mishmash of stuff

The Lisbon Treaty

2009-10-01T11:35:00.006+01:00

Here are some interesting things the Lisbon Treaty would do:

1. Give the European Union powers to entrench it's own taxes on the citizens of the member states of the E.U., without any treaties or refendums, if agreed unanimously by governments of the E.U..

2. Give the E.U. new powers to sign treaties with other countries, thus becoming a federal superstate.

3. It says quite clearly it would 'require member states to progressively improve their military capabilities' and would force us to aid countries under armed attack 'by any means in their power.' This would make it impossible for any country in the E.U. to be a entirely peaceful country.

4. Thirty-two areas of policy including the public health service, crime and justice, immigration, culture, tourism, energy and transport would go to Europe and out of our democratically elected parliaments . It would also abolish our individual national vetoes on these areas.

5. In addition to our individual national citizenships, we will all be made citizens of the E.U., whether we like it or not. Although we would maintain our indivual country citizenships, our new E.U. citizenship would be superior to our national citizenship in conflict and war.

6. Bind citizens of E.U. countries to the European Union Charter,which has a little known footnote, the reintroduction of the death penalty in cases of 'war, riot and upheavals'.

2nd Lion King 2 Comparison Part 2

2008-05-19T13:30:00.002+01:00

In my previous comparison, I compared Zira to Malcolm X and Kovu to Martin Luther King. Zira for this comparison will be compared to Nelson Mandela. There isn't really a Steve Biko character though.

Kiara and Kovu's relationship and the other's disaprovval of it, can't it be compared to Seremse Khatama and Ruth Williams's marriage and the distain put on it by the South African goverment.

2nd Lion King 2 Comparison Part 1

2008-05-19T12:37:00.003+01:00

I've thought about it for a bit, and I think that maybe the Lion King writers may also have had inspiration from all the terrible things that happened in South Africa. Think about it, it had apartheid had ended about four, five or six years before the Lion King 2 came out in 1998.

There are quite a few similarities. First of all, couldn't the Outlands be thought of as the black homelands.

Ezekiel Part 1

2008-04-15T13:22:00.003+01:00

Ok, here's my first shot at a Surf's Up fanfic. By the way, I don't own any of the canon characters in this. All rights reserved to the people who created Surf 's Up,bla,bla,bla.

Ezekiel was standing there with his mate Lovelight waiting patiently for the results to roll in. His parents, Cody Maverick and Lani Liihani were looking proudly on him. Just then the broadcaster announced the first result.

Broadcaster:' Lambergeau,
Ezekiel Maverick,
Erebus Zanfretta { Party All Night Alliance, 19,089 votes and 55 electors)
Reggie Belafonte,
Tank Evans, { Chieftain's Party,18,0047 votes, naught electors)
Jay Renoa,
Mikey Abromovitz, { Liberty, 2,000 votes , naught electors)

The tense moment had passed. He had won the first result in the Antarctic presidential election.

FIRESTONE

2008-04-11T15:14:00.002+01:00

Here's some ideas for a video game I want to develop called FIRESTONE. It is centered in a parallel universe that is different,yet quite similar to our own in some ways. For an example, instead of the United Nations, you have the League of Nation-states.

In FIRESTONE, you have a choice to play it either free-roaming platformer or stategy like Age of Empires. This makes it like two games in one.I won't reveal much about the plot, but I will say this. There is a mysterious order called the Darkness-Wielders who want to capture a object called the Sampo for their own sinister purposes. Oh, dear, that was quite a lot of plotline, wasn't it?

Big and small

2008-04-07T14:58:00.002+01:00

What I'm Not

2008-04-06T16:43:00.001+01:00

I do not support any of the major parties, even though one of my posts suggests I support Labour.

Lion King 2 and the Civil Rights Movement

2008-04-05T21:32:00.002+01:00

I know you're probably thinking , what the hell? this kid doesn't know what he's going on about, but think about it for a moment. Isn't what Simba did ,you know, exiling them to the Outlands like that, whasn't that a sort of racial segregation. After all couldn't you say that the Outlanders and Pridelanders are separate races of lions?

We can also compare characters in the film to people in the civil rights movement. Let's see Zira's kinda a female Malcolm X and well Kovu would be our Martin Luther King character. Just like in the real movement, racial integration wins over against the opposing,yet similar, 'power movements'. Also, Kiara and Kovu's marriage at the end would be representative of both racial unity and it would be a multiracial marriage.

On a closing note, Zazu and all the other animals who banished Kovu would be representative of both conservative controlled congress, and the general right-wing views of the population of that period.

2009: The Year of Greatness

2008-04-02T21:30:00.002+01:00

Next Year is going to be so like awesome,dude. With Happy Feet 2, Terminator 4, the Spyro film and did I hear about an Eldest film coming out. The bad bit is that there will be a uk general election which David Cameron will probably win, but I won't let that spoil 2009 for me.

The Tale of Auvergne and Modac Part 1

2008-03-23T10:57:00.002Z

Once upon a time, in Ancient France, there was a griffin widow called Auvergne, and she had a son called Modac. These were no ordinary griffins though, they were the griffins of the French Kings and Queens, the ancient bloodline of the Merovingians. I digress though, for this is not really where our story begins. It really begins in a meadow in Ancient Ukraine, long since mowed over, where a griffin mother was raising her partially orphaned chick.

The chick's father Minsk was slaughtered by the griffin's ancient enemy and frequent foe, man. Men on horses, to be precise. Oh, how they hated horses.

Kenvara the Second

2008-03-23T10:49:00.002Z

Kenvara the Second is the daughter of Kere 'zec and Kenvara the First . Her brother is called Gershom. She is a character I created.

153rd Person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-22T09:59:00.000+01:00

I'm the 153rd person to sign the petition for another Lion King film!!!!!!! Here's the link!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.petitiononline.com/lionking/petition.html

Elected House of Lords

2007-06-12T16:03:00.000+01:00

An Elected House of Lords may come into existence. I for one say it's a good change, because who seriously wants a couple of old snoring Lords that the we, the public, didn't even elect???

Some MPs have suggested that a reformed, elected House of Lords be renamed Senate, to be like other nations.

Spyro Film!!!!!!!

2007-03-15T15:09:00.000Z

Yippee!!!!! A Spyro fim is finally coming out!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, it's mostly set around five months after Spyro 5: A Hero's Tail, but some of it is also set in the future, when Spyro's a adult!!!!!!!!!!

It's called something like Legacy of Ages, and is hoping for a 2008 showing. Not only, that, there might be a sequel and yet more games , and maybe a some sort of series of episodes called Dragon Destiny!!! At least, I think it's called Dragon Destiny.

New species in Loch Ness

2007-01-16T10:59:00.000Z

Skeptics say the Loch Ness Monster can't be a plesiosaur just because they don't think they had an echolocation ability, which they say would be quite necessary for it in Loch Ness. Thus it could be a newly evolved species of plesiosaur that can use echolocation, or maybe some other system of finding prey we don't yet know about.

There's also the possibility it might be a freshwater dwelling dragon that uses echolocation. If it is a dragon, I have picked out a name for it, Draco nessioides, or in the remote possibility it's a subspecies of the Common European Dragon, then Draco draco nessioides.

Evolution of the phoenix

2007-01-05T20:44:00.000Z

Chinese dragons are supposed to go through several stages of development including a phoenix stage. Maybe phoenixes as we know them, are actually descended from dragons, but stay in the phoenix stage all their lives. I have made up a scientific name for them, Dreco phoenixensis. The name of their genus, Dreco, comes from the Latin Draco=dragon, and roughly represents them as being mutated dragons.

Baby phoenixes rising from the flame and being reborn,could be explained maybe by that the phoenix eggs will only hatch, if put in flames, so the parents would probably die, their purpose in life gone.

This behaviour probably made it be assosiated with the old pagan gods and goddesses of death and rebirth and eventually the Christian resurrection.

Montenegro's Free,will Scotland be next?

2006-06-19T18:30:00.000+01:00

On May this year, there was a referendum for independence and Montenegro voted for freedom with about 55.5% of the vote and with only something like 48.5% of the vote for the unionists.
Yippee! I wonder if Scotland is next.

Ainu Wordlist

2006-05-26T14:13:00.000+01:00

This is a list of words from the Ainu language in Japan.
ape- fire
nay- river
at- rope
wakka- water
pakes- cup
acapo- uncle
cise- house/home
nupuri- mountain
cashi- fortress
cironnup- fox
oya- next
emushi- sword
itak- language
huci- grandmother
esaman- otter

More Sudovian words

2006-05-26T13:17:00.000+01:00

cementas- cement
aklas- blind
gulbas- swan
pernai- last year
klupstas- knee
artsas- doctor
ledus- ice
valas- horsehair
bebrus- beaver
katilas- kettle
kamenis- chimney
pipelis- bird
bardus- beard
zuveitis- cod
ast- is
naras- diver
peilis- knife
paisalas- ink
izmigt- fall asleep

Some Sudovian words

2006-05-26T13:08:00.000+01:00

klatai-weeds
aukis- buzzard
sventas- holy
zardis- fence
sunis- dog
anglis- coal
tiltan- bridge
javaras- sycamore
metis- throw
kelan- wheel
skalus- chin
segas-buttons
laignan- cheek
visas- all
as- I

My Dream Avatar

2006-05-20T15:15:00.000+01:00

Where I am from

2006-05-13T11:15:00.000+01:00

I am from overflowing shelves of books, the Internet and Star Wars Battlefront 2.

I am from a garden with a wild patch where I like to sit by and watch insects and other critters.

I am from a redwood in the park near where I live, from watching bats fly by my house, from seeing tadpoles swimming about, from watching frogs spawning at Drum and from watching frogs dart under if you get too close at Findhorn.

I am from a remembered Christmas family gathering on an old carpet and camping holidays in the Lake District with midges all around,

I am from being coerced by a small puppet called Freddie to stick to the usual beliefs, to scrapping usual religion and becoming a Buddhist/Pagan.

I am from the village with swans on the dam, and the Grant and Campbell clans,
Sphagetti Bolognese, Lasagna and banana split.

From the boy who was bullied in the school toilets, betrayed by one friend and supported by another, who was then freed from the fascist dictatorship of school by home education.

I am from photo albums in a wooden box in the hall, photos of us as babies, other children we met and my sister eating daisies.

I am from the river that I wade in to get pottery.

Klingon word list

2006-05-04T12:57:00.000+01:00

This is a list of words from the Klingon language in Star Trek.
tal- cannon
beb- roof
magh- betray
chob- corridor
bur- hiccup
chuy- sneeze
jaghla'- enemy commander
tagha'- finally/ at last
mar- use the big toe
nan- use the fourth toe
jaj- day
muj- be wrong

Some Scots Gaelic words

2006-05-04T10:39:00.000+01:00

Here is a list of Scots Gaelic words, hope you enjoy it. The pronunciation of the words is in the brackets.
math(ma)- good
tha(haa)- yes
srup(strewp)- tap
cal(caal)- cabbage
brot(brot)- vegetable soup
glasraich(glas-rich)- vegetables
ad(at)- hat
siop(seep)- zip
glas(glas)- grey
ard(aard)- high
biodach(beed-ach)- small
dubh(du)- black

Mandalorian word list

2006-05-04T10:21:00.000+01:00

This is a selection of words from the Mandalorian language from Star Wars.
ne'tra-black
nau- before
tor- justice
ni- I
troan- face
verd- warrior
abiik- air
kot- strength
ca- night
dral- bright
tracyn-fire
parjai- victory
hettir- to burn
an- all
beten- to sigh

Some Latin words

2006-05-01T11:50:00.000+01:00

These are some words from my beginner's Latin book, which I am enjoying.
sed-but
est-is
silva/silvam-wood
in silva- in the wood
non- not
portat- carries/is carrying
territus- scared
sarcina/sarcinam- bag
in- in/on
spectat- watches/ is watching
lentus- slow
fessus- tired

pillwort Pilularia globulifera

2006-04-29T15:45:00.000+01:00

Pillwort is confined to western Europe, and is most abundant in the UK. It is declining, because grazing of heathland and common land is becoming rarer. One of it's strongholds is the New Forest. It is common here, especially at the margins of ponds and streams where livestock go to drink. The pill-like spore cases lie dormant and wait for the right growing conditions. Clearance of clay on the Isle of Wight resurrected plants after one hundred years.

Kahikatea Dacrycarpus dacrydioides

2006-04-02T21:15:00.000+01:00

This tree is endemic to New Zealand, and also the tallest native tree in New Zealand. The tallest individual is 55 metres tall. Before extensive logging, the tallest was 60 metres tall. The leaves are spirally arranged. It used to be more commonly named white pine( very unaccurrate as it is a podocarp, not a pine), but Kahikatea is more commonly used now. Kahikatea is a Maori name.

Luzon bleeding-heart Gallicolumba luzonica

2006-04-02T20:09:00.000+01:00

This pigeon is endemic to Luzon Island and the Polillo Islands in the Philippines. It was featured on a 1994 postage stamp from the Philippines. They eat seeds, berries and grubs. They usually lay only two eggs, unlike most other bleeding hearts who just lay one. They rarely leave the ground, except for nesting. They are named bleeding-hearts, because they have a patch of red plumage that makes it looks like it's been injured in around the heart area. They can be found at altitudes from sea- level to 1400 metres. They live in forest. Local people consume it, unfortunately. Also unfortunately, there is a market for it in the pet trade. In the wild, it nests in bushes.

Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata

2006-04-01T15:05:00.000+01:00

This oyster is endemic to Australia. It can change gender during it's lifetime. They start out as males, then turn into females later. They usually reach 40-60 grams in 2-3 years. They are preyed on by humans, birds( especially the Australian pied oystercatcher ), fish, starfish, stingrays and mud crabs. They can cope with a wide range of salt-levels, in scientific terms, halotolerant. It takes only three weeks for the larvae to develop shells and retractable feet. During those weeks, the larvae swim in coastal and estuarine waters. They are broadcast spawners( eggs and sperm are released in open water to fertilise).

Solenodons in Canada?

2006-03-30T20:01:00.000+01:00

Just after drawing a picture of a Canadian cryptid from the description, I noticed it looked very similar to a solenodon. The cryptid is called No-Kos-Ma.

It is obviously a unknown species of solenodon, but in Canada? All the known species live in places like Hispaniola and Cuba. It's strange that a creature that seems to be a endemic of the Carribbean, should be found in Canada. Even the extinct species seem to be Carribbean endemics.

hankerchief tree Davidia involucrata

2006-03-29T12:45:00.000+01:00

I'm starting this new thing on my blog, where once a week, I write about a particular animal or plant. This week, I'd like to talk about the hankerchief tree, also known as ghost tree and dove tree. It was discovered in 1869, by the French botanist/missionary Pere David. It is the only member of the genus Davidia. It is native to China, and possibly other nearby countries, and is naturally found in temperate forest. It is counted on the Red List of 1997, as rare. Apparrently, they can be killed by honey fungus. It is a prehistoric plant, dating from the Tertiary period. There are two varieties, Davidia involucrata var. involucrata and Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana. They can be identified by differrences in the leaves. They can grow from seed, cuttings or long shoots that have been detached from the parent plant.

My word cloud

2006-03-24T20:36:00.000Z

This is my word cloud - go here to make one.

Are Hedera helix and Hedera hibernicus the same?

2006-03-19T15:19:00.000Z

Scientists say these two species of ivy are distinct species, but I have seen ivy looking very like both of these, growing on the same plant. There also appear to be leaves looking like mixes between the two, growing on exactly the same plant as the other leaves.

This appears to show that they are not separate species at all, but instead, subspecies or genetic variants of the same plant.

I have just planted some seeds of the ivy in question, whether they will look like Hedera helix, or Hedera hibernicus is probably just a matter of chance. I will just have to wait.

Giants of the Solomon Islands

2006-03-13T12:23:00.000Z

I was reading this article about giants in the Solomon Islands. All of it sounds extremely convincing. Apparently, the giants had been causing havoc, devouring the local population for quite a while. That is until their leader stopped them, and started the Guadalcanal Giant Wars. Their leader is still seen, and even has discussions with people. You see, the local human population seems to have adopted the giant's language, which is also possibly spoken in Fiji. The giants appear to have some sort of hieroglyphic- like writing system. Skeletons of very large individuals can be found too. They also appear to be like Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. They seem to have long tails. Alleged giant's tombs can be found frequently in the islands. What's more, there appear to be people, who islanders claim have giant blood in their veins. They are all very tall and large, as one would expect from someone with giant heritage. Some have claimed that one of these people, can eat a whole pig whole.

This is a link to a good article about this subject: http://www.thesolomongiants.com/

Cormorants in unfamiliar enviroments?

2006-03-12T13:41:00.000Z

I think I saw a cormorant in the trees near our house, but cormorants live by the sea. We live a long way for a cormorant to fly to. Then, there's the possibility that it was not a cormorant. A rare species of black heron is a possibility. We usually see a grey heron, so why not other herons in the surrounding area? If it is a heron, then is probably a migrant, as black herons are more common in mainland Europe, than Britain.

There's also the theory that it is some kind of cormorant-shaped crow. If it is, then it must be a new species. I think there might have been other sightings of this sort, so I will have find more information about them.

It maybe one of these, or something completely different. I may never know.

Animal language

2006-03-09T19:43:00.001Z

Do animals have language? Well there's an easy question. Yes, they most certainly do. They use it to confer anxiety, happiness,unhappiness and pain. The general scientific opinion that animal languages are more simpler than human languages, is contradicted by independent research into prairie dog language, which seems to show that prairie dogs have a word for almost everything, and they create new words as well. There also seems to be different dialects for different groups of prairie dogs.

I was reading something which says true dogs only have ten sounds. I myself have to contradict this theory,as I've heard my dog Toby speaking definitely more than ten sounds. They have a lot of whining and barking sounds, mixed in with growling.

Cats also have their own language. It is full of mews, hisses and purring. Hello in Cat seems to be a mew.

Horses and donkeys each have their own individual language. Horse is full of neighing, snorting and whinnying. Snorting seems to be a sign of pain, or annoyance. Neighing seems to be a sign of greeting. Whinnying might be laughter. Donkey is full of ee-ores.

Early religion

2006-03-08T18:47:00.000Z

It is believed religion started with the Neanderthals placing grave-goods in their graves. They have found a pair of deer antlers that they think was worn by a shaman or priest. That was Cromagnon though.Cave paintings show mysterious images of the hunt and a deer-like figure with horns that could be religious. Could the figure be connected with the pair of horns and also be a early depiction of the Celtic god Cernunnos?

Are we alone?

2006-03-08T17:31:00.000Z

There are lots of reports of extraterrestial life, mostly in humanoid form. It is highly unlikely that we are alone in the universe. Current scientific theories seem to go for smaller, bacterial life, rather than humanoids. Several space-probes have been sent to the planet Mars, all apparrently inconclusive. Theories of silica life seem to say NASA has been ignoring important evidence, since there is silica on Mars.

The actual sightings are rather diverse,from creatures a bit like the Cybermen of Doctor Who to giant bigfoot-like creatures, as you would expect from aliens.

Conditions suitable for life are probably all over the solar system, from Mars to Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.

Do Neanderthals still exist?

2006-03-08T16:45:00.000Z

Reports of living Neanderthals have come from around the globe. Some of them sound very convincing, their details fitting in nicely with the scientific description of Neanderthals.

The Almas or Almati is one of these. What makes it convincing is that in old Tibetan medicine books, it is shown by animals and plants that have been proven to exist. The medicine book says it lives in the rocks and mountains. A Turk was held prisoner and he said he saw what must have been wild mongolian horses. He said he saw some of possible Neanderthals. There have been several sightings since.

http://www.newanimal.org/neandertals.htm - it's quite a good site with lots of good information.

Early language part 2

2006-03-08T15:46:00.000Z

It is not just brain power that makes you able to communicate complicated sounds to others. The shape of the throat and position of the tongue play a large, if not greater part in this. It is for that people think that later hominids, such as Neanderthals made much, more simpler sounds than our own. Contradicting this, a hyoid bone, a bone near the larynx and thus to do with speech found Israel, was found to be almost exactly identical to our own. The current theory is that they made quite high-pitched sounds, contrary to the popular low-grunting theory. Even with all this, they would not have spoken like us. Their tongue was positioned higher in the mouth and the pharynx, another part to do with speech was longer. Also the larynx, yet another part of the body to do with speech was slightly higher in the throat, and the nasal cavity was slightly different from our own.

Most researchers agree that trully modern speech appeared only with early modern man, but they can't agree on when. Some think 40,000 years ago, others disagree.

Early language

2006-03-08T14:12:00.000Z

I think language evolved gradually from the alarm call of the early ape, to more complicated sounds. Certainly, hominids like Homo Ergastus had the brain power for more complicated language, whether they used it or not is another matter entirely.

star wars critters part 2

2006-03-08T12:32:00.000Z

I also found out that Jawas and Tusken Raiders probably have the same ancestry. It makes sense, as they both live in the same enviroment, you never see the Tusken Raider's faces and you never see much of a Jawa's face anyway, apart from their yellow, glowing eyes.

Jawas are a race that sells droids for profit, even occasionally they will wreak someone's property, if they don't buy their merchandise. They move in sand-crawlers to escape the heat of the desert, and to avoid the Tusken Raiders. Although they usually are in sand-crawlers, you do get Jawa settlements.

Tusken Raiders are a race that steals for a living. They keep local, wild animals as pets. They have masks suited for their desert enviroment. Tuskens live in primitive houses covered in animal skins.

The Tuskens speak a very undiscernable language, full of growl and roar sounds. Hello in Tusken is aargh.

Jawa speak their language very quickly. Hello in Jawa is utini.

star wars critters

2006-03-08T11:09:00.000Z

In the Empire strikes back, you see the pig-like Ugnaughts. I wonder if they're related to the Gammorrean guards in Jabba's Palace. If they are related, then why did one end up having green skin, and the other pink?

The Gammorreans are from the planet Gammorr. They live in a society ruled by the female sows. They are not known for their intelligence. Ever since their planet was discovered, they have been hired as guards for several criminal organisations.

The Ugnaughts are first seen working in Cloud City, over the gas giant Bespin. Not much else is said about them.

I also read that Ewoks and Wookies are distantly related. It must be very distant, because they don't look anything alike.

Ewoks are a teddie-bearish race from the forest moon of endor. According to C3pio, they speak a very primitive dialect . The language they are speaking is unknown.

Wookies are furry humanoids from the planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca was a famous member of this species. They speak two languages, Shriiwook and Xixacti.

Shriiwook is the main language spoken by Wookies. Wookies cannot speak Galactic Basic, due to the shape of their throat.

Xixacti is the language of the Wookies of the Wayland Islands on Kashyyyk. It was also used by the Wookie spy organisations during the time of the Empire.