It's not the size of the hands and feet....

Whales have very large brains. Whales also have very large...umm, other organs. Everyone should try to remember this significant correlation.

(via John & Belle Have A Blog)

[Pharyngula]

While the photo may well be Photoshop-enhanced, it is kind of scary.  comment []7:59:29 PM    

Rice's Honorifics. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch raises an interesting question: It's "Dr. Rice." But why isn't it "Dr. Paul Wolfowitz" (Ph.D., 1972, University of Chicago) or "Dr. John Snow" (Ph.D., 1966, University of Virginia)? It's actually pretty simple: It's what she gets... [Wonkette]

Made me laugh.  comment []7:22:13 PM    

Pulitzer For The Blade

After a 4 1/2 -year Army investigation concluded that at least 18 Tiger Force soldiers committed war crimes, the matter was dropped by the Army. The official files were buried in the Army's archives since 1975, and to this day military officials continue to withhold them from the public.

That is how The Blade introduced the story. It is something that we need to be reminded of when we have people calling for the destruction of Iraqi cities for the killing of Americans. Our own history is not clean when it comes to committing atrocities. It is rare. It does not happen often. But when it does, we need to be able to examine it and work to prevent it from occurring again.

Today, too many US soldiers refer to all Iraqis with contempt. British officers (who certainly have a history of denigrating the native cultures around them) are discussing the overuse of American force on civilian populations. The Telegraph reports :

Speaking from his base in southern Iraq, the officer said: 'My view and the view of the British chain of command is that the Americans' use of violence is not proportionate and is over-responsive to the threat they are facing. They don't see the Iraqi people the way we see them. They view them as untermenschen. They are not concerned about the Iraqi loss of life in the way the British are. Their attitude towards the Iraqis is tragic, it's awful.

'The US troops view things in very simplistic terms. It seems hard for them to reconcile subtleties between who supports what and who doesn't in Iraq. It's easier for their soldiers to group all Iraqis as the bad guys. As far as they are concerned Iraq is bandit country and everybody is out to kill them.'

I hope that our soldiers in Iraq are not being placed in another situation that can spawn another 'Tiger Force' incident. If they do, we will be paying for it for a long time. Because Iraq IS NOT like Vietnam. It is much more dangerous for us in its long term ramifications. It will not take 30 years for our mistakes to become known.  comment []5:27:11 PM    

O Canada; Oy Vey United States. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, it appears that Canadians, not Americans are more willing to innovate and take risks, at least in public policy. [AlterNet]

Almost makes you want to move to Canada. And with global warming, it will have a nicer climate.  comment []2:23:14 PM    

A Progressive Vision For a Divided Country. In this excerpt from her new book, Huffington calls for a clear, broad and accessible moral vision that answers the fundamental question: What sort of America do we want to live in? [AlterNet]

This is writing we need more of. As we move forward we are becoming 2 Americas, the Red and the Blue, and we seem to have politicians that are more and more devisive. Each group appears to be incapable of speaking to the other side.

But, we need leadership that can unite both sides. Perhaps if more people can find the middle we can get out of this situation we find ourselves in.  comment []2:18:40 PM