Explosive bloggerrhea

-- Republican presidential hopefuls invade Houston, carry off giants wads of money.

-- Space News: This is what happens when astronauts flip out. Apparently their training is just like high school; whooda thunk? I've had some recent experience with adult diapers ( with my poor in-laws) and I find it a little unsettling that anyone would voluntarily don one for a long road trip.

Also, we've littered our upper atmosphere with thousands of pieces of junk. One of the thirty-six ways to know when your empire is crumbling is when the guys that are gearing up their empire to replace yours start blowing up satellites in space.

-- Twenty questions answered about impeaching a vice-president. I have three words for this: Git 'er done.

-- The US attorneys across the country who were recently pink-slipped by Abu Gonzales shed some light on the reasons behind their firings.

-- "It is a cross between rotten cheese, dog poo and something dead." No, not Cheney's undisclosed location, not even that crazy astronaut's diaper, but the Corpse Flower. And it's blooming early.

-- I have written about my wife's family previously, but have not written about their Jewish ancestry. My father-in-law's name is Israel; his mother is buried there. His brothers in New York and New Jersey are mostly Orthodox. One of them even goes so far as to keep pareve toothpaste in the house. This article tells about the fate of Jews in Cuba since the rise of Castro.

Super Bowl Bests

Best Commercial



Best Halftime Show (Purple Rain)



Update: Stace found the YouTube.

Sunday Funnies (Super Sunday edition)

(click the toon for the readable view)

Super Bowl postpourri

-- There is a case to be made for the impeachment of Dick Cheney.

-- Global warming news: The world's leading scientists, evangelical Christian groups, and even the CEOs of BP, DuPont, GE, Duke Energy and others all asked Bush to require limits on greenhouse gases this year, but he has refused. The intergovernmental report on climate change that was panned as too cheery even before it was released was also undermined by a conservative think tank: scientists were offered bribes by the American Enterprise Institute.

-- Joe Biden is going to establish a new land speed record for shortest presidential campaign. He is the Apollo I of White House wannabes (all apologies to Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee). Then again, however he thought it possible to out-DLC Hillary -- and Tom Nutsack, for that matter -- should have been a red flag on his political acumen. At least he won't be plagiarizing anyone's speeches.

Al Sharpton told him he bathed every day. Priceless.

-- The 2008 federal budget strips $1.3 billion out of Louisiana's levees, prompting outrage even from Republican senator and Cajun right-wing freak David Vitter:

"I am deathly afraid that this vital emergency post-Katrina work is now being treated like typical (Army Corps of Engineers) projects that take decades to complete. We will not recover if this happens."

-- Watching some of the old Super Bowl highlights on ESPN this time of year is a real treat. Regarding this year's game, I like the Bears to shut down Peyton Manning and cover the 6 1/2 point spread, if not win outright. If the Texans can do it, the Bears sure can. As it has been all season, it comes down to how well Rex Grossman plays.

In the vein of football-on-the-brain, here's a few of the people we are all bound to encounter at our Super Bowl parties this Sunday. "Fantasy Football Guy" manages to show up at mine every single year. At the other end of the emotional spectrum, a sad article from Dan Wetzel on the steep price NFL vets have paid, both in terms of disability and for playing the game when the money was lousy.