The Russian military is testing a new fighter variant bound for the Indian Navy. The French were so interested in sniffing around India's latest Su's at this past Red Flag they did little else. I wonder if they fixed the -29's notoriously short range?

Another election cycle, another side of the aisle's married-cousin offspring learning it is in fact against the law to threaten the President. Oh sit down. I can think of half a dozen times when some lefty wackjob pulled the same stunt with Bush and then went to their blog to shriek about Bush's "suppression of their rights."

She wasn't kidding. The indoor cat, who Morris says is now 30 years old, lives a simple life with her owner and her husband, Jim Wesbrooks, in a three-bedroom house in Midlothian, Texas. Though she can't hear very well and only has vision in her right eye, Caterack is still mobile, though sometimes shaky on her feet, and enjoys life to the fullest — and likely could be among the oldest housecats in the world.

Can I get an AWWWWW!!

Mark gets a circular no-prize for bringing us news that yet another grand artifact from Nero's Golden Palace has been found. This time, it's the famous rotating dining room, which used water to slowly turn a whole room to impress guests and ensure their comfort. I guess it speaks well to just how huge this bloody place was that, even after doing their level best to destroy it, Romans still left amazing bits of the Golden Palace intact.

Being famous means you get away with outrageous crap. It also means people get to talk about it, and potentially make up even more outrageous crap. Dang. I got tricked into caring about what celebrities do again!

NASA's MESSENGER space probe has completed its third flyby of Mercury, putting it on track to orbit the planet in 2011. It'd be nice to see some more pictures, but I guess it's just not as interesting to look at as, say, Jupiter.

Ok, I'm not asking you which one is prettier. The 80s weren't kind to anyone's car design. And I'm not asking you which one you'd want. Since you're not nuts like we are, your answer will be "c) none of the above." What I'm asking you is which one is more interesting looking. Less dated.

Thing is, even I didn't realize the contrast until I saw an 80s era 5-series parked in our church's lot during the Fall Festival. Trust me, a BMW of the same era is ridiculously dowdy when compared to our goofy little Italian box. Bah, I'll let you be the judge. Oh, I know what you're going to say, but I also have a feeling I know what you're going to think, especially when you compare the roof lines...

Ok, all of you folks who think Archeology and Physical Anthropology can't hold a candle to history are pleased to be sitting down and shutting up now. I'm not saying any of you are like that. Almost everyone I know is downright fascinated with the fields I made my academic career in, especially when it involves the discovery of a pit of 50 decapitated Vikings. That said, there's definitely a sneaky minority of history majors out there who would do with the occasional reminder. I'm just saying...

Looks like the rocket airplane racing league is having some troubles with its landlord. In other news, there's a rocket airplane racing league. I missed the memo!

Hey, if you can't share someone's small pleasures, what good is life? Haven't had a really memorable moment lately. I hope that means fate is saving up. In a good way.

All you guys who want to give up sovereignty to international bodies like the World Court and the UN? Yeah, I totally agree with you now:

In his rambling diatribe to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi criticized the world body for being unfair to small nations. The comment struck a chord with the Swiss, since Gaddafi has been on a self-proclaimed mission to destroy their little country.
...
Although the motion [to abolish Switzerland] was thrown out because it violates the U.N. Charter ... some Swiss leaders are still concerned that Libya could use its yearlong presidency of the U.N. General Assembly, which began on Sept. 15, to keep up Gaddafi's vitriolic attacks on their country.

I mean, what's not to love?

Scientists have discovered a new species of fish that lives in the deep ocean and has what might be a reproductive organ positioned on the top of its head. The deep ocean is a very weird, very cool place.

What better way to start a Tuesday than some nifty tiger pictures? This is what my bunch dream they are at night. Well, right after they puke on the couch, anyway.

The thing is, Ellen has no problem with the idea of chasing tornadoes. You know, big, disastrous, destructive things that quite patently exist, get caught on video all the time, and kill those unfortunate enough to be in their path. However, she will not even entertain the idea of spending the night in an old, broken down house who's worst threat is a nasty rat or a big spider. So, guess which thing will really scare her?

No such thing as ghosts!

For my friends on the opposite side of the aisle, there's this typically-reasoned guide to keeping us conservatives from being, well, so darned angry about everything:

Conservatives are very angry these days. I haven’t seen conservatives this angry since the last time a Democrat was president. So the anger is probably because the president is black. While that might not seem so bad, conservative anger could lead to something disastrous: their mobilizing to vote against Democrats.

It's funny because all of this really is how you guys are coming off now that you've got all the reins. Oh I know, I know, my side wasn't any better. Then again, it wasn't my side that got all starry-eyed when "hope and change" was mentioned, eh?

A scientist is working on a device which will make ships slimy. The thinking goes this will radically reduce the bacteria populations which form the basis for barnacle and plant infestations that regularly cause ships to be taken into dry dock to be cleaned. It doesn't sound particularly practical to me, but if it eventually makes transport cheaper, it'll be a good thing!

Presenting VictorySiren.com, a site which provides pictures and details of the air raid sirens which were scattered across the country during the cold war. Turns out they were powered by Chrysler V8 engines. One of them seems to be in the process of restoration for use on the air show circuit. Now that'll make for an interesting experience, eh?

17 pounds of boa on your right arm up in the air for 3 minutes sucks. Danielle's little guy is under 10 pounds.

Ok, maybe it's a little like this. Ok, actually, probably it's a lot like this. Ellen and Amber both liked to make fun of how nerdy their husbands were back in the day. The look on their faces when they were reminded they voluntarily married said dorks was sweet indeed.

Ever wonder how those translators manage to hang on through hours and hours of translating a bloviating blowhard at the UN? Well, turns out, they don't. I guess after awhile even the absurdity of it all wears thin.

Ron gets a no prize that wondersss if he hasss a mousssee??? for bringing us this colorful poster.

Mark gets a no-prize that hangs on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society for bringing us an example of the only way I'd end up in a May Day parade. I like the guy who starts marching backward the best.

The latest Alfa Romeo has a 1.4L, 170hp motor that powers it from 0-60 in less than 7 seconds and gets nearly 50 mpg. The secret? A revolutionary induction system that actually does away with a conventional throttle. Now if we can somehow lure Fiat into bringing them over...

Turns out science fiction writers are, in the main, pretty much what you'd suspect: a bunch of funky, nerdy white guys working in a shambling pile of books and music. Of course, not all of them are "white n' nerdy," but the exceptions are unique enough to be remarkable.

Of all the things I thought I needed to worry about if I was critically sick, getting run over by the paramedics themselves was not one of them. Homeless drunks just seem genetically programmed to turn up in the most inconvenient places at the most inconvenient times.

I guess it's just proof positive if you hunt around with a metal detector long enough, you will find something cool. I think the best I ever did with one was a beat up quarter. Then again, I never stuck to it anywhere close to 18 years.

Hey, at least they're saying nice things about the goofy pictures. I've worn t-shirts and jeans since about... forever I guess. It's the hairstyles that'll be my downfall.

Scientists have announced the discovery of nearly pure water on Mars at much lower latitudes than previously observed. It's all based on observations of small impact craters about half way between the equator and the pole.

Nothing quite like an actual, recent, celebrity murder-suicide as the inspiration for a haunted house display. I guess whoever built it really really didn't like the Titans.

Hey, man, what good is an HD camera if you can't stick it to a balloon and loft it up past 100,000 feet. It's sort of like watching a fish tank, going in the other direction.

It's like I say the words, and they become news the next day. Fortunately for the country, one state trying to soak the rich to pay for their progressive policies merely results in those rich moving their deposits, and therefore their liquidity, to friendlier states. Said friendlier states will then be able to indirectly leverage the cash for all sorts of useful things, like bond issues for infrastructure and small business loans for all of us. Progressives get disciplined, and conservatives get cash. Everyone wins!

The real risk is tax-and-spend at the federal level. There's no place to run inside the country then, so off the cash goes to some tropical location to help underwrite some corrupt third world regime. But hey, as long as it ensures the rest of us are unable live free of the progressive state, it's fine for those ingrates to leave, eh?

Like the old video store rental records with an arms-length list of the porn you rent, a record of what people actually search for reveals us for what we are, not what we tell people we want to be.

Oh noes! Things are so bad the Real Doll people are offering specials. Can a government bailout be far behind? Hey, man, I bet over time one of those is cheaper than Viagra. Make it part of Obamacare! Hey, the sex offender and "traps-women-in-the-back-yard" lobby will definitely get behind it.

As it were.

Via Instapundit.

It would seem there actually is a lot of water on the moon. Having what's effectively a big ol' fuel dump living at the bottom of a gravity well only 1/6th as deep as the pit we live in would be a Very Good Thing Indeed. Of course, finding it is not the same as getting at it, but at least we know it's there.

That would be lamp post: 1, Ferrari: 0. It would seem the driver walked away. I'd wager the owner has already had half a dozen inquiries for parts.

Problem: The profligate spending and hyper-regulation of your progressive politicians has collided head-on with the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s.

Solution: stop that greedy corporation from "cheating" on its taxes.

Great idea, right? Right? So, let's do something politicians are genetically incapable of, and think past stage one:

Stage one: pass laws to force one of the richest corporations in the world to do something its leaders do not want to do.

Stage two: spend the next five years in litigation over the laws.

Stage three: Win.

Stage four: Said corporation, being flush with soon-to-be-taken-by-force cash, runs the numbers and figures out it will be far more expensive to stay and live under the point of a gun than it will be to move somewhere else.

Stage five: Corporation moves its entire operation to a friendlier state, cutting loose thousands of replaceable jobs and cratering an entire economy in the process.

Stage six: Nevada becomes even more successful.

But don't mind me. By all means, let's tax those greedy corporations until all their base belong to us!!!

I'm not kidding, the guy almost literally said, "watch this!" before he did his deadly-stupid deed. I once watched a drainage culvert behind my apartment building filled to its banks with rushing flood waters. Something powerful enough to sweep whole trees and rocks away is something that no red neck should trifle with. He did, and paid the price.

File this one under nice work, if you can get it: helping a video starlet adjust her outfit on the latest shoot. No, really, things were just out of place! Oh, don't worry, completely SFW.

NASA has decided to move up its Ares test shot to October 27. If all goes according to plan, they'll light that candle while I'm... on the toll road heading into work. Ah, well. Unlike the very first Shuttle launch, this time I have Tivo!

It turns out that, yes, they really did create a doomsday device and yes, it was fairly automated and no, they didn't tell a soul about it. At least, that's what this article is claiming. People who think we came closest to nuclear war over missiles in Cuba need to read more about the Cold War. From everything I've read, Khrushchev's folly doesn't even rank in the top 3.

Mark gets a toothy no-prize for bringing us news of the discovery of a T-rex fossil with unmistakable evidence of being munched on by another tyrannosaur. Exactly why this one got chomped on is unclear, but it does seem that the wound was fatal.

By using a bacteria and a cheap compound that's a byproduct of of feedstock production, scientists have created a way to safely recover uranium from abandoned mines and nuclear waste dumps. Put that in your, "there's only a limited amount of vital element X in the Earth's crust oh noes apocalypse!!!" pipe and smoke it.

Often the best sources of "real, actual, and useful" information comes from people on the ground trying to help other people get used to the ground. Such is A. L. L., "Afghan Lessons Learned for Soldiers". While all to brief, its practical advice and information taught me more about the erstwhile "Graveyard of Empires" than a dozen Newsweek articles.

While a little meandering and ultimately pointless, like the classic car hobby itself this story of one man's barn finds is nonetheless entertaining. Me? I've never really had a proper place for the classics I already own, so I'm not constantly on the prowl for more. That said, when I am looking to buy, the perfect has always found me, and in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Before Match.com, before chat rooms, before the internet itself, there was video dating. And it was good. Well, good, in a "really ridiculous hair styles and ugly sweaters" sort of way. Is it just me, or does the viking come off as the most sincere?

Via Instapundit.

Looks like the east river's going to be a lot more colorful, and informative, than in previous years. I mean, aside from letting you know which collection of goombas happens to be running the... "waste management" duties that week.

Oh noes! The end of the world is... today!!! Well, there goes the rest of my week...

A more common mutation among snakes is the growth of a second head, which occurs in a similar way to the formation of Siamese twins in humans.

Photos!

While I'm not completely sure why someone would want a life-sized paper model of Link, the hero from the Legend of Zelda video games, I think the result is nonetheless impressive. Hey, everybody needs a hobby!

Leave it to kids not to run away but kill it.

Weird photos!

Scientists recently discovered that a sophisticated type of brain scanner showed activity when cognitive tests were performed on a dead salmon. In other words, they bought a whole salmon at a market, stuck it in the machine, showed it some pictures and asked it some questions, and found activity in the scanner data. Ultimately, the paper is trying to highlight the fact that using these sorts of devices isn't as simply as a point-and-shoot camera, and if proper care isn't taken, well, your results will show a dead salmon thinking about a beach picture you're showing it.

The one on the left is seventeen years older than the one on the right. The 80s weren't kind to anyone's car design

It's not often two identical Alfas get parked next to each other.

Italian cars tend to veer between absolute beauty and irredeemable homeliness. That said, they never seem to descend into the aggressive ugliness that can be found with, say, certain kinds of Porsche or Ford.

On the left, the trunk as originally designed. That's what the one Dustin Hoffman drove on the Graduate looked like. On the right, the first, and really best, revision of the body style. That's the one we drive. Literally. Upper right graphically details the third revision, and also why it's known as a "duck tail."

A truly rare and interesting car, the Giulia Sprint Speciale was hand-built for Alfa by the Bertone coachbuilder (Carozzeria). The vehicle is surprisingly aerodynamic, with a drag coefficient on par with most modern cars. While not particularly fast, like all Alfas they are a great deal of fun.

This just in: JFK was gunned down by an extreme right-wing lunatic. The only thing richer than ignoring the historic facts of Oswald's beliefs and motivations is ignoring which party benefited the most from JFK's assassination. I've been entertained watching the moonbats twirl in their belfries for about nine years now. I've just never seen them spin this fast.

Bobby gets a no-prize with way too much time on its hands for bringing us the 1000 & 2nd use for one of those 3D printer things. Why people waste their time with goofy Star Wars memorabilia when they could be doing something useful like reproducing parts for obscure old Italian sedans I never will understand...

Rick gets a no-prize that prosecutes with absolute malice for bringing us this collection of Apaches bringing various hajjis to their 72 wirgins, or whatever it is. Flying whirlybirds at the sharp end of the stick means never having to say you're sorry. Or, you know, something like that.

The nearby Italian car parts warehouse had its "customer appreciation" day today. Ellen had to practice for a b-dance event, so it was a road trip for daddy & girl!

Mark gets a magnificently tacky no-prize for bringing us the people of Wal-Mart. Finally a real use for a cell-phone camera! All this time I thought the selection of weirdos at the local Shoppers was colorful. I had no idea.

What? Doesn't everyone want to stick a naked infant in a net and hang it out the window? Just because they make a nifty picture does not mean they make life easier.

Just because you might know about money doesn't mean you know a darned thing about cars. What sort of actually sweet rides can you pick up for $12k? Well, in no particular order, you could get, in ABSOLUTELY PERFECT CONDITION, a:

• 1991 Chevrolet Corvette
• 1971 Alfa Romeo Spider
• 1992 BWM 5Csi
• 1974 Datsun 240Z
• 1994 Alfa Romeo 164Q

I'm sure your list will be different, but no less cool. And, unlike the "sweet rides" in the article, at the end of five years these cars will still be worth more or less what you paid for them. Regardless, they'll all kick the crap outta one of those goofy little Smart cars, eh?

Olivia: "Daddy. Did you take this picture with an old-timey camera?"

Me: "An old-timey camera?"

"Yeah, you know the one that makes the zippy noise and the picture comes out the bottom?"

"You mean the camera shoots them out the front?"

"Yeah, old timey! And, you have to wave the picture around before you can see it. Oh my gosh, they're so old!"

Ya know, that hurt a lot more than when I read a few weeks ago that they'd discontinued the Polaroid packets.

I guess "inappropriate" is in the eye of the beholder. Are some of these toys weird? Yes. Are they tacky? Yes. Are they from cultures different from ours? Yes. When I was a kid, parents got lists of toys that would kill you. Good times, good times...

A new bio tech company is claiming their factory can turn plastic waste into $10/bbl fuel. Something tells me there's more to it than that, but regardless it's still nice to see one of these high-tech alternative fuel ideas made real. Me? I'm waiting on those guys who're teaching algae how to poop diesel. But this will do for now.

Good: Finding nine of the rarest gold coins in the US in a safe deposit box left to you by your parents. Bad: The feds snatch them away because they were "stolen". Good: looks like the feds are going to be forced to give them back. Maybe. One of the reasons the feds are, well, the feds is because they have a nasty habit of doing just whatever they see fit.

So has the Obama administration legalized pot, or not? As with most things related to Democrats, the answer is complicated, unofficial, and likely only to last as long as attitudes don't change. Me, I'm a "legalize it, tax it" kind of person. I'd be a lot happier if that's what had actually happened instead of "don't ask don't tell" in a lab coat.

Ares is carrying an interesting tidbit about a couple of ejection seats which may (or may not) end up in the F-35. Women are too light to easily use the seat currently spec'd for the F-35. Who knew?

Now that Congress and the media have "done their duty" (by making sure we all understand Such is the Fate of All Apostates Who Question the Holy One), let's just examine why anyone would want to call Obama a liar. This information tracks exactly with what I heard a few months ago on, of all places, NPR, so far as I'm concerned the numbers are good.

Was it enough to justify being tacky in a public forum? Well, this is Congress we're talking about here. If crass and tacky were banned from those August chambers the place would be given over to the crickets. Was it enough to justify the epithet, "liar?" Well, one of the most famous squirms in movie history should be appropriate here... "So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view. "

Making the rounds: scientists have determined it actually is possible for adults to grow new brain cells. It all started, strangely enough, with the study of bird songs.

Turns out that, no matter how glamorous an adult may be, when they're teenagers, they're just as dorky as you and me. Well, except for Ryan Seacrest, who was downright unrecognizable.

The Ares team has had "going out of business" signs in the windows for so long the edges have gone yellow and curly. That said, the details of what just might end up an alternative seem to be getting clearer. And, at least in my opinion, they're starting to make a heck of a lot more sense.

It would seem there's no end to the mileage cable news can get out of ComiCon. All I needed to see was the crowding. We get that at the Smithsonians during tourist season. It's no fun, and there I'm not paying for it. Still, it seems the fattie-to-hottie ratio is much higher than it is at other cons. Proof positive, I guess, that with a glamorous enough event, no number of greasy gamers can keep the chicks away.

Scientists have announced the discovery that Earth seems to have become free-oxygen rich much earlier than previously thought. The findings are, of course, controversial, and even the authors of the study admit they're not quite sure what to make of the data. Chemistry is hard enough when it's happening in the lab, it's no wonder trying to piece together what happened some 2.5 billion years ago is quite a bit more difficult.

Ya know that hajji who just got sent to his 72 whatever? You'll never guess who signed the executive order approving that op. Is this the standard "even a broken clock's right twice a day" competence of your standard Democrat, evidence "the Chicago way" may have a bright side, or perhaps the harbinger that he might be good at foreign policy? I'm not hedging my bets. Still, when's the last time you heard of a Dem signing off on anything like this AND IT ACTUALLY WORKING? I'm thinking LBJ, but I'm a cynic.

After re-examining the fossils, scientists have determined Maori legends of a giant killer bird are likely to be true. I've seen film of golden eagles power-gliding away from hills after snatching baby goats. A bird from the same species but twice as big would almost certainly have been able to do the same to a human child.

Today's Boston Globe photo montage takes the aftermath of hurricane Ike as its subject. It took me a little while to realize clicking the pictures made them switch from before to after. Oh, and -1 to the Globe for not mentioning the irony of a lion being protected by a Christian church.

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," Wolf said in a statement Monday.

So, how does one get rid of those wonderfully green hybrid cars when they reach the end of their life? Pretty much the way you'd expect... by cutting another pound of flesh off the US taxpayer. Well, pretty much the way *I* expect, being the card-carrying libertarian bastard that I am. The rest of you, maybe not so much.

Hey man, why not turn the test firing of what could be our next manned booster into a party? Will they actually end up building it? Who knows? But it sure was loud!

It would seem being a moon of Jupiter can actually be a part-time job. It's good to be the king!

Scientists have developed a new device which levitates mice in the lab. The system uses a superconducting magnet which creates a magnetic field so powerful it causes the water molecules inside the mouse to lift, creating a zero-G effect on the animal. The scientists want to use it to study the effect of bone loss in zero-G environments. I think it's at least as interesting to find out these mice, which are exposed to truly massive magnetic fields, so far show no tendency toward cancer. All those scientists studying whether cell phones and the like cause cancer should likely take note.

Ok, it took me a little bit to get it, but I'm sure you'll figure it out a lot faster.

Nothing like losing half your skull for ruining your day, eh? Even better: the guys who did it are going to walk because the prosecutors say they don't have enough evidence.