Awww...

Poor Pluto. No longer a planet.

I can't access the IAU website for text of the decision yet.

Probably because the rest of the planet is doing so.

A bit more sense

is coming out of the IAU:

Positing new planets divides astronomers.

I do think Pluto should be left alone (though I'm glad to see the term "pluton" is, apparently, history). It's been a planet for 76 years - leave it that way.

Not quite sure what to make of the "dwarfs", but I will have the soundtrack to Snow White running through my head for the rest of the day.

Does the term "orbital dominance" strike anyone else as a bit... kinky?

Edited to add ~

I Heart Pluto

"The solar system is a mess."

Funny! Hat tip to AstroCocktail for pointing this article out.

BY THE LIGHT OF A BURNING BRIDGE: A Permanent Goodbye to the United States by Michael C. Ruppert.

My country is dead. Its people have surrendered to tyranny, and in so doing, they have become tyranny’s primary support group; its base constituency; its chief defender. Every day they offer their endorsement of tyranny by banking in its banks and spending their borrowed money with the corporations that run it. The great Neocon strategy of George H.W. Bush has triumphed. Convince the American people that they can’t live without the “good things”, then sit back and watch as they endorse the progressively more outrageous crimes you commit as you throw them bones with ever-less meat on them. All the while, lock them into debt. Destroy the middle class, the only political base that need be feared. Make them accept, because of their own shared guilt, ever-more repressive police state measures. Do whatever you want.

~ ~ ~


Impeach

Call To Action

Impeach For Peace

Evidence

After Downing Street - Resource Center

Draft of Articles of Impeachment

Impeach

Call To Action

Impeach For Peace

Evidence

After Downing Street - Resource Center

Draft of Articles of Impeachment

Woke up to a whole new definition of the local space.

This is weird.

Nine Planets Become 12 with Controversial New Definition

I'm with Michael Brown on this one:

"It's flattering to be considered discoverer of the 12th planet," Brown said in a telephone interview. He applauded the committee's efforts but said the overall proposal is "a complete mess." By his count, the definition means there are already 53 known planets in our solar system with countless more to be discovered.

Alan Boss said:

"It looks to me like a definition that was written by a committee of lawyers, not a committee of scientists," Boss said. "I think these criteria are as arbitrary as any other you might come up with."

and again, I agree.

Here's the draft: Draft Resolution 5 for GA-XXVI: Definition of a Planet

Bizarre.

I consider Pluto a planet, though I understand the argument that says it's not. But 12 planets, including Ceres, which is (in my opinion) clearly an asteroid? Holy frioles Batman! I hope this doesn't pass the IAU.

That's all folks - for today, anyway

The Israeli-Lebanon truce is holding. I'm still betting some fool will do something stupid to end it. Mr. Ahmadinejad isn't helping keep things peaceful: Ahmadinejad gives 'victory speech' before masses

"The problem in Lebanon did not end with the obtaining of a ceasefire. A holding of account with Israel must be held and with those who stood at its side. The stance of America and Israel harmed the image of the Security Council. The two don't have the right to be members of the Security Council," said the Iranian president. He added that "the nations of the area demand a Middle East clean from the American-British hegemony."

Syrian President Bashar doesn't want to be left out, so he's cheering on Hezbollah as well. As I said yesterday, this isn't much of victory for anyone - but try telling that to Mssrs. Ahmadinejad and Bashar, as well as Bush and Olmert.

If everyone claims victory, does that mean no one wins?

The end of August and beginning of September should be interesting.


I've read Seymour Hersh's take on the Israeli attack on Lebanon. For the most part, it makes sense, and some points I thought of in July, especially about this being a dress-rehersal for an Iran invasion. And since Bush thinks Israel won... you gotta wonder what these fools are going to do next.

"The Israeli plan, according to the former senior intelligence official, was “the mirror image of what the United States has been planning for Iran.” (The initial U.S. Air Force proposals for an air attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear capacity, which included the option of intense bombing of civilian infrastructure targets inside Iran, have been resisted by the top leadership of the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, according to current and former officials. They argue that the Air Force plan will not work and will inevitably lead, as in the Israeli war with Hezbollah, to the insertion of troops on the ground.)"

“There is no way that Rumsfeld and Cheney will draw the right conclusion about this,” he said. “When the smoke clears, they’ll say it was a success, and they’ll draw reinforcement for their plan to attack Iran.”

Read the article and draw your own conclusions.



How I never quite fell for South Africa

"After almost four years in Johannesburg, the time has come to move on, and I do so with a sense of detachment. This never really became home. Partly it was running to the airport every other week for overseas trips; partly it was being white and European; but mainly it was because South Africa was such a fraught place to live. The anxiety about crime, the crunching on racial eggshells, the juxtaposition of first-world materialism with third-world squalor - it all added up."

Excellent article by Rory Carroll of the "Guardian Unlimited".

When sharing can become TMI

The World History Blog highlights an article at Cracked.com entitled 8 Important Lessons Learned from '80's Cartoons.

"Actually, we’re pretty certain that our strategy for the Iraq War was conceived after a two day long G.I. Joe marathon in the Pentagon."

'Tis funny, go read.

While you're at the World History blog, read the short bio on Alaric I.

"Alaric did not survive his triumph over Rome long. While contemplating an invasion of Roman Africa, he died. It was still 410 A.D. and he had not survived the year he sacked Rome. His death was rumored to have been caused by a fever but many Christians attributed the death to God's vengeance."

Of course they did. And New Orleans was destroyed because of gays.

The stupidity of humanity never ends.

~ ~ ~

Another favorite site of mine is French Word a Day, though the author has cut back to three days a week. Because of this site, and some others, I may yet recover my (pathetic) French language skills.

Naturally, this will lead to my moving to the south of France and becoming the next great Impressionist painter; living with some seriously sexy and brilliant French writer; hanging out in cafe's discussing philosophy and the nature of universe...

Well, it's good to have dreams. Especially on rainy days like this one.

~ ~ ~


La bouderie en amour est comme le sel; il n'en faut pas trop.


~ ~ ~

Hello. My name is Laura and I'm addicted to food.

I watch the Food Network. PBS cooking shows. I buy cookbooks. I have more kitchen equipment than most restaurants. I read food & restaurant reviews, right after the book reviews. My guiltiest of all secrets... I watch Top Chef. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone! I pick on friends and family for watching reality television because it's trash... so don't tell them, okay? It's our little secret.

I love food.

I love looking at food related websites. Some folks have porn, I have food. One of my favorites is She Who Eats. The pictures she puts up are nearly orgasm-inducing. To me, anyway. She writes quite well too. Go see for yourself.

Yes, I am an enabler.

Language lessons

"As a member of Lebanon's multi-confessional government, the militant Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah is formally committed to its own removal as a military presence in south Lebanon."

I saw this paragraph, by Martin Asser, at the BBC. The word multi-confessional stuck out. I've seen it a few times in recent weeks and wondered about it's usage. Apparently it's correct, but it is new to me and it strikes me as odd. See also: Parliament of Lebanon

"Although distributed confessionally, all members, regardless of their religious faith, are elected by universal suffrage, forcing politicians to seek support from outside of their own religious communities, unless their co-religionists overwhelmingly dominate their particular constituency."

It's fun learning something new!

US to roll out electronic passports

"Despite ongoing privacy concerns and legal disputes involving companies bidding on the project, the U.S. State Department plans to begin issuing smart chip-embedded passports to Americans as planned Monday."

I've got $20 on these things never working properly and some 12 year old hacks the system in a week.

Your tax dollars at work folks!

Did pictures of the creature also known as Suri Cruise ever show up? What about Bigfoot? Nessie?

Definition of pyrrhic victory: Hezbollah claims victory against Israel. How many people have died in Lebanon during the past month - 900+? It's estimated that it will cost approximately $2.5 billion to rebuild what the Israeli's have destroyed. And that money will come from... where? Lebanon was deeply in debt before this started and was just starting to pay some of it down. Where will they get the funds for this? Their devastated tourism industry?

Hell'uva victory.

Monday Monday

Holy frijoles, it's another glorious day here in southern New England. Cool air, no humidity, the sun is shining - just amazing!

I had a great time at the Bruce and Maritime museums. Just go peeps, they're a good time.

Dinner with the 'rents Saturday night, just the three of us for a change. Afterwards we went to Paradise - the bookstore. Barnes & Noble in Westport. We had coffee, bought books, just kinda hung out. A good time. When you were 12 or 15 or even 25, did you ever think the time would come when hanging out with your parents on a Saturday night would be a good time?

I only bought one book (yes, only one), "The Iranians". Dad looked at the title and said "We should all be reading that." I get to the counter and the clerk said the exact same thing. I haven't started it yet because I just started "Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" on Thursday night.

Mom picked up books for the kids and Dad bought a Bible.

A Bible.

In late March he had an ocular stroke and another one recently. What's happening is that plaque is breaking off and going into his eye; if it went into the vessels in his brain, he'd have a cerebral stoke. He's lost about 25% of his vision in his left eye. He's dealing with the root-causes of the problem but his mind is, apparently, on something else, hence the Bible. Large print version.

Grandma's death in December of last year has thrown him out of sorts as well. Dealing with the loss of one parent is difficult enough, but when they're both gone, no matter how old you are, you end up feeling like an orphan. On top of that he's had to come face-to-face with his own mortality again. He's not in a good place, a happy place, and I'm not sure how to reach out to him. While he's mellowed alot with age, he's still not someone who wants anyone prying into how he's feeling. He's perfectly capable of taking care of himself, thank you. He can get really snotty if you push too hard. I understand. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

When my Mother was dying seven years ago he pretty much kept our large extended family at a distance, knowing I wouldn't want a whole bunch of people crowding me. "Call me if you need anything" he said. Had I, I would have. After she died, and we got through the funeral, Mom called to check up on me. She said my Father had mentioned he was very proud me. I laughed and what's there to be proud of? She said it was how well I had handled everything. I just said okay or something, but I didn't get it - still don't, really. It was my job to take care of my Mother. It wasn't hard - painful, but not hard, and I did the best I could. What else was I supposed to do? I don't explain this well. In any event, Christmas night I was at the 'rents house and, as usual, it was happy chaos for everyone. It wasn't an easy time for me and by the end of evening I had retreated to the dining room with a glass of wine. Not drinking it, just sort of fidgiting with it. Dad wandered past and then sat down and didn't say anything for a while. Eventually he said:

"Rough year."

"Yeah."

"It'll get better."

"Yeah."

Not exactly the pinnacle of touching, heart-felt, Father-Daughter conversations, but it helped, strange as that might seem.

I've never had a problem "being there" for family or friends - to hold a hand, to wipe the tears - I just can't deal with it when it's me. Afterall, like Grandma, like Dad, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you. So when it comes to Dad, I'm at a loss as to what to do because I know what he really wants is to be left alone.

When he was buying the Bible a lot of jokes went through my head. Dad's not the most religious of people - usually sacrilegous.

"A Bible?" I said.

"Can't read the one I've got." he answered. So many jokes went racing through my head... but I let them go.

"Where's your Grandmother's Bible?" he asked me.

"Um... I don't know." I was surprised he didn't know. "One of your siblings?" I asked.

"I guess. I'll ask Bill. Should have asked Mother for that before she died." he said. I just nodded my head, at a complete loss for words, and we went off to the check out.

I guess the answer is I need to hang out with Dad more often.

It's been a rough year.

Short weeks are best!

It's a really lovely day here in southwestern Connecticut. Not too hot or humid - for August, it's nearly perfect. We should all go outside and play.

Cute Overload
The Daily Kitten
Kitten War!
Rate my kitten
Stuff on my cat

I have nothing against dogs or puppies, I love my dogNephews Malcolm and Niko, I'm just a cat person.

Or Cat Woman?



Or Woman with a Cat?



The last one.

I'm in search of something to do this weekend. A friend suggested either Mohegan or Foxwoods, neither of which appeals. I thought about going to Mystic, but it's always a zoo this time of year. Wall-to-wall bratty children with overly permissive parents who haven't got the first clue about to make their bratty children behave themselves in public.

Jeezus, I'm turning into my Dad.

I thought about heading up to Goodspeed but I'm going to be there in October. That whole area is really lovely. I'm looking forward to that trip... which reminds me, I have to book a B&B or hotel room.

I guess I'll just drive down to Greenwich on Saturday and hit the Bruce Museum, which I haven't been to in ages, and then stop at the Maritime Aquarium on the way back. I'm supposed to have dinner with the 'rents Saturday night and they live close to Norwalk... so, boring as it is, that's the plan.

She's Back!

I was away last week. I guess I should have said something. Nothing much fun or exciting to report. I read, slept and generally loafed about. A much needed break.

So... the world is still shot to hell. The Moron-in-Charge is still in office with no hope on the horizon of him getting arrested. His dearly beloved buddy Joe Lieberman lost the primary (YAY Lamont!) and, typical of dear Joe, he's sulking and gonna run as an Independent. I'm hoping Nutmeggers ignore him from now until November.

Am I paranoid or does anyone else think this foiled "terror plot" in the UK is a lotta horseshit? Mighty convenient, given what Cheney and Rove have been saying in support of their best friend Joe the past couple of days. I've been thinking, for many months now, there would be an "attack" on the US before the November elections - just to keep Bush and Co. in power a while longer. I've been expecting a bloody October. Maybe this is just a taste of things to come.

I hope not, but with this crew in charge anything is possible.

I see the Israeli's are still trying to reduce Lebanon to its composite atoms, one child at a time. The body counts in Iraqi morgues is inching up to ever greater heights every day.

Off to ramble amoung other blogs in search of more happy news.