kangeiko

7 man-made substances that laugh in the face of physics.

I am still diligently working my way through 'the fabric of the cosmos'. This upsets my worldview. I require a refund and a replacement universe.

Everyone is squeeing over the James Marsters appearance in Torchwood. Having neither a past nor present interest in Torchwood, I did not watch it, so this journal is devoid of squee on that account. queenspanky and I did watch episodes 6 and 7 of S1 of The Wire last night, though, and an embargo on spoilers is now in place. Anyone who spoils me for any Wire stuff will have their face fed to them. Just sayin'. :) Also - isn't it the most amazing thing ever?? It truly, truly is.

As it turns out, lost of stuff is happening in the world these days. Have some links.

1. Outrage as US accuses Britain of inexperience in Taleban conflict (The Times) OK, that headline's a little misleading, as the US accused NATO, not Britain specifically. However, this simply means that Canada and Netherlands can be just as pissed off about it as we are.

( reasons to be pissed off )

2. First human-animal hybrids to go ahead (The Times)

( huh )


3. Foreign Office sued for sex and race discrimination (Independent)

( Yup. )

4. One of the last taboos: abuse of men by women (Independent)

5. Seven dead in Kenyan protests (BBC)

6. Of interest to no one but accountants and civil servants: Watchdog exposes PFI charges gap

( ahahaha! )

7. Killings after the war (NY Times) 121 cases of soldiers killing people (usually members of their immediate family) after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

8. China woman in legal first over abortion case (Telegraph) A woman is suing the Chinese authorities in a legal first after being forced to have an abortion at nine months' pregnant.

( But... )

In non-world news, come join the fun at ninebillion. You know you want to.

Some good news for you all, on a variety of subjects:

- After years of study, Mathmatica Research, Inc., has just released their 164-page report on the impact of abstinence-only education, proving that it is ineffective and has been propped up by the Bush administration for years.

- In a similar vein, the UK Ofsted (the monitoring body for educational institutions) director is encouraging students to discuss sex".

- Portugal has voted to legalise abortion.

- For those who missed him The Tempest, Patrick Stewart will be in Twelfth Night and Macbeth at the Chichester festival this summer.

- This weekend's London weather will be glorious, with a high of 23/24C.

- A key has been found to the spread of breast cancer.

- And, just for fun, how the humble chicken came from the mighty T. rex.

*

OK, it's stupid o'clock, so I should probably go to bed. But I'm pretty blissed out right now. Not sure why but, hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/channel/space-tech/dn8725

As a big fan of Kin Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, I find this fascinating, especially seeing as the project completion date is at optimistic 2018. With this, and the anticipated return of the airship (this time with transparent plexi-glass) in hotel-form, and with fab new theories coming out regarding faster-than-light travel (this morning's London Metro), I am very excited all of a sudden.

In less-happy news, my flist is still full of comments and eulogies for Andreas Katsulas, as people from different time zones log on and hear the news. It's a tribute to him that this many people all over the world are this affected, and it really hits me just how much we're all going to miss him. :(

From transmetro:

Spider's cat is born.

It's also Too. Fucking. Hot. *ded*