Out of the Blue

Were experiencing another of our odd encounters with nature here in the Blue Tower, as we're having a mini-invasion of mini-beetles. These are slender bugs that resemble fireflies, though they seem to offer no pyrotechnic effects. What they do seem to offer is a lesson about the fragility of life, as they are evidently not well suited to domestication -- we are finding more of them dead than alive. As a result I have dubbed them death beetles... this is mostly a minor inconvenience, though I had a brush with grossness when I filled a glass that had been sitting out on a shelf an found a couple of these guys floating in it, thankfully I noticed them before I took a sip (shudder).

Horrible real-life news of the day: London bombs kill at least 33.

Buggy Links! Thanks Mike Martinez, Ant, and EvilToast.
Link: Home of Socks and Sandals the world over. Thanks Jim.
The Electric Unicycle.
Stories: Man Lights Himself on Fire to Propose.
Sea Lion Attacks Lifeguard. Thanks Eye 4N Eye.
Brilliant...just brilliant... Thanks Eye 4N Eye.
Science! Electric shield to deter sharks. Thanks Eye 4N Eye. Of course bee stings cause more deaths.
Automatically, a Smart Dish That Feeds a Hungry Pet (registration required).
Solar Aircraft to Fly Around the World. Described in Wikipedia as "an over-rated publicity operation."
Images: Surf and Turf 2.
Media: Jaws in 30 seconds with bunnies. Thanks N|Lost_One.
iPod Flea.
PowerTools. Thanks Jim.
Follow-up: The Food Industry Empire Strikes Back (registration required).
View : : :
21.
 
Re: No subject
Jul 7, 2005, 13:02
21.
Re: No subject Jul 7, 2005, 13:02
Jul 7, 2005, 13:02
 
This needs to be the #1 priority of all the industrialized nations, along with improving living and working conditions around the world to help prevent other groups from starting up.

Agreed. And, really, the only thing that will stop terrorism (and a vast number of other issues, like over-population) is education and improved living conditions. It's a damned difficult thing to do though, and even harder to sell to a populace (as compared to, oh say, bombing a terrorist cell).

And the next obvious question is -- and I admit this is rather bait-y -- why the hell did we invade Iraq again? They had nothing to do with Al-Qaida. Meanwhile we're partnered with a couple countries that have had definitive links (Pakistan and Saudi Arabia) and diplomatically sparring with several others (Iran, Syria). Note -- I do not believe we should pull out of Iraq at this point. Once we invaded we were committed to finishing the job. But I am often of the opinion that it will turn out to be one of the biggest blunders in the history of this country. We're overcommitted there, preventing us from addressing other issues (Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, North Korea, etc.). It's also garnered us vast amounts of ill-will in both the ME (big whoop -- it's not like we had much else anyway), Europe, and Asia (both of which are a much bigger deal).

If Iraq ends up becoming a peaceful democracy then it will have been worth it, but we're a long, long way from that right now, and it's far from certain that that will be the eventual outcome.

Anyway, I'm all for both punishing the known bad guys and trying to help areas that desperately need our help. Don't have a damn clue how to do the latter though -- it seems that many of these areas are so deeply corrupt that any aid attempts merely get swallowed and regurgitated as even more crap.

Date
Subject
Author
1.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
2.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
3.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
5.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
9.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
4.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
17.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
24.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
25.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
28.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
30.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
     Re: No subject
44.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
      Re: No subject
7.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
8.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
11.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
12.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
13.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
14.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
19.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
     Re: No subject
 21.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
     Re: No subject
32.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
      Re: No subject
34.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
       Re: No subject
36.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
       Re: No subject
46.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
        Re: No subject
49.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
         Re: No subject
52.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
          Re: No subject
54.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
           Re: No subject
57.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
            Re: No subject
59.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
             Re: No subject
60.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
           Re: No subject
62.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
            Re: No subject
63.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
             Re: No subject
64.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
              Re: No subject
68.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
               Re: No subject
67.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
              Re: No subject
70.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
               Re: No subject
71.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                Re: No subject
72.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                 Re: No subject
75.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                  Re: No subject
74.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                Re: No subject
76.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                 Re: No subject
77.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                  Re: No subject
83.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                  Re: No subject
84.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                   Re: No subject
85.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
                    Re: No subject
86.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
                     Re: No subject
65.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
             Re: No subject
66.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
              Re: No subject
82.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
            Re: No subject
48.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
        Re: No subject
53.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
        Re: No subject
56.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
         In reply to Halsy
58.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
         Re: No subject
61.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
         Re: No subject
87.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
          Re: No subject
88.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
           Re: No subject
89.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
            Re: No subject
90.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
             Re: No subject
91.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
             Re: No subject
92.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
           Re: No subject
93.
Jul 8, 2005Jul 8 2005
            Re: No subject
94.
Jul 11, 2005Jul 11 2005
             Re: No subject
37.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
      Re: No subject
38.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
       Re: No subject
40.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
       Re: No subject
22.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
     Re: No subject
51.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
      Re: No subject
16.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
18.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
73.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
6.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
10.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
15.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
20.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
23.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
26.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
27.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
31.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
33.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
35.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
39.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
29.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
55.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
69.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
41.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
42.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
43.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
45.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
47.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
50.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
78.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
81.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
79.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005
80.
Jul 7, 2005Jul 7 2005