How is everyone doing today?
Yeah, how weird is that? We just spent all these weeks from Thanksgiving until Christmas stressed out about the holidays, and now we're spending the first weeks of the New Decade stressed out about the Senate election in Massachusetts. When do we get a break?
I don't know that we ever get a break, quite frankly. I think we have to make time for breaks, because there's always more work to be done. So how about a break right now? Just grab your coffee and enjoy the tastefully arranged ITEMS!
ITEM! Please, if you can, help out Martha Coakley.
ITEM! We all have things that piss us off about Obama. But how is this not awesome?
ITEM! Iran is cracking down on protesters (remember them?), warning them about using email and cell phones to spead the word about protests, and is saying that the "era of mercy" towards protesters is over. (Apparently the folks in charge think that shooting protesters and raping political prisoners before execution is "merciful." Either that, or they're really hoping that people don't learn about those things.)
ITEM! How are things in Iraq? Turns out, not so good. A decision to ban hundreds of candidates from upcoming elections has sparked waves of protest, and recent bombings in Najaf and Abnar lead local officials to conclude that the security situation is deteriorating.
And no, none of this should mean that we stay in Iraq beyond the 2011 departure date. They want us out, and we're broke.
ITEM! Hoo boy.
The UK's Telegraph lists her as the #4 most influential conservative, right after Cheney, Limbaugh and Drudge.
ITEM! Al Qaeda has declared their worst enemy; and no, it's not the United States. More here.
ITEM! The latest in snake oil for autism "treatments" here.
MICE!
Molly and Nema in their tank. (The other two mice, Daisy and Joan, are asleep in the tissue box in the upper middle region. By the way, my wife and I didn't stuff it with all that paper -- the mice did that themselves. And it gets more stuffed every day.)
By the way, there's a massive cute overload here.
ITEM! If you're like me, then your knowledge of computer hardware is a few years behind the times. (If you're like my immediate family, on the other hand, then it's virtually non-existent.) Fortunately, there's a pretty good crash course in computer hardware here.
ITEM! National Geographic on the world's first bionic eye here. (Warning: I think this is a fantastic video, but it has a very high squick factor.)
And now, a word from our sponsor.