Shopkeepers fleeced by baaaaa-d man!

I'm hugely amused at reports from New Zealand that a cunning forger has been circulating fake 100-pound notes - replacing the Queen's portrait with that of a sheep wearing her tiara!

The fake notes are easily recognisable as the picture of the Queen has been removed and replaced with a picture of a sheep, replete with tiara.

The serial number on all notes is the same – BK99580630 – and the number six is written on the back in pen.

Last week, a Silverdale landscaping company had the wool pulled over its eyes, and police say they have had calls from other victims in the district.

"The guy in Silverdale even helped the lady load the landscaping rocks into her car," says police acting area supervisor for Rodney, Mark Smith.

"The offenders are using the fake notes and purchasing items of a small value. Change for the $100 is then given in real currency and the offender walks away in profit," he says.

The Rodney Times first reported the circulation of the counterfeit notes in November 2007 when a man bought $2 worth of batteries at 2 Cheap in Hillary Square and pocketed $98 change before the fake was noticed. He tried the same trick unsuccessfully at another store nearby.

Police are keen to catch the people involved before they leave any more shop owners looking sheepish.

I wonder what he'll try next - a kiwi wearing a coronet?

Why not?

Might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb . . .



Peter

LawnChair Larry lives on

You probably remember Lawnchair Larry, officially known as Larry Walters. He rose to fame (literally) in 1982 by attaching 45 helium-filled weather balloons to a lawn chair. He intended to rise a few feet above his home and hover there. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the lifting energy of the balloons, and shot up to a full 16,000 feet (3 miles) altitude, drifting into the approach airways to Los Angeles International Airport. A passing airliner, somewhat perturbed at this unorthodox method of passenger transportation, alerted the control tower. After much consternation among the authorities, a helicopter dropped him a line and towed him to a safe landing (where he succeeded in blacking out a large neighborhood by becoming entangled with the power lines).




Mr. Walters died some years ago, but his example obviously continues to inspire. Today an Oregon man, Kent Couch, flew from his home in Bend, Oregon, to Cambridge, Idaho, in similar fashion. It was his third attempt (and second successful one) at emulating Mr. Walters' feat.








I have to salute his sense of adventure, even while deploring his apparent lack of common sense. At least he took a parachute - in case!

I'm also intrigued to consider what the birds of the air must have thought about this strange addition to their normal morning routine. I imagine the air must have been thick with chirps, clucks and cackles of inquiry!

I suppose Mr. Couch is fortunate that none of them decided to peck at his balloons - or signify their disdain in another, typically avian fashion. As the old cowboy ballad reminds us:

In Mobile, in Mobile,
Them eagles they fly high in Mobile.
Man, them eagles fly so high
Then they drop it in your eye;
I guess it's lucky cows don't fly
In Mobile!

Peter

Not what I'd call enlightening!

Readers may remember the Great Boston Bomb Scare of 2007. A marketing campaign for a new television cartoon series led to the Boston authorities suspecting that the marketing materials were bombs (something that didn't happen with identical materials used in many other cities at the same time). The Bomb Squad was called out, and the city's traffic was disrupted for hours as they tracked down and disabled the devices (blowing up at least one in a controlled explosion).

It seems this inspired an artist (I use the term loosely) named Rees Shad. In collaboration with another "artist", Rebecca Stern, he dreamed up the Declarative Lamp Project, which:

'uses electronic performance to explore the extent to which fear has been instilled in American culture. Witnesses in a part experience seemingly innocuous electronic pathway lighting that comes alive at dusk with lights and voices in many languages declaring, "I am not a bomb".'

The video below shows the "artist's" idea.





Hmm. I'm not so sure that would work in my part of the country. Round here, the average citizen, hearing a lamp speaking to him (and saying anything at all, never mind assuring him of its non-explosive nature), would likely haul out his trusty sidearm and ventilate it thoroughly!

So much for fear . . .



Peter

The ultimate American muscle car meet - in Sweden???

The Big Meet 2008 is now in session in Västerås, Sweden. According to a news report:

The 'biggest American car show in the world' opened in Västerås in central Sweden on Thursday. More than 10,000 cars are expected for the Big Meet 2008 show.

The annual event started 31 years ago and was founded by Kjell Gustafsson who has seen it grow from the humble beginnings of 40-80 cars in a parking lot in Anderstorp.

The Big Meet 2008 show will take place over three days from July 3rd-July 5th and is a considerable money earner for the city of Västerås. Local hotels and campsites have been booked up for months and the largest odds-and-ends market in Europe will attract 600 vendors selling their wares.

American car enthusiasts will be able to go cruising in their Cadillacs, Corvettes and Mustangs on Friday and Saturday evenings. Competitions will be held in 11 different classes over the two days with the awards ceremony on Saturday, July 7th at 2.30pm. The Jay Leno Car Award will again be one of the gongs up for grabs and will be awarded by Swede Per Blixt, who looks after the US TV host's large collection of classic cars and motorcycles in Burbank, California.

According to the Big Meet 2008 website, 30 couples have registered their interest in tying the knot at the "Get Married Drive In" on Friday. A local Västerås minister, Jerker Alsterlind, will be doing the honours.

According to Gustafsson the good times are rolling for those owning classic American cars with some vehicles fetching up to 4 million kronor.

"One could say that a hard working person today would rather buy an American car than a Picasso," he said.

I'm amused by the fact that the biggest meeting for those enthusiastic about veteran and vintage American cars isn't held in America, but across the Atlantic! From the video of the opening day drive-by, it looks like they're having a good time.



Power Big Meet 2008, Västerås, torsdag
Uploaded by LissFit


Peter

An interesting story about the international "refugee" racket

As readers are no doubt aware, many claiming "refugee" status in foreign countries aren't refugees at all. They simply want the better economic opportunities offered in other countries, but can't get legal immigrant status there, due to lack of skills or competition for a limited number of immigrant visas: so they try to cheat, and pose as refugees.

I'm always pleased when their schemes are exposed, as happened in Norway this week.

Four persons who arrived in Oslo without any identity papers were mighty surprised when police later confronted them with the remnants of their passports – found after sifting through the contents of their flight's toilets.

"It was a real dirty job," remarked one of the police officers assigned to the case.

The four would-be refugees, all from India, had claimed they had no passports or other identification documents. They applied for asylum in Norway upon landing at Oslo's main airport at Gardermoen.

Police were suspicious, however, and searched the cabin of the flight they'd landed on, looking for the missing documents. When they weren't found, they ordered that the aircraft's septic tank be emptied.

It was, and the contents were delivered to police. A police officer handed the messy job of sorting out the contents quickly found remnants of four passports that had been ripped up and thrown down the toilet.

After a few hours, the police officer managed to fit the pieces together, complete with photos of the all four, their passport numbers and the names of each. The names matched those on the airline's passenger list.

"They were very surprised when confronted with the remnants of their passports when they tried to register for asylum," said Farhad Lotfzadpak of the police unit at Gardermoen.

All four later disappeared, however, from the asylum center where they'd been sent, before their cases came up for interviews.

It's too bad that the overly humane Norwegian authorities didn't keep them under lock and key during the investigation, so that they'll now have to trace them the hard way. At least, when they're found, they'll now be sent straight home.

This is a growing problem in many nations. The US has so far been pretty strict about 'refugees', holding them in detention if there's any doubt about their claims, and refusing most of those who try to pose as refugees without proper cause. This, in turn, brings cries of "inhumanity!" from the professional feel-gooders . . . but I'd rather have the strict scrutiny, thank you very much. People who try to cheat their way into a country aren't likely to make good citizens.

Peter

Big Brother strikes again

I'm enraged by a report that two British schoolboys were punished for refusing to 'pray to Allah' during a school religious education class.

Alsager School, near Stoke, has received furious complaints from parents after two Year 7 boys were punished for refusing to kneel to Allah during a religious studies class

One parent, Sharon Luinen, said: "This isn't right, it's taking things too far.

"I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Muslim prayer.

"Making them pray to Allah, who isn't who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful.

Another parent Karen Williams said: "I am absolutely furious my daughter was made to take part in it and I don't find it acceptable.

"I haven't got a problem with them teaching my child other religions and a small amount of information doesn't do any harm.

"But not only did they have to pray, the teacher had gone into the class and made them watch a short film and then said 'we are now going out to pray to Allah'.

"Then two boys got detention and all the other children missed their refreshment break because of the teacher.

The grandfather of one of the pupils in the class said: "It's absolutely disgusting, there's no other way of putting it.

"My daughter and a lot of other mothers are furious about their children being made to kneel on the floor and pray to Islam. If they didn't do it they were given detention.

"I am not racist, I've been friendly with an Indian for 30 years. I've also been to a Muslim wedding where it was explained to me that alcohol would not be served and I respected that.

"But if Muslims were asked to go to church on Sunday and take Holy Communion there would be war."

. . .

A statement from Cheshire County Council on behalf of the school read: "The headteacher David Black contacted this authority immediately complaints were received.

"Enquiries are being made into the circumstances as a matter of urgency and all parents will be informed accordingly.

"Educating children in the beliefs of different faith is part of the diversity curriculum on the basis that knowledge is essential to understanding.

"We accept that such teaching is to be conducted with some sense of sensitivity."

I can tell you right now what the problem is. It's that those in authority - the teacher, and probably his/her superiors too - don't believe anything themselves. Because they have no overarching belief system of their own, they see no harm in making those under their authority give equal credence to any and all belief systems.

I can only say that if any child of mine came home to tell me about such a farce, I'd probably be charged with physically assaulting the teacher(s) concerned. This is absolutely beyond the pale.

It's yet another example of a Government organization or institution deciding what's good for our children, whether or not their parents agree. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that some American schools try to do the same thing in the next few years.

One hopes that the parents of the children so victimized will take appropriate action.

Peter

Independence Day

It's worth reminding ourselves of 'the reason for the season'.

Peter

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration
of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Doofus Of The Day #45

With apologies to William Shakespeare - if candles be the flame of love, burn on!

A romantic young man from Taiwan nearly burnt down a hotel when he lit dozens of candles to form the phrase "I Love U" for his girlfriend, press reports said today.

Lin, a frozen food deliverer, booked a Taipei hotel room on May 31 to celebrate the one year anniversary of meeting his girlfriend, the China Post daily said.

Lin arranged dozens of tea-lights on the carpet to spell I Love U, lit them and then drove his car to pick up his girlfriend.

When he returned to the hotel 40 minutes later and pushed open the door to give his girlfriend a surprise, instead of I Love U in candle-light, they saw the room was filled with smoke, the flat-screen TV had melted and the carpet was singed.

Lin was arrested and brought to trial recently and charged with endangering public safety, according the China Post reported.

He agreed to pay 150,000 Taiwan dollars ($4,888) for damage caused by the blaze and donate 30,000 Taiwan dollars to a charity fund.

Lin said that when he bought the candles, the shop clerk assured him that the wax inside the tiny aluminum cups would not overflow and cause a fire, so he thought it was safe to light the candles on the carpet.

Let's sing it together: "Come on, Baby, light my fire . . . "

(And if she doesn't marry him after that, there's no justice!)



Peter

More pre-Olympics fun and games

To go with the report (below) about Chinese police using Segway scooters, I had to smile at the story of the algae threat to the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao.




China's been dumping untreated sewage and unfiltered industrial chemicals into its rivers and off its coastline for decades. With the economic boom in recent years, the quantities involved have become astronomically large - and all that pollution produces very, very fertile conditions for the growth of algae. In fact, algae is Nature's answer to such pollution, as it eats the stuff.




Unfortunately, algae doesn't take international sporting contests into account: so it's taken over about a third of the Olympic sailing venue. The Chinese are working flat-out to remove it, with over 10,000 workers and volunteers involved - but as fast as they remove the stuff, more floats in.

Nicknamed 'The Blob', this vast algal bloom is hampering the British Olympic team's training - their boat repeatedly becoming stuck in the quagmire. With the texture of wet hair and starting to smell like a strongly fishy soup, it is no wonder that the Chinese authorities are desperately trying to get rid of it.

... They have already managed to clear more than 170,000 tonnes, and Chinese officials are predicting that the clean-up will take another two weeks.

But, worryingly, there are whispers that the algae is beginning to creep back into those areas that have already been weeded.

All this has, once again, pushed China's environmental problems into the spotlight.

While officials are blaming a new exotic type of algae blown in on warmer seas, scientists are looking to pollution as the most likely cause.

High levels of nutrients in the water can cause algae to bloom at alarming rates. Tom Wang, an expert on water pollution in Beijing, has concluded that: 'These algae blooms are due to farmers using too much fertiliser and cities failing to treat their sewage.'

None of which seems to have deterred some locals from swimming in the stuff - dragging strands of it out of the sea as they emerge. Despite its horror movie looks, the algae bloom is not, in itself, harmful. Quite the opposite - by absorbing carbon dioxide, it actually helps to clean the water beneath. And if you really took a fancy to it, the algae would be perfectly safe to eat.

Athletes call it the blob, the carpet, the fairway, the serious problem.

"We almost think of it as land," said Carrie Howe, a member of the U.S. team and her three-person squad's unofficial algae remover. During practice, she dips her hand into the goo three or four times an hour to remove it from the rudder.

When it collects shaggily on the boat's tow rope, she and her teammates refer to it as "the dog." They've named it Hickory.

I'm thinking of taking bets on who's going to win - the Chinese, or the algae!



Peter

Armed, yes - but are they dangerous?

I'm a little befuddled by a picture in the London Daily Mail of Chinese anti-terror police - mounted on Segway scooters. Click it for a larger view.




I have to applaud their innovation in using Segways as police transports. In crowded urban areas they're probably rather more useful than cars or vans. I even like the dinky little siren they've added - see the yellow circle at the bottom of the picture.

However, I can't quite figure out their method of operation. To shoot on the move, one would have to release the controls and adopt an unbraced sort-of-squatting position, as seen in the picture above, and in this one from China News:




The Segway isn't as steady a shooting platform as solid ground (or a car, for that matter), because it's gyro-stabilized. Your movements on it as you get your weapon into a firing position, and/or crouch down, will make it rock. There's also no space to take up a braced shooting position, only an unbraced crouch, as the figures in the photograph illustrate. I don't think that's going to help your accuracy very much.

CNET News differs, saying:

The Segway was demonstrated as a useful tool since it allows soldiers, once they are trained in balancing and maneuvering the machine, to keep both hands on their weapon while still accelerating and turning the device with their body movements. In skilled hands, a Segway could be kept still enough to offer a stable position from which to shoot.

However, I remain unconvinced. What might work fine in an unstressed demonstration environment may not work in a crowded street when the riders are under fire! There's also the factor of the surface to consider. On a smooth, newly-paved surface, things might be OK: but on a bumpy, rutted surface (as will often be the case in reality), that's a whole new ball game as far as shooting accurately on the move is concerned.

And what's with the dinky-toy-size AK-style rifles the cops are carrying? Can anyone identify the specific model of weapon they're using? Note that they have no shoulder stock, not even a folding one. Instead, they have a sort of webbing loop at the rear of the gun, which appears to pass around the neck (see the green circles). This is probably great for ease of carrying the weapon (you can simply let it dangle in front of you), but I'm not sure it'll be conducive to accuracy at anything beyond handgun range.

I'm also at a loss to understand why the Chinese have "painted some [of the Segways] in military camouflage", according to the report. Huh? A Segway with a cop in full uniform on the back - with a camouflaged control stick? Look at how small and insignificant the stick is, in comparison to the people riding on the back. What good will camouflage do?

I suspect someone didn't think this all the way through . . .

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #44

Here's a tip.

If you're going to steal people's stuff . . . don't try to sell it in the same neighborhood.

In particular, don't put it out on the roadside and hold a yard sale!

The McAteers, who live in Ocklawaha, arrived at the home in Ocala in the 800 block of Southeast Fifth Street on Monday and discovered it had been burglarized.

They left and returned Tuesday morning and called police. They then decided to walk around the neighborhood to see if they could find anyone who might have some knowledge about the break-in.

When they walked up to a five-unit apartment building, they saw their wooden dresser sitting on the front lawn.

They called the Ocala police again, and detectives arrested 22-year-old Branden Mitchell Gardiner and charged him with one count of residential burglary and one count of dealing in stolen property.

Gardiner, who lives at 621 Wenona Ave., was handcuffed after detectives obtained a search warrant for the apartment. He refused to comment while being led to a patrol car, other than to say he did nothing wrong.

Neighbors seem surprised.

"I saw him selling the merchandise over the weekend. He said his family gave it to him, and he was planning to have another yard sale this weekend," said Allen Parsons, who lives directly above Gardiner.

Parsons told the Star-Banner that he heard Gardiner telling potential buyers at the yard sale that he had "more stuff," if they wanted to buy it, and showed them the goods photographed with a cell phone camera.

While waiting for investigators to serve the search warrant, the McAteers saw some jars that appeared to belong to them sitting on Gardiner's small front porch.

Later, they were asked to identify other items.

At least this particular doofus is now behind bars, where he belongs.

Peter

Of climate change - and violins???

A BBC report sheds new light on why the violins of Stradivarius and his contemporary craftsmen sound so much better than their more modern competitors.

The unique sounds of a Stradivarius violin may come down to the density of the wood it is made from.

Scientists say the patterns of the grain are markedly different from modern instruments.

It is believed that the seasonal growth of trees in the early seventeenth century was affected by a mini-Ice Age.

Stradivarius had the benefit of wood that was produced in conditions that have not been repeated since then.

. . .

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands had developed a computer programme that analysed Computed Tomographic (CT) scans to see how effective certain treatments were in patients with emphysema.

One of the scientists involved was Dr Berend Stoel, a violinist with a keen interest in the secrets of the Stradivarius.

He adapted his program to work with violins and scanned five of the priceless instruments from Cremona as well as seven modern violins.

They show that while the overall density of the different instruments was similar, the 300-year-old instruments showed evidence of more even growth in the summer and winter. Dr Stoel explained its importance: "If you look at any piece of wood, as long as it's not tropical, you have these year rings.

"The differences between these rings are the density - the wood is more dense during the winter than it is during the faster growing period of the summer. That pattern is influencing the resonating quality of the wood."

The modern violins, according to Dr Stoel, show greater differences in their seasonal growth patterns. The older ones had more even grain, reflecting similar growth periods in winter and summer.

I've always been fascinated by these great instruments. The area of Cremona in Italy has long been renowned for producing perhaps the best stringed instruments in the world, and this research sheds new light on why that may be so. The quality of the wood its craftsmen use has always been a key factor in their work, and to this day they devote a lot of time to finding and buying the best they can get.




However, I do like Dr. Stoel's closing remark.

"It's possible that you could use this CT technique to select different types of wood that would be more like the wood that Stradivarius used. But if you are a lousy violin maker and use the best wood, you will still end up with a very bad violin."

Peter

New ethics law bites hard in Louisiana

I'm absolutely delighted to be able to tell you that the new ethics laws in Louisiana are biting very hard indeed.

This State has long been a by-word for political corruption, nepotism and inefficiency. Newly-elected Governor Bobby Jindal campaigned on a promise of government reform, and despite a few mis-steps while he finds his feet, he's moving ahead briskly with his changes. One of them has been sweeping ethics reforms, requiring any member of any administrative or oversight board to disclose his or her financial particulars - including any money earned by contracting with the State or State agencies.

Needless to say, this has led to a panicked rush of resignations from all sorts of boards as the deadline - July 1st - approached. News reports all over Louisiana tell the same story.

In Shreveport:

Local government boards are short several members this morning because of a new state law.

Midnight on Monday marked the deadline for certain elected and appointed officials to resign if they do not want to publicly disclose their personal income under Gov. Bobby Jindal's sweeping ethics rules. Anyone in those positions today must report their and their spouse's business interests by May. Exactly what they must show depends on the position.

That led to at least four local resignations Monday — three from Shreveport's Downtown Development Authority and one from the Caddo Levee District. It could leave many boards in disarray until spots are filled.

. . .

Some consider the financial reporting an invasion of privacy. But quick decisions were necessary. Jindal just signed the bill into law late last week.

"I think it caught a lot of people unaware," said Shreveport City Attorney Terri Scott. "It very well has the potential to make some people say, 'It's not worth it.'"

Downtown Development Authority Director Don Shea said he already knew what would happen. DDA board members are not paid and agree to serve only because they care about improving downtown, he said.

If Shea loses one more person from the seven-member board, which he expects to happen, the board will not have enough members for a quorum to vote.

In Baton Rouge, the State capital:

Resignation notices from members of state boards and commissions flowed into the secretary of state's office by the score on Monday as the July 1 starting date approached for newly required financial disclosures for public officials across Louisiana.

In all, more than 120 appointed members of various boards or offices had filed their resignations by the close of business Monday. Two members of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board were the only elected officials to resign.

. . .

A few boards appear to have taken a large hit of departures.

Ten of the 11 members of the Board of Ethics have left their seats, most departing along with the ethics administrator in a mass exodus last Thursday.

. . .

The Millennium Port Authority and the New Orleans City Park Improvement Board each lost six members. The Louisiana State Arts Council had 11 resignations and the Louisiana Geographic Information Systems Council saw eight departures.

Other boards with multiple resignations included the Louisiana Education Television Authority, the Emergency Response Network Board and the Garden District Security District. Clifford Smith resigned from the Board of Regents.

In Central Louisiana, where I live:

Two Central Louisiana organizations have been left without boards and a few others with empty seats in the wake of Senate Bill 718 -- a piece of legislation that on Tuesday enacted stiffer financial disclosure laws on certain boards and commissions in the state.

Gone are all of the board members for the Alexandria/Pineville-Area Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as the Alexandria Central Economic Development District.

Only two board members remain out of seven for the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority. And the Alexandria Port Authority is left with five of its eight members. Other boards that lost members include Kisatchie-Delta (7), the local Workforce Investment Board (6) and the Rapides Area Planning Commission (6).

Members left their respective boards to avoid disclosing financial information about not only themselves but also their spouses. Information sought included occupation and interest/association with businesses. Income specifics would be required only if the money came from state or local government or from gambling interests.

The majority of resignations came close to the deadline -- 11:59 p.m. on Monday. In all, more than 200 board members or commissioners in the state opted to step down.

Parish and/or city boards or commissions were excluded from the added disclosure regulations.

The mass resignations did not deter the mind-set of Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"We are confident that there will be no shortage of qualified, talented Louisianans wanting to serve their state on a board or commission, even with the ethics standards overwhelmingly approved in the first special session," Jindal wrote in a statement e-mailed to The Town Talk.

I'm delighted to see so many ducking for cover - and enthusiastic about the prospects for getting some real change in local and regional government and administration. For decades, nepotism, corruption and the 'old boy network' have crippled this State and prevented it growing. I fully support Governor Jindal's ethics reforms, and I hope they're the first step in changing the political culture that's been entrenched here for far, far too long. I'm pleased to see that he's already vetoed three bills that would have watered down his reforms.

The new ethics and disclosure laws have teeth, too. Fines of up to $10,000 may be imposed for non-disclosure of financial assets and relevant transactions. I find it particularly telling that the vast majority of the State Ethics Board - which is responsible for investigating breaches of the new rules - have resigned. That makes me very happy!

As one commentator pointed out:

The late Sen. B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn, when he was serving in the Legislature, often quoted Gov. Earl Long as saying, "One of the days people are going to get good government, and they're not going to like it."

Well, I like it! Bring it on, Governor Jindal! Let's have more of the same!

Peter

The danger from Mexican drug cartels

A few days ago I wrote about an assault by Mexican drug cartel gunmen in Phoenix, AZ, which resulted in the death of their target and an attempt by some of the gunmen to ambush pursuing police officers. Initial reports that the gunmen were members of the Mexican military now appear to have been exaggerated, although it's possible that some of them were former service personnel.

Strategic Forecasting has now issued a fairly detailed report about the incident, pulling together information from numerous sources and providing a useful summary of events, implications and prospects for the future. A snippet:

While it now appears that the three men arrested in Phoenix were not former or active members of the Mexican military or police, it is not surprising that they employed military- and police-style tactics. Enforcers of various cartel groups such as Los Zetas, La Gente Nueva or the Kaibiles who have received advanced tactical training often pass on that training to younger enforcers (many of whom are former street thugs) at makeshift training camps located on ranches in northern Mexico. There are also reports of Israeli mercenaries visiting these camps to provide tactical training. In this way, the cartel enforcers are transforming ordinary street thugs into highly-trained cartel tactical teams.

Though cartel enforcers have almost always had ready access to guns, including military weapons such as assault rifles and grenade launchers, groups such as Los Zetas, the Kaibiles and their young disciples bring an added level of threat to the equation. They are highly trained men with soldiers’ mindsets who operate as a unit capable of using their weapons with deadly effectiveness. Assault rifles in the hands of untrained thugs are dangerous, but when those same weapons are placed in the hands of men who can shoot accurately and operate tactically as a fire team, they can be overwhelmingly powerful — not only when used against enemies and other intended targets, but also when used against law enforcement officers who attempt to interfere with the team’s operations.

Although the victim in the Phoenix killing, Andrew Williams, was reportedly a Jamaican drug dealer who crossed a Mexican cartel, there are many other targets in the United States that the cartels would like to eliminate. These targets include Mexican cartel members who have fled to the United States due to several different factors. The first factor is the violent cartel war that has raged in Mexico for the past few years over control of important smuggling routes and strategic locations along those routes. The second factor is the Calderon administration’s crackdown, first on the Gulf cartel and now on the Sinaloa cartel. Pressure from rival cartels and the government has forced many cartel leaders into hiding, and some of them have left Mexico for Central America or the United States.

Traditionally, when violence has spiked in Mexico, cartel figures have used U.S. cities such as Laredo, El Paso and San Diego as rest and recreation spots, reasoning that the general umbrella of safety provided by U.S. law enforcement to those residing in the United States would protect them from assassination by their enemies. As bolder Mexican cartel hit men have begun to carry out assassinations on the U.S. side of the border in places such as Laredo, Rio Bravo, and even Dallas, the cartel figures have begun to seek sanctuary deeper in the United States, thereby bringing the threat with them.

The whole article is worth reading. This is going to become an ever-more-present reality in terms of US crime. Those living in states adjoining the Mexican border would do well to think about preparing themselves, and those of us a bit further inland need to be aware that this sort of thing is undoubtedly going to move further North as time passes.

Furthermore, look at the prevalence of drug violence in Mexico itself. The Los Angeles Times provides this graphic:




With the incidence of drug violence so high just South of our border, anyone who takes bets that it won't spread North is living in a fool's paradise.

Peter