earth's atmosphere; were the changes permanent? Did the bacteria simply become stronger overall, or did they lose their increased potency once back home?

© C Harris Lynn, 2007-08

Got Enough to Read Now?

Okay, that will pretty much wrap it up for now. I have some more stuff, but I am going to try to stretch it out throughout the week. I just... I've been working so hard on so many other projects that I've rarely been able to get out more than sometimes 2-3 posts a week here and I have a lot more content than that. I already know that I have court next Monday and I have a doctor's appointment this Thursday, so I wanted to go ahead and get a lot of stuff up here so you have something to read throughout the week. I may still write another post or two later on, since a lot of them today were reposts I've been saying I wanted to get up for a while now.

Granted, I could have held-off and dispersed them over the course of several days, but I've been saying that was my plan of attack since basically forever and have yet to do it, so I decided I would go ahead and just get them out and be done with it. I still have just a few more of these old posts which I really want to put here, not just because they no longer exist elsewhere online but because they work with a lot of the themes and subjects with which we deal and I want to be able to refer to them in other posts.

Like I say, I do have some other stuff to chat about, but this is so much for one day that I may wait to get to it. I just don't know yet - depends on how the day goes. But now you have plenty of stuff to keep you busy for a day or two, at least!

The Scale of Evil

This originally appeared on another blogsite which has since gone under. I think it makes an excellent fit here:

Years ago, I read a phenomenal book, the title of which escapes me, in which the author focused on several, real cases to determine whether or not Evil actually exists and to define it. A little light reading for a rainy day. Still, I think most of us can agree that there is a huge difference in an evil act and actual Evil; we're all capable of evil acts, but most people are not actually Evil.

A lot of the popular notions regarding such things include intent, premeditation, and covering up the crime, all of which have been used to condemn someone as Evil at one time or another (and remain the primary measuring sticks for such determinations) but these aren't perfect indicators -- good indicators, certainly, but by no means the best. After all, even the best intentions can go awry and these are generally premeditated acts -- yet, their unintentional results are often covered-up.

Not to mention that, sometimes, people believe they have to perform an Evil act for a greater good. This is the case with most abuse victims who kill their abusers. These are sometimes (though not always) premeditated acts in which the immediate intent is Evil (by nature) and are then often covered-up by those who commit them and/or sympathetic supporters.  However, the overall outcome is not at all Evil (abuse is unquestionably Evil so stopping it is not).

Then, there are those who are mentally and/or emotionally ill or unstable. These people simply cannot think correctly; while they may have Evil intentions, plan their evil acts, and consciously obscure them, they truly can't be held directly responsible because they cannot process thoughts and feelings the way normal people do.

So what is Evil?

Well, the forgotten book gave a very good answer by way of an example:

A coal mining company knew they were using faulty equipment in a mine which was known to be poisonous, yet chose to send in a crew of miners -- all of whom died. The company knew they were endangering the miners, knew there was a very real (almost certain) possibility of death, hid this knowledge from the workers, and sent them in regardless because it was financially profitable to the corporation even if the crew was lost. 

After the miners had died, the company played the "pyramid" game -- shifting responsibility from one head of department to the next, which then shifted responsibility to lesser-ranking workers in the department, who were then instructed to shift blame to researchers, and on and on: They covered-up the crime.

That's Evil; that's not an Evil act, that's just pure Evil, from intent to event to cover-up.

But that doesn't mean someone who commits an evil act, knowing the act is Evil, is necessarily an Evil person. Again, there are mitigating factors in some cases; the abuse victim who kills his abuser is a perfect example of this, while the corporation (and all of the individuals which comprised it) provide the example of true Evil. Regardless of what most people want you to believe (regardless of what we all think sometimes), every person is an individual and thinks, feels, and acts differently. This also has nothing to do with the famous "situational" vs. "predatory" Evil.

Either way, Psychology shies away from the word, "Evil," believing it to be indicative of moral judgment, as opposed to clinical assessment -- that is to say, most psychologists shy away from the term.

One Michael Stone has developed an actual scale for Evil and I'm not too sure it holds up -- not because Stone's work is bad, but because the whole concept may be. Or maybe it's because he used bad examples. Susan Smith, for example, has a history of molestation and suicide attempts involving men; it's hard to consider her Evil, given that she is psycho-emotionally damaged. And, while not all of his subjects suffer from such obvious mitigating trauma, Stone appears to have based his research largely on people who committed outrageous crimes.

In fact, I find it impossible to say that anyone who commits Evil acts on a regular basis is actually "healthy." Of course, there has to be a line, but where and how do you draw it? You can't let people get away (literally) with murder just because most of us believe anyone who would commit murder is "sick," but we all know there's some grain of truth to that. And then, if you apply the "situational" caveat, you realize just how preoccupied with revenge this country and its legal system really is.

In effect, isn't it just as Evil to seek vengeance on someone who has done something Evil in order to assuage your sense of injustice? Especially when it inflames your sense of self-righteousness? Is "justice" then mere justification for the Evil you have committed in punishing the evil-doer? Or, is it more in line with the case of the abused who kills his abuser?

There are people who do Evil things -- knowing full-well they are evil, knowing full-well their actions hurt others -- and simply do not care. Their motives vary and their acts sometimes occur situationally --meaning that they are unplanned or even unintentional -- but are they premeditated simply because the person enjoyed them or wanted to do them? This is particularly the case in so many of the Internet "stings" on would-be child predators these days: If no crime was committed, how can they be convicted (even though their intent clearly was to commit a crime)?

Even though I agree that those who cannot be "cured" have to be put to death for at least a thousand reasons, which people are they and why aren't these laws applied unilaterally? A blackmailer or chronic drug-dealer who does not change their ways knowingly commits Evil -- knowingly jeopardizes, harms, and kills others (even if indirectly) -- and knows damn-well what they are doing when they do it. Why aren't they put to death?

Again, it's about the sense of revenge inherent in the judicial system: The laws are applied only to those who commit crimes which enrage the community. The death penalty is a premeditated action, knowingly carried out and justified as being for a greater good, and commonly accepted by those involved. 

Premeditation, action, cover-up; the Death Penalty fits the specific definition of "Evil."

The system is Evil. I told you so.

Ahmadinejad at Columbia University

The Iranian President - whose name I am not even going to try to spell - is speaking at Columbia University as I type this. He was a little late getting started, but the guy who introduced him really blasted him and his policies before he took the stand, then I switched the channel.

Why?

Well, I don't see this as a matter of Freedom of Speech for one. Columbia has a very... weird and mixed message when it comes to Freedom of Speech. They have denied a whole lot of people and organizations the right to speak on campus but they let this guy? I mean, Ahmadinejad is so obviously a hatemongerer and demagogue that absolutely no one questions it. Like I said, even the guy introducing him blasted his policies and "thoughts" on many matters.

Further, why do I care?

I completely disagree with everything that comes out of this pint-sized tyrant's mouth, so why do I give a damn how he justifies them? And why do I want to sit around, listening to more of the same? I'm completely shocked that he's still speaking and hasn't been booed off the stage, but I have a feeling it's more because the people are waiting for the end his prepared speech, at which point there is to be a Q&A period.

Still, Columbia U. has a lot to answer for when it comes to this whole thing; I truly believe they only let this guy speak for the press it would give them. And that, it has! For nearly two weeks now, it's been the talk of the media, and every news station out there has been covering it since it started.

I don't know what they're waiting for; the guy hasn't answered a single question for anyone yet. He just answers questions in "response." That's all he's done for everyone so far, period. And all he's done at Columbia so far, too.

Iran and N Korea's Nuclear Testing

This one also originally appeared on the same old blogsite which no longer exists. It is not necessarily all that good or poignant today, but it goes along with what is in the news today, about which I am posting next, so I figured I'd go on and post it:

This one's priceless:

Those wacky, peace-loving Iranians we know as chronic terrorists - the same peaceful cats who brought you the time-honored punchline, "I claim this _____ in the name of Allah," and inspired a slew of Chuck Norris flicks in the 1980s with their wacky hijackings - blame the US for N. Korea's alleged nuclear testing over the weekend.

According to Iranian radio, the US "humiliated" N. Korea into their nuclear program, threatening them and refusing to lift sanctions against the country. This has all lead the misunderstood country to developing nuclear arms, which they would not have done otherwise.

Coincidentally, Iran is another well-meaning, though misunderstood, country trying to develop nuclear devices - ostensibly for "peaceful" purposes, like energy. That's right: one of the most oil-rich countries on the face of the entire planet needs more energy. I was not even aware they had cars in Iran. Do they have cars in Iran? At any rate, I'm pretty certain they are not in use by a majority of the population.

In case you do not know about the leader of North Korea, he is certifiably insane. He suffers from Megalomania and delusions of grandeur. He sent soldiers into the deep jungles of North Korea back in 1999-2000 to find and destroy the graven images of past leaders/gods - jungles so deep that no human being had set foot there in hundreds of years! He is a despot and enemy of Mankind. North Korean citizens are beaten and killed trying to climb the fenced borders to freedom, and there are tapes of women literally hurling their babies over the fences, in hopes of giving them a better life.

Iran is a terrorist nation of hijackers and zealots.

Neither should be allowed access to nuclear anything. Ever. It's frightening enough that Iran has radios!

More on Andrea Yates

This post originally appeared on another blogsite which has since disappeared:

I read with dismay many of the comments and posts people have made concerning Andrea Yates' recent verdict. I am dismayed because most of them perfectly illustrate what I have been saying for years now: The majority of the American public has no idea what "mental illness" is, and they have neither compassion nor understanding for the victims of such disorders. Because they do not understand it, they simply find it "hard to believe." 

I submit that they are willfully choosing not to understand it: They think that holding the victims of mental illness responsible for becoming ill it will somehow shame or scare other sufferers into "getting better" when, in fact, it only perpetuates the cycle of the mentally ill refusing to seek treatment.

I'll give you the rundown using specific, real-life examples as illustrations. Then I'm going to rant and accuse a little. And I'm sorry if you happen to have an opposing view, because that makes you wrong; and, regardless of what the hippies and the Clinton administration tell you, it is not your "right" to be wrong, and the rest of us do not have to just accept your insistence to be wrong as part of your personality: You are wrong. 

To wit, you may choose to believe that the sun orbits the moon or that the proper name for "lasagna" is "pizza," but the rest of us don't have to just "accept" that this is your right to feel that way and treat you accordingly. The rest of us have every right -- in fact, a civil and social duty! -- to tell you that you are wrong, regardless of what you "feel." Especially when you you throw a temper tantrum every time your "pizza" doesn't have enough noodles.

Get a job, you dirty hippy!

Andrea Yates was/is insane. She was unable to differentiate between reality and the delusions from which she was suffering and, in this fashion, was unable to determine that her actions while she was committing them were wrong. Not to mention that most people who suffer from mental illness either do not believe they are ill or are in Denial of the fact.

And while it's easy to say that "one can argue that any violent criminal is insane when he is committing his crimes," that simply isn't true.

Charles Ng, for example, was not at all insane -- but he was acting-out. Ng derived satisfaction from harming others and, while having such fantasies is indicative of insanity is more for doctors and philosophers to determine, the bottom-line is that he was well aware that acting on his impulses was wrong. He knew that his actions were wrong but he did not care: He plotted, he planned, he covered-up his crimes. There is no doubt that Charles Ng and his associate(s) were fully sane at the time they committed their crimes. Therefore they deserve to be punished for them.

Susan Smith was fully sane when she drowned her children and lied about it. She knew that what she was doing was wrong and she knew the consequences of her actions; she planned, she plotted, and she covered-up her crime. She was completely aware of what she was doing, and what she had done, the entire time. Susan Smith and Charles Ng were motivated purely by selfish desires.

In both cases above, while the actions of those people were definitely Sociopathic, the people themselves were not suffering from mental illness (well, a case for Susan Smith could be made). By definition, lying to get a job promotion because you know that another candidate is more qualified and deserving of that position is a Sociopathic action, but that does not necessarily make you a clinical Sociopath (it does make you a liar though, and all Sociopaths are). 

Impassionately watching someone suffer and/or die and refusing to help them does not necessarily make you a Sociopath; intentionally inflicting pain and suffering on someone without care or feeling makes one a Sociopath. Ergo, hitmen who have no concern for the people they kill are Sociopaths, but someone who watches a person get mugged, beaten, and possibly killed without interfering is probably just an asshole. If that witness felt no remorse, pity, or sympathy for the victim, then that indicates Sociopathy.

Andrea Yates, with or without her established history of mental illness, could not differentiate between right and wrong when it came to her crimes; she was unable to comprehend the consequences of her actions due to her diminished capacity. She was hearing voices (psychotic) -- voices she believed were instructing her to kill her children to save them from eternal damnation. 

Regardless of the fact that she may have considered killing them prior to actually doing it, she was incapable of knowing that it was the wrong thing to do! Had she been fully capable of comprehending this, she might have attempted to drown one child -- or even actually drowned one or two -- before reality set in and she thought to herself, "My God! What have I done? What am I doing?!"

This reality never set in for Ms. Yates because her reality was that God told her to drown her children to save them from eternal damnation.

And she cannot be punished for that!

If a policeman stumbled upon an independent movie-shoot where they were filming a very realistic murder scene, but he saw no cameras and did not realize that it was a staged, fictitious event, he cannot be held responsible for reacting to the scenario as though it were an actual crime in progress! To his mind -- and according to the situation, itself -- he would have been doing what he thought he was supposed to do!

No one can be held responsible for the actions of a psychotic mind; it is a diseased mind. No one can be held accountable for someone being stricken with cancer; cancer is a non-discriminatory disease which strikes without consultation. Disease and illness rarely double-check with society, the victim, the doctors, or the victims' family to see if maybe now is a good time or if the victim is really deserving of being ill. And, while the doctors in charge of these victims should be questioned for their lack of foresight, if it turns out that they handled the patient as well as should be expected under the circumstances, then no one is to be blamed!

This country is adamant that someone be held accountable whenever anything goes wrong- - and that someone be punished. 

Someone runs off the road, they get ticketed for "failure to maintain control of vehicle"; someone stubs their toe on the sidewalk and sues the city for negligence; someone gets lost in the middle of literally nowhere and sues the cellular phone company for not having a communications tower on Antarctica! 

All of this allows American society to distance ourselves from the situation and feel safe that we would NEVER do that and that would NEVER happen to us. It allows American society to fool ourselves into thinking that we can control everything ("you make your own fate," "this happened to you because you let it/you wanted it to") or get "justice" for the things we cannot. It's a societal control issue.

Yes, these children died. That's tragic, but it would be no less tragic had they died due to a tornado or some other freak accident. Andrea Yates was/is mentally ill -- and not in the way a crackhead is "insane" when he carjacks you in the midst of a binge.

Get that?

This country is all too willing to say that dopefiends can't "help" themselves, that fat people just can't say no to those 3402397409724 boxes of Twinkies -- those poor people are sick; they have a disease -- they can't control themselves and should be coddled. But, someone who can't tell reality from fantasy just needs to "get over it," "deal with it," "should have taken her medication," and so on.

But, when you say, "Well, that doper should have never started doing drugs in the first place!" or "Well, she knew she was 450973205975 pounds, so she's the one that decided to go off her diet," that's somehow insensitive!!!

It's ridiculous and stupid.

This popular mode of "thinking" is the real insanity... but not legal insanity, because anyone who thinks like that HAS TO KNOW they are WRONG.

* American Law does not recognize the term, "Evil."

Andrea Yates Retrial

This post originally appeared on another blogsite which has since gone under:

FINALLY, justice prevails!!!

The American legal system is preoccupied with vengeance -- it has never been about justice -- and this has never been clearer than in the case of Andrea Yates.

Even though the original case was tried years ago, and Ms. Yates was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, in a retrial today, the jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity. And, the reason this is news is simple: her sanity was never in question! There really didn't even need to be a trial!

It absolutely incenses me that anyone would think otherwise! Aside from the fact that she thought she was saving her children from the Devil and eternal damnation, she had a history of mental illness stretching back literally years, which included suicidal and psychotic behavior -- and none of this was ever in question!!! No one, even once, suggested she was not ill, just that she should be held accountable for... BEING ILL!!!

Remember Jeffrey Dahmer? He was determined to be stable enough to stand trial! Jeffrey Dahmer!

Yeah! The guy drilled a hole into another guy's head and poured boric acid into it, hoping to make the victim his sex slave! Oh yeah, that's "stable" behavior. Happens everyday.

Now, if you cannot come to the reasonable conclusion that pouring boric acid into someone's head to make him a living sex zombie is not a rational act, or that maybe God isn't telling you to drown your children in the bathtub, I find it hard to believe you can logically make any other decision with any reasonable degree of accuracy. Whether or not he -- or Angela Yates -- realized that what they were doing was wrong is about as relevant as asking if they know how to properly install a transmission.

Does anyone not get that?

People with mental illness are sick -- the same way that people with cancer are sick: They cannot magically heal themselves or just "get over it." Mental illness is not a character flaw or lack of strength or willpower on the patient's part; mental illness is a compound word in which the word, "illness," is stressed.

And the idea that we, as a country, would treat these people specifically so that we can get them well enough to stand trial for the things they did when they were ill is so egregious, so wrong, so horrendous... it's just sickening. This is a legal system where you can break into someone's house to rob them then sue them for shooting you yet it does not recognize mental illness as a defense!

Is this thing on? Hello?

Let me make this clearer:

A guy has a heart attack in the shower and manages to crawl outside for help. Luckily, he finds it. The ambulance makes it to the hospital in time and he recovers. Then, on the day he is released from the hospital, he's promptly arrested for indecent exposure.

Nice system.

2020

This post originally appeared on another blogsite which is no longer around. I really liked it and have been waiting to repost it here for a long time now.

The Pew Center recently did a study in which it asked a lot of industry leaders what shape and direction they thought the Internet would have and take by the year 2020. And I don't think much has changed in these peoples' thinking since the question was asked before...

The most interesting thing is that 58% think there will be some sort of Luddite insurgency, possibly with violence. They're not sure if it will be focused at the technology itself or the effects of it, but the majority agrees, "...there will be more Unabombers."

The majority also agreed that the Internet would be low-cost and widespread, with more people being more effective online than off-. They seem to be basically split as to whether or not this is a good thing; some say more people will be living in virtual worlds, which will greatly affect the economy and real-world society. They also argued the difference between privacy and "transparency," noting that the powerful will remain less transparent and that privacy can be secured. And I believe this to be true; as one of the people involved said, we have laws against people using a telescope to look into our windows and eventually, this same sort of legality will apply to people poking through our online activities and files.

The article on the report is intriguing and eye-opening and I hope it sparks more discussion amongst online users.

I personally think that the Internet will be widely-used by the year 2020, primarily accessed by mobile/portable devices, have stringent copyright and privacy laws in place, and largely work invisibly. It will be impossible to tell your TV from your radio from your Internet; they will all be the same.

It's happening even now: cellphone-users refer to IMing as "texting," without even knowing that it's just IM technology over a cellphone. TiVo allows you to program your TV to not only switch to the channel when your program is on, but to record it if you want to watch something else. Pretty soon, your universal remote will not only control all of your electronic appliances, but hook up to your computer through USB and download software updates, synch with your online calendar, and more. Every cable and satellite subscriber will receive a free e-mail address accessible via remote. It's happening right now and people either don't realize it or are simply not accepting it.

Old Posts Find New Life

One of the things I had said before that I wanted to do was get some of the posts I'd made on other sites previously on this blog. In most cases, the sites on which they were originally posted have gone under; in other cases, I simply removed them from the site because I liked them enough that I wanted them on my own. They are, after all, my original content, so why should I freely give them to anyone else?

I had to wait to post a lot of them because I didn't want Google and other search engines to penalize this blog for having what is known as "duplicate content." There is the possibility that this may still happen, but in almost every case, the "original" publication has been well over three months past, so I'm not that worried. Besides, you can't get a negative PR and our poor little pixel park here has a 0, so I'm not too worried.

Hopefully, you haven't read these before but, if you have, rest assured I did not steal them from anyone or anywhere; everything on here is original content written by me.

Did Jesus Walk on Ice?

At least one scientist has suggested that Jesus might have walked on ice - what is known as "Spring's Ice" - instead of water. This report was actually made public some time ago and I meant to cover it then, but never got around to it. While it is true that (according to scientists and researchers) a cold period swept through the area around the time Jesus was said to have lived in the area, I don't know if this comes down to a matter of faith vs. science or not.

Let's face it: not everything that happens has a "logical" explanation; it just doesn't. This blog seeks to record accounts of these very things, and as we've covered before (and continue to do so), there are simply events and occurrences which we cannot explain-away. A great one are the numerous accounts of Things What Done Fell From the Sky; whirlwinds and the like do not account for these strange falls, accounts of which go back to Biblical times, and no other "scientific" explanations - no logical ones, anyway - take the place of what we know to be true: several times over the ages, strange things have fallen from the skies for no apparent reason from no apparent source.

Now, this doesn't necessarily make these things Supernatural, but how exactly do we even define that word? A lot of what we take as commonplace today would be considered Supernatural by people from earlier times, so how can we say for certain?

At any rate, while I accept that Jesus walked on water, I grant that there could have been "Spring's Ice" in the Sea of Galilee. But that would mean that Jesus was a fraud who intentionally deceived His Disciples and, eventually, billions throughout time. And I believe the rest of the accounts of His life directly dispute that.

"Hobbit" Species "Proven"

Several years ago, researchers found at least one skeleton of what they claimed was a new species of the Homo genus - Homo floresiensis, aka "the Hobbit." But many scientists doubted the claim, suggesting the remains were simply of a pygmy who suffered from a kind of Dwarfism, a brain defect known as microcephaly. But now researchers claim they have proof that the Hobbit is actually its own species:

New research shows that the wrists of the remains are different from that of both humans and their nearest possible ancestor, the Neanderthal. According to the new research, the Hobbit basically has the same kind of wrist found in Homo habilis and Australopithicus, as well as chimps and gorillas today.

The 18,000-year old bones were found on the Indonesian island of Flores some time ago. They found one near-complete skeleton of a female and the remains of about eight other individuals. Further research on the species' brain case confirms their individual species status.

Possible Missing Links Found in Dmanisi, Georgia

A team of researchers working in Dmanisi, Georgia uncovered the remains of four human-like creatures dating back to about 1.8 million years. The bones possess both primitive and advanced features, leading them to think they may be some kind of missing link and among some of the first human ancestors. Many of the features resemble Homo Erectus, with human-like spines and lower limbs and high arches, but a difference in size between the genders places them in the Homo Sapien realm.

However, their relatively small brains and short upper limbs place them in the Homo habilis species, as well as the even more primitive Australopithicus -- the most famous specimen of which is "Lucy." Researchers found that they had ape-like hands and their proportions were not completely human-like.

They believe these may be the oldest remains found at any site more than 300,000 years old.

Today's Agenda

Okay guys, I know I'd said the other day that I was going to have a bunch of stuff for you - and I do have a lot of stuff to get to - but after running through all those press releases over to The Rundown, I simply had to take some time off. I'm not sure I mentioned it here, but I used to work only six days a week and then made myself take at least one whole day off to do just whatever (run around town, drink and watch TV, clean the house - just relax and do whatever offline) and I got away from that schedule. I really feel like I was more productive when I stuck to it, so I am trying to get back on it. Yesterday was my day to just take off - even though I really wanted to post at least a few things here, I forced myself to abstain.

So today I really am going to be here all day. I'll probably have a press release or two to bust out on The Rundown as they come in, but otherwise, today is the day for the paranormal.

09-22-07

I know I said I was going to try and fix all the blogs throughout the weekend so I could move on to other projects on the site, but I am just going to have to do it a little at a time. I finally figured out how to get my computer running at near-normal speed again but I just figured it out earlier, so I'm just now getting to a lot of things I had planned online.

The Rundown is chockful of press releases today - all of them I didn't get to over the week (and several that came in all at once yesterday) - and I may have another thing or two to mention over there, but I am going to have a few things to post here today and tomorrow and may even get to a little formatting as well.

I really do apologize for not having taken The OddBlog as seriously as I did the old one - I take it seriously, I just mean not being here as often as I was on the old one. That was before I had the website and all. But if I can just get things to a certain point with The Weirding, I should be able to commit to at least one or two posts a day and be able to handle that. I mean, that isn't asking too much of me...

You know, I had something to tell you - which is why I started this post in the first place - but whatever it was... must not have been that important?

Outer Space Object Sickens Peruvians

This one is absolutely wild! I actually read about it a few days back on one of the various paranormal sites (a very good, reputable one -- one of the very few I rely upon) but it seemed like one of those stories that was just too wide-open to be true if it hadn't been picked up by any of the larger news agencies.

Of course, the thing about stuff like the things we cover here is that very fact: most of the larger news agencies never pick stuff like this up, so a lot of patience and a lot of knowledge is essential in trying to separate the wheat from the chaff... and even with that, it isn't always so easy. So when I read this one, I said to myself, "If this is true... this is a major event! No one else has said anything about it, so..."

Then I read it on the BBC earlier!

Saturday, some object from outer space landed in a region of Peru known as Puno -- a remote area near a town known as Carancas -- and residents began getting ill! Most complained of headaches, eye problems, breathing difficulties, nausea, and vomiting -- one of those who complained of some of these symptoms was a local health worker! Further, many local animals have been reported ill and some have even died.

Most experts do not think it was a meteorite; they actually believe people saw a fireball -- which one expert said was "not uncommon" -- went to investigate, and discovered a sedimentary lake "rich in organic matter." Other experts believe an actual meteorite did hit the ground and the reaction released such toxins as sulphur and arsenic from the resulting crater.

Mind you, this hole is 98' wide and 20' deep, so even though this is a remote area of the country, one would have to assume that at least some locals would have been aware of a lake -- especially a poisonous one -- if it previously existed; at the very least, some sorts of legend(s) would. At any rate, while it is understandable that residents who traveled to the area might have fallen ill (and they have asked local authorities to keep people from visiting the site), I don't believe that illnesses from exposure to gases of that nature could be contracted by others without direct contact, so unless the animals actually visited the site (or I'm wrong - which is always a possibility... always), how is it that they have never fallen ill before?

As far as that goes, no matter how remote the area, at least a few travelers would have discovered the "lake" before Saturday. Like I said, these people have lived there their entire lives, so it just isn't feasible that a sedimentary lake, or any other major land feature, existed for this long without anyone in the area even being aware of it until last weekend, when they were magically led to it by a fireball, falling from the sky...

Like I say, sometimes the wildly "normal" explanations given to explain-away these events are more implausible than just believing something from outer space caused a fireball in the sky and left a crater in the Earth! And this is definitely one of them.

Last European Witch-Hunt Still Going On

Now this one makes me mad for all sorts of reasons:

It turns out that the last real witch-hunt in Europe was carried out in the 18^th-Century by a secluded little village in Switzerland called Glarus. As it turns out, a young, very beautiful, woman, one Anna Goeldi, was hired as a houseworker by a wealthy homeowner, one Jacob Tschudi. Tschudi then laid her soundly and when he threatened to let her go, he was afraid that she woud reveal their tryst; at the time, adultery was a crime in Glarus.

So the rising political figure took to inserting pins in his children's food and blamed the events on the poor woman. An illiterate and uneducated girl, she was taken into custody and tortured into confessing to being a witch, although she vehemently denied all the charges before torture. Once the events were over and she had recovered somewhat, she recanted. She was then tortured again until she confessed and this time did not recant.

She was then led through the streets of the town, humiliated, and beheaded with a sword.

This was 1782, the Age of Enlightenment.

Now, some are calling to clear the victim's name, but others - in true Swiss form - refuse to confess, claiming they should not be held accountable for the actions of their ancestors.

Except that no one is actually asking them to personally be held accountable; all that is being asked is that the woman's sentence be dropped and her name cleared! No one is going to be put to death for killing the young woman, no one is going to be imprisoned, no one is going to be fined; they simply have to admit that the actual crime that occurred in 1782 in the streets of Glarus, Switzerland was murder.

Of course it isn't right and I'm certainly not condoning it, but I would be remiss if I didn't reiterate the fact that the "good and upright" citizens of Glarus tortured Anna Goeldi into confession - not once but twice. Maybe what's good for the goose isn't so bad for the gander?

Czech Driver Awakes Speaking Fluent English

A Czech-born speedway driver was knocked unconscious for 45 minutes after a roadway accident. When he woke up, he spoke perfect English.

While the man had just started learning the language, and his friends describe his mastery as "basic at best," he conversed with ambulance personnel fluently upon awakening. Unfortunately, his newfound skill did not last; he is no longer able to speak English and does not remember anything of the last two days. He is said to be extremely interested in learning English now, his experience propelling his desire.

He does not recall speaking in English, which his friends call "unbelievable," but was said to have spoken fluently and without an accent. He said that there must be enough English in his subconscious that he hopes to pick up the language quickly.

Chupacabra or Mangey Fox?

Back in July, a woman in Texas hit what she believes is a Chupacabra with her car. She then cut its head off and stuck it in her freezer. While she plans to have it mounted and has been selling T-shirts and other things, a local newspaper took samples of the creature and sent them off for DNA testing.

This is about the third or fourth time that a Chupacabra has been killed in or near Texas. The crazy thing about it is that the DNA tests that are always reported to be done are almost never heard of! Undoubtedly, some of them have turned out to be other things - the most celebrated of which (by skeptics) was a case a few years ago where the supposed Chupacabra turned out to be nothing more than a dog. But, again, this sort of thing has happened several times and yet the only DNA results we have heard about are the ones that make the person in question look stupid.

In this particular case (the latest one), the idea that what the woman actually killed is a grey fox with mange has been highly-touted. One expert noted that, when an animal has mange, its hair falls out and the skin turns a bluish color, matching the description of the creature the woman hit. However, other people have noted that at least one other supposed Chupacabra killed in recent years looked exactly like this one. Now it is possible that Texas has a mange problem amongst its wild foxes and canines - after all, it is a very communicable disease - but it also seems likely that, were this the case, experts would be very well aware of it and we would have heard more about it.

We'll keep watching the story, but we can only hope that once the DNA results come in, we hear about it! If it is just a fox, I guarantee you we will; otherwise, who can say?

Are You There?

Well hopefully you are seeing this! I think we finally made the switch-over earlier this afternoon. I know that most of you haven't been able to see the newer posts for several days because everything was still pointing to the old site, but The Weirding has successfully moved and so has The OddBlog...

I hope!

As I wrote elsewhere, I am still learning the new system and working on everything, so the posts will be sparse and then cascading, which is actually pretty much par for the course around here, isn't it? And over to The Rundown. And over to The Weirding.

Ah well, you do what you can when you can, you know?

But anyway, the move has been made and now the hard part comes: getting everything back online. Not to mention the new content I've been promising for a year now...

Still Moving...

Okay, as I mentioned over to The Rundown, we are moving The Weirding to a new host. I have absolutely no idea how this is going to affect The OddBlog, as it is hosted on The Weirding. As I've mentioned at least a half-million times, The OddBlog often gives me error messages when publishing and it takes so damn long to go through that I don't spend as much time posting here as I'd like to. I do not have these problems posting to Weird Ink (which is also hosted on The Weirding), and I have tried playing with settings here until I am blue in the face, so once the move is over - which should hopefully be tomorrow or the next day - I may just change the settings to point directly to the IP address and see if that helps anything.

At any rate, if you start getting error messages about Page Not Found (404) and so forth, just give it to the end of the week. I don't think you'll need to update your bookmarks or anything, but I can't promise; I've never done this before so I'm not sure what to expect, but of course we'll keep you informed as best we can.

P.S.: I just came back to edit this and add this little note because I updated the settings and it said it all published fine but this post isn't showing up. Let's see if this does the trick. Sorry for this, guys and again, thanks for your patience and support!

Moving Week

This is the week of the big move and there have been a few complications to arise here and there, as we all knew there would be, so I am having to really double-time it here and there and I have (as luck would have it) had a lot of appointments the past few weeks for literally everything. I really need to start planning ahead for next year, as just about everything in my life is up for renewal and so forth around this time on an annual basis and I never seem to remember this until the last week of August...

Anyway, I am working diligently to get everything off the old site without completely leaving it barren - that is a chore in and of itself (as I keep forgetting I have already done this directory or that one and keep spinning tires).

Anyway, just wanted to drop you a line so you knew I was still around.

Back Pain Sufferers: Quit Being Lazy!

Now this one has me perplexed a bit because I suffer from neck pain, as I have said here many times before. I have something called Degenerative Disc Disease, which is basically where the stuff between the vertebrae is breaking down, meaning that my vertebrae are slowly coming to rest on one another - bone on bone without cushion. It is very painful and even on the days when my neck itself is not hurting that bad, it causes all sorts of other complications, including headaches, pains in my right jaw, pains in my shoulders, shooting pains in my arms and hands, and more.

But now experts are suggesting that those with back pain and the like need to go to work as much as possible - that the work is actually therapeutic in that "use it or lose it" sort of way. I suppose I can see the logic in this if your job happens to be something where you walk around a lot or get some other form of similar exercise and it doesn't involve a lot of lifting or the like.

But in my case, and likely many others', my problems are almost certainly work-related, as I have sat in this, and other, chair(s) for over 10 years now. Before that, I played drums for several speed-metal bands which not only involved a lot of sitting but also a lot of head-banging. Either way it goes, all this sitting and typing and head-banging simply can't be good for my condition!

However, I understand the basic notion behind this line of thinking, I'm just not sure that it's a one-size-fits-all prescription.

Quit Needling the Girl!

A short time ago, Luo Cuifen, came into the doctor's, complaining of blood in her urine. When subjected to X-rays, doctors discovered more than 25 sewing needles in her body!

While most were in her abdomen and had punctured vital organs, such as her kidneys, liver, and lungs, one had broken into three pieces in her brain. A team of 23 doctors, including five from North America, will perform a series of operations to try and remove the needles from the Chinese woman's body, but the hospital will only pay for the first one; 31-year old Cuifen will have to find some way to pay for the rest.

It is believed the needles were inserted into her by her grandparents, who were upset that she was not a boy. Both grandparents are dead now. In many rural Chinese areas, boys are more highly-prized than girls, largely because they can carry on the family name.

Ms. Cuifen was said to have been in good health until she noticed the blood in her urine.

As soon as we hear more about this - including where to send donations to help this poor woman - we will be sure to let you know.

Mummified Inca Goes on Display

The mummified remains of a girl discovered in 1999 went on display in Argentina this week. Found on Mount Llullaillaco, a volcano in north-west Argentina on the border with Chile, the body was so well-preserved that many have referred to it as "perfect." Only 15 when she was killed, she was found along with the remains of two others -- a younger boy and girl -- and believed to have been ritualistically sacrificed by the Incas approximately 500 years ago.

Incredibly, some are upset with the display, insisting it is disrespectful of the dead. I could be cynical and note that the girl was systematically executed and left where she lay, but why not press the point more clearly:

While it can be argued that such displays are disrespectful of the dead, I believe the more important issue here is whether or not the display teaches us anything of true value. As this exhibition is important for many reasons, across many fields (history, science, weather, medical, cultural, more), I submit that the benefits to the living far outweighs the perceived disrespect of the dead. Don't forget that the girl was most likely sacrificed "for the betterment of the community/tribe," and that is absolutely no different.

The Bees' Disease

I know I said I was going to be working a lot on other projects today and wasn't sure if I could get anything out to you, but I wanted to take a moment to let you know that researchers believe they may have discovered the reason for the honeybee decline this year and it is most likely a virus known as the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV).

While the honeybee population decline can be traced back up to 20 years, this past year was the worst on record for commercial operations in the US. In the last three years, 50-90% of all commercial bee colonies in the States have been affected by Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. IAPV turned up regularly in most of the colonies so affected.

Honeybee colonies are important for pollination and are shipped around the country for this procedure. They are particularly necessary to the almond industry in California, where most of the world's almond crops are grown. It is an industry worth nearly $2.5 billion annually.

While IAPV is not positively the culprit in CCD, many do believe it is a primary factor involved - whether causative or indicative of something else. They do say that theories involving cellphones, environmental waste, and other hippy-rific type-stuff can be safely discounted at this point. Still, many believe CCD to be caused by several factors.

The OddyBlog

I have several things I want to discuss, but I'm getting that damn error message when publishing again. I really don't know why I get that! As some of you may know, I also use Blogger to publish Weird Ink to the site and I have never received that message over there. I went into my settings and tinkered a bit - just a very minor bit, but no luck so far. Like I've said before, it tends to do this about once a week or so, does it for a few days, then clears up all on its own... I'm hoping to clear it up if it is in the settings before we swap hosts.

Speaking of which, since this thing is going to be a bitch today, I guess I will focus my attentions on that. I know I have a few things to do this coming week, and I am on a timetable where the site is concerned, so that's probably the best course of action.

Still, I have some pretty interesting news stories I want to touch upon, so depending on how things go, I will probably get to at least a few of them this weekend.

It's a beautiful, rainy 72° here and I have the door and windows open and am just enjoying the cool air and humidity. I actually got a good night's sleep, too! Here's hoping today finds everyone else well!

A Little News

I just thought I'd drop by and let you know what all is going on. I know things have been slow here lately, but as I've said before, while these are fascinating, fun subjects, they are not exactly news-rich; most of the stories and accounts I have to share with you are pretty old and a lot of those who are interested in these topics have already heard them. I am still going to bring them to you, I just see no real need to rush in order to do so.

This being the first of the month, especially with the holiday, I did have to rush to pay some bills, then had a doctor's appointment, and I still haven't cleaned my house. I had an incredibly productive day a week or so back and got a ton of stuff done then, but there's always more to do, as I'm sure you all know all too well. In all honesty, I think the holiday really put everyone off a little this week; there just hasn't been much going on on any front since then!

Also, I have been hard at work on the website this past week. I have gotten quite a bit done, but I am trying to make sure the money is going to be there next week to renew the domain. It has to get done, somehow, I'm just not sure the money is going to be there if I go ahead and pay for it right now, so I'm trying to juggle some things around and pay attention to dates and all that... and I'm no mathematician.

The really good news is that we finally got some rain! And I don't mean the little 1-2 minute showers we've gotten here and there the past several months; it has rained - really rained - for the past two days and forecasts suggest it should continue to do so for the remainder of the week, well into the weekend. But I've learned to take it as it comes and not count on anything until it actually happens, so we'll see how things go.

Anyway, with so much on my plate, I can't say what you should expect or when, but I can say that once everything gets settled with the new host, new IP address, and domain renewal, I'll have more time and will be around more. In fact, when I have the chance, I plan to start writing out some of the stuff I want to bring to you in advance, which will save me time in the long run. I may go back to the old way of doing things, where I focus on just trying to bring you no more than 2-3 posts a day - which is really about the speed at which things have been happening lately anyway.

I can safely say that once the website bit is settled, everything should be picking back up again, so make sure to keep checking back over the next couple of weeks! And, as always, thanks for reading!

Things What Done Fell From the Sky - Red Rain

Some time back, we reported on the recent red rains which fell across India. One scientist who examined the matter said that he believed the rain contained living organisms from somewhere in outer space. Obviously, these were very simple organisms, small enough that many of them could fit in one drop of rain, but the explanation lit a fire through the scientific community and made major headlines.

The thing which didn't make it into those reports is that red rain is not exactly unheard of. Rare, yes, but not unlike showers of fish and toads, there are several recorded instances of red rain throughout the world.

One such appears on page 190 of Time/Life Books' Mysteries of the Unexplained:

November 2^nd, 1819, Blankenberge, Belgium: 144 ounces of red rain fell across the region. When it had evaporated to less than 4 ounces, it was found that no red sand appeared. The usual explanation for this rain is that red sand was caught in a whirlwind and mixed in with the rain. Further analysis of the rainwater found the presence of a chloride and cobalt, but no one could explain how that happened.

- Annals of Philosophy, September, 1820

09-02-07

I have been working on the site regularly all weekend - haven't even done much over to The Rundown, in fact. We will be swapping IP addresses later this week or the next (probably be next week before it takes effect), so I wanted to get as much of it together and ready for uploading as possible.

The relaunch will definitely have a lot of new content, mostly RPG-related. One of the main projects I have been focused on is SAFE, the Simple And Free Engine. This blog will continue unabated, though everything is going to slow down slightly while we tend to this particular matter. The website is the primary project right now.

Today, I am going to try and get you a few things, including a new Things What Done Fell from the Sky entry. Other than that, I can't promise much. As I've bemoaned time and again, the thing with creative works is that you really can't just stop in the middle of them and pick them back up where you left-off later. When you are on a working streak, it's best to stick to it until the streak ends.

So I'll get you a few things up today, then I have to get back to the site. But never you fear: I have a new book coming in this week which should keep me busy here.