Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader saw filmmakers James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici on the Today show this morning. They were talking about their new Discovery Channel film “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.” Perhaps you saw the piece on the Today show, or perhaps you are just reading about it on the new wires or something. Here is a peice off the AP news wire. Here is the bit from the Today show itself.

Now… Your Maximum Leader is neither an archeologist, nor a theologian. Niether is he a statistician nor is he a DNA expert. But from time to time a few ideas cross his mind that no one else seems to mention.

Here is one… Why would Jesus’ family buy a tomb outside Jerusalem when they were from Nazareth?

After consulting his Times Atlas of the World, your Maximum Leader estimates that Nazareth and Jerusalem are about 60 miles apart. That seems like an awfully long distance to travel in ancient times with a corpse for burial. Also, doesn’t jewish law require burial as soon as possible? Your Maximum Leader always took this to mean a burial within a day or two. It seems as though it would take a while to go 60 miles. (Figure a cart drawn by an ox or ass travels about 4 mph over level terrain. That means it would take about 15 hours to travel 60 miles.) This little calculation doesn’t even begin to take into account preparation/purification of the body. Then the mourning period of the immediate family added on to the burial time and travel.

It all seems a little improbable doesn’t it?

Then there is the point made by The Colossus on his blog. Wasn’t Jesus’ family of modest means? Wouldn’t a crypt and fancy sarcophogi be a real luxury?

Unless Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary moved to Jerusalem at some point during Jesus’ life, it doesn’t make sense that they would spend lots of money on a family crypt there. Did your Maximum Leader miss something concerning Joseph and Mary’s residency?

Your Maximum Leader will admit that he might watch the special on Discovery. Just to see if this simple question is addressed.

Then again… It might just frustrate him and make him turn it off.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is under all sorts of pressure right now. The Wee Villain is not well. He has a nasty illness and we’ve now discovered that he is likely allergic to the medicine he’s been given. Not lots of fun. As you can imagine, your Maximum Leader has little time to blog today.

But before he goes…

Let him commend to you this post over at Irish Elk. Your Maximum Leader agrees with the sentiment. Sometimes a good fight is what you need in hockey to show that you can’t be pushed around. It is part of the game and should be. Your Maximum Leader happens to like the old “Canadian” style game a little better than the “International” game. Plus, your Maximum Leader would like to see more clips of Don Cherry narrating fights saying “Look here. Two guys mixing it up a little. Nothing wrong with that.”

Did you see the squid gigante that those fishermen caught the other day? Did ya? It is cool. Here is a linky link.

Also… Have you been following the breakdown of the Italian government? Your Maximum Leader has. You know, he ought to try and learn italian so that he can read the papers over there and find out more about what is going on. Until then, he’ll have to settle for the news wires. Frankly, your Maximum Leader hopes for the most unlikely outcome - which is new elections. It is more likely that Romano Prodi will form a new coalition government with mostly left-center parties. He might jettison some of his hard-left supports and tryand woo some right-center groups to join the coalition.

But elections would be cooler…

Your Maximum Leader will report, sadly, that the dreamy Jennifer Love Hewitt did not accept your Maximum Leader’s invitation to dinner yesterday to celebrate her birthday. It is probably just as well since the Wee Villain wasn’t up to snuff… But she was kind enough to do an interview with CNN in which she said she’d like to be a dork… Jennifer, Love, be sure your Maximum Leader likes you just the way you are.

And finally… One last call for bloggers/people in the greater DC area who might want to see the play Richard III with your Maximum Leader… Contact your Maximum Leader if you’re interested…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was, a few days ago, very amused by the following piece on the news wires: Hybrid cars dangerously quiet for pedestrians: US blind group.

It seems that the blind prefer to hear the cars careening towards them, rather than being taken by surprise and just struck. The article begins: An

association of blind Americans has warned that cars with hybrid engines using electricy and fuel are dangerously too quiet for pedestrians.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) said hybrid cars pose a risk to the blind, children, the elderly, cyclists and distracted pedestrians.

The group said it conducted tests with blind people.

“We had the car drive by in different situations, to see wether or not people could hear it and use the sound of the car to safely cross the street, and they could not. The car was just silent,” NFB spokesman John Pare told AFP.

Pare said NFB does not want to add to noise pollution, but hybrid cars should not be less noisy than other cars.

Damnation! People want hybrid car to be more efficent than normal cars. They want them to be built to the same safety specifications as normal cars. They want them to have the same “giddiyap” as normal cars. Now they want them to be just as noisy as normal cars.

Here’s a thought… Buy a normal car. Your Maximum Leader doubts that a blind person would fail to hear the approach of the Villainmobile’s 400 horsepower V-8 engine. Indeed, the blind are frozen as the Villainmobile grows near to them.

The article ends with a statement that Toyota, among other makers of hybrid cars, are looking for ways to make them safer. Here’s an idea… You’ve heard of deer whistles? How about whistles for the blind? Mount them to the hood/front bumper and go 35…

BTW, kudos to the reader who id’s the post title…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has read a few things today that just beg to be linked.

First off… There is Eric’s peice about wild dogs. An excerpt:

… They truly were a menace…. having crossed that fine line that resides in the hearts of all beasts, they eagerly let civilization’s grip slip away and descended towards their more primal selves….

It is very good. Read it.

In a completely different vein, you should read the Taki piece that is linked by Wing Commander Seal. Your Maximum Leader is al for dictatorial style. Of course, his own personal style is a little retro - bejeweled floppy caps and all. But he has admired the style of Horthy, Peron, and Franco…

If you have a few minutes, and it will take a few minutes, you really need to read the piece in the LA Times about the discovery of a new Archimedes text under forgeries, prayers, and eraser marks. It is a fascinating read… And it isn’t every day you get to read the word “palimpest” in a news article…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, a while back, declared the Ttan Arun (or Corpse Flower) the official flower of the Mike World Order. From time to time one gets news of a Titan Arun bloom in the news…

Today, from Cornwall, UK, we have news that a Titan Arun has bloomed. And bloomed in winter no less… The Reuters peice reads in part:

Unseasonably warm weather may have tricked the world’s smelliest plant into blooming in the middle of the northern hemisphere winter, botanists at the Eden Project where the native of Sumatra is housed, told Reuters.

The warmth of 2006 and mild winter to date have encouraged the Titan Arum or Corpse Flower into a phenomenal growth spurt and into flower — an event that usually happens only once every six to nine years.

“The Titan, standing at 164 cms tall is now giving off a revolting stink,” said curator Don Murray. “It is a cross between rotten cheese, dog poo and something dead.”

“Tonight the flowers will be in full bloom — as will the stench — and that will last through Tuesday and Wednesday. But by Thursday it will have started to die back,” he told Reuters from the project in Cornwall 220 miles southwest of London.

Murray said it was highly abnormal for the plant to flower in winter.

“Last year’s unprecedented warm temperatures and high sunshine levels and the extremely mild winter we are currently experiencing have to be considered as a factor in this rare occurrence,” he said.

Your Maximum Leader is sure this is is a subtle reinforcement of global warming stories that Reuters likes. The sunlight must have tricked the Titan Arun, which one expects lives in a greenhouse, into thinking it is summer in Sumatra and not winter in Cornwall.

It is quite cold here at the Villainschloss… Definately winter.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, back in his college days, had occasion to hang out with a few people who were big into archaeology. Indeed, at your Maximum Leader’s school taught one of the foremost experts on pre-Columbian Virginia. Many of his students were friends of your Maximum Leader. During his time at school, and after, he learned much about archaeology - without having to spend all those tedious hours in the sun and dirt looking for clay chards, rubbish pits, and arrowheads. So while his knowledge of archaeology is all academic, he does have an interest in archaeology.

Recently there were two tidbits on the news wire that bear note. The first is that what might be the first furnace in the English colonies has been discovered. According to this piece some amateur archaeologists have stumbled onto what might be the remains of a 1619 furnace used for making iron ore.

Not far from your Maximum Leader is the site of George Washington’s father’s furnace. At some point your Maximum Leader seems to remember reading that Washington’s father, Augustine, thought that he could make as much money off his furnace as he could as a planter. Your Maximum Leader also seems to remember that Augustine Washington’s furnace burned down a few times and was thus abandoned. Perhaps this is lucky for us. Young George might have grown up a smithy and not a surveyor. Who knows where that would have led us?

The other news from the world of archaeology is from Rome. New research in and around Rome’s Palatine hill are discovering all sorts of interesting sites - and showing that the Palatine area needs stabilization and preservation. According to the article, rainwater is one of the primary contributors to decay of the Palatine sites. One expects that to be the case as there can’t be a lot of development in the area. Your Maximum Leader didn’t realize that only about 40% of the 67 acres of the Palatine area are open to the public - and most of that space is around the Flavian Amphitheatre.

Your Maximum Leader would love to get on a plane right now and head to Rome… But it is not in the cards…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is fascinated by the whole idea of an influenza pandemic. From time to time he even blogs about the latest information about what science is doing to study pandemic.

Lately there has been a lot of news about scientist studying the 1918 pandemic and the virus that caused it. Your Maximum Leader thinks that he blogged about how some scientists got samples of the 1918 virus from the frozen bodies of Alaskans who died during the outbreak. It appears as though another group of researchers have created a strain and have studied it in monkeys.

They have found that the virus in question causes an infected person’s immune system to attack its own lungs. Eww… Quite nasty. A virus that causes your own body to destroy your own lungs. Not a pleasant way to go.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is wondering something…

At what point does bread become toast?

Bread removed from the oven is warm, but not toast.

Bread put in a microwave to be warmed is also warm bread, but not toast.

Bread exposed to fire or a heating element for a period eventually becomes toast - or a burning cinder.

It is the quality of the heating, and not the simple act of heating itself, that makes the bread toast.

Humm… Toast…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader will take a moment to remember, today, those Americans killed 65 years ago today during the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

Some of you may have noticed this interesting piece in the Washington Post about how scientists are creating omputer models of the USS Arizona in an attempt to figure out when the deterioration of the ship’s hull will trigger the release of oil still trapped in the ship.

Very interesting stuff.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader hopes that you all had a very good Thanksgiving. Your Maximum Leader certainly did. He spent it with family at his brother-in-law’s beach house in Ocean City, MD. Wednesday and Thursday were not good from a weather perspective - as there was a horrible howling storm most of the time, but company made up for the clouds and rain. Your Maximum Leader and his family returned to the Villainschloss yesterday. The drive back was not too fun as the traffic, which was light for a considerable period, became very dense and difficult. A portion of the drive that would ordinarially take about 45 minutes took about 2 hours to complete.

Today, your Maximum Leader is laid up with a terriffic headache. He is not sure the cause, but it seems as though repeated doses of Excedrin (taken since this morning) are beginning to do the trick. Your Maximum Leader is now feeling barely human.

Many of you know that your Maximum Leader is something of a gun nut. Not a Kim Du Toit type of gun nut - his tastes in firearms are much more catholic than your Maximum Leader’s. Your Maximum Leader’s taste in firearms leans towards the historical. He has a fine collection of British Enfield rifles spanning the period from WWI through the end of WWII. He has a Webley Service revolver as well. He also is fond of an East German Makarov pistol he has. All these weapons have some sort of historical significance to your Maximum Leader.

One weapon of global historical significance that your Maximum Leader does not own, but would like to, is a Russian-made AK-47. Your Maximum Leader has always thought that the AK-47 was the most significant firearm every devised. Owning one would seem like a reasonable addition to his collection.

In case you missed it, the Washington Post as a very well written peice about the AK-47 published today. The full article is here.

The most interesting factoid, heretofore unknown to your Maximum Leader, from the piece is that Hugo Chavez is now building an AK-47 factory in Venezuela. Yet another reason to dislike him…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is all for using the “power” of the Albert Gore created internets/interwebs thingie to learn new things.

Sometimes, perusal of the usual suspect’s blogs leads one down a path of fantastic links where you can really claim that you’ve learned something that you didn’t know before.

Like Eric, your Maximum Leader has wondered about making human breast milk cheese…

Now he knows (like Eric does too) that you cannot.

Fascinating stuff.

Carry on.

In today’s Washington Post, science fiction is reality.

I read it and thought “We are living in an age of miracles and wonders.”

If we are indeed living in the age of miracles and wonders, where are the lasers?

(In honor of Memento Moron’s musical geography posts - which I always enjoy but am never early enough to answer)

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was reading over the news wires and caught this peice about the impending launch of the Space Shuttle a few days ago. The jist of the AP wire story is that astronauts on the Discovery are going to be risking their lives when NASA launches the shuttle on July 1. NASA calculates the odds of a fatal disaster at 1:100.

Frankly, those odds seem a little too precise and clean to be the real odds. But hey… Your Maximum Leader is not a statistician…

Regardless of what your Maximum Leader might think about the Space Shuttle programme or the job NASA is doing, he is a big believer in space exploration. (NB to all readers: In case you’ve not read - or can’t remember earlier pronouncements on the Space Shuttle - your Maximum Leader believes that the shuttle is an old programme that needs to be scrapped and NASA needs to focus on other types of exploration. Your Maximum Leader will commend to you Buckethead’s recent entry on the Post Office & Aviation for a good template for future NASA endeavours.) Being a big beliver in space exploration he is also a realist. Exploring space is a dangerous business. All sorts of exploration (in the true sense of the word - not the 2nd grade version of “let’s explore our feelings!”) aredangerous excursions. There is a significant chance of death. That chance of death is, in some ways, what is alluring about exploration.

What upset your Maximum Leader about that Reuters peice was the hand-wringing, namby-pamby “Oh My God We’re Gonna Die!” element of it. On the one hand, the success, through the early 80s and then again through the 1990s, of NASA marketing Shuttle voyages as reasonably safe can lead to an over-acute sense of danger as we try to get the programme started again. But on the other hand your Maximum Leader thinks it is a reflection of our hand-wringing, namby-pamby, milquetoast society.

Are Americans explorers any more? Are we risk-takers? Do we have courage to dare might things and win glorious triumphs (although checkered by defeat)?

More and more your Maximum Leader isn’t sure that we as a nation are courageous. Sure there are lots of courageous Americans. Those courageous Americans are astronauts, police officers, soliders, sailors, airmen. But as a whole Americans may have lost (or are in the process of losing) our sense of national courage. We wring our hands over the Space Shuttle. We wring our hands over our fat lazy children. We wring our hands over what “the world” thinks of us. We wring our hands about everything. And because we are a public people, we do our hand wringing publicly. Our public decent into pansyness has strengthened our enemies, weakened our friends, and made us look to the world as uncomfortable as a metrosexual at a monster truck rally.

Your Maximum Leader will watch the Space Shuttle launch tomorrow. He will say a prayer that our astronauts are launched into space and safely returned. He will not anticipate the worst. He will not expect to fail. He will hope to watch with respect as the courageous astronauts do what they are trained and want to do. If, God forbid, there is a disaster, your Maximum Leader will greive. Then he will hope we get right back on that horse and ride.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader thanks those of you who read and commented on the Heartless post below. (NB to Bobgrrl: Your Maximum Leader had no idea that SoCal was the PCP capital of the USA. Neither did he know that PCP has some sort of retro-chic going for it…)

Anyhoo…

It appears as though federal prosecutors in Chicago are going after the gang that seems to be, get a load of this, MARKETING, it tainted heroin. Yes folks. Marketing the heroin.

Now call your Maximum Leader a little crazy (or naive) on this count, but he had no idea that drug gangs engaged in full-out marketing campaigns of their products. One would think that the product (and its desired affects) would market themselves. One might also think that given the illicit nature of the sale, one wouldn’t shop around to a) find the best stuff or b) find a deal. Really now, if your typical heroin addict new that just down the street there was some other pusher offering wholesale prices on his junk wouldn’t he just find the deal?

Anyho… The gang in question is marketing its tainted heroin as “Max Pain,” “Lethal Injection,” “Fear Factor,” “Drop Dead” and “Final Call.” Again, perhaps your Maximum Leader is crazy (or naive), but none of these product names do anything to intice him to buy. As catchy as he finds “Max Pain” that product sounds more like something your Maximum Leader would like to inflict on some terrorist than himself. And frankly, doesn’t “Lethal Injection” sound a little too much like the death penalty to want to inject it into your own arm…

Anyho… 200 dead so far from the tainted stuff. 70 in the Chicagoland area alone. It’s a start…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader would like to share with you an image now burned into his mind’s eye. This image comes to us courtesy of the Live Science news wire. Ready for it? Here it comes…

An Olympic-sized swimming pool filled with human sweat in 3 hours.

No. It isn’t the result of the Big Hominid climbing Namsan.

It is the residents of Phoenix, Arizona. The sweatiest city in America.

Carry on.