Of space, genes and more earthly matters

The moon's shadow on Earth as seen from the Space Station

At exactly midnight Mountain Time and by coincidence I was about to post an entry when Blogger went out on me. Ah well. "Twas about last night's eclipse of the sun which I've not seen yet. But I do remember seeing one when I was a kid and it was "like totatlly awsome".

From the LA Times a piece by Yossi Klein Halevi, on the Israeli elections. "For a nation that still can't take its survival for granted, an inability to dream is, in its way, as great a threat as the delusional politics of ideological certainty. Arguably no people are required to sacrifice more for their state than are Israelis, who serve three years of compulsory military service, followed by years of reserve duty."

Meg of megnut wonders if and why "Can't we have some unmediated time to ourselves anymore? What's wrong with standing in the line at the bank, just spacing out or day-dreaming about stuff?" Day dreaming? Spacing Out in this day and age? You must be dreaming!

I used to listen to Whitney Houston and get angry at God because he had given her everything and me just a little bit. She had the voice, she had the face, she had that body, she had money but apparently she also had an uncontrolable drug habit that won't go away. I am of the opinion that treatments (any kind: 12 steps, hierarquical, behavioral the list goes on) do not work. She wants to continue doing dope until she dies, she will and she will die like so many others. Recovery rate for any treatment: 5 to 10%. This is real! What the Centers will tell you might be something else entirely different but then again they have a vested interest in better stats.

Lara Logan, reporter for CBS gives us a picture of what things are like in Iraq. Anther courageous woman speaking truth to power.(via Rebecca'a pocket)

WOW! To read the electrical impulses sent from your brain to your throat when you think of words and convert them into speech. Reading our thoughts? It's exactly what is being done by Charles Jorgensen at Nasa. Think of the interesting implications for Br. Bartleby at a Monestary

somewhere in the Southwest. So much for the silence vows!

Tammy Bruce that wacky gay, pro-death right wing blogger is also racist and bigoted. What a nice gal. I wonder what the fellows she runs around with think of her lesbianism, her pro-choice politics and her "feminism". Her Baskin Robbins metaphor is nothing but stupid and a lie. Illegal immigrants might be breaking the law but they sure aren't getting something for nothing. I'm sure that she has benefitted from their something for nothing work. Yeah, Americans would really stand having 10 million people around if it wasn't to their advantage!!UhUh!!

Recording of the conference held in London to celebrate Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene".

A comment on fashion and its sexualization by Philobiblon. It's a complicated issue of 'ho's and sluts and suppression, female sexual suppression.

eclipse, whitney Houston,silent speech, The selfish gene, Richard Dawkins