Hobbits Beware!

Via New Scientist Space.com:  A recent image captured with the Hubble Space Telescope - which looks uncannily like the Great Eye of Sauron from the blockbusting Lord of the Rings trilogy .

Actually it is a spectacular, luminous ring, composed of dust particles in orbit around Fomalhaut, a bright star located just 25 light years away in the constellation Pisces Australis -- or the Southern Fish.  Read the rest of this fascinating article about how the ring offers the best evidence yet that a nearby star is circled by a newly formed solar system < here

The image was captured by astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, US, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center using Hubble's coronagraph, which blocks the glare of a star while gathering the reflected light from any surrounding ring.

Gotta love that Hubble!

Ooh Rah, Mr. President!

"We fight today because terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they are making their stand. So we will fight them there, we will fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won." -- President George W. Bush

Cosmic Concinnity?

Paul Winchell, actor, inventor, & the voice of Jerry Mahoney & Knucklehead Sniff (if you're old enough to remember), the scrubbing bubbles on TV commercials, and countless other voices including most recently that of Tigger the Tiger from Winnie the Pooh fame, died on 6/24/05.


John Fiedler, character actor, who played many roles that I know you remember, including Mr. Hengist (the consciousness of Jack the Ripper) on Star Trek: Wolf In The Fold, the meek Mr. Peterson on the Bob Newhart Show, the giggling morgue attendant on Kolchak, and the voice of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh died on 6/25/05.

Is that weird or what?

Yikes! If I were Winnie the Pooh, I'd watch out.

One World, One Dream

From the Washinton Times comes an article that recounts how "Beinjing is devoted to weakening 'enemy' US according to a defector and former Chinese diplomat, Chen Yonglin."

China's communist leaders view the United States as their main enemy and are working in Asia and around the world to undermine U.S. alliances. The article by Bill Gertz can be found here and makes for a sobering read.

It certainly puts the recently unveiled slogan for the 2008 Olympic Games in an ominous light. One world, one dream. Yeah, one big RED world.

Whose bright idea was it to award China the Olympics anyway?

Princess Leia?

From Reuters, we get a photo of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands proudly shows his newborn daughter which his wife Princess Maxima delivered at the Bronovo hospital in The Hague June 26, 2005. The girl will be third in line to the Dutch throne after her father and her sister Catharina-Amalia, born on Dec. 7, 2003. The couple have not yet decided on a name for the baby.

Hint:

Got Mouse?

Yes, it's Cat Blog Friday!


More politics on subsequent posts. I mean it.

Numbers Count!

From Scientific American:

Measured to be equal to 1/137.03599976, or approximately 1/137, [the fine-structure constant] has endowed the number 137 with a legendary status among physicists (it usually opens the combination locks on their briefcases).

Mathematicians might use the digits of pi....314159  or the base of natural logarithms, e,... 271828

This is a fascinating subject. If you know someone's passion for a subject, you can guess their passwords. A Trekker might use 047, or an X-Files fan might use 1013.

Anyone out there have any other important numbers?


[Via Schneier.com who brought it to my attention]

Turban Durbin

Dick "Turban" Durbin, star of al Jazeera, shown here demonstrating the number of neurons in his brain...

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., set off a political firestorm last week when he compared U.S. treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo to practices employed by Nazis, Soviets, Pol Pot and other oppressive regimes. His statements were condemned by the White House, the Pentagon, the Christian Coalition, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Newt Gingrich (who called for his censure by the Senate) and by right minded (pun intended) media outlets. The uproar over the treasonous remarks grew so loud that, late in the week, Durbin apologized if his remarks had been "misunderstood".

There is no misunderstanding. This was a premeditated attack against our military and our government and was designed to provide aid and comfort to our enemies all over the world.

With Senators like this, America doesn't need enemies.

Shame on you, sir.

Scientologist All Wet

While Tom Cruise was giving yet  another interview at the "War of the Worlds" premiere in London, he was squirted in the face with water. The water came from what appeared to be a microphone.

Four men who were part of a freelance camera crew were arrested & could face  assault charges.

Assault charges for squirting water on a nutcase celebrity whom we are sick of seeing in the news? These guys should get a medal for making Cruise at least think twice before talking to the next reporter holding a microphone.

Sheesh, enough already.

Feces Pizza

Keller, Texas - Four Keller High School cheerleaders were sent home early from camp after allegedly putting human feces on a pizza and trying to frame rival cheerleaders for the deed.

Cheerleaders from rival Fossil Ridge High School had sent the pizza to the Keller squad on the last night of a four-day camp at the University of Texas at Arlington. Less than an hour later, some Keller cheerleaders took the pizza to the Fossil Ridge sponsor, claiming that Fossil Ridge cheerleaders had doctored the pizza with feces.

Federal laws bar officials from discussing the girls' discipline, but such an incident would be considered "serious misconduct," district spokesman Jason Meyer told the newspaper.

Mama mia!

At the very least, the prank should be the end of their cheerleading days.

No Soup For You!

In Florida, possession of gopher tortoises is a second-degree misdemeaner punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.

So learned Carl Franklin King on Saturday evening when a Pinellas County sherrif's deputy stopped him in Palm Harbor for outstanding warrants (burglary & criminal mischief charges) & found 6 gopher tortoises in the trunk of his car.

When challenged about the tortoises, King told deputies that he wanted to cook them for a soup. Apparently, gopher tortoise meat is considered a delicacy.

Who knew?

Flag Day

Freedom isn't free.

Reno's Red Wreck

No, it's not a tongue twister...

In a tiny blurb buried on page 8 of the Tampa Tribune, I found this story about Former Attorney General Janet Reno and her beloved red pick up truck (pictured here in better days).

In the Florida Keys on Friday, Reno's truck rear-ended a car that had stopped at a red light, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

No injuries were reported except to Reno's truck.

I wonder if A.G. Ashcroft had rammed his car into the rear-end of a vehicle stopped at a redlight, would it be considered more newsworthy?

Waterlogged Cat Blog Friday

Another major rainfall event for Florida as Tropical Storm Arlene approaches.

Some strengthening is forecasted during the next 24 hours and it is possible that Arlene could reach hurricane strength before landfall, the National Hurricane Center said. 

 

It's going to be a looooong summer!

Would You Let Him Into USA?

On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.

YIKES!

 

Some ask how the customs agents could know Despres had decapitated a man with the bloody chain saw. There was no way to run a field test on the chain saw to tell if it was blood.

Upon seeing this creep & his arsenal, what kind of idiot do you have to be to think the dried red stuff caked on the chain saw is catsup or red dye #2?

Nuanced Intellectualism

GPA 76 at Yale...

Early warning signs of gasbaggery...can't keep mouth shut even during a school photo shoot.

Read the Boston Globe article about Kerry's college grades here

D stands for distortion, too.

Porta Potty Go Boom

A Pennsylvania man injured when a portable toilet exploded is suing a general contractor and a coal company for negligence to the tune of 10 million dollars. The explosion occurred July 13, 2004, at Parrish Shaft in Blacksville. John Jenkins, 53, is a North West Fuels Development methane power plant operator. He entered a portable toilet, sat down and tried to light a cigarette. When he struck the lighter, the toilet exploded. The lawsuit says the cigarette ignited methane gas leaking from a pipe underneath the unit. Jenkins was burned over much of his body in the ensuing explosion.

I don't know what the coal company has to do with this accident other than having deep pockets, but this is definitely one more reason why smoking is hazardous to your health.

'Cane, 'Cane, Go Away...

Hurrican Season begins today.

And so it begins anew...

... the stress, the anxiety, the extreme pucker factor.

Holiday Weekend Ahead

As you head out on this Memorial Day Weekend, remember... Alcohol & calculus don't mix. Never drink & derive.

Cat Blog Friday

Kinky...

Tortie extraordinaire.

Holy Hipocrisy

An article from the Opinion Journal entitled Hypocrisy Most Holy outlines abuses by the Saudi hard-line Wahhabi theocracy on symbols of Christianity, such as crosses and the Bible.

Written by Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute in Washington, the article details examples of religious intolerance such as the beheading of a Muslim on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible, the routine burning of Bibles that are confiscated, etc. It makes for an infuriating read.

The conclusion Mr. al-Ahmed reaches is simple: If Muslims wish other religions to respect their beliefs, they should stop being intolerant of the religious beliefs of
others.

Respect is a two way street.

Geek Day

The midnight premiere of the final installment of the Star Wars saga has unleashed the inner geek in previously closeted (and not-so-closeted) geeks worldwide.

Heretofore normal people are grabbing their light sabers, donning 45 pound Imperial Stormtrooper uniforms or X-Wing pilot suits, dressing their kids as baby Jedi knights and burlap-hooded Jawas complete with glowing red eyes.

So, a friendly reminder to all the cool people out there, when someone near you suddenly jumps up & declares their geeknicity, please be kind.



I'll be the one in the Darth Vader outfit...

How Logical Are you?

OK, I don't usually take these Internet quizzes because I think most of them are meaningless...I mean, who cares what kind of pasta shape you are? Or flower? Or letter? Hello?

Then I ran across this one that is better than most because it's an actual test & not opinionated drivel. You either get the right answer or you don't.

So go ahead & take it if you dare...

You Are Incredibly Logical

(You got 100% of the questions right) Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

Got Time?

I don't often recommend Time magazine, but this one is a keeper.

Sinead Lite

Star Wars creator George Lucas and Star Wars star Natalie Portman discuss plans for their next joint venture, The Sinead O'Conner Story.

Religous Intolerance

As much as I despise the recent lack of journalistic integrity evident in stories released by "respected" news organizations as the New York Times, USA Today and CBS News, & Newsweek, the actions of the hateful fanatics who spill out into the streets & kill over the words in a book are even worse.

Despite the non-retraction & semi-apology by Newsweek, the malefic mobs, who never need much of a reason to get whipped up into a red-hot intensity, remain whipped up into a red-hot intensity of anti-American ideation.

Don't they know how hard it is to flush a book?

Newsweak

The mainstream media meltdown continues:


Newsweek apologized yesterday for an inaccurate report on the treatment of detainees that triggered several days of rioting in Afghanistan and other countries in which at least 15 people died.

Editor Mark Whitaker said last night that "whatever facts we got wrong, we apologize for. I've expressed regret for the loss of life and the violence that put American troops in harm's way. I'm getting a lot of angry e-mail about that, and I understand it."

Although they would be the first to deny it, Newsweek's recent lack of basic journalistic integrity is most assuredly a result of an institutional liberal bias. Poorly investigated, anonymous, & single source stories never seem to go in favor of
America, the military, or the government, especially if it happens to be a Republican administration. (Remember, this is the same Michael Isikoff who sat on the Monica Lewinsky story for over a week, until Lucianne Goldberg & Drudge leaked it.)

Frankly, I'm tired of the 'Get Nixon' mentality of the press, especially given the instantaneous nature of today's information technology and in light of the current volatility in parts of the world. There is no place for shoddy, irresponsible journalism. Just report the news and stop twisting the facts to fit your agenda.

Leave your bias at the door.

ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

The final episode of Enterprise airs tonight.

Yes, they've killed Star Trek.

*sniff...sniff*

Fugly Puppies

Fugly puppies need a home. Free to a good home.



This came to me as an email. Unsuspecting, I scrolled down to view the giant photo & nearly jumped out of my skin.

Blecch.

This is a disturbing photo on many levels. I sure wish I know how to make it larger so you could appreciate the Photoshop detail, but Web Photo Manager is not a good substitute for Picasa's Hello program.

This photo is sick I tell you...sick!

Would It Kill You To Comment?

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BE surfers are going to be here for the next 30 seconds anyway...

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