Survival Kit

From Field and Stream comes this article on how to put together a handy-dandy Survial Kit In An Altoids Can .

Just pop this little kit and a survival blanket in your pocket, and you'll be ready for anything.

Real Time Supernova

According to this fascinating BBC article, astronomers say they have witnessed a stellar explosion - or supernova - unfolding in real time.

The explosion was picked up in February by the Swift satellite. Swift is a US-British-Italian mission designed to look out for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

Cool stuff.

Photoshop Diet

First Katie...

then Rosie O'Donnell...

now Dan Rather...

Who's next? Jabba the Hut? Michael Moore?

[The BLOG note: photo via riehlworldview.com

Attack Cats

First there was Lewis
the attack cat that terrorized Fairfield, Connecticut...

Now, meet Grumpy the attack cat who terrorized a neighborhood in Swindon, Wiltshire, England.



These stories are hilarious. A neighborhood terrorized by a poor little kitty. How wimpy is that?

Photoshop Magic

CBS Photoshops Couric Photo .

Don't you wish real life worked like that?

Driver's Ed

From Syracuse.com comes this story about a Chinese woman who crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson.

How could someone possibly think they could teach a dog to drive a car?

A cat, maybe, but never a dog!

Here We Go Again

Pretty much the entire state of Florida lies within the cone of probability of the unpredictable Tropical Storm Ernesto.

We have made our hurricane preparations.

All we can do now is wait and hope Ernesto dissipates.

Jack Wins!

It's about time...

Monkey Doo

Rare newborn albino Pygmy Marmoset monkeys perch on a zookeeper's fingers at Froso Zoo in Sweden.

This tiny marmoset, which lives in the Amazon basin in South America, is the world's smallest monkey and reaches 13.7 inches in length and weighs up to 3.5 ounces at maturity.

Sure they're cute now, but they're still monkeys, and when they grow up they'll hiss, and spit, and sling little poop at you.

Tiara Barry

No, this is not Photoshopped!

Pluto Out

OK, this Pluto is still a dog, but Pluto is no longer a planet according to the IAU's latest decision .

Our solar system is down to 8 planets now.

There goes the old standby... Mother Very Early Made John Some Unusually Nice Pies.

There goes the new and politially charged... Mama Very Easily Made Crazy John Some Unbelievably Nutty Politically Correct Xylographs. (Yes, Mama & Crazy John are Teh-ray-zuh and John Kerry)

Now we need a new mnemonic...

Mother
Very
Early
Made
John
Some
Unusual
Nachos

I don't know... it sounds a little goofy to me ;-)

Cat (And Ferret) Blog Friday

For today's Cat Blog Friday...

...a cat and ferret combo especially for ferret fans... you know who you are ;-)

Happy Friday, everybody!

The Home Team

The Farm Team keeps watch over the Homeland...

I'm on the team.

Are you?

To read more about being a Farm Team Infidel or to order the t-shirt, go to farmteaminfidel.com

[The BLOG note: via Lucianne.com]

Wahhhh!

The Democratic party response to President Bush's comments yesterday at CNN article entitled Bush: Democrats wrong on Iraq :

A resounding chorus of whines and cries for a push for a new direction in Iraq...

...sounds like cut and run to me.

A Terror Primer

How To Negotiate With Terrorists

HH Blowhard blog gets it.

Scuba Cat

This is one amazing cat!

For Duck Friday Fans

A special Cat and Fluffy Duck Blog Friday post for the Duck Friday fans, especially those in OZ.

Choco Bath

From Yahoo News comes this story about a 21-year-old man who was trapped in a tank of chocolate for about two hours.

Apparently the man got into the tank at the Debelis Corp. to unplug it and became trapped waist-deep in the chocolate.

Huh?

I've got some problems with this story. First, why would he need to step into a tank of anything to unplug it. Wouldn't the plug be on the outside?

Second, is the Ewwww factor. I hope I don't get any chocolate from this vat!

And thirdly, this guy sounds like a real lightweight. I could eat my way out of that vat in less than 2 hours without any help ;-)

Coffee Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

...a cat in a cup of coffee.

Why, coffee?

Because coffee is the new health drink according to
this NY Times article which provides links to many interesting sites.

In short, researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

So, sit back and enjoy another cup on me.

Happy Friday, everybody!

New Mnemonic

It remains to be seen whether the IAU will vote to add 3 new planets, Ceres, Charon, and 2003 UB313 (knicknamed Xena) to the solar system.

If they do, I have come up with a new mnemonic device to remember them:

Mama
Very
Easily
Made
Crazy
John
Some
Unbelievably
Nutty
Politically
Correct
Xylographs


What do you think? Too political?

Inbox Insight

You are your inbox.

According to psychologist Dave Greenfield, who founded the Center for Internet Behavior in West Hartford, Connecticut, the state of your inbox is a reflection of your habits, your mental health and, yes, even the way your parents raised you.


Hoarders vs. Deleters: What your inbox says about you is a short read and, whether inboxes are a metaphor for our lives or not, it does make some interesting points about inbox management.

What does your inbox look like?

Solar System Expansion

If the International Astronomical Union has its way, the solar system will immediately expand to include 3 new planets, Ceres, currently considered a large asteroid; Charon, now considered a moon of Pluto; and Xena, a recently discovered object that is larger than Pluto. And may even grow to ~100!

The executive committee of the IAU has approved a new definition of what constitutes a planet, and a vote of the union's general assembly is scheduled for Aug. 24th.

The Boston Globe has the fascinating article here . The article is worth a read and you can click on a larger photo that makes a wonderful visual aid.

I guess this destroys the old pneumonic device for remembering the planets...

MOTHER VERY EARLY MADE JOHN SOME UNUSUALLY NICE PIES.

Spider Not!

I ran across an ad for this product:



Apply directly to the spider!

Apply directly to the spider!

Apply directly to the spider!

;-)

Florida Spiders?

The spiders do get big down here in the Sunshine State ;-)

Same Speech

Not surprisingly, the heads of Iran and Syria have given virtually the same speech regarding the recent end of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

I know it sounds like something right out of a t-shirt, but if I had wanted to hear from an a**hole, I'd fart. Twice in this case.

Moaning Fatima

"Improve your war footage and get Pulitzer-winning dramatic pictures with the moaning Flat Fatima™. Her classic heartbreaking posture will easily manipulate audiences into forming the desired opinion on any conflict..."

See Fatima at the scene of Hurricane Katrina, or seeFatima expounding on the dangers of global warming. You get the idea. See more moaning Fatima inserts at The People's Cube blog . It's a funny site with a very nice name.

Ahmadine-Blog

Yes, Mahmoud has a blog. Read about his rants
here.

On his first entry he asks, "Do you think that the U.S. and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war?" the president asks visitors to the site, offering them the choice to vote 'yes' or 'no'.

Oh, Margaret. This guy just gets loonier by the day.

Balloon Head

Lars Lottrup clowns around at the International Clown Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. Clowns from a number of countries around the world have convened in Denmark for the festival.

Don't try this at home or you could end up like this... YIKES!

NWTF

Pat Niple, an Ohio woman who has the same vanity license plate on her car for more than a decade, is now being told by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles that it is obscene and it will not be renewed.

Niple's personalized plates are NWTF, an abbreviation of Northwood Tree Farm -- a business she owned with her late husband.

I guess this is another casualty of the Internet. I wonder if they are going to insist she change her last name?

Mars Hoax

I got this via e-mail:

THE RED PLANET IS ABOUT TO BE SPECTACULAR!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when
Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and
will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in
the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9
and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest
75-power magnification,





Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.
Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are
closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its
highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty
convenient to see something that no human being has
seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at
the beginning of August to see Mars grow
progressively brighter and brighter throughout the
month.

Share this with your children and grandchildren.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!

According to the Science@NASA site this is a hoax.

Mars will be spectacular this year because Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter this year on October 30th at 0319 Universal Time. Distance: 69 million kilometers. And Mars will look like a bright red star, a pinprick of light, but certainly not as wide as the full Moon.

So mark your calendars and be glad that Mars isn't coming close enough to rival the Moon, because if it did, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides!

Yikes!

Missing Egyptians

There are still 5 out of 11 Egyptian "students" missing. The men were part of a group of 17, who arrived at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport on July 29th, and then failed to show up at Montana State University as part of a student exchange program.

Honestly, how hard is it to find 5 guys walking like Egyptians?

Cool Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

... one cool cat & lead singer of The Kitty Band.

I know I've posted this before, but I still love it.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Not-So-Green Gore

Peter Schweizer, author of Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, writes a good article in USA Today entitled Gore Isn't Quite As Green As He's Led The World To Believe.

We've seen many examples of Gore's lies and hypocrisy before, but in this piece, Schweizer provides concrete examples of Gore's gluttonous consumption of the resources he lectures us to conserve.

It's not easy being green... or even remotely carbon neutral.

McKinney Out

McKinney Loses Runoff For Georgia Seat

Attorney Hank Johnson, a former county commissioner, won the nomination with 59 percent of the vote, surpassing McKinney by more than 11,000 votes.

Thank goodness!

I don't know Johnson from Adam, but he can't possibly be as unqualified as Cynthia McKinney.

Mea Culpa...Not!

The same authorities that caught the Lebanese photographer, Adnan Hajj, who doctored images of the aftermath of an Israeli air strike in Beirut to make them appear darker here, have found out that the image of a white cat on The BLOG was altered to appear as though it wore a red shirt in support of USA troops.

[The BLOG note: we stand behind all photoshopped photos that appear on this blog, and we do not apologize for any photoshopped photos that appear on this blog.]

Pupsicle

Out of Reuters comes this story about a German woman who found a frozen dead dog when she opened the refrigerator freezer compartment in her new apartment.

The previous tenant told the police that didn't have time to give it a proper burial.

Huh?

Just a reminder folks, to please check all of your kitchen appliances before you move out.

Dead Castro

This is the only castro photo I want to see.

[The BLOG note: photo credit goes to the KillCastro blog ]