Molecules, crooked union leaders, hunting, and my Mom

Ouch. I got home from work an hour ago and my foot is killing me. Stupid heel spur. It's the first time in weeks it's bothered me, but of course it has to return at full strength.

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I was at my Mom's apartment this morning while she watched Ted Kennedy's funeral, and she asked if I could pick up a copy of Ted Kennedy's autobiography when it drops in September. I sighed and rolled my eyes, but agreed. She soon grew angry and mentioned the '83 letter I wrote about here, which apparently makes me obligated to his clan forever, and about how she can't believe I'm no longer a fan of the Kennedy's.

Eh, I'm not a fan of He-Man and Thundercats anymore either. Things change.

As I wrote about when Michael Jackson died, people should be allowed to grieve for who they want, in whatever manner they see fit, for a respectable amount of time. Therefore, I don't pass judgement on anyone broken up over his death, although it is difficult to sit through saccharine comments like this on Facebook:

[The dark skies during the service were] so apt. And, if what I saw was lightning in the background, it was as 'tho the heavens were also making their own statement about Ted Kennedy's death....

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Speaking of the honored dead, Saturday would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday and some local stations were playing his music in heavy rotation. Kudos to them. YaYa and Smiley were jamming to "Black or White" at the local Dollar General . . .

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Ex-police union leader Brad Debraska has been convicted of two felonies. He forged a memo he used in a lawsuit against the city, which seems a stupid thing to do, even as crimes go. Debraska was a major player in the union for years, and I grew up seeing him on TV defending officers whenever something went wrong.

Through Job Prior I had some minor dealings with him and his son (who was sent to prison some years back), but I doubt the man even knew my name.

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First the union members at Mercury Marine vote away their jobs. The company calls their bluff and starts the move to Oklahoma. Cue the workers asking for a re-do of the vote, but the union blocked them, citing union by-laws. It is, of course, more important to follow the bylaws than save the 1800 jobs at stake.

Well, now a few days later, it looks like the union leadership has bowed to pressure. They've agreed to a second vote, but I'm not sure it'll make a difference. They might have cut their own throat last week. We'll have to wait and see.

UPDATE: In this morning's paper Mercury Marine killed the vote, saying the deadline for an agreement has passed.

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Next week, ten year olds in Wisconsin will be allowed to carry guns during hunting season for the first time. The current minimum hunting age is twelve. The theory is that introducing children to hunting at an earlier age will help preserve the state's long and ingrained hunting tradition.

I've never been hunting, and have no real desire to go and shoot something that isn't shooting back at me. It's hypocritical, as I'll gladly eat cow and poultry, but there you have it. I guess if you told me to shoot a cow, I could do it, provided I was going to consume the animal. Sadly, there's not much of a Cow Hunting season in these parts.

That being said, I would like to accompany someone hunting in the next decade or so. I'm not sure I'd even carry a gun, but I acknowledge that it's something of a rite of manhood here. I would like to live the experience and camaraderie at least once in my lifetime. Perhaps with Lisa's Uncle Tim or my friend Jose?

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It looks like the British did sell out the victims of Lockerbie for financial considerations. Quoting the Times of London:

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal.

Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

Unbelievable. Disgusting, to tell you the truth.

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A hoard of Viking silver, buried in British soil for a milenium, has been unearthed. Valued at a million pounds, it was found by a father/son team of treasure hunters and turned over to the authorities. Kudos to them on their remarkable find.

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Finally, using an Atomic Force Microscope, researchers at IBM have taken the first ever photograph of a single molecule. The carbon rings and the positions of the hydrogen atoms in the molecule can clearly be seen.

Get this: the space between the carbon rings of the molecule are roughly a million times smaller than the diameter of a grain of sand.

You're probably used to seeing illustrations of a molecule that look like cleverly arranged tinker-toys. Now I imagine my children's biology books will feature this:



Congrats to IBM, and the crew responsible!