The Faerie Queene - Book 2

by Edmund Spenser

?The Second Booke of the Faerie Queene contayning The Legende of Sir Guyon or of Tempaurance.? The Faerie Queene was never completed, but it continues to be one of the most beautiful and important works of literature ever written. Spenser wrote it as a paean to the Virgin Queen Elizabeth, and to the golden age which she had brought to England. Sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh and commended by the foremost literary minds of his day, Spenser?s book remains one of the crowning poetic achievements of the Elizabethan period.(Summary by Annise) N.B. One file has versions by different readers - the zip file contains both.

mp3 and ogg files

Total running time: 6:22:50
In addition to the readers, this audio book was produced by:
Book Coordinator: Kirsten Ferreri, Miss Stav
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Annise

We might think perfect pitch is an innate talent. Well, a study in the American Journal of Human Genetics is providing some evidence for that.

Perfect pitch, aka absolute pitch, is the rare ability to name or recreate musical notes like A or middle C without using any comparable reference.

But in a closer study of 73 families researchers found a region of genes on chromosome eight in those with perfect pitch and from European ancestry. More study is needed to zero in on just which gene or multiple genes might be responsible. And for comparison they intend to study individuals without perfect pitch but with equivalent musical training.

There is some evidence that babies have the ability for absolute pitch, so researchers for this study theorize that maybe most lose this ability with age, but that what a so-called pitch gene does is extend this talent through a crucial period in childhood.

I was thinking about you today. I was thinking about how badly you want to make mini pies, but how you don?t have mini pie tins, and therefore you?ve been walking around depressed due to your lack of mini pies. So I came up with a soultion for you! Hand pies! No tins required.

You can use whatever filling you want. Really. Blueberries, strawberries, apples, pears, whatever floats your boat. If it?s juicy (like berries) add a couple tablespoons of cornstarch so the filling thickens as it bakes. You could even do a more savory filling like sweet potatoes if you want. Or if you don?t have time for cutting fruit or mixing berries and sugar, use your favorite jam or preserves. I won?t tell.

*If you want to freeze these and then reheat them in a pop-up toaster like poptarts, skip the sugar so it doesn?t burn up when you toast it. If you?re going to use a toaster oven, you can sugar them or frost them with a simple powdered sugar and soymilk glaze.

Pakistani scholar Farhat Hashmi entered Canada in October 2004 on a visitor?s visa, has twice been denied permission to work, and was ordered to leave the country in September 2005.  Yet she is still here.  In the meantime, she has founded al-Huda Islamic Centre of Canada, a girls? school in Mississauga where she teaches a strict Islamist interpretation of the Koran.

Ms Hashmi encourages her girls to allow their husbands to marry more than once.  She has also taught that an earthquake in Kashmir was divine punishment for ?immoral activities?.  Hmmmm.  Islamists seem to have a penchant for attributing natural disasters to God?s vengeance against certain degenerates and reprobates.

The basis of Ms Hashmi?s work permit application was an offer of employment from the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which still wants her to stay to teach Muslim girls.

Vintage Coke Cans

President Barack Obama has done truly amazing things in his short time on the national political stage. Given not just his audacious policy agenda, but his place in American history and the almost comatose GOP brand, it is easy to assume that Barack Obama will coast to a second term in 40 short months. But politics and life often have other plans.

Could Obama be a one-term president?

the Museum of online museums

Welcome to the MoOM. The galleries are updated continuously, and new exhibitions are hung each quarter.

The Museum Campus

The Permanent Collection

Galleries, Exhibitions and Shows

Foto-Mosaik-Edda Creates Stunning Photo Mosaics

To use Foto-Mosaik-Edda you need a pool of source images?the bigger the better, as they recommend 2000 or more?and the actual image you want to base the mosaic off. In the case of our sample image we used 1,800 images of Marilyn Monroe and found that Foto-Mosaik-Edda did an excellent job using the variety of images we provided.

Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said Holder planned to "follow the facts and the law."

A move to appoint a prosecutor is certain to stir partisan bickering that could create a distraction to Obamas efforts to push health care and energy reform. Obama has repeatedly expressed reluctance to having a probe, saying the nation should be "looking forward and not backwards" when it came to Bush-era abuses.

"I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the presidents agenda," Holder told Newsweek. "But that cant be a part of my decision."

Report: IDF and Iran already Engaged in Cyber War

(IsraelNN.com) While Israel has publicly refrained from striking Iran, a secret ?cyber war? may have already begun, according to ABCs Simon McGregor-Wood. Clandestine computer battles are used both to gather information and to launch offensive strikes, he says.

Israeli defense expert Alon Ben-David, who spoke with McGregor-Wood, believes cyber warfare has become ?a very important area in Israeli strategy.? Israel began hacking into foreign systems years ago, after a routine exercise demonstrated that Israels own systems were shockingly unprepared for a cyber assault.

It did not take long for Israel to apply those findings to other countries, experts say.

Unexplained breakdowns
Ben-David relates that Israels war on Iran has been successful so far. ?The Iranians have experienced a number of malfunctions and unexplained breakdowns,? he says.

Simone Decker, a talented artist that lives and works in Frankfurt, has created a series of unique sculptures that look like giant chewing gum wads.

Aloe vera Benefits

Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis)

Cath Davis Herb Blog

"Space Internet" to Link Worlds by 2011?

For all its might, the World Wide Web is still limited to, well, our world.

But thats quickly changing with the advent of an "interplanetary internet" that planners say will revolutionize space communication.

The Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) system, which entered another phase of testing this week, will allow astronauts to Google from the moon or tweet their observations from space.

But DTN provides far more than a connection to check your email. Its also essential for simplifying space command and control functions?such as power production or life-support systems?crucial for future space initiatives.

"DTN enables the transition from a simple point-to-point network, like a walkie-talkie, to a true multimode network like the Internet."

DTN protocols were also installed on the International Space Station in May, and summer testing began the first week of July.

10. Ugli

9. Langsat

8. Sugar Apple (Noi-na)

7. Guava

6. Salak (Snake-fruit)

5. Soursop (Guanabana)

4. Lamut (Sapodilla)

3. Santol

2. Sweet Tamarind

1. Rose Apple

Cambridge, Harvard and Yale are among the top universities found to have embarrassing spelling mistakes on their websites.

Thirteen out of 20 world class university websites analysed by Australian spelling software Spellr.us were found to have miss-spellings of the word ?university?.

A staggering 14 per cent of university web pages contain at least one genuine spelling error, the survey found, with some of the most prestigious American universities among the worst offenders:

Harvard spelled ?professor? wrong on one of its menus and Yale?s website describes the ?Universtiy?s ever-expanding international strength.?

Despite representing one of the UK?s oldest and best educational institutions Cambridge?s website was found to have miss-spelled the word ?service? in one of its navigational bars.

The ten most commonly miss-spelled words were: Accommodation, technology, university, harassment, research, administration, financial, information, association and millennium.

Minab, Iran, 1998
Masked women take a break after shopping at a weekly market.

Ouzane, Morocco, 1989
Boys play foosball in a cafe.

Isfahan, Iran, 1998
An engaged couple enjoys a chaperoned visit.

Heris, Iran, 1998
This town is renowned for the quality of its carpets.

Dearborn, Michigan, 2002
Razanne dolls are a Muslim-American alternative to Barbie.

Gaza City, Gaza, 1993
An Israeli soldier steps out of a truck.

Baardheere, Somalia, 1992
A woman weeps for a young male relative about to be buried.

Nablus, West Bank, 1989
During a daytime curfew, Israeli soldiers patrol the streets, as a Palestinian man is pushed in a makeshift wheelchair.

Allen-Bradley Retro Entabulator

Turbo Encabulator

Turbo Encabulator - Rockwell

The smile police have arrived to ferret out grumpy workers at the Keihin Electric Express Railway in Japan.

Scanning technology from Omron Corp. analyzes facial characteristics and rates them on a scale from 0-100 based on ?eye movements, lip curves and wrinkles,? according to a story in the The Maininchi Daily News. Some 530 railway employees get smile-checked every day.

Workers tear off a print-out of their image and are encouraged to cheer the hell up (my words) if they get a low score. ?We aim to improve our services to make our customers smile,? a railway company official was quoted as saying in the story.

While smile scans seem trivial, Okao Vision has a serious side and enormous potential in security applications. Indeed, Big Brother is watching.

Michael Jackson ?black box? found

The pop singer?s voice and data recorder is designed to emit signals with an infectious beat for 30 days after an accident. It was these faint signals which set the toes of the search team tapping, and led to the missing box. If the recorded data is intact, it will contain Jackson?s last sounds and dance moves. This data may be enough to allow investigators to reconstruct a final hit song.

The data recorder was found near one of Neverland?s 1600 Ferris wheels, under a pile of bubble gum wrappers and old carpets.

The search for the device was one of the largest in pop music history, with more than one hundred aircraft, ships and all-terrain vehicles scouring the vast Neverland region, aided by chimpanzee volunteers.

Oldest Bible ever discovered turns out to be a collection of kiddies stories and nursery rhymes!

A team of British scientists say they have created human sperm using embryonic stem cells, in a medical first they say will lead to a better understanding of fertility.

Researchers led by Professor Karim Nayernia at Newcastle University and the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) developed a new technique that allows the creation of human sperm in the laboratory.

They stressed that the sperm, developed from stem cells with XY chromosomes (male), would not be used for fertility treatment, as this is prohibited by British law and in any case is not their main interest.

"This is an important development as it will allow researchers to study in detail how sperm forms and lead to a better understanding of infertility in men - why it happens and what is causing it," Professor Nayernia said.

"This understanding could help us develop new ways to help couples suffering infertility so they can have a child which is genetically their own."

More cool things you can do with Google Voice

• 21st-Century Slaves

: A HIDDEN INDIA (1)

LOST
A missing daughter?reportedly abducted by an upper-caste neighbour, whom the police will not approach.

And, like all children, you ran barefoot.

Now, a small but growing body of research suggests that barefoot is the way adults should run, too. So, many runners have been shucking off the high-tech trainers in favor of naked feet ? or minimalist footwear like Nike Free, the Newton All-Weather Trainer and the glove-like Vibram FiveFingers.

?People have been running barefoot for millions of years and it has only been since 1972 that people have been wearing shoes with thick, synthetic heels,? said Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University.

If Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) are moderate Democrats, what kind of Democrat does that make President Barack Obama?

You can bet that the president wouldn?t like the answer ? and with good reason. The increasingly regular use of the phrase ?moderate Democrat? to identify the purple flank of the caucus is creating a rhetorical opening that could quickly turn into a more-than-moderate problem for the rest of the party.

?What you don?t want to do is to give the Republicans the fodder to be able to say, ?Yeah, we?ve got these moderate Democrats with us ? and then we?ve got these leftists, these socialists like Obama proposing these programs,?? says Drew Westen, a political psychology expert and author of ?The Political Brain.?

European patients, taxpayers and national treasuries are being fleeced of billions of euros because of the big pharmaceutical companies elaborate campaigns to delay the marketing of cheaper generic drugs, the European commission said.

"There is something rotten in the state [of the pharmaceutical industry]," said Neelie Kroes, the competition commissioner

A common practice was for the major companies to file a large number of patent applications across EU states for a single drug ? as many as 1,300? in what are known as "patent clusters".

Another common option was for the major firms to sue generics companies and then stall the cases in court for several years.

"Vicious tactics are used to delay or prevent the entry of more affordable and innovative medicines into the market,"

The good news: possibly reduced hurricane activity. The bad news: possibly heavier rain in the Southern United States (which is actually good news for drought-stricken areas).

El Nino is the periodic warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific waters. It occurs on average every two to five years and typically lasts about 12 months. Weekly eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures were at least 1.0 degree C above average at the end of June, scientists said. The most recent El Nino occurred in 2006.

Chinese Herbs May Relieve Endometriosis Symptoms, Review Finds

Endometriosis is a gynaecological disorder affecting as many as one in six women of reproductive age. It can cause pelvic pain, irregular and painful periods, and infertility. Surgical treatments do not always lead to long-term improvement in symptoms and drug treatments can have unpleasant side effects such as hot flushes, acne and weight gain.

The researchers conducted the first English language systematic review of CHM for treatment of endometriosis. Two trials, which together focused on a total of 158 women, were included in the review. In one trial, CHM provided symptomatic relief comparable to that provided by the hormonal drug gestrinone, but with fewer side effects. In the other trial, CHM was more effective than the hormonal drug danazol, and also resulted in fewer side effects.

The sleepy Southern Highlands hamlet of Bundanoon has voted to ban bottled water, just hours after the NSW Government announced its own boycott.

At a community meeting last night, Bundanoon locals overwhelmingly supported the Australia-first ban on commercially bottled water, already agreed to by businesses in the town.

The voluntary ban has been triggered by concerns about the carbon footprint associated with bottling and transporting the water.

Free water fountains will be installed in the NSW village, south-west of Sydney, to replace the bottled water.

In a double blow for the bottled water industry, NSW Premier Nathan Rees has signalled an end to idle chit-chat around the water cooler for NSW public servants.

Australians spent about $500 million on bottled water in 2008, a 10 per cent increase on 2007.

"Bear this in mind. You take a 600ml plastic bottle, 200ml of oil has gone into its production.

Watch F1 German Grand Prix Online - Live HD Streaming

10 Rules That Govern Groups

1. Groups can arise from almost nothing

The desire to form and join social groups is extremely powerful and built into our nature.

2. Initiation rites improve group evaluations

Existing groups dont let others join for free: the cost is sometimes monetary, sometimes intellectual, sometimes physical?but usually there is an initiation rite, even if its well disguised.

3. Groups breed conformity

After joining a group and being initiated, we have to get a feel for the group norms, the rules of behaviour in that group. Group norms can be extremely powerful, bending our behaviours in ways we would never expect.

4. Learn the ropes or be ostracised

Group norms are extremely pervasive: this becomes all the more obvious when we start breaking them.

5. You become your job

Although groups have norms?rules that apply to everyone in the group?people have roles within groups and corresponding rules that apply to just their position.

Russian scientists say that Moscow stray dogs became much smarter. The four legged oldest human?s friends demonstrate real smartness such as riding the Moscow metro every morning to get from their suburban places of living to the fat regions of Moscow center.

?This method of ambushing people from their back is widely exercised by Moscow dogs?, saying A. Poiarkov, working in Ecology and Evolution Institute of Moscow. ?The main point here is to define who would drop the food scared and who won?t, but the dogs are great psychologists they can do it better than us?.

?Traveling first class, compared to this human?

?Just a regular member of busy day underground stream?

?Waiting for the right train?

?What? Questions you?ve got??

Lenin was absolutely indifferent to alcohol, from time to time he threw back just a few German beers or a glass of Italian chianti. He would also refuse Russian strong drinks flatly and just hated drunk people. He was also a strong advocate of the dry law, which was carried into force in 1914.

But his successor Joseph Stalin said goodbye to the dry law. He really liked to knock one over back. It?s more like a legend, but they say, Stalin?s father used to give his baby-son a cloth soaked with vodka instead of a pacifier ? and you know, it worked.

In 1959 Nikita Khrushchev signed an agreement with Nixon to build the first Russian vodka distillery in the USA.

Details emerge of how the Fed secretly doled out trillions of dollars during the financial crisis

The Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful and secretive institutions in Washington, long considered beyond the reach of lawmakers. But now, as details emerge of how the Fed secretly doled out more than a trillion dollars during the financial crisis, a rare bipartisan movement in Congress demands that the Fed be held accountable.

I was originally attracted to Marks work because of the abstract, color rich photos from his Aqueous series, which I saw on today and tomorrow a little while back. After looking through Marks portfolio a bit more, I found quite a few photos with inspiring color compositions from his series Urban Nights and Bus Graveyard as well.

To undermine the balance of powers that guards against tyranny, Comrade Obama has been appointing "Czars" who do not have to answer to Congress. To get an idea of the brand of apparatchik that gets appointed Czar by our Community Activist in Chief, lets review the opinions of the new Science Czar, John Holdren. Below are a few quotations from Ecoscience, which he coauthored with Paul and Anne Ehrlich, via Zombietime:

On forced abortions:

Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society.

On government confiscation of babies:

On targeted involuntary sterilization:

On mass involuntary sterilization:

On the ultimate liberal dream ? a planetary totalitarian state:

Satanic freaks like Holdren are now running the USA. It would be impossible to overstate the danger we face.

Here?s a simple fact:  You and I have just begun a relationship. The moment you started listening to me, we struck a deal.  You agreed to give me your attention.  I agreed to give you my opinions.  It?s a pretty common arrangement.  But sometimes it can have unhelpful consequences.

 
Most of what we know about the world comes from people we?ll never meet and don?t really understand.  We don?t even think of them as individuals.  Instead we usually talk about them in the collective ? as ?the media? or ?the press.?  Yet behind every Los Angeles Times editorial or Fox News broadcast are human beings with personal opinions and prejudices.  These people select and frame the news.  And when we read their newspaper articles or tune in their TV shows, we engage them in a kind of intellectual intimacy in the same way you?re listening to me right now.

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers."

~ Proverb

Those who live in the heat say it makes them irritable, disoriented and unable to eat. The constant sun, they say, is a giver of near-constant headaches. Even at night, the temperature can hover in the lower 90s.

"Your body is going to shut down by itself sometimes," he explains. "Youve got to have a real sense of survival when youre out here, because if you dont, then youre not going to last."

Tallie McKoy, who juggled illness, insects and blinding heat on the streets for six months, death seemed better than what she was enduring.

"You become fearless," she says. "Death, thats a pleasure. ? Its like, OK, I welcome death."

I started this site for women, but recently many men and teenagers wrote me letters that my workout routines are good for them.

Woman, Man or Teenager, no matter, if you want to exercise, lose weight and be healthy ? Do It!

The tip is that you don?t have to workout too long, but you have to know how to squeeze the maximum from every workout routine.

Every exercise has its own important things which you have to know in order to achieve excellent results.

I spent 10 years going to different workouts and collect valuable knowledge what is in benefit for women.

And the most important thing I?ve learned is that if you make exercises in proper way, you achieve your goals.

The disclosure about Mr. Cheney?s role in the unidentified C.I.A. program comes a day after an inspector general?s report underscored the central role of the former vice president?s office in restricting to a small circle of officials knowledge of the National Security Agency?s program of eavesdropping without warrants, a degree of secrecy that the report concluded had hurt the effectiveness of the counterterrorism surveillance effort.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA withheld information about a secret counter-terrorism program from Congress for eight years on orders from former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, the New York Times said on Saturday.

Citing two unidentified sources, the newspaper said Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta disclosed Cheneys involvement in closed briefings to congressional intelligence committees late last month.

Panetta, who was named to head the agency earlier this year by President Barack Obama, ended the program, which remains secret, when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, the Times said.

Intelligence and congressional officials told the newspaper the agency began the program after the September 11 attacks and said it never became operational and did not involve CIA interrogation programs or domestic intelligence activities.

The newspaper said its efforts to reach Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful.

Travis Louies "Monster?" group art show

Jul 11

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine (AP) ? Relentless rain and cool weather since early June have sent visitors scrambling home and washed away millions of tourism dollars across the Northeast. But the first 80-degree readings this month gave a glimmer of hope Friday that summer can be salvaged.

June was the wettest on record in Atlantic City, N.J., and the second-wettest in New York City. In Portland, rain fell on 21 of the final 24 days of the month. And July hasn?t been much better. Rain continued and it was chilly, failing to hit 60 three times in Portland?

Businesses that cater to tourists already anticipated a slow season because of the recession. Then they got a double whammy with the raw weather?

But that is exactly what two species of mouse-deer in Asia do when confronted by predators, scientists have found.

It also lends support to the idea that whales evolved from water-loving creatures that looked like small deer.

NHS tells school children of their "right" to "an orgasm a day"

The advice appears in leaflets circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling students about the benefits of enjoyable sex.

Entitled Pleasure, the leaflet has been drawn up by NHS Sheffield, but it also being circulated outside the city.

The leaflet carries the slogan "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away". It also says: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"

Mr Slack believes that if teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions of their own will in a loving relationship, they have an equal right as an adult to an enjoyable sex life.

Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of Wellington College, which recently introduced classes in emotional wellbeing, said the leaflets were "deplorable".

Two Mammals Longevity Boosted

A study published Wednesday found that rapamycin, a drug used in organ transplants, increased the life span of mice by 9% to 14%, the first definitive case in which a chemical has been shown to extend the life span of normal mammals.

Anti-aging researchers also expect a second study, to be released this week, will show that sharply cutting the calorie intake of monkeys extends their lives substantially. The experiment is said to be the first technique shown to retard aging in primates.

"Its time to break out of our denial about aging," said Aubrey de Grey, a British gerontologist who has drawn controversy for his suggestions on how to forestall death. "Aging is, unequivocally, the major cause of death in the industrialized world and a perfectly legitimate target of medical intervention."

I wish my mom was this cool

Ancient Temple Mount quarry found in Jerusalem

A quarry from the late Second Temple Period that produced stone to build the Temple Mounts supporting walls has been uncovered in central Jerusalem, the Antiquities Authority said Monday.

The latest discovery brought to three the number of quarries found in the city over the past two years which archeologists believe were used in the construction of the Temple walls.

Among the artifacts discovered in the excavation were metal plates that were used to severe the stones from the bedrock, as well as coins and pottery shards that date to the end of the Second Temple period.

Sion added that the quarry that was exposed was actually a small part of a large series of quarries that was spread across the entire slope, from Musrara to the Sanhedria neighborhood.