Loyette and I saw the International Space Station fly near Jupiter in the Denver sky. Herself, when we came inside: “SAW JUPITER, MOMMY!” 🙂
No Bush-Sanchez Super Bowl. Colts beat Jets. Vikings @ Saints up next.
CNN Breaking News — In tape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, he claims responsibility for Christmas Day plane bomb plot.
The past 10 years were the hottest decade yet according to NASA with 2005 being the hottest year. Over the past 130 years the temperature has increased 1.5 degrees, with just over 1 degree in the past 3 decades.
From the “Brendan is seriously slacking on his weather-nerd duties” file… I knew the recent California/Arizona storm was a big deal, but I had no idea it was this big of a deal:
The most powerful low pressure system in 140 years of record keeping swept through the Southwest U.S. [Thursday], bringing deadly flooding, tornadoes, hail, hurricane force winds, and blizzard conditions. We expect to get powerful winter storms affecting the Southwest U.S. during strong El Niño events, but [Thursday’s] storm was truly epic in its size and intensity. The storm set all-time low pressure records over roughly 10 – 15% of the U.S.–over southern Oregon, and most of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Old records were broken by a wide margin in many locations, most notably in Los Angeles, where the old record of 29.25″ set January 17, 1988, was shattered by .18″ (6 mb). Bakersfield broke its record by .30″ (10 mb). The record-setting low spawned an extremely intense cold front that rumbled thought the Southwest, and winds ahead of the cold front reached sustained speeds of hurricane force–74 mph–[Thursday] night at Apache Junction, 40 miles east of Phoenix. Wind gusts as high as 94 mph were recorded in Ajo, Arizona.
Again, you can’t make it up:
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is keeping his options open as he considers possible endorsements for the fall elections — including backing one-time rival Ned Lamont.
…Lamont beat Lieberman in a bitter Democratic primary in 2006, but then lost to Lieberman in the general election after Lieberman ran as an independent.
Lamont is now considering a run for governor, and Lieberman told WFSB-TV in Hartford that he’s open to endorsing him.
Always a great man for the Bipartisanship*, Senator Joe further allowed as how he’s Open to maybe supporting Wrestling Queen Linda McMahon (R) for U.S. Senator. / If Lieberman really goes to the Mat for her, will this enable Linda to shock the world by Pinning Dick Blumenthal (D)? If so, will Sen. McMahon (R-CT) join Sen. Brown (R-MA) as the GOP Dream Ticket in 2012? (And, in which Order? 🙂 Developing…
(* Bipartisanship: holding Hands with one party while playing Footsie with the other. / Colloquial definition can be expressed more Crudely but this is a Family website. 🙂
CNN Breaking News — Haitian government declares end to search-and-rescue operation for quake survivors, according to U.N.
Heh.
Tonight: our last dance with CoCo.
So when I made the decision to do this, I decided I would sometimes take a break from the news of the day and instead do some pop culture related stuff. Because I love pop culture and, let’s be honest, Brendan only has a passing familiarity with it. Plus, I have a minor in Film and it’s not doing any good just sitting there.
Additionally, nothing of note really happened this week. Massachusetts elected a Republican to the Senate? Pff, when’s the last time they did that, 2006? (What? Oh really? That long?) The Supreme Court lifted restrictions on corporations donating to campaigns? Well, of course, corporations are individuals. Sure, the precedent is based on an accidentally transcribed offhand comment made by a justice, but who cares? And so on. You get the point. Ho-hum, slow news week in history.
Therefore, I give you a pop culture-y column. It is about one of the seminal, but oft overlooked films of our time. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but…it’s pretty genius.
[Editor’s Note: After the jump, Halle Berry’s Boobs!!! Well, not really. I mean, it’s SFW. But they’re discussed, and pictorially hinted at. … P.S. C’mon Tim, you gotta do better at the salacious self-promotion. 🙂 -ed.]
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a misunderstanding about a Jewish prayer ritual led to the diversion of a US Airways flight to Philadelphia.
City police Lt. Frank Vanore says a 17-year-old boy on the plane was using tefillin, a set of small black boxes attached to leather straps and containing biblical passages. One box is strapped to the arm; the other box is placed on the head.
Prior to its interruption by the passenger’s worship, the flight out of LaGuardia had been bound for Louisville KY. / When I read the tale of the Tefillin Kerfuffle to my wife, her comment was, “Why did they think they’d be safer in Philadelphia?” 🙂
[Bumped; original timestamp 1/21/10, 10:05 AM. -ed.]