Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Abu Ghraib: A Cheery Place?? Um, no, this is not the same as what cheerleaders do. Cheerleaders work together voluntarily to perform the acrobatics and cheers that they do. Even in the case of human pyramids, the folks on the bottom volunteer to support the others. To compare this with the abuses discovered at Abu Ghraib... well, ok, here is the difference: Cheerleaders do their antics by choice Cheerleaders are not in prison and are in control of their own actions Cheerleaders do not have guns pointed at them Cheerleaders do not have sacks over their heads Cheerleaders are not naked (when they are cheerleading) Cheerleaders are not humiliated by others who order them to do something Cheerleaders may choose to not perform the human pyramid Cheerleaders know that they will not be killed in the next hour or so Cheerleaders are not forcibly deprived of sleep Cheerleaders have access to lawyers in the event that they are accused of a crime Cheerleaders have access to family and friends, who know where they are So, you see, there are a few differences. 7:39:52 AM     First picture of planet outside our solar system How many humans can claim to be alive when this sort of event happens...? Hubble Snaps Photo of Extrasolar Planet. iamlucky13 writes "Space.com has reported that a Hubble Space Telescope photo supports with a very high degree of confidence that a picture taken by the European Space Observatory does indeed show an extrasolar planet. As many readers know, planets outside our solar system are typically found by watching for wobbles in a star's orbit or for dimming caused by the planet crossing in front of its star. The ESO and Hubble images would represent the 1st and 2nd times that planets outside our solar system have been directly detected. The planet is about 5 times as massive as Jupiter and orbits a brown dwarf a little farther out than Pluto orbits our own sun." [Slashdot] 7:17:31 AM

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