Sure, but how big is the refrigerator?

New Super Magnet Weighs More Than 15 Tons

Alvarez to Leave Coaching After 2005; Bielema to Assume Coaching Duties

MADISON, Wis. - University of Wisconsin Head Football Coach and Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez, the winningest coach in school history and the architect of three Rose Bowl championship teams, announced Thursday that he will step down from his coaching position at the conclusion of the 2005 season.

I've seen this a couple of places today. Very funny.

The Columnist Manifesto: Relationships 101: "Do I look fat?"

Wise words.

I think our beliefs (Christian and Muslim - ed.) are similar in that we think that unbelievers will burn eternally in hell. Now, think about that: eternally in hell. Now, someone criticizing my belief system can be quite annoying, but, if I murdered him or her now, is that eternity in hell going to be any longer or shorter than if I waited for that person to die from natural death? No; eternity is eternity. I think a great attitude for Muslims would be, 'Man, I hate the joooos and the Crusaders, but, they're all going to burn eternally in hell - Allah be praised - so why get worked up over it?'

Click to see my motto.

Stand in the Trenches: 'Morning, everyone!

How big a hippie are you?

Steve? Dare you.

I am 14% Hippie.

What? Am I a Republican? Why did I even bother taken this test?! I guess I’ll back to my George W. Bush fan club and tell them I just wasted 10 minutes of my life. At least I don’t stink, man.

Take the
Hippie Test
@ FualiDotCom

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

or

How I Ended Up Being Photographed With Some Old Guy And His Pouty Little Daughter Who Needed A Nap

It all started way back when we were planning our vacation. The debate was: do we stay in Wisconsin, or go down to Kentucky and Tennessee?

The wife and I were leaning heavily toward Wisconsin, but faced opposition from at least three of the kids. Normally, this is no big deal: I'm not nearly as frugal with my veto power as President Bush, but since it was a family vacation, thus a family project, we at least wanted the kids to feel like they were involved.

So, I bought the 5-year-old's vote with a train ride in the St. Croix Valley. That swung things my direction, and the decision was made.

The way we figured, we would drive north on Monday, stopping in Eau Claire to visit the wife's aunt along the way, then would drive home on Sunday, after spending the night at my mother's house in River Falls. That allowed us to spend most of the week in the Superior area (thus letting me buy the 11-year-old's vote with at least one day's fishing in the Brule River), and hit the train ride on Saturday, on our way back down.

Then the daughter discovered a living history museum, about halfway between our campsite and the train ride. Okay. We like that stuff. Another vote duly purchased.

We arrive at the museum in Bayfield Saturday morning, after a haphazard but ultimately successful search for fresh doughnuts. As it turns out, there's a Rendezvous going on - a sort of convention of Furtrapping Era re-enactors, complete with lots of little shops.

We began in the visitor's center, using the bathroom and consoling the 3-year-old who was crying for some now-forgotten reason. There, we spent a few minutes in the vicinity of another family, dressed in re-enactment clothing, whose youngest - a curly haired girl - was also crying. That family left first, then us, and I was struck by the thought that the Dad had looked a lot like Al the Old Whig.

Nah, couldn't be him, right? Too much of a coincidence, plus I've only seen his picture on his website. Too small to be really sure.

Still, I knew from his site that he does attend these things. One really can't leave such questions unanswered, can one?

So, we looked through the shops, bought a few things, wandered through the Oneida village, let the kids see the muzzleloaders and try some spear-throwers that the guy told me were in use 60,000 years ago (not those specific ones, obviously). Then we headed for the re-enactment camp.

The way I figured, I could just ask around. Nerds of a feather flock together, right? There can't be so many people who follow this particular hobby. Somebody will know Al.

So I asked around. No help, particularly from the woman who asked if Al had a beard. Hello. These were historical re-enactors. I was the only adult male there without a beard. Even some of the women had beards.

Finally, somebody directed me to the people who were administrating the whole thing, who should have a list of registrants. They looked through their list, and viola! There he was!

I should mention that my two older boys were in tow, while the wife and bookends were catching up to us after visiting another shop. They walked/ran all the way across the field through a drizzling rain to reach us, just to re-cross the same field through the same rain to get to the administration booth, just to re-cross the same field because, as it turned out, Al's tent was maybe fifty feet from where I'd gotten that advice in the first place.

I should've followed my first instinct and just walked through the camp yelling "Al!"

Anyhoo, that's how I found him. His little girl was pouty because, as he explained, they arrived too late the night before to set their camp up, and so slept in the truck, where the little girl got more sleep than anybody - about four hours worth.

Al's got the rest of the story. MJ was highly amused that you thought she was one of my kids, Al. She is, of course, about 15 inches shorter than me, and was wearing the 5-year-old's Dr. Seuss baseball cap because he'd gotten tired of it (fun fact - she didn't have to adjust the size).

We should have the pictures soon. Al, lemme know if you want the real pictures. I'll email you the scans.

From Lileks' Matchbook:

Googling around tonight, I found this simple description of Islam: at submission.org

1. What is Islam?
That is the most misunderstood Word. It simply means submission. Anyone submitting to the one God is practicing Islam and is a Muslim or a Submitter. (Quran 3:19, 3:85, 21:92)

2. One God? Which God? Allah?
Yes, but Allah is simply an Arabic word meaning 'The One God', that being the Creator of the Universe. (Quran 2:255). Arab Christians and Jews also use the same word (Allah) for God.

A verse in The Quran says "Such is God your Lord, there is no god except He, The Creator of all things. You shall worship Him alone..." (Quran 6:102). This is The same God that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad worshipped.

3. So anyone who submits to Allah or God is a Muslim?
Yes. Again Islam means submission. Anyone who submits to the One God, believes in the Hereafter and leads a righteous life is called a Muslim or Submitter. (Quran 2:62)

By this logical construction, all Christians are Muslims.

He goes on from there, but that was the most interesting part. Kind of puts the Muslim vs. Jew thing in a different light, doesn't it?

At work today I jotted down a few notes to form the basis of my next post. After getting home I quickly perused a few of my favorite blogs and decided to go over to see if Thomas Sowell had posted anything new on Townhall.com. Well, he had and it seems he has written my post for me. With pleasure I will endeavor to write mine. When my thinking parallels that of Dr. Sowell, I know that I’m doing something right.

The hullabaloo over President Bush’s nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court is just about to begin. We will all be treated to accusations and insinuations that Roberts deserves to be seated near the right hand of God or that he is Satan himself, as well as everything in between. Most Democrats will have ‘serious reservations’ while most Republicans will laud his ‘judicial integrity’. The moderates and mavericks will say absolutely nothing but in very erudite and thoughtful ways. (Someone recently has suggested that in all cases each Senator should be allowed two votes. In that way the mods and mavs can vote both ways and save themselves from serious emotional trauma or crotch injury while trying to ride the fence.)

I know very little about Judge Roberts. I assume that he is well qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. He has been nominated by the sitting president. Unless he is found with a dead girl or live boy... well, these days... a dead girl anyway, he should take his seat on the court. But possibly since the inquisition of Robert Bork, things have changed– something is missing. Just a small matter, really; only the Constitution.

During his committee hearing, the only thing that really should be discerned about any nominee’s position is whether he has interests in a certain desired outcome or if he will judge according to the constitutional blueprint. Religious preferences, sexual orientation, or other personal choice stances really don’t matter if the judge will rule under the auspices of the Constitution. (In our lifetimes such matters have become complicated by flagrant expansions of the general welfare clause, interstate commerce, and privacy rights.) Personal agendas are another matter, however. Preconceived agendas elevate a justice upon Mt. Olympus to rule over the affairs of mortal men with a god-like omnipotence and most self-assuredly, a superior omniscience. Although not technically omnipresent, we are stuck with their rule perhaps ‘til death do us part’.

In building a house one would want the contractor to build according to the chosen architect’s blueprints. No one would appreciate having to try to make a home and to raise a family in a sewage treatment plant, no matter how perfectly constructed. (Perhaps excepting those who would require others live their lives according to their own version of ‘the public good’.)

On the other hand, the Constitution is intended to be the sewage treatment plant. It was written to filter the federally fermented fecal formations from ‘sea to shining sea’. Mount Olympus was never supposed to be one among ‘the purple mountains’ majesty’.

Senate: Approve Judge Roberts for the Supreme Court nomination and wash your own hands after defecating and don’t forget to flush.

Nerd Alert!

'Voltron' morphs into movie

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" is coming to the big screen.

Producer Mark Gordon ("The Day After Tomorrow") is developing a big-budget feature based on the 1980s giant robot kids TV series and toy sensation.

...

"Voltron" is now the second giant robot picture being developed; "Transformers" is set up at DreamWorks Pictures.

Double-nerd bonus: this is my second post about Voltron!

Found this via Ann Althouse:

Literally, A Web Log.

A website tracking inappropriate uses of the word "literally," as in "we literally have way too much time on our hands around here."

Now we need one to track inappropriate uses of the word "ironic."

I'm back from vacation now, and guess who I met while I was gone!

We only took the regular camera, so I'll post pictures once I get them developed.

Die-anda Loss and The Supremes
(AKA Roe and Kelo in SCOTUS)

Disingenesis 3:1-7. (New Judicial Version) 1. Now The Pervert was more crafty than any of the citizens that the Constitution had recognized. He said to the Justice, "Does the Constitution really say, ‘You must not add to, take away from, or alter ex nihilo any article or amendment in the document’?"

Dissin. 3:2. The Justice said to The Pervert, "We may judge according to all the articles and amendments in the document, 3. but the Constitution did say, ‘You must not stray from the original intent of the document, and you must not ‘feel’ out its intent, or you will be impeached.’"

Dissin. 3:4 "You will not surely be impeached," The Pervert said to the Justice. 5. "For the Constitution knows that when you interpret its intent with ‘compassion’, your heart will be opened and you will be like the Constitution, determining the lawful, moral, and ethical."

Dissin. 3:6 When the Justice saw that evolving moral standards were good for the self-esteem and pleasing to the ego, and also for displaying one’s superior wisdom, he ruled by his own ascendant, compassionate intellect. He also gave this judicial philosophy to his fellow justices with him and they ruled likewise with a caprice of their own whimsy. 7.When they saw that they were fully exposed, they constructed an impenetrable shield of higher motives, nuances, penumbras, and foreign law to make coverings (complete with capes) for themselves.

After being banished from the garden of Eden, mankind’s relation to law has remained consistent. Laws, like records, are made to be broken. Man never grows out of the ‘terrible twos’ of youth. He may modify, add sophistication, or move to a more culturally accepted law-breaking, but these ‘terrible twos’ remain a part of his nature. Forbid a group of teenagers from any activity and watch it increase. Produce a movie or music CD using an anti-social actor or musician and burn out several calculators while counting box office profits. As mankind continually rebels against God’s Ten Commandments, he also will pervert the intent of the Constitution, even as he proclaims fidelity to it.

In our generation, from Roe v. Wade to Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court has actualized man’s relation to law. This can very easily be seen in the use of language. While arguing that absolute truth is nonexistent, or at least to be confined to a church building on Sundays, man manifestly and staunchly stands for some ‘moveable’ or new truth, rebelling against the old. He creates this truth by fiat, manipulating definitions. The power of definition is the power to control. In Roe, the court redefined a embryo/fetus/baby as non-human; in Kelo the court redefined both private property and public interest. The Massachusetts Supreme Court redefined marriage and commanded laws to fit their newly created (or discovered) definition. The actual fight is not pro-life v. pro-choice, private property v. eminent domain, traditional marriage v. homosexual rights, or even theocracy v. ACLU. It is, in reality, God’s sovereignty v. the stubborn will of a two year old.

This is humanistic post-modernism in action. Man (I) is (am) the measure of all things. At one’s caprice anything goes. Combine this trait with power and... recount the effects in history. (Durbin: Nazis, Gulags, Pol Pot, and Guantanamo[redefined])

The most pitiful aspect of societies that experience these conditions is that, according to their egocentric natures, they generally just redefine or rationalize some new man-made ‘truth’ in an attempt to palliate symptoms while demanding the right to incubate the disease... "They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. ..., and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds." (Rev. 16:9-11, ESV)

Roe, Kelo, and numerous other schizophrenic decisions of courts at all levels are merely re-enactments of the desire to take nourishment from the forbidden fruit to declare one’s autonomy from the Creator God who is sovereign in all matters. Good luck with that.

Update: Mirrored by 7/21 article by
Thomas Sowell on Townhall.

Congratulations, Raphael Palmeiro, who collected his 3,000 hit just now. He joins Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray as the only major leaguers with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. By next year he could be at 3,000/600 and join only Aaron and Mays.

Palmeiro has labored in relative obscurity, so this record came as somewhat of a surprize. Before this he seemed to be most famous for his Viagra commercials. Quiet, diligent excellence. I appreciate it.

Congrats, again, Raphie!

Memories...

With the fourth quarter clock winding down to under 10 seconds, our point guard, Leann, drove the ball into the lane. The defense converged and poked the ball out of bounds under our basket with only five seconds remaining. We were down by two so this was definitely crunch time. The inbounding play called for screens to free up one post, Jennifer, to help her to find a hole in the remaining defense anywhere in or near the lane. Jen received the pass in the middle of the lane and attempted the game tying shot. The whistle sounded for the foul as Jen’s shot missed its mark. The clock showed 3 seconds remaining.

Jennifer, although a menacing ‘aircraft carrier’, had long demonstrated skill at shooting free throws that would make Shaq look like Calvin Murphy. Barring a miracle, we were sunk. The first... SWISH! My innards were in pandemonium. The second... Clang!... Of course!

Slumping at my desk, I hung up the phone. The NACA national tournament director had painted a bleak picture for our team and had even asked if I knew what we were getting into. Our girls’ team had only played the two teams available within 125 miles here in South Texas, so we were only 3-1. Our whole school, from 1st through 12th grade had only 62 students. Our practice court was a 20'x20' cement slab abutting a wall to the bank parking lot, a metal storage building and gravel.

The director at the tournament site in Dayton, Tennessee, informed me that we had drawn the top seeded team from Kennesaw, Georgia, at 28-0. What were we getting into? Why did Sam, the school administrator, get us into this?

We rented a gym to practice. The girls had to chip in since there was no money in the budget to cover even this modest expense. They worked like dogs and began to steadily improve.

Just a day before we were to leave, the father of two of our top players died, again. But, as had happened the two previous times, the doctors were able to bring him back. Even though he was still touch and go, the sisters and their family decided that they should play in the tournament.

We boarded the old yeller school bus and traveled through Texas, Louisiana, and part of Mississippi, before the brakes failed. Malcolm, our driver, unloaded us at a McDonald’s while he worked his magic. As we entered the restaurant, a team from Mississippi that was also entered into the tourney was leaving. They looked pretty substantial. What had we gotten into?

The remainder of the long trip was without incident. The girls bunked in a dorm with the other teams and I stayed in with the teams on the boys’ side of the tournament.

Finally, it was time for our first game to begin. What had we gotten into?

Jennifer’s second... Clang!... Of course! The ball clunked off of the back rim and bounded out just far enough to clear the inner rebounders and was nabbed by our second low post, ‘Too Tall’ Natalie. She took it straight back to the rim and put it in as the buzzer sounded!

I was standing as the play evolved. As the ball went through the basket, I immediately realized the win. I was watching my girls during this time and and saw that they didn’t understand the consequences of what had just occurred.. A few moments passed before it sunk in as the ball had done. As they saw the light, their countenances began to show the unmitigated glee of little children and the celebration began. We were 4-1, Kennesaw was 28-1.

We hung very tough the rest of the tournament as well and ended up fourth. The team received the Sportsmanship Award. (It was reported by our chaperones that other overseers had even exclaimed in a moment of off court frustration to their own charges, "Why can’t you be like that team?")

What had we gotten into? Just a circumstance to show me the great maturity, character, and discipline that my players and students had grown into. What a great blessing.

A brief history of Legos:

Back in primordial times, well before PlayStation 2, Lego was about building structures. The brainchild of Danish toymaker Ole Christiansen, the term Lego was coined in 1934 and derives its name from 'Leg godt' (play well). A forerunner to the current brick was invented in 1942; the current 'stud and tube' model, in 1958. The first sets of Lego 'Automatic Binding Bricks' were sold in Denmark in 1959, eventually making their way to these shores as an instant hit in 1961.

The whole article is actually about the writer's visit to Legoland, a 50+ acre theme park about 30 miles north of San Diego.

See if you can spot the liberal bias in this AP headline:

White House Touts Falling Budget Deficit

Not "Budget Deficit Down 25%," or "Rising Economy Shrinks Deficit." No, the story is that the White House is "touting" the shrinking deficit.

Oh, please.

Tokyo Governor Sued for Insulting French (the language, that is):

TOKYO - A group of teachers and translators in Japan on Wednesday sued Tokyo's outspoken nationalist governor for allegedly calling French a 'failed international language,' a news report said.

Twenty-one people filed the lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court, demanding that Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara pay a total of 10.5 million yen ($94,600) compensation for insulting the French language in remarks last October, national broadcaster NHK said.

The good news is, all this guy has to do is hire a German lawyer, and he's gravy.

Whoa.

It is one of the great natural wonders of the world -- and it will soon to be joined by an engineering marvel.

A fantastic glass bridge arcing 60-feet out over the grand canyon -- giving visitors an unobstructed view 4000-feet straight down.

Sheri Yellowhawk, tribal executive says "That's gonna be a scary view. It's gonna be exciting. It's gonna be a once in a lifetime view.

It may be scarey indeed having nothing more than sheets of glass separating you from eternity.

But the bridge has been engineered to withstand 100-mile per hour winds, magnitude 8 earthquakes -- and hold the weight of 71-jumbo jetliners.

The glass bridge -- officially called the canyon skywalk -- been under construction for months here on the west rim of the grand canyon.

It's being built on Hualapai tribal lands -- and the tribe hopes it will become one of the biggest attractions in the southwest.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year and when it's up and running, the hualapai expect as many as 3-million people a year will come here -- and take a walk out over the edge.

The idea for the skywalk came from las vegas tour operator David Jin, and its It has taken nearly a decade to turn his dream into a reality.

But not everyone was sold on the idea at first.

There were elders -- and others -- concerned about any construction on pristine native lands.

Tribal Executive Sheri Yellowhawk says "We had the area blessed. We had the elders come out and they talked about it and they said We would like to keep our land the way it is, but we have to look at the future of our kids, to have something that's economiocally feasable for their future

The financial future of the Hualapai is tied to tourism. They are not a gaming tribe.

But they are betting that -- when it comes to the skywalk -- if they build it -- you will come

The Constitution of the United States v. SCOTUS

In a 5 to 4 decision today, the Supreme court ruled the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence unconstitutional. Washington is ordered to be immediately evacuated and governance has been turned over to the United Nations until a delegation of liberal senators, congressmen, newsmen, and Hollywood actors can write a constitution that must be ratified by the U.N.

In writing the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy stated, "Since the Bush administration may be enabled by the present Constitution to name 3 or more Supreme Court Justices with tendencies toward the so-called strict constructionist school we fear that the court may become in these modern times one of pre-scientific antiquity leading the nation into theocracy, racism, sexism, homophobia, intolerance, and ethnocentricity. Many of our decisions through the last several decades have already proven the present Constitution a dead letter. We have also found many precedents in the laws of many African and Asian nations to legitimize our action. We acknowledge the integrity and authority of the United Nations to help bring us into the 21st century."

The dissenting opinion was delivered orally by Justice Clarence Thomas who mumbled incoherently and was heard to say something about, "...Long Dong Silver..." and, "...a pubic hair on a Coke can..."

Cool.

Neanderthal Genome May Be Reconstructed:

FRANKFURT, Germany - German and U.S. scientists have launched a project to reconstruct the Neanderthal genome, the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said Wednesday.

And you have to love this quote:

"Firstly, we will learn a lot about the Neanderthals. Secondly, we will learn a lot about the uniqueness of human beings. And thirdly, it's simply cool," (U.S. geneticist Edward) Rubin said.

I like Jim Stingl:

Plus, we have our suspicions that secondhand smoke is just as bad or worse than smoking directly. You don't want to be anywhere nearby when a victim of environmental smoke exhales even more deadly third-hand smoke.

And:

Boy, the nerve of these bar and restaurant owners who want to decide for themselves if they will allow smoking for their customers without government interference. They must think we're living in a free country or something. Don't make us come in there with our eminent domain powers and turn all these smoky joints into Walgreens stores.

Another Fourth of July passes with the obligatory fireworks, parades, and cookouts. It seems we have been celebrating the innovations of the Chinese, migrating geese, and Neanderthals. But, somehow, I think there’s more to it.

I had intended to include in this post a single frame cartoon caricature depicting the Statue of Liberty holding a baby in her left arm. The baby was looking up into Liberty’s face as if to say, "Happy Birthday, America!" Across the back of the baby’s diaper was written,’Iraq’.

Back in July, 1776, our nation was that baby. A simple piece of paper was signed. The subsequent war was on. A government and constitution was yet to be formed. Many colonists as well as the mighty nation of England were determined to abort the baby.

Even today there are many factions determined to abort the baby Iraq. The insurgent terrorists are threatened by a democratic Arab state in the Middle East. Oddly, but not surprisingly, American progressives (nee: liberals) also are taking extensive steps to abort the baby as well. They have chosen a path that will not directly kill a free Iraq, but wish to withdraw the feeding tube and leave the young entity unprotected in the desert to be devoured by jackals.

To many progressives, the lip service given to strivings for liberty, freedom, and independence is only intended for the vanguard that includes only themselves. The large majority of unwashed masses need only be relegated to paternalism, grateful servitude, or abortive destruction. In this way, human cultural evolution can progress. Those of weaker intellects must not be allowed to inhibit our glorious development.

Elite progressives would have drawn the cartoon showing the Statue of Liberty using the torch as a cane, dropping the baby into a dumpster, using the left hand to reach out for the help of the vanguard. The red-state morons, however, still impudently attempt to resist.

Our founders would have drawn the cartoon with the torch held high, the baby held tightly, and struggling to load their flintlocks.

Team Discovery wins the team time trial by 2 seconds over team CSC. CSC's yellow jersey holder, American Dave Zabriskie, crashed with 1.5 km to go. Bummer! But Lance has taken the yellow jersey. American George Hincapie of Discovery is second. (Had Zabriskie not crashed outside of 1 km of finish he would have gotten the same time as his team and been tied with Armstrong for the lead.)

Geez.

Astrologer Sues NASA Over Comet Probe

MOSCOW (AP) -- NASA's mission that sent a space probe smashing into a comet raised more than cosmic dust - it also brought a lawsuit from a Russian astrologer.

Marina Bai has sued the U.S. space agency, claiming the Deep Impact probe that punched a crater into the comet Tempel 1 late Sunday 'ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe,' the newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday. A Moscow court has postponed hearings on the case until late July, the paper said.

Scientists say the crash did not significantly alter the comet's orbit around the sun and said the experiment does not pose any danger to Earth.

The probe's comet crash sent up a cloud of debris that scientists hope to examine to learn how the solar system was formed.

Bai is seeking damages totaling $300 million - the approximate equivalent of the mission's cost - for her "moral sufferings," Izvestia said, citing her lawyer Alexander Molokhov. She earlier told the paper that the experiment would "deform her horoscope."

NASA representatives in Russia could not be reached for comment on the case.

You can see why she's worried - move that comet over a little and her predictions might not be accurate anymore.

I'm having a great deal of difficulty placing images on the blog so my Fourth of July post will be late. Blogger added a feature that is supposed to import photos, but I haven't gotten it to perform as of yet.

In the meantime, I will be enjoying OLN's showing of the Tour de France. I've been following this race for over 30 years and still am amazed at what these athletes do. Some of those mountain stages would murder a Mercedes. It's early and there is still over 2,000 miles to go. Team time trials today. They will be averaging over 55 km/hr for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Lance Armstrong, like Greg LeMond before him, came up off his death bed to compete; Lance, of course, from cancer and Greg, from a shotgun blast to his chest. LeMond still carries about 30 pellets in his thorax and abdomen.

I don't mind, either, that an American is dominating a French passion. (Much like they must revel in the American Olympic basketball double dribbling.)

Well, the Discovery Channel team is about ready to go...

An Independence Day Myths quiz.

I got ten out of eleven right. And, no Steve, it wasn't #8 that I missed.

Cool.

How Fireworks Work.

Hooterville v. Pfizer

"In 1998, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer built a plant next to Fort Trumbull and the City determined that someone else could make better use of the land than the Fort Trumbull residents. The City handed over its power of eminent domain—the ability to take private property for public use—to the New London Development Corporation (NLDC), a private body, to take the entire neighborhood for private development."

(Excerpted from an article by the Institute for Justice.)

Of course, this is from the late ruling by SCOTUS, Kelo V. New London. Susette Kelo's dream home has been condemned for others' private uses. It is interesting to note that Pfizer, a starver of the aged and infirm for obscene profits, has gotten the blessing from the Supreme Court.

Hopefully, Ms. Kelo is quick witted and leaves her hose running long enough to have her acreage declared a wetland, transplants endangered plants on her property and provides niches in which to place spotted owls and other endangered fauna. She could then rename the land 'Hooterville' or 'Petticoat Injunction'.