Putting Z. to bed last night, M. and I were joking about just going to sleep on the couch. I put my head down for a bit, which turned out to be... almost ten hours. Which is about twice what I sleep on a regular night. Which is crazy. Luckily, M. and I had planned to do our own thing that night, so I wasn't ruining any plans. Still. I didn't expect my plans to be... just sleeping.

"The world's largest atom smasher made another leap forward Monday by circulating beams of protons in opposite directions at the same time... Proton collisions could possibly begin within the next 10 days... Ultimately, the collider aims to create conditions like they were 1 trillionth to 2 trillionths of a second after the Big Bang - which scientists think marked the creation of the universe billions of years ago. Physicists also hope the collider will help them see and understand other suspected phenomena, such as dark matter, antimatter and supersymmetry."

"The Anti-Defamation League has released a detailed report on the increasing anger and hostility among the right wing, singling out many of the same personalities and issues on which LGF has been focusing recently. This is the index page with summaries of the main points: 'Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies'."

Overlooked '80s Sci-Fi Flicks, Recalled by Wired Readers

(Their definition of 'overlooked' is a little loose, as they include, you know, Akira and Return of the Jedi.)

"It's a scene of devastation and disintegration that stuns the mind, a major American city that still is home to 900,0000 people but which looks at times like a cross between postwar Berlin and the ruin of an ancient civilization. Detroit was the arsenal of democracy in World War II and the incubator of the American middle class. It was the city that taught mass production to the rest of the world. It was a place that made cars, trucks and other tangible products, not derivatives. And it was the architect of the quintessentially American idea of putting people to work and paying them a decent wage. It's frightening to think seriously about what we've allowed to happen to this city and what is now happening to the middle class and the American economy as a whole."

SATURDAY LATE NEWS:
* "The basic principle of evidence based medicine is that clinical decisions that are made between doctors and patients should be driven by data."
* Why Pakistan won't fight the Taliban.
* Is Islamic radicalization in America on the rise? And, is Homeland Security downplaying the thread of right-wing extremists?
* Is there such a thing as agro-imperialism?
* Police health woes linked to late shifts and overtime.
* FiveThirtyEight.com on why Palin might run for president, and how she might win the Republican nomination.
* Another winning shot from BAGnewsNotes.
* Interesting. Direct-to-DVD equel to 30 Days of Night.

There has to be a German word for the guilt you feel over things going well for you when things are going poorly for the people around you, but that's pretty much where we're at.

Last night: successful birthday party thrown for shibakiei. I hardly got any sleep, but it was well worth it.
Tonight: rest and relaxation, after a little housecleaning.

"Something quite amazing happened yesterday in Congress: the House Finance Committee - in a truly bipartisan and even trans-ideological vote - defied the banking industry, the Federal Reserve, the Democratic leadership, and mainstream Beltway opinion in order to pass an amendment, sponsored by GOP Rep. Ron Paul and Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, mandating a genuine and probing audit of the Fed."

FRIDAY LATE NEWS:
* E.J. Dionne on "the GOP's No-Exit Strategy."
* The other, scientific side of Mammogram-gate.
* "[Obama] has done more foreign travel in his first year than any other U.S. president." (Fun fact: he's also visited all 50 states.)
* In pictures: photographing climate change.
* "Peruvian authorities say they have arrested four members of a gang that specialized in selling fat obtained from dead humans."
* 'Fungus provides clues to North American extinctions.'
* Also, ten fascinating recently discovered photos. (Courtesy asimplelife.)

Courtesy warmaster: a fancy chart of directional rider flows on Metro. Bonus: what's the most crowded part of the Metro system?

"By refusing to embrace and defend the core principle of justice at stake here - that a distinguishing feature of our political system is that we don't imprison or kill people without charging them with a crime and proving their guilt in a real court - the Obama administration has made it for more difficult for it to defend what it is doing, as well as for those who want to defend their decision to give trials to 9/11 defendants."

THURSDAY NEWS RODEO:
* Good read: excerpt from a new book on Justice Scalia.
* Interesting read: an interview with Charles Johnson, who runs the controversial website Little Green Footballs, on no longer being the darling of the right wing.
* "...The incident has sparked a renewed focus on how Islamic extremists and al-Qaida sympathizers become radicalized in the first place."
* Hypocrisy in action: they were against the filibuster before they were for it.
* I didn't realize VA governor-elect Bob McDonnell was associated with Pat Robertson. Fantastic.
* "They just can't help themselves. Journalists are addicted to Sarah Palin. Some love to hate her, some love to love her, all love to dissect or defend her." (Bonus: fact-checking the book.)
* Disney decides against a Captain Nemo movie/franchise.
* Dan Abnett picked as the writer for the Warhammer 40k Ultramarines movie.
* See, my concern is a Global Frequency TV show would be seen as another Fringe/X-Files copycat.

"The fact is that international law has not evolved to deal with persons like Mohammed. Or more precisely, most legal discussion under international law is moving counter to the Geneva Conventions' intent, which was to treat the franc-tireurs as unworthy of legal protection because they were not soldiers and were violating the rules of war. International law wants to push Mohammed into a category where he doesn't fit, providing protections that are not apparent under the Geneva Conventions. The United States has shoved him into U.S. criminal law, where he doesn't fit either, unless the United States is prepared to accept reciprocal liability for CIA personnel based in the United States planning and supporting operations in third countries. The United States has never claimed, for example, that the KGB planners who operated agents in the United States on behalf of the Soviet Union were themselves subject to criminal prosecution.

"A new variety of warfare has emerged in which treatment as a traditional POW doesn't apply and criminal law doesn't work. Criminal law creates liabilities the United States doesn't want to incur, and it is not geared to deal with a terrorist like Mohammed. U.S. criminal law assumes that capture is in the hands of law enforcement officials. Rights are prescribed and demanded, including having lawyers present and so forth. Such protections are practically and theoretically absurd in this case: Mohammed is not a soldier and he is not a suspected criminal presumed innocent until proven guilty. Law enforcement is not a practical counter to al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A nation cannot move from the rules of counterterrorism to an American courtroom; they are incompatible modes of operation. Nor can a nation use the code of criminal procedures against a terrorist organization operating transnationally. Instead, they must be stopped before they commit their action, and issuing search warrants and allowing attorneys present at questioning is not an option...

"But it may not be the jury that is the problem. A federal judge will have to ask the question of whether prejudicial publicity of such magnitude has occurred that Mohammed can’t receive a fair trial. (This is probably true.) Questions will be raised about whether he has received proper legal counsel, which undoubtedly he hasn’t. Issues about the chain of custody of evidence will be raised; given that he was held by troops and agents, and not by law enforcement, the chances of compromised evidence is likely. The issue of torture will, of course, also be raised but that really isn’t the main problem. How do you try a man under U.S. legal procedures who was captured in a third country by non-law enforcement personnel, and who has been in military custody for seven years?"

-from 'Deciphering the Mohammed Trial', well worth your time to read.

"Something big is out there beyond the visible edge of our universe. That's the conclusion of the largest analysis to date of over 1000 galaxy clusters streaming in one direction at blistering speeds. Some researchers say this so-called 'dark flow' is a sign that other universes nestle next door."

"To sum up: at present, [the public option] will be a government-run corporation which cannot draw on government funds to remain solvent and cannot charge artificially lower rates to be convenient to the populace at large. All it really promises to do that other insurance companies will not do is this: they promise to not screw over policy-holders. And that, that alone, has insurance companies terrified. This should tell you something."

CATCHING UP:
* Top read: MGK explains why we need universal health care. Bonus: oh hells yeah.
* Ooh. Congress challenges the White House on drug company deals.
* "The number of Americans who lacked reliable access to sufficient food shot up last year to its highest point since the government began surveying in 1995."
* "The Right's reaction to yesterday's announcement - we're too afraid to allow trials and due process in our country - is the textbook definition of 'surrendering to terrorists.'"
* Good read: an Episcopal bishop makes the case in favor of same-sex marriage.
* The Republican civil war spreads to Utah.
* Make them filibuster!
* Should fashion reflect fantasy or reality?
* Actor Edward Woodward passed away.

There was a point I used to be able to name all the Transformers in at least the last two of these pics.

"If we invade, bomb and attack Muslim countries - and uniquely deny to them the rights we claim are universal (such as the right to be free of torture and imprisonment without trials) - then far more Muslims are going to wallow in rage and hatred for the West and be willing and eager to return the treatment. Conversely, seeing Westerners speak out against their countries' attacks on, and oppressive policies towards, Muslims renders far harder to sustain the divisiveness and demonization on which all radicalism feeds. This is all basic cause and effect, as even the Pentagon's own Task Force concluded all the way back in 2004 in explaining how and why our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are severely exacerbating the threat of Terrorism."

FIve tips for fixing your Facebook page.

I'd love to hear about what all the small-government, no-taxes crowd thinks about the fact that as our population grows, we have fewer police officers out there.

"But the more consequential impact of Obama's decision is likely to be overlooked: we're now formally creating a multi-tiered justice system for accused Muslim terrorists where they only get the level of due process consistent with the State's certainty that it will win. Mohammed gets a real trial because he confessed and we're thus certain we can win in court; since we're less certain about al-Nashiri, he'll be denied a trial and will only get a military commission; others will be denied any process entirely and imprisoned indefinitely. The outcome is pre-determined and the process then shaped to assure it ahead of time..."

SATURDAY NEWS:
* NASA finds 'significant amount' of water on the Moon.
* India stands behind its climate change strategy.
* The commonality of religiously-motivated terrorist acts.
* "In many ways, Michele Bachmann is the ideal political creature of the Tea Party era. Her path to power doesn't lie in moving up the GOP leadership ladder, but in ignoring it entirely."
* Analysis: why is Lou Dobbs leaving CNN?
* Unexpected: China's economic boom leads to a boom in... syphilis.
* One more push to free the Mars rover Spirit.
* Magnificent. "Desperate climate times call for oddball measures."
* "Furry fixation: why do some folk don animal suits and go grooming?

LATimes says happy birthday to the iconic show. Bonus: photogallery.

What we can learn from Sesame Street. Other than the difference between near and far. (Also, another bonus photogallery, including Oscar vs. ...Kofi Annan.)