I love the Internet, part 1,234,564,971

Ever had an urgent need to write a quick note in Assyrian cuneiform, but forgot the dative case for "sheep"? (Wronwright has this problem all the time. One of the hazards of time travel, I'm afraid.)

Help is at hand!

(Site also has Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian.)

82nd Airborne hurls round objects at Afghan children!

Children delighted. (ht, Little Green Footballs)

Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the June 26 entry. That little boy will probably always, in his secret heart, believe soccerballs are Blackhawk eggs. And I love how the guys plot and plan and go the extra mile to make sure the girls get soccerballs too.

I believe Col. Halvorsen would approve.

Ur doin it wrong

Kitty fails do-it-yourself Airborne qualification, forgets parachute.

Survives.

Is there any organization that helps with the pets of deployed military? I'd rather the good SGT concentrate on whacking Tangos than worrying about his kitty's 3K in vet bills. Maybe the Animal Emergency Center would accept donations?

Seattle Times editor goofs up

Allows neutral, fact-ridden article concerning military to be published! (FEMA has been contacted for emergency supplies of fainting couches and smelling salts.)

Local boy done good at West Point. Congratulations, Mr. Crabtree. You've probably caused the Seattle Times office boy to be sent out for the Costco-sized bottle of TUMs.

Graveyards are so peaceful

This is getting old. Woman gets court order against violent ex-husband/boyfriend/babydaddy. He pays as much attention to that as he does to the law against hurting people for no reason, and kills her. Much to the dismay of the Seattle Times, however, present at this particular occasion was someone with both a gun and a concealed carry permit, who killed the violent bozo before he could hurt anyone else. Reading the article I am struck (again) by the faintly regretful tone in the paragraph,

Police spokeswoman Renee Witt said the party guest had a concealed-weapons permit. She said he likely won't face charges since he acted to prevent further harm.

Silly party guest. You should have acted like a victim, so we could have yet another flower-bedecked teddy-bear swarm shrine and Deeply Meaningful articles about cycles of violence complete with cut n' paste sections blaming Bush/Global Warming/trans-fats on the quote senseless killings unquote. But no, Party Guest had to rudely illustrate that yes, sometimes violence can solve problems as well as create them.

I'd like to make a suggestion. Rather than tying up the courts issuing protection orders against people who only obey them if they weren't going to break the law anyway, why can't we just issue the individuals desiring protection a gun, 200 rounds of ammo and a discount coupon to the nearest practice range?

This is Not Good

From Fox, a disturbing story and an even more disturbing picture. Either there is a medical condition known as Explosive Late-Onset Acne, or Mr. Hahn has been doing things his body can't repair fast enough. Like mucking around with radioisotopes in general and ionizing radiation in particular. Which goes to show his knowledge of radioactivity is a mile wide and an inch deep, since this is not the first time he's done that. (Hey kids, it is VERY RUDE to turn your mother's back yard into a Superfund site.) Now if he has a deathwish that's between him and his therapist. What I find hard to forgive is that he has now, singlehandedly, brought to the world's attention that smoke detectors have radioactive material. It is a very, very small amount, but the way people panic about any *mention* of radioactivity this not going to be good. There was a conspiracy of silence among us scientists that have knowledge of radioactive devices and materials. We knew about the smoke detectors, and we didn't say anything, so that people would be safer. People die in fires, far more than would ever experience any adverse health effects from the tiny dot of americium. And I hope Mr. Hahn doesn't get his Boy Scout badge, because he has demonstrated he neither understands nor respects the science of radioactivity.