News from The Gaians: Plants Can Think

Lady Deidre Skye insists that the ideal society must be founded on sound principles of ecology; and society that violates ecological principles will be unstable. The wisdom hidden in the everyday functioning of natural things is a item of faith for Skye, as well as an ideal to emulate.

She would be most please to learn that scientists have discovered a wisdom, almost a sentience in the physiology of plants. 

According to an article from Reuters, "Plants do complex arithmetic calculations to make sure they have enough food to get them through the night, new research published in journal eLife shows. . .


Scientists at Britain's John Innes Centre said plants adjust their rate of starch consumption to prevent starvation during the night when they are unable to feed themselves with energy from the sun."

Read more about it here:

Plants possess mathematical abilities

News from the Believers: The Godless Driven From South Carolina

Sister Miriam Godwinson believes quite strongly in the connection between religious fervor and land. Disbelief can sully land. Therefore she is very glad to hear when pious territories are consolidated in their unanimity. In South Carolina, a menage-a-trois has been convinced to leave for more licentious parts of the country, and are asking the faithful to help pay for their exodus.

You can read more about this here.

News From the Believers: Harvard Destroys Miracles

Sister Miriam Godwinson begrudgingly admits that news stories demonstrating the continuing influence of her teachings might be too easy to find from time to time, but nevertheless is glad to see one of her followers, Pat Robertson, correctly attribute blame to Ivy League universities for the apparent lack of convincing miracles in recent years. Ordinary miracles like sunsets and new births are common enough, but the truly astounding miracle like those  prevalent in earlier times are all too few, a state of affairs best attributed to elite secondary educational institutions.

"Why do miracles 'happen with great frequency in Africa, and not here in the USA?' asked a 700 Club patron named Ken. "People overseas didn't go to Ivy League schools," Robertson replied with a chuckle.

According to Robertson, it's the "skepticism and secularism" that is being taught at "the most advanced schools" around the country that is keeping God's miracles at bay.Meanwhile, Africans are "simple" and "humble." "You tell ‘em God loves ‘em and they say, ‘Okay, he loves me'," said Robertson. "You say God will do miracles and they say, ‘Okay, we believe him'."

http://gawker.com/5993285/pat-robertson-blames-ivy-league-schools-for-lack-of-miracles-in-america

News from the Federation: The White Student Union

There hasn't been a post to this blog in a long while, but not for lack of stories that fit the theme. There are many indications that current society is fracturing along the lines of the factions in the Unity.

Take for instance the recent emergence of the White Student Union at Towson State University, who are adamantly opposed to the concept of equality and devoted to the cause of armed defense of their honor. They deny the usefulness of constitutions in preserving liberty, and urge the formation of a new government that would defend the prerogatives of White European-Americans, especially property holders.

For instance, the WSU recently reported that

"A dozen male members recently went to the local Saint Pius X Latin Mass and then to the local shooting range together and practice tactical firearms training while fifteen of our female members have already been enrolled in self defense classes."
(http://towsonwsu.blogspot.com/2013/03/weekly-executive-board-report.html)

They have also been clear about the threats levied to their survival and their way of life:

"The virtue of white Christian womanhood is under attack at Towson University by degenerate criminals seeking to rob our women of their God given innocence. Through armed thuggery the money of law abiding Towson students that is earned by the sweat of their brow is stolen and their lives threatened for simply walking down the street."

(http://towsonwsu.blogspot.com/2013/02/black-crime-wave-continues.html)

Colonel Corazon Santiago, herself of European-American (Hispanic) decent, congratulates the leader of the White Student Union, Commander Matthew Heimbach, and his dedication to persevering as a middle-class college student despite all the challenges he has faced.

News from the University of Planet: Spider Silk

As Commissioner Pravin Lal points out,

"Until quite recently spider silk had the highest tensile strength known to man. And the name silksteel pays homage to the arachnid for good reason."

Here Lal is talking about the ability of humans to weave spider silk-like chemical structures into a metal that can be used as light but very tough armor: silksteel. As it turns out, there has been a lot of research into this precise application of spider silk recently.

An article from Popular Mechanics describes it, along with five other applications:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/6-spider-silk-superpowers#slide-2

Planet Orbiting Alpha Centauri Is Found

The story conveyed in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri took one step closer to coming true recently when astronomers found an earth-sized planet orbiting the Alpha Centauri system, the star system nearest our sun.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/earth-exoplanet-alpha-centauri/

No word on whether the planet is named "Planet" yet, or whether they'll wait for the Unity ship to arrive before naming it. The planet is very hot, because it is much closer to its primary star than Earth is to the sun.

News from the Believers: Apple Computers

Miriam Godwinson insistently cautioned her followers about the corrupting potential of technology. Concerned about the growing economic importance of miniaturization, she once said

 "Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these...things...these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day announce that they have no further need for us?"

Miriam would be gladdened to know that her followers in Russia are paying special attention to the hidden values of technology. A group of Russian Orthodox activists have chosen to protest Apple products as un-Christian because they claim that the Apple corporate logo refers to the forbidden fruit of Genesis:

Apple Logo Branded as Un-Christian by Orthodox Followers

Miriam lauds her followers for their ability to concentrate on the essence of the problem at hand, and overlook the fact that the apple is not specified as the forbidden fruit in the book of Genesis, as well as the fact that the apple was chosen as a corporate logo for its approachability and simplicity rather than for its biblical overtones. She is concerned that these protesters, who continue to use Apple products, believe that it is safe to do so provided that a cross is hung over the offending logo - apparently unaware that the danger is on the inside of the Apple package, not the outside.