How do bed bugs work?

Every night we tell Jordan to "sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." Don't parents everywhere say this? click title for article

Boston Cow Photos

click title

The Word of the Day

madeleine \MAD-uh-lun\ noun
1 : a small rich shell-shaped cake
*2 : one that evokes a memory

Example sentence: The crack of the bat and the sight of his son running the bases were madeleines for Tom, calling up memories of the great times he had playing the game in his youth.

Did you know? The madeleine is said to have been named after a 19th-century French cook named Madeleine Paumier, but it was the French author Marcel Proust who immortalized the pastry in his 1913 book _Swann's Way_, the first volume of his seven-part novel _Remembrance of Things Past_. In that work, a taste of tea-soaked cake evokes a surge of memory and nostalgia. As more and more readers chewed on the profound mnemonic power attributed to a mere morsel of cake, the word "madeleine" itself became a designation for anything that evokes a memory.

Words

by Ellis Paul - The Speed of Trees
(click title for his website)

Words are better when they're written down
Fall on the page with no sound
And if you let them sit awhile,
Give them time and distance.
You won't hear the rattle in the voice
That gives a fool away without choice
Time is all you have tonight
Take the time and get this right

Your eyes make me humble,
I fall down at your feet.
Pick me up if I stumble
Over words I can not speak.

So I'm fighting an empty page
For the words I've got to say
Sun brings another day and here I am still reaching
I hear the sigh of a morning train
I watch it waking you up again
Things I can't explain
But here I am still speaking.

Your eyes make me humble,
See I fall down at your feet.
Pick me up if I stumble
Over words I can not speak.
I just can't speak.

And you say if you doubted me,
You would take all that was yours and just go.
So take what you've given me,
If these words don't voice what this heart just knows.

Your eyes make me humble,
See I fall down at your feet.
Pick me up if I stumble
Over words I can not speak.
I just can't speak.
Speak. Speak. Speak.
I just can't speak.

The Word of the Day

rowel \ROW-ul ("OW" as in "cow")\ verb
1 : to goad with or as if with the pointed disk at the end of a spur
*2 : vex, trouble

Example sentence: With one of the best fastballs in the league combined with a wicked changeup, Lester roweled the opposing line-up for his second career no-hitter.

Did you know? If you've seen Western movies, you've seen rowels. The noun "rowel" names the circular, point-covered disk on the end of a spur that is used to urge powerful steeds to maximum speeds. But cowboys didn't invent rowels; knights in shining armor were sporting them even before the 12th century. English speakers of yore picked up the noun "rowel" from the Anglo-French "roele," meaning "small wheel" ("roele" is also an ancestor of the word "roulette"). By the end of the 1500s, "rowel" was also being used as a verb for any process of prodding or goading that was as irritating as being poked in the side with a rowel.

The Word of the Day

gadarene \GAD-uh-reen\ adjective : headlong, precipitate

Example sentence: Ross has criticized his company for joining the gadarene rush into the global market.

Did you know? Gadara, in Biblical times, was a steep hill town just southeast of the Sea of Galilee. In the account given in the Book of Matthew (8:28), Jesus, on a visit there, exorcised the demons from two possessed persons and sent the demons into some nearby swine. The possessed swine ran in a mad dash down a steep bank into the Sea and drowned. "Gadarene," an adjective used to describe a headlong rush, made its first plunge into our lexicon in the 1920s. The swine sometimes make an appearance as well, as when an imprudently hasty act is compared to "the rush of the Gadarene swine."

The Word of the Day

pontificate \pahn-TIF-uh-kayt\ verb : to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way

Example sentence: Joan didn't tell Harry about her decision to sell her house herself, knowing she'd have to listen to him pontificate at length on all the reasons people use real estate agents.

Did you know? In ancient Rome, the pontifices were powerful priests who administered the part of civil law that regulated relationships with the deities recognized by the state. Their name, "pontifex," derives from the Latin words "pons," meaning "bridge," and "facere," meaning "to make," and some think it may have developed because the group was associated with a sacred bridge over the river Tiber (although there is no proof of that). With the rise of Catholicism, the title "pontifex" was transferred to the Pope and to Catholic bishops. "Pontificate" derives from "pontifex," and in its earliest English uses it referred to things associated with such prelates. By the early 1800s, "pontificate" was also being used derisively for individuals who spoke as if they had the authority of an ecclesiastic.

What if It’s (Sort of) a Boy and (Sort of) a Girl?

By ELIZABETH WEIL
September 24, 2006

When Brian Sullivan — the baby who would before age 2 become Bonnie Sullivan and 36 years later become Cheryl Chase — was born in New Jersey on Aug. 14, 1956, doctors kept his mother, a Catholic housewife, sedated for three days until they could decide what to tell her. Sullivan was born with ambiguous genitals, or as Chase now describes them, with genitals that looked . . . click title for article

The Word of the Day

firebrand \FYRE-brand\ noun
1 : a piece of burning wood
*2 : one that creates unrest or strife (as in aggressively promoting a cause) : agitator

Example sentence: John views himself as a relentless firebrand who stands up for his beliefs even when they are not popular.

Did you know? The original firebrands were incendiary indeed; they were pieces of wood set burning at the fire, perhaps for use as a light or a weapon. English speakers started brandishing those literal firebrands as long ago as the 13th century. (Robinson Crusoe held one high as he rushed into a cave on his deserted island and saw "by the light of the firebrand... lying on the ground a monstrous, frightful old he-goat.") But the burning embers of the wooden firebrand quickly sparked figurative uses for the term, too. By the early 14th century, "firebrand" was also being used for one doomed to burn in hell, and by 1382, English writers were using it for anyone who kindled mischief or inflamed passions.

Publishers aim for some control of search results

Global publishers, fearing that Web search engines such as Google are encroaching on their ability to generate revenue, plan to launch an automated system for granting permission on how to use their content.

Buoyed by a Belgian court ruling this week that Google was infringing on the copyright of French and German language newspapers by reproducing article snippets in search results, the publishers said on Friday they plan to start testing the service before the end of the year. click title for article

The Word of the Day

fortuitous \for-TOO-uh-tus\ adjective
1 : occurring by chance
2 : fortunate, lucky
*3 : coming or happening by a lucky chance

Example sentence: How fortuitous it was that the day before the rattlesnake bit little Jessica, her Dad had completed a first aid course!

Did you know? For some 250 years, until the early part of the 20th century, "fortuitous" meant one thing only: "happening by chance." This was no accident; its Latin forebear, "fortuitus," derives from the same ancient root as the Latin word for "chance," which is "fors." But the fact that "fortuitous" sounds like a blend of "fortunate" and "felicitous" (meaning "happily suited to an occasion") may have been what ultimately led to a second meaning: "fortunate." That use has been disparaged by critics, but it is now well established. Perhaps the seeds of the newer sense were planted by earlier writers applying overtones of good fortune to something that is a chance occurrence. In fact, today we quite often apply "fortuitous" to something that is a chance occurrence but has a favorable result.

Past Due to do list

1. package and send spam to Greece.
2. package and send CDs to Canada, and Massachusetts.

There's more but I can't remember it.

Lotion gives mice tan, may be cancer shield

Melanin boosted without the sun

By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff

A lotion that tans the skin without exposure to sunlight could provide a novel way to prevent skin cancer, Boston scientists announced yesterday. click title for article

The Word of the Day

insuperable \in-SOO-puh-ruh-bul\ adjective : incapable of being surmounted, overcome, passed over, or solved

Example sentence: The battalion's strong defensive position proved to be an insuperable obstacle for the enemy.

Did you know? "Insuperable" first appeared in print in the 14th century, and it still means now approximately what it did then. "Insuperable" is a close synonym to "insurmountable." In Latin, "superare" means "to go over, surmount, overcome, or excel." The Latin word "insuperabilis" was formed by combining the common prefix "in-" (meaning "not" or "un-") with "superare" plus "abilis" ("able"). Hence "insuperabilis" means "unable to be surmounted, overcome, or passed over," or more simply, "insurmountable." The word "insuperabilis" was later anglicized as "insuperable." Related words such as "superable," "superably," and even "superableness" have also found a place in English.

Songs to aging children come

Through the windless wells of wonder
By the throbbing light machine
In a tea leaf trance or under
Orders from the king and queen

Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one

People hurry by so quickly
Don’t they hear the melodies
In the chiming and the clicking
And the laughing harmonies

Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one

Some come dark and strange like dying
Crows and ravens whistling
Lines of weeping, strings of crying
So much said in listening

Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one

Does the moon play only silver
When it strums the galaxy
Dying roses will they will their
Perfumed rhapsodies to me

Songs to aging children came
This is one

-Joni Mitchell, Clouds

Former 'tenth planet' named for goddess of discord

14 September 2006

A large icy object that helped spark the debate over Pluto's status has officially been named Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord.

The object had been known as 2003 UB313 since its discovery was reported in 2005 by Mike Brown of Caltech in Pasadena, US. It is slightly larger than Pluto, which prompted Brown and others to refer to it as the 'tenth planet' and generated debate about what should be considered a planet.

Now, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has settled on an official definition of planet, which demotes Pluto to a new category of "dwarf planets".

The IAU has now approved Brown's suggested name, Eris, for the dwarf planet formerly known as 2003 UB313. In Greek mythology, Eris caused a fight over a golden apple, which led to the Trojan War.
Goddess of lawlessness

The IAU has also approved Brown's suggested name of Dysnomia for Eris's satellite, which is about a tenth Eris's size (see Moon discovered orbiting tenth planet). Dysnomia is the goddess of lawlessness and Eris's daughter in Greek mythology.

"Some of us felt it was quite an amusing name in view of what it actually means," says Brian Marsden, former director of the IAU's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, which is responsible for keeping official lists of solar system objects. Marsden serves on the IAU committee responsible for naming dwarf planets.

Before Eris was officially named, Brown had nicknamed the object "Xena" after a television character. But he did not try to have that name officially approved, according to Tim Spahr, interim director of the MPC.

"That was just an affectionate name that was used," Spahr told New Scientist. "A lot of people name objects before they receive an official name. He didn't even suggest that for an official name."

The Word of the Day

endemic \en-DEM-ik\ adjective
1 a : belonging or native to a particular people or country *b : characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment
2 : restricted or peculiar to a locality or region

Example sentence: Today, cybercafes are endemic to the downtown areas of big cities.

Did you know? If you translate it literally, "endemic" means "in the population." It derives from the Greek "endemos," which joins "en," meaning "in," and "demos," meaning "population." "Endemic" is often used to characterize diseases that are generally found in a particular area; malaria, for example, is said to be endemic to tropical and subtropical regions. This use differs from that of the related word "epidemic" in that it indicates a more or less constant presence in a particular population or area rather than a sudden, severe outbreak within that region or group. The word is also used by biologists to characterize the plant and animal species that are only found in a given area.

The Word of the Day

visceral \VISS-uh-rul\ adjective
1 a : felt in or as if in the viscera : deep b : of, relating to, or located on or among the viscera
*2 : not intellectual : instinctive, unreasoning
3 : dealing with crude or elemental emotions : earthy

Example sentence: The story about the abandoned dogs elicited such a visceral reaction in Amy that within minutes she was on the phone offering to adopt one.

Did you know? The "viscera" are the internal organs of the body -- especially those located in the large cavity of the trunk (e.g., the heart, liver, and intestines). The word "viscera" comes from Latin, in which it has essentially the same meaning. Something "visceral" has to do with the viscera. In a more figurative sense, something "visceral" is felt "deep down." Even in the early years of its use, "visceral" often referred to things emotional rather than physiological. For example, in 1640, an English bishop named Edward Reynolds wrote, "Love is of all other the inmost and most visceral affection." This figurative use is the most common use of "visceral," but the word continues to be used in medical contexts as well.

Sick Again

Bought no property on the trip north, but celebrated my 54th birthday having fun with Holly, Diane, and Miss Mae in a casino. A week later another cold, sore throat, slight fever to bowl me over and slow me down. Thank you Holly.

The Word of the Day

rechauffe \ray-shoh-FAY\ noun
*1 : rehash
2 : a warmed-over dish of food

Example sentence: "[It] is a rechauffe, ... lifted and stitched from 'The Gastronomical Me' and other books." (Victoria Glendinning, _The New York Times Book Review_, June 9, 1991)

Did you know? We borrowed "rechauffe" in the early 19th century from the French; it is the past participle of their verb "rechauffer," which means "to reheat." Nineteenth-century French speakers were using it figuratively to designate something that was already old hat -- you might say, "warmed over." English speakers adopted that same meaning, which is still our most common. But within decades someone had apparently decided that leftovers would seem more appealing with a French name. The notion caught on. A recipe for "Rechauffe of Beef a la Jardiniere," for example, instructs the cook to reheat "yesterday's piece of meat" in a little water with some tomatoes added, and serve it on a platter with peas and carrots and potatoes. "Rechauffe" shares its root with another English word, "chafing dish," the name of a receptacle for keeping food warm at the table.

Soldiers die, CEOs prosper

"The top profiteers after 9/11 were the CEOs of United Technologies ($200 million), General Dynamics ($65 million), Lockheed Martin ($50 million), and Halliburton ($49 million). Other firms where CEO pay the last four years added up to $25 million to $45 million were Textron, Engineered Support Systems, Computer Sciences, Alliant Techsystems, Armor Holding, Boeing, Health Net, ITT Industries, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh Truck, URS, and Raytheon.

While Army privates died overseas earning $25,000 a year, David Brooks, the disgraced former CEO of body-armor maker DHB, made $192 million in stock sales in 2004. He staged a reported $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter. The 2005 pay package for Halliburton CEO David Lesar, head of the firm that most symbolizes the occupation's waste, overcharges, and ghost charges on no-bid contracts, was $26 million, according to the report's analysis of federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings." click title for article

The Word of the Day

mimesis \muh-MEE-sis\ noun : imitation, mimicry

Example sentence: Late in her career, the painter became less interested in mimesis and began to experiment in styles of abstraction.

Did you know? "Mimesis" is a term with an undeniably classical pedigree. Originally a Greek word, it has been used in aesthetic or artistic theory to refer to the attempt to imitate or reproduce reality since Plato and Aristotle. "Mimesis" is derived from the Greek verb "mimeisthai," which means "to imitate" and which itself comes from "mimos," meaning "mime." The English word "mime" also descends from "mimos," as do "mimic" and "mimicry." And what about "mimeograph," the name of the duplicating machine that preceded the photocopier? We can't be absolutely certain what the folks at the A. B. Dick Company had in mind when they came up with "Mimeograph" (a trademark name that has since expired), but influence from "mimos" and its descendants certainly seems probable.

Bill McKibben: A Deeper Shade of Green

"This is the year when we finally started to understand what we are in for. Exactly 12 months ago, an MIT professor named Kerry Emanuel published a paper in Nature showing that hurricanes had slowly but steadily been gaining in strength and duration for a generation. It didn't attract widespread attention for a few weeks—not until Katrina roared . . ." click title for article