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The Wari abandoned Cerro Baúl and all their other cultural sites about AD 1000. Why they chose to leave Cerro Baúl remains a mystery, but they left ample evidence of a planned, if destructive, departure. They cleaned out functional buildings, but ritually destroyed ceremonial buildings, including the palace, temple and brewery.

Final ceremonies, such as a feast at the palace, ended with igniting the combustible parts of the structure. Later, the stone walls collapsed, covering and protecting the remains for a thousand years.

The brewery preserved the most intriguing evidence. Shawl clips found in the ruins showed that elite women were the brewers. In Inca times, Ryan Williams at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, notes that noble women called "virgins of the Sun" are known to have brewed beer...

More at the New Scientist about this now-departed ancient people and their awesome 64-ouncers of beer, shown above.
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  1. Holy crap. There's commuter rail in the Valley now. Yes, that Valley. With a bikeway. And "amenities". It actually happened! That kinda rules.

  2. Another thing that kinda rules is the band Akron/Family. Various mp3bloggers have been raving about these guys for a while now and I got a couple mp3s that way and liked them, and started following their myspace. Now I got a whole abum from them on emusic. Hey, indie rock may not be dead after all!

  3. If you want to know what the Secret Rulers of the World are up to, the first thing is to read the shocking and nearly unbelievable Protocols of the Elders of Texas. Wheels within wheels, my friends. Wheels within wheels.

  4. In less awesome news, something big was on fire down in Laguna tonight. I saw engines and a ladder truck from two agencies and cop cars from three agencies all hurtling down there Code 3 tonight. Hope it wasn't a brushfire.
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Reason #2345252 not to be one of those people who fights wildfires: burning poison oak. Emphasis added is mine.

Ouch )
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The cellphone-blows-up-gas-station story is an urban legend, but the dangers of refueling are real, if remote. The Petroleum Institute's page on static electricity risk has some advice: don't get in your car while the tank is filling up.

There's also some fine security camera video of a very lucky person barely escaping incineration in a static-caused fire.

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