Odd Factoids

Magnetic Mud

2010-10-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

Diamagnetic Levitation
He just needed a super strong magnetic field for living and organic objects.

Tobacco kills Germs

2010-10-09T23:02:00.001-07:00

And see this related post about how Tobacco was discovered and used in a poultice to cure 'incurable' sores, tumors, etc..;

Tobacco as a cure for various illnesses

The Electric Plant

2010-10-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

Worms & Roaches cause Cancer?

2010-10-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

This ties in well with the claims of Dr. Hulda Clark.

According to Clark, all disease is caused by foreign organisms and pollutants that damage the immune system. She asserted that eliminating parasites, bacteria and viruses from the body using herbal remedies or electrocution while removing pollutants from the diet and the environment would cure all diseases.

In her book The Cure For All Cancers, Clark postulated that all cancers are caused by the flatworm Fasciolopsis buski. However, this worm does not live in the USA and Europe but mainly in India, parts of China, Vietnam and other east-Asian countries, and only in rural areas where people are eating unboiled food from water plants, or where pigs live close to humans.

She also said that HIV is a worm virus and that the worm is responsible for AIDS: "I find it (F. buski) in every case of HIV, Alzheimer's disease. Without this parasite you can't get HIV."[citation needed] According to Clark, depression is caused by hookworms.

The Edison Battery

2010-10-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

Wheel of Misfortune

2010-10-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

Melbourne Inventor Claims Perpetual Motion Machine

2010-10-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

Out of a Job? Need Work? Free ebook of Job Ideas!

2010-03-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

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Interesting story of Chicle (chewing gum)

2010-01-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

In 1869 a Staten Island photographer named Thomas Adams made friends with exiled Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, he of Alamo fame.

Adams noticed the old general didn’t smoke but liked to chew a plug of tree sap he called “Chicle”. Adams took the chicle and put a candy shell around it, getting rich on the invention of Gum Balls.

Santa Anna hoped the invention would finance his return to power in Mexico City but that never occurred. Gumball machines appeared in 1918, Bubble Gum in 1928.

In the same year 'inventor' William Semple of Mount Vernon Ohio received a patent for chewing gum.

Since early times frontiersmen and Indians had the habit of chewing on a piece of pine resin or sap. At 9,000 years old, the oldest chewed piece of gum was found in Sweden in a glacier in 1993. As early as 1842 Charles Curtis was selling spruce chewing gum from his home in Bangor Maine.

Henry Ford, the man who truly understood Business

2010-01-10T03:01:00.000-08:00

In 1914, the Ford Motor Company shocked the captains of American Industry by raising it¹s wage rates for work shift from $2.40 a day to $5.00 a day and adopting the new 8 hour work day.

Henry Ford¹s idea was when workers have more money they buy cars. The idea worked and sales of cars quadrupled and the economic climate of Detroit boomed.

Would that companies and the US government learn from this example that bore such sweet fruit!

Don't piss off the wrong people

2010-01-10T02:50:00.000-08:00

In 1522, Adrian VI, a Dutchman was elected Pope. He was the first non Italian since 1378 and the last non-Italian until John Paul II in 1978. He really tried to be a true Christian spiritual guide and agreed with Martin Luther that the church was too corrupt and sinful in it’s ways.

He demanded he and his cardinals live on only one ducat a day, about $12.50, he walled up the Belvedere Palace and it’s collection of ancient Greek and Roman art, as pagan idolatry.

Poets and artists were furious that this Pope canceled all their rich contracts. The unemployed poet Aretino called the cardinals “miserable rabble” and that they should all be buried alive for electing this lousy pope. After three months as Pope, Adrian died at the age of 64, of unspecified causes. (With the Medici's and all the intriques revolving around power and money, its easy to imagine he was assisted to death, probably poisoned.)

This time the cardinals elected a Medici Pope who loved art, music and parties. The people of Rome sent flowers to Adrian’s doctor to congratulate him for losing his patient.

Cosmic Bombs

2010-01-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

During the Manhattan project, director Gen. Leslie Groves has a private meeting with FDR at the White House. Groves tells the President the two "cosmic bombs" (Atomic Bombs) they are building will end the war.

The reason they were making two was one was uranium based and the other was plutonium based.

To those who believe the U.S. atomic bombed Japan out of racism Franklin Roosevelt wanted one dropped on Germany immediately to stop the Battle of the Bulge and kill Hitler.

But Groves argued the A-bomb hadn’t been tested yet. He worried that if the bomb was a dud, the Germans were smart enough to take it apart and build their own from the fissionable material, which they might shoot in a V-2 at London.

Three horrible ways to die

2010-01-10T02:24:00.000-08:00

Way back in 1326, Hugh Despenser the Younger, onetime gay lover of King Edward II, was executed by order of Eddie’s wife Queen Isabella the She-Wolf of France. She had his penis and testicles amputated and burned in front of him before he hanged.

I thought that was pretty horrific but there is another one that had people gagging, vomiting and running out of the room.

Several hundred years later, in 1757, a man named Robert Damiens attacked French King Louis XV and stabbed him. It was a flesh wound that Voltaire described as a pin-prick.

The king survived and the court sentenced Damiens to the most horrible death they could think of, the medieval punishment for regicides. Nobody had done it for generations so the court executioner, Charles Samson, had to consult the history books.

Drawing and quartering....cut off assailants hands and stick stumps in pan of burning sulfur... The execution was so ghastly that the witnesses vomited and fled, Samson passed out, so his assistants had to finish the job.

Robert Damiens believed he was doing it for the people but unfortunately he was 32 years too early for the French Revolution.

A story I heard here in Mexico, about 9 years ago, 3 gringos were killed in the period of about a year, by male prostitutes they picked up on the streets of Guadalajara. Throats cut and the place robbed. Several gringos, friends of the dead men, got together and decided they needed to send a message.

After the 3rd murder, the killer went to a bar, got drunk and was openly bragging about cutting a gringos throat. The bartender called the cops and on interrogation at the police station, the killer admitted he had in fact committed two of the murders. He was tried, convicted and sent to a federal prison.

Friends of the dead gringos chipped in money for a total of $1000US which was given to a go-between who had cholo (gangster/thug) and gang contacts that even extended into the prison. Money was distributed and plans made.

When the day came, the murdered was taken by prison guards into an isolated room, several other burly prisoners were also brought in. The guards locked the door and stood outside waiting.

Two the other prisoners were shall we say, well hung, so one forced himself down the murderers throat and the other raped him rectally without use of lubrication. Blood poured out and the man was screaming with pain. The guards ignored it.

After all the other prisoners had raped this murderer, they cut off his penis and testicles. Earlier they had prepared with a corncob soaked in habanero juice...this they shoved up his ripped rectum and left for 30 minutes as the man cried and screamed in pain. Finally they sliced his throat and let him bleed to death.

Word got out on the streets of Guadalajara not to screw around with gringos else they be subjected to similar fates. I am told that for years after that, male prostitutes wouldn't steal even an ink pen from any gringo apartment or house.

I don't know if that is true or not but I do know the guy who told me claimed to have been the go-between who arranged all this for a fee. I have long since lost contact with him over the years.

Just 26 Days to Christmas!

2009-11-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

If you know someone whose bulb burns brighter than most, then check out our products as Interesting and Unique Gifts at;

KeelyNet and Vanguard Sciences

Your support is most appreciated!

The Preceptors - Suggestions from the Future

2009-11-29T21:25:00.000-08:00

Premise - World has gone to hell in the future, hidden group of scientists develop group mind AI software composed of 'Preceptor' teacher AI programs.

This AI group mind invents incredible technology including travel back in time, teleportation, transmutation, life extension, etc..

The scientists send the Preceptors back in time to 'influence' the US government with specific directives that will save the future from the savage world it had become. - Full Article Source

KeelyNet website down, why?

2009-10-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

KeelyNet Downtime Notice - 10/23-10/26

Thanks to all those who wrote inquiring what is the problem with KeelyNet not coming up.

Sorry for KeelyNet not being there.

We had a massive crash which has resulted in us moving to another host.

I am working to repopulate the basics so at least the news updates can be ongoing and as time goes on, more pieces of KeelyNet will come back.

Thank you for your patience and your visit.

Please do check in again in a day or two and you'll see everything is coming back to normal,...whatever that is...

- Jerry Decker / KeelyNet

Meantime, you can check out my three blogs and the Vanguard Sciences products website;

KeelyNet Blog

Odd Factoids

Hellboxer

Vanguard Sciences

so you can buy something to help pay for all this....jajaja!

Thanks!

And on the Value of Cats

2009-10-20T03:44:00.000-07:00

"The first couple of cats, which were carried to Cuyaba, sold for a pound of gold. There was a plague of rats in the settlement, and they were purchased as a speculation, which proved an excellent one.

Their first kittens produced thirty oitavas each; the next generation were worth twenty; and the price gradually fell, as the inhabitants were stocked with these beautiful and useful creatures.

Montenegro presented to the elder Almagro the first cat which was brought to South America, and was rewarded for it with six hundred pesos."

CUYABA, or Cutaba, it the capital of the inland state of Matto Grosso, Brazil, about 972 m. N.W. of Rio de Janeiro, on the Cuyaba river.

"In Brazil, the weight of gold and precious stones is estimated in oitavas, an oitava being 1/8 ounce, and 128 oitavas going to the pound. The oitava, which corresponds in weight to 17 1/2 carats (sometimes given at 18), is subdivided into thirty-two vintems.

Sometimes, however, the carat-grain is used as a subdivision of the oitava. Since carat-grains are equal to one carat, one oitava is equal to 70 (or 72) grains."

The modern real is subdivided into 100 centavos. The exchange rate as of October 16th, 2009 is approximately BRL 1.71 to USD 1.00.

Quantity vs. Value

2009-10-20T01:34:00.000-07:00

You should know that one escudo is worth 100 centavos which is approximately $1USD.

"When emeralds were first discovered in America, a Spaniard carried one to a lapidary in Italy, and asked him what it was worth; he was told a hundred escudos; he produced a second, which was larger, and that was valued at three hundred.

Overjoyed at this, he took the lapidary to his lodging, and showed him a chest full; but the Italian seeing so many, damped his joy by saying, "Aha! Ha! Senor, so many! These are worth one escudo.""

So as more were shown to him, the estimated price went from $100 up to $300, then with the chest back down to $1.

Cursed as a Strange Attractor

2009-10-20T01:17:00.000-07:00

It just fascinates me how I can go somewhere, intent on an errand, business or something relatively important to me, that I complete it in a timely manner, to be blocked by social clots of people or mechanical clots of vehicles.

I always blame it on strange attractors defined as;

"An attractor is a set to which a dynamical system evolves after a long enough time. That is, points that get close enough to the attractor remain close even if slightly disturbed. Geometrically, an attractor can be a point, a curve, a manifold, or even a complicated set with a fractal structure known as a strange attractor. Describing the attractors of chaotic dynamical systems has been one of the achievements of chaos theory."

I look out and see the street is empty and totally quiet or drive onto a street where no one is around and no traffic. But the minute I step out there or begin to drive on that street, it's like an explosion of people and/or traffic.

Same thing for people blocking the road by standing or walking in the street, or vehicles parked in the street or double parked close to a correctly parked vehicle, so that it's difficult and dangerous for anyone else to pass.

People will stand on the sidewalk doing nothing, but the minute I get close, they decide to bolt into the street. They didn't see me and were looking straight ahead or in the opposite direction, forcing me to stop or slow to let them pass.

It's very annoying but I think a characteristic of the people of Mexico. All the years I lived in Texas and in all my travels, I have experienced the 'strange attractor' everywhere but nowhere have I seen people stand around for long periods and only decide to cross when someone is in process.

In an ideal world, INERTIA RULES...my vehicle is bigger, heavier and faster than you, so with more inertia, if it comes to an accident, you lose.

There should be some way to phase conjugate and cancel or at the very least, attenuate the human strange attractor phenomenon.

A Beautiful, Elegant and Exact Quote

2009-10-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

"The place of the material world in the Universe is that of an exquisitely beautiful precipitate or varied cloud-work in the Universal Aether, determined by geometrical necessity."

Professor John G. MacVicar 1870

Elisha and the floating Axe head

2009-09-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

This little story has always intrigued me, how could one make iron float in water?

What was the secret of the stick? Was it vibrating in some way when it hit the water to produce a buoyancy in the iron of the axehead? Was it a special wood or did it secrete some fluid or something to cause the lifting effect?

Notice it was just the axe head itself which flew off into the water, no wood to support it.

The Lost Axe Head (2 Kings 6:1-7)

1. Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us.

2. Please let us go to the Jordan, and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.”

3. Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.”

4. So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

5. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”

6. Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float.

7. And he said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.

Whipping Toads to produce Rain

2009-09-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

"At one time the natives of Venezuela worshipped toads. They regarded the toad as "the lord of the waters," and treated it with much reverence; though, as has been the case with other idolaters, they were ready, in times of difficulty, to compel favorable hearing from their pretended deities.

They whipped their imprisoned toads with little switches when there was a scarcity of provisions and a want of rain."

In a similar vein, I don't know how christian believers can ignore the command to not worship images...and yet there are statues of the Virgin, dolls of the virgin, Jesus, the Saints, etc. who people worship and revere despite what their very bible instructs them not to do....

it's the cafeteria believer syndrome where they pick and choose what they wish to believe and practice. If people practiced ALL that the Bible taught the world would be outraged, same for the Muslims and others with so-called 'holy' books full of teachings containing a mix of hate, death, love and respect for their followers to carry out.

Learn Hypnotism - 3 eBook CD for price of 1

2009-09-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

If you have a few minutes, you might want to read my page on hypnosis and all the amazing things associated with its application.

Included is an experience I had when I hypnotized a neighbor kid when I was about 14. As well the hypnotic gaze of snakes, the discovery of 'eyebeams' which can be detected electronically, the Italian Hypnotist Robber who was caught on tape with his eyes glowing as cashiers handed over their money and remembered nothing,

several methods of trance induction and many odd cases, animal catatonia, healing, psychic phenomena, party/stage stunts, including my favorite of negative hallucination where you make your subject NOT see something...much more...if nothing else, its might be a hoot to read. - Source

Overloading the System to Destruction

2009-09-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Katman sent me this link to photos of the tea party rally in Washington and in one of the photos was a sign mentioning the Cloward Piven Strategy. I'd never heard of this so did a search and was astounded at what I found. It sure looks like the beginning of what is to come if we can't get it together on a grassroots level.

/ ...the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.

In their 1966 article, Cloward and Piven charged that the ruling classes used welfare to weaken the poor; that by providing a social safety net, the rich doused the fires of rebellion.

Poor people can advance only when "the rest of society is afraid of them," Cloward told The New York Times on September 27, 1970. Rather than placating the poor with government hand-outs, wrote Cloward and Piven, activists should work to sabotage and destroy the welfare system; the collapse of the welfare state would ignite a political and financial crisis that would rock the nation; poor people would rise in revolt; only then would "the rest of society" accept their demands.

The key to sparking this rebellion would be to expose the inadequacy of the welfare state. Most Americans to this day have never heard of Cloward and Piven. But New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attempted to expose them in the late 1990s. As his drive for welfare reform gained momentum, Giuliani accused the militant scholars by name, citing their 1966 manifesto as evidence that they had engaged in deliberate economic sabotage.

"This wasn't an accident," Giuliani charged in a 1997 speech. "It wasn't an atmospheric thing, it wasn't supernatural. This is the result of policies and programs designed to have the maximum number of people get on welfare."

Cloward and Piven never again revealed their intentions as candidly as they had in their 1966 article. Even so, their activism in subsequent years continued to rely on the tactic of overloading the system. When the public caught on to their welfare scheme, Cloward and Piven simply moved on, applying pressure to other sectors of the bureaucracy, wherever they detected weakness.

This was an example of what are commonly called Trojan Horse movements -- mass movements whose outward purpose seems to be providing material help to the downtrodden, but whose real objective is to draft poor people into service as revolutionary foot soldiers; to mobilize poor people en masse to overwhelm government agencies with a flood of demands beyond the capacity of those agencies to meet.

The flood of demands was calculated to break the budget, jam the bureaucratic gears into gridlock, and bring the system crashing down. Fear, turmoil, violence and economic collapse would accompany such a breakdown -- providing perfect conditions for fostering radical change. - Source and the Cloward-Piven website

The Power of Heat and Iron

2009-09-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

"Experiment (remarks Baron Liebig) has shown that a quantity of heat, sufficient to raise a pound of water one degree of temperature, will, when communicated to a bar of iron, enable it to elevate a weight of 1,350 lbs. to the height of one foot.

An interesting application of this fact was long ago made in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. In this building, which was formerly a convent, the nave of the church was converted into a museum for industrial products, machines, and implements.

In it's arch, traversing its length, appeared a crack, which gradually increased to the width of several inches, and permitted the passage of rain or snow. The opening could easily have been closed by stone and lime, but the yielding of the side walls would not have been prevented by these means.

The whole building was on the point of being pulled down, when a natural philospher proposed the following plan, by which the object was accomplished;

A number of strong iron rods were firmly fixed at one end to a side wall of the nave, and after passing through the opposite wall, were provided on the outside with large nuts, which were screwed up tightly to the wall.

By applying burning straw to the rods they expanded in length. The nuts by this extension being now removed several inches from the wall, were again screwed tight to it.

The rods on cooling contracted with enormous force, and made the side walls approach each other. By repeating the operation the crack entirely disappeared. This building, with its retaining rods, is still in existence."

On the Wonderful Effect of Imagination

2009-09-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

"During the siege of Breda, in the Netherlands, in 1625, the garrison was dreadfully afflicted with the scurvy. So useless was the medical aid afforded to the soldiers, and so desperate were they in consequence, that they resolved to give up the city to the enemy.

This resolution came to the ears of the Prince of Orange; he immediately wrote addresses to the men, assuring them that he possessed remedies that were unknown to physicians, and that he would undertake their cure, provided they continued in the discharge of their duty.

Together with these addresses he sent to the physicians small vials of coloured water, which the patients were assured were of immense price, and of unspeakable virtue.

Many, who declared that all former remedies had only made them worse, now recovered in a few days. A long and interesting account of the wonderful working of this purely imaginary antidote was drawn up by M. Van der Mye, one of the physicians in the garrison, whose office was thus successfully usurped by the Prince of Orange.

A corroborative proof of the well-known power of the imagination in affecting disease is afforded in the following Arabian fable; One day a traveler met the Plague going into Cairo, and accosted it thus; "For what purpose are you entering Cairo?"

"To kill 3,000 people," rejoined the Plague.

Some time after, the same traveler met the Plague on his return, and said, "But you killed 30,000!"

"Nay," replied the Plague, "I killed but 3,000; the rest died of fright.""

On the Power of Ice

2009-09-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

"An artillery officer at Quebec made an experiment during a hard winter, by filling a bomb-shell, about fourteen inches in diameter, with water, and then closing the opening with an iron peg, which was driven firmly in.

This being exposed to the severe frost, the stopper was driven out to a distance of more than 100 yards, and a cylinder of ice, eight or nine inches long, came out of the opening.

In a second experiment of the same kind, the stopper resisted the expansive force; but the shell was itself was rent, and a ring of ice was forced through the crack all around the shell.

In the same manner houses have been overthrown by the expansive force of frost in the earth causing the ground to swell up. Stones will break in consequence of the water they contain freezing, and trees have split up with an explosive sound on occasions of sudden cold occurring when their vessels have been full of sap."

Detecting a Murderer

2009-09-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

"The origin of the curious custom of making persons suspected of murder touch the murdered body for the discovery of their guilt or innocence is interesting. This method of finding out murderers was practised in Denmark by King Christian II.

The story goes that it arose in the following way; Certain gentlemen being on an evening together in a tavern, fell out among themselves, and from words grew to blows, insomuch that one of them was stabbed with a poniard.

Now the murderer was unknown, by reason of the number, although the person stabbed before death accused a pursuivant who was one of the company.

The king, to find out the homicide, caused them all to come together, and, standing round the dead body, he commanded that they should, one after another, lay their right hands on the dead man's naked breast, swearing that they had not killed him.

The gentlemen did so, and no sign appeared against them. The pursuivant alone remained, who, condemned before in his own conscience, went first of all and kissed the dead man's feet, but as soon as he laid his hand on his breast, the blood, we are told, gushed forth both out of his wound and his nostrils, so that, urged by this evident accusation, he confessed the murder, and was, by the king's own sentence, immediately beheaded."

Origin of 'Baker's Dozen'

2009-09-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

It was the Devil's dozen, thirteen being the number of witches supposed to sit down together at their great meeting or sabbaths. Hence the superstition about sitting thirteen at a table. The baker was an unpopular character and became a substitute for his satanic majesty.

Tuning a Dowsing Rod

2009-08-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

I have seen dowsing rods with a well or chamber in which you put a sample of the element or substance you are searching for...the idea being that of sympathy/resonance as in like attracts like so these comments and instructions were worth posting;

"If a piece of the same wood as that of which the rod is composed, be placed under the arm, it will totally destroy the operation of it, except in the instance of water, for which any rod, they say, in any hand will answer; or if the least animal thread, as silk, or worsted (wool), or hair, be placed on the top of the rod, it will prevent its operation; but if a piece of the same animal substance, or of the same wood as that of which the rod is made, provided the rod does not answer, be placed under the arm, it will cause the rod to rotate.

If a piece of gold be held in the hand and touching the rod, it will prevent its being attracted by that metal or by copper, for the rod will be repelled towards the face; or if iron, lead, tin, silver, limestone, bone, or coal, be held in like manner, it will also be repelled, and vice versa.

If a person with whom the rod does not naturally operate, hold a piece of gold in his hand, the rod then answers to gold and copper; and thus with respect to the other metals and substances; and upon these properties of the rod depends its power of distinguishing one metal or substance from another.

Another mode however, grounded upon the same principles, is pointed out as being much more ready and certain, viz. by preparing rods that will ONLY answer to some one of the aforementioned substances. The mode of preparing them is by boring a small hole in the top of the rod, and by putting into it a very small quantity of each substance, except that after which search is to be made; the hole is then to be stopped up with a piece of the same wood of which the rod is made."

Curious claim of Mercury/Vacuum Perpetual Motion

2009-08-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find any additional information about this. Is there some odd effect between mercury and vacuum that we are missing or was this a hoax? Why would a royal lend credibility to it with his name if it didn't work?

Mechanics Magazine, March 26, 1842;

"Perpetual motion by a drum with one vertical half in mercury, the other in a vacuum; the drum, I suppose, working round forever to find an easy position. Steam to be superceded; steam and electricity convulsions of nature never intended by Providence for the use of man.

The price of the present engines, as old iron, will buy new engines that will work without fuel and at no expense. Guaranteed by the Count de Predaval, the discoverer.

I was to have been a Director, but my name got no further than ink, and not so far as official notification of the honor, partly owing to my having communicated to the Mechanic's Magazine information privately given to me, which gave premature publicity, and knocked up the plan."

Experiments with Perpetual Motion

Infinite Power

2009-08-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

You might have seen a quote by inventor Nikola Tesla which evokes mystery and much curiosity about how it could be done;

"Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe."

That quote comes from a book called "Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency by Nikola Tesla" where Tesla describes his discovery of one wire power transmission as demonstrated to drive a motor with just one wire.

"It is quite possible, however, that such "no-wire" motors, as they might be called, could be operated by conduction through the rarefied air at considerable distances. Alternate currents, especially of high frequencies, pass with astonishing freedom through even slightly rarefied gases. The upper strata of the air are rarefied.

To reach a number of miles out into space requires the overcoming of difficulties of a merely mechanical nature. There is no doubt that with the enormous potentials obtainable by the use of high frequencies and oil insulation luminous discharges might be passed through many miles of rarefied air, and that, by thus directing the energy of many hundreds or thousands of horse-power, motors or lamps might be operated at considerable distances from stationary sources.

But such schemes are mentioned merely as possibilities. We shall have no need to transmit power in this way. We shall have no need to transmit power at all.

Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe.

This idea is not novel. Men have been led to it long ago by instinct or reason. It has been expressed in many ways, and in many places, in the history of old and new.

We find it in the delightful myth of Antaeus, who derives power from the earth; we find it among the subtile speculations of one of your splendid mathematicians, and in many hints and statements of thinkers of the present time.

Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic?

If static our hopes are in vain;

if kinetic—and this we know it is, for certain—then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature.

Of all, living or dead, Crookes came nearest to doing it. His radiometer will turn in the light of day and in the darkness of the night; it will turn everywhere where there is heat, and heat is everywhere. But, unfortunately, this beautiful little machine, while it goes down to posterity as the most interesting, must likewise be put on record as the most inefficient machine ever invented!

The preceding experiment is only one of many equally interesting experiments which may be performed by the use of only one wire with alternate currents of high potential and frequency.

We may connect an insulated line to a source of such currents, we may pass an inappreciable current over the line, and on any point of the same we are able to obtain a heavy current, capable of fusing a thick copper wire. Or we may, by the help of some artifice, decompose a solution in any electrolytic cell by connecting only one pole of the cell to the line or source of energy. Or we may, by attaching to the line, or only bringing into its vicinity, light up an incandescent lamp, an exhausted tube, or a phosphorescent bulb.

However impracticable this plan of working may appear in many cases, it certainly seems practicable, and even recommendable, in the production of light. A perfected lamp would require but little energy, and if wires were used at all we ought to be able to supply that energy without a return wire."

Absorption and Interchange of Vital Force

2009-07-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

In my early years, I was a student of occultism, both light and dark magic. One of the traditions associated with the dark side is the release of life force through sacrifice so that the energy is absorbed by the magician or directed into producing some magickal effect.

Some killers report a 'rush' as their victim dies in their presence and I often wonder if mass murderers, whether one person (Daumer, Gates, etc.) taking out a series of victims, or soldiers and politicians (Hitler, Pol Pot, etc.) who order mass killings, might gain some power which they could redirect to alter their reality and give them more power and control over others.

In the instances below, the purpose is for healing and rejuvenation of the older by sapping/absorbing the life/vital force of the younger.

"We know that it is healthy to live in an atmosphere filled with the restorative emanations given out by bodies young and full of vigor. We see in the third book of Kings that David lay with comely damsels to warm him and to give him a little strength.

According to Galen and others, Greek doctors had long recognized in the treatment of sundry consumptions, the advantage of making the patients take nourishment from the breast of young, healthy nurses; and experience had taught them that "the effect is not the same when the milk is given after being caught in a vessel."

Cappivaccius saved the heir of a great house in Italy fallen into marasmus (marasmus n. A progressive wasting of the body, occurring chiefly in young children and associated with insufficient intake or malabsorption of food.), by making him lie betwixt two vigorous young girls.

Forestus tells how a young Pole was cured of marasmus by spending the days and nights with a nurse of twenty years; and the effect of the remedy was as prompt as it was successful.

Finally, to bring this subject to an end, Boerhaave used to tell his disciples of having seen a German prince cured by this means, employed in the same way which had succeeded so well for Cappivaccius. There is not a housewife but knows that it is not good for a child to sleep with an aged person, though the latter enjoy perfect health.

If we seek for such a general instance of the influence of one human being on another as may seem like that mutual loss and gain and interchange of vital force, which is the principal wonder in mesmerism, we have only to look at the effects produced when young people sleep with old.

Since the days of King David it has been known that the latter are strengthened at the expense of the former... I was acquainted with an infirm old lady, who was so aware of the benefit that she derived from sleeping with young people, that, with a sort of horrid vampirism, she always obliged her maids to share her bed, thus successively destroying the health of several attendants.

Even among animals it has been found that the young cannot be too closely associated with the old without suffering detriment. Young horses standing in a stable with old ones become less healthy.

The celebrated German physiologist, Hufeland, has remarked the longevity of school masters, and he attributes it to their living so constantly amidst the healthy emanations of young persons."

Boomerangs and Perpetual Motion Machines

2009-07-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

The idea behind gravity driven perpetual motion machines is to achieve and sustain a continual over-balance so that one half of the weight on one side of the rotating wheel is always heavier than the half on the other side.

So I wondered if a boomerang type off-balanced weight might be adapted somehow to a gravity fed wheel?

"Some German scientists, seeking to discover the secret of the boomerang's curious flight, caused a party of Australian natives to give an exhibition of boomerang throwing at Munster.

The instruments used were of two sizes, the larger being a slender crescent about two feet long, two and a quarter inches wide, and a quarter of an inch thick, made of an extraordinary heavy Australian iron work.

This boomerang was jerked up into the air about 100 yards, when it flew straight away, then turned to the left and returned in a curved line back to the thrower, whirling around constantly and whizzing unpleasantly.

One badly directed projectile fell through a spectator's hat with a cut as clean as that of a razor.

A manufacturer, who has made some 11,000 toy boomerangs, believes that the mystery of shape lies in the sharper curvature in the middle, with unequal length of the two arms, which must be made of equal weight by unequal thickness.

The peculiarity of motion is due to the difference in the length of the arms, which diverges the curve of rotation from the circular."

"The short end of the boomerang stands up about 1 inch when the long end is lying flat on the table.

The length of the arms is in a ratio of 4:5. However, the long arm has to be exactly as heavy as the short one, so it must be somewhat thinner. The bend near the middle forms an angle of about 140 degrees.

It is especially important that the fibers of the wood have the same angle as the bend. If you saw or carve the boomerang out of a piece of wood in which the grain is perfectly straight, it will break when it hits.

Probably the most essential part of construction is giving the boomerang an angle to the wind. When the long arm is lying flat on the table, the short end should stand about 1 inch away from the table top."

Writing cast in Iron

2009-07-09T01:30:00.000-07:00

Fascinating and worth trying today.

"A curious and noteworthy instance of foundry work is reported. It consisted of three plates of cast iron about one-fourth of an inch, and seven by five inches in surface, covered with writing indented in the iron.

The impression on the iron is made by writing on thin paper, pinning the paper in a mold and then pouring on the iron.

The writing thus transferred to the plates when the iron is cooled is wonderfully clear and distinct, and is so deeply imprinted as to defy any attempt at erasure."

What is the secret of Musk?

2009-07-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

In alchemy, oil is the essence of life for all things. That includes organics and inorganics. You can actually extract the oil from gold, silver, etc. and use drops of it as medicine for treating a variety of symptoms.

"A tincture is a medicinal extract in an alcohol solution. The alcohol is used to extract and preserve the resins and other soluble material from the plant."

I have wondered what would happen if you took oil drops from a variety of precious metals to aid health and possibly produce rejuvenation/regeneration of the body.

Another form of tincture, according to my late alchemist friend Hans Nintzel, is when you prepare hot coffee or tea, you will find a very thin, oily film on the top of very still fluid in a cup. That is the tincture which is the released oil from the leaves.

Would that mean in the following puzzling claim, that the oil in the musk had not dissipated over those ten years?

I have also been told by people who claim to be able to transmute elements, that lead converted to gold will not be ductile or shiny since the oil that is impregnated in the natural generation process is not there. This alchemical gold is not only brittle but dull in color.

These same people claim that some companies check the metal to determine if it is natural or artificially made by checking these characteristics. They also say the way to get around it, is to mix natural gold with artificial gold so that the oil in the natural gold imbues some of its properties to the combined metal. And that this will fool the test equipment and not raise suspicions that the seller is a practicing (and successful) alchemist.

"A grain of musk has been kept freely exposed to the air of a room, of which the door and window were constantly open for ten years, during all which time the air,

though constantly change, was completely impregnated with the odor of musk,

and yet at the end of that time the particle was found not to have sensibly diminshed in weight."

The Land Sailing Chariot

2009-06-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

"A chariot, on wheels, to be impelled by the wind, was constructed, in the last century, by Stephinus, at Scheveling, in Holland, and is celebrated by many writers.

It's velocity is said to have been so great, that it would carry eight or ten persons from Scheveling to Putten, which is distant forty-two English miles, in two hours.

The body of the carriage is driven before the wind by sails and guided by a rudder.

The wheels require to be farther asunder, and the axletrees longer, than in ordinary carriages, to prevent overturning.

Carriages of this kind are said to be frequent in China; and in any wide level country, must be sometimes both pleasant and profitable.

The great inconvenience attending the machine is, that it can only go in the direction the wind blows, and even not then, unless it blows strong; so that after you have got some way on your journey, if the wind should fail, or change, you must either proceed on foot, or stand still.

The Hollanders have small vessels, somewhat of this description, which carry one or two persons on the ice, having a sledge at bottom instead of wheels; and being made in the form of a boat, if the ice break, the passengers are secured from drowning."

Choosing a King

2009-06-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

For sure, if I had to have a king, I would want someone very clever like this guy;

"The Tyrians having been much weakened by long wars with the Persians, their slaves rose in a body, slew their masters and their children, and then seized on their houses and wives whom they married.

The slaves having thus got possession of all, consulted about the choice of a king, and agreed that he who could first discern the sunrise should be king.

One of them, being more merciful than the rest, had, in the general massacre, spared his master Straton, and his son, whom he hid in a cave, and to his old master he now resorted for his advice as to his competition.

What was Straton's advice?

Straton advised his slave, that when others looked to the east he should look towards the west.

Accordingly, when the rebel tribe had all assembled in the fields, and every man's eyes were fixed upon the east, Straton's slave, turning his back upon the rest, looked only westward.

He was scoffed at by everyone for his absurdity, but immediately he espied the sunbeams upon the high towers and chimneys in the city, and announcing the discovery, claimed the crown as his reward.

Antediluvian Patriarchs

2009-06-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Only Noah lived before and after the Flood. The question is why did lifespans decrease so dramatically in the years since the flood, where humans now average only 70 years though once apparently lived +900 years?

Adam lived - 930 years
Seth - 912 years
Enos - 905 years
Canaan - 910 years
Mahalaleel - 895 years
Jared - 962 years
Enoch - 365 years
Methusalem - 969 years
Lamech - 777 years
Noah - 950 years

Timed Poison

2009-06-07T02:01:00.000-07:00

While reading an old book, I came upon a belief that venom and poison could be 'tuned' to only become effective at a desired time after being taken. You could poison someone and nothing happens until its time is reached, then the person dies.

It reminded me of the claims of Dim Mak which is supposed to have been used to kill Bruce Lee. Also called the Death Touch, it involved sudden, rapid pressure applied to a point of the body related to the organ you wish to fail. The Chi circulates through all organs in the body over a 24 hour period, so by 'bruising' the Chi/Blood, when it reached the organ at a specified time after the application of the death touch, it caused failure.

Under the administration of Cardinal Louveis, during the reign of Louis XIV, an Italian apothecary having assisted the lover of the Marchioness of Brinvilliers, who had been sent to the Bastille, to poison the father and brother of the lady, emprisonment immediately became the topic of the day,

and a superstitious opinion was soon generated among the multitude, that druggists and philosophers can compose venoms, which operate, not at the season of administration,

but at definite remote periods; that they can draw drafts upon death payable at one, two or three usances, or even at one, two or three years after acceptance of the order; and that these drafts are unfailingly discharged at their elapse, without a protest or a day of grace.

Not only Quintilian and Theophrastes were ransacked for corroborations of this mischievous credulity; but the annals, or rather the libels, of the modern Italians, were pressed into the service of these calumniators of human nature...

The jealousies of domestic life once inflamed, women thought their innocence, and men their security concerned, in inveighing with bitterness indiscriminate against the buyers of this elixir. Every sudden, every lingering, every conspicuous, every critical diseas was ascribed to the Aqua Tofana. The chief distributors were soon rumoured to be the Italian apothecary Exiii, who administered for secret disorders...

Gilt Beards

2009-05-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

There was a French Bible, printed at Paris in 1538, by Anthony Bonnemere, wherein is related;

"that the ashes of the golden calf which Moses caused to be burnt, and mixed with the water that was drank by the Israelites, stuck to the beards of such as has had fallen down before it; by which they appeared with gilt beards, as a peculiar mark to distinguish those which had worshipped the calf."

This idle story is actually interwoven with the 32nd Chapter of Exodus. And Bonnemere says, in his preface, this French Bible was printed in 1495, at the request of his most Christian Majesty Charles VIII; and declares further that the French translator;

"has added nothing but the genuine truths, according to the express terms of the Latin Bible; nor omitted anything but what was improper to be translated!"

So that we are to look upon this fiction of the gilded beards as matter of fact; and another of the same stamp, inserted in the chapter above mentioned, viz., that;

"Upon Aaron's refusing to make gods for the Israelites, they spat upon him with so much fury and violence that they quite suffocated him."

Odd Stone Burial Chambers

2009-05-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

"The sketch represents a chamber which was discovered in a barrow, situated near Paradis, in the parish of the Vale, in the Island of Guernsey. On digging into the mound, a large flat stone was soon discovered; this formed the top, or cap-stone, of the tomb, and on removing it, the upper part of two human skulls were exposed to view.

One was facing the north, the other the south, but both disposed in a line from east to west. The chamber was filled up with earth mixed with limpet-shells, and as it was gradually removed, while the examination was proceeding downwards into the interior, the bones of the extremities became exposed to view, and were seen to greater advantage.

They were less decomposed than those of the upper part; and the teeth and jaws, which were well preserved, denoted that they were skeletons of adults, and not of old men.

The reason why the skeletons were found in this extraordinary position it is impossible to determine..."

Pearls from Britain?

2009-05-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

Never knew this, I always thought pearls were from the ocean.

"The river Conway, in North Wales, was of considerable importance, even before the Roman invasion, for the pearl mussel (the Mya Margaritifera of Linnaeus) and Suetonious acknowledged that one of his inducements for undertaking the subjugation of Wales was the pearl fishery carried forward in that river.

According to Pliny, the mussels, called by the natives Kregindilin, were sought for with avidity by the Romans, and the pearls found within them were highly valued; in proof of which it is asserted that Julius Caesar dedicated a breastplate set with British pearls to Venus Genetrix, and placed it in her temple at Rome.

A fine specimen from the Conway is said to have been presented to Catherine, consort of Charles II, by Sir Richard Wynne, of Gwydir; and it is further said that it has since contributed to adorn the regal crown of England.

Lady Newborough possessed a good collection of the Conway pearls, which she purchased of those who were fortunate enough to find them, as there is no regular fishery at present.

The late Sir Robert Vaughan had obtained a sufficient number to appear at Court with a button and loop to his hat, formed of these beautiful productions, about the year 1780."

Instinct in a Cat

2009-05-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

I love stories about animals helping to discover killers so this from an old book;

The following anecdote almost places the cat on a level with the dog;

"A physician of Lyons was requested to inquire into a murder that had been committed on a woman of that city. In consequence of this request he went to the habitation of the deceased, where he found her extended lifeless on the floor, weltering in her blood.

A large white cat was mounted on the cornice of a cupboard, at the far end of the apartment, where he seemed to have taken refuge. He sat motionless, with his eyes on the corpse, and his attitude and looks expressing horror and affright.

The following morning he was found in the same station and attitude, and when the room was filled with officers of justice, neither the clattering of the soldier's arms, nor the lout conversation of the company, could in the least divert his attention.

As soon, however, as the suspected persons were brought in, his eyes glared with increased fury, his hair bristled, he darted into the middle of the apartment, where he stopped for a moment to gaze at them, and then precipitately retreated under the bed.

The countenances of the assassins were disconcerted, and they were now, for the first time, abandoned by their atrocious audacity."

More on the Devil as the cause for Civilization

2009-05-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

I had posted the article about the Devil and Civilization to the KeelyNet Interact group and the response was about those who came AFTER the Garden of Eden to mould and influence humanity as it grew. Here is my response to those who missed the point;

"Yes, there is no question, at least in my view, that mankind has been influenced by beings with various purposes by the introduction of knowledge, science, art, etc...AFTER the garden.

My point was the causal effect allowed for all that FOLLOWED who took advantage of the new capacity of man once Adan and Eves minds had been expanded by the consumption of the Apple, thanks to the influence of the serpent.

A causal effect from which all else sprang, if we can believe any of it as true.

I've read that mankind has been kickstarted and destroyed by 'gods' many times in their quest to find the right mix of mind and body.

I'd never thought of this prior to reading the quoted article about the Ophites and why they believed as they did.

Today we have brain enhancing chemicals that boost cognition and intellect, so it is possible a chemistry laden fruit such as an apple might expand the minds of Adan and Eve simply by eating it.

So why would 'god' leave such a thing hanging around and just hope his two pets wouldn't try it?

I don't leave my shoes lying on the floor as a temptation for my puppy to 'find' a new chew toy.

There is a book about Jehovah and other 'gods' being rogue scientists with very long lifespans who originated from another star system...they came to biotinker the apes into versions of man, but the timeframes for their projects were too long, so they figured out how to basically immortalize themselves by rejuvenation techniques.

It was interesting that they tried chemical and cell manipulation, using injections that caused growth of extra organs, hands and feet on the wrong places on their body.

Biologist Jehovah realized the formation of the body was controlled and sustained by the energy field we call the aura....and that the mind could indirectly influence this aura....from this realization he developed a pre-sleep technique (where our bodies heal and regrow best, during sleep)...

where he would relax every part of his body, then do it again and envision his body as young and healthy. The claim in the book is when done properly, this envisioning technique reprograms the aura which slowly forces the physical body to grow to match the reprogrammed aura.

After this discovery and practical proof, they developed technology which would program their aura each night and during sleep so that the aura stayed locked into the desired pattern.

Much like the discovery of the L-Field of today by Dr. Harold Saxton Burr;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-field

http://www.l-field.org/

Anyway, other reports of 'gods' such as Zeus claim the ability to transform into animals....so did some 'god' transform into a talking snake solely to tempt Eve to eat the Apple?

What a mischief maker he/she must have been! From such a seemingly insignificant act, human civilization sprang...

And how long did Adam and Eve live in blissful ignorance in the garden before the serpent said screw this, we need to liven this joint up...hey you, yeah, lady....all these years and you've never tried that sweet red fruit, why not give it a shot?

I think I like the serpent...mischief is fun...

For those who seek to control the masses, the last thing they want is independent thought and action...

Often I wonder how many incredible inventions have been created and demonstrated in attempts by the inventor to get it to market...but big oil, pharmceuticals and even governments either buy it out and lock it away or put it under a national secrecy act OR threaten to kill the inventor, his/her family and friends...

No telling what is hidden away in that big warehouse the movies suggest is the location of the Ark of the Covenant (its really in the temple in Axun) or other fascinating objects.

So why can't remote viewers and psychics extract the tech details of these locked away things?

Imagine what a concentrated sponsored effort to find and recover this information could bring back to civilization.

One thing I see are tons of patents for interesting, proven devices but they never seem to be brought to market even though in my view they would definitely sell.

It would be a great project for one or more investors to fund a psychic recovery team to drag this lost/hidden information out of the swamps and back into the light."

Thank the Devil for Civilization

2009-05-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

What would have happened to humanity if Eve had not eaten the apple in the Garden of Eden?

Would we still be wandering around naked, stupid and at the beck and call of our 'creator'?

"The Ophites were a sect who, like most Gnostics, regarded the Jehovah of the Old Testament with great abhorrence.

Regarding the emancipation of man from the power and control of Jehovah as the most important end, they considered the serpent who tempted Eve and introduced 'knowledge' and 'revolt' into the world, to have been the great benefactor of the human race.

They worshiped the serpent, and sought to engrapht Ophism upon Christianity by causing the bread designed for the Eucharistic sacrifice to be licked by a serpent which was kept in a cave for the purpose, and which the communicants kissed after receiving the Eucharist."

The very word hermetic means the hidden knowledge of magic, occult sciences, etc. Not only was the serpent worshipped by the ignorant pagans as "The Great Benefactor" for mankind, the serpent ironically enough was worshipped also as "The Great Enlightener."

What did Satan say to Adam and Eve besides, "Ye shall not surely die?"

In Genesis 3:5 we read: "FOR GOD DOTH KNOW THAT IN THE DAY YE EAT THEREOF THEN YOUR EYES SHALL BE OPENED, AND YE SHALL BE AS GODS, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL."

So, Who's your Daddy???

Sleep Composition

2009-05-12T21:49:00.001-07:00

We often hear of discoveries and solutions coming from dreams, so add these to the list;

"Condorcet is said to have attained the conclusion of some of his most abstruse, unfinished calculations in his dreams.

Franklin makes a similar admission concerning some of his political subjects which, in his waking moments, sorely puzzled him.

Sir J. Herschel is said to have composed the following lines in a dream;

'Throw thyself on thy God, nor mock Him with feeble denial;
Sure of His love, and, oh! sure of His mercy at last!
Bitter and deep though the draught, yet drain thou the cup of thy trial,
And in its healing effect, smile at the bitterness past.'

Goethe says in his 'Memoirs,' "The objects which had occupied my attention during the day often reappeared at night in connected dreams. On awakening, a new composition, or a portion of one I had already commenced, presented itself to my mind. In the morning I was accustomed to record my ideas on paper."

Coleridge composed his poem of the 'Abyssininian Maid' during a dream.

Something analogous to this is what Lord Cockburn says in his 'Life of Lord Jeffrey.' "He had a fancy that though he went to bed with his head stuffed with the names, dates and other details of various causes, they were all in order in the morning; which he accounted for by saying that during sleep 'they all crystallized round their proper centres.'"

Blunders of Painters

2009-05-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Artists sometimes play jokes by putting in peculiar objects in their works, so the following shows it is not a new trend.

"Tintore, an Italian painter, in a picture of the Children of Israel gathering manna, represents them armed with guns.

In Cignoli's painting of the circumsion of the infant Saviour, the aged Simeon has a pair of spectacles on his nose.

In a picture by Verrio of Christ healing the sick, the by-standers have periwigs on their heads.

A Dutch painter, in a picture of the Wise Men worshipping the Holy Child, has drawn one of them in a white surplice, and in boots and spurs, and he is in the act of presenting to the children a model of a Dutch man-of-war.

In a Dutch picture of Abraham offering up his son, instead of the patriarch "stretching forth and taking the knife," he is represented as holding a blunderbuss to Isaac's head.

Berlin represents in a picture the Virgin and Child listening to a violin.

A French artist, in a painting of the Lord's Supper, has the table ornamented with tumblers filled with cigar lighters.

Another French painting exhibits Adam and Eve in all their primeval simplicity, while near them, in full costume, is seen a hunter with a gun, shooting ducks."

Monkey Vengeance

2009-04-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of people using animals to take revenge on their enemies. In Japan and India, monkeys are revered and allowed to do as they wish. This old article is a perfect example of 'Who, ME?';

"Monkeys in India are more or less objects of superstitious reverence, and are, consequently, seldom or ever destroyed. In some places they are even fed, encouraged, and allowed to live on the roofs of the houses.

If a man wished to revenge himself for any injury committed upon him, he has only to sprinkle some rice or corn upon the top of his enemy's house, or granary, just before the rains set in, and the monkeys will assemble upon it, eat all they can find outside, and then pull off the tiles to get at that which falls through the crevices.

This, of course, gives access to the torrents which fall in such countries, and house, furniture, and stores are all ruined."

Charity instead of Pomp

2009-04-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

I see people with money so consumed with personal vanity that they dissipate what could help so many others much less fortunate.

Lavish weddings, vacations/trips, jewelry/bling, gadgets, multiple homes, pampering/spoiling kids, etc., etc, AD NAUSEUM.

Mostly to get attention and be noticed as well I suspect as some sick idea that this proves they are better than others.

Every now and then, someone comes along and does something marvelous...they exhibit beneficence without need of thanks or payback.

Such a case I found in an old book where poor and starving people were helped for a few days on the death of a decent man of some means;

"According to the 'Annual Register' for August, 1760, there were expended at the funeral of Farmer Keld, of Whitby, in that year,

one hundred and ten dozen of penny loaves,
eight large hams,
eight legs of veal,
twenty stone of beef (fourteen pounds to the stone),
sixteen stone of mutton,
fifteen stone of Cheshire cheese,
and thirty ankers of ale,

besides what was distributed to about one thousand poor people, who had sixpence each in money given them."

Faith and Mob-Wisdom

2009-04-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've seen a quote, "Public opinion is but the average stupidity of mankind." This has never been so well proven as the cult following for the current president. So I found an analogous story;

"A singular instance of a mob cheating themselves by their own headlong impetuosity, is to be found in the life of Woodward, the comedian.

On one occasion, when he was in Dublin, and lodged opposite the Parliament House, a mob who were making the members swear to oppose an unpopular bill, called out to his family to throw them a Bible out of the window.

Mr. W. was frightened, for they had no such book in the house, but he threw out a volume of Shakespeare, telling the mob they were welcome to it.

They gave him three cheers, swore the members upon this book, and afterwards returned it without discovering its contents."

Thou Shalt not practice 'Daggering'

2009-04-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

Representatives of some hospitals revealed that more men have been fracturing their penises in recent months than any other time in Jamaica. Checks with urologists in some of the country's major hospitals have revealed that the "noticeable increase" in the number of cases where men fracture their members is largely attributed to the men's obsession with daggerin', aka rough sex.

Another surgeon from that facility said the majority of cases that come to the hospital are a result of extremely vigorous sex or, in most recent popular terms, 'daggeration'. "It's possibly daggerin' people tend to have a predisposition to rough sex," the surgeon said.

"(So) during very rigorous intercourse, the penis slips out and in an attempt to ram it back in, the man hits the woman's pubic bone and pops the penis." The doctors could not confirm if any of the cases regarding the broken penis took place when the men were doing the dance version of daggerin' as opposed to rough intercourse.

In a story published last September, Dr Alverston Bailey, a past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica, warned that men who suffered a penile fracture should immediately seek medical assistance as leaving it unattended might cause the penis to be permanently deformed or they might become impotent.

Bailey continued that when the penis was fractured there was a loud popping sound, followed by excruciating pain and significant swelling, causing the penis to appear deformed. He noted that in some cases, blood might be seen coming from the organ.

Yes, I know, human penises don't have bones but apparently the cartilage breaks. Oddly enough that is one of the two key things that indicate humans don't originate from planet earth, but probably came from Mars when we screwed up that homeworld.

Only animals have bones in their penii and if a human is placed in an artificial light environment without any sunlight..such as a cave, the daily cycle will be 25 hours, not 24. Just so happens a Martian day is 25.1 hours which could mean that we originated there. - Source

The Telepathic Nose

2009-04-17T23:56:00.001-07:00

There are researchers who claim body parts, though separated, remain connected over distance...unlimited distance. But as the tissues decay, the link is quenched. This article caught my interest;

"Van Helmont tells a story, of a person who applied to Taliacotius to have his nose restored. This person, have a dread of an incision being made in his own arm, for the purpose of removing enough skin therefrom for a nose, got a labourer, who, for a remuneration, suffered the skin for the nose to be taken from his arm.

About thirteen months after, the adscitious nose suddenly became cold, and, after a few days, dropped off, in a state of putrefaction.

The cause of this unexpected occurrence having been investigated, it was discovered that, at the same moment in which the nose grew cold, the labourer at Bologna expired."

Losing weight by restricting intake

2009-04-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

A diet that makes sense from an old book;

"A gentleman, of great respectability in the mercantile world, who weighed thirty-two stone nine pounds, put himself upon a strict diet of four ounces of animal food, six ounces of bread, and two pounds of liquid, in twenty-four hours.

In one week he lost thirty pounds weight, and in six months he was diminished the astonishing quantity of one hundred and thirty pounds. His health and spirits were much improved, and considering his remaining size of twenty-three stone, he was very active."

I think by animal food he just means meat but no specifics.

A stone is about 14 pounds so initially he was 32 X 14 = 448 + 9 = 457 pounds.

At the end of the ariticle he weighed 23 X 14 = 322 pounds.

So he lost 135 pounds. Not too shabby.

The Hypnotic Gaze of Snakes

2009-04-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, there was in the news an article about the discovery of a device to detect beams from the eyes. This article might have some connection to the use of such eyebeams to fascinate and paralyze a victim;

"Some animals are held in universal dread by others, and not the least terrible is the effect produced by the rattle-snake. Mr. Pennant says, that this snake will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree, on which a squirrel is seated.

He fixes his eyes on the animal, and from that moment it cannot escape; it begins a doleful outcry, which is so well known that a passer by, on hearing it, immediately knows that a snake is present.

The squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes down again, then goes up and afterwards comes still lower. The snake continues at the bottom of the tree, with his eyes fixed on the squirrel, and his attention is so entirely taken up, that a person accidentlly approaching may make a considerable noise, without so much as the snake's turning about.

The squirrel comes lower, and at last leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already distended for its reception.

Le Vaillant confirms this fascinating terror, by a scene he witnessed. He saw on the branch of a tree a species of shrike trembling as if in convulsions, and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another branch, a large species of snake, that was lying with outstretched neck and fiery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal.

The agony of the bird was so great that it was deprived of the power of moving away, and when one of the party killed the snake, it was found dead upon the spot-and that entirely from fear-for, on examination, it appeared not to have received the slightest wound.

The same traveller adds, that a short time afterwards he observed a small mouse in similar agonizing convulsions, about two yards from a snake, whose eyes were intently fixed upon it; and on frightening away the reptile, and taking up the mouse, it expired in his hand."

Real Life Benjamin Button

2009-04-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Wonderful movie though very bizarre so it was surprising to find this historical tidbit with a similar story...born old;

"Margaret Krasiowna, of the village of Koninia, Poland, died 1763, aged 108. The following extraordinary circumstances are stated, by Eaton, as connected with the life of this woman: 'At the age of ninety-four she married her third husband, Gaspard Raycolt, of the village of Ciwouszin, then aged one hundred and five.

During the fourteen years they lived together she brought him two boys and a girl; and, what is very remarkable, these three children, from their very birth, bore evident marks of the old age of their parents-their hair being grey, and a vacuity appearing in their gums, like that which is occasioned by the loss of teeth, though they never had any.

They had not strength enough, even as they grew up, to chew solid food, but lived on bread and vegetables, they were of a proper size for their age, but their backs were bent, their complexions sallow, with all the other external symptoms of decrepitude.'

'Though most of the particulars', he adds, 'may appear fabulous, they are certified by the parish registers. The village of Ciwouszin is in the district of Stenzick, in the palatinate of Sendonier. Gaspard Raycolt, the father, died soon after, aged 119."

Another take on Spontaneous Generation

2009-04-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

There is a phenomenon where fish bearing lakes and ponds dry up, leaving only cracked, dusty earth with no moisture. Yet when water returns to refill these reservoirs, so too do the fish.

One of the claims is that fish eggs are buried deeply underground where there might be sufficient moisture to keep them fertile, just waiting for the waters to return.

I happened on this alternate version which could also explain it;

"It is generally well known that birds are very active agents in the extension of vegetation, and that fruit and flowers are, to a great extent, rendered prolific by the insects which visit their blossoms; but few people are aware of the means through which fish are formed in lakes and ponds, which are not connected with other waters.

Here, also, an insect is the principal agent. The large water-beetle, which is in the habit of feeding upon the spawn of fish, occasionally in the evening climbs up the stems of rushes, etc. out of the water, sufficiently high to enable it to take wing; in these circumstances it has been caught, and putting it into water, has been found to give out the spawn with which it had gorged itself previous to taking flight, both in a digested and undigested state; so that, on trial, it has been found that it produced fish of various kinds."

In one of my very favorite and most inspiring old books, 'The Annotated Dweller on Two Planets', which I just happen to sell as a downloadable ebook for $6.00, there is a wealth of claims about ancient civilizations with incredible inventions. One of these is the vailx, a flying ship claimed to be very common at the time.

The book is quite fascinating and would make an excellent movie. It is a wonderfully explicit illustrated science fantasy written in 1883-1884. It describes many fascinating concepts including the NAVAZ force which today we call aether/zpe, how transmutation was done, sound and video broadcasting, curing criminals with magnetic fields, 'praying' matter into existence, altering matter with concentrated thought, the VAILX flying cylinders, condensing gallons of water from the air using the NAVAZ force and a wealth of other material that you will correlate to modern discoveries.

Cryptic comments such as, 'Night is as pregnant as day', 'NAVAZ the night-side of nature', 'repulsion by levitation', 'vibration of the One Substance' and 'treasures of the hail (cold)'. Also included is a missing chapter explaining how matter is 'tuned' to lockin and become the different elements as well as additional supporting material. - 315 page eBook - $6.00

As these vailx airships traversed the earth, the book says it was common practice for the passengers to throw out seeds of many plants as an offering to Zania, goddess of the harvest, so that plants not native to a region could be spread the more easily.

Odd notes from History

2009-04-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

Every so often you might chance on a list of peculiar events of note...so this list caught my eye though I have removed what I consider the boring parts;

From Arthur Hopton's 'Concordancie of Years, 1615'

1077 - A blazing star on Palm Sunday, nere the sun.
1116 - The moone seemed turned into bloud.
1128 - Men wore haire like women.
1231 - Thunder lasted fifteen daies; beginning the morrow after St. Martin's day.
1233 - Four sunnes appeared, beside the true sunne, of a red colour.
1292 - The Jewes corrupting England with usury, had first a badge giuen them to weare, that they might be knowne, and after were banished to the number of 150,000 persons.
1361 - Men and beasts perished in diuers places with thunder and lightning, and fiends were seene speake unto men as they trauelled.
1401 - Pride exceeding in monstrous apparrell.

Ufos? Celestial events? Peculiar weather? And that weird one about the Jews getting kicked out for practicing usury...apparently history repeats...would that we didn't have usury these days, the world would I think be a much better place.

Definition of Usury;

1. The practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate.
2. An excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money.

The credit card companies should be bound by this no usury idea!

I believe usury is also forbidden in the Koran, but have to check if that is true for the Bible.

From the Koran

The Quran forbids usury, not interest. Quite a few states in USA have laws against usury. Usury is defined as excessive interest. A Dictionary defines usury as "an excessive or inordinate premium for the use of money borrowed", "extortionate interest", or "the practice of taking exorbitant or excessive interest." The Arabic language also makes distinction between interest (Fa'eda) and usury (Reba). The Quran forbids Reba or usury.

From the Bible

25 " If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.
'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.
37 'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. (Leviticus 25:35-37)
You shall not charge interest to your brother -- interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.
20 "To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess. (Deuteronomy 23:19,20)

What is the Secret in the Thighs?

2009-04-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today there is much research done in the field of stem cells which act as undifferentiated tissue to match the form of surrounding tissues and grow new healthy tissue. So this peculiar comment caught my attention;

"Bridget Behan, of Castle-waller, in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, retained the use of all her powers of body and mind to the close of her long life, 110 years, in 1807. About six years preceding her death she fell down stairs, and broke one of her thighs.

Contrary to all expectation, she not only recovered from the effects of the accident, but actually, from thence, walked stronger on this leg, which, previously to the accident, had been a little failing than she had done for many years before.

Another remarkable circumstance relating to this fracture was, that she became perfectly cured of a chronic rheumatism of long standing, and from which on particular occasion she had suffered a good deal of affliction. A short while before her death she cut a new tooth."

Beggars as Sistine Chapel models

2009-04-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

So famous painters often used beggars and indigents as models for their most famous paintings. Perhaps because poor people have a harder life and so might have more interesting features reflecting their tribulations.

Fuseli, in his life of Michael Angelo, says that 'a beggar rose from his hand the patriarch of poverty.' The same artist, in one of his lectures, delivered at the Royal Academy, also observes, that 'Michael Angelo ennobled his beggars into Patriarchs and Prophets, in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.'

Annibal Caracci frequently drew subjects in low life. His 'Cries of Bologna', etched by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli; published in 1660, in folio, are evidently from real characters. It will also be recollected, that some of the finest productions of Murillo, Jan Miel, and Drogsloot, are beggars. Callot's twenty-four beggars are evidently from nature; and among Rembrandt's etchings are to be found twenty-three plates of this description.

Sir Joshua Reynolds frequently painted from beggars, and from these people have originated some of his finest pictures, particularly his 'Mercury as a Pickpocket,' and 'Cupid as a Link-boy.' His Count Ugolino was painted from a pavior (street paver), soon after he had left St. George's Hospital, from a severe fever. Mr. West painted the portrait of a beggar, on the day when he became a hundred years old; and considered him as a pensioner for several years afterwards.

Walking on water, an Old Thing

2009-04-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

I have always found it of interest that in the legends of Jesus, he showed no miracles until he disappeared at the age of 13 and came back 17 years later at the age of 30. Only then was he able to carry out the miracles mentioned in the bible.

There are stories that he traveled around the world through a vast network of underground tunnels, which allowed him to visit other cultures and learn their magickal techniques...kind of a trick swapping trip.

In Tibet there is a bible much like the early christian bible and claimed to have been written by a Saint Issa, a stranger from a faroff land who came to live and study with the Tibetans.

In Mexico there is a similar legend of Quetzalcoatl who also came from afar to study the secrets of local magic.

So I found a peculiar book that tells of India having a very old tradition of men walking on water as Jesus is said to have done;

"The act of walking on water is in India to be regarded merely as one of several ways of crossing water magically, all of which are frequently illustrated in the literature. The other ways are to walk through water that has magically been reduced in depth, and to fly across the water (or, to disappear and suddenly reappear across the water).

These three ways are not marked off from one another by hard and fast divisions, but sometimes in variants of the same story are interchangeable. They come from a period of great antiquity, the earliest instances appearing in the Rigveda and being therefore not later than 800BC and are again all securely founded on native Indian metaphysical doctrines.

These doctrines provide four means of accomplishing the miracle: first, religious act; second, the magic power of truth, being a specialized variant of the first; third, the psychic power of levitation; and fourth, the magic aid of the Buddha-this last means having affinities to the first and third...

There is another point to be observed in connection with these legends. As far as the text gives us specific information the rivers became passable not because they ceased flowing and provided passage on dry land, as did the Jordan for the Hebrews, not because they became solid as we shall later see the Euphrates did for Alexander, not because the men obtained some magic power that enabled them to overcome the law of gravity and walk on the surface of the water, as did Jesus, Peter, and many Indian characters, but because their depth was lessened and they were made fordable.

Of all the ways that rivers coud be crossed magically, this is the simplest and the one most likely to be inspired in literature by some actual occurrence...

In the same way the Hebrew legend of passing through the Red Sea is explained as based on the rising of a mighty wind that blew back the waters, a possible historical incident to which later tradition added supernatural elements, with the result that we not only find one miracle of divided waters in the Old Testament, but others secondarily derived from it concerning the Jordan, which can have no such rational basis."

For my money, I think Jesus learned how to reduce or cancel body weight from the Tibetan technique of Lung Gom Pa. If one could reduce body weight to almost nothing, walking across water without sinking would be a piece of cake.

Nicotine as a cure for various illnesses

2009-04-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when I was a teenager working as a carhop, I burned my thumb and it hurt like hell. The wife of the boss didn't have any medicine handy but said she would use something her grandmother used on them.

She took a piece of regular paper, wadded it up and burned it in a coffee dish. When it was completely burned, she blew the ashes away and there remained an oily brown residue. She rubbed this on my thumb and the pain stopped a few minutes later and it healed up with no problems.

The lady said it is the paper in cigarettes which cause cancer and that is why people who smoke cigars don't get cancer, because the paper is made from tobacco leaves which also contain nicotine as in the tobacco being smoked. Now of course, that was probably some kind of creosote in the paper she burned but it worked and I experienced it myself.

Creosote Bush - Dissolves Kidney and Bile Duct Stones, Used to Fight Rheumatism and Favors the Rapid Healing of Wounds.

Aztec Method of Use

To Dissolve Stones: Boil 5 grams of leaves to 1/4 liter of water, drink 1 to 2 cups a day.
For Rheumatic Pain: Rub on the affected area the same mixture described above.
For Rapid Healing of Wounds: Foment warm on affected area the same mixture as above.

So I was browsing for goodies and found this REALLY OLD article about the origins of tobacco smoking but it is written in very old english...so I am going to snip out the useful parts and translate to modern english. Noli me tangere as used in the document is Latin and means 'don't touch me';

"Master John Nicot, Counselor to the King, being Ambassador for the King in Portugal, in the years of our lord 1559, 60 and 61, went one day to see the person of the King of Portugal, and a gentleman being the keeper of the said prisons presented him this herb, as a strange plant brought from Florida;

the same Master Nicot, having caused the said herb to be set in his garden, where it grew and multiplied marvelously, was upon a time advertised, by one of his pages, that a young man, a kin to that page,

made a poultice of that herb bruised, both the herb and the juice together upon an ulcer which he had upon his cheek near unto his nose, coming of a Noli me tangere which had taken root already at the gristles of the nose, wherewith he found himself marvellously eased.

Therefore the said Master Nicot caused the sick young man to be brought before him, causing the said herb to be continued to be applied to the sore for eight or ten days, this aforesaid Noli me tangere, was utterly extinguished and healed; and he had sent it, while this cure was working, to a certain physician of the King of Portugal of the most fame, for to see the further working and effect of the said Nicotine, and sending for the same young man at the end of ten days, that the said Noli me tangere was utterly extinguished, as in deed he never felt it since.

Within a while after, one of the cooks of the said Ambassador having almost cut off his thumb, with a great chopping knife, the steward of the house of the said gentleman, used the said Nicotine plant, and dressed him (the cook) with the poultice five or six times, and so in the end thereof he was healed; from that time forward this herb began to be famous throughout all Lisbon, where the court of the King of Portugal was at that present, and the virtue of this said Ambassador's herb!

Wherefore there came certain days after, a gentleman of the country, father to one of the pages of the Ambassador, who was troubled with an ulcer in his leg, having had the same for two years, and demanded of the said Ambassador for his herb, and using the same in such order as is before written, at the end of ten or twelve days he was healed.

From that time forth the fame of that herb increased in such sort, that many came from all places to have that same herb. Among all others there was a woman that had her face covered with a ringworm rooted, as though she had a 'visour/visor' on her face, to whom the said L Ambassador caused the herb to be given her, and told how she should use it, and at the end of eight or ten days, this woman was thoroughly healed, she came and showed herself to the Ambassador, showing him of her healing.

After there came a captain to present his son, sick of the Kings 'euill' (scrofula) to the said Ambassador, for to send him to France, unto whom there was made a poultice of the Nicotine, which in a few days did begin to show great signs of healing, and finally was altogether healed of the kings 'euill'.

The Ambassador seeing so great effects proceeding of this herb, and having heard say that the Lady Montigny that was died at Saint Germans, of an ulcer bread in her breast, that did turn to a Noli me tangere, for which there could never a remedy be found, and likewise that the Countess of Ruffe, had sought for all the famous physicians of the realm, for to heal her face, unto whom they could give no remedy, he thought it good to communicate the same into France, and did send it to King Frances the 2nd; and to the Queen Mother, and to many other Lords of the Courts with the manner of using the same; and how to apply it unto the said diseases, even as he had found it by experience; and chiefly to the Lord of Jarnac, governor of Rogell, with whom the said Lord Ambassador had great amity for the service of the King.

The which Lord of Jarnac, told one day at the Queens table, that he had caused the said Nicotine to be distilled, and caused the water to be rdunk, mingled with water Euphrasie, otherwise called 'Eyebright', to one that was short breathed, and was therewith healed." - Joyfull News out of the newe found worlde, 1577 - Black Letter

And after typing all this up, I did a search and found a URL for the medicinal uses of tobacco that you might find of further interest.

I find it fascinating that nicotine is claimed to cause cancer and yet here it seems to cure diseases, possibly cancer in a kind of homeopathic, 'law of similars' reverse way.

Law of Similars - A pharmacologically active substance administered to a person in good health triggers a series of symptoms. When these same symptoms appear in a sick person they can be cured by administering the same substance in a micro dose. A very common example of this is Ipecac. When taken in a large doses Ipecac causes vomiting; when taken in a very small dose it is one of the best remedies for nausea and vomiting. This principle was known to two ancient physicians, Hippocrates (400 B.C.) and Paracelsus (1493), but it was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that it was actively investigated.

Wonder if you drink the juice and apply a poultice to breast and other cancers, if it might help to cure it?

I don't trust much written these days since who knows how many are in the employ of the tobacco companies who just want you to buy their cigarettes. Getting some tobacco leaves would make this very easy to test for a variety of sores and maybe even cancers...if I catch something, have to remember to try this!

A 'new' take on Perpetual Lights

2009-04-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

I have always been fascinated by stories of perpetual lights oft discovered in tombs which have been sealed for hundreds of years. Reports say when they are exposed to daylight, they are quenched and no longer function.

No one has ever offered a satisfactory explanation let alone duplicated the effect. They could use tritium which produces a dim light but only for about 12-20 years or so.

So I was intrigued by mention of this mysterious glowing water and how to produce it taken from the notes of Albertus Magnus (the spelling is exactly as written);

"If thou wylt make a Carbukle stone, or a thyng shyning in the nyght. - Take verye many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and put them beaten smale in a bottel of glasse, and close it, and burye it in hoate horses doung, and let it tary xv dayes, afterwarde thou shalte destyll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a vessel of Christal or glasse. It giueth so great clearnesse, that every man may reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make this water of the gall of a snale, the gal of a weasel, the gall of a feret, and of a water dogge: they burie them in doung and destyll water out of them."

Sounds like the beasties that shine in the night are fireflies which contain luciferase as the ingredient which glows but why bury in horse-dung and wait 15 day...

Not a clue what Peralembicum unless it is a description of lab glassware like a retort or alembic to make a still for concentrating the effect into drops.

It is also possible that a short term, self-illuminating phosphorescence is produced from the materials mentioned. I didn't see where it had to be recharged by exposure to sunlight or other light.

Hair Transplants in 1826

2009-04-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

And I thought this was a new thang;

"Signor Nardo recounts the results of experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished by

widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing the root with nicety,

and exciting within the pore itself, by friction, a slight degree of inflammation,

the hair takes root, continues to vegetate, and grows; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and falls."

Belling the Rat

2009-04-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

We know about putting a bell on a cats neck to warn animals of its approach but a RAT?

"A gentleman traveling through Mecklenburgh, some years since, witnessed a singular association of incongruous animals. After dinner, the landlord of the inn placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave a loud whistle.

Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, an Angora cat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat, with a bell about its neck.

They all four went to the dish, and without disturbing each other, fed together; after which the dog, cat and the rat, lay before the fire, while the raven hopped about the room.

The landlord, after accounting for the familiarity of these animals, informed his guest that the rat was the most useful of the four; for the noise he made had completely freed his house from the rats and mice with which it was before infested."

Coal Pit water for Embalming

2009-04-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

An odd news item from the register of St. Andrew's, in Newcastle states;

"April 24th, 1695, were buried James Areher and his son Stephen, who, in the month of May, 1658, were drowned in a coal-pit in the Galla-Flat, by the breaking in of water from an old waste.

The bodies were found entire, after they had lain in the water 36 years and 11 months."

Manning up a boy Child

2009-04-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

In the education of their children, the Anglo-Saxons only sought to render them dauntless and apt for the two most important occupations of their future lives-war and the chase.

It was a usual trial of a child's courage, to place him on the sloping roof of a building, and if, without screaming or terror he held fast, he was styled a stout 'herce', or brave boy. - Howel

The Cat Clock

2009-04-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

This is an intriguing bit of lore that is worth posting;

One day when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese Christians peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad, who was taking a buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we passed, whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at the sun, but it was hidden behind thick clouds, and he could read no answer there.

"The sky is so cloudy," said he; "but wait a moment;" and with these words he ran towards the farm, and came back a few minutes afterwards with a cat in his arms. "Look here," said he, "it is not noon yet;" and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with his hands.

We looked at the child with surprise, but he was evidently in earnest; and the cat, though astonished, and not much pleased at the experiment made on her eyes, behaved with most exemplary complaisance.

"Very well," said we; "thank you;" and he then let go the cat, who made her escape pretty quickly, and we continued on our route.

To say the truth, we had not at all understood the proceeding; but we did not wish to question the little pagan, lest he should find out that we were Europeans by our ignorance. As soon as ever we reached the farm, however, we made hast to ask our Christians whether they could tell the clock by looking to the cat's eyes.

They seemed surprised at the question; but as there was no danger of confessing to them our ignorance of the properties of the cat's eyes, we related what had just taken place. That was all that was necessary; our complaisant neophytes immediately gave chase to all the cats in the neighborhood.

They brought us three or four, and explained in what manner they might be made use of for watches. They pointed out that the pupil of their eyes went on constantly growing narrower until twelve o'clock when they became like a fine line, as thin as a hair, drawn perpendicularly across the eye, and that after twelve the dilation recommenced.

When we had attentively examined the eyes of all the cats at our disposal, we concluded that it was past noon, as all the eyes perfectly agreed upon the point.

Incredible Strength of Fleas

2009-04-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

I'm always interesting in personal flight and from the following article, maybe the Incredible Hulk is a mutation of a flea which allows him to jump so far using incredibly strong leg muscles.

The mexican jumping bean is another curiosity and a proof of inertial, unidirectional propulsion.

"In an old book called 'Invisible World' by M. de Fonvielle, he writes that a flea can raise itself from the ground to a height equal to two hundred times its stature.

At this rater, he says, a man would only make a joke of jumping over the towers of Notre-Dame or the heights of Montmartre. A prison yard would be useless unless the walls were more than a quarter of a mile in height."

You might have seen the new pogosticks which use super elastic bands to allow people to jump 6-10 feet.

In the past, people have used gasoline engines to drive pogo sticks as shown in the attached photo.

And I have a contact who claims he built a piezo electrically driven pogo stick that could break your leg if you didn't ride it at the correct rhythm. His design was very interesting.

When you hit a crystal, it produces electricity using the piezoelectric effect. So when you apply a high voltage pulse to a crystal, it produces a very strong mechanical thrust.

This is the principle for ultrasonic cleaning machines and the piezoelectric flat plates that produce most of the beeps and sounds we hear in our portable devices and computer related toys and devices.

My inventor friend wrapped a coil of wire around the base of a pogo stick. Then he connected a crystal and a very strong magnet.

The magnet was on the sliding rod of the pogo stick so when you pushed it down really hard with your weight, the magnet would induce a current in the coil which would be stored.

When the pogo stick pushed back to throw you into the air, the accumulated current would be applied to the piezo crystal to produce a very strong thrust to push you up with great force.

Cobras as Assassins

2009-04-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

We've heard the stories about cobras mating for life and if you kill one of them, it's mate will track your sorry butt down and kill you in revenge. That came to mind when I found this old story;

"One barbarism of Hindostan used a peculiar form of assassination. The murderer would kill one of a pair of cobras, and drag the body of the snake along the ground into the bungalow, over the floor, and into the very bed of the intended victim.

After a few moments, the dead snake, having accomplished the purpose of leaving an odorous trail directly to the sleeping couch of the intended victim, would be thrown away.

The dead cobra's living mate would infallibly follow the trail to the bed, where it would coil itself at rest, waiting to strike the sleeper."

Tree Oysters

2009-04-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

This interesting anecdote is certainly worth checking up on. Imagine oyster farms where you harvest when the tide is low.

A Mr. C.H. Williams, tells us how oysters inhabit the mangrove woods in Cuba; "For several years I resided in that island, and have several times come across scenes and objects which may people would consider great curiosities-one in particular. Oysters grow on trees, in immense quantities, especially in the southern part of the island.

I have seen miles of trees, the lower stems and branches of which were literally covered with the, and many a good meal have I enjoyed with very little trouble in procuring it. I simply placed the branches over the fire, and when opened, I picked out the oysters wit a fork or pointed stick.

These peculiar shell-fish are indigenous in lagoons and swamps on the coast, and as far as the tide will rise and the spray fly so will they cling to the lower parts of the Mangrove trees, sometimes four or five deep, the Mangrove being one of the very few trees that flourish in salt water."

Detecting the Guilty by lack of Chewing

2009-04-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

From an old book, 'It is a common practice, in many parts of India, to oblige persons suspected of crimes to chew dry rice in the presence of officers of the law.

Curious as it may appear, such is the intense influence of fear on the salivary glands, that, if they are actually guilty, there is no secretion of saliva in the mouth, and chewing is impossible.

Such culprits generally confess without any further efforts. On the contrary, a consciousness of innocence allows of a proper flow of fluid for softening the rice.'

Using currents for discovery

2009-04-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Years ago I read about a mathematician who was conversant in fluid mechanics and understood how to calculate fluid flows, vortices, etc.. As I recall, the guy was a university professor and as a proof to his students of how one could use mathematics for creative purposes, he made a 3D computer model of the city center of Chicago. He then collected meteoroligical data showing wind velocity and directions, then used the placement of buildings to determine where vortices would coalesce and in the doing, perhaps collect lost items like paper money and other items of value.

From this calculate map, he took his students out to each spot where they found pockets of loose bills that netted him several thousand dollars. The students were both delighted and intrigued with this novel project and no doubt it inspired them to concentrate of their studies with regard to practical applications.

I was reminded of this vortices story when I chanced upon this brief article in a very old book;

"In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' (February 8th, 1767), is a curious notice of the mode of discovering the body of a drowned person: "An inquisition was taken at Newbury, Berks, on the body of a child nearly two years old, who fell into the river Kennet, and was drowned. The body was discovered by a very singular experiment.

After diligent search had been made in the river for the child, to no purpose, a two-penny loaf, with a quantity of quicksilver put into it, was set floating from the place where the child, it was supposed, had fallen in, which steered its course down the river upwards of half a mile, before a great number of spectators,

when the body, happening to lay on the contrary side of the river, the loaf suddenly tacked about and swam across the river, and gradually sunk near the child, when both the child and the loaf were brought up with grabbers ready for that purpose."

A case of Inordinate Self-Esteem

2009-04-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

No doubt we all have encountered people very full of themselves who think the world revolves around them and everyone should bow to their magnificence. I found this comment in an 18th century book that expresses this very well. Note it is very old and could be any race of people, it was just the way things were written back them;

Some Frenchmen who landed on the coast of Guinea, found a negro prince seated under a tree on a block of wood for his throne, and three or four negroes, armed with wooden spears, for his guards. His sable majesty anxiously inquired; "Do they talk much of me in France?"

I think its hilarious and well stated.

Cocaine Detecting Flashlight

2009-04-03T12:33:00.002-07:00

What a great invention. Just what we need to further stuff our prison systems… I happen to believe in legal drugs though I don’t use any of it, I think people have the right to use if it they choose and can do it responsibly…hurt no one and damage no property that doesn’t belong to you… If you want to get high by drink or drugs or whatever, its YOUR business, no one elses.

"Police are shining 'magic torches' into clubbers' faces to check for tiny traces of cocaine – and now employers and parents are being encouraged to follow suit. Forces across the country are buying the £40 torches which can make any microscopic particles of cocaine or amphetamine that are invisible to the naked eye appear bright green. Officers say the UV lights work as well as ones costing ten times as much and make it easy to spot the tiniest traces of cocaine on nasal hair.Sgt Alan Clayton said: 'This simple piece of equipment will have a big impact on drug use in pubs and clubs. 'Traces of cocaine are also left on the cheeks and chin that are not visible to the naked eye and these show up bright green, too. It really is amazing.' The torches are produced by Wrexham-based JNE Marketing, intending them to be used to show markings on stolen property. It only realised they could be used to spot drugs when police officers starting asking about them. They will detect cocaine that is at least 87 per cent pure and 78 per cent pure amphetamine of, including some, but not all, Ecstasy pills." - Source

Free Noise

2009-04-03T12:33:00.001-07:00

Check out this website, it offers online noise generation and free downloads. I particularly like the red/brown noise and use the oscillation feature;

"Choose from white noise, pink noise, or brown/red noise. Oscillating or not. Uses of White Noise: * Aid Sleep * Enhance Privacy * Block Distractions * Mask Tinnitus * Configure Audio Equipment * Soothe Migraines * and more..." - - Source

Time Travel Ad

2009-04-03T01:48:00.000-07:00

Odd News Clippings, The page is dated January 15th, 2009 so the adventure might still be open, let me know if anything happens.

Do Not Send Teabags, Only the Labels

2009-04-02T01:22:00.000-07:00

From the Glen Beck Interview

“Bob Basso became a viral sensation in March of 2009 when his two YouTube videos depicting the intellectual British pamphlet writer Thomas Paine garnered over three million viewers. The videos are in response to the banking bailouts, and feature Basso dressed as Common Sense writer Thomas Paine. He offers his political commentary via discussions on the stimulus package and calls for a second American Revolution.

Note: Basso says he was contacted by Congressional Security and told they were so far inundated by teabags which they are throwing in the trash unopened for fear of poisons or controlled substances…

So he says DO NOT SEND A COMPLETE TEABAG, just send the paper handle (label) part so they will get the message. You can also inundate the White house with a Toll Free Call to 1-866-340-9281 which is the Congressional Switchboard that will patch you to your representatives.”

and check out these inspiring videos urging a 2nd American Revolution.

You can send your teabag labels and correspondence to;

Fake Men Kit

2009-03-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

Spray on hair and the whole ball of wax for a new you, though I doubt any of it would last beyond a couple of conquests...

Only $39.98: Imako Cosmetic Teeth.

People who bought cosmetic teeth also bought the $19.98 Magni Ear.

People who bought the Magni Ear also bought the $19.98 Men's Body Shaper.

People who bought the Men's Body Shaper also bought the $7.98 Spray On Hair Color.

For a grand total of $87.92, you can get new teeth, restore your hearing, get rid of your beer belly, and make your baldness go away. What a world we live in! - Source

Ground glass as a poison

2009-03-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

I happened to catch 60 Minutes this Sunday and was saddened to see the poisoning of lions and tigers by a plant pesticide called Furadan solely for the sake of saving the lives of cattle. Now I see the manufacturer is to stop making it.

It reminded me of a story my mother told me, that when she was a little girl, they had a rather obnoxious neighbor who hated all the neighborhood kids. Her father brought her a new puppy which she dearly loved and cared for but which the mean neighbor seemed to take a particular disliking.

The puppy was only allowed outside the yard with my mom (as a little girl) and otherwise stayed in the back and side yards which had an L-shaped fence.

My mom said after about a year with the puppy, one day she came home and found him dead with blood and foam coming from his mouth. She was very upset for several weeks following.

Her father took the body to the local vet where the stomach was cut open and inside he found a ball of hamburger meat which he suspected had been mixed with ground glass. My mom said the vet told them the ground glass had caused massive internal bleeding resulting in death. In an old book I found mention of ground glass thought to be a poison when ingested;

"Sir Thomas Browne experimented with it on dogs and tells us that he gave 'unto dogs above a dram thereof subtilely powdered in butter and paste, without any visible disturbance.' Nevertheless he tells us that 'glass grossly or coarsely powdered is mortally noxious, and effectually used by some to destroy mice and rats.'

This idea that powdered glass is an efficient poison for rats and mice is quite prevalent, but it has been proved by recent experiments made under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture that glass, whether coarsely or finely powdered, has no ill effects upon rats.

Rats were fed for some time on food mixed with the glass and they did not seem to be injured by it. And when examined after being killed, the alimentary canal was found to be in normal condition. So that we may safely relegate the belief in powdered glass as a poison to the list of popular fallacies."

I did a check on the net and found this very good article about it at Snopes.

Something to shoot for...

2009-03-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

The state of 'Ataraxia'...

The state of tranquility achieved by ignoring all the bullshit you are told.

Synonymous with the only true happiness possible for a person. It signifies the detached and balanced state of mind that shows that a person has transcended the material world and is now harvesting all the comforts of philosophy.

One's inability to say which sense impressions are true and which ones are false, it is quietude that arises from suspending judgment on dogmatic beliefs or anything non-evident and continuing to inquire.

Apply judiciously in your life...

Some recent items of interest

2009-03-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some updates to the KeelyNet Blog you might want to check out;

KeelyNet Blog - 03/26/09

Dateline NBC - Sunday 03/29/09 7PM - F/E scam exposed

Algae propel themselves by “singing”

Free energy labeled ‘economic terrorism’

Coming Soon To eBay and Paypal: The Taxman

EU leader condemns US ‘road to hell’

Building a Brain on a Silicon Chip

Scientists in possible cold fusion breakthrough

If superconducting sheets reflected gravitational waves…

Oil Companies Buy Rights to Access Water Before Communities & Farmers

Face movements to control gadgets

2009-03-26T00:11:00.000-07:00

Interesting new device but they aren't for sale just yet.

Move over Samantha with your nose twitch! Stick your finger in your ear. Now smile, or wink, or wrinkle your nose. Can you feel the inside of your ear move? That's the idea behind a Japanese invention called the "Mimi Switch". The device looks like a pair of earbuds but instead of containing speakers, they contain tiny infrared sensors that measure the movements inside your ears that are generated by different facial expressions. Inventor Kazuhiro Taniguchi says: "You will be able to turn on room lights or swing your washing machine into action with a quick twitch of your mouth. An iPod can start or stop music when the wearer sticks his tongue out, like in the famous Einstein picture. If he opens his eyes wide, the machine skips to the next tune. A wink with the right eye makes it go back." - Source

Reverse Terrorism tactic

2009-03-26T00:00:00.001-07:00

On the news a week or so back, (don't recall the URL), some scientist says in future terrorists might infect insects like mosquitos with some toxin or virus and spread them by the billions to randomly infect their targets.

So, with regard to controlling mosquito populations, why not make something that mosquitos will be attracted to...some kind of fake blood where they would stick their little suckers into a saturated sponge, drink up and die minutes later.

Instead of just repelling them, kill them.

Did a simple search and found this about Terrorists could use ‘insect-based’ biological weapon;

"Jeffrey Lockwood, professor of entomology at Wyoming University and author of Six-legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War, said such Rift Valley Fever or other diseases could be transported into a country by a terrorist with a suitcase.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think a small terrorist cell could very easily develop an insect-based weapon.”

He continued: “It would be a relatively easy and simple process.

“A few hundred dollars and a plane ticket and you could have a pretty good stab at it.”

Governments, he advised, needed to have robust “pest management infrastructure that’s able to absorb and respond to an introduction” of infected insects, he said."

Does it seem like I am enamoured of skeeters? Not really, not in the least, just happen to find articles or have thoughts regarding them. Here in central Mexico our rainy season doesn't begin til mid May and run til mid October, thats when we get skeeters.

I read that skeeters don't like sprayed Listerine which I tried last year with some success, but this year I'm trying a plugin vapor strip in addition to my insect zapper light. Here they have coils that you light and they put off fumes but they are really bad for your lungs so I don't use them.

Birdseed for muscle pain

2009-03-24T03:24:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking its a waste to copy entire items between the KeelyNet Blog and this Odd Factoid block, so instead I'll take turns with the URLS for whichever blog has the whole story...it will save me time and you only have one click (or not) to read if you are interested in it.

Can't do that with KeelyNet since I don't have each item as a separate webpage and thus a separate URL, so its just between the blogs.

"...he said he had sore muscles every now and then but had visited Jorgina in a local sports store and she told him to buy some birdseed, the kind you feed to canaries and make a tea to drink or a poultice to rub on the sore muscle. He said he made a poultice, applied it and the muscle pain went away in a short time…" - Source

Jerk Drive

2009-03-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

I've always been somewhat of a student of unidirectional drives. These involve methods to redirect force into a single direction, which can be sideways, down or UP. There is much literature on the subject and several patents but I won't go into those, leaving you to do your own research.

I found something in an old book which I'd not seen before and so am sharing it with you;

In certain curious boat races held at some English regattas as explained by Professor W.W. rouse Ball, in his 'Mathematical Recreations and Problems', he says;

"...it affords a somewhat curious illustration of the fact that commonly a boat is built so as to make the resistance to motion straight forward less than that to motion in the opposite direction.

The only thing supplied to the crew is a coil of rope, and they have (without leaving the boat) to propel it from one point to another as rapidly as possible. The motion is given by tying one end of the rope to the afterthwart and giving the other end a series of violent jerks in a direction parallel to the keel.

The effect of each jerk is to compress the boat. Left to itself the boat tends to resume its original shape, but the resistance to the motion through the water of the stern is much greater than that of the bow, hence, on the whole, the motion is forwards. I am told that in still water a pace of two or three miles an hour can thus be attained."

A practical experiment to show how redirected centrifugal force can produce drive is seen here;

Mosquitoes on a Bender

2009-03-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the commercial for Tabasco sauce where the guy drinks a bottle, then sits alone in a semi-darkened room, hot and sweaty. The camera zooms in on a buzzing mosquito looking for an opportunity to take her bite.

The man remains calm and allows the mosquito to land on his arm, insert her proboscis and suck until she is so fat she can barely fly. The mosquito has trouble taking off but as she flies off in a zig-zagging, drunken path, belly swollen with blood, suddenly she explodes from the heat of the Tabasco. The man shows a wry smile and the commercial ends.

Well, I came across a funny story about getting mosquitos drunk. I never heard of putting down a bloody steak to attract them but it sounds like a good idea. I know when they breed mosquitos for lab tests, they fill a sponge full of blood and the mosquitos drink from that. This isn't the complete story as its rather long, but the gist of it follows;

"Night before last, in order to sleep, we placed a piece of raw beefsteak on a plate at the head of our bed. In the morning it was by the mosquitoes sucked as dry of blood as an old sponge, and our skin saved at least two thousand perforations. All about the room, in the morning, were the mosquitoes, plethoric with blood, loaded till they could not fly. We killed a few, but the job was too sanguinary, so we left them to their feast.

Last night, in order to get even with the serenading devils, we steeped half a pound of fresh beefsteak in some old rye whiskey, and left it on a plate by the bed. Nothing like being hospitably inclined.

In ten minutes after the light was extinguished, a swarm of these backbiting bill-posters made an advance movement. One of them caressed us sweetly on the nose-he sent in his bill-there was a slap-a diluted damn-a dead mosquito! Soon we heard a tremendous buzzing about the whisky-soaked beef. The entire mosquito family came singing in, and such an opera-good Lord delivers us! But they did not disturb us with bites.

We fell asleep, to be awakened in ten minutes by the worst mosquito-concert ever. We raised a light and the greatest show of the season was there to be seen. Every mosquito was drunk as a blind fiddler... Talk about shows, concerts, dog-fights, amputations, circuses, negro funerals, draw-poker, sparking, or other amusements, there is nothing to be compared to a flock of mosquitoes on a bender. If you don't believe it, fix them up with a piece of beefsteak soaked in whiskey, and laugh your sides sore at the antics the drunken warblers cut."

Evil Eye, Telekinesis and Eyebeams

2009-03-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

All those times we read about where one can actually FEEL when someone is looking at us, now apparently proven with equipment.

What if these newly discovered eyebeams can be used as verification of the evil eye which is used to intentionally (or not) transmit sickness or a curse to a victim by a person envious, jealous, or covetous and who wishes their victim misfortune? The evil eye is used by a person seeking to harm you, your children, your livestock, or your fruit trees, etc. simply by looking at them.

Additionally, through eyebeams, we might be able to extend the influence of our mind through psychokinesis, to exert sufficient mental force to move objects or to produce telekinetic effects in the form of movement of objects, however tiny (a grain of salt or air molecules to create wind) or even a large object such as an automobile, building, or bridge.

"Noted psychiatrist and author Colin A. Ross, M.D., today announced his patent application for a system to detect the electromagnetic energy emitted by the human eye.

Dr. Ross has been researching a new science and medicine focused on the human body's electromagnetic field, which will be detailed in an upcoming book, "Human Energy Fields." In his research, Dr. Ross has discovered proof that the eye emits electromagnetic energy that he calls an "eyebeam."

He calls his invention an Electromagnetic Beam Detection System for which he has filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. "The experimental proof of the reality of the human eyebeam is crucial in developing the science of human energy fields," said Dr. Ross.

"The existence of the human eyebeam has been dismissed by psychologists, physiologists, physicists and virtually all modern scientists. This represents a big step forward." According to Dr. Ross' application, the electromagnetic beam detection system can be used as a switch and can turn on or off any electrical device. It functions like a clapper light, but uses the electromagnetic energy emitted through the eyes instead of the sound of a hand clapping.

Dr. Ross has sent the link for the U.S. Patent Office application to James Randi (www.randi.org) and is waiting to hear from him about the status of his $1 Million Paranormal Challenge, in which he claims that he can make a tone sound out of a computer using a beam of energy he sends out through his eyes. Dr. Ross' proposed Challenge protocol is available on his web site (www.rossinst.com). / Dr. Ross' patent application for the EBDS can be viewed at: http://patft.uspto.gov/ Click on: Publication Number Search Enter: 20090046246" - Source

My Quest for Practical Gravity Control

2009-03-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

Quite simply, Gravity is NOT a pull, Gravity is a PUSH from the zero point energy field into mass.

Think of it as bubbles under water where the water is pressing on the bubble trying to implode it.

In the case of matter, zero point energy pushes into the neutral centers of mass to not only create it but also give it materiality.

We are held to the planet like wind pushing flies against a wirescreen.

As zero point energy flows into the neutral centres of mass, the effect of gravity and weight are produced. We can RESTRICT this flow using technology to reduce and even cancel 'weight'.

I am seeking funding to re-discover how to control the flow of gravity into local mass to produce weight reduction for practical use, based on my own discoveries of gravity and how it works. Make me an offer. - Source

Got Questions?

2009-03-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

I notice one of the gadgets available for Blogger blogs is one called Wish which is listed numerous times in the selection list. At first I put it on here, but don't particularly like it.

Magic 8 Ball is more my style except you only get the limited options on the ball. The I Ching is another option but again, the hexagrams limit the answers. The luck of the draw indeed and the heart of games of chance.

When you use an entire book as a randomized source for finding answers to a question, I think your chances, due to a very wide selection of options, are much better to get something useful...yes, I am a hybrid...about 3/4 science and 1/4 weird, if not more.

The use of a book to 'divine' the future or answer a question is called Bibliomancy and in the past, the Bible was the most used book for this purpose. I found a bit about this;

Bibliomancy, or divination by the Bible, had become so common in the fifth century, that several councils were obliged expressly to forbid it as injurious to religion, and savouring of idolatry.

This kind of divination was named Sortes Sanctorum, or Sortes Sacra, Lots of the Saints, or Sacred Lots; and consisted in suddenly opening, or dipping into the Bible, and regarding the passage that first presented itself to the eye, as predicting the future lot of the inquirer.

The Sortes Sanctorum had succeeded the Sortes Homericae, and Sortes Virgilianae of the Pagans; among whom, it was customary to take the work of some famous poet, as Homer or Virgil, and write out different verses on separate scrolls, and afterwards draw one of them; or else, opening the book suddenly consider the first verse that presented itself, as a prognostication of future events.

Even the vagrant fortune-tellers, like some of the gypsies of our own times, adopted this method of imposing upon the credulity of the ignorant...

The nations of the East retain the practice to the present day....it was found necessary to ordain in the council of Vannes, held A.D. 465, 'that whoever of the clergy or laity should be detected in the practice of this art, should be cast out of the communion of the church.'

War changes Weather

2009-03-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

There have been questions about the claims and effectiveness of 'hail cannon' which use focused explosions to disrupt clouds before hail has formed. This is to protect crops from the damage done from hailstorms.

So, I happened across a review of an old book published in Silesia, with the name of 'Aphorisms, respecting the Influence of War on the Atmosphere, Weather and Fertility on the Earth' which records the authors' observations regarding said effects.

If a cubic foot of gunpowder, when it explodes, exercise a force equal to twenty-nine millions of pounds, it by these means produces a great change in the elasticity of the air; the whole mass of the atmosphere within a large circumference is violently torn, and billows of air are produced, which roll themselves upwards and agitate the vapours contained in them.

It cannot therefore be denied, that the discharging of firearms and cannon during battles and sieges, and even at great military troop reviews, must have an influence on the atmosphere and on the state of the clouds and weather. The author quotes instances, in the time of the Seven Years War, of clouds and vapours being dispersed by the explosions of the cannon, and asserts that during his travels through the Tyrol, he saw on several occasions, to use his own expression, the clouds 'shot dead.'

He observed in the neighborhood of Leignitz, while the regiment of Wartensleben were going through their exercise, that the clouds were broken by the explosions, and that the murmuring of the wind and the agitation of the leaves of the trees and small feathers suspended from any body, were sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, according as the troops fired by battalions or companies.

The barometer rose and fell at each explosion, and water in a vessel at a distance of five hundred paces was violently agitated. There have been instances of the noise by heavy cannonades being heard at the distance of more than forty miles.

It is natural to suppose, too, that the thunder of cannon must penetrate even into the interior parts of the earth, and to the bottom of the sea; and Dutch fishermen have, accordingly, remarked that every great naval engagement had the effect of frightening the fish far away from the scene of action, near which none are to be met with for a long time after.

Additionally, the quantity of gunpowder fired in time of war may have a sensible effect on the fertility of gardens and fields.

I Shoot Power! (Reverse Speech)

2009-03-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Just a word on why I chose the photo at the top of Odd Factoids. It is from our ZapDallas show that Chuck Henderson and Ron Barker did with me in 1988. It involved a 2.3 million volt Tesla coil and the picture is me 'shooting' sparks from thimbles with soldered nails to keep from burning my fingertips.

I had met David Oates, founder of Reverse Speech and found out he lived about 6 blocks from my house in Dallas so we hung out. His house had faulty wiring so the lights would dim when he had too many things plugged in, much like the hilarious Lisa Douglas character on the TV comedy 'Green Acres' overloading the generator. We talked of software that would allow people to do speech reversals and the possibility of applying it to EVP (electro-voice phenomena, ergo, talking with the dead).

Now I see David has a killer program for $79.95 that does what the little reversible, adjustable speed tape recorder does, but on the computer.

At the time, I took his novice course with about 20 other folks who paid $1,000 for the course. Since reverse speech HIDES NOTHING, David passed around a tape recorder and asked each of us to state our name, why we were here and what we wanted from this course...he warned us if we had anything we didn't want known, to skip this process. But everyone recorded the information which David played in reverse at slower speeds.

It seems spontaneous speech contains reversals which show up when the speaker hesitates, stutters or stumbles with words. One girl in our class was a bit butch and I suspected she had some sugar in her tank. When David played her statements back in reverse, the tape clearly said, 'I love women!'. We all turned to look at her and she was mortified with a very red face...but Dallas is pretty urbane so it meant nothing to any of us.

When it came time for David to play my statements, again, very clearly, in reverse I said 'I shoot power!'...which David translated as meaning I spread information, which I have always done before the KeelyNet BBS by networking with friends, then with the BBS, now on the Internet. So, I figure this photo is a good representation of shooting power/information. Tada!

Kaleidoscope as a novel Random Number Generator

2009-03-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Supposing a kaleidoscope contains just twenty small pieces of glass and that you make ten changes every minute, it will take the inconceivable space of 462,880,899,576 years and 360 days to go through the immense variety of changes it is capable of producing; amounting to an eternity. Or, if you take only twelve small pieces, and make ten changes every minute, it will then require 33,264 days, or 91 years and 49 days, to exhaust its variations.

Floating a Plane on PingPong balls

2009-03-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Speaking of ping-pong balls, they appear to be incredibly strong and buoyant as in this little tidbit;

Odd Tide Theory

2009-03-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

Another peculiar idea that might have merit, so how can we put something like this into practical use on a smaller scale?

It reminds me of the 'butterfly effect' claimed by David Hamel where he says off balance magnets will continually try to find equilibrium and in the process move forever.

Mr. W. Martin, the inventor of a supposed perpetual motion machine, has proposed the following ingenious hypothesis, respecting the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the tide. When a boy, he says, he used to amuse himself by blowing up a pea upon the end of a tobacco-pipe; and he observed, that while the pea performed its revolutions around the end of the pipe, it also oscillated, in some degree, like a small pendulum. He concludes that this circumstance will sufficiently account for the ebbing and flowing of the tide in the following manner: As the earth goes round once in twenty-four hours, and makes four vibrations in that time, floating upon the atmospheric air similiar to the pea upon the end of the tobacco-pipe, and being influenced by the north and south poles, cannot find a resting-place, it is thereby made to vibrate like a pendulum, which causes the tides to flow at regular periods. Were there no moon, says Mr. Martin, the tides would still continue regularly to ebb and flow, only with this difference, that there would be no spring tides.

Remedy for too much Anesthesia

2009-03-21T02:27:00.000-07:00

Incredible what miracles common sense can produce, check this out;

You never hear of a man dying in France while under the influence of chloroform. Several years ago a patient in a Paris hospital was undergoing an operation, when the chloroform seemed to be having too great an influence over his heart. An old nurse from the country who was present raised his feet and lowered his head. In a few seconds the pulsation became normal, and this simple remedy or precaution has been adopted in hundreds of cases since, and always with success.

Minimal Heat, small bites as the Secret of Health in China?

2009-03-21T02:03:00.000-07:00

I've always thought it wasn't natural for us to eat hot foods since we originated by eating warm or cold food sources. I think excess heat can add to the possibility of throat, stomach, colon, prostate cancer and other digestive ailments.

In my opinion cancer is caused by long term inflammation and excessive stimulation like the hard pressing and squeezing for mammograms. Just eat your food warm. Hmm, does the opposite apply? That we shouldn't also eat COLD foods? Nahhh...its the inflammation and burning that creates the problems. So here is the quote from my cave archives;

The Chinese live in houses where the supply of air is so limited that no European could endure the vitiated atmosphere; yet they are a very healthy nation. This is due probably to the fact that their food is invariably simple and clean and thoroughly well cooked. Meat, potatoes, and rice are all boiled together. When cooked the mixture is put into small bowls, and as it is eaten with tiny chopsticks, it is impossible to try the mouth or stomach by scalding them with a quantity of very hot food. Moreover, they rarely drink water if they can get tea, either hot or cold.

Doctor's Bills in China

2009-03-21T01:44:00.001-07:00

A tidbit from an old book that would make for a great healthcare system for any country! No honey, no money...

We Occidentals only pay our doctors when we are sick, and sometimes not even then. The Celestial method, as shown by the example of the Emperor of China, is to pay the doctor only when one is well.

As soon as the Emperor is sick it is notification to his physicians that their salary is cut off till he is perfectly well again. The passionate zeal with which the regulars go to work to get his majesty back where their salaries will begin again is said to be something astounding. The result is tha the Emperor is about the healthiest man standing on this planet, and his physicians seldom lose a day's salary.

The Flapping of a Fly's Wing

2009-03-21T01:11:00.000-07:00

Now you might ask, who gives a flip about such a seemingly trivial thing...

Well, its because skeeters are supposedly sensitive to an ultrasonic frequency around 22,000 cycles per second (22khz) or maybe a bit more. And the reason it is supposed to work is because their wings beat at that frequency.

Notice that this is ONLY for female mosquitos who are the only ones who suck...yeah, thats it...suck.

Check this out;

The slow flapping of a butterfly's wing produces no sound, but when the movements are rapid a noise is produced, which increases in shirllness with the number of vibrations.

Thus the house fly, which produces the sound F, vibrates its wings 21,120 times a minute, or 335 times a second; and the bee, which makes a sound of A, as many as 26,400 times, or 440 times in a second. On the contrary, a tired bee hums on E, and therefore, according to theory, vibrates its wings only 330 times a second.

Now what happens if we play around with frequencies to get some reaction from these insects?

There is more that I discovered years ago, but I ain't telling cause it might be COMMERCIAL...and I need the money to fund my lab!

Welcome to Odd Factoids!

2009-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Not really ready to start as I have to familiarize myself with Blogger, but looks easy enough.

The purpose of this blog is just for fun and a bit of edification if you like odd, bizarre, curious and interesting factoids that have been lost in history. I love that kind of stuff as there is no telling what you'll find by perusing old books and documents.

So that is what I intend to post here...things that you might find of interest or not...if not, then skip to the next one.

We'll see how much time I have to expend on responding to comments or questions but I'll try it.

I'll gather a few oddities and post them in the next day or so. Thanks for checking into my blog and feel free to return for new posts.