Web Miscellany

Chas has joined the local volunteer fire department and thinks he may get called to duty during today's Red Flag alert. Early this morning I saw a couple of Army Blackhawk helicopters headed south to help fight a big fire at Ft. Carson.

Cowboy poets get a fair amount of press - Baxter Black used to be on NPR all the time. I must admit I've never heard anything about fisher poets. Maybe I just live in the wrong part of the country.

Tough economic times bring a rise in homeless horses.

A new moon has been discovered orbiting Saturn, hiding in one of the rings. That brings the total up to 61, I believe. In grade school, I remember just trying to keep straight that Saturn had eight moons and Jupiter twelve.

People are coming out of the woodwork all claiming to own this 840 pound emerald. Where do I sign up? That's like 1.9 million carats if my math is correct.

Wild boars (and other critters) are terrorizing Germans. Yes that's b - o - a - r - s.

The fact that we even have to have "Good Samaritan" Laws speaks volumes about our modern culture.

Just as conditions seem to have stabilized some in Iraq, the southern marshes are under threat again. Probably just as well that Wilfred Thesiger has gone to his reward.

Some industrial archaeology has unearthed a bottle of the first batch of plutonium, vintage 1944. Someone call the Atomic Nerds.

Booming business, collecting dead people's debts from bereaved relatives who have no legal obligation to pay them. I'm at a loss for words.

An octopus disassembles a valve in her aquarium tank and floods the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. Amazing what you can do without opposable thumbs.