Why can't this administration stop pissing me off.

NASA’s Goals Delete Mention of Home Planet

The Apocalypse is Here

The Apocalypse is Here
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

Cyrus pointed me to this collection of headlines Sunday

Captain Obvious Does it Again

From the Beeb:

Clone 'would feel individuality'

Human reproductive cloning is currently not allowed in the UK
A cloned human would probably consider themselves to be an individual, a study suggests.

Scientists drew their conclusions after interviewing identical twins about their experiences of sharing exactly the same genes with somebody else.

"Duh".

Re: San Diego Comics Convention, or why Warren Ellis isn't going

Best Line Evah.

Purportedly Via Warrenellis.com:

San Diego: "

I never want to have to piss while standing next to Klingons again.

"

Angela's Wedding

Angela's Wedding
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

My camera died. This is the only picture I have.



Ted's fianc Rachel Kelly with sparklers in Angela's driveway after Angela had left in the limo.

Nasa Clips

There is a beautiful clip looking down from the Solid Rocket Boosters of the Space Shuttle as the shuttle takes off.

It's actually a quite fascinating video, as you see the florida coast line slowly shrinking in the distance, and there's roughly a point at which you think to yourself, that's what the coast line would look like from an airplane... and then it shrinks even further.

And then I am bitter.

On Pirates

The best way I can put the movie is that I had quite a bit of fun, without feeling cheap.

And at the Harlem theatre too, which was quieter than the even the 34th St theatre I've been to.

And the cheesy epithets, the douglas adams derived humor and oh the cheesy epithets.

I loves it.

TibetMobile

TibetMobile
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

Found on a storefront on Kalpana Chawla Way in Jackson Heights.

The Dam Breaks

In regards to today's SCOTUS decision...




From SCOTUSblog:

Even more importantly for present purposes, the Court held that Common Article 3 of Geneva aplies as a matter of treaty obligation to the conflict against Al Qaeda. That is the HUGE part of today's ruling. The commissions are the least of it. This basically resolves the debate about interrogation techniques, because Common Article 3 provides that detained persons "shall in all circumstances be treated humanely," and that "[t]o this end," certain specified acts "are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever"—including "cruel treatment and torture," and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." This standard, not limited to the restrictions of the due process clause, is much more restrictive than even the McCain Amendment. See my further discussion here.

This almost certainly means that the CIA's interrogation regime is unlawful, and indeed, that many techniques the Administation has been using, such as waterboarding and hypothermia (and others) violate the War Crimes Act (because violations of Common Article 3 are deemed war crimes).

Best Cabbie Fare Ever

Purportedly Via New York Hack:

Recognize him? I did immediately, and I don't even have cable. (It's Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, in case you weren't sure.) Much to my own surprise, I was a bit starstruck. So much so that I actually forgot to turn the meter on for about 15 blocks. He was on the phone and remained oblivious to me for the entire ride until finally, as I dropped him at his destination, I worked up the gumption to interrupt his conversation. And you know what? He was cool as hell. So many cabbies have celebrity stories where the person turns out to be a total asshole, but not Jon Stewart.


I sputtered away at him for a minute and finally told him about the blog and asked if I could take his picture. He graciously posed for me and was incredibly modest and nice. And thank goodness, because it would've been depressing if I had to write about one more dick.


Oh yeah, and he tipped well, too.

"

Jokes

A current Afghan joke asks the difference between Americans and Russians, and the bitter answer is: “The Americans are better paid.”

from here.

On the Canadian Terrorists

Money Quote from the comments:

real men do not attack Canada

Purportedly Via OxBlog:

I SEE, ITS OUR FAULT: Who is...: "

I SEE, ITS OUR FAULT: Who is to blame for the aborted terrorist attack on Canada?


Open thread: I'll buy a beer (or a sparkling mineral water) for the person who can come up with the most unrigorous, cliche-ridden effort to apportion blame to the Canadians.


Extra drinks if you can work in to your litany the following: 'neo-liberal', 'root cause' and 'demonise.'


UPDATE: The efforts so far have been mighty fine. But there is stiff competition.

"

the mosquito ring tones

For those of you enthralled by the story about the mosquito ring tones, here's some shorter samples that can be used.

How do you lose a large flightless bird?

How do you lose a large flightless bird?
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

Picture of the Day: The Cat Who Scared The Bear

Wizard!

Purportedly Via Gothamist:

Picture of the Day: The Cat Who Scared The Bear: "

Photo by AP Photo/Suzanne Giovanetti

Comment

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Bend it like Beckett

(the title was allen's genius)

ESPN & ABC's coverage of the World Cup is abysmal.

The commentators are clueless.

The England game Saturday was filled with references to Posh Spice, and the repeated mistake of saying Beckett in lieu of Beckham.

For the later games, we switched to Univision's coverage.

There's nothing like hearing GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL loudly after a score, and also being able to tell how the game is going from the change in the lilt of the quite excitable commentator's voice during a notable moment.

On ABC, you got the vibe that the commentator was reading from his crib notes.

On Univision, You could clearly hear the ball getting kicked.

Yes. In the ABC coverage, you couldn't hear the ball getting kicked.

Unforgivable.

remix

Imagine the FANTA jingle, except HANTA HANTA, hantavirus...

trailer for the namesake

It's out and looks awesome.

Les Incompétents

Russia extradited Zelenovic to the Bosnian authorities on Thursday. He was hiding from the U.N. war crimes tribunal for years in Siberia until authorities there detained him last year, the AP reports.

What kind of Dumbass hides in Siberia to avoid a United Nations administered prison in Europe?

Mouse Chewed

Mouse Chewed
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

A mouse chewed through the bottom of my door last night.

Well, tried to anyways...

Gali noticed the shavings on the floor this morning.

iClaudius cleaned them up in short order.