Category: News

Dec 18th

12/18/2013

Channel 4's Gogglebox is about to go global by being remade in China, the US and the Ukraine. The reality series, a program featuring adult sofa-bound families talking about what they are watching on television, has taken off.

Why does anyone want to watch other people watching television? The whole concept is astounding.

Gogglebox's contributors, prone on their seats, pass judgment on the week's news and entertainment programs. But the reality TV show has built an audience of two million viewers. Although the featured families are not told what to think, their reactions are not entirely unstructured. The participants are told what to watch and kept free of interruptions.

I guess their children can't come running into the room and the dog is shoved outside.

Along with barbed comments about what they are watching and a few chuckles, the show gives a glimpse into family life and the way we live now. Apparently the average family watches about 21 hours of TV a week.

A similar ITV show in the 80s was revelatory in showing how little TV people actually watched, with viewers wandering in and out of rooms. I didn't see that one either. In the 80s, life's problems kept me fully occupied.

Anyway, I don't watch reality shows. I'm not interested in peering into other people's lives. But I must be amongst the minority. Do you enjoy being distracted this way?

Dec 17th

12/17/2013

www.bbc.co.uk

An ancient bone discovered at a burial site in Kenya highlights the origin of human hand dexterity earlier as than previously thought. Mankind used tools more than half a million years in advance of the assumed time.

PNAS journal reports that the well-preserved metacarpal bone which connects to the index finger resembles that of modern man. It is the earliest fossilized evidence of when humans developed a strong enough grip to start using tools, and differs anatomically from an ape's bone.

The discovery provides evidence that the modern human hand evolved more than 600,000 years earlier than previously documented and probably in the times of the genus Homo erectussensu lato.

Prof Ward, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia, pointed out that the hand bone locks into the wrist bones, allowing for greater amounts of pressure to be applied to the wrist and hand from a grasping thumb and fingers. This hand dexterity contributed to the evolutionary history of our genus, and was fundamental to our continued existence.

The trouble is mankind wasn't satisfied with mere survival. Modern man went on to conquer every known challenge in our world—climbing the highest mountains and the sheerest cliffs, diving into the depths of the ocean and underground caves as well as rocketing into space. Using their magnificent brain, mankind continues to expand the known horizons by manufacturing robots that can replicate our own attributes—including the dexterous hand.

I often wonder how the discovery of these ancient human bones ties in with the Bible's explanation of how man evolved. Bearing in mind that every culture clings to their particular religious beliefs, there should be a universal truth which links us all. I've worked out plenty of theories. How about you?

Dec 16th

12/16/2013

Wildcat

Google has acquired the engineering company that developed Cheetah, the world's fastest-running robot and other animalistic mobile research machines.

Click here to see a four-legged robot named WildCat. The video shows the noisy machine galloping down a car park at high speed (16 mph) and pivoting quickly on the spot. I watched spell-bound.

Boston Dynamics, which contracts for the US military, is the eighth robotics company snapped up by Google this year. Both the price and size of the project are being withheld from publication. Analysts say the purchases signal a rising interest in robotics use by consumer internet companies.

www.telegraph.co.uk

I can't imagine where the use of robotics will lead. One such crazy idea ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. On second thought, my worst fears would be for robots to take over the world. On a practical level, I can't see that happening. Where would all the funds come from to build a metallic army with computer brains? Doesn't the world have enough problems with famine, war, slavery, and rising costs in consumer products?

Yet, I notice that computer games are selling well this Christmas. I can't understand how families can afford these luxuries. What happened to the challenge of a game of chess to test the brain?

Dec 15th

12/15/2013

www.financialexpress.com

In the latest news, a gardener in intensive care died of alcohol withdrawal, despite attempts to save him. They discovered he had imbibed a daily pack of strong lager prior to the accident.

I read an article several weeks ago about a change in the UK people's drinking habits. I can't say this refers to adults, because sadly some children begin drinking as young as 8 years old. Many of the established pubs in England are closing, as more people are buying their alcohol from supermarkets at cheaper prices. On the face of it, this seems sensible, although they're missing out on socializing with friends in a convivial atmosphere. But the bad news is that the drinking public consumes more at home than they did previously.

The inquest revealed the facts of the gardener's death. During a crash on his bicycle, the man broke 11 ribs and cut his left kidney when he crashed into a wheelie bin, tumbling over the handlebars. He survived but doctors at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, grew worried when the 51-year-old became delirious. Despite treatment with vitamins and minerals to combat alcohol withdrawal, he died a week later of a cardiac arrest.

www.deccanchronicle.com

The pathologist reported evidence of past overuse of alcohol. His heart was double its normal size, which could be due to high blood pressure and also alcohol. His liver was twice the expected size despite half the liver being removed. That was due to chronic alcohol misuse over a considerable period of time.

The cause of death was reported to be cardiac arrest due to multiple injuries, with a secondary cause of 'established chronic liver disease with ongoing steatosis and cirrhosis, and acute confusion and delirium due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome'.

When social drinking changes into a solitary personal addiction, there is usually an underlying reason. We probably all know someone who is taking this short-track to death. Usually, there's not a thing anyone else can do to change their ways. I've gone over and over my daughter's death in my mind. I'm left with the nagging feeling I should have helped her in some way. But deep down, I know everyone must learn their own lessons.

Here's an excerpt from my novel in progress, which shows a mother's self-blame. It's in the form of a vision.

Exhilarating freedom washes over my mind. At last, the tumbling journey stops and I gain balance.

In the night-time blur below, I concentrate to pick out details. Houses spread along dark streets. Occasional lights send a glimmer through the trees resembling stars in the night sky.

I must be in an overseas country, separated by half a revolution of the Earth. Will I prevent a crime? Assist a child?

In an overwhelming rush, I'm sucked below.

My psyche oozes right through a solid roof to hover inside a kitchen. Overhead light bounces off the shiny table. The smell of boiled vegetables struggles to overcome the scent of air freshener in the stifling atmosphere.

I zap into a woman's mind. The first knowledge I grasp is her name from her husband's echoing voice after he left the room.

Now I observe through Mora's eyes. The skin of her inner arms hangs loose with dents resembling the surface of the moon. Her elbows lean on the table with her head resting in her hands.

She doesn't feel my presence while I absorb her sorrow and regret because of the recent loss of her daughter in another part of the country. Unable to travel because of her walking disability, she wonders how she could have made more effort. The clock chimes twelve times, but she's not tired.

No use succumbing to her grief. I must remain impassive if I'm to work with her. This is what I'm here for. My empathy rises with the softness of a gentle breeze lifting damp hair from the back of the neck on a hot day.

Her husband, James, enters the room, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. We straighten to face him, quivering hands brushing our hair. Although he's sympathetic, the loss is not of his own flesh.

"Here you go." His Australian accent soothes us while places a mug alongside. The sweet aroma of milky tea rises in the steam. A hesitant hand strokes our shoulder. With a sigh, he sits opposite.

James is the perfect person for her to discuss her self-blame with. But she needs a nudge. I whisper, 'Look at his caring manner. He considers your feelings'.

We sip our drink.

Memories flood into her--raising her daughter, teaching her to talk, and welcoming her home after school. Once her daughter set out on a life of her own, time passed faster. An indrawn breath. Seventy years old next birthday. Already her child has died before her.

I ease a suggestion into her mind. 'Those who remain must go on'.

A cloud of regret drags us down.

Mora lost touch because of the distance separating them. She didn't discover what was happening during their brief contacts.

We swallow tears.

Mora retreats into memories. Her daughter drank so much she damaged her liver. Oh, the wicked waste of a precious life. What did she do to cause this flaw in her child? The blame rests with her.

'Each person takes responsibility for their own life', I whisper, soft as a feather.

We nod, unable to let go of the past.

How can I help Mora stop this endless remorse? There's no turning back time, but can she go forward? That's what I must achieve. 'Your husband needs you. If you retreat into self-judgment, and lose the joy in your life, he'll follow your lead and give up too'.

He glances up. A smile flicks over his face. Unwilling to respond, we sink into a numb state.

'He loves you, right here, right now. Nobody lives forever. True love is hard to replace. Regard him as a stranger you've just met, rather than the man you take for granted'. We glance up to study him. Hunched shoulders, neck leaning to one side in the grip of advancing age, fragility replaces his once proud strength.

Shock at his potential loss jolts us.

'He's waiting for you to make the first move'.

Releasing a soft breath, we return his smile and blink away self-accusing opinions. I read the depth of her emotion. She loves him, needs him, now more than ever. A rush of warmth rises into our cheeks and filters into every part of our body.

When she reaches out to share her grief, I lift away.

Dec 14th

12/14/2013

www.bubblews.com

Do you measure your success by what you own? Answer truthfully. What about your car, your house, and what you eat and wear? What about getting everything just right for Christmas? Buying more and more? First, let's define what success means. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted. The gaining of fame or prosperity. Most of us can discount the latter.

The prosperous wife of the head of the Bank of England recently suggested we should all dress in organically produced clothing rather than wear a second skin of poisonous synthetics. Her selection includes jeans made from cotton grown in an organic way. The extra cost is worth it, she says. While I agree, some of us don't have the extra funds to use in this way.

In a recent survey, more than 16,000 people were asked whether they agreed with the sentence: ‘I measure my success by the things I own’. Out of 20 countries, people in the UK were ranked third least concerned with material things. Only 16 per cent of British respondents said yes - with only Spain, at 15 per cent, and Sweden, at 7 per cent, coming lower.

China was top, followed by India and Turkey. The survey found that 71 per cent of Chinese and 58 per cent of Indian people polled said they measured their status by what they owned.

www.cashartblog.com

I measure my success by the lessons learned from experience. I began life as an optimistic child and grew into a presentable woman who took whatever life offered as a right. I never had to earn praise, or nice clothes or attention. Over the years, I've learned to understand how hardship affects other people—how their outlook is governed by circumstances—and how everyone needs encouragement.

Now, I don't belittle myself because I've lost my beauty, my ability to walk straight and tall, or my lack of money to maintain a good standard of clothing. I wear the same old outfits, let my hair grow long and treasure the support of my husband during our maturing years.

How do you measure your success?

Dec 13th

12/13/2013

Are diamonds forever? Not really. You may receive a lifetime of pleasure from them, but they will remain behind after you're gone.

According to reports on her life and personal letters, the jewelry Wallace Simpson collected over her lifetime didn't bring her happiness. However, they were sold at auction yesterday for record figures.

Wallace Simpson, aware she wasn't a beautiful woman, boosted her appearance with spectacular jewels. She flirted with the Crown Prince of England amongst many other men. However, when she snaffled Edward V111, she couldn't get him out of her net. He fell hopelessly in love with her, and clung to her along with her lifestyle like a drowning man. After his father's death, he gave up the throne of Great Britain to be with the woman he loved. And she, a divorced woman, found the net closing around her. None of the royals came to their wedding ceremony. I doubt the fabulous jewels auctioned long after her death brought her happiness in life.

20 pieces owned by the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor went under the hammer at Sotheby's in central London last night, raising a total of £7,975,550. ($13,081,535.90)

Despite missing several small stones, a Cartier-designed onyx and diamond panther bracelet was auctioned for £4,521,250 ($7,415,776.24)—the highest price paid for a bracelet at auction. Made in Paris in 1952, it also became the most expensive Cartier item to be sold at any auction.

One of the other big successes of the night—a ruby, sapphire, emerald, citrine and diamond Cartier flamingo clip reached £1,721,250. ($2,823,202.62)

It is reported that Madonna, who is directing WE, a film about the abdication, tried on several of the items ahead of the sale. Apparently, she showed particular interest in the panther bracelet, but a Sotheby's spokesman declined to confirm the identity of its new owner.

Sotheby's described it as having an "articulated body designed to encircle the wrist and to assume a stalking attitude, pave-set with brilliant and single-cut diamonds and calibre-cut onyx, the eyes each set with a marquise-shaped emerald".

Many of the pieces bear personal inscriptions, including a heart-shaped emerald, ruby and diamond Cartier brooch with the initials W.E. (Wallis, Edward), which was commissioned by the duke to mark their 20th wedding anniversary in 1957.

Another Cartier diamond bracelet, said to be a favorite of the duchess, consists of nine gem-set crosses, each representing special moments in her life from 1933 to 1934, including the couple's marriage and an assassination attempt on the king.

When you strip away the wealth, each person is simply striving to live a happy life, doing the best they can with their circumstances. At least the couple stayed together for the rest of their lives. No matter what the reason, that showed commitment.

Dec 11th

12/11/2013

Technology has conquered a missing human limb. Yay for mankind! In the past, when a soldier lost his arm, it was gone forever. Think Napoleon Bonaparte.

A modern soldier, injured in battle, is the first person in the UK to have a bionic arm which he can control with his thoughts. The surgery included having his nerve system rewired, and months of learning how to use the new arm. Cpl Garthwaite was badly injured in Helmand, Afghanistan, in September 2010 when a Taliban rocket-propelled grenade took off his right arm and killed one of his comrades.

The surgeons at the hospital in the Medical University of Vienna had to rewire his nervous system - taking the nerve endings from his shoulder, that would have run down to his hand - and rewired these into his chest muscles.

This has meant over the past 18 months, the patient has had the sensation of a hand growing in his chest. While learning to use that hand again, electrodes sent signals into the bionic arm so that he could control the prosthesis.

The Viennese bionics company Otto Bock who developed the arm says this new kind of intelligent upper limb prosthesis can be controlled using the same nerves organically responsible for arm movement and enables more natural movements. The patient, they say, performs movements intuitively, and the prosthesis can directly convert the thought commands. See the full story here.

www.wallsave.com

I hate to mention it because the soldier deserves our respect, but this technology, used in a bad way, could be used as a potential future army of ciborgs.

Meanwhile, we discover more about our earth every day. This is something that technology has no control over. Scientists have discovered that the supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park is far more immense than previously thought. The team measured the cavern, which stretches for more than 90km (55 miles) and contains 200-600 cubic km of molten rock. The magma chamber was colossal. Reaching depths of between 2km and 15km (1 to 9 miles), the cavern was about 90km (55 miles) long and 30km (20 miles) wide.

ngm.nationalgeographic.com

Some believe a massive eruption is overdue, estimating that Yellowstone’s volcano goes off every 700,000 years or so. There had only been three major eruptions so far. These happened 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago and 640,000 years ago.

One leap for man, one threatening catastrophe for the Earth. We can't hope to contain a future volcano eruption, so we might as well cheer on our heroes, injured while trying to create peace in a war nobody wants with no settlement in sight.

Dec 10th

12/10/2013

blogs.independent.co.uk

A panel of experts has found that changes are needed to improve the treatment of laboratory animals at one of the UK's leading animal research centers, the Imperial Collage. The report boiled down to the need for more communication between animal care staff and scientists, who failed to work together efficiently to prevent animal suffering.

It breaks my heart to hear about the needless agony of animals. I'd do away with all such experiments if I could. Just Google 'animal experimentation' images to see the horror of it all.

Around the world, people are still fighting wars, taking others into slavery, abusing children, suffering injustice, fleeing from their country to seek refuge elsewhere, preying on others, and committing crimes.

What can a person who is lucky enough to be living free do about changing the social circumstances in a foreign country? As far as I can see, we can only offer sympathy to those who are oppressed and concentrate on our immediate surroundings. As in: Love thy neighbor.

Gone is the time when I could have made a difference. Only my writing will endure. Even that's not certain. The cloud could vanish along with technology and paperbacks could be swept away in a flood. The end of the year when I've blogged every day is drawing to a close. At the moment, I'm undecided about carrying on with a daily blog of views on news.

But I've lived a glorious life.

As an Australian teenager in the 50s, I watched spellbound while Elvis Presley sang about the warden throwing a party in a county jail in America. Even prisoners could break free to sing and dance in the jailhouse. Teenagers everywhere stepped out of their social constrictions and became a driving force to change social order from the strict moral code. From then on, youth took on importance.

I've travelled in a luxury caravan with my family around Australia in the 70s, looking for a perfect spot to live 'back to the earth' and found what I sought at my own front door. I've lived an artistic life-style, branched out on my own, travelled the world, moved to England and settled in a small cottage overlooking a field. Even now in the pink morning mist, paddocks sweep up to tree-covered hillsides and horsed graze in peace.
Hard times and good blend in my memory to make the perfect concoction.

What assessment can you make of your life?

Dec 9th

12/9/2013

www.123rf.com

According to the IT firm Logicalis, the average UK teenager owns six digital devices and posts pictures and information online.

With most using mobile gadgets, it may not be long before youngsters expect always-on connectivity as a right, the poll says. Some 28% of the 1,004 13- to 17-year-olds questioned feel ICT is key to their future career.

The poll showed that 84% of the teenagers polled own a smartphone, 78% a laptop and 51% a tablet device. The top digital devices are:

    Smartphone

    Television

    Laptop

    Games console

    MP3/iPod

    Digital camera

But what of the future? Maybe some of the newly emerging workforce can expect a job in IT, but that's now where production comes from. Some of the teenagers questioned will need to work with other parts of their body besides their fingers and brain. Will we have an even more highly segregated society between physical and office workers?

This is how I see the future in the first draft of a book I wrote last year called The Golden Casket. It's set in 2027 and gives the background of Tallulah McBride, whose diary entries feature at the beginning of each of the Higher Ground series. Note: The Handie is the digital device.

The secretary handed her a note. Tallulah grasped it with a shaking hand.

"I want you to gather information on these men," Badia said. "They're on the list to attend the same function as Prince Abjan. Print out everything you find."

At last. This task would interest her more than making coffee. Tallulah hurried to her desk and concentrated on her screen, fingers flashing over the keyboard, clicking on appropriate articles and saving them to file.

The outer door slid open. Tallulah glanced over. The prince strode in. Two attendants glanced around the room, nodded to Badia and withdrew.

Following the other woman's movements, Tallulah stood and bowed. Her head remained low until the swish of the door told her the prince had entered his office. She focused on her task again. The hours passed by. A deep voice inside the computer announced lunch break and she glanced over at Badia, who studied her Handie.

"You can take your break in the staff room on the lower floor if you like. Or you may prefer to wander around outside."

"The staff room sounds good," Tallulah said. "Are you--?

"Yes. I'll come along with you." Badia stood, covering her Handie with the sleeve of her dress. Swishing her hair back, she led the way to their rest room and picked up her satchel.

What do you predict for our future?

Dec 8th

12/8/2013

www.britishmuseum.org

In the news stories today, we're back to the old lure of gold. What makes us love it so? Mankind's attitude to gold is bizarre. Chemically, it is uninteresting in that it barely reacts with any other element. Yet, of all the 118 elements in the periodic table, gold is the one we humans have always tended to choose to use as currency.

The gold artifacts featured on my blog today are part of the treasure unearthed from the Sutton Hoo burial ship belonging to a 7th century British king and can be seen at the British Museum. I'll link part of my novel-writing to the British Museum at the end. All my books are based on the magical qualities of an ancient star moonstone ring set in pure gold. Caught by the lure of gold, my creativity explors other dimensions.

Gold is thought to derive from meteors. The biggest producers: China, Australia, US, and Russia.

One of the noble metals that do not oxidize under ordinary conditions, gold is used in jewelry, electronics, aerospace and medicine.

After analyzing all metals seeking suitability for currency, it turns out that the reason gold is precious is precisely that it is so chemically uninteresting. Gold's relative inertness means that after creating an elaborate golden jaguar, the artist or king could be confident that 1,000 years later it would be found in a museum display case, still gleaming and in pristine condition.

en.wikipedia.org

If we amassed every earring, every gold sovereign, the tiny traces gold in every computer chip, every pre-Columbian statuette, every wedding ring and melted it all down, it's guesstimated you'd be left with just one 20-metre cube, or thereabouts. But scarcity isn't the whole story. Gold has one other quality that makes it the best contender for currency in the periodic table. Gold is ... golden.

All the other metals in the periodic table are silvery-colored except for copper.
But copper corrodes, turning green when exposed to moist air. That makes gold very distinctive.

Here's a short excerpt from my co-written forth book in the Higher Ground futuristic series, Long Doom Calling. Cerridwen has just dived down under the murky waters to the British Museum and surfaced clutching treasure.

Dressed again, Cerridwen sat beside Trevly, the bag in front of her. To one side, Brunhild smeared some of Hasid's special salve over Boris's chafed chest.

Aron settled at Cerridwen's other side. “Tip it out.”

She glanced at him and smiled. “You do it.”

“Fine.” With trembling fingers—he had no idea why—Aron shook the contents out.

Sasha, already wearing several rings, gazed at the other pieces, then back at her hands.

Aron whistled. Bracelets. A ring. Some kind of head gear. Sasha snatched a necklace and ran her fingers over the gold.

“The ring,” Cerridwen whispered. She picked up the one with the blue stone and held it against the light before she slipped it on.

Despite his sudden apprehension, Aron smiled.

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Author

Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.