There are now eight planets in the solar system. Well, at least until the leading astronomers change their minds again, or unless a new planet is discovered that fits the definition of, "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.”
Until then our beloved Pluto has been relegated to the status of a dwarf planet. Too small to hang out with the big boys I guess.
I'm just intrigued to be living in a time when these changes occur even if it is a little sad. Seriously, what's next?

And so it begins again, or perhaps it never ended. With the recent plane conspiracy that now makes liquids oh so threatening, the Brits are absolutely paranoid, and thanks to Bush I think we tie them in the melodrama department. This return to hysterics has led to the banning of all Middle Easterners and their look-alikes.

British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed...
The trouble in Malaga flared last Wednesday as two British citizens in their 20s waited in the departure lounge to board the pre-dawn flight and were heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic...
Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches...
The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and took their passports.
Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers off the jet.

In Great Britain.
Here the official word would be something like, "It's all a matter of national security."
Then a few days later on the last page of the city's local newspaper there would be an apology for the blatant racial profiling. But who can blame Americans? Arabs tried to kill us. The next innocent looking one might be "it." Which is why they have all these security measures in place to prevent it, and if they fail, "oops".
No liquids. After all, water can kill, especially if you drink too much of it.
Via Boing Boing

Bwah! I'm here! And that was just dumb, but it sounded amusing when I was thinking it.
I will never abandon this blog. I've been experimenting with the free ones out there, but as long as I own my own my domain there really is no point. I've had blackglass.org since July 1999 and I plan on keeping that ownership till domains no longer exist. So, why the absence?
- Cousin came to visit in July, and I turned into a bona fide tourguide of San Antonio. I think I might have come down with heat stroke on one or two occasions too. It's currently still incredibly hot here. What is it, 18 days of 100 degree weather? For some reason the anchor on GMA loves to focus in on Dallas instead of us. Yes, apparently the Alamo city can handle the extreme humidity and 100 degree weather better than poor Dallas. In the meantime my old hometown of El Paso is flooding, and we're as dry as a desert.
- Also in July I took off a week for Irapuato, Mexico to celebrate my parents 30th wedding anniversary, which I helped plan with my aunt and grandmother. It turned out really nice, and damn it they made me sing Schubert's Ave Maria. Now I've been requested for a cousin's wedding in November, but I don't know if I'm going, and that song needs to die!
- The bar has been postponed yet again for February. Mental note: file those dreaded papers by the end of this month. I felt bad about waiting, but then I started reading people's reactions to the MBE, and given how busy I was in July it was just a good call. Can't someone just give me a license? Ugh.

The Irish are #3 in the Coaches Poll. I think I see a National Championship in the near future. Oh yeah, it's very, very close.

I was ready to declare July 4th as National Flag Burning Day, but I've been foiled. Thank goodness for small miracles.
The Senate failed to receive sufficient votes to pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting the desecration of the American flag. It failed by one vote. I find this both amusing yet terrifying that our Senate came this close to cutting into the First Amendment. See not many people have desecrated the flag, but when they do it's used to make a statement in our country. It's used to voice displeasure. No one has to agree with it. No one has to like the KKK, but thanks to the numero uno, that first amendment our founding fathers gave us because they were tired of the persecution, prohibition, pure protestantism, freedom of speech exists. We may not agree with it, but as long as it does us no physical harm then for the love of freedom itself stop taking our rights away.

"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

For the record this has to be the most overly broad amendment I have ever read. Does this mean that wearing a bikini with the stars and stripes equals a desecration? Think about it.

Australia was just robbed by a fake penalty call. Seriously, the officiating at this World Cup is ruining the games. If this continues the winner will be decided by how well the ref has been paid off not the best team.
Kudos to the Australians for playing so well.

... apart from the devastating loss Mexico lost at the hands of Argentina? Well, I keep hearing my name on tv.
Let me clarify. It's not exactly my name. Mine rhymes with 'mean,' which is why there's an accent mark and no dreaded 'e' at the end. I am of course used to hearing it said the other way because apparently people don't like to listen. They even like to add a 'j.' I'm used to it.
I'm named after a gorgeous smelling flower. It also runs in the family.
Now it's birth control. There are commercials on tv! All over the place. It's so bad. Why can't they call it Sara, or Nancy? I'm baby-proof!

I have always wanted to go to a gym. The only thing that has stopped me, besides the fantasy of having a gorgeous trainer carry me around, was the plain and obvious fact that the equipment and I do not mix. Now we might! It looks like it might be friendly to those with working upper torsos, but seriously the gym machines pictured look like tons of fun.

Personal injury lawyers will be moving to Illinois in waves as soon as they get wind of this recent decision by the state's Supreme Court (ok, not just PIs). The court just placed a limit on the amount of damages in malpractice cases against the legal profession.

The court ruled that clients may sue their lawyers for the standard, compensatory damages they would have won if their lawsuit had been properly brought.
But writing for the majority, Justice Lloyd Karmeier said clients could not sue their lawyers for lost punitive damages, which juries sometimes award to punish defendants for intentional misconduct.
Lawyers should pay for their negligence, but to hold them responsible for the intentional misconduct of someone else "tears the concept of punitive damages from its doctrinal moorings," Karmeier wrote.

Frankly, placing a limit on damages is a mistake. Who is to say that the award granted is more compensatory than punitive? The jury is there to decide, and if they decide that a client lost 2 million because of a lawyer's gross negligence, then the award is fair. That's why it's called malpractice. It's supposed to hurt. Cutting an award in half or more doesn't teach that lawyer a lesson. It's more like a mere slap on the hand. So, don't screw up.
And if malpractice insurance is getting you down, please complain to the insurance industry already! I'm sick and tired of hearing of damage caps to ease insurance premiums when the real criminal is the industry. Only 1% to 5% of lawsuits make it to court (yes, all the ones we hear on the news, subtract the majority). Doctors, lawyers, businesswomen bleed money thanks to rising insurance premiums. They say it's all the lawsuit abuse, but it's not possible. It's a handy excuse that works because everyone feeds into their spiel. When was the last insurance company bankruptcy or merger? They just keep springing up, raising premiums, and playing the blame game on their own clients or wherever they can find it.
Caps you say. And when you actually do need to sue for a real grievance that deserves a 1 million payout, you'll get $25,000 thanks to you and the government. Don't forget about taxes and the reasonable lawyer fees. Abuse exists. Just don't get rid of the protections. They are there for a reason. Really.

Update your links if you have to. This weblog is now published in php. I think I sprouted a few grey hairs in the process too. What a pain! I never imagined anything would give me as much trouble with permissions as this.
So, if you have trouble viewing the blog, please let me know. I'll cry, whine, and eventually figure it out. Unless it's your problem. 😉