So, this butterfly goes into a bar in Brazil, and the next day, it Indiana has floods:
Translated into mass culture, the butterfly effect has become a metaphor for the existence of seemingly insignificant moments that alter history and shape destinies. Typically unrecognized at first, they create threads of cause and effect that appear obvious in retrospect, changing the course of a human life or rippling through the global economy.
But what is the legal status of these aliens? They weren't invited, so they must be ordered to return home:
A man who has shown a video of what he claims is an alien visitor to earth to bolster his case for greater public scrutiny of UFOs is to take his campaign to the Democratic Party convention in August, where Barack Obama will formally win the presidential nomination.
The overreaction continues:
McDonald's Corp, the world's biggest restaurant chain, has pulled raw sliced tomatoes from its sandwiches and has no immediate plans to bring them back.
There goes my Big N' Tasty. Never mind that only a few types of tomatoes from a few areas are suspect; let's just get rid of all of them of all types from every state in the union from all restaurants and supermarkets.
Oh, well, natural fear reaction, I suppose.
So, after the suck-the-air-out-of-your-lungs heat wave and the hide-in-the-basement thunderstorms and the head-for-high-ground flooding, yesterday afternoon presented us with perfect weather: warm but not hot, low humidity, a slight breeze, white puffs of clouds that threatened to turn into nothing else. If we want that kind of weather more often, we'd have to go to California:
The National Review on the Obama campaign's efforts to slime Joe Lieberman, helped by an in-the-tank Newsweek:
Today's apology watch.
An actor is sorry he called soldiers wimps:
Rupert Everett, the actor, has made an unreserved apology for calling soldiers "wimps" and suggesting they went into the Army to torture prisoners.
History always has the last word:
White House aides say Bush, who majored in history at Yale, likes to emphasize historical comparisons because they are easy for the public to understand and illustrate in dramatic fashion how differently future generations may come to view him.
The counties where motorists spend the highest percentage of their income on gasoline tend to be in poor, rural areas.
But that would mean that poor people have less discretionary income than rich people! Who knew?
(Via FARK.com)
Here's a novel approach -- let everybody be the star:
The stage was set, the lights went down and in a suburban Japanese primary school everyone prepared to enjoy a performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The only snag was that the entire cast was playing the part of Snow White.
Here's a novel approach -- let everybody be the star:
The stage was set, the lights went down and in a suburban Japanese primary school everyone prepared to enjoy a performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The only snag was that the entire cast was playing the part of Snow White.
You'd think there wouldn't be a single legislator stupid enough to accept this offer:
Only days after cash tolls nearly doubled on the Indiana Toll Road, the private company that manages the road had a money-saving offer for state lawmakers: a free ride.
Most legislators said no thanks.
From Reason magazine, an interesting take on Barack Obama's liberalism:
That's one reason the liberal label may not be quite the ball and chain Republicans hope. If "liberal" is taken to connote gay marriage, socialized medicine, and unilateral disarmament, most people won't find it appealing. But Obama does not espouse those. If it is taken to mean trying something different from the last seven years—or offering a plausible alternative to war, inflation, and a housing bust—they will be receptive.
Boy, I don't get this one:
It's the only way Tory Bowen knows to honestly describe what happened to her.
She was raped.
But a judge prohibited her from uttering the word “rape” in front of a jury. The term “sexual assault” also was taboo, and Bowen could not refer to herself as a victim or use the word “assailant” to describe the man who allegedly raped her.
Pay no attention to that funny-looking dog with the strange bark:
A Fortville couple think town officials are unfairly harassing them over two goats kept in the family's backyard.
Joshua and Sarah Brown keep one of the goats for its milk. The other is a companion for the first goat. Both are female.
Just so you know what a saint I am:
What's in a name? Possibly a life of crime.
An unpopular name - like Alec, Ernest, Ivan, or Malcolm - is more likely to spell trouble than favourites Michael, Matthew or Christopher, according to research presented Saturday at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of B.C.
Are you glad to see Hillary gone or sorry that we don't have her to kick around anymore?
Now that Hillary Clinton has ended her bid for the presidency, political journalists are suddenly deprived of one of their favorite stories: When is she going to drop out?
Now we are thinking about a return to the moon, unless, of course, President Obama or President McCain thinks we ought to use that money for universal pre-K or to end global warming. So perhaps you're thinking about getting up there yourself and homesteading your 40 acres. Well, think again:
Indiana was ahead of the nation for a change!
Drivers are paying an average of $4 for a gallon of gasoline for the first time. AAA and the Oil Price Information Service say the national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to $4.005 overnight from $3.988.
I bought gas last week when the price had fallen to $3.80-something a gallon, and I noticed yesterday it was back up to $3.98 or .99 a gallon. I wept with joy.
I haven't liked a lot of things the ACLU has done, but I'm with them on keeping a close eye on this:
Police in neon yellow vests stopped motorists traveling through the main thoroughfare of Trinidad — a neighborhood near the National Arboretum in the city's northeast section. Police checked drivers' identification and turned away those who didn't have a "legitimate purpose" in the area, such as a church visit or doctor's appointment.
Tom DeLay takes a header into the shallow end of the pool:
Explaining that Obama clinching the Democratic nomination is a good thing for John McCain, DeLay said Obama's "weakness" is that "nobody knows him."
"And if McCain does not define him as what he is — hey, I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves me wrong, he is a Marxist," DeLay said.
