- For many years now, man (defined as Americans under the age of 50 with a perpetual case of wanderlust) has ventured to Europe in search of adventure and culture. According to scientists examining two sets of fossilized teeth recovered from England and Italy, respectively, man may have ventured to Europe even sooner than previously believed. The first set of teeth, found in England, was only a piece of jawbone with three teeth, and the other, from southern Italy, was nothing more than two infant teeth. Scientists took a closer look at the teeth using refined techniques and found that one specimen’s age had previously been significantly underestimated and that the other’s dating and identity had been misinterpreted. With these revised figures, researchers had suddenly discovered the oldest known skeletal remains of anatomically modern humans in the whole of Europe. Two international research teams reported the discovery Wednesday and said they expect the findings to reignite debate over the relative capabilities of the immigrant modern humans and the indigenous Neanderthals. Team members also speculated that the findings could lead to closer examination of the extent of the interaction between the two groups and perhaps even the reasons behind the Neanderthal extinction. Already, some in the scientific community have speculated that the Homo sapiens migrations into Europe may have come in at least two separate waves, rather than just one. The tests were conducted at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit in England. Using advanced techniques, researchers discovered the baby teeth from Italy to be 43,000 to 45,000 years old. Further analysis showed the teeth to be those of a modern human, not a Neanderthal, as previously thought when the fossil was discovered in 1964 at the Grotta del Cavallo. Similar tests were used to establish the age of the jawbone, found at Kents Cavern near Torquay, Devon. The jawbone was found to be 7,000 years older than previously estimated, probably due to contamination when it was originally dated in 1989. The revised age of 41,500 to 44,200 years old makes it the oldest known modern human fossil from northwestern Europe. Previously, the earliest reliably dated European modern human specimen came from the Pestera cu Oase site in Romania and was estimated to be 37,800 to 42,000 years old. Without early fossils in the age bracket occupied by the newly evaluated English and Italian finds, archaeologists had not been sure who made some of the stone tools they were uncovering, the arriving humans or the Neanderthals. More on the study can be found in the most recent edition of the journal Nature. The lead author of the jawbone report was Thomas Higham of the University of Oxford and the primary author of the report on the baby teeth from Cavallo was Stefano Benazzi of the University of Vienna. Hingham said in a statement issued by Oxford that the earlier dates for these fossils meant “that early humans must have coexisted with Neanderthals in this part of the world, something which a number of researchers have doubted.” So Neanderthals really enjoyed traveling………..
- It would seem fair to say that not all NBA players are on the same page when it comes to the league’s ongoing lockout and the offers the league’s owners have made thus far in the negotiation process. First, free-agent guard and 16-year NBA veteran Jerry Stackhouse suggested in a radio interview that he didn’t want NBPA president Derek Fisher or any other player negotiating something as massive as a new labor deal that will alter the landscape of the sport for the next decade. But compared to the social thoughts of two of his peers, Stackhouse may as well been channeling his inner Adam Smith or Emmanuel Kant. Houston Rockets guard Terrence Williams got the party started with a tweet to the NBPA that read, “Hey @TheNBPA Let's play BALL enough with the stare off.” Williams then got company from Celtics big man Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who tweeted, “Take the 51% man and let's play.” To say that these three players’ sentiments are an aberration probably could not be further from the truth, as games are now being missed and in a few days, players will start missing game checks and have to find ways to make ends meet because they were not forward-thinking enough to save up for the lockout instead of buying that second sky blue Maybach or the vacation home in Tucson. Once that happens, there is no doubt that fractures will appear within the structure of the union because the elite players with enormous bank won't have those same worries and thus won't have the same sense of urgency to reach a deal that doesn’t benefit them as much financially. This should get interesting…………
- Kooks are all around you. Often, they are easy to spot. Occasionally, they are people like Ron Jones of Tulsa, Okla. Jones is a big fan of America’s original east-west highway extravaganza, Route 66. Many people like traveling Route 66 - what remains of it - and seeing some of the historic sights still standing along the road. Jones doesn’t like Route 66; he loves it. A lot. He loves it so much that he has turned his body into a canvas for art honoring Route 66 and now has 102 tattoos relating to the road. He has them all up and down both of his arms and both of his legs. "My first tattoo was the Route 66 shield with part of the highway running through it. What the second was, I couldn't tell ya. After you get so many you lose track," Jones said. He does have one tattoo that isn’t tied to Route 66. "The only one I have that is not Rout 66 is Eskimo Joes," he explained. The remainder of his tattoos are all Route 66-centric, ranging from Mater from the Cars movie franchise to road signs. Other tats are references to specific landmarks along the route. "Clanton's Cafe in Vinita," Jones said of one of his tattoos. "The safari motel, I traveled to Tucumcari New Mexico to get that tattoo." Jones has inked himself so many times that he often forgets what he has on certain parts of his body, especially on areas like his back that aren’t readily visible. His pace of inking up has slowed down substantially because he is running out of available real estate on which to get new tattoos. He voluntarily publicizes his personal email address and invites anyone and everyone to email him to talk cars, Route 66 or freaks with insane numbers of tattoos…………
- This is stunning news. Of all the endeavors in which Lindsay Lohan has failed - acting, singing, staying sober, appearing at court hearings, showing up on time for her community service work while on probation - it seemed like a solid assumption that she would at least excel at taking her clothes off for skin mag. Yet in this effort too, she was a failure. Lohan was a week by the judge in her case to complete a nude photo shoot for Playboy magazine before heading off to jail to serve her 30-day sentence for violating her probation. Lohan went in, took off her clothes and plenty of images were snapped - now, more will be taken. According to online reports, Playboy was dissatisfied with the pictures that have already been shot and feels it necessary to start the entire shoot over. “Lindsay was told that the Playboy executives wanted to go another direction with her shoot so they asked her to come back for a second time,” a source close the situation said. By “go another direction,” assume that means she looked like crap and gave an uninspired effort that led to terrible photos. Not that the pervs who pick up Playboy for the articles care going to care whether or not Lohan looks bright and alert (or sober) in the pictures, but couldn’t the mag just Photoshop any problems and come up with something serviceable rather than dragging everyone out to watch Lohan disrobe again? Her failure does provide welcome reassurance that there are more things in this world that you can count on than death and taxes………….
- Could it be? Could Egypt really have another rage-filled revolution within one calendar year? As unlikely as it seems, this could well be true due to fear that Egypt's ruling generals are working to solidify and prolong their hold on power while the nation is in a state of transition. The threat of a "second revolution" has pushed relations between the generals running the country and activists to new lows less than four weeks before a key election. At the heart of the latest uproar is a proposal from the military-appointed Cabinet to shield the armed forces from any oversight and give the generals a veto over legislation dealing with military affairs. Opponents of the measure believe it is designed to minimize influence by Islamist lawmakers over the writing of a new constitution. The proposal requires the adoption of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to be binding, so it is far from a certainty. But already it has united both Islamists and liberals in condemnation of everything it stands for and Egypt's best known reform proponent, Mohamed ElBaradei, decried the document as "distorted" and demanded its withdrawal. "There is a difference between a civilian democratic state that guarantees man's basic rights and military guardianship," ElBaradei said. Also leading the charge against the propotsal is he Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest and most powerful political group, which denounced the proposal as usurping the "people's will." "This route goes against the will of the people, and will lead to another revolution," said Saad el-Katatni, spokesman of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party. "We call on the people of Egypt to reject the document to protect their rights." Should the measure go through as written, it would protect the military from parliamentary oversight, give it a veto over legislation dealing with its affairs and drastically reduce the powers of lawmakers to select a panel to write the constitution. On top of everything, the proposal would declare the armed forces the protector of "constitutional legitimacy," giving the military final say over major national policies. For some odd reason, this has Egyptians on the verge of rioting - again. Critics believe the document would create a military state-within-the-state. A massive national debate has broken out over the bill and for now, a debate is as far as it has gone. But with Nov. 28 elections for a new parliament looming, the debate could evolve into a full-fledged battle quickly. As always this year, Egypt is bringing the political and societal drama in bunches…………
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