Analyzing Transients: Pulsars or Beacons? — I'm fascinated by the granularity of the Kardashev scale subclasses cited in this piece.
APOD with an image of Venus and Mercury over Spain — I swear that's West Texas.
Coburn: Don't Believe Everything You Hear On Fox News — Inexplicable. Coburn is one of the real lunatics in the Senate, even by Republican standards. Walkback and groveling Limbaugh apology coming in 3, 2, 1...
Deconstructing the facade of John Ensign — Republican Senator caught in a major sex/money scandal, that you may never have heard of. (He slept with his best friend's wife, then paid them off under the table to keep quiet.) Money shot: "The reason you don’t see people rallying around him is he was so in your face about the morality stuff," a Nevada Republican operative said. Ensign was active in Promise Keepers and openly evangelical, gushing with pious intonations. This is why so many "real Americans" vote Republican: to defend family values! Look! Bill Clinton!
Gun Advocates Plan DC March On 15th Anniversary Of Oklahoma City Bombing — Way to celebrate American conservative terrorists blowing up a day care center along with a few hundred office workers. Stay classy, guys, it's what you do best.
By Its Own Standards, The "Surge" Failed —
ericjamesstone, among others, has argued with me that the Iraq War is a success, because of the success of the Surge. Taking that argument at face value for the sake of discussion (because in fact I disagree strongly with its embedded assumptions), this analysis of the Surge based on Bush's own declarations about the strategy from conservative commentator Daniel Larison is interesting.?otD: How many roads must you have traveled down?
4/7/2010
Writing time yesterday: 60 minutes
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.0 (solid)
This morning's weigh-in: n/a
Yesterday's chemo stress index: 3/10
Currently reading: [between books]