Here's hoping something goes according to plan

Some 70,000 turtle eggs to be whisked far from oil

An effort to scoop thousands of turtle eggs from their nests to save them from death in the oily Gulf of Mexico will begin in the coming weeks in a desperate attempt to keep an entire generation of threatened species from vanishing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will coordinate the plan, which calls for collecting about 70,000 turtle eggs in up to 800 nests buried in the sand across Florida Panhandle and Alabama beaches.

It's never been done on such a massive scale. But doing nothing, experts say, could lead to unprecedented deaths. There are fears the turtles would be coated in oil and poisoned by crude-soaked food as they hatch and swim out to sea.

Go, Team!

Meanwhile:

BP spill nears a somber record as Gulf's biggest: Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast in 1979-1980 reached 140 million gallons

BP's massive oil spill will become the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday based on the highest of the federal government's estimates, an ominous record that underscores the oil giant's dire need to halt the gusher.

The oil that's spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea is expected to surpass the 140 million gallon mark, based on the upper estimate, which would eclipse the record-setting Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast from 1979 to 1980.

By the lower end of the government's estimates, at least 71.2 million gallons are in the Gulf.

The growing total is crucial to track — in part because U.K.-based BP is likely to be fined per gallon spilled, said Larry McKinney, director of Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi's Gulf of Mexico research institute

They have no idea what they've done

Sandy Springs hoarder's home clean; woman still ill

Hoarders have been good for business, Powell said, expanding his company's niche beyond crime scene clean-ups and graffiti removal. "We handled seven hoarders last month," he said, noting that the increase in such jobs has coincided with the popularity of two reality shows, on A&E and TLC, dedicated to pack rats. "The more those shows are on, the more calls we get."

Well, isn't that nice, that someone's mental illness is so popular as to be a meal ticket for someone else? Okay, I know, I'm biased, but still...

I know that families think they are helping when they hire some group to come in and clean a hoarded home out, but especially if it's something dictated to or without the real involvement of the person, it's likely to do emotional distress (and I don't mean minor distress) to have had all their stuff gone. Hoarders place emotional value on things other people see as trash. By removing those articles without regard for those emotional ties, it could have a disastrous effect. I've heard of people in court-ordered cleanups throwing themselves into the dumpster as the stuff is carted away. Plus, her struggle with hoarding was exposed to the media, and I have to wonder if her consent to do so was given. It's one thing to hoard. It's another to have total strangers know. I have a real concern for this woman and I hope the family has also pursued mental health care for her. But in my mind, her right to privacy was violated in the pursuit of public fascination for hoarding.

PS I'm not saying they shouldn't have done anything, mind you. Her place was obviously across a line for safety and security. But it rather sounds like they whisked her away so they could get down to business. I may be wrong in that. If so, I apologise for jumping to a conclusion. But decluttering only works, in my opinion, if it's either by the hand of the hoarder or with the hoarder as a participant; otherwise in a few months it could be just the same again.

Wonder Woman! [You have to have watched the series to really get the voice modulation right on that one]

Makeover for Wonder Woman at 69

In the reimagining of her story, Wonder Woman, instead of growing up on Paradise Island with her mother, Queen Hippolyta, and her Amazon sisters, is smuggled out as a baby when unknown forces destroy her home and slaughter its inhabitants.

Mr. Straczynski, who created the television show “Babylon 5” and wrote the screenplay for “Changeling” in 2008, starring Angelina Jolie, said in an e-mail message that he wanted to address “the wardrobe issue” as soon as he took the job.

“She’s been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941,” Mr. Straczynski wrote. “If you’re going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up, and give her a modern sensibility.”

He added, “What woman only wears only one outfit for 60-plus years?”

[Image of Wonder Woman © by DC Comics]

Okay, let me just say, I kind of like the new outfit. I'm not so sure of the slaughter of the Amazons; it seems like everyone's got to have a horribly angsty backstory these days, and Diana actually represented the superhero (or in this case superheroine) with a relatively happy family life as opposed to being placed into a spaceship and shot to another world because your entire planet was being destroyed (Superman, who nevertheless, managed to be found and had a relatively normal upbringing) or having your parents killed in a horrible mugging gone bad (Batman, who always had enough angst for everyone else). But I've liked Michael Straczynski's other work, so I'm willing to give it a go.

Still, it really is hard to run and fight in a bustier (although the lovely Lynda Carter perfected that). And it looks like all the weapons/protections are still there.

I have to admit I'm intrigued. I am reasonably sure that YKWIA will be horrified, especially over the demise of the Amazons; he hates change. Together we ran a comic store for a friend back in the 90s, so we both have experience with the business. I've always been a DC girl rather than a Marvel one (although I've never collected Wonder Woman--I was more into Sandman and Legion of Superheroes). I may have to stop by my nearby comic shop and ask Tony to reserve this issue for me, if for no other reason than the history of it.)

Productive

Today was my last half-day of work, so I:

1. Went to an appointment with my optometrist. Because of the data entry work, we are going with multifocal contact lenses and gradated bifocal glasses (I don't care about lines in terms of vanity, but the no-line ones are supposed to be better for dealing with the different distances of book, computer, and driving than simple bifocals). I'm using my insurance for the glasses, and paying for the contact lenses through my flexible spending account. I had to have new glasses--my last pair broke at the hinge and I'm using a very old backup pair that I can barely read through (thank goodness I'm not driving today; I left the old glasses on after they did the dilation and even with the little bendy shades they give you, could barely make my way around as a pedestrian.) I got Transitions again on my lenses, so with the insurance that came to $211 (it was $445, whew!) The lady took my old glasses and will try to repair them as a backup for around the house (the temples won't match). I have the trial pair of multifocal contacts now; the glasses should be in withing 7-10 business days. I have an appointment in the morning a week from now to check and make sure the contacts work for me, and if so, I'll order the new ones then.
   
2. Got my hair cut, a bob right at the nape of the neck/chin length.
   
3. Caught a bus downtown to the main public library, which had a book on hold for me. I asked the lady at the desk (they've totally changed the circulation area with the new self-checkouts) if there was any way to route the other hold to Eagle Creek (I'd forgotten to designate it as my home library, so it defaulted to Central). She was able to and also changed my default to Eagle Creek. Still, I'm glad I went down there. The sidewalks around downtown are being worked on all over so it's a bit of a pain, but the library looked nice and they had a version of Horse Mania, with foals decorated by schoolchildren. A full-sized encore of Horse Mania (the original was in 2000) is being produced for unveiling as of tomorrow in advance of the World Equestrian Games, which will be hosted by Lexington. Anyway, several of the foals were in the library and were well done. Plus there's the Foucault pendulum to enjoy. So it was fun.
   

Must admit I'm a bit tired. I've come home, eaten, and I'm tempted to take a nap, although it's a bit late for one.

Margaret (whose dad is a Presbyterian minister) told me about these

The great Presbyterian vs. Catholic Church Sign Debate

And no, the pictures aren't real. But they are really funny. And the Catholics really do get the last word in. :) Check them out if you haven't seen them already. And if you want to use your own skills to create church marquee signs, here's a Church Sign Maker for you.

Odd library news of the week

As you may guess, I'm going through my Google Reader, which had over 1000 items but is now down to 35. Here's the best so far, library-related...

Naked Man Arrested at Cincinnati Main Library

A man faces charges after an unusual incident at a local library. 52-year-old Darrell Bess was taken into custody yesterday, naked, armed with knives and several pounds of stolen cheese.

It was the cheese that did it. :)

I just signed a petition

How about you?

Sign the petition to support Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)'s efforts to demand that governments supplying humanitarian food aid ensure that the food meets nutritional standards for infants and young children. On World Food Day 2010, MSF will present the petition to the top food aid donor countries

Somewhat...dubious

Science historian cracks "the Plato code"

Plato was the Einstein of Greece’s Golden Age and his work founded Western culture and science. Dr Jay Kennedy’s findings are set to revolutionise the history of the origins of Western thought.

Dr Kennedy, whose findings are published in the leading US journal Apeiron, reveals that Plato used a regular pattern of symbols, inherited from the ancient followers of Pythagoras, to give his books a musical structure. A century earlier, Pythagoras had declared that the planets and stars made an inaudible music, a ‘harmony of the spheres’. Plato imitated this hidden music in his books.

The hidden codes show that Plato anticipated the Scientific Revolution 2,000 years before Isaac Newton, discovering its most important idea – the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics. The decoded messages also open up a surprising way to unite science and religion. The awe and beauty we feel in nature, Plato says, shows that it is divine; discovering the scientific order of nature is getting closer to God. This could transform today’s culture wars between science and religion....

Dr Kennedy spent five years studying Plato’s writing and found that in his best-known work the Republic he placed clusters of words related to music after each twelfth of the text – at one-twelfth, two-twelfths, etc. This regular pattern represented the twelve notes of a Greek musical scale. Some notes were harmonic, others dissonant. At the locations of the harmonic notes he described sounds associated with love or laughter, while the locations of dissonant notes were marked with screeching sounds or war or death. This musical code was key to cracking Plato’s entire symbolic system.

The proof for the final article may be found here. I think I'll read and digest that before I judge one way or another, but usually when people swear they crack some secret code, it's very fishy. I would also point out that science, philosophy, and religion were not separate entities for the majority of history, that this has been the case only in recent times. I find it odd that a scholar would make so much out of a supposed union of science, philosophy, and religion to be found in Plato's work.

Congratulations are in order

Terry Birdwhistell is the library professor who taught me both Archives and Oral History. Now I hear he's been made Dean of the University of Kentucky Libraries. Congratulations, Dr Birdwhistell!

Ha! I was right!

So I went to a liquor store the other day to get a dry champagne/sparkling wine for a friend to cook with. Assuming that 'sec' meant dry in French (I was pretty sure--sweet is sucre; I can't pronounce French worth anything but did take a French for reading class in graduate school), I picked that up and took it to the counter, asking the person to be sure. (I do not know anything about wine, which is funny, because I keep getting sent to buy it and other forms of liquor for various recipes). He didn't know. He asked the woman there. She thought it was dry, then asked the other guy, who insisted it was sweet, so we put it back and got the one that said, in English, 'Extra Dry', 'Brut' being extra, extra dry.

Well, it's been nagging me. You may recall my post on Adele Blanc-Sec, the comic book character. Her name means White-Dry. I was 90% sure I had read that. Now why I should remember that correctly given all the useful bits I would like to remember, I don't know. And granted, I was putting it with wine, a whole new arena. Anyway, it's been bothering me, so I looked it up and 'sec' is, indeed dry in French. Now of those three designations, the sec champagne was the sweetest (for more on describing sweetness of wine, particularly champagne, see the Wikipedia listing),with 'doux' being sweet champagne, so the guy was right that of the three options given, 'sec' was sweetest. But it didn't mean 'sweet'.

Anyway, the 'Extra Dry' was probably the way to go, but it's nice to know I was right after all about the meaning of the word. The funny thing about that day is I went to swipe a debit card and swiped my flexible spending card instead (which can only be used for medical expenses). It declined the transaction, rightfully so, so we were able to switch out the bottles without a refund. :) Somewhere, I'm probably being flagged at United Healthcare for trying to buy wine with an FSA card. :) Sorry about that! They were both blue.