So, well, do you??? Those of you who liked "Dorkness Rising" would do well to find season 1 of The Guild. Unlike Dorkness, they've announced season 4 of The Guild. Available on DVD and Netflix streaming!

I'll see your grueling marathon and raise you this: "Sunday’s race will feature long slogs up ski slopes, wades through mud bogs, crawls through corrugated pipes and under barbed wire, climbs over vertical walls, traverses on rope bridges and a drop from a plank into a cold pond. The finish line is through a ring of fire — next to the free beer, near the live band. "

I don't pretend to understand it, but I respect those who do.

Japan's space exploration department is preparing to launch the world's first solar-sail space probe to travel beyond Earth's orbit. JAXA's track record with space probes is spotty to say the least, but that's more because space exploration is hard than it is about any sort of technical competency. Here's to hoping!

The FDA has approved the first vaccine for fighting cancer. Before all the guys line up outside the clinic, it should be pointed out this is a treatment meant for use after the cancer has been diagnosed. It also "only" extends life a few months, but I imagine when you're living every day like it was your last a few more week's worth of them would seem like a big bonus. And, hey, they gotta start somewhere.

Gamers are professional paranoiacs because there really is someone out to get us, and the game master gets to bend the rules to do it.

Damion gets a no-prize you just better stand well down range of for bringing us this hi-def look at the business end of a Saturn V launch. Sometimes you want to see lots of cuts, lots of angles, to get an impression of what power really is. Sometimes you just need one camera, bolted down REALLY REALLY FIRMLY!!!

How awesome!

Rather than display a Puerto Rican shooting victim's body in a boring casket for the wake, morticians at one San Juan funeral home presented the corpse on the man's Honda motorcycle.

Of course there are photos!

why we feel we need to make these animals do circus tricks?

Click the link. End.

Tik Tok Military Style!

Ok, let's move past "peak oil" and look at other peaking chicken-little markets, this time dealing with various green darlings. Now, if those commodities will be saved from shortage through innovation, what makes you think oil is any different?

Oil is expensive not because it's running out, but because the governments of India and China are subsidizing the true cost of the stuff to their citizens. Without the incentives to conserve that high prices bring, the two most populous countries in the world will consume an ever-increasing proportion of the supply. Fortunately the artificially-raised prices this foists on everyone else will ultimately make such subsidies impossible for those countries to afford, and the markets will force an adjustment. Eventually.

In the meantime, think of the high price of oil as one of the bills the developed world must pay to raise something like half the population of the planet out of misery. At least this form of indirect aid has observable benefits all around, without the need for a giant, inefficient, wasteful bureaucracy (*cough* UN *cough*) to "manage" it. Which is, of course, why progressives either ignore or attack the process. Can't have people in control of their own fate, they might realize they can do a better job than the elite can!

I'm not sure how we missed the story of a lego-based robot which can solve any Rubik's Cube in less than 13 seconds, but it took the announcement of an improved version for us to learn about it. Or them. Those dratted 3x3 cubes were the bane of my junior-high years.

Scientists have discovered new specimens of an earthworm species thought to have gone extinct. Turns out the giant, spitting, flower-scented earthworm isn't any of those things. But it is rare.

The fact we can even attempt to compare Social Security with Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme speaks volumes. I've long considered my Social Security contributions as an expensive tax, money I'll never see again. I can state with full confidence that if I'd been given all that money as vouchers meant for tax-deferred accounts my personal retirement portfolio would be far more impressive than it already is.

But no, can't have that. We can't trust you with the money you made! If we just give you that money back who knows what you'll spend it on?

A new species of "micro moth" has been officially recognized, and lives nowhere outside the UK. You'd think with a country full of English busy-bodies it would've been spotted before now. Nature is full of surprises.

Microsoft and phone manufacturer HTC have reached an agreement for the latter to license patents from the former. I'd like to think this means we're that much closer to having .net support for Android. I'd also like to think some day I'll own a Ferrari. Both dreams have a chance of coming true, but I'm not holding my breath for either.

What seems to have been forgotten about Microsoft is their initial success wasn't directly based on Windows. Instead, it was based on their software development tools, which were (and are) so good developers didn't care that they were getting locked in to one operating system. I'd be tickled pink if this agreement provides the bridge Microsoft needs to extend Visual Studio's reach into the Android environment, because yes it is all that and a bag of chips.

Having presumably solved all other problems (because we all know how well California is doing), a county board in northern CA has voted to ban toy offers from restaurants selling "high calorie" meals. This presumes, as almost all progressive legislation does, that people will voluntarily abide by the spirit of the law, instead of figuring a way around it to get what they want anyway.

In other words, yo, sparky, you're administering a county here. All you've really done is take sales away from your local businesses (you know, the ones who provide jobs and pay taxes), and given them to ones nearby. The only people who'll be affected are those too poor to actually travel, so good on ya for restricting their choices and increasing their expenses. It's for their own good, after all.

Airplanes? Rockets? Racing? What's not to love? Well, except for the event calendar that only lists one event. Hey, guys, if you want people to come out to see you, advertise a little further in advance.

It seems that the most popular theme park in China is not the one with the mouse, it's the one with the little people. It's not exploitation if they're getting paid for it, and if it supplies a good living for people who would otherwise be on the street, I'm all for it.

Power Point presentations have been identified as the next enemy the Pentagon must conquer. The folks at my old workplace were generally not competent enough to actually sew one together. At my new workplace, I'm either too far down the food chain to see one, or everyone's too busy to really mess with them. At any rate, the ones I have seen were mercifully restricted to just one or two slides.

Other folks, with other jobs, likely have a different experience. They'll probably find the article even funnier than I did.

Geothermal energy generation appears to be growing in leaps and bounds. The statistics quoted come from an advocacy group, so I'm not sure just how much they can be trusted. Still, if it's roughly as cheap as coal that means it can, presumably, replace the stuff. Then we get to watch the fireworks as the green side of the Democratic party gets in a scuffle with the organized labor side. What, you think those unionized miners are going to take this lying down?

Scientists have found evidence that chocolate consumption is linked to depression. Suddenly a whole raft of female behaviors has a rational explanation!

Another week, another neat looking concept car built on an Alfa chasis. Having a 100 year anniversary has its advantages, donchaknow? I just wish it was an actual car instead of a CAD picture.

Go ahead, look 9/8 up and then appreciate it.

Who's hands? Mine... your AMCGLTD webmistress. Thank you.

Australian scientists have come up with a novel idea to stop native species from eating poisonous cane toads: frog flavored sausages. Yep, that's the way the cute critters are supposed to feel when they eat them, too.

First we have the executives of the network which regularly harangues us plebes about climate change pumping untold tons of carbon into the atmosphere with their 68,000 flights. Now we get the U.N.'s "environmental ambassador" (wtf?) building a new, gargantuan mansion. History has proved time and again people who preach asceticism without practicing it are best ignored, and for very good reasons.

Looks like the on again/off again schedule for Alfa's return to the US is on again. Until, you know, it's off again. Ah, well. The car is apparently well-regarded.

Scientists are beginning to do research to see if psychedelic drugs can be useful in chemotherapy treatments. The idea seems to be that the powerful experiences these drugs create are meant to help the patient cope with what they're going through. It sounds an awful lot like some 60s hold-outs are still trying to legitimize their own personal experiments, but what do I know?

xxoo

DARPA's latest test with its HTV-2 hypersonic vehicle seems not to have gone according to plan. Hey, at least the rocket worked!

The already tarnished reputation of historian Stephen Ambrose has taken another hit. The plagiarism charge eight years ago put me off taking any of his books seriously. The apparently accidental discovery that he fabricated dozens of interviews with Dwight Eisenhower is therefore sad, but not particularly surprising. I think it'll eventually come to light he was a great writer of historical fiction who sold them, incorrectly labeled, in the history section.

It seems Top Gear is coming to America. On the history channel no less. I dunno... a huge part of the UK show's appeal is the strange fact that Englishmen arguing is just funny. And if Tanner Faust is their eye candy, well, he ain't no hamster I can tell you that right now.

Fiat has finally come clean on its plans for the next five years, and it's nice to see Alfa figures prominently in them. If they actually manage to produce an SUV it'll definitely herald their return to the States, since we're the #1 market for those things. And I'm happy to say that my change in jobs means even a pricey one will likely be within reach in the 3-5 years it takes for one to come to market. Will we once again become an all-Alfa household? Only time will tell.

Trust me, the only real difference between the inside of this car and mine is the language. Alternate title: a quick lesson in how to swear in Italian.

Life has made the classic photo essay, "Inside a Serial Killer's House" available on-line. Per usual, people who wreck other's lives have a tendency to wreck their own.

Mike J. gets a no-prize he'll have to hide from the pandas for bringing us news that Asus has taken a new, and unexpected, direction in laptop design. Around here, we need the laptops to be made of indestructible things so it'll take longer for Ellen to destroy them. The rest of you probably don't need that level of protection.

Cockateil style!

Microsoft has finally given the go-ahead to release the Mechwarrior 4 codebase for free. I played that game for many action-packed hours. It's good to find it's still going strong after all these years.

At first, the thought of a game who's central subject is the Holocaust is repugnant, to say the least. But on finding out the reasons and rationale behind it, I'm not so sure. Some events in history are so epically tragic they are almost by definition impossible to comprehend. If it takes a game to make it more understandable, and thereby help prevent such a thing from happening again, then game on.

When posting rants about one's wife, the first advice is to not do it. If one must, one is advised to do so in a forum she does not frequent. Ignore this advice at your peril (post 1, then post 44). It's fun to rant. It's not fun to do it where a permanent record is left behind.

Of course, that assumes the thing isn't some giant hoax. No promises, no wagering.

So now the media is trying to conflate McVeigh with libertarians in general and the tea party in particular? How about no? Gosh we must be doing something right, if they're getting this sloppy. Mah devastating facts, let me show you them...

Towards the heart of the Milky Way, 5500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius (the Scorpion), the Cat's Paw Nebula stretches across 50 light-years. In visible light, gas and dust are illuminated by hot young stars, creating strange reddish shapes that give the object its nickname. A recent image by ESO's Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the La Silla Observatory (eso1003) captured this visible light view in great detail. NGC 6334 is one of the most active nurseries of massive stars in our galaxy.

NEAT!

It's a galactic cat print on the hood of your car!

... until the fuzzy little monster bats it off the table!

Via Violins and Starships.

Scientists have discovered a specific species of crow is even smarter than previously thought. Swoozie has a this big giant hairless ape to do her bidding, so she doesn't really need to be all that clever, which is fortunate.

That would be Octopus: 1, Cameraman: 0. Alien, but smart!

The lady who made "the worst parking job. EVAR" famous was finally sentenced on Tuesday. At least, with the video, the victims don't have to explain the bizarre hood dents to their adjusters.

see more

Cat crayons!? WANT!

Fans of the Kildar series will be pleased to find out the Black Dragon is real. Yeah, Ringo writes 300 page comic books, but so what? He writes really good 300 page comic books! With CD play lists, no less!

Looks like there's a flaw in the cunning plan of invisibility cloaks. Still smells like an engineering problem to me, which just means they need to throw more money at it. That sound you're hearing is the sighs of various junior high principals, who've realized they have awhile yet to worry about cloaked boys sneaking into the girl's locker room.

Of course, Democrats will disagree: "People can choose to fly Spirit, or they can choose to fly someone else. If travelers don't plan on bringing a carry-on, Spirit's lower fares might be more attractive. If they need not only a carry-on but also some checked luggage, then they might look toward Southwest, which allows two free checked bags."

Common sense never has been the strong suite of progressives.

Happy Birthday Gramma Pat!

Nepalese climbers are preparing for the first-ever garbage collection climb on Mount Everest. Ellen will be so disappointed. She's always considered the corpsicles to be the most entertaining part of any Everest documentary.

Scientists have announced the discovery of a compound which seems to completely stop cancer from spreading. History is strewn with drugs that work in mice but don't in humans, so this definitely needs more testing. Still, if nothing else it has opened up a new avenue for research.

Me: "Hey, Ellen... read down to the second paragraph, and stop."

Ellen does her best impression of Harpo Marx, and casts about for her horn.

Me: "Did you know... did you know... that college freshmen sometimes treat college as a place to experiment with casual sex?"

Ellen: wide eyed nods

Me: "AND... did you know, did you know, that the girls feel guilty, and the guys just try for more?"

Ellen: **Gigantic look of horror!!**

Me: "ANDDDDD DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED?!?!?"

Ellen: *honks horn and throws a pie at a fat lady in a sequined gown*

Remember, folks, these are the same people who are telling you the tea party movement is full of dangerous racists.

The best part... the best part, is the people who sincerely believe adultery causes earthquakes are ignorant, while the people who sincerely believe global warming causes earthquakes are scientists. I'm laughing at you precisely because you don't think this is funny.

Alternate: Themselves.Hoist(Themselves.Petard); I know, I know, they have a good reason for being nearly exclusively white people, we are a bunch of hate-mongering, ignorant, racist rednecks. I always keep getting that all mixed up.

And now, a drinks bar shaped like a... a... oh go see it yourself. It quenches thirst, and teaches anatomy!

Scientists have discovered an inexplicable source of radio waves coming from a nearby galaxy. M 82, the so-called "cigar galaxy", is just full of surprises!

It seems when life throws locusts at Australians, Australians put them on a pizza. Don't worry, Ellen, think of it like a bigger version of a grasshopper taco. I'll be with Olivia, on the other side of the world, when you try it. :)

The only difference with ours is that they'd choose a different "portal" to shoot the lasers.

An ancient gay couple is being torn apart in a way that makes everyone helpless. Because this is being reported in the media, you know how it turns out. The question is, does it happen in, a) a hospital in the ignorant, racist south, b) during a tea party of ignorant, racist white people, or c) In the heartland of progressive-ville?

Sorry, I can't hear all of your exceptions over the chants of the protesters on my front lawn, waving terrible pictures of things that happened fifty years ago. I keep forgetting it's only righteous anger when your side holds the torches.

Now that's a typo: "It is a tiny misprint, but an Australian publisher had to pulp a cookbook after one recipe called for "salt and freshly ground black people" to be added to the dish, AFP reported Saturday." I think we now have the answer to, "what's the sound of one proofreader getting sacked?"

I'm suspicious, because the video is just so perfect, but I still LOL'd at this skateboard fail. Note to the squeamish: does not involve blood or broken bones. But it probably should've.

The most recent episode of South Park aired, what, Wednesday? Let the death threats, BEGIN! I was very surprised Comedy Central allowed the show to air at all, considering the last time Parker and Stone decided to make fun of Mohamed they at first refused to air the episode at all.

You would think Daddy would be dressed first!

Olivia's first formal dance at her school!

People often talk about "the wheels coming off" of a project. They don't usually mean it this literally. Fortunately Buemi's fine. The guy who designed the parts implicated in the crash, maybe not so much.

Scientists have discovered that a noxious lake of bubbling tar is actually teeming with life. There are many different implications for life on Earth, but it seems the biggest change is in how scientists view the chances of finding life on that famous ball of hydrocarbons, Titan.

Coming to a Target near you: licensed pop culture images on men's underwear. Surprisingly, I do not actually have underwear with the cross-and-serpent on it. And, personally, I'm fine with that.

Ok, four words: Leech with enormous teeth. See, Ellen? I told you I had "the link for all links" tonight!

She's in love with herself
She likes the dark
On her milk white neck
The Devil's mark
It's all Hallows Eve
The moon is full
Will she trick or treat
I bet she will

She's got date at midnight
With Nosferatu
Oh baby, Lilly Munster
Ain't got nothing on you
Well when I called her evil
She just laughed
well cast that spell on me
Boo Bitch Craft

Yeah you wanna go out 'cause it's raining and blowin
You can't go out 'cause your roots are showing
Dye em black
Dye em black
black black Black no. 1

Loving you was like loving the death

Little wolf skin boots
And clove cigarettes
An erotic funeral
For witch she's dressed
Her perfume smells like
Burning leaves
Everyday is Halloween

Loving you was like loving the dead

Goodnight Peter Steele. Life is short, enjoy every moment.

I would totally feed this cat.

In an especially vindictive move, workers said that Massey has refused to allow miners time off so that they can attend the funerals of their coworkers.

Only seven bodies have so far been recovered, and rescue crews said on Sunday afternoon that the mine would have to be ventilated for 12 to 15 hours before they could go in and recover the remaining 22. Some funerals have already been held.

You would think by now the owner of the mine would be hiding for his life.

While I understand that you all need jobs etc... but if you are all passionate about this, you should just strike and leave the mine.

West VA, you are your own thing.

"Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the statement said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received ... along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes."

With Video goodness!

A list of items that you should never give to your pets.

This year we had 2 cats with lily poisoning over the Easter holiday. Both went into sudden kidney failure that required nearly a week in hospital on IV fluids. Both still have elevated kidney levels.

Not only does Saturn's moon Enceladus spew liquid water into the sky, it leaves weird bubbles in the magnetosphere of the ringed planet. I'm not completely sure what the significance of the find is, but it certainly sounds cool.

Two words: Bacon AT-AT. Or is that three? Is AT-AT even a word? Oh who knows, I'm sure it violates a license or two. And soooo tasty...

Scientists have discovered a long-forgotten monument which may also be the work of the people who built Stonehenge. It seems every time someone decides to dust off a bit of the UK they end up discovering yet another ancient monument. Those people don't throw away anything.

Scientists have come up with a new theory to explain how at least some of Mars's water got so acidic. The key lies with iron-rich minerals, which pretty much define the red planet.

Looks like Orion has a future after all. ISS operators have wanted a higher-capacity lifeboat for years, but it seems to me this'll make for a damned expensive lifeboat. Maybe with a more constrained vision the spacecraft's price tag will also be more constrained? We can always hope...

Visual Studio 2010 is on its way, and it appears It Will Be Good. My shop is definitely planning on the upgrade, but I think it'll be something like a year after its release.

In the real world, if a business decides to charge more money than people think a service is worth, people will go somewhere else for that service. The business will then either change its practice or cease to operate. I guess I shouldn't be surprised Democrats scream right past this obvious truth on their way toward a more powerful nanny state, but I am. People can't be trusted! Only decision makers can help!

The fact that the decision makers are people is, of course, ignored.

Nature's throwing another monkey wrench into our very carefully constructed view of the universe. Hyper-powerful astronomical objects that refuse to follow predicted rules make baby Jesus cry. The standard model now has so many cracks and fissures you could get a tan from what's shining through, but to-date nobody knows exactly what's making the light.

I'm not sure why a giant collection of storm trooper pictures is entertaining, but it is. Probably has something to do with all the pollen in the air, that sort of thing.

Looks like the new Alfa Giulietta is doing well. It'll be interesting to see what the Top Gear blokes make of it. They might eventually sell one here. You know, just like Ellen might stop snarling some day.

Because if it was, it would've been Ellen who got a Droid, not me. It does sometimes seem the dratted little thing is omnipotent. But it's only a perception.

"Daddy!!! I'm scared!!!"

Last night, in her bedroom, after we'd come home from her 10 year-old cousin's birthday party. Her boy cousin, and his guy friends, with nerf automatic weapons.

Me, earlier that day: "Olivia, where are you going?"

Olivia, with a neon-green nerf Tommy gun nearly as big as she was, locked and loaded: "to shoot some boys."

So it had been a really exciting birthday party. And now, probably for the first time, Olivia had to try to wind down all by herself. Trooper that she was, she lasted about twenty minutes and then came downstairs sobbing.

Which was fine. I got it. It was a busy day, a long day. So we all got to watch Top Gear together.

But I was not prepared for tonight. Normally, when Olivia decides to make a stand, it goes like this:

"No, Daddy! I will not leave this zoo!"

"Olivia, if you do not get in this car I will ground you for a week."

*SIGH* "Ok."

Or...

"No, Daddy! I will not get in the tub!"

"Olivia, if you do not get in that tub I will shave you bald."

*SIGH* "Ok."

And then there was...

"No, Daddy! I will not cross this skywalk!"

"Olivia, if you do not walk with me I will toss your butt over this rail!"

Well, ok, even I knew that one was a little over the top. She proceeded to lecture me about what a terrible daddy I was and how sweet little girls deserved better until we'd reached the other end of the walkway and took the elevator down.

But tonight was unexpected.

"Daddy! I'm still scared! I want to go downstairs!"

"Olivia, it's fine. You're fine. And tomorrow's a school day. You need to go to bed."

"No! I can't! I'll get scared again!"

And around and around we went, until I got tired of bargaining.

"Ok," I said, in a stern but not angry voice, "I'll let you go downstairs. But if you do, if you do, I get to throw away a toy."

In other words, I saw her last bet, and I raised. Usually this is where Olivia folds.

"Fine, daddy," she said, proving she is emphatically Ellen's child, "I still want to go downstairs and watch shows!"

Effectively, see and raise.

"Olivia, if I get to pick, I'm going to pick Butterscotch."

See and raise again.

Butterscotch is this ridiculous robotic horse she got for Christmas years ago. It's huge, still nearly as tall as she is. She hardly ever plays with it, but it's definitely a sentimental favorite.

Olivia knows, she knows, I do not bluff. I could tell by the look in her eyes she knew I was serious.

In other words, I went all in.

Now, most of you out there know the next play, and you'll think she was playing me, but you didn't see the look in her eyes. She knew the stakes, and knew she had the weaker hand. She wasn't bluffing either.

"Ok, daddy," she said, in a defeated, and quite serious, tone, "you..."

you can throw her away."

Call.

Some people say children are ignorant. Some people say children are easily frightened. I say these people don't have children. I saw bravery tonight, in the eyes of a child.

Oh, come on. You think I really am a monster? I just spent the past hour and a half reading to her and playing "remember when" games.

Butterscotch is perfectly safe. She always was.

And only now do I realise I have a much more skilled poker player sitting across from me at the table.

Coming soon to a grocery store near you: super-high alcohol beer. With proof levels approaching that of many whiskeys, I'm surprised they're still allowed to call it beer. Oh, and news flash to the reporter: I imagine it will be quite obvious that it is not a normal beer after the first taste.

Berkeley, CA would like to remind everyone Florida has not completely stolen the Golden State's "wtf is wrong with you?" title. Georgetown's singular homeless man was given a tent so he could camp wherever he wanted in the city. I'm not at all sure if he's still around, thought.

"I can breathe better," said Paul Garfield, 18, after taking his turn on the waxing table. "I won't have to deal with the pesky nose hair. It didn't hurt as bad."

OUCH!!!!

I have officially seen it all.

How Zombie-fan Joshua missed out on brain cupcakes is beyond me. Red velvet cake: the utlimate freak-you-out baking good.

You know when they say a tornado can blow cars around like toys? Ever wonder what that looks like? Wonder no more. My already healthy respect for these storms just took another bound upward.

We heard about the guy who "blinged up" his bald head on the radio yesterday morning. Now we know what that looks like. An Englishman, being eccentric. Ya don't say...

I'm not at all sure if this supposed creative writing exercise is for real, but it sure is funny. A radical right sci-fi nerd getting yoked to a vapidly leftist emo chick? What's not to love?

I guess things in Afghanistan must be looking up if a lunatic Aussie can travel the country with a cameraman and live to tell the tale. AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI!!!

Ares has this brief history of, along with some speculation about, the soon-to-be tested X-37B test plane. Conventional wisdom has commonly held that the Space Shuttle's wings are too big because of an unnecessary cross-range glide requirement imposed by the Air Force. It would be a bit ironic if the Air Force itself successfully fielded a spacecraft who's wings represent what the Shuttle's should have been.

Scientists have announced the discovery of two nearly-complete hominid skeletons. The two individuals, one a middle aged woman and the other a young boy, apparently fell into a sinkhole and were rapidly buried and fossilized. The finds are the first complete finds to fall between the dates of A. afarensis Lucy and H. erectus Turkhana boy.

Scientists have recreated Saturn's mysterious polar hexagonal cloud by using nothing more than a rotating table and a big bucket of water. It seems the structure is pretty well known in fluid dynamics.

We all need one.

Excuse me while I put a cat on my head.

So, is a system with a main body 20 times the mass of Jupiter, with an orbiting body 5 times the mass of Jupiter, a star system, a solar system, or just two wet farts that never quite broke into the big time? Regardless, they were here before we were, and will likely be so after we are dead and gone. Ain't the universe grand?

Occasionally a Fark headline really does make me laugh out loud. When that happens, I think it's worth memorializing: Military commanders in Afghanistan have found that rather than a verbal apology to tribal leaders, the preferred way to ask forgiveness is to give them New Zealand supermodels. Now that's the wrong sort of animalympics right there, son.

Scientists are slowly starting to figure out why a therapy involving high-frequency pulses of weak current works so well on a variety of brain disorders. It also explores the surprising discovery that this therapy is proving effective on a very wide variety of mental illnesses.

Actually, a couple of these Star-Wars based costumes aren't that bad. And, trust me on this one, they saved the best for last.

Scientists have proved that modern terrestrial clocks can be more accurate than their natural rival, pulsars. The achievement becomes more amazing when I think about just how accurate pulsars really are.

The next probe bound for Jupiter has entered final assembly. And now for your moment of, "I can't possibly be this old." The last purpose-built Jupiter probe was stalled by the f-ing Challenger disaster. You know, nearly 25 years ago?

Shaddup, Nina, I wasn't talking to you.

Looks like psychologists are still screwing around with just what it means to have free will, or not. Makes for a nice summary of where the field is at this time. Me, I think the experiments reveal a couple of things: a) our intellect is sophisticated, but evolved. No matter how sophisticated it may seem, if you place it in conditions which have no parallel in nature, it'll break in interesting ways and b) I can find no finer critique of exactly why things like postmodernism, Marxism, and the more extreme strains of progressivism lead not to utopia but to oblivion.

No matter how hard the hermits try, sometimes people still manage to take pictures of them. Sadly we must rely on satellite imagery to see the camps which constitute the inevitable result of the perfectly progressive state.

So what is libertarianism? Why does it seem like such a cruel way of doing things? John Stossel has a few answers. In short, one person's cruelty is nearly always another's nanny state taking my money for its own purposes.

Deepak Chopra seems to have taken the meditation equivalent of a massive dump, and the results were about what he would expect. Problems with causality would seem to not be a monopoly of the religious right after all.

The next element in a table nobody really remembers has been found. Element 117 seems to be proving the hypothesis that, as elements get heavier from here, they will become much more stable. Nobody knows exactly what it'll mean, but I bet it'll be way cool.

Making the rounds: Wikileaks has dug out a combat film from an Apache attack which they term, "collateral murder." Time posted this analysis which, eventually, makes a few good points about just how tough it is to get this sort of thing right. Looks to me like they messed up, and a whole bunch of people died because of the mistake. Still, the video is three years old, and it would seem this sort of thing stopped happening a short time later.

Apaches were never meant to be sniper weapons, and using them as such will always risk a tragedy of this sort.

Wired is carrying this brief look at what a state-of-the-art ocean salvage company is capable of nowadays. They've definitely come a long way from incomprehensible green squiggles.

Annie gets a no-prize that almost certainly left some dents in someone's car for bringing us an update on the "wandering serval of Leesburg." Kitty definitely made it to the vet, but there's no word if he'll walk out of the place under his own power.

Looks like hajji is having a problem with robots raining death from above. I'm sure this is somehow terribly illegal and will result in true and just investigations of war crimes perpetrated by the CIA. What's that? This is a policy of the Obama administration? Oh, well, then it will be rightly celebrated as a clever and effective measure brilliantly implemented by people who cleverly stand outside the more complex segments of the government. Ya kno wha' I maen?

Bah. "it does not matter what color a cat is as long as it hunts mice."

It would seem the tea party movement is actually quite the picture of a diverse political movement. The executives at MSNBC, especially, you know, Maddow and Olberman, not so much. Remember folks, we're the horrible racists. Because they say we are!

Mark gets a no-prize that'll scare the bejeezus out of folks on the ground for bringing us this excellent collection of low-level flybys. Remember, folks, the contest for "lowest pass" is a race for second place.

What he said: Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles know Donovan McNabb better than anyone. And they were inexplicably okay with moving him to another team in their own division. Every time I think Snyder has finally decided to change his meddling ways, he goes and proves me wrong again. Oh well. It's my understanding that the Redskins are one of the top three most profitable teams in the league, so Dan's doing something right. He's just not winning in the process.

What I want to know is, what are teenagers doing going on an Easter egg hunt? And then going way off the path into the woods. By themselves. Oh, wait...

Sometimes there's no improving the FARK headline: I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that people are gaming Massachusetts health insurance. This won't happen at the federal level, though. Incentives are, after all, things that happen to other, ignorant people.

Today was Joshua's "shoot 'em-up" birthday party. My brother owns a Desert Eagle .50 semi-automatic pistol. Ducks to water, that sort of thing. This is a write-up of my first encounter with the ur-gun. But wait! There's

Watch out for that switch there, Jeff.

Now, watch what happens when the guy in the purple starts shooting.