Let's kick a country while they're down.

"Luu urged Myanmar to allow U.S. disaster experts into the country to make sure the aid gets to the people in need."

Are you kidding me????

All the US is wanting to do is to get at Myanmar's oil!!!

Guess I can't argue with them about being disaster experts tho, everything they touch turns to a disaster. To bad they didn't show their expertise after Katrina

Unlike last year, today I've heard no mention of Cinco De Mayo. Last year everyone was having Cinco De Mayo Parties. Or maybe I've just been out of touch today. Well anyway, Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Send your name (or a child's name) to the moon!

Join NASA's Return to the Moon! Names will be collected and placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. You will also receive a certificate showcasing your support of the mission.

The deadline is June 27, 2008 for the submission of names.

LRO's objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Add your name here

"The death raised to at least 19 the number of American troopers killed in Iraq since last Sunday." Link

The time has come for we the American people to stop being complacent and become vocal about ending this war in Iraq. Too many of our people (and Iraqi people) are dying and we have never been given a real reason to why we are there. But we are not blind, we know it's for oil. Our senators and congressmen need to either do something to end this tragic war or step down and allow someone else to end it. I can't understand how these so-called leaders can sleep knowing that they have the power to end it and they do nothing. Cowards!

It was inevitable, wasn't it?
Someone would code a tall tale generator for Hillary.
Hit refresh for a new one.
And remember, this is all in fun, no need to get too stirred up, just laugh and relax.

In the United States we take for granted freedoms and privileges which people around the world are struggling to attain for themselves. Among these freedoms is the right of assembly, the right to the exercise of free speech, the freedom of travel and the right to self-determination. These freedoms were hard won through the struggle for equal rights, which is continuing to this day

Both Dick Cheney and John McCain made "unannounced" visits to Iraq, neither for "political purposes."

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip Monday to Baghdad, where he plans to push Iraqi political leaders toward opening the country’s vast oil fields to international companies, a senior Bush administration official said.

Mr. Cheney, who arrived in the Iraqi capital with his wife and daughter in the morning, is to meet with top officials including the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

The vice president plans, among other things, to push Iraqi officials to pass petroleum legislation that would help bring international oil companies to Iraq, according to a pool report of comments by a senior administration official who was flying with Mr. Cheney.

The official described the petroleum issue as being about Iraqi leaders “figuring out how they really begin to exploit” the country’s resources, according to the pool report.Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip Monday to Baghdad, where he plans to push Iraqi political leaders toward opening the country’s vast oil fields to international companies, a senior Bush administration official said.

Mr. Cheney, who arrived in the Iraqi capital with his wife and daughter in the morning, is to meet with top officials including the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

The vice president plans, among other things, to push Iraqi officials to pass petroleum legislation that would help bring international oil companies to Iraq, according to a pool report of comments by a senior administration official who was flying with Mr. Cheney.

The official described the petroleum issue as being about Iraqi leaders “figuring out how they really begin to exploit” the country’s resources, according to the pool report.

Well, we know where the sentiments of his mechanical heart lie.
Oil, baby!
And Fox News told me the trip was to promote peace in the Middle East. That may be so in regards to Cheney not getting his Exxon's way means there'll be more war.

And then there's the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's trip to consider.
McCain will NOT be going to "stroll freely through a Baghdad market", heavily protected by the US military on this trip due to "security considerations."
Hell, they won't even announce his schedule!
More evidence the surge is working and we need to occupy our 51st state for 100 more years, or until we drain all our oil from underneath their sand.

So what if the glories of deregulation are about to exhibit the magnificence of free market capitalism at it's finest (socialist Fed Reserve bailouts and all) 'cause you didn't need that 401k retirement money anyways.
(Good thing we went ahead privatized Social Security, eh Bush?)

Can't think about that right now, we've got a war to fight. Don't laugh Iran, you're next!

Memphis born and bred Cary Fowler is in charge of the “Doomsday Vault” seed bank in Svalbard, Norway. The Vault, which opened last week, will store seeds from every country on earth, and from every variety of food crop.

He will be in Memphis at the Pink Palace Museum, Monday, March 10, 2008, for a free public lecture entitled, “Seed Banks and Polar Bears: The Quest to Save Agriculture’s Past and Our Future.” This is one of a series of free public lectures in connection with our new exhibit, “Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics.” More details are available on the Pink Palace Museum page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...).

Fowler grew up in Memphis, graduated from White Station High School and spent his summers on his grandmother’s farm near Madison, Tennessee. That is where his interest in agriculture began. Fowler is the Executive Director Global Crop Diversity Trust based in Rome.

This is a tremendous opportunity to learn more about this fantastic project to protect one of the world's most basic resources, food, and perhaps our species. If you can, you should make an effort to go to this lecture and reception to meet Fowler. The importance of the seed bank makes all the political squabbling pale in comparison. It would be a nice break!

Sherrie

Per the KNS today...NASA is having a contest to name the new GLAST (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope) telescope. Here's your chance to become part of space exploration history!

Before the latest chapter in the search begins for supermassive black holes, new laws of physics and the mysterious dark matter, you’ll have the historic chance to help name the satellite that makes it all possible. This unique opportunity is open to the public across the globe. Now, YOU may be the one to offer the name which will be given to the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) after its launch in 2008. GLAST is NASA’s next generation gamma-ray mission, designed to explore the most extreme phenomena in our Universe and probe energy regimes far beyond anything possible on Earth.

Go here to enter your own suggestion!

I did!...May the best namer win!

At the risk of being accused of self-promotion, Where in the World is Smokey? is one of the more interesting and enjoyable projects I've worked on at UT. We're mailing T-shirts to students, staff, faculty, and alumni and asking them to take photos of themselves wearing the T-Shirt during their travels. Since launching the site in October we've received photos from 17 states and 20 countries, and we're expecting to get a photo from Antarctica in the next week or two, which will give us posts from all 7 continents.

The promotion is a bit gimmicky, maybe, but it's been a fun way to raise awareness of the university's Ready for the World initiative.

This:
Link...

Or THIS?

Link...

Senator Obama wins the Democrats Abroad Primary:

Barack Obama 65.6%
Hillary Clinton 32.7%

Looks like Cindy might have been out-of-sorts yesterday and taken it out on Mrs. Obama.

The first link I posted has disappeared behind the subscribers' curtain, but this one seems to work:

Link...

I hope everyone here realizes how much I enjoy KnoxViews, and I assure you I will be stopping by every single day to see what's going on.

I figured it would be best to create my own blog because I felt really embarassed that I was posting too much here, hogging the space maybe, and sometimes my front page content, the "psycho-babble" stuff for instance, seemed to really irritate people that I have a lot of respect for.

"Although Petraeus and other senior commanders in Iraq had been suggesting the possibility of a pause in the drawdown, the idea runs counter to those in the military — particularly in the Army and Marine Corps — who worry that strains on troops from long and multiple combat tours will grow worse unless the drawdown continues after July."
Link...

Note that they are no longer using the word withdrawal. When Bush is taking troops out it is called a "drawdown"

I just hope all the Americans who have had their eyes opened about this war will remember to be more alert when it comes to the Washington/ Republican propaganda machine.

I hope the betrayed early supporters of this war will refuse to vote Republican in the general election.

This boy done went to Bean's brother's School of Humor!

This ought to be interesting...

Link...

Heh.

World stocks down

It would appear that the rest of the world agrees with my assessment of the usefulness/likely effectiveness of the economic stimulus package Bush is proposing. Those with money in stocks should probably be glad that our markets are closed today. Perhaps with a little distance, we can avoid the 400+ point hit that was likely to happen here if we had been open for business today.

Is there still anyone out there who thinks it is a good idea to have the Gross Old Perverts party in charge of the economy? (of course there are. They are the willfully blind people that we call "republicans")

CAFKIA

I am getting a "Page not found" message when I try to access The Blab today.

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

Anybody know what is up?

We're coming at you. Your ships will explode in a couple of minutes.

Looks like the Straits of Hormuz Incident wasn't what we were told.

Link...

You're welcome.

Trust me, click here.

Somehow I find this even more unbelievable than Duhbya's pathetic weaseling in front of the press today re the NIE nukular weapons report on Iran. He's clearly spreading some major bull in the name of jocularity (I suppose), and then, most bizarrely, suddenly rats out a specific reporter for "pass[ing] a virus around" to him and to "half the press corps."

What a dick! Watch it and also see if he at times reminds you of Barney Fife.

"Often recruited or abducted to join armies, many of these children - some younger than 10 years old - have witnessed or taken part in acts of unbelievable violence, often against their own families or communities. Such children are exposed to the worst dangers and the most horrible suffering, both psychological and physical. What is more, they are easily manipulated and encouraged to commit grievous acts, which they are often unable to comprehend. Many girl soldiers are expected to provide sexual services as well as to fight."
Link...

While everyone feels heartbroken for couples who desperately want a baby and can't have one, there has to be some oversight on the lengths people will go to find babies. Lately there has been a lot of controversy over children from econmically disadvantaged countries, like Guatemala, being put up for adoption by parents who were never exactly aware of what that meant. Corrupt Guatemalan adoptions have put the spotlight on corrupt practices, so now there are far fewer children coming out of there. Now it is India, and it's recent growth in surrogate motherhood that is being scrutinized.

Link...

"Dr. Mohanlal Swarankar, chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Jaipur and one of the leading fertility experts in India, is firmly opposed to the practice of surrogacy and wants what he called the "commercial sale of wombs and babies" to be outlawed."

Hey, everyone. Bean's son-in-law is interviewed in Playboy!

Amazing! Link...

In spite of reports saying the State Department has promised immunity to the Blackwater employees being investigated for shooting civilians without cause, the Iraqi government is still going ahead with their own approach to the problem. Hey, aren't we and the Iraqi government supposed to be on the same page? We know the miltary can't win this war, so diplomacy looms as a very important factor. Will this conflict between the US and Iraq bring us any closer to being able to leave Iraq with honor?

Link...

More Galápagos endemics:

(click for full res)

Red footed booby (I think) on the wing, off Wolf Island.