Hi all,

Even as we are still reeling from Mac's sudden and too early death, the internet yet again proves itself to be a very uncivil place. The original post was deleted because it contravened MeFi's obscure self-linking policy:

http://www.metafilter.com/86118/PostPost...

The author (Paracat's David Beidny) then posted a plea to redo the post with the offending poscasts he did with Mac:

http://metatalk.metafilter.com/18368/del...

Eventually an admin allowed someone to re-post:

http://www.metafilter.com/86121/PostPost...

If that were not enough many MiFiers then came out in numbers either to denigrate Mac or the grief-stricken author. A lot of them come over all bureaucratic about the self-posting principle, many arguing that the author was too close to Mac to post, with or without the podcasts.

Not being a regular MiFier, the whole thing just puzzles me ... any thoughts?

For anyone whose every read his posts, Rigorous Intuition needs no introduction.I have missed the literary stylings of Jeff Wells, one of the best Fortean/tinfoil bloggers around. I'd almost given up on him as having decided that actually getting a book published was finally more important than his truly counter-cultural visions of contemporary culture.

Thankfully, I was mistaken:

http://rigint.blogspot.com/2009/03/hey-h...

And for those of you who never had the chance to encounter him because of the hiatus, and are about to do so for the fist time, I envy you ...

New Scientist has as article arguing that the expansion in hominid brain size that occurred about two million years ago was due to the ice age which allowed an energy burning, heat generating brain to develop with sufficient environmental cooling:

http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/07/wh...

It joins an ever growing list of theories that attempt to explain how our forebears 'suddenly' seemed to experience evolutionary brain expansion.

These include:

A diet high in meat.

A diet high in starch.

Social competition.

The development of cooking.

Essential fatty acids and schizophrenia.

An unspecified "special event".

Links provided in the article.

More notes from the second edition of Biorama, a symposium and workshop that invited artists and experts to share their views, works and discoveries about the biology of the underground. Andy Gracie kicked off the artists presentations with a compelling introduction to the mythological theories about the structure of the Earth and the civilization, often called the Agharta, that live inside it:

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/01...

And cross-posted here:

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/arc...

Gives a brief history of its modern permutations, and provides numerous links and videos - including a link to a patent for the Hollow Earth Theory:

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagen...

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagen...

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagen...

Some soldiers seem to have a sixth sense at being able to spot improvised explosive devices, researchers at the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) found, while others were unable to see the deadly weapons hidden in brush or buried in the middle of a road - links are below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/health...

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/04/03/192...

http://soldiersmind.com/2009/04/08/goal-...

An article appeared on Ninemsn on 15th July with the misleading title "No solid evidence of Lithgow panther":

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8378...

It gave some sketchy details of a NSW government report produced by the the Department of Primary Industries says which recommended that while there's no conclusive evidence of a large black cat prowling Sydney's western outskirts, evidence of any future sightings should still be collected.

The Department have helpfully provided the following identification fact sheet and unidentified animal reporting form to aid the public:

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pe...

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/?a...

The report also suggests a whole-of-government taskforce be formed should any compelling evidence emerge.

However, the article claims the release of three pages of findings has been "watered down".

A 24-page report is said to recommend the government erect warning signs about the potential existence of the animals, or conduct education sessions at local schools.

You can decide for yourself here:

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pe...

Curiously, although the story broke just a few days ago, the report itself is dated 26 Mar 2009 ...

Renewed state government interest in the possible existence of the cat was sparked last year when the unpopular NSW Premier Nathan Rees said he no longer believed the reports were an urban myth.

The creatures are said to roam from Penrith to the Hawkesbury region in Sydney's northwest, along the Nepean River and across the Blue Mountains to Lithgow.

Ironically, this supposed territory coincides with that of the local NRL football club called the Penrith Panthers - a title by which the ABC is also known.

Mr Rees was refusing to talk about the panther's existence following the report's release on Wednesday. It is not known if the Premier is a Penrith Panthers fan ...

I dare you not to smile!

Sasquatch Militia:

http://zapatopi.net/bsa/militia/

Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus:

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

The TRUTH About Black Helicopters!:

http://zapatopi.net/blackhelicopters/

And that's just scratching the surface. For more, see

ZPi | Intradomain Log:

http://zapatopi.net/blog/

Spirit Stones is a documentary set in the southwest corner of Australia. On many occasions in the 1940s and 50s stones fell on Aboriginal (Noongar) camps. These 'showers' delivered stones in locations up to 250 kilometres apart, falling at various places for hours, sometimes days and even weeks and months. Landowners, Aboriginal farm labourers and inquisitive townsfolk were all witness to falling stones. Though these events stretched over many years not one person was ever hurt.

The Noongar elders reflect on the social and environmental conditions in relationship to the falling stones. Through intimate storytelling the eyewitnesses reignite their memories of these sometimes scary events. Some say it was the "little people" who did it, some say it was an angry ghost. Today there is still no scientific explanation, but these events had a real impact on people.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/2009...

Here's a preview:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/video/preview.h...

This is almost as unbelievable as Fort's proverbial fishmonger!

The sources report that the Tasmanian Attorney-General Lara Giddings said the drugged-up wallabies had been found hopping around in circles squashing the poppies, creating the formations.

The strange occurrence, revealed in a State Government Budget Estimates hearing, purports to have solved campfire legends about mysterious crop circles that appear in northern Tasmania's poppy paddocks.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,256...

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/200...

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story...

As an aside, if the wallabies have taught us anything, and I'm sure they haven't, it's that Tasmania is the world's largest producer of legally grown opium for the pharmaceutical market. About 500 farmers grow the crop supplying the market with about 50 percent of the world's raw material for morphine and related opiates. Might explain a few things about the place to us mainlanders ...

The OzCar email scandal is just the latest in an inglorious history of fakes and hoaxes in Australian politics:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/...