More Lost Goodness

I'd like to welcome all my recent visitors. Most of you seem to be seeking out info on Lost, and I'm just the sort of all-around-good-guy that's happy to provide it.


Visit The Hanso Foundation

Make sure to check out the Active Projects page.

Why is it, do you think, that the Cryogenics link is listed as Cryogenics Development Imperative? Everything else is a project, an initiative, or a facility.

Also note that one of Hanso's active projects is the "Mathematical Forecasting Initiative."

The Orientation video is online

Also worth noting: All the characters in this show seem to be connected in ways that only we, the audience are privy too (with the notable exception of Sawyer telling Jack that he'd run into his Dad). Knowing this, is it reasonable to assume that, since the man who took Locke's kidney is some sort of swanky con-man, and since Sawyer was searching for the man who had conned his family and destroyed his life, that Locke's "Dad" and Sawyer's hated con man are one and the same?

Creek Or Tort- Sans Reek

I review the excellent Robert Redford heist flick, "Sneakers," in this week's Retro Rocket.

Update! Check out this nifty little site.

(Brought to you by the ( never) average joe's net)

Setec Astronomy

Spy discovered working in the White House

I was pointed to this info by my local news, from which I almost never get anything of substantive worth. So, kudos to them.
For a Presidency that likes to crow about how "safe" we all are, they sure get caught with their figurative pants down a hell of a lot, no?

Anti-Torture Amendment Passes

Congratulations to you, Mr. McCain. You done good.

Link

LOST

Once again, Lost blows my mind.

The show's officially danced into genre-land, and I think a lot of viewers may start tuning out, now that things have taken a turn for the decidely-stranger.

But for the rest of us....WOW.

Here's the new info we've gotten for this week:
-The hatch is courtesy of the dharma institute.
-The hatch is "Station 3" of 6 apparent stations. Station 3 is also known as "The Swan." An outline of a Swan can be seen in the center of the dharma logo, posted below.
-The station was established to study the "unique electromagnetic properties" of the island.
-There was "an incident," and the planned purpose of the station was abandoned; perhaps in favor of its current purpose.
-The "orientation" film that Jack and Locke watch makes reference to dharma's interest in parapsychology, psychology, zoology, and, if i'm not mistaken, "communities."
-Dharma was founded by the DeGruts (DeGruuts? Phonetic pronunciation is "Dee-Groots")
-It was funded by Alvar Hanso (Hanzo?)
-Typing in the code (4 8 15 16 23 42) keeps the world from ending, according to Desmond
-Desmond wrecked on the island's barrier reef and was met by a man named "Kelvin."
-The show makes a big deal out of pointing out that the number sequence and the button-pushing could very well do nothing at all. This makes sense, given the theory that the survivors are being studied.

Dharma Industries

Dharma Industries.

Curiouser and curiouser.

(courtesy of the good folk at chud.com)

Captain Trips

Has anyone read the Stand?

From the NYTimes:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush asked Congress on Tuesday to consider giving him powers to use the military to enforce quarantines in case of
an avian influenza epidemic.

``If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country? And how do you, then, enforce a quarantine?'' Bush asked at a news conference. ``It's one thing to shut down airplanes. It's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine?'' Bush added.

Here's a nutty thought, George - Why not put some of that wacky-Iraqi money we're currently flushing down the proverbial toilet into speeding up the process of vaccine production? It's not that I don't love the idea of you forcibly and militarily taking command of potentially vast sections of the country; it's just that you might be overreacting slightly.

What concerns me is the U.S.'s investment-to-date of 100 million dollars toward vaccines, when Finland has informed pharmaceutical labs across Europe that it is seeking 5.2 million doses of a vaccine against the deadly bird flu, allowing it to protect its entire population. 100 million sounds like a lot of money (and IS a lot of money, frankly) but it's not enough to insure everyone's vaccinated. Is this going to be a repeat of the regular-joe flu vaccine crisis from last year, George? A crisis our government could have arguably, easily, prevented?

If you're concerned about this latest health-scare, write to your representatives and request that more funding be devoted to the production of the vaccine. It takes five minutes to google for them and compose a respectful letter asking for more attention paid to this issue. They work for us. Make them earn their salaries.

God Loves Us All. Except For YOU.

From MSNBC:

SMYRNA, Tenn. - Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays, and they brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq......The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps’ children, grandchildren and in-laws...

...The church members carried signs and shouted things such as “God hates fags” and “God hates you.”

Reverend Phelps! How I've missed you.
If you don't know the Phelpsmeister, perhaps you've heard of his site; godhatesfags.com (now en espanol!). He's the sane-as-Manson proponent of the "Chosen few" philosophy, and of the notion that Hurricane Katrina is a righteous display of God's wrath against those unholy New Orleanians.

In other words, the man's bat-shit loco, hombre. Protesting against homosexuality at the funeral of a soldier? That's certifiable behavior, Padre.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

From the Washington Post:

On Sept. 1, as tens of thousands of desperate Louisianans packed the New Orleans
Superdome and convention center, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pleaded with the U.S. Military Sealift Command: The government needed 10,000 berths on full-service cruise ships, FEMA said, and it needed the deal done by noon the next day.The hasty appeal yielded one of the most controversial contracts of the Hurricane Katrina relief operation, a $236 million agreement with Carnival Cruise Lines for three ships that now bob more than half empty in the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay.

...If the ships were at capacity, with 7,116 evacuees, for six months, the price per evacuee would total $1,275 a week, according to calculations by aides to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). A seven-day western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston can be had for $599 a person -- and that would include entertainment and the cost of actually making the ship move.

Brownie, you did a heck of a job.
That's $1,275 a week over six months that you and I will be helping to pay for. If I were gamma-irradiated, I'd be Hulking-out right about now. As it is, I'm vexed. I'm terribly vexed.

What's heartening is that both conservatives and liberals alike seem equally horrified by this. Under Bush's leadership, the party of small government and less spending has become the party of throwing-money-we don't-actually-possess-around-willy-nilly-like-confetti.

Squeal Like A Pig, Boy!

Meet the "Energy Hog," America's newest threat. The "dastardly" Energy Hog is hellbent on wasting energy, and thus harming homeowners everywhere. With what can only be described as a stunning lack of irony, the U.S. Government is using the "Energy Hog" character, and its website, Energy Hog.org, to teach children about the value of conservation.

Some might argue that this administration teaching conservation is a little like the Klan holding seminars on tolerance, but that's snide and perhaps unfair. After all, the Klan only hates black people.

In semi-seriousness, though, the website for this Energy Hog character is High-sterical. Children who are curious about our Nation's impending energy crisis (which, at last count, was approximately zero) can learn how to CAULK THE WINDOWS OF THEIR HOME. Doesn't that sound like fun?

It doesn't?

The website defines an "Energy Hog" as "a half-human, half Hog that can suck the energy out of your home faster than you can say, 'Why did the lights go out, Mom?'"

At the risk of snark-overload, I'm tempted to point out that for the average American, the answer to that question is less likely to be because of the fabled "energy hog," and more likely to be a result of:
a) Energy providers ruthlessly gouging their customers (see: Enron, Con Edison)
b) Mommy having lost her job to someone in India

But isn't it so much nicer to blame a fictitious anthropomorphic critter?

Look Up In The Sky! It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's A Running Theme!

(courtesy of Dial B For BLOG!)
Wouldn't that have been nice?

But even Superman's single-handed collaring of Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler can't top the single greatest comic book panel EVER CREATED:



Any excuse to run that thing is a good excuse.
Priceless.

Kneel before me, Kal-El! KNEEL Before ZOD!

AICN is reporting that Nicholas Cage has named his kid "Kal-El," after Superman's Kryptonian identity.

Maybe it's just the raging geek inside, but I think that's freakin' great.

At Least John Roberts was a JUDGE

The mind boggles.

Harriet Miers nominated for empty Supreme Court Seat

Miers, who was Bush's personal attorney in Texas, was the first woman elected president of the Texas Bar Association and was a partner at the Texas law firm of Locke Liddell & Sapp before coming to Washington to work in the Bush administration. If confirmed by the Senate, Miers would be a rare appointee with no experience as a judge at any level. Initial searches of news archives also suggested that Miers has not been an outspoken advocate for or against any particular issue.

Apparently, the Democrats have no immediate problem with this nomination.

I, however, would like to bring up one potentially troubling fact: This woman has NEVER BEEN A JUDGE.

Jesus-jumping-Christ-in-a-chariot-driven-sidecar, what the hell is going on down in Washington?! We all saw how well Michael Brown did as head of FEMA. His prior experience in disaster management was relegated to Arabian Horses. Do you really want someone with absolutely NO prior Judicial experience sitting on the highest court in the country?