"How Zombies Work"

Important information for everyone to remember this halloween. Consider this a public service announcement.

From HowStuffWorks.com: How Zombies Work

How do YOU spell IRONY?

Bush Pushes U.N. to Move Swiftly on Syria Report - New York Times

More Death Ray Stuff

Apparently some intrepid souls at MIT have proven that Archimedes Death Ray, while not necessarily feasible as a weapon, it can be made and it can cause spontaneous combustion of an oak plank! Thanks to Slashdot.

Dylan Thomas reads "Do not go gentle into that good night"

COOL! Poets.org has audio of Dylan Thomas reading... good stuff!

Bizarre proposed Indiana reproductive legislation

Hmm.... Add this post to the one I just did, nd we've basically got the roots of A Handmaid's Tale happening in contemporary politics!


Boing Boing: Bizarre proposed Indiana reproductive legislation

Bush Considers Invading Blue States under "Bird Flu" Ruse

File this AP news release under T for TERRIFYING.

Bush asserted aggressive action could be needed to prevent a potentially crippling U.S. outbreak of a bird flu strain that is sweeping through Asian poultry and causing experts to fear it could become the next deadly pandemic. Citing concern that state and local authorities might be unable to contain and deal with such an outbreak, Bush asked Congress to give him the authority to call in the military.

I am probably definitely paranoid. And this is certainly not a prediction. But... this is what you get when you have an administration that is rarely candid about what its intentions are. It's entirely too easy for me to imagine New England -- you know, the blue states, overrun in an "epidemic" and sent ito martial law lockdown and the spin machine selling a coup d'etat as "security".

Exercise may be good for cognition

Pretty interesting article about a study at the Salk institute that suggests that 30 minutes of extecise a day may actually help regain soem congnitive abilities, if I understood it corectly. Pretty Nifty.

Architeuthis Unmasked!

File under HOW COOL IS THAT?!!?

JApanese scientists have now captured video of LIVE giant squid -- a first. It's way exciting. It'll be even more exciting when I can ACTUALLY SEE the video. The NY Times article is pretty cool, though.

How frustrating

What great leadership. We stand on the edge of a petroleum crisis, and the solution from the executive branch is -- unsuprisingly -- reduce the limitations on building refineries (i.e. make the world safe for pollution), and... uh... asking the citizens to "conserve". No increase in our incentives to look for or exploit alternative fuel sources, just the same old protect-the-petroleum-economy strategy. I'm no energy-policy genius, but that doesn't seem to address the real issue: our dangerous petroleum dependence.

Grr.

I guess the saddest part about this whole thing is that this too-little measure represents a big reversal -- conservation was explicitly rejected from our prior energy policy as an "American way of life issue".

I try to avoid politics in this space, but sometimes I fail. Sorry about that.

The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine

Very cool. Someone has done the homework to identify the "real" engines for the characters in the Thomas the Tank Engine universe.

The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine

The Maine Lobster Game

Oh yeah, THIS is a game I could get into.
lobstergame.com

Dirty James Cash

is my Pirate name... Here's the explanation...

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Weee-ird

We are watching ABC "News" 20/20 (not usually a habit of mine) reporting on Hurricane Rita -- and I was kind of suprised that they actually reported that religious wingnuts have made remarks about the devistation of Katrina being "God's Punishment".

Interestingly enough, it was radical Protestants condeming New Orleans for being a "City of Sin", a radical Rabbi in Israel condemning us for "America's Israel Policy" and a radical Islamic website condemning us for... the usual. It's interesting to me that fundamentalists of all stripes are sick in the same way. But I thought it was really, really weird for ABC news to dignify that kind of nutcasery with comment. Are we in such a religious country that it's commonplace for newscasts to ask if God is punishing us?

Wee-ird.