Massive apologies
Long story short: I'm not dead and I'm really sorry if I worried anybody.
With the world's economy looking grim, its nice to know that all of us could still fulfill a common childhood dream and run off to be a pirate. Apparently, piracy isn't just for the Carribean anymore, and in addition to all the booty you sieze raiding vessels off the coast of Somalia, you get even more cash by ransoming the scurvy landlubbing dogs you capture.
Link
So I've already bought the mandatory parrot and a wooden leg. Plus I'm already really good at saying "Arrggh". With any luck, next week I'll be somewhere in the Gulf of Aden looking to sign on with an interepid crew of pirates. I'm sure once they see I was committed enough to provide my own parrot, plenty of crews will welcome me with open arms and not kill me at all.
Defenestration is the act of throwing someone out of a window. Try it today!
British researches have developed a low-power, compact system capable of shielding a spacecraft from radiation and solar storms.
Link
I'm very happy that Obama won. Its wonderful, historic and a great opportunity to finally confront some of the major issues facing this country.
However, I'm more than a little upset that as of right now it looks like as of tomorrow I will officially be a second-class citizen in my home state of California. Proposition 8 has over 50% of the vote right now....more like almost 56% of the vote the last time I checked. I'm going to stop paying attention now and find out which way if finally ends up tomorrow.
For the record, one of the founding principles of this nation was the protection of the rights of the minority against the tyranny of the majority. We are guaranteed equal protection under the law. The idea that my basic civil rights and that fundametal guarantee of equal protection were subject to a general election vote flies in the face of everything this country is supposed to stand for. And if the worst happens and this state does amend its constitution to enshrine inequality, I only hope the people who have pushed this through stop and think for a minute about what they've done. What can be done to one group can be done to another, and when you start singling out who is and who is not worthy of equal rights, you could easily be next in line.
With luck tomorrow morning this post will be irrelevant...but its not looking good.