Super Volcano!

Scientists eye unusual swarm of Yellowstone quakes: "Yellowstone National Park was jostled by a host of small earthquakes for a third straight day Monday, and scientists watched closely to see whether the more than 250 tremors were a sign of something bigger to come."

For GateTree.... (hands off the pets, Dr. Frankenstein)

Biohacking: The Open Wetware Future
Ronald Bailey | December 26, 2008, 11:40am

Much of the infotech revolution erupted from garages (Hewlett Packard, Apple, Google), and the same thing is beginning to happen with biotech. Biohacking is in its infancy, but the tools and knowledge to make novel organisms is becoming cheaper and more widely available all the time. Open wetware is the wave of the biotech future. For example, the Associated Press reports....

Some Movies to Consider

The 19 Best Movies That You Didn't See in 2008
from FirstShowing.net.

Surprisingly Not Awful

While not really good, the Cartoon Network's Clone War series has, to date, had some gems in the rough. And it looks fantastic.

I endorse it for anyone who wants to see some Star Wars coolness sometimes.

"Defaming Milton Friedman"

Naomi Klein's disastrous yet popular polemic against the great free market economist

Ms. Klein's lies about one of the most passionate and reasoned proponents of human freedom reveal more about her values than her spurious assertions about Mr. Friedman's.

As always, I'm left wondering why so many purportedly intelligent people become unhinged at the idea that economic freedom is a necessary component of a free people - unhinged to the point that they will distort and lie about the facts AND the people that inconveniently disprove whatever thesis ( i. e. disaster capitalism) in which they have invested. Is it so hard to put aside one's beliefs and dispassionately test a thesis? Or is it something a bit sinister: most people fear the freedom of others?

Just for fun, courtesy of Neal Boortz ...

Santa Claus: The Great Imposter

ATC-SIM: be an air traffic controller

Superstitious Idiot Makes Appeal For That Which He Works Against

Pope Panzerkraut The First asked his god for a new year of peace. As they all have asked...even as Jews were slaughtered, gypsies murdered, thinkers and libertines tortured and executed, and infidels persecuted and exiled...on the Church's instructions and with its blessings. That's some wish.

And a septuagenarian virgin in a very expensive dress; a mountebank who calls for extreme giving whilst advocating austere living as a virtue: an ornery self-indulgent mystic who allegedly has a direct line with the entire universe's creator, he has the (unused) balls to say on this day--a day actually like any other--during which thousands die of preventable disease, religious wars, and ignorance-induced famine and pestilence:

"If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart."

FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!!!

"This is the best I can do. I learned it as a child."

Cylon Raider Mk 1

The Navy rolled out its first Unmanned Combat Aeriel Vehicle (UCAV): the X-47B Pegasus. I suggest we not make it angry...

But what about Robbie?

EXCLUSIVE: J. Michael Straczynski's FORBIDDEN PLANET Plot & Trilogy Details Revealed!

The harmony of gears ....

The Antikythera Mechanism

I saw the last few minutes of a documentary about this ancient Greek "computer"- fascinating.

Wikipedia
New Scientist
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

Phase II Episode is out

Episode 4 Blood and Fire is now available for download. There is an early scene that pushes the cheese factor of Star Trek to a new high. But if the response from this trek site thread (with comments from James Cawley and David Gerrold) is any indication we still need this much cheese to point out how uncomfortable some people are about others. I think I might be more open minded because I watched Star Trek growing up and this feels like something they would do (maybe a bit more subdued, but the Phase II guys don't have to placate censors) to draw attention to an issue. Remember: it's just a show, you should really just relax.

Ok, Now I'm Interested

The first trailer for the new Friday the 13th didn't impress me. This one does.

This Holiday Season, Don't Forget Your Cousins

Like the Bonobo:

Bonobo Conservation Initiative

With science as our compass, we can end crimes against sentience.

Wierder Than Squid: Siphonophorae

Siphonophorae are collections of jellyfish; the Portuguese Man O' War is an example. This one defies science fiction.

What's The Point Of Storing All That Information When The Whole World Is Stupid

Science continues to progress beyond most of its unwilling recipients as more compact, more efficient, less costly computer memory is made by smart people for--mostly--the benefit of dummies.

Hey Science! When are you going to start holding out on publishing this shit so that we future cyborgs can win the inevitable robot-human war to come? I mean really...

Deck The 5" Cannon Of Our Heavy Destroyers

The USS Russell (DDG 59) wishes you a Merry Christmas and a "Strength in Freedom!" New Year!

They're everywhere ...

Reason.tv: Do You Really Want to Live in a World Where Giant Inflatable Apes Are Banned?

Rooftop Credit Ape Goes To The G20 Meetings

Rick Warren: The New Idol Of All Morondom

From The Nation:

Warren, a creationist, believes that homosexuality disproves evolution; he told CNN's Larry King in 2005, "If Darwin was right, which is survival of the fittest then homosexuality would be a recessive gene because it doesn't reproduce and you would think that over thousands of years that homosexuality would work itself out of the gene pool."

I'll take "Doesn't Understand Shit About Science" for $1000 Alex.

Now Who's Going To Tell Us That The Enterprise Is About To Explode?

Majel Barrett-Rodenberry died.

So Here's The Deal: Your Son Has His Dead Sibling In His Head

Doctors thought that a Colorado newborn had a brain tumor. They were wrong. Real is usually horrible.

You know I can't resist "Crinoid of the Week"

Crinoids.com

Uh oh ....

13 upcoming remakes of Hollywood sci-fi classics
By Geoff Boucher

Hollywood has already dipped into its sci-fi vault for 21st century remakes of “The War of the Worlds,” “The Planet of the Apes” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” so what’s next on the revival list? Plenty. Here’s a list of thirteen projects at various stages in the studio pipeline....

Some extraordinary claims, but worth a look ....

No more pesky "needs" gameplay... I want it.

Real Is Usually Horrible

I freely admit I'm obsessed with Cute With Chris. My favorite episode is here.

"I find tinsel distracting."

FRANK*: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reach for the last one they had - but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way!

KRAMER: What happened to the doll?

FRANK: It was destroyed. But out of that, a new holiday was born. "A Festivus for the rest of us!"

KRAMER: That musta been some kind of doll.

FRANK: She was.

Seinfeld Sounds of Festivus

*Script of "The Strike" Episode

"Heinlein on helium"

Santa's Jolly Boots of Doom

The Secret History of the Nuclear Bomb

Lets take a look at how nukes got around..........

The Kitzmiller judge speaks @ Case Western

Video: Judge John E. Jones III

Posted using ShareThis

Almost makes me want to be back at the University

Xmas Joy

Because Carol ate him.

More Xmas Joy @ Bizarre Records.

Humanity's Stupidity Summed Up

I recently came across the following quote from the late, great Douglas Adams, and I smiled.

A man didn’t understand how televisions work, and was convinced that there must be lots of little men inside the box, manipulating images at high speed. An engineer explained to him about high frequency modulations of the electromagnetic spectrum, about transmitters and receivers, about amplifiers and cathode ray tubes, about scan lines moving across and down a phosphorescent screen. The man listened to the engineer with careful attention, nodding his head at every step of the argument. At the end he pronounced himself satisfied. He really did now understand how televisions work. "But I expect there are just a few little men in there, aren’t there?"

Christmas Over Innsmouth

A fitting advent calendar for the Winter Solstice

Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2008

5 This image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), represents a small section of a larger mosaic - the sharpest view ever taken of the Orion Nebula - a picture book of star formation with massive young stars that are shaping the nebula and pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars. The bright glow at left is from M43, a small region being shaped by ultraviolet light from a massive young star. Astronomers call the region a miniature Orion Nebula because only one star is sculpting the landscape. The Orion Nebula has four such stars. The Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years away, the nearest star-forming region to Earth. (NASA, ESA, M. Robberto - STScI) More (see this on Google Sky) #

One-stop Festivus shopping

For GateTree:

For Bromide:

For Clyde Squid:

And something for everyone!

Why A Florida Judge Overturned The Gay Adoption Ban

The plaintiffs in the case were two gay men in a long-term relationship (read: married but for the superstitions of mongrels) who already had a biological son. They had fostered several kids for many years, and these gays were asked by name to take in two VERY neglected children. From Ed Brayton:

The children arrived at the home of Petitioner and Tom Roe, Sr., domestic partners, and Tom Roe, Sr.'s then eight-year old biological son, Tom Roe, Jr., on the evening of December 11, 2004. John, the elder sibling, arrived with his four-month old brother wearing a dirty adult sized t-shirt and sneakers four sizes too small that seemed more like flip-flops than shoes. Both children were suffering from scalp ringworm. Although John was clearly suffering from a severe case of ringworm, the medication brought from John's home to treat his scalp was unopened and expired. James, too, suffered from an untreated ear infection, as evidenced by the one-month old, nearly unused, medication. John did not speak and had no affect. He had one concern: changing, feeding, and caring for his baby brother. It was clear from the children's first evening at the Petitioner-Roe home that the baby's main caretaker was John, his four year old brother.

On that December evening, John and James left a world of chronic neglect, emotional impoverishment and deprivation to enter a new world, foreign to them, that was nurturing, safe, structured and stimulating. Although Petitioner and Roe had fostered other children, caring for John was the most challenging of their foster care experiences. For the first few months, John seemed depressed and presented a void, unresponsive demeanor and appearance. Upon arriving at the Petitioner home, John did not speak a word for about one week. After two weeks, he began to mumble imperceptible utterances. After about one month, John finally began speaking. Petitioner quickly learned that John had never seen a book, could not distinguish letters from numbers, could not identify colors and could not count. He could not hold a pencil. He had never been in an early childhood program or day care. Nevertheless, John's potential for educational development was apparent. Although he had not had any formal education, John could sing and pick up lyrics very quickly. Early on, Petitioner and Roe noticed that John hoarded food by requesting additional servings at the start of dinnertime and later hiding the extra food in his room. John eventually grew out of this behavior, due in part to a tactic employed by Petitioner and Roe of showing John, in advance of mealtime, the more than sufficient amount of food on the stove prepared and available for the family.

But what will really turn your stomach is the defense experts from the state of Florida, one of the biggest, wealthiest, and most influential states in this great union. They're enough to make you spit up. And, after nearly 4 years of the 2 children growing up in the gays' home, this is what they wanted to stop:

The Court also heard testimony from Ronald Gilbert, the children's Guardian Ad Litem since June 2005. Mr. Gilbert, who has served as Guardian Ad Litem to over 100 children, visits the Petitioner-Roe household monthly to observe the children and the family. Based on Mr. Gilbert's observations, the children are in excellent health, well behaved, performing well in school and bonded to Petitioner, Roe and Tom Roe, Jr. During his visits, the Guardian regularly sees the three children playing and hugging one another like brothers. Based on his interactions and observations of other foster parents, Mr. Gilbert believes Petitioner and Roe are model parents. In fact, he testified that in all of his 100 cases as a Guardian Ad Litem, the Petitioner home is one of the most caring and nurturing placements he has encountered. He further opines that adoption is the preferred form of permanency over permanent guardianship because John and James deserve parents. According to the Guardian, the children would suffer mentally and physically if separated from Petitioner, Roe and Tom Roe, Jr. The Guardian Ad Litem's official recommendation is to allow the Petitioner to adopt the children and states it is in the manifest best interest of the children.

What century are we in again?

Ed note: The gays initially refused to take these children in because they were thinking of relocating to a different state. They agreed to take the children in because, at least, they could give two disadvantaged kids a good Christmas. The gays canceled their plans and stayed in Florida; their new sons were more important to them than to Florida Christians.

Proposition 8: The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Orion Review

"Obama's NASA transition team also asked agency officials to investigate how much it would cost and how long it would take to build a smaller version of Orion and human-rate an Atlas 5 or Delta 4 expendable rocket to serve as its launcher."

I hope Alabama is salivating at the idea of replacing Ares with Delta 4.