Thomas Fortenberry

Work in progress, still toying with the concept of Neda’s death. Comments welcome.

Her heart captured
on film, bleeding
out of place, out of time
caught
my eye, my soul — a bullet
through and through for humanity,
the inhumanity
of hatred, of lust
for power. Powerless
before destiny,
Neda watches us
forever accusing, awaiting
change.

[c 2009 thomas fortenberry]

Was reading Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts and ran across this poem, which I love:

“Birdfoot’s Grampa”
by Joseph Bruchac

The old man
must have stopped our car
two dozen times to climb out
and gather into his hands
the small toads blinded
by our lights and leaping,
live drops of rain.

The rain was falling,
a mist about his white hair
and I kept saying
You can’t save them all
accept it, get back in
wev’e got places to go.

But, leathery hands full
of wet brown life
knee deep in summer
roadside grass,
he just smiled and said
They have places to go too.

Of the poem, Reb Anderson notes, “Gifts of fearlessness take several forms. The first form is to liberate beings from physical captvity, bondage, and torment. This form of giving can manifest as liberating people from prison or saving them from drowning. It can also take the form of releasing birds, flies, or other wild animals who are in some way trapped or endangered. … Another form of giving fearlessness is to implicitly or explicitly recognize another prson as buddha, showing him respect and appreciation in such a way as to foster his self-respect and confidence.”

If only we could all learn that lesson, there would be no more excuses for torture, war, famine, captivity, and all the other ills we so apathetically allow to fester in our name.

A shame on our lack of fearlessness to do what is right.

I got this cool little book the other day, The Native American History Quiz Book, by John Malone. I thought how awesome this would be. Both as an historian and American citizen — plus with some shadowy native american blood flowing through my veins courtesy of the unrevealing family tree — I imagined it would be a fun test of my amazing knowledge.

Yikes! What an abysmal failure in learning I am. I really need to bone up on my innate knoweth moreth.

Step by step Iran walks away from the modern world.

This is very disheartening news, because it seemed as if after the Cairo speech by Obama and the moment of the election, for one breif shining moment, there was hope of real change and openness in Iran. A dawn of sorts was possible. I hate to say “false dawn” because it was real and potent, but hope seems to have been crushed now. Iran is slipping back into a barbarous dark age and isolation. We see the inevitable closing off of their society behind walls and a rain of batons. Iran is making itself into the next North Korea.

Such a tragedy for the Iranian people! Very, very sad and troubling developments from such a prosperous, enlightened nation.

Iran ‘disqualifies’ EU from talks

The EU is no longer qualified to take part in talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran’s military chief says.

Maj Gen Hassan Firouzabadi, Iran’s chief of staff, accused the EU of “interference” in riots which followed June’s disputed presidential elections.

EU states, meanwhile, are considering withdrawing their ambassadors from Iran in a growing diplomatic row.

Britain proposed the step after Iran detained nine of its embassy staff last week. Eight have since been released.

The BBC’s European affairs correspondent Oana Lungescu says senior officials from EU capitals will discuss the request in Stockholm on Thursday.

But diplomats say that Germany and Italy - Iran’s biggest trading partners in the EU - oppose it, arguing that channels of dialogue with Iran should be kept open.

‘Nine offences’

In the wake of mass street protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s relection, meanwhile, Iran’s Basij militia has called for the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi to be prosecuted.

The semi-official Fars news agency said the militia - a volunteer force of Islamic government loyalists - had accused Mr Mousavi of nine offences, including propaganda against the state, and complicity in disrupting national security.

In a letter to the chief prosecutor, the militia said Mr Mousavi had been involved in the street protests, in which about 17 protesters and a number of militia members were killed.

The Iranian presidential elections, held on 12 June, returned President Ahmadinejad to power for a second term in office.

But the opposition disputed the result, saying the vote had been rigged.

Both Mr Mousavi, and another defeated opposition candidate Mehdi Karoubi, have issued statements on their websites describing any government led by President Ahmadinejad as “illegitimate”.

Mr Mousavi wrote: “It is our historic responsibility to continue our complaint, and make efforts not to give up the rights of the people.”

And he called for the release of the “children of the revolution” - a reference to the hundreds of reformist figures detained during the unrest.

‘Hostility’

In his statement, reported by Fars, army chief of staff Gen Firouzabadi accused some EU members of supporting the riots, and demonstrating their hostility to the Iranian people.

The EU has yet to comment, but earlier urged Iran to avoid conflict with the international community.

Previously, Iran had aimed its allegations at Britain in particular and at the weekend detained the local employees of its embassy. Five were released on Monday, and a further three on Wednesday.

Iran says it is enriching uranium for power plants, but some Western countries suspect it plans to build nuclear weapons.

Three EU countries - Britain, France and Germany - have led negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme, along with the United States, Russia and China.

‘Non-negotiable’

At their last talks, they offered Iran a package of incentives if it would stop its nuclear activities.

But Iran insists that its right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable.

In a separate development, officials in Tehran said President Ahmadinejad had cancelled his trip to an African Union summit in Libya.

Mr Ahmadinejad’s office did not give any reason for the decision.

I agree with this post from Bookride, people often do not know what books are worth or should be worth and most are terribly overpriced. The Web has brought a revolution in communication and hooked book lovers to sellers around the globe. Just yesterday, for instance, I got a small press in the UK to send me a new special edition novel that is not yet available anywhere outside of Scotland. The wonders of the Web!

I see all sides of the problem, because as a bibliomane I buy everything from all locations simply dependent upon my mood and interests. I don’t care what the shape of the book is really, because I just read them. Often I find dirt cheap books that are in fantastic shape. Sometimes not. It doesn’t really matter as it is all for the enjoyment of reading. Now serious high end book collecting is cmepletely different. This is nothing to do with that. This is about common awareness in common setting with casual readers and buyers. I am all for the Internet revolution on that front. I often find exactly what I need for reserach or fun for minimal cost (wel, except for the occassional shipping gouge trick).

But what really irks me is to go to some small, backwater, used bookstore that has discovered the Internet and have them try to sell me a beat-up, dirty, water-stained copy of Doc Savage or some old SF book for a huge sum and explain, all-knowingly, that they have seen it valued very highly on ABE and eBay, etc. Give me a break. I don’t like thievery, especially in the guise of knowledge. A bookdealer once ripped my elderly and sick mother off like that, lied to her afce and told her they were extremely rare and valuable, and overcharged her a hundred dollars for trash. It made me so mad I traveled from NC to Mississippi to confront them. Of course they used the Internet defense as to why they had charged her $10 to $20 per book for horrible worthless copies that wouldn’t rate a dime and then were insulting enough to say well, she agreed to pay it so she agreed with us as to their value. WTF? Crooks I cannot stand.

That aside, check out this informative post.

Checking book values on the web…

The first thing to remember is that most books are of low value or no value. Some books are worth less than nothing. A quick look on ABE (or in the case of newer books, Amazon) will ascertain whether the book is common or not. In the case of a book of negligible value the screen will fill with copies with prices starting at £5 or less, sometimes at £0.01. Prices less than this are not permitted. Do not (at first) put in too much information -author’s surname and part of the title will do (e.g. Steinbeck /Wrath) with a few boxes ticked such as ‘first edition’ ‘Dust Jacket’ etc., Too much information entered can lead to the impression the book is rarer than it is –this is a ploy, by the way, sometimes used by canny sellers to demonstrate a book is more valuabe than it really is. Beware.

The mistake most people make when valuing books on the web is to take their price form the highest or the mid range. None of the books listed have sold and anybody who had to buy one would choose the cheapest in decent condition; only a mad person would choose to pay more than necessary. Take your price from the low end of books in comparable condition. Considerations of postage and proximity may then be taken into account and you might pay a little more to a reputable, proven dealer. If you were selling the book a dealer might give you between a third and a half of the low price, or if you were to sell the book on Ebay you might achieve half or possibly a tenth and in some cases nothing. Once in a blue moon you will get way more than this, but you will almost never achieve the highest price–nor will the seller even if he waits 150 years.

What about if the book is not on the net? You may have a prize or something so obscure that punters for it are non existent. You can leave the book as a want at ABE and be informed when one shows up but it may take years. In the case of an obviously rare and desirable book you can consult auction records in a library or consult a venerable dealer (preferably from ILAB, ABA, ABAA, PBFA or some recognised book association.) You are not obliged to sell to them and they may charge for an appraisal (usually waived if they buy the book.)

Who are these guys with absurdly high prices? Generally they have had unhappy childhoods, uncles who drank, boorish parents or have been educated at unpleasant and expensive schools. Until the internet came the truly greedy dealer could not make a living as no one would buy from them. Now it is the Wild West out there; although charging an absurd price seems like poor business as your cash flow will be a mere trickle. I am not talking about renowned dealers with fabulous stocks–their prices, although high, are seldom insane and they often have the best stuff. Any serious collector will occasionally have to buy from them and they will sometimes offer terms. It is worth keeping a shit-list of malodorous overchargers as their prices often distort the first few prices in the list–I won’t name them but avoid the likes of Len’s of Bournemouth, Wainwrights of Peaktown, Books of Venture, Rapturous Editions of America, Books of William Why and various bookbarns, sheds and shacks…not forgetting Attic Books of NH - in a vigorously contended field the world’s most overpriced seller.

Good luck. Apart from ABE and Amazon I recommend megasearchers such as the excellent viaLibri which can also take you to world libraries for further research. Also Bookfinder and Addall are very useful. For sobering or unpredictable prices check if copies are currently being sold on Ebay. Lastly Google can sometimes uncover copies for sale on independent sites run by oddballs who have not joined the bookmalls…

Also, read the apt comic books comment from Frauenfeld on Boingboing.

I sense a good thriller in this. What happens if the labyrinthulomycetes mutate or are genetically altered and then accidentally escape from the lab? The swine flu did and now we have a pandemic. These organisms devour all plant and animal matter, non-living currently, but after the mutation….

Little-known Marine Decomposers Attract The Attention Of Genome Sequencers

The Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) announced today that they will sequence the genomes of four species of labyrinthulomycetes. These little-known marine species were selected for sequencing as the result of a proposal submitted to the competitive JGI Community Sequencing Program by a team of microbiologists led by Dr. Jackie Collier, assistant professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University.

“Labyrinthulomycetes are a huge group of organisms that behave ecologically like fungi,” said Dr. Collier. “But we know so little about them and there is more diversity among this group than among all the animals you can think of.”

Labyrinthulomycetes are single-celled marine decomposers that eat non-living plant, algal, and animal matter. They are ubiquitous and abundant—particularly on dead vegetation and in salt marshes and mangrove swamps. Although most labyrinthulomycetes species are not pathogens, the organisms responsible for eelgrass wasting disease and QPX disease in hard clams are part of this group.

In some regions, labyrinthulomycetes may be as important as bacteria in degrading organic matter. In coastal systems, the abundance of bacteria is tied to levels of organic matter from marine sources, while the abundance of labyrinthulomycetes is more closely tied to levels of particulate organic matter from land sources. This suggests that labyrinthulomycetes may play an important role in the marine carbon cycle by breaking down material that is difficult to degrade. Because labyrinthulomycetes—unlike bacteria—make long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), they are also thought to improve the nutritional value of poor quality organic detritus.

“The genome sequences will provide a quantum leap in our understanding of the physiological capacity of these organisms,” said Dr. Collier. “The genes can tell us which enzymes a species is capable of producing, which in turn tells us what kinds of material they can potentially degrade and what role they play in a marine ecosystem’s food web.”

In addition, genomic information might suggest ways to exploit labyrinthulomycetes in novel biotechnological applications. Labyrinthulomycetes produce a wide array of enzymes and some species can degrade crude oil. Also, some labyrinthulomycetes are currently cultured for nutritional supplements. If PUFAs derived from labyrinthulomycetes were to replace fish oils and meal used in aquaculture and animal farming, it would likely reduce the number of fish caught for use as animal feed and have a positive impact on the health of the world’s oceans.

Deutsche Welle reports further moves by the Pope following his surprise declaration about St. Paul.

Vatican to open Apostle Paul’s tomb after surprise discovery

The human remains in an ancient Roman tomb may belong to Saint Paul, Pope Benedict XVI revealed in a surprise announcement. Now the Vatican wants to open the sarcophagus and conduct further tests.

The marble coffin in Rome’s St. Paul’s Basilica has never been opened, but, according to tests conducted thus far, the tomb contains pieces of human bone that have been dated to the time of Saint Paul.

Pope Benedict shared the findings Sunday at a service outside the church marking the end of the Vatican’s Pauline year in honor of the apostle.

The tomb in St. Paul’s Basilica has been sealed for some five centuries

Carbon dating showed that the bone fragments belonged to someone who lived between the first and the second century AD, the pontiff said.

“This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul,” added Benedict.

Paul - born Saul - had actively persecuted Christians, but converted after seeing Jesus in a vision while on the road to Damascus. He is believed to have been beheaded in the year 67 in Rome after years of travel as an early missionary to spread the message of Jesus.

Archeologists collected the bone fragments by inserting a probe through a small hole in the tomb, which is located under the basilica’s main altar.

Bits of incense, purple linen with gold sequins and blue linen were also found, said the pope.

Though the findings had been known for more than a year, the Vatican waited for Benedict to make the official announcement. He is likely to approve further tests and the opening of the tomb.

Darn. I drink OJ every day. Love it. Well, at least I don’t do the whitening/bleaching thing. I hate chemicals.

Orange Juice Worse For Teeth Than Whitening Agents, Study Finds

With the increasing popularity of whitening one’s teeth, researchers at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, set out to learn if there are negative effects on the tooth from using whitening products.

Eastman Institute’s YanFang Ren, DDS, PhD, and his team determined that the effects of 6 percent hydrogen peroxide, the common ingredient in professional and over-the-counter whitening products, are insignificant compared to acidic fruit juices. Orange juice markedly decreased hardness and increased roughness of tooth enamel.

Unlike ever before, researchers were able to see extensive surface detail thanks to a new focus-variation vertical scanning microscope. “The acid is so strong that the tooth is literally washed away,” said Ren, whose findings were recently published in Journal of Dentistry. “The orange juice decreased enamel hardness by 84 percent.” No significant change in hardness or surface enamel was found from whitening.

Weakened and eroded enamel may speed up the wear of the tooth and increase the risk for tooth decay to quickly develop and spread. “Most soft drinks, including sodas and fruit juices, are acidic in nature,” Ren said. “Our studies demonstrated that the orange juice, as an example, can potentially cause significant erosion of teeth.”

It’s long been known that juice and sodas have high acid content, and can negatively affect enamel hardness. “There are also some studies that showed whitening can affect the hardness of dental enamel, but until now, nobody had compared the two,” Ren explained. “This study allowed us to understand the effect of whitening on enamel relative to the effect of a daily dietary activity, such as drinking juices.

“It’s potentially a very serious problem for people who drink sodas and fruit juices daily,” said Ren, who added that dental researchers nationwide are increasingly studying tooth erosion, and are investing significant resources into possible preventions and treatments. “We do not yet have an effective tool to avert the erosive effects, although there are early indications that higher levels of fluoride may help slow down the erosion.”

A Texas-based company, Beyond Dental and Health, sponsored the trial in part by providing the 6 percent hydrogen peroxide.

In the meantime, Ren advises that consumers be aware of the acidic nature of beverages, including sodas, fruit juices, sports and energy drinks. The longer teeth are in contact with the acidic drinks, the more severe the erosion will be. People who sip their drinks slowly over 20 minutes are more likely to have tooth erosion than those who finish a drink quickly. It’s also very important to keep good oral hygiene practices, Ren added, by brushing twice daily with fluoride toothpaste, and see a dentist for a fluoride treatment at least once a year if you are at risk.

O.A.S. Issues Ultimatum on Honduras

Honduran coup leaders have three days to restore deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power, the Organization of American States said Wednesday, before Honduras risks being suspended from the group.

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza delivered what he called ”an ultimatum” as OAS talks regarding the crisis dragged into the early-morning hours. The talks began Tuesday afternoon.

In a sharply worded resolution, the OAS said it vehemently condemned the coup and ”the arbitrary detention and expulsion” of Zelaya.

The coup, the resolution said, has produced an ”unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order.” The envoys demanded Zelaya’s immediate and safe return to power.

Calling Zelaya’s overthrow an ”old-fashioned coup,” Insulza said: ”We need to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere.”

Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup Sunday, planned to return to Honduras on Thursday, accompanied by Insulza, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador and the head of the U.N. General Assembly, and seek restoration of his authority. Wednesday morning, however, he said that trip would be delayed until the weekend.

Roberto Micheletti, named by Honduras’ Congress as the new president, said Tuesday that Zelaya could be met with an arrest warrant if he returned.

Zelaya met Tuesday night with envoys to the OAS to discuss what Argentina’s foreign minister called an urgent and dangerous situation in Honduras.

Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana and other Western Hemisphere ambassadors waited for 3 1/2 hours as Zelaya made his way from New York, where earlier Tuesday the U.N. General Assembly denounced the military coup that drove him from power Sunday. They demanded his immediate return to office.

Taiana, who presided over the special session of the 34-nation assembly, said if the diplomatic approach does not prevail, ”we have to take the decision to suspend Honduras in its rights and duties in this organization.”

When Zelaya arrived at the OAS building on Constitution Avenue, within blocks of the White House, he met first with Insulza. Zelaya has called the coup the work of ”a small group of usurpers” who carried out ”an act of aggression attacking the democratic will of the people.”

Albert Rambin, the OAS’ assistant secretary-general, said Micheletti intended to send a Honduran delegation to the OAS, but it would not be accepted. Insulza, asked if he would meet with such a delegation, said: ”I do not plan to. I do not intend to.”

The U.N. adopted a resolution calling on all 192 U.N. member states not to recognize any government in Honduras other than Zelaya’s.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs said there are no plans to recall the U.S. ambassador to Honduras.

The United States said it saw no acceptable solution to Zelaya’s ouster other than returning him to power. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that the U.S. was still reviewing whether to cut off aid to the Central American nation.

I stumbled over a huge comic book sale at my local library. .10 cents for most, .25 for the thicker ones. Had everything DC, Marvel, and manga and industry guides like Shonen Jump. Kids are in heaven. Picked up a ton of Marvel Civil War issues, for example.

How cool is that?