Yeah, Right, Whatever

Yesterday, my laptop's motherboard conked out. It's in the shop, being repaired. Estimated time of return is 1-2 weeks.

What does that mean? I still have internet access. I can still get e-mail. I just have to use the desktop that is also used by the boys to do their school work. Needless to say, sharing will cut into my blog time.

Therefore, until the laptop finds its way home, there probably won't be any news roundups or random posts. If I'm inspired or something happens worth noting, I'll post it.

Now... if I could just remember the links to my pick'em pool and fantasy team, I'll be good...

This is a great explanation of the financial fiasco and how it came to be. (h't to ace and jawa report)

This weekend, Jersey B hosts the Arizona Cardinals (whose owner is officially the Worst Owner in the History of Owning Things™ (I can't find a link for that... anyone? HDD?)).Why do I care? Well... for some reason, my dad is still a Cards fan... and I'm shocked that Favre has survived this long with the Jets' O-line.

KSK has a humorous comparison of the starting quarterbacks, wondering which one will "strike a blow for seniors' rights?" Granted, Favre and Warner are not the only "old" QBs in the NFL right now (Gus Frerotte is a month younger than Warner, and Jeff Garcia is a year or so older), but Favre has the "oldest current QB" title by 4 or 5 months. The oldest players in the NFL are kickers, usually (Right now, five kickers are older than Warner, but only one, John Carney, is older than Favre*).

Where am I going with all of this? I'm not entirely sure. I wanted to link to the KSK post because it made me chuckle, especially the photoshop (yeah... the harping on Warner's faith got old, fast...). I also can't help but be surprised when (non-kicker) NFL players are still doing a fairly respectable job in a young man's sport. After all, many a player calls it a career after less than 10 years.

Maybe Favre and Warner aren't quite as superannuated as KSK presumes.  

*I was shocked that two kickers who I thought were up there with Carney weren't... they're just so famous that it seems they've been around that long.

Senator Obama's shark sent out a cease and desist letter to television stations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, warning them not to show the new NRA ads (the ones I mentioned here). The NRA- PVF (National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund- their PAC) responded with their own letter, which contained a point-by-point refutation of the "fact check" that the Washington Post attempted on the ads. Needless to say, the NRA had their ducks in a row, so to speak, before they even rolled out the ads.

Does Obama really want to go up against the NRA, especially in Pennsylvania? I mean... those hicks in Pennsylvania do cling to their guns... and are probably all NRA members...

The Chicago political machine may not play well in rural Pennsylvania and Ohio, Senator... the bitter, clingy Bible-thumping gun owners just won't understand the nuance.

Wandering away from sports and politics (US politics, that is) for a moment, we have this little tidbit from the UK. And by "this little tidbit" I mean "let's just disregard over a thousand years of tradition, 450 years of practice, and 300 years of law."

The 300-year-old rule excluding Catholics from the throne is set to be abolished under plans drawn up by Downing Street.
The reforms would also put an end to the automatic male succession - so if Prince William's eldest child turned out to be a girl she would be his heir... It would also limit the power of the Privy Council.

Henry must be spinning in his grave right now. 

I don't really care about the order of succession. It's not like their my monarch or anything. I do find it interesting that they're dumping a millennia of tradition (that worked, for the most part... with exceptions, of course) because it's not "fair." Life isn't fair, folks, and I don't really see why it matters if Lady Louise is number 8 or 9 on the list or whether she is ahead or behind her baby brother. If you're lower than #3, who cares? (Yeah... Olivia Fischetti is honored to be on the list, I'm sure... I wonder if she even knows that, if 1471 other people die, she's Queen.)

As for Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, I thought it was fairly ceremonial these days, anyway. See what I know...

The one thing that sticks out to me in all of this is the "Catholics and those married to Catholics would no longer be excluded from the throne." If you're unfamiliar with the British throne, one of the monarch's titles is "Supreme Governor of the Church of England." How is that going to work? Are all of the Anglican (Episcopalian... whoever) faithful going to be ok with a Catholic being the titular head of their church? I kind of doubt it... the Brits are funny that way.

What are they going to do next? Outlaw fish and chips?

Would it jinx the Cubs' chances to win the World Series if a photo of their World Series tickets was made public? Well... just in case...




I have mixed feelings about the Cubs winning the World Series this year.On the one hand, they're the Cubs. Aside from the last couple of years, they... um... how do I put this... stink. It's what they do. Seriously, their 2003 NL Championship win was their first post-season series win since they won the World Series in 1908. Stinking is what they do. On the other hand, at the beginning of the year, I posited the notion that, if the Cubs were allowed to win the World Series in 2008, order would be restored and it would 100 more years before they won again. The way they've played this season, the latter might be a viable option.

Part of me hopes they aren't jinxed by this... part of me...

I received an e-mail today from someone representing the Breast Cancer Caucus Blog (from the National Breast Cancer Coalition). They seemed to think that I would want to write a post about them and their Voter Pledge. Here's part of the e-mail:

On November 4, voters in the United States will elect a new president in what many are referring to as the most important election in decades. In anticipation of this historic decision, the National Breast Cancer Coalition is educating Americans about how their vote will impact the future of breast cancer in this country through the Breast Cancer Caucus Blog. The site offers daily updates and headlines on the health policy debate and breast cancer. It includes coverage of how breast cancer and other health issues are being covered by both presidential campaigns. The site will not endorse a candidate.


NBCC has also launched the Voter Pledge. The goal of the Voter Pledge is to collect a quarter million pledges by the election to honor each of the 250,000 women that will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Visitors to www.breastcancercaucus.org can sign the voter pledge on behalf of themselves or in memory of someone they have lost to the disease.


I ask that you please consider:


· Writing a post about the health policy debate in the 2008 election and incorporate a link to the Breast Cancer Caucus Blog;
· Encourage your readers to visit the site and share their own stories in the comments;
· Sign the NBCC Voter Pledge. Each signature gathered helps in the fight to eradicate breast cancer;
· Add the voter pledge to your blog with the following code: (code removed- B)
· Add the Breast Cancer Caucus Blog to your blog roll.

So... I wandered over to their blog, and what did I find? They support a national healthcare system. Of course, I want to write about that... but probably not supporting their position.

First things first, though. I think that whoever sent me the e-mail thought that because I'm a woman I support breast cancer research. Well... it's not that I don't. I support cancer research. Period. There are worse cancers in this world than breast cancer- other forms of cancer kill a higher percentage of people each and every year. If you get pancreatic cancer, you have a 90% chance of dying from it. Lung cancer kills half it's victims. Renal cancer has a 25% mortality rate. Statistically, if you are a man over 75, you have prostate cancer. Over one million people are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer each and every year.

I say all of this after careful thought. One of my grandmothers had breast cancer, and a friend of mine recently underwent treatment for a recurrence of cancer that began as breast cancer. It's not that I don't want it driven from the earth- I do. I don't want any more women (or men, for that matter) to get that terrible diagnosis. But, more importantly, I'd rather that the "c" word was heard with far less regularity all around.

Why does one cancer get more research money than another? I'm sure there are plenty of reasons, but I can't help but think that PR has something to do with it. Advocates for a particular research get the general public in a tizzy over this or that, and then the public screams to their elected officials ("why aren't you doooooing something???") and then that research gets funded. Not what can help the most people- who yells the loudest.

OK... enough about that... let's get to the rest of the blog. Like I said, they advocate a national healthcare system. Guess what... I don't. They don't work. Ask the Canadians and the British. There's a reason they come here for their healthcare if they can afford the trip.

Here's another funny little quirk about the blog. They say in the e-mail that they will not endorse a candidate. Imagine my shock (or lack thereof) when I skimmed their posts and discovered an obvious pro-Obama (or anti-McCain... whatever) slant. They do look objectively at each party's platform... but the end product has a noticeable bias.

Finally, we have their "voter pledge."

In the 2008 general election, I pledge to vote to eradicate breast cancer.


Before voting, I pledge to consider a candidate's position on the National Breast Cancer Coalition's legislative priorities including:


1. Guaranteed access to quality health care for all.
2. Increased federal funding for breast cancer research.
3. Developing a national strategy to study the role that the environment plays in the development of breast cancer.
4. Ensuring access to breast cancer treatment for women diagnosed through a federal screening program.

As if I could vote to eradicate breast cancer.

I refuse to sign any kind of pledge that is that myopic.Then again, I reject the idea that it's the government's responsibility to fund any research whatsoever.

Imagine how much money would be made available for individual contribution to research projects if the middle man (the government and its bureaucracy and wasteful spending) were taken out of the equation. Maybe if "we the people" instead of "we the government" had our money, we could fund what matters, get rid of the chaos, and cure some diseases. Nope. Instead, we leave it to the government what we could do ourselves.

A few days ago, the NRA released some ads about Senator Obama. Here they are:

















If you don't feel like watching the videos, in a nutshell, the NRA is saying that Senator Obama is opposed to citizens owning handguns (and other guns). uh... didn't we know that already? I guess not. (Here is more NRA info on Obama. Here is the Illinois State Rifle Association statement.)

Anyway...Factcheck.org (hmm... Annenberg... where have I heard that name before? I'm sure it will come to me*) fired up their spin machine, and this is what it spit out. David Kopel and Patterico tear apart their "fact checking", and the NRA mentions who funds factcheck.org (where have I heard that name before?*) .

Today, sacrificial lamb Obama spokesperson Bill Burton spoke with Megyn Kelly about this little misunderstanding concerning Obama's attitude towards guns.




I bet that left a mark. Sure, they've tried to spin this for a while now. The truth is the truth. Now how will they spin it? Hunting season is coming up, isn't it? How long will it be until Senator Obama walks into a sporting goods store to "get me a hunting license?"

Go through the links. See how Obama has voted on gun rights issues in the past. Consider for a moment that he thought that the DC gun ban was constitutional (and then flipped on it). Consider also that he has supported the draconian gun laws of Illinois (and the even stricter laws of Chicago). Sure, he recently said that he can't take away a person's guns... because he doesn't have the votes. But if he did have the votes? I pray we never find out.

When all is said and done, the Obama campaign is upset whenever someone tells the truth about Obama and what he's said in the past or where his policies would lead. Add one more truth-teller to the list.

* For any of you who have been napping the past few months, Senator Obama and William Ayers (admitted terrorist) worked together on the Annenberg Challenge, which spent millions of dollars on Chicago schools... and accomplished nothing.

That is the question... FoxNews is on in the background as we do school today. Joe Biden is talking to a group in Cinncinnati, and I keep yelling at the television. I mentioned that this stupid speech is just begging to be fisked. I had to explain "fisk" to the boys.

T1's response- "that's going to be one long post, Mom. You'll have to dismantle his stupidity into tiny little pieces to show just how bad it is."

Yeah... he's got a point. eh... we'll see... if a transcript shows up on the interwebnettubes today, I may do it...

TSO has a post comparing Senator McCain to the Grinch. Well, TSO doesn't do it- he points you to a DU post that does.

TSO goes on to explain that it's not just Christmas. McCain is on a rampage to destroy all holidays.

I heard he was a founding member of the Temperance movement, which means both St Paddy’s Day and Cinco de Mayo are screwed. He can’t eat sweets, so goodbye Easter, no chocolate bunnies and animal shaped marshmallow treats for you. And Thanksgiving? Puhleez- the man is the one who gave the native Americans the polo tainted blankets.

Word has it that Columbus Day will be okay. Only time will tell, but for the sake of our planet, our children, and the entire Time/Space Continuum, how could we take a chance by voting McCain?

For the sake of honesty, I must point out that some of the folks on DU did point out that this shopping season will be tight, no matter who is elected. And it's not supposed to be about the presents anyway, right? The country is deep doo-doo if our economic health revolves around the birth of Baby Jesus. Gah... I hate agreeing with those morons, but they're right... the rest of the commenters? Still insane.

Go and check out TSO's post. The p-shop is great.

Oh, yeah... hubris...

A company in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter is making commemorative coins for American presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

And if the Democratic candidate is elected to become the most powerful man in the world on November 4, it could open the floodgates for millions of pounds worth of business for the firm.

Windsor, Elizabeth & Windsor has already sold more than 300 limited edition commemorative silver coins to the Democratic Party to hand out to key members of the campaign to elect Obama.

...The coins show Senator Obama’s face, along with a picture of the White House and the legend “President of the United States of America”.

Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you, Barry? Does this creep anyone else out besides me?




I guess he just wants to look like the guy dollar bill, right?

Here is a new video from Catholicvote.com. Very powerful. Worth the 3+ minutes.(h/t to civil truth at And Rightly So!)

Anyone else confused, freaked out, or otherwise befuddled about the whole economic crisis we find ourselves in? The other day, I linked to Xran's explanation of the crisis, which was a good start. If you need more info on how all of this happened, go here.

Today, we have news that the big bailout might not be as set in stone as we have been lead to believe. I'm just going to do a huge link dump. It's easier that way.

• Newt is REALLY not a big fan of the bailout. 
• Warren Buffett is a tad more optimistic than others out there.
  
• Several prominent Republicans are finally voicing their opposition.
• Some people are cautious about letting the companies fail. 
• Here's a bunch of general news articles about the situation.
• Some think that if McCain comes out against it, the bailout is doomed. Reid says the Republicans need to get behind it.Reid even said that McCain was behind it... which McCain denies at this time.
  
• It's nice to know the FBI is going to investigate possible fraud.
• The Federal Reserve dumped millions of dollars into overseas money markets... why? More importantly, why do we have the Federal Reserve????
• At Politico, we have a plethora of comments concerning the bailout. Consensus? Is waiting a bad thing?
• Michelle Malkin points out one group that no one wants to blame for the mortgage crisis.
• Even Jimmy Carter thinks the bailout is flawed... hey... wait... let's take one more look at that bailout...
• On the bright side, this little fiasco means that maybe... just maybe... the feds won't be handing out money like candy. I know... a girl can dream, right? (They needed federal money to clean up a vacant lot and paint a mural? Seriously????)
• Thomas Sowell weighs in. 
• George Will? Not a big fan. 
  
• Keep up with me on this one... Congress decided that more people needed to own homes... whether or not banks thought they could pay their mortgages... so banks did what they were told and handed out mortgages like it was Christmas morning... a lot of those loans went into default... that was a big part of this little problem we find ourselves in right now... and Congress wants to make sure people get to stay in the homes they can't afford... and we wonder why there's a problem?
• So much for a balanced budget, eh?
• Do we really need "bold steps" right now?
• Jack Kelly explains what's wrong with "crony capitalism"... and it isn't the "capitalism" part.
• Ron Paul speaks... and I agree with most of it... did I just type that???
• MOM has more information on this situation than Average Joe can digest in one sitting. Great posts... just keep scrolling...

My opinion? Well... it took decades to get the financial system into this mess. It won't be fixed overnight. As long as people don't have to take responsibility for their stupidity, we will never be out of this mess.

There are laws that make it easy for irresponsible people to walk away from their credit card debt, and there are policies that still make it easy for people who have no business getting a mortgage to move in to a home far above their income. For decades, people have been encouraged to live beyond their means. That is the real problem. 

Click Image For Full SizeYeoman 3rd Class Margret Ueberlauer


Yeoman 3rd Class Margret Ueberlauer hands out toys to HIV infected children during a community relations project at the Camillian Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

What would happen if, come Nov. 5th, after all the votes are counted, there is a 269-269 tie in the electoral college? I mean, besides the Democrats screaming for the Electoral College to be disbanded.

Washington Times writer Joseph Curl took a look at the possibility. It could go well for the GOP... if it's taken care of by January 20th. After that, San Fran's Grand Nan takes over... then it could get ugly.

Let's just make sure that doesn't happen, ok?

You know... if you want to play with the big boys, you really need to bring your A game. Letting your 9th grade nephew handle your multimedia campaign just won't cut it.

What am I talking about? Senator Cornyn released 2 commercials this week.

(edited... I had to take out the blip.tv commercials because they autoplayed... not good... click on the above link to watch both of Senator Cornyn's commercials, especially "Help." )

Not bad... here's how Rick Noriega responds:




Isn't that... cute? Special? Juvenile?

It's an election year; you never know what might happen. The stakes are pretty high, so the candidates might feel that they have no choice but take drastic steps... like replacing your VP choice at the last minute.

You think I'm joking, right? Well... there's this e-mail going around, stating just that. After the VP debate on Oct. 2nd, Biden will step down and Hillary will ride in to save Barack's day.

On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary.  This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2.

There have been talks all weekend about how to proceed with this info. Generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it out there to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible.  I have already seen a few short blurbs about this - the 'health problem' cited in those articles was aneurysm.  Probably many of you have heard the same rumblings.

That's one version of the e-mail. There are other versions, and other bloggers have chimed in over the past couple of weeks. The most prevalent "reason" that they claim will be cited for Biden stepping down is "aneurysm" which he did have issues with...  two decades ago. (teeheehee... here's the snopes take on it- impossible to prove something in the future... could cause monumental collapse of Obama campaign, etc...) Oh, my... a quick dogpile search (I'm tired of google and yahoo... giving dogpile a try) fetched a whole lotta linky love for this particular rumor. (That was from the first page.)

Why do I even bring it up? Well... the snarky part of me wants to put a Biden clock in the sidebar, counting down to Oct. 5th. Another part of me wants to get my grubby little mitts on H.G. Well's time machine, hop forward 2 weeks, then come back to today and laugh at y'all for either ignoring a huge story or making a mountain out of an imaginary molehill.

The best course of action might just be to get the rumor out there. If it's true, the DNC has had their thunder stolen from them. "Oh, yeah... Hillary is the VP candidate... we knew that weeks ago... before you made poor, sick Joe go out there and get his fanny handed to him by Sarahcuda. You big meanies." Or... if it's a fake, the DNC might be forced to do something novel (like releasing medical records for its candidates, which the GOP has turned over- at least for McCain- but the DNC doesn't seem to feel the need.)



Do I think the rumor is true? No, not really. I mean... someone in the DNC knows what happened in 1972, right?


UPDATE: Nice Deb points us to El Rushbo, who has decided to begin Operation S.O.B. (Save Our Biden). In case that is "members only," I'll quote the highlights:

Obama is the next target for a bailout, I am convinced.  Now, let me set this up. I'm sure that quite a few of you who are spending any time at all on the computer have received what I have received a gazillion times. By the way, as a little heads up, those of you out there who receive things in e-mail, these flash blast e-mails that go out: If you think I haven't seen it yet, change your mind. By the time you see it, I have seen it so many times, I have practically thrown the computer up against the wall. You don't need to forward these things to me. I am a magnet for this stuff. Anyway, the latest going around is this flash e-mail sent by somebody claiming to have inside information at the DNC that the Democrat National Committee and Obama have gotten together and they have decided to get rid of Biden.


...I can't recall the last time that I heard a vice presidential candidate criticize an ad run by the presidential candidate.  I can't remember the first time.  First time, last time, I can't remember a time that it happened.  So what I have heard is, is the plan is to send Biden out there to say something so stupid -- so odd, impolitic, whatever, off the wall -- that they have no choice but than to get rid of him.  You know, like all these e-mails you get, just discount this and discount some of these other things, even though I was the first to suggest that of the two, Palin and Biden, if anybody's going to be replaced, it would be Biden.


I'm first on the record with this.  Now, I'm walking back into the studio and I'm talking about this with Snerdley, and Dawn overhears this. She said, "Has this ever happened before?"  And I said only one time in our lifetimes, and that was 1972, when George McGovern had to get rid of Thomas Eagleton, who was a senator from Missouri, because it had been discovered that Eagleton had had electric shock treatment.  Now, back in 1972, electric shock treatment is where you took grandma if things weren't going right in the bathroom or other places.  It had an attachment to it that you take people to asylums to get this done. So poor old Eagleton, that's the last time that I can remember that happening.

(Rush then plays several gaffes that Senator Biden has had over the past few weeks.)

Again, folks, a new Operation Chaos, it's called SOB, Save Our Biden, Operation Sling Blade.  We need to keep this guy on the campaign.

Stay tuned to the EIB Network for orders... 

This week, I'm going to add volunteers to my prayer list. I will be praying that they will work with decency and integrity, and for their safety.

When election day rolls around (or earlier, if you have the opportunity to do early voting), don't forget to thank and encourage the precinct workers. It's not as easy as it looks, and it's a long, long day for them.

Several years ago, there was a misprint in at least one local phone book. Instead of Home Depot's actual phone number, my phone number was listed (one digit was different). Fortunately, not many people use a phone book anymore, and my phone only rang once or twice a week. Then once or twice a month. Then they finally stopped (new phone book came out?).

My little Home Depot experience is nothing compared to this.

A misprint in a telephone book has led to some callers dialing a phone sex service while trying to reach a New Jersey political organization.


A listing for the Sussex County Democratic Committee in Embarq's white pages sent people to a sultry female voice inviting them to pay for sex chat.


Embarq spokesman Glenn Lewis told The New Jersey Herald of Newton that a transposition error caused the last three digits of the Democrats' phone number to be misprinted.


He said the listing has been corrected in Embarq's directory assistance database.


The organization's 800 number listed in the book's yellow pages was correct.

Insert favorite "getting *bleeped* by the Dems" joke here...

One of my favorite aliens (the real kind, not the illegal kind), Xran, explains the financial crisis as only an alien accesss to a blog can. He just has a way of... well... simplifying the complicated.

I also heard a financial expert try to calm people down by saying, "in 1929, we had an economic depression. Right now, we're having a financial recession. Two very different things." I guess I'll take his word for it.

Xran makes more sense.

Over the past few weeks, I've had several messages on my answering machine, asking me to vote for Larry Joe Doherty. He and Matt Finkel are running against Michael McCaul for the District 10 House seat. I'm guessing, but I think I had a message a week.

This morning, I was actually here when the nice young woman from Mr. Doherty's campaign called. The call went something like this:

"Can I speak with Ms. __________"
"Speaking..."
"Hi! I'm calling from the Larry Joe Doherty campaign. He wants to root out corruption and fight special interests and make health care affordable for everyone. Can he count on your vote?"
"No. I will be voting for his opponent."
"But... but... don't you want those things?"
"I don't agree with how he wants to get it done."
"But... but..."
"Have a nice day. Goodbye."

I read on another blog about the "get out the vote" (GOTV) campaign starting, and how some people, when called by the campaign that they don't support, are voicing their support to mess up the internal polling.

I thought about it... for about half a second. I can't even pretend to support Larry Joe that long.

Let's stroll through history, shall we?

1356 English defeat French at Battle of Poitiers


1777 American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War.


1796 President George Washington's farewell address was published. In it, America's first chief executive advised, "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."


1849 1st commercial laundry established, in Oakland, California


1873 Black Friday: Jay Cooke & Co fails, causing a securities panic (You mean companies have failed before? Did the government bail them out, too?)



1906 Addressing the annual dinner of The Associated Press in New York, Mark Twain said there were "only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe ... the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here." (Oh, how the mighty have fallen!)



1928 Mickey Mouse's screen debut (Steamboat Willie at Colony Theater NYC)


1934 Bruno Hauptmann was arrested in New York and charged with the kidnap-murder of the Lindbergh baby.


1945 Nazi propagandist William Joyce, known as Lord Haw-Haw, was sentenced to death by a British court.


1955 President Juan Peron of Argentina was ousted after a revolt by the military.


1957 The United States conducted its first underground nuclear test, in the Nevada desert.


1959 Nikita Krushchev is denied access to Disneyland


1970 "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" debuted on CBS.


1982 Emoticons were born when Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman proposed punctuating humorous or sarcastic computer messages with a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis as a horizontal "smiley face." :-)


1985 The Mexico City area was struck by the first of two devastating earthquakes that claimed some 6,000 lives.


1994 U.S. troops entered Haiti to enforce the return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.


1995 The New York Times and The Washington Post published the Unabomber's manifesto.


2001 The Pentagon ordered combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.


2002 President George W. Bush asked Congress for authority to "use all means," including military force if necessary, to disarm and overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein if he did not quickly meet United Nations demands to abandon all weapons of mass destruction.


2004 Hu Jintao became the undisputed leader of China with the departure of former President Jiang Zemin from his top military post.


2005 Former Tyco CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski was sentenced in New York to up to 25 years in prison for looting the company of hundreds of millions of dollars; Tyco's former finance chief, Mark Swartz, received the same sentence.


2005 Al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri said his terror network had carried out the July 7 London bombings that killed 52 people.

And... today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

This isn't a news round-up, exactly. It's what I've seen around the web about stuff in the news. A little more op-ed than a usual round-up.

• (My token news piece)- Bill Gates is investing in a company that's trying to make gasoline from algae. Cool, if it works.
• Obama has told his acolytes to "argue with them, get into their faces" when discussing the election with Republicans and independents. (Link has video of the speech.) That just gives me the warm fuzzies. Does that mean I can get in their faces when they try preaching their drivel? Then again... I'm not sure most of his acolytes brush their teeth... would I really want to get in their faces? (On the other hand, it's nice to see that Obama is honest about running the most negative campaign of the season.) 
• Speaking of negative campaigning... guess who's king of the manipulation of political centripetal force?
  
• There is a lot of news about the hacker who accessed Palin's e-mail. Here's one guy who says he's the culprit.
• A Democratic Congressman's son was arrested (for smuggling illegals), and the Congress Critter says it's a "family matter." I guess this means the press will leave them alone. Since Rep. Boyd has a (D) after his name, it's a done deal. Must be nice.
• This woman destroys (or severely screws up) anything she gets near. (As an aside, has the MSM pointed out that Clinton removed the regulations on many of the financial institutions currently making news for their bad judgment calls following said deregulation? Or that President Bush tried to fix it? Didn't think so.)
• First we had pigmented porcine puckers, and now we have "don't vote for her because she's cute." Michelle Obama was, of course, talking about... herself? huh? She's not on the ticket, is she? Do we get to vote for First Lady now? Sweet, 'cause she'd lose.
• If it's all the same to you, Senator Biden, I'll be unpatriotic. And let's be honest, Joe... Barry's tax plan is a crock- he can't lower taxes on 95% of Americans because over 1/4 of the population pays NO taxes... the top 5% pay 97% of income tax in this country. So... I guess you're going to lower 3 whole percent of the income taxes paid in this country. Wow... I'm impressed... no, really. I'd be more impressed if taxes were lowered for EVERYONE so that more money can be spent in our economy (or saved, or invested, or... whatever the taxpayer wants to do with it... they earned it... it's their money...) 
• I guess Harry Reid does look (or act, at least) a little like Sir Robin. I guess San Fran's Grand Nan is his trusty page, clicking coconuts down the road as they call yet another recess when they really need to be working
  (concept bravely stolen from Ed.)
  
  
  
• Rep. Thad McCotter comes as close to calling the Gang of 10 16 20 a pack of morons as he could without actually using the "m" word. Pity, that.
• I'm glad there is at least someone in Washington who thinks that all these bailouts are a bad idea.
• Finally! An honest progressive. It's nice to know his support of the troops is conditional on meeting his standards. Life doesn't work like that - thus explaining his horror that we need a military in the first place.
• The Worst Hair in NYC, a former Hillary supporter, is backing McCain. I guess you can add that to my list of things that might leave a mark.
• I just saw this group's ad on FoxNews. (Warning- it auto plays the ad.) Me thinks they aren't big Obama fans (mostly because they clearly and simply explain what Obama's tax plan will cost the average person... 8 months to pay your tax bill for the year????)
• Obama mocked McCain for wanting a commission to investigate the financial crisis. Wonder why? Wonder no more. He doesn't want the facts to come out.

eh... that's about it for now... 

Who is this unfunny moron and does he even have $25,000 $50,000 to his name?

If you don't feel like clicking the links (and the 2nd one borders on nausiating), Doug Stanhope, a "comedian," is offering Bristol Paline $25,000 $50,000 to abort her baby and "move out of that draconian home." Lovely.

You don't need to ruin your future in order to support the megalomaniacal self-promotion of a mother whose every action is rooted in a demonic ego and archaic superstition. Don't become victim of the same pressure that had your brother "volunteering" for duty in Iraq.

Please consider my offer as time is of the essence. You don't want this child, the father certainly doesn't want this child and the world doesn't need another wailing mouth to feed.

Who said Bristol doesn't want the baby? Levi had expressed his desire to not be a father in the past, but who are you, Dougie, to tell us if he's changed his mind or not? As for the world... the "world" won't be feeding the child- Bristol and Levi will. That's how parenting works.

If Bristol had wanted to abort the baby, she could have quietly gone to a clinic in Alaska, paid however much it costs (or had the foundation you're giving the money to pay for it), and had her "problem" quietly disappear without her "conservative, Creationist Christian power-vampire and pro-life huckster" mother ever finding out. (Yes, that's what Dougie called Governor Palin in that link.) Teenagers do it all the time (unfortunately). With laws the way they are, teenagers, under the age of majority, can have major surgery without their parents' consent. They can't get their ears pierced without their parents' permission, but they can kill their unborn child.

I'm no longer shocked by the Left's reaction to those who choose Life. Saddened, sickened, but not shocked.

I mentioned earlier that Senator Cornyn's campaign suspended activity over the weekend because of the hurricane, but Mr. Noriega's campaign couldn't wouldn't because "it was already on the calendar." (Mr. Noriega has since suspended his campaign due to the activation of his unit as part of Ike relief- read the article... it will tell you when it was suspended... telling, I think.) One of the things that the Cornyn campaign did was delay the release of a new campaign commercial... or at least, they tried to. A couple of stations, for some reason, were unable to delay the roll-out.

So... Mr. Noriega has suspended his campaign... sort of. His campaign was active enough to call reporters about the situation, accusing the Cornyn campaign of lying and asking if that's how the Senator's campaign "suspends activity."  His faithful bloggers are all over this also.

Evidently they just don't get it. The Cornyn campaign asked the stations not to air the ad. Three stations said, "sorry- it runs." The Cornyn campaign is on hold. The stations have rules, and they keep running the ads per those rules. It's what they do.

Then again, this is  what Democrats do. Take a situation, distort the facts until they resemble a Dali-esque interpretation of the world, and run with it. Good luck with that.

Either that, or I just have a different sense of humor.

The boys and I saw this commercial today. They thought it was hilarious. Me? Not so much. For some reason, fart humor doesn't seem to be a good way to publicize your hotel.


Was it just me? Do I need to lighten up, or was that wasted ad time? Or do I need to lighten up, but it was a little... off... as an ad?

Several marks, actually.

The Obama campaign is going to have a a time of it explaining a few things.

• How bad is it when a member of the Democratic National Committee Platform committee announces that she's endorsing John McCain?
• You know that sex ed curriculum that the Obama campaign swears was just to teach kindergarteners "good touch/bad touch"? uh... it was a little lot more than that.
• Is this how you bring the country together? Can you not find a muzzle large enough for that man?
  
  
• Speaking of Joe... care to explain how you slam McCain for hiring former lobbyists when Senator Biden hired a current lobbyist to work on his campaign? Just wondering...
  
• So...  when someone presents the facts about Obama and the Chicago machine, it's time for some censorship. Got it.
• It is nice to know that he thinks we're basically "decent," though.
• That Logan Act violation? Yeah... Taheri's still on it. Nice of you to accidentally back up his assertions.
• I hope you remembered what happened the last time you opened your mouth at a Hollywood fundraiser and kept it shut this time. And maybe you shouldn't make comments about "siding with the people" before heading off to a Babs fundraiser. People might notice.
• Let's make sure that you don't mention who caused the financial crisis that you're blaming on the Bush administration, ok?

Wow.. that would leave a mark... if the MSM would bother to report it. Good luck with that. 

L/Cpl. Jason Hanson
21 years old from Forks, Washington
3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
July 29, 2006


L/Cpl. Jason Hanson died when a gasoline truck near a building he was in exploded, causing the building to collapse in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Three other Marines were also killed in the blast. Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield, 19 yrs. old, of Clovis, California; Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus, 28 yrs. old, of Wolf Creek, Montana; Sgt. Christian B. Williams, 27 yrs. old, of Winter Haven, Florida.

Hanson graduated in 2003 and joined the Marines in 2005. He married his wife just before shipping out.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

By now, most of you know that Senator Obama voted four times against a Born Alive Infant Protection Act in the Illinois Senate. Here is one of those "born alive" infants who wants to have a word with Senator Obama:




I really hope this ad goes viral on the internet. It needs to.

Last week, I suggested that we pray for the upcoming election, beginning with praying for the nation itself. This week, I am adding the candidates to my prayer list.

Eagle Forum posted information several years ago on "how to intercede for your government officials". Please pray that whoever wins the election (for all offices, from dog catcher to President):

1. would realize their personal sinfulness and their need for Jesus Christ.
2. would recognize their own inadequacy to fulfill their tasks and that they would depend upon God for knowledge, wisdom, and the courage to do what is right.
3. would reject all counsel that violates spiritual principles, trusting God to prove them right.
4. would resist those who would pressure them to violate their conscience.
5. would reverse the trends of socialism and humanism in this nation, both of which deify man rather than God.
6. would be ready to sacrifice their personal ambitions and political careers for the sake of this nation, if yielding them would be in the best interest of their country.
7. would rely upon prayer and the Word of God as the source of their daily strength, wisdom and courage.
8. would restore dignity, honor, trustworthiness, and righteousness to the office they hold.
9. would remember to be good examples in their conduct to the fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters of this nation.
10. would be reminded daily that they are accountable to Almighty God for the decisions they make.

Sounds like a good start, right? In addition to these prayer requests, I'm adding prayers for the candidates health and safety through the election (and beyond). And don't forget prayers of praise and thanksgiving for our nation and for those willing to serve our nation in many different capacities.

When I first read this post on an Austin American Statesman site, I was iffy about it. If you don't want to click over to it, it's about a candidates' forum that was held in Waco on Friday. One of the candidates for Senator was there, and the other was not. And? Well... here. Let me explain.

Senator Cornyn, according to the article, didn't go to the forum. He cleared his schedule from Friday through Monday so that he and his office could focus on Hurricane Ike, doing whatever he could from his office to see that the feds are on top of things and that Houston has everything they need. He felt that politics could wait, according to the post. Well... that is part of his job.

Rick Noriega, who is the Texas State Representative from Houston and is in the Texas National Guard, took his uniform (and his boots, as if that matters... they are part of the uniform, no?) to the Waco forum, "just in case." He has campaigned, in part, on his work following Katrina (he was Incident Commander at the Brown center in Houston). His spokesperson said that they don't know if he will be called up or not. Well... ok... if he hasn't been called up, then he probably shouldn't get in the way, right?

What got me was this quote from the post.

Asked if the campaign considered not campaigning today in light of the hurricane, Apodaca said Noriega’s stop at the Killeen candidate forum was already on his calendar.

Granted, they did say that his schedule for the rest of the week was "up in the air."  Honestly, I think most people in the eastern quarter of the state has their schedules "up in the air." Some, quite literally. But, the way that sounds, he had to go... because it was on his calendar. Huh?

Yeah... there was nothing he could really do... but... it just sits wrong.

Schedules can be changed, even those written in ink. On the national scene, Barack Obama and John McCain are both holding rallies all weekend in areas unaffected by Ike. Life in those states goes on (as it does in Texas), and they have a race to win. Obama did, however, cancel his appearance on SNL because "In the light of the unfolding crisis in Texas, Senator Obama has decided it is no longer appropriate to appear on Saturday Night Live tomorrow evening." Good call, Obama campaign. That might have been seen as... tacky. I mean, it's not like you can do anything about the hurricane, but it would just be bad form to be yukking it up while people are finding out if their homes survived.

But... look at the quote in the last paragraph... "in light of the unfolding crisis..." 

Mr. Noriega, one quarter of the state you want to represent is in crisis this weekend. The district you represent is in crisis this weekend. I realize there might be nothing official you can do (I have no idea what the official obligations for State Representatives are beyond the Legislative session... for now, presume not much) - you are not in the position to call the feds and make sure that FEMA isn't sitting around instead of doing its job. You don't have the rank to call the Commander of the TNG and say, "How's it going? Do you need anything?" Calling the mayors and local officials or even the governor would be out of place (maybe). I get that.

You could have done something, however. You could have called off the forum. It wasn't that important, in the grand scheme of things. You could have said, "Instead of the forum, my staff is holding a food and clothes drive for the Red Cross." You could have come to Austin or San Antonio or Dallas and helped out at a shelter. You could have helped.

Politics as usual in Texas should have had the weekend off.

When Senator McCain chose Governor Palin, I don't know if they realized what that one act could cause.

Women with guns... big guns...




Oh, no, I'm not complaining. I've been known to go to the range from time to time. I'm just saying that, suddenly, more women... women who may or may not have ever contemplated going to a range or going hunting... are turning to the hunting sports.

Interesting... very interesting... 

If anyone's checking in here to see how RightwingSparkle is doing after her run in with Hurricane Ike, she's doing ok. They even had a block party yesterday. She does miss y'all, though.

Zo has a new video. This time, we have a song. He's a really good musician as well as a great video-ranter.


I love his videos!!!

Senator Obama has told us that he's pulling off the gloves (for the 4th? time) in the presidential race. Fine. Cool. Whatever. Ya do what ya gotta do, right? First punch is an ad, pointing out that McCain is "stuck in the 80s" because he doesn't use the internet or know how to e-mail.

Ouch, right? Score, a direct hit, right? You'd think so, until you spend a while doing some research. And to clarify, when I say "a while," I mean about 5 minutes... TOPS.

What am I talking about? Well, several people did the job the researchers don't want, obviously. Here's what they found:

McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes.

Probably hard to type out a keyboard if you can't use a keyboard, no?

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. "She's a whiz on the keyboard, and I'm so laborious," McCain admits. 

So, he likes e-mail... he just can't type it himself. Because of his injuries. Yeah... that's a drawback, there, Barry. 

How about this one?

At 63, he is the oldest of the bunch and because of his war injuries, he is limited in his ability to wield a keyboard. But McCain's job as chairman of the Senate commerce committee forced him to learn about the Internet early on, and young Web entrepreneurs such as Jerry Yang and Jeff Bezos fascinate him.

hmmm... he learned about the internet early on... but he can't wield a keyboard.  Because of his injuries.

Care to try one more? No problem.

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?
Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else. 

So... as of eary July of this year, he was getting that whole inter-web-net-tube thing down pat. He just can't do much online... because of his injuries. 

If you look at the dates of those articles, only one is from this year. It seems that years ago... before many seasoned citizens got around to learning how to use e-mail, Senator McCain and his wife were using it regularly.

Oh, yeah... that definitely sounds like he's out of touch. No, really.

Senator Obama... at the end of the ad, you say that you approve of the message. For that, alone, you are a jerk.

So... the National Weather Service has issued an seemingly unprecedented warning that anyone staying on Galveston Island will face "certain death."


Isn't that plain enough for people? I guess not. According to the story I linked, a police chief told a couple to put their social security numbers on their arms with a Sharpie so that they could be identified when this is over.

Then we have the group of morons at at bar in Galveston that are on the top deck, partying hard. The bartender was interviewed live by FoxNews just a little while ago (20 minutes, maybe?). (I can't find a video link right now.) She didn't know what the NWS has said, and seemed just a little concerned by the end of the interview. Maybe she'll convince people to leave, maybe not. I don't even know if they can get off the island now.

UPDATE: Here is the video of the interview with the bartender. Dingbats.


On a completely humorous note, though... my least favorite person on FoxNews, Jerry Rivers, ended up on his deriere during a live shot. I tried not to laugh at his discomfort. I tried. I failed, but I tried.


Stay safe, all of you in the path.

Brett Shipp of WFAA (Dallas) had an "investigative report" where he slams the Texas Railroad Commission for approving an "injection well" in Era, Texas. (You can watch the video of the report at the link- I can't embed it.)

The citizens of Era don't want the well there because of the increase in traffic. Understandable. But that's not one of the criteria the Railroad Commission can use to approve or reject an application for permit to build a well. Sorry- it's not in the law.

Here is Chairman Williams' reply to Brett Shipp's report.


Maybe Mr. Shipp should have asked Chairman Williams before he filed the report.

UPDATE: I fixed the video. Wow! That screen was HUGE. All better now.

I was listening to the Neal Boortz show yesterday, and a caller made an interesting point. The United States tends to "celebrate" our tragedies and not our victories. Almost all Americans know what happened on December 7, 1941, or Sept. 11, 2001. How many know what happened on May 7-8, 1945 or August 15 of the same year? How about Oct. 19th, 1781 or Sept. 3, 1783? For some reason, we, as Americans, focus on the travails and not the triumph. Why is that?

I don't think it's that's difficult to understand. Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are dates that stick in our minds as motivators. In 1941, we weren't committed to war until the attack on our Hawaiian base. Once it was attacked, Admiral Yamamoto commented that "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." One can easily say the same thing about the events of 9/11. We were sucker punched, and we were once again filled with a terrible resolve. Those dates are rally cries, never to be forgotten.

Those other dates I mentioned? VE-Day and VJ-Day, the surrender of Cornwallis and the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Our moments of victory. Yes, there are many more, but those are a good sample. For many of us, they may just be tiny print on our wall calendar, if that. The dates of our victories, both military and political, are only of real importance to historians these days. That's not to say that our military isn't celebrated when they return victorious. It's in the decades that follow that the official date of victory is lost. But why? Why don't we care about when we won?

Because it's a foregone conclusion. When Yamamoto attacked Pearl Harbor, he knew he had 6 months to a year to wreak havoc, and then he would be finished. And he was. After 9/11, there was really no doubt in the western world that we would respond, and it would be violent and decisive. The entire world (minus the Islamic extremists whose Koran-blindered world view prevents them from seeing the obvious) knew that, in the end, we would be victorious because... well... that's what the US does.

It calls to mind a scene from Independence Day. Stay with me here. The aliens have attacked, and the Americans finally get some communication gear up and running. They start broadcasting a Morse Code message. A rag-tag group of pilots from around the world are gathered in a desert somewhere (the Iraqi pilot talking with the Israeli pilot was a subtle way of showing the desperation of the situation), and they get the message. The conversation at that base went something like, "It's the Americans." "It's bloody well about time. What do they have planned?" Yeah, it's just a movie, but that is the way we've been seen since World War II- we will lead, we will engage the enemy, and we will win.

What we tend to lack, at times, is motivation. From time to time, we become complacent with our place in the world. We're the big dogs... And? Then we're caught off-guard, and it spurs us to action once again.

Complacency is never a good thing. We saw it happen quickly after 9/11. As a nation, we seemed to forget that we'd been attacked and, yes, we were at war. Even now, we forget we are really at war. Maybe it's because we were told the best thing to do was to live our lives, or maybe it's because, in spite of what the anti-war protesters tell you, this war isn't nearly as barbaric as past wars. No matter what the reason, we have forgotten that there are people out there who only want to destroy us and bring us all into the subjugation of Islam.

In that complacency, however, there is also a confidence that is encouraging. Granted, not everyone is confident in our nation, but for those of us who haven't bought into the lie that we are to blame for all of the ills of the world, there is no doubt that, if the politicians just get out of the way, there is nothing that we can't do. We will win if given the means and opportunity.

It's a foregone conclusion, and in years to come, the date of our victory of the War of Terror will be a tiny memo on a wall calendar. And that's ok. It's what our nation does.

My only post today is a replay of the memorial video presented at the RNC last week.

I have been told, and by observation have come to agree, that Texans, at least in the Austin area, have solar powered brains. If they can't see the sun, they don't think straight. They sure can't drive. Fortunately, the sun is in full view most days, so that isn't usually an issue.

This weekend, however... big issue, possibly. According to the current computer models (who are not always accurate, but... this close to landfall, they get more credible), Hurricane Ike is going to come right over us in his death throes. Honestly, until I read this, I really thought that we in Central Texas would get stuck with the same weather we always get with hurricanes- a whole lot of nothing.

So, after reading Christina's post, I started doing a little digging. Oh, joy. According to this map (which may or may not be an active link once the hurricane is gone), Ike will be a Cat1 or Cat2 as it passes just to the east of Austin sometime late Saturday. Here is the most current projected path map (with cone of probability):



As one local weather person commented, "We don't like Ike."

If you'll notice, the center of the cone will be heading right over Austin at Cat1 and following I-35 north to Dallas. Sound like fun? Granted, hurricanes are a bit... temperamental and can change directions for no apparent reason, but... the odds of a lot of rain and wind for the weekend is sounding more and more like a reality.

How am I going to prepare for it? I already have candles and canned goods, and I have a pretty good first aid kit. I have to go to the store anyway, so I'll grab some granola bars and juice bottles/cans. I need to see if I have plenty of batteries, just in case the power goes out for a while. I have a bunch of containers that I can fill with water. One would argue that I should have a "disaster kit" ready, anyway. Now's as good a time as any, I guess.

We'll be fine. A little rain and wind never hurt anyone, right?

UPDATE: The 7pm update puts the track to the east of Austin by 50 or 60 miles. Since we'll be on the west (weak) side of the system, it will probably just be a lot of rain and some wind damage. If it stays on this track, that is. 

Y'all might remember not too long ago when I wrote about some of the cool stuff scientists in Europe were doing. Today, either a "useless" quest or the end of the world as we know it will begin in Europe. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is being fired up at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland and France. Sure, there are people who are worried that scientists, in their quest to find the Higg's Boson (what holds things together, basically), will accidentally create black holes that will stabilize and destroy the world. Other people, like Steven Hawking, don't think that they'll even find the "God Particle," which will be even more important than if they would find it. Here's what he had to say:

Renowned British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has bet 100 dollars (70 euros) that a mega-experiment this week will not find an elusive particle seen as a holy grail of cosmic science, he said Tuesday.


..."The LHC will increase the energy at which we can study particle interactions by a factor of four. According to present thinking, this should be enough to discover the Higgs particle," Hawking told BBC radio.


"I think it will be much more exciting if we don't find the Higgs. That will show something is wrong, and we need to think again. I have a bet of 100 dollars that we won't find the Higgs," added Hawking, whose books including "A Brief History of Time" have sought to popularize study of stellar physics.

Yahoo put together a time line that shows all the fun stuff that has been going on at CERN. Here are some highlights:

1954 - CERN was founded as one of Europe's first joint ventures, partly as a way to share the rising costs of running nuclear physics facilities. Its 12 founding members were Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
1957 - The Synchrocyclotron, CERN's first accelerator, was built to provide beams for particle and nuclear physics experiments. It was later used in nuclear physics, astrophysics and medical physics, with the later developed Proton Synchotron dedicated to particle physics. That machine accelerated protons for the first time in November 1959.
...1971 - The Intersecting Storage Rings, the world's first proton-proton collider, produced the first-ever proton-proton collisions, a precursor to CERN's colliding-beam projects.
1973 - CERN announces an experiment in its Gargamelle bubble chamber shows the existence of neutral currents, a major advance in understanding the particles of matter and how they interact.
...
1995 - Team at CERN's Lbow Energy Antiproton Ring facility create atoms of anti-hydrogen in the first time that anti-matter particles were brought together to make complete atoms, helping explain the universe's asymmetry between matter and anti-matter.
2002 - Two CERN experiments create and trap thousands of atoms of anti-matter in a "cold" state, meaning the atoms are slow-moving and can exist for long enough to be studied before they meet ordinary matter and annihilate.

Yeah, they've been keeping busy... doing all kinds of scientific goodness. One of their scientists actually developed the world wide web (as opposed to AlGore.) To quote the time line: "1990 - CERN scientist Tim Berners-Lee invents the worldwide web to meet demands for information-sharing between scientists. Berners-Lee defined basic concepts like the URL, http and html and also wrote the first browser and server software."


Here are five facts that Yahoo thought were interesting about CERN and the LHC.

* Though built to study the smallest known building blocks of all things -- known as particles -- the LHC is the largest and most complex machine ever made. It has a circumference of 27 km (17 miles) and lies 100 metres (330 feet) under the ground, straddling French and Swiss territory.
* At full power, trillions of protons will race around the LHC accelerator ring 11,245 times a second, traveling at 99.99 percent the speed of light. It is capable of engineering 600 million collisions every second.
* When two beams of protons collide, they will generate temperatures more than 100,000 times hotter than the heart of the sun, concentrated within a minuscule space. Meanwhile, the cooling system that circulates superfluid helium around the LHC's accelerator ring keeps the machine at minus 271.3 degrees Celsius (minus 456.34 degrees Fahrenheit).
* To collect data of up to 600 million proton collisions per second, physicists and scientists have built devices to measure the passage time of a particle to a few billionths of a second. The trigger system also registers the location of particles to millionths of a metre.
* The data recorded by the LHC's big experiments will fill around 100,000 dual-layer DVDs each year. Tens of thousands of computers around the world have been harnessed in a computing network called "The Grid" that will hold the information.

I guess if Geneva is still there tonight, we'll know the black hole thing never happened.

UPDATE #1: Several people have pointed out that they're actually going to collide anything today. That won't happen until sometime in October. So, the "end of the world as we know it" is postponed until next month. Carry on.

UPDATE #2: I've been reading through the comments at this article. The comments tend to fall into two categories- either "too cool" or "that money could be spent better." Thinking through the arguments (which are...well, some are quite goofy), I tend to agree with the "too cool" over the "money could have been spent better" crowd. Yeah, it's very cool, and the geek/nerd in me is excited about what they may or may not find. For those who think it has no real-life applications, look at all of the new items are in our homes and lives today because of the original space program. Who knows what might come from this project?

As for the " that money could be spent better" argument. I'm sure it could have been spent better. I'm also sure it wouldn't have been spent better. Giving government any money is always a bad plan if you want it "spent well," even more so if the government is a socialist-leaning one like the EU. They wouldn't have spent the money to cure AIDS or feed the poor in Africa. They would have found some way to waste the money. It's what governments do. For all the shouting that "something must be done about X", it just doesn't happen. They actually need the poor and ill to promote the need for more money for whatever pet project they have going in the background.

The $9 billion dollars weren't actually wasted, anyway. I'm guessing, but half of that money probably went to pay the workers that built the LHC and the scientists and engineers who designed it and will run it.

Two more quick notes on LHC. First, Texas was supposed to have its very own collider. The Superconducting Supercollider was supposed to be built south of Dallas. Granted, I'm not completely sold on the idea that governments should be involved in theoretical science, but I'm also not sold on the idea that our country can afford to let its scientific stature fall much more than it has already. The SSC would have gone a long way toward attracting business to the area, promoting study of science, and boosting our scientific street cred in the world scientific community.

Finally- my favorite comment from the CNN article didn't offer any profound insight, but was quite amusing to my nerdy side: "Besides, I'd quite like a mini black-hole all of my own. I'd call it Steve."

Aaron Tippin, country music star, has a new song. I'm not sure if it will hit the Top 20, but it will definitely resonate with a lot of people. You can here a preview of "Drill Here, Drill Now" here.
h/t to Kat.