Moe Lane

Can’t tell whether this is going to suck or not.

Weird how this stuff comes out on Christmas. Points for using Moscow, by the way.

[Fixed, obviously.]

Gaudete, Steeleye Span

At least, I think that it’s a Christmas song.

…is about to light up the magnesium flare and drop it into the pool of gasoline at their feet, here you go:

Snake.

I’m reminded of that saying by Gandhi: first they laugh at you, then they laugh at you, then they laugh at you…

In all of its glory.

Yes, that man is wearing a dome shelter.  He wasn’t the only one.

Essentially, the Occupy Scranton people had dwindled down to a pair of shelters and a few people, and their permits had run out; when the cops came to finally break things down the Occupiers responded (after the obligatory claim that camping = free speech) by poking holes in the floors of said shelters and running away. Obviously, order was eventually restored. In fact, I am kind of impressed that the police handled things so well: if I had been on the scene then I probably would have concluded that the situation was really already too tense. (more…)

Try to shrug this one off, planetologists!

The Hubble Space Telescope has sniffed out evidence of complex carbon molecules, the building blocks of life in this corner of the cosmos, lying on the frozen surface of Pluto. The distant dwarf world is known to harbor methane ice and other frigid compounds, but this is the first time scientists have suggested there could be other complex carbon chemicals, too.

Something is absorbing ultraviolet light on Pluto’s surface, and it may be organic compounds or some nitrogen-containing material, according to scientists at the Southwest Research Institute. That’s organic not as in life, but as in carbon-based compounds that make up the building blocks of life as we know it right now.

“Dwarf world,” huh?  Do “dwarf worlds” have complex carbon chemicals?  And what is SCIENCE going to do if those complex carbon chemicals get caught moving around and drinking each other’s helium fluids, huh?  What happens when the Mi-go announce that they’ve finally opened up their Yuggoth consulate?  Will it be a dwarf world then? Will it, SCIENCE?

WILL IT?

…Sorry.  This Pluto thing just gets me worked up, sometimes.  Especially since SCIENCE sneakily renamed it “134340.”  SCIENCE didn’t have to do that, you know.  That was just petty.

Via Instapundit.

Moe Lane

[UPDATE: I've had folks note that the original map is not quite the same as the final, approved map.  There's been some tweaking of districts; not enough to particularly change any of the practical results found below, but enough to be noteworthy.  Fair enough.]

I was over at Larry Sabato’s site today* and I came across this report that an attempt to referendum the Ohio redistricting map has failed miserably. That means that [a map similiar to] the map proposed earlier will now take effect: to summarize, it’s expected to result in a 12R/4D map.  Two Republicans and two Democrats (one of whom is Dennis Kuchinich) will compete against each other in primaries; a D versus R race will take place under conditions favorable to the latter; and they carved out another majority-minority seat to keep the VRA happy.  I called this result ‘subtle’ at the time; I see no reason why I should change that adjective, unless it’s to replace it with ‘successful.’ (more…)

@SonnyBunch reminded me of this WaPo story about Occupy DC’s run-in with the cops yesterday; and it’s impressive, in its way.  The final score includes alleged assault of a woman by a man, drunk and disorderly, assault, assault and battery, destruction of government property, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct; one wonders why they didn’t try for barratry.  Well, to be fair, that’s possibly because every time I look it up the actual definition of the term seems to change.  I was sure that it meant deliberately wrecking boats for the insurance…

They’re using Google Earth this year:

This has always been one of the military’s better modern Christmas traditions.  Plus, of course, keeping track of Santa is always good practice for our military personnel, in case there’s a bean counter or two out there grumbling about things.  Because there’s always somebody out there grumbling about things.

The chutzpah is strong in this one.

…for declining to release his tax returns:

A spokesman for President Obama‘s re-election campaign blasted Mr. Romney and questioned whether he had something to hide in his finances.

“Why does Governor Romney feel like he can play by a different set of rules?” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign. “What is it that he doesn’t want the American people to see?…”

I don’t know: possibly Romney’s got the financial equivalent of the alleged gentleman’s C+ GPA that Ben LaBolt’s boss has been resolutely hiding for the last decade or so? – No, come on: it’s like the worst-kept secret in Washington DC that the President doesn’t exactly live up to the intellectual hype that his sycophants like to toss around. Which is not to say that Obama is dumb. He probably has an IQ of about 125 or so; which is pretty good, all things considered. Middling decent. But it’s not like he can set fire to people with his mind. (more…)

The Holly & The Ivy, Mediaeval Baebes

Peaceful.

The Ithorian.

I’m even prouder of the fact that I didn’t know the name of that Star Wars species until I was over forty.

From BearingDrift comes the report that only four candidates have gotten in their nominating petitions for the Virginia primary by today’s deadlines:

• Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich;
• Rep. Ron Paul (TX);
• Texas Governor Rick Perry; and
• Fomer Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

The Virginia primary is on March 6th; it is, in fact, nominally part of “Super Tuesday,” although it’s not going to be the blowout this year that it’s been in the past.  There’s no indication that the Bachmann, Huntsman, and/or Santorum campaigns have filed for an extension, either.

As to what it means… well, I’m getting conflicting opinions.  Reply Hazy: Try Again Later.