Boom!

Utilikilts

I'm going to file this under WANT!, but I'm not sure I actually want it. In theory I want it. But, I'm pretty sure it's more statement than I can carry off. I have trouble enough with the snappy hats. Sadly, I think the underlying truth here is that I am neither punk nor nerd enough to wear something like this. Although I probably do have the legs for it.

Another drawback to these kilts is that they're damned pricey. I don't pay that much for my pants, and there's about a yard more material than that. If I keep enumerating the downsides, I will eventually convince myself that I don't want one of these. I need more courage, damn it! Or perhaps less common sense. The kilt is at least one thing that the wacky eccentricity-hogging guy at work hasn't gone for yet. But no!

Profile of Three Female Soldiers

Damn! You do not expect this sort of article in Marie Claire. It's not anti-Iraq, but it is very... I dunno, real? Oddly riveting? I'm not sure, but I can't imagine being in their situation. Or choosing to be in it in the first place. Iraq (war, in general, really) is just such a fucked-up situation.

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The Guardian on Underage Lifers

I wonder if the U.S. is ever going to outgrow its we're-so-tough approach to law and order. The prison system in this country is just so monumentally fucked up. Everyone, even the cowboys out there, has to realize just how bad it is, but anyone who espouses reform is committing political suicide by running the risk of being labeled soft on crime.

The link is to an article in the Guardian (trust a British paper to point out what a third-world bunch of mouth breathers we are) about Michigan prisoners who were dealt life sentences while still not being able to buy a drink in a pub. Despite it being the Guardian (how reputable is it?), it's really damning. As a general rule, I've got a pretty positive outlook on life and humanity, but this shit brings out the inner pessimist.

Link

Eeels coming to kill us

I knew eels gave me the heebie-jeebies for some reason. They are at the forefront of evolution with their Black Lightning-esque powers. And now retractable secondary jaws. Gah! GAH!

clipped from www.nature.com Researchers studying one species of moray eels have uncovered a deadly secret that helps the snake-like fish to swallow their prey. Like the fearsome extraterrestrial from the sci-fi horror classic Alien, these real-life beasts have a second, extendable pair of jaws — encrusted with sharp teeth — that thrusts forward to ensnare hapless fish and shrimp.

The Rotenberg Center

I've been in Massachusetts for 10 years now, and I'd never heard of this place. It appalls me that, living in one of the most liberal states in the country, we allow this sort of thing to exist. There must be some way we can regulate it out of existence even if we as a state can't manage to shut it down in the normal way.

clipped from www.motherjones.com The Rotenberg Center is the only facility in the country that disciplines students by shocking them, a form of punishment not inflicted on serial killers or child molesters or any of the 2.2 million inmates now incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons. Over its 36-year history, six children have died in its care, prompting numerous lawsuits and government investigations. Last year, New York state investigators filed a blistering report that made the place sound like a high school version of Abu Ghraib. Yet the program continues to thrive—in large part because no one except desperate parents, and a few state legislators, seems to care about what happens to the hundreds of kids who pass through its gates.

Unclean!

I've now started the countdown until I see these outside my downstairs neighbors' front door.

clipped from www.boingboing.net

Gaping hold sounds so dirty

This is seriously frigging weird. There are just so many cool sci-fi concepts that could roll out of it. Parallel universes intersecting with our own. Wormholes. Giant dark-matter-eating space snakes. What the hell could this be?

Gaping hole found in universe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A giant hole in the Universe is devoid of galaxies, stars and even lacks dark matter, astronomers said on Thursday.

The team at the University of Minnesota said the void is nearly a billion light-years across and they have no idea why it is there.

...

The astronomers said the region even appeared to lack dark matter, which cannot be seen directly but is usually detected by measuring gravitational forces.

Link