Awww .... poor Pluto

Dinky Pluto loses its status as planet

"Pluto, beloved by some as a cosmic underdog but scorned by astronomers who considered it too dinky and distant, was unceremoniously stripped of its status as a planet Thursday. "

""The word 'planet' and the idea of planets can be emotional because they're something we learn as children," said Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who helped hammer out the new definition."

"Alan Stern said he was "embarrassed" by Pluto's undoing and predicted that Thursday's vote would not end the debate. Although 2,500 astronomers from 75 nations attended the conference, only about 300 showed up to vote."

Okay, I have to ask. Why, oh why? Poor Pluto. I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional. Excuse me? Is anyone really emotional about this? Okay, if you read the story, the widow of the man who discovered Pluto is a little confused and I can understand if she's a little emotional - but that's about where I draw the line.

And out of 2,500 astronomers who came to the conference (can you say high end trekkie convention?) only 300 showed up for a vote? That's 12% of the people at the conference. Do you think that 2,500 is the total amount of astronomers in the world or do you think some were missing?

Are you wondering why I posted about this? I didn't want to end a post with "I hate people" or "sheet of glass".

Oh and one final piece of business - We went to the renaissance faire a couple weeks ago and while watching the jousting I heard a woman yell "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" Libby, were you there?

Well, you knew I had to post sooner or later

Sorry I've been missing on this blog, but work has had me quite busy. I've tried to make up for it on Katie's blog, but I just can't continue to let the current situations go without saying something.

Israel decides not to expand offensive

The article covers alot of territory - as does this war apparently. The other day I was reading an article on the Pope getting involved and wondered where that came from until I read that Lebanon has a high population of Catholics. Who knew?

Israel starting WWIII has been mentioned a few times, but really, don't you think that's already going on? Who isn't at war these days? Seems like the whole world, doesn't it? Any countries not fighting somewhere? If the entire world is fighting it would seem that a World War is going on. I saw something the other day that cracked me up. It said "It's not a world war until France surrenders." Point taken... are they there yet?

""With regards to the issue of the abducted Israeli soldier, I have reiterated that there are ongoing efforts that lead us to believe in an imminent solution," Abbas said, speaking through a translator, after a meeting in Rome with Italian Premier Romano Prodi." I've got to say, I'm surprised at this. Not that they are giving back the Israeli soldier, but that the soldier is still alive. I thought for sure they killed him immediately.

"Meanwhile, al-Qaida threatened new attacks in response to Israel's offensive" You knew it was just a matter of time right? It was about time for them to declare a new holy war.

"Meanwhile, a top Iranian envoy was in Syria for talks on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict — a gathering of the Lebanese guerrilla's two key sponsors, according Kuwaiti and Iranian news reports. "

"It said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah fighters with "Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories." " HUGE surprise! You mean that IRAN is involved???? Say it isn't so! DUH!

Okay, I have two questions.

1) Do the Muslims or the Jews have anything about Peace in their religions? Just curious. Seems like it's hard to place nice with either of them but at least it seemed like Israel was trying for a while.

2) With all this hub bub going on in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc. etc. when do you think the nut in North Korea is going to decide he, once again, is not getting enough attention and needs to shoot off another round of "test" missiles?

I think I'm done for now.

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!!!

Islam Peaceful? I have my doubts, sorry.

Bodies of Missing US Soldiers Recovered


"We give the good news ... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said the claim which appeared on an Islamic militant Web site where insurgent groups regularly issue statements."

Excuse me, but this is my blog and I'm about to get on a soapbox and if you don't like it, move on to the next blog.

I'm getting sick of hearing that Islam is a peaceful religion and then seeing this s***. Don't tell my that you're peaceful, friggin' show it. I need someone in Islam to start hitting the prime time TV waves with "This is Islam, this is why we are a peaceful religion and this is why we don't stand behind these radical a**holes." I fully believe that Islam, be it the idiot insurgents in Iraq or the reincarnated Hitler running Iran, will be the catalyst that ends the world, not global warming.

Okay, so we leave Iraq. What does that do? It gives the terrorists a free hand at covering the country with training camps. Great, that's going to help out alot. I'm not saying we should be staying in Iraq indefinitely, I really don't know what to do at this point. We're in a lose lose situation and I am just getting extremely sick to death of it. Any chance we can get the pre-schooler ruling North Korea to practice in the Iran? That might help. At least it might help me.

I am trying very hard to hold on to the idea that the complete morons running around in the name of Allah in Iraq are not representative of Muslims as a whole. But it's getting harder and harder to hang on to that thread as much as I really want to believe that.

I'm getting off of my soapbox now, but I am warning anyone reading this that isn't a regular reader, it's my blog, it isn't widely read and I'm not going to argue with anyone on this. If you are thinking about arguing move on. If you have something useful to add, please do so. Anyone that ticks me off on this one is just going to get deleted. Sorry.

Okay, so this story upset me a little. I'm not sure why of all the stories that come out of Iraq this one upset me the way it did. Maybe because the jerks that did this made it sound like it was a fraternity initiation for the new head of Al-Quaida in Iraq. F*** him. F*** them all. (Sorry for the language Dad...)

Guess Israel can sit back for a few...

Palestinians against Hamas-led government

"Hundreds of Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government Monday night, firing bullets and setting a Cabinet building on fire in retaliation for an earlier attack by Hamas gunmen."

So if they are fighting amongst themselves I guess Israel can sit back for a while? I'm sure that they need to be vigilant, but maybe the Palestinian's will do some of their work for them.

This is from Israel's on-line news source - Debka

"Flames are spreading from the cabinet office. Both buildings, unoccupied at the time, were riddled with bullets. Fatah was rampaging against Hamas’s takeover of Palestinian government and retaliating for clashes in Gaza. Earlier, Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security forces to take control of the streets of Gaza after his Fatah gunmen clashed with Hamas militiamen in Rafah, leaving two dead, 14 injured"

Can you believe this?

Jordan persuades "MySpace" girl to go home


"A 16-year-old Michigan girl who authorities say tricked her parents into getting her a passport and then flew off to the Mideast to be with a West Bank man she met on MySpace.com headed for home on Friday"


"U.S. officials in Jordan persuaded her to turn around and go home before she reached the West Bank."

You're kidding me right? This 14 year old decided to go all the way to the West Bank to meet a supposed 25 year old and almost did it? So I've learned a) Katie will never be allowed on those type of sites b) she will never know my credit card number (how did this kid buy a ticket??) and c) no passport until she's going somewhere with me and after that the damn thing is hidden where she can't get to it. Jeez. Unbelievable. I wouldn't know whether to hug her or smack her upside the head when her plane touched down back home.

Is it just me?

Or is the fact that the start of Hurricane season and Nagin's inauguration coinciding on the same day just too ironic.


I am finally almost out of work hell, so I will hopefully be around more - now that no one is paying attention.

You've got to be kidding me

Nagin wins re-election

From a voter: "He's been through the experience already," he said, "and won't make the same mistakes."

So, if you make sure that buses are sitting in a flood instead of getting your constituents out of the area, they'll vote you back in? I'm not even going to continue, because I'm going to start offending people.

Yep

What he said.

Hate.

Sometimes when I just get to the point that I can't deal with something anymore the only word that comes to mind is Hate. I use it alone, and most of my close friends/family know what I mean by it. Well, here:

Iran Again

"TEHRAN (Reuters) -
Iran will target Israel first if the United States does anything "evil," a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday.

The United States says it wants Iran's nuclear standoff with the West solved diplomatically but has refused to rule out military action.

"We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel," Revolutionary Guards Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani was quoted as saying by Iran's student news agency ISNA.

The Islamic Republic has never recognized Israel and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."

Dehqani said naval wargames held in the Gulf last month "carried the warning to those countries that threaten Iran, including America and the Zionist regime."

Experts said the wargames, in which Iran said it had tested new missiles and torpedoes, were a thinly veiled threat that it could disrupt vital Gulf oil shipping lanes if it was attacked."

I have one thing to say. Hate.

Happy Easter!!

I was going to post a couple times before this, but I just haven't had a chance. Ideas are still there though! I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter... Passover... Weekend... whichever applies!

Roddy-got your message! Have a great Easter weekend! Sorry I missed you!

I'll be back soon!

Well, it's happened

I had to order bifocals today. But at least my eyes are still good enough that I can get the invisible line. I'm actually a little disappointed because they had to order them (I go to Lenscrafters - I'm used to getting them in an hour) so I have to wait another two weeks before I can see again. Guess I should have gone in when I started having problems, I would have had new glasses about 6 weeks ago. Yeah..I know. JC finds this quite amuzing. Well, he did, until he realized how expensive my glasses were going to be.

I am planning a few posts but I've been too tied up lately (trying to see) to get to them. I will soon!

Oh, and just a small tangent - what do you all think of finding the Gospel of Judas? I just think it's remarkable that we are finding anything from that time period. I think that's cool. I can't wait until it comes out in the English translation. Just from what I've heard on the news - Judas saying Jesus asked him to betray him - doesn't that just make more sense? If you were one of the apostles, following Jesus, learning from him - would you want to be responsible for him being put to death? Yes, it was in fulfillment of the scriptures, but these were only humans who did not understand yet what was actually happening. But maybe Judas did know and that's why he was able to do it. Should be interesting!

Frog Hopping

I want to apologize in advance to my father. I know that this wasn't funny at the time (well, I thought the title moment was funny).

Okay, here goes.

My sister, while in high school, was out with friends and came home... OBVIOUSLY drunk. Like walking into walls drunk. (I think it was H.S. - I can't remember exactly but it was before she was 18). After bouncing off of a couple walls she latched onto the closest still target. Me. So, I proceeded to hold her up as a conversation ensued between her and Dad regarding how she thought it would be a great idea to go to the police department so they could give her a breathalizer because she WAS NOT drunk. Uh huh.

After arguing this point and hearing for the 50th times the words "Your grounded!" I finally got her over to the couch to sit down. The grilling about where she had been began. After several attempts at telling us where she had been, she finally blurted out the ugly truth. She had been frog hopping. I busted out laughing (for which I got yelled at - but I couldn't help it!). At that point I tried to mediate. I told Dad she wouldn't remember anything he was saying anyway and I should just put her to bed and he could talk to her the next day.

The next morning she woke up, looked at me and said "What happened? All I remember is "you're grounded". When I questioned her about the frog hopping (well, you knew I would!), she had no idea what I was talking about. Talk about disappointment. I was hoping for a demonstration!

I'm so excited!

My sister gave me permission to tell a story from her H.S. years! I'll post tonight, but I'm so excited I had to prep you!


I sure hope the story lives up to the hype!

Just an FYI...

My Dad has actually posted! I thought he had abandoned the blog! :)

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by Libby! She saved you all from the beginning of my multiple religious posts I'm planning on using to drive you all crazy!

If I was only allowed to keep one plant in my garden which would it be?
It would be a Japanese Red Maple - I know that's a tree, but a tree is a plant right?

If there was only one thing invented in the past 100 years that I was permitted to keep, what would it be?
Uh, computer, duh.

Name 3 animals you saw yesterday (excluding cats and dogs).
Pigeons, black birds, squirrel. What? Give me a break, I don't live on a farm - them are city critters.

Which season do you like the most?
Autumn. I love the leaves, Halloween and the Fall fashions!!!

Name the person who imparted the most wisdom into your life?
My father. Many talks and by example.

And that being said, guess who I'm tagging? Dad! Oops, almost tagged KimmyK again. Good thing I rechecked Libby's post, Kimmy, you almost got tagged twice. LOL

I know - 2nd post of the day. Do you believe it?

North Koriea fires missiles

"The missiles were launched amid a stalemate in talks over the North Korean nuclear program and at a time when the world's attention has been focused on Iran"

You know why right? Because the focus was on Iran. Pyongyang is like a pre-schooler who has to create havoc when he isn't getting his way. Maybe we should just give him a time out.

...and back to Iran

Iran threatens harm and pain

Iran threatened the United States with "harm and pain" Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council'


"The United States has the power to cause harm and pain," said a statement delivered by the Iranian delegation. "But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll." Who says that? Let the ball roll?


Iran also attacked "warmongers in Washington" for what it said was an unjust accusation that Tehran's nuclear intentions were mainly for military use. Excuse me?

Okay, so the nation that recently said it wants Israel wiped off the map is upset because we are accusing them on using their nuclear capabilities for military purposes? Uh huh, get a life. If you don't want to be accused stop hiding what you are doing.

And can I just say that the first time I read the headline I read "Iran threatens U.S. with ham and pain". I had to giggle. And now I need to go make an appointment with my eye doctor....

Another religious post

For those of you who were missing my religious streak.. Call it the time of year, but I felt the need to post another one.

So here's my question. Is the Bible God's Word? I believe that the Bible is God's Word as interpreted by man. (Guess I should check with the Catholic Church on that, I might have just excommunicated myself.) I will go as far as to say that some of it is God instructing what to say in certain passages, obviously the 10 commandments falls into this, but I am also willing to add the passages where the prophets say that God "told them to say..." There may be other examples, but you get my drift. I also believe that the parts of the New Testament that quote Jesus can be considered the Word directly.

What sparked this, is someone recently saying that the Bible was the True Word of God and should be taken as the absolute Truth. I don't think that alot of the Old Testament can be taken as the absolute Truth because quite a bit of it was creating Jewish laws which Jesus generally discounted during his time.

Now that I have upset everyone, I will leave you to comment or not as you see fit.

Another email - Libby you're going to love this one!

Little Angelica comes home from first grade and tells her father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day. And, "Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian saint and we're Jewish," she asks, "will God be mad at me for giving someone a valentine?

Angelica's father thinks a bit, and then says "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a valentine to?"

"Osama Bin Laden," she says.

"Why Osama Bin Laden," her father asks in shock?

"Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a valentine, he might start to think how maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit. And if other kids saw what I did and then they sent valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot more and then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore."

Her father's heart swells and he looked at his daughter with newfound pride. "Angelica, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard."

"I know," she says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines can blow the livin’ shit out of him."