Charismatic megafauna rights update

Knut may not be "mega" yet, but he's got the "charismatic" part down. More pictures and videos of the latest and fluffiest ethical arglebargle at Reuters.

Cute animal rights

My reaction to reading this (very short) article on Reuters:

I realize that it just because it's a cuddly wittle polar bear, but Herr Albrecht's assertion that it's an animal's "right" to be left to die and/or killed hacks me off.

(It is a really cute little bear, isn't it?)

Get ready for Pi Day

3.1415926... Take the first few digits, and it looks like March 14th. Some people go even further and say that you should celebrate at 1:59pm, but I don't know about that. a) It invites arguments over 12 versus 24-hour time format, or the unpleasant suggestion that one should celebrate at 1:59am. b) It's pi, dude. It describes the size of every circle ever, plus showing up in standard probability distributions and Buffon's needle problem - it's earned a whole day.

News I'd rather not use

Blues Traveler used to be one of my favorite bands, if not the outright #1, and though I sort of lost track of them after their fifth album, I still think they're pretty groovy. Then I read this in the Express this morning:

Blues Traveler's John Popper was arrested after the SUV he was in was clocked going 111 mph, the Washington State Patrol said Wednesday. Officers found marijuana, four rifles, nine handguns, a switchblade, a Taser and night-vision goggles. He told troopers the items were to prevent him from being "left behind" in the event of a natural disaster.

This doesn't change the music, but it's such an strange, unsettling image that I'm afraid it may be permanently associated with the band in my mind.

Bring out the Sky Zamboni

Getting off the MARC train tonight, I looked up to see twenty or thirty con trails crossing the sky. I'd never seen so many, most of them stretching from one horizon to the other. Apparently they decided to turn off high-altitude wind today. Whatever the reason, it was striking. I'm a relic without a camera built into my mobile, so you don't get a picture, but I'm not sure that a picture - at least one that I could take - would do it justice.

But speaking of Zambonis, Kerry's taking me to a Capitals game tomorrow night. C-A-P-S, Caps, Caps, Caps!