No, the picture above is not moving nor animated in anyway. It’s just one of many illusions you can find at Mighty Optical Illusions. It is a wonderful place to lose many, many hours.
For those of you at the office, the dragon illusion is my favorite and will get you lots of friends. Just put it on your desk across from someone during a meeting to really freak them out.
In the continuing saga of military equipment issues, the army has reached an all new low. Army officials have banned the use of privately bought armor. You probably remember all the fund drives and protests for more body armor that have occurred over the past few years. I know many organizations here in Cincinnati, including churches, have held events to raise money to send proper equipment to their loved ones overseas.
The army, however, does not want its troops to wear armor that might be “substandard†to the issued armor. Well, this would not be a problem if our government actually equipped our soldiers instead of building “bridges to nowhere†that cost hundreds, yes hundreds, of millions of dollars. But I guess they think it is better for our soldiers to wear no armor rather than armor that still helps but is not as good as the equipment the government could buy them but is not willing to buy.
Well, our last big snow storm of the season has come and gone. It closed most schools around Cincinnati, which is no big surprise since the locals get scared of an inch or two. Xavier even closed for the day, but not night classes. Oh, no. Grad students must suffer through it all. Sorry for the long delay. I have been trying to balance grad school, work, finances, and guests and have been more or less successful at times. Anyway, I’m back and with lotsa stories to prove it. Peace.
How did that checks and balances thing go again?
It turns out that Bush plans on closing the Dubai port deal tomorrow or Monday according to the U.S. Treasury Department:
Ports World’s $6.85 billion acquisition of Britain’s P&O will close on Friday or Monday, despite an additional 45-day review by the U.S. government in response to security concerns, a U.S. Treasury Department official said on Thursday.
And another great reason has arrived on why NOT to allow this deal: Al-Qaeda has infiltrated the UAE government. (via AmericaBlog)
You probably remember this statement by Bush:
I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded. And now we are having to deal with it and will.
Well, now they have to deal with not dealing with it. The Associated Press has released a copy of the video conference between Bush, FEMA, NOAA, and the local officials that occurred 19 hours before Katrina hit. During the meeting, Michael Brown referred to the hurricane as “The Big One†and even voiced concerns about the Superdome that sadly proved true.
Very importantly, National Hurricane Center Director, Max Mayfield, warned the group and President Bush about the possibility of the levees breaching and called it a “grave concern.†Bush asked no questions and returned to his vacation at Crawford.
Watch the video at C&L and check out the story at the WaPo.
Wicked Wednesday, full of one-liner posts (or almost), short, sweet, and to the point. Here’s a little Calvin and Hobbes:
A new Zogby poll shows that U.S. soldiers overwhelmingly want to pull out of Iraq within the year. E&P story here.
Not only do they partner with terrorists, Dubai is part of an anti-Semitic boycott against Israel.
Get your significant other something special this year. The Amazing Message Plant sprouts with the message “I ♥ Youâ€. And yes, this is a real product with the current special of buy three get one free for all you players. (via Popgadget)
1,300 Iraqis are known to be dead from last weeks sectarian violence.
68 more killed as soon as curfew lifted.
Sadly, Iraq has fallen into a civil war.