A long time ago in a galaxy far far away …

Some people call a 13.7 billion year old universe ancient, but others think it’s held up nicely and doesn’t look an eon over five billion. Or in Bobby Jindal’s lesser epochs, a day over 5,000 years. But however one mismeasures time, lo those many billennia ago, there was at least one galaxy burning bright, and where there’s one modest-sized super massive black-hole embedded in dark matter cloud with a frothy retinue of stars and dust and maybe even planets, there’s probably a billion more: [Read more…]

Tis the season, Mr Romney

It’s true, I celebrate Christmas. In fact I had to get stern with a cynical Workout Girl and explain to her that “We celebrate Christmas in this house!” I also like Halloween even though I don’t believe in witchcraft and I used to get hammered on Saint Patty’s Day despite being skeptical about holy flutes that round up snakes. So, yes, I do. And I’m checking my snail mail, I’m checkin it twice … but so far no gifts from Obama even though I have been quite nice. Maybe I’m not on the Obama Christmas gift list, which makes me sad knowing that goodies are being handed out to other Obama supporters. At least according to Mitt Romney. What the hell did I do wrong? [Read more…]

Has McCain simply fallen from decency or was he always a bottom feeder?

John McCain was once held up as a moderate, and by moderate we mean not a pasty racist anti-science gay hatin idiot held together by big government sutures and staples. A man who knows the horror of war down in his gut and on the ground, who would never start one for political brownie-shirt points, a steely eyed manly man’s man who shoots straight as an arrow while still being sensitive to the plight of those lacking a Y-chromie and/or who choose to date in unseemly, unstraight-ly ways.

The incredibly straight shooting Mr. McCain might have been believable, right up until he self-impaled himself on a stake at the bottom of the cognitive abyss awaiting all future conservative leaders by nominating Sarah Palin. The foreign policy guru whose credentials for office include [Read more…]

Extreme Pentagon Makeover

The producer of the Kardashians may have missed out, because this is starting to sound like an reality TV DoD version of Dynasty or something. Chris Matthews had a useful graphic to keep up with the convoluted story last night, if anyone can find the clip. Of course it might not even be current by this afternoon. Meanwhile, wingnuts may have finally found something to semi-legitimately hit Obama with: [Read more…]

For they so loved their country …

Back when Kerry lost to Dubya in 2004 I briefly thought maybe it would be better to take a chance and move to Canada. But it wasn’t just because of the election outcome, there was also the benefit of mostly polite and helpful people and decent healthcare for all. When conservatives experience the sting of democratic defeat, they react differently. In this case some of them are expressing their patriotism for America by demanding to be allowed to start another civil war and/or leave the nation: [Read more…]

The Petraeus Supremacy

Update: it gets weirder:

HuffPo— Some of the 20,000-plus pages of documents and emails between (Gen. John) Allen and Tampa socialite Jill Kelley were “flirtatious,” according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. It wasn’t immediately clear who wrote the flirtatious notes – Allen, Kelley or both. Allen succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011, and his nomination to become the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has now been put on hold, as the scandal seemed certain to ensnare another acclaimed military figure.

Wingnuts are trying desperately to work up an angle where the Man called Petraeus is somehow part of a scam involving the election, Obama, and Benghazi. Or something. So far they’re not convincing anyone outside of their own bubble chamber. The story is a bit bizarre though: [Read more…]

Snowball earth: send in the clouds

There’s a fascinating theory in paleoclimate circles called Snowball Earth. A change in climate, possibly started in whole or in part by increasing free oxygen in the atmosphere and a reduction in CO2, created an ice age on steroids. An ancient earth covered from poles to equator in ice is one extreme possible outcome, but there’s one big headache: earth would never-never get out of it! Snow and ice are so reflective that our planet would stay encased, frigid and frozen, to this day. That’s where a new idea rides to the rescue … [Read more…]