19 Marḥeshwan 5768: Halloween

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “No free ride for polluters”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Annapolis Game Plan”
  
• “Jurassic Park was right about 'raptors'”
  
• “Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin”
  
• “Guess who Europe's subsidizing?”
  
• “CBC Whitewashes Palestinian Prisoners”

Today’s weird thing is “The Atlas Mech Case Mod ”, which puts a new spin on the immortal words of Karl, “My computer can beat up your computer.” Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

18 Marḥeshwan 5768: National Tell A Story Day/Buy-A-Doughnut Day/World Solidarity Day For Missing Israeli Soldiers

Greetings.

Relevant to one of today’s quasi-holidays: “World Solidarity Day for the Kidnapped Soldiers”.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “The First Shuldig (1973)”
  
• “Call for a Presidential Debate on Science”
  
• “iPhone Fans Snag Displays, Create Life-Sized Costumes”
  
• “Saudi king raps UK anti-terror efforts” (Great example of the pot calling the kettle black.)
  
• “Former FEMA spokesman loses spy job”
  
• “Researchers sell butterfly naming rights”
  
• “Longest-Lived Animal Found -- Clam, 405”

Today’s weird thing is Apostrophe Abuse. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

17 Marḥeshwan 5768: Internet Day

Greetings.

Fake news: Medical researchers have warned of a new influenza strain. Those suffering from this virus are prone to perform martial arts moves in the style of Bruce Lee. As such, it is known as the kung flu.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “It Just Keeps Getting Worse”
  
• “Anti-cancer group holds concert on Everest slopes”
  
• “Disney's "Ratatouille" boosts demand for pet rats” (Submitted by Barry, who thinks rats make great pets.)

Today’s weird thing is the Real Wood iPod. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

16 Marḥeshwan 5768: Make a Difference Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation”
  
• “Seminars teach journalists how to behave as hostages”
  
• “Israel cuts fuel supplies to Gaza Strip” (Took long enough.)
  
• “'Iranians study nuclear physics in UK'”
  
• “Rookie nabs U.S. fugitive in Canada”
  
• “Persona non grata in Gaza”
  
• “Army sent after minks on the run”
  
• “Urban Legends Reference Pages: 'Marxist' Quotes from Hillary Clinton” (Even if one utterly hates Hillary Clinton, it only makes sense to hate her for her actually deeds and views, not views she does not subscribe to.)
  
• “The Science Education Myth” (This goes a long way to explain why it is taking so long for me to get a job.)
  
• “OLPC experiments with cow-powered laptops ... seriously” (I cannot make this up.)

Today’s weird thing is Evil Overlord, Inc. Enjoy and share the weirdness, even if you do not succeed in taking over the World.

Aaron

14 Marḥeshwan 5768: Mother-in-Law’s Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Trick or Treat?”
  
• “That's the spirit: Belief in ghosts high” (Not good.)
  
• “Study says some Neanderthals may have been redheads”
  
• “’55 ‘Origin of Life’ Paper Is Retracted” (Have to admire the man’s integrity.)
  
• “20 years on, world in dire straits, U.N. says”
  
• “UConn Health Debating Ban on Gifts ”
  
• “Recycling in Israel, Not Just Trash, but the Whole Dump”

Today’s weird thing is The Etch-A-Sketchist. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Worthy cause of the day: Crucial Time for Peace in Darfur”

Greetings.

Please sign “Crucial Time for Peace in Darfur” and tell President Bush and Secretary-General Ban to do something substantial to bring the genocide in Darfur to a halt. Politicians are not completely immune to popular opinion, no matter how obtuse and egocentric they are, so this is worth a shot. Thanks in advance.

Aaron

13 Marḥeshwan 5768: Punk For A Day Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Vote Solar”. Note: this is for Florida residents only.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Spain Repeals Expulsion (1991)”
  
• “A One-State Solution: Advocating Israel's Destruction”
  
• “Barak okays plan to cut power in Gaza for every rocket fired”
  
• “Urban Legends Reference Pages: Playground Bears”
  
• “States Set to Sue the U.S. Over Greenhouse Gases”
  
• “Texas Judge Draws Outcry for Allowing an Execution”
  
• “Humans not evolved for IT security”
  
• “Mass Extinctions Tied to Past Climate Changes”
  
• “Heavy Editing Is Alleged In Climate Testimony”
  
• “A Bid to Overhaul a Farm Bill Yields Subtle Changes”

Today’s weird thing is Wood Contour - Solid Wood and Stone Peripherals. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

12 Marḥeshwan 5768: United Nations Day/Take back your time day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Changing Times”
  
• “Parrot imitates fire alarm, saves family” (Submitted by Barry.)

Today’s weird thing is “How I Feed My Cats with Linux”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Worthy cause of the day: “Hold Lawbreakers Accountable”

Greetings.

Today’s worthy cause is the petition “Hold Lawbreakers Accountable”. Please sign and tell your Congresspeople that giving retroactive immunity to those who have committed illegal wiretapping is unacceptable. Thank you.

Aaron

11 Marḥeshwan 5768: National Mole Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Rabin Assassination (1995)”
  
• “Jesus was Jewish”
  
• “FACTBOX: Bush wants more war funds” (Considering that Bush has done a lousy job on the war and is unlikely to do anything to bring the violence to a halt—such as splitting Iraq into Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and Shiite Arab states—he should pay for the war out of his own pocket if he wants American involvement in it to continue.)
  
• “High prices draw criminals to copper wire”
  
• “Simple test can catch smokers who fib”
  
• “A tale of two decisions (or, how the FBI gets you to confess)”
  
• “Police capture escaped crayfish on street”
  
• “If it's any consolation, fish get insomnia too”
  
• “Home-made helicopters hit northern Nigeria” (I am impressed. Few people anywhere could do this.)
  
• “Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place”
  
• “How to build your own Sputnik”
  
• “Angling for iron ore in streams”
  
• “After fight, airport embraces SUX code” (Submitted by Barry. Good thing they have a sense of humor.)

Today’s weird thing is The Devil’s Dictionary X™, a successor to The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Enjoy and share the weirdness with the mole digging up your backyard.

Aaron

Worthy cause of the day: “Tell Congress To Pass A Clean Energy Bill”

Greetings.

Please sign the petition “Take Action: Tell Congress To Pass A Clean Energy Bill” and tell Congress to stop dillydallying and to something to improve the energy situation in the US. Thank you.

Aaron

10 MARḤESHWAN 5768: AARON AND BARRY’S BIRTHDAY ON THE JEWISH CALENDAR/INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY

GREETINGS.

IN CELEBRATION OF MY BIRTHDAY, I HEREBY BANISH ALL UNPOPULAR GOVERNMENTAL LEADERS THAT OUGHT TO HAVE THE SENSE TO STEP DOWN BUT FAIL TO DO SO TO THE ARABIAN DESERT, THUS BRINGING US ONE STEP CLOSER TO WORLD PEACE. (YES, I KNOW THAT NONE OF THEM WILL PAY ANY ATTENTION TO MY PRONOUNCEMENT, BUT THIS IS MY BLOG AND MY BIRTHDAY, AND I WILL DO AS I PLEASE.)

IT IS PRETTY OBVIOUS WHAT I AM DOING IN CELEBRATION OF TODAY’S OTHER QUASI-HOLIDAY.

TODAY’S NEWS AND COMMENTARY:

• “OPTIMISTS AND PESSIMISTS”
  
• “SCIENTISTS A STEP CLOSER TO STEERING HURRICANES”
  
• “FOOTBALL ROBOTS DON'T QUITE HAVE BECKS APPEAL”

TODAY’S WEIRD THING, SUBMITTED BY BARRY, IS “SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST”. ENJOY AND SHARE THE WEIRDNESS.

AARON

9 Marḥeshwan 5768: Babbling Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Protect Free Speech -- On Phones, the Internet, Everywhere!” and “Tell Members of the House who oppose CHIP: Our children are more important than the President's relevancy.”

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “Weizmann’s Answer”
  
• “Argentines 'auction' votes online”
  
• “Does fundamentalist religion cause the rejection of evolution? Or is it the other way around?”
  
• “When Is It Time To Get a New PC?”

Today’s weird thing, which Barry is totally responsible for, is “Trehernes On the Wings of a Dove”. Yes, that thing is actually a horse. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

7 Marḥeshwan 5768: Electricity Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Urge Senators To Support Key Divestment Bill”, “Tell Congress to Stop Big Media”, and “NO on Hans von Spakovsky”.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “Terror in Pakistan”
  
• “Bad News From the Netherlands”
  
• “On the catwalk with Chabad” and the program mentioned therein, Chabad Tube
  
• “China Mulls Communist Branch for Space ”
  
• “Chimps More Evolved Than Humans”
  
• “Tiny Creatures Rediscover the Joy of Sex”
  
• “Feminists (and their men) have more fun”
  
• “Chatty cavemen? Me Neanderthal, talk good”
  
• “Successful Malaria Vaccine Also Proves Effective in Infants”
  
• “Can Lucas be trusted with ‘Star Wars’ universe?”
  
• “Britain to recruit spies from video game”
  
• “ASU team detects earliest modern humans”
  
• “Scientist debunks nomadic Aborigine 'myth'”
  
• “Couple's dancing cockatoo becomes a star” with the video mentioned therein, “Snowball - Our Dancing Cockatoo”
  

Today’s weird thing, sent to me by a fellow PhD, is “Dalek's plans for world domination are thwarted”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

6 Marḥeshwan 5768: Jews for Jesus ask “Did Jesus even exist?”

Greetings.

Actually, today is a quasi-holiday, No Beard Day, not to mention my and Barry’s birthday on the Gregorian calendar. The title of today’s post is in commemoration of a new milestone on the Divine Misconceptions project. On Tuesday, I criticized the deceptively named “Jews for Jesus” over its deceptive advertising. Well, yesterday, a “Jew for Jesus” by the name of Moshe posted a comment criticizing my criticism. (Not particularly well, but criticize he did. I had no trouble driving him into the pavement.) I welcome all people and groups I criticize in my “divine misconception of the day” feature to criticize my criticism of them and even encourage their friends and associate to criticize my criticism, too. The goal of having a “divine misconception of the day” feature is to get text written which can be later incorporated into my book in progress, Divine Misconceptions: An Orange Catholic Necronomicon of Religious Fallacies and Misinformation, and criticism has the potential to uncover errors in my arguments so that they can be fixed or abandoned earlier rather than later. So, please, if you believe I am wrong on anything, leave a comment saying so and why.

And if you are wondering about the title of today’s post, it is of the same sort Jews for Jesus uses that I complained about on Tuesday. It is a deceptive truth, designed to sound like Jews for Jesus have turned traitor to Jewish-rite Christianity. Jews for Jesus really do ask “Did Jesus even exist?”—in their Questions & Answers section, where they proceed to give evidence (of whatever quality) that Jesus really did exist.

I would also like to honor the addition of a link to Jews for Judaism, the sworn nemesis of Jews for Jesus, to my sidebars.

Divine misconception of the day: “Parents use religion to avoid vaccines”. This article is not about poor-quality religious belief, but rather its equally bad mirror image, poor-quality nonreligious belief. Atheism and agnosticism, as ideologies, are supposed to be rational. Vaccination paranoia, in contrast, is a purely irrational fear. I have read many papers on the alleged connection between MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism, and all had the same conclusion: there is no association, period. One never, ever hears of any serious research finding vaccines causing anything bad other than allergic reactions. Considering the dangers of the diseases people are at very serious risk of getting if they are not vaccinated, the only valid reason to not vaccinate children is if they are allergic to eggs. That parents with no religious belief would not vaccinate their children is a betrayal of everything atheism and agnosticism are about. Worse yet is the fact that they lie, claiming to believe when they most certainly do not, in order to sidestep vaccination; atheism and agnosticism are supposed to be honest ideologies. Shame on these parents!

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Big Chill (1978)”
  
• “HRC Behind The Scenes”
  
• “Bill would let ID theft victims seek restitution”
  
• “Giant pillow fight mocks regional rivalry”
  
• “Spam reaches all-time high of 95% of all email”
  
• “Last year there were two trillion stalks of corn in Iowa, and most of it went to corn syrup”
  
• “Martian Volcanoes May Not be Extinct”

Today’s weird thing is “Water Cooling Computers With A Swimming Pool”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

5 Marḥeshwan 5768: Gaudy Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day #1: “Call on UN Security Council presidents to get UNAMID on the Ground in Darfur”. Yes, I know expecting the UN Security Council to do their job is like expecting elephants to tap-dance spontaneously, but if no one yells at them to do something about Darfur, they most certainly will do nothing.

Worthy cause of the day #2: “Support the Jubilee Act”. (At least the US Congress is somewhat responsive to public opinion.)

Divine misconception of the day: “Suit OK'd against anti-gay church group”. I was appalled that anyone would picket the funeral of a US soldier killed in Iraq with signs to the tune of “Thank God for dead soldiers", accusing US soldiers of immorality and their parents for raising them to be immoral. No matter how immoral soldiers may be in general and how immoral their parents raised them to be, unless the Westboro Baptist Church is committing violations of privacy, they cannot possibly know that this solider whose funeral they picketed was immoral and that his parents taught him to be immoral. On the contrary, this was a Roman Catholic funeral, which by default makes it improbable that the soldier was raised “for the devil” or that he was taught “defy his Creator, to divorce and to commit adultery”. Given the lack of any evidence of any immorality, the Wesboro Baptist Church is committing slander, making a moral judgement not founded in objective reality, and causing undeserved emotional trauma to the soldier’s family. This is blatantly against the New Testament (Matthew 7:12) and thus un-Christian. Jesus would be disgusted. Also, the idea that “the military's combat losses is a direct result of immoral behavior, including homosexuality, among its ranks” is not determinable. While the Hebrew Bible is filled with prophetic warnings that transgressions will have tragic consequences, the Book of Job makes it clear that the righteous can also suffer; thus tragedy cannot be assumed to be deserved.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Who Do You Trust?”
  
• “Some Palestinians prefer life in Israel”
  
• “In Lebanon, a comeback for cannabis”
  
• “Infection Killed 19,000 in 2005, Study Says”
  
• “Phone Companies Refuse to Provide Data on Spy Program”

Today’s weird thing, provided by Barry, is “Art of the Dinosauroids (Nemo Ramjet)”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

4 Marḥeshwan 5768: Dictionary Day/Reptile Awareness Day/Bosses’ Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Tell Toyota to get in gear on better gas mileage!”

Divine misconception of the day: “Watchdog bans ‘Jews for Jesus’ adverts”. Bluntly, “Jews for Jesus” is being downright deceptive. “Ten out of ten Jewish doctors recommend Jesus?” is not hyperbole. It is false advertising since the ten out of ten Jewish doctors are not a fraction from even a mediocre survey; they are a literal ten out of a literal ten Jewish doctors, all cherry-picked because they happen to have converted to “Jews for Jesus”. As such, it is completely statistically invalid, and if something this bad showed up in a paper I was reviewing, I would recommend the paper be outright rejected. Despite the organization’s claims that they did not mean for anyone to take the “ten out of ten” claim seriously and that they intended no offense, this is not the only time the organization has engaged in deceptive advertising; they have been sued by Jackie Mason for using his likeness and implying he was a Jew for Jesus (see “Press Release: Jews for Jesus and Jackie Mason”, “Jackie Mason Charges Against Jews For Jesus Denied By U.S. District Court”, and “Mason drops lawsuit vs. Jews for Jesus”). Furthermore, the way they do business in general is guaranteed to cause offense. “Jews for Jesus” is a form of Jewish-rite evangelical Christianity and is recognized as such by all major Orthodox Jewish and Reform Movement groups. The fact that Jewish rites have been added to Christianity theology in no way qualifies it as Judaism. After all, Christianity throughout its history has incorporated various pagan practices and beliefs (idolatry, deification of a human being, much of the practices of Easter and Christmas) without anyone claiming the religion now qualifies as paganism. The point of the camouflage in the first place is to trick ignorant Jews into converting to Christianity. While lying to unbelievers is not inherently religiously fallacious—some religions actually demand it—the fact that “Jews for Jesus” do so for non-emergency and ignoble reasons (i.e., no one is going to be murdered for being open that what they are preaching is Christianity) gives Jews every reason to distrust them and oppose them. Lying is also in violation of the New Testament (Colossians 3:9) and thus un-Christian.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “U.S. Secretary of State (1974)”
  
• “Gossip more powerful than truth” (This is disappointing.)
  
• This cruel parody video (with a hat-tip to Backspin):
  
  
• “Smokeless Tobacco Reduces Smoking Related Death”
  
• “U.S. Cancer Death Rate Continues to Fall”

Today's weird thing is a document made public by the Cybertonian Embassy-at-Large, delivered to me by a flying robot and included below. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

---

Dear Megatron,

I wasn't trained as a diplomat or a politician or anything like that, so I don't know how these official letters are supposed to sound. However, there have been some recent events you might care about, so here I go.

You probably know about the weird Army activity and stuff showing up on online sales that shouldn't be there and may be wondering why the FBI is poking around junkyards. It's a little complicated, so let me start at the beginning.

My parent is Wheeljack, one of the engineers among the Autobots. To be honest, that's being generous. On Cybertron, Wheeljack was a low-level spaceship technician who did some rather unpleasant cleaning jobs, and from the things he's said, I don't think he liked his boss. Tinkering for him was more of a hobby, one which the humans at the Groom Lake facility treated like he really knew something. At an early age I knew that when he threw together crazy gadgets, he really didn't understand much about how machines worked. I'm not any kind of genius, but with a little self-study in math and engineering and I quickly outpaced him. Not that I built any superweapons or anything. I was more interested in trying to understand our natural intelligence. I didn't get very far on my own, but humans have been working on their own version of the problem for much longer and still haven't figured it out either.

I wasn't just interested in mechanics, of course. Humans were always interesting, and after that stupid cartoon began airing it seemed like almost every Autobot was willing to do something stupid or humiliating to get human attention. My vehicular form wasn't fancy and I was something of a dork, so humans generally didn't care about me. But I was a stupid kid and tried making a fool of myself, but, frankly, all the humans at Groom Lake thought Optimus Prime and Bumblebee and whoever else was cool and everyone else could be forgotten.

The point where I started to do something really stupid was when there was one cartoon episode that dealt with "female Autobots." The whole thing was started accidentally when some human writer found out about a few Autobots who made themselves look vaguely like human women. These were at least second- and third-generation, a few trying to be different. The writer came to Groom Lake, poked around, and then wrote something which referenced a few real names and was otherwise total fluff fantasy. Suddenly Chromia and Moonracer topped Bumblee in the fan mail (mostly from adolescent human boys) and Elita One was furious someone had leaked her name.

Thanks to this, the younger Autobots started acting ridiculous. It wasn't just that there was suddenly a bunch of Autobots who decided that being female would get them a lot of human attention. The whole notion of "robots in disguise" idea was increasingly forgotten. The Dinobots were silly enough, but it was only then that the vehicle forms became obvious flashy concept cars with the whole point of attracting attention. Take Hot Rod, for instance. There aren't too many customized station wagons with painted flames on the hood.

Honestly, I wasn't any better than them. I like attention as much as the next robot, maybe even more than humans do. Wheeljack was pretty neglectful while he played with his gadgets, and with others in clear view getting gawked at by humans, the solution was pretty obvious. I designed a new vehicular form, new body plates, even whole new limbs. By the time I had rebuilt myself, there was barely a part of my outside that was the original. I was no longer a homely little robot who turned into a Dodge Dart. I now transformed into a sleek, futuristic convertible, and my humanoid form was very distracting to most of the Groom Lake humans. The new body felt like the remote control for one of those toy electronic cars, only this time it was humans I could move about, make them drool or hate me or do me little favors however I felt like it. That's why I renamed myself to something more fitting: Arcee.

I would have probably gone down a really nasty path if it hadn't been that cartoon movie. I got in it back when they arranged for some Hollywood humans to tour Groom Lake for "research." It was there I met Orson Welles, who went on to voice Unicron in the movie. He came by the building where Wheeljack and I had our workshop. Welles was very interested in extraterrestrials, so much so that many years ago, when the humans only broadcast audio transmissions, he played a practical joke where he broadcast fake news reports that extraterrestrials had invaded and were going on a destructive rampage. Somehow that there were real extraterrestrials that also wanted to protect humans pleased him, and we ended up talking for hours. Eventually he sent me a copy of his broadcast on an ancient device, the same kind they used to record data on the Voyager probes. He's probably one of the most interesting humans I've ever met.

I know how many humans have looked at me, both sexes. The human men tend to look at certain body parts below my face and sometimes drool. They're also supposed to like cars a lot, so I suppose I'm a cross between two different interests they have. When they get like this, they're not too interested in what I have to say. I've done a lot of the stupid stunts to get attention since then, which is pretty much a bad habit. But even when I pretended to be this shallow fool (humans react to this loudly for some reason), I know this is not everything I am, or even the most important part of me. We've been taught to dissociate, be one person around humans and another around our own kind, a difficult mix that for too many has been hard to keep up. It drove Optimus Prime mad and made many Autobot warriors think they were freedom fighters when they were nothing more than common thugs. Welles and a few humans like him helped me remember Arcee was a joke played on humans, and that there was a better part of me worth something.

As you know, someone decided to make a live-action movie about us, and the prospect made many young Autobots totally goofy. When you crave attention, you do almost anything, and that movie is a testament to our willingness to make total fools of ourselves for a little publicity, not to mention the humans' willingness to see anyone be foolish. We conform ourselves too much to be what others demand when our own interests and dignity should be important. Maybe someday I'll tell you some stories where I let the Arcee part get me in trouble, which if it happened to anyone else I'd find hilarious. This story won't be one of them.

Ironhide, the Autobot commander, is like the company that made that movie. You're just supposed to take it all in and accept it no matter how ridiculous it is. His logic is faulty and full of holes, just like an airhead plot full of idiots which serves as a lame excuse to put special effects on the screen. Just as you're expected to show up and pay and love it unconditionally, he expects us to support him no matter what. Refusal to do so is disloyal, unthinkable.

And yet we often think it. He's made too many mistakes. I don't like how he treats the humans. But I have to anyway.

At least until he did the truly unpalatable.

The rumors had been circulating for a while. Ironhide wasn't happy with life in the United States, thought it was time to leave. Where would we go? Russia? Saudi Arabia? China? India? (Personally I preferred Canada.) Everyone had their own theories, but there was this one night when we found out, and it wasn't pretty. The story that came down semiofficially was that Ironhide thought the United States was in decline, so we would ally ourselves with the country's archenemy, a state which had stood up to the United States and the whole planet and remained defiant. That is, we would be moving to Iran.

As the news spread, this did not go over well. Aside from the ingratitude to the United States for sheltering us for many decades, many Autobots, young and old, hated the idea. Most of us were quite bound to the culture and values of the United States, and some of what we had learned of Iran would require us to adapt in ways we would find unpalatable. And President Ahmadenijad is so obviously disturbed and dishonest that few of us felt he could be trusted, even less so than President Bush.

And yet, because Ironhide is the Autobot commander, we have to reach consensus by doing what he says. Or at least that was the old way for the Autobots. But the younger generations, infected as we are by everything else Earthling, have absorbed some fundamentally un- and anti-Autobot ideas. It went badly.

Many months ago, at a screening of that stupid movie in San Francisco, Hot Rod thrashed Elita One and suddenly became an enemy of the Autobots. So said Ironhide. What Ironhide says goes. Even if Hot Rod thought what so many others felt. He was quickly scheduled for execution at Groom Lake, stood up to be melted down in the furnace of death into scrap, the way too many freethinkers had already had gone. Ironhide showed up and made a long, ridiculous speech, was set to push the button. And then I showed up with this enormous gun which I claimed duplicated your arm canon. And I fired on Ironhide to prove it.

In all honesty, I have no idea how that canon works. The Autobots (and the United States government) would love to know how Cybertonian plasma weapons work, but no Autobot really knows how; attempts at reverse-engineering from the few samples we had haven't worked terribly well. What I really hacked together was a spray gun that shot out vintage jellied gasoline from the United States-Vietnam War. Ironhide might have been better off if he'd been hit by a regular plasma weapon as the napalm stuck and kept burning and really freaked out the humans on the base.

And then a small battle broke out. I got fired at, others fired back, and soon most of the Autobots were fighting each other. I can't really describe what happened well, it was a mess. I sprayed much of the robots around Hot Rod, and as they ran about in flames I got him down and tried getting him to safety. A lot of younger Autobots were on our side, and the old guard were fighting hard, and the Dinobots and Powerglide were with them instead of us, and quite a few were getting killed. I shooed the rebels back and told them to transform and roll out as I napalmed Powerglide and then ran out of jellied gasoline. I transformed and actually passed between Ultra Magnus's legs in making my escape, during which the humans were totally dumbfounded and Grimlock nearly stomped on me. If it wasn't for them needing to put out all the flaming robots, we might have been stopped.

I won't tell you everything about what happened next. It's not important and some of it would reveal too much. What I can say is we're now in hiding and have enough trouble as it is. We are no longer Autobots; we are now all Autobrats, and the Autobots are hunting us. So is the United States military. We've even seen an agent or two of that Cobra organization looking for us. Not that they will find us easily. You may have noticed the online ads for genuine Autobot parts popping up, by now passed through so many hands it's absurd. All of our reformattings are dull and common, none of us wears a symbol. If they want us, they will have to work for it.

Earth is our home. We have never known Cybertron and would be lost there. Even with this planet against us, we will not be like the Autobots, fleeing when things become unpleasant. The Autobrats will stay and fight for what we want, for what we believe in. And in pursuit of our freedom, we are willing to make an offer. So long as you leave us alone, we will return the favor. Heck, since we have a common enemy, we'll be happy to help you capture the Autobots and bring them to justice.

As an example of our goodwill, you'll find the hunk of metal this note is attached to is the Autobot special operations head Jazz. He's quite a warrior, but, as you'll notice, he's pretty helpless with his tires slashed and his shell wrapped in duct tape. And we'll be happy to gift-wrap any other Autobots we find for you. There'll be no trying to rule the planet or anything like that. All we ask is you let us stay on the only home we've ever known.

Sincerely yours,

Arcee, Autobrat Commander

2 Marḥeshwan 5768: World Standards Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “Finish the fence”
  
• “Vatican publishes Knights Templar papers”
  
• “New Portrait Made of Pluto and its Moons ”
  
• “Homeless man is chess king of Washington”
  
• “Japanese officials battle through "samurai" diet”
  
• “FDA approves anti-AIDS pill from Merck”

Today’s weird thing is What's That Bug?. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

30 Tishri 5768: Ro’sh Ḥodhesh

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Help Ramp Up The Pressure To Divest”.

Weather forecast of the day: “On Titan, A Dreary Drizzle”

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “The Nightmare Continues” (You would think that politicians that most people hate would have the sense to relinquish power voluntarily rather than be remembered as big jerks.)
  
• “Al Gore, UN share Nobel Peace Prize for climate work” (Political forecast: a strong push very soon to “draft” Al Gore as the Democratic candidate.)
  
• “In U.S. Poll, Most Fail a Quiz on Global Causes of Child Deaths”
  
• “Makers Pull Infant Cold Medicines”
  
• “Baby sea turtles will return to the ocean tomorrow”
  
• “Tree-frog inspires new super glue in India”
  
• “Inauguration Day for Alien Signal-Hunting Telescope ”
  
• “Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs”
  
• “With Grace Period Over, Compliance Is Seen With Trans Fat Ban”
  
• “1,000 rockets and mortars fired since Hamas takeover”
  
• “What would you do before the end of the world?”
  
  

Today’s weird things, courtesy of Barry, are “10 dumbest resume blunders” and “10 dumbest job-interview moves”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, Shabbath shalom, and happy new month.

Aaron

29 Tishri 5768: It’s My Party Day (and I’ll cry if I want to)

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

“Failure to Disclose”

• “Origin of Cosmic Rays Confirmed ”
  
• “Use It or Lose It: Why Language Changes over Time”
  
• “A bad relationship can cause heart attack?”
  
• “Hackers could skew US elections”
  
• “Judge Blocks Bush Measure on Illegal Workers”
  
• “Bush Rushes in to Defend Illegal Telco Spying”
  
• “Most states expanding health programs for the poor”
  
• “Africa: Fifteen Years of Conflicts Have Cost Around $300 Billion” (Don’t forget the human cost, too.)

Today’s weird thing is Crazy J, a guitar-playing machine. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

28 Tishri 5768: National Angel Food Cake Day

Greetings.

Divine misconception of the day: “Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church”. I do not need to say anything on this one. The critics have it right in disapproving of using the violent game Halo as part of their outreach due to the huge gap between the game and Christian morality.

Special bonus obvious divine misconception: “Thou shalt not steal -- especially the Bible”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “the Bright Side”
  
• “Commission of Inquiry (1981)”
  
• “Scientists Design New Space Currency” (Wait a minute... What’s wrong with credit cards?)
  
• “The 'Star of David' brand”
  
• “Cosmic Factories Produce Rubies and Sapphires ”
  
• “Astronomy Students Find 1,300 Asteroids ”
  
• “Arab-Israeli Fatalities Rank 49th”
  
• “PCHR Publishes “Black Days in the Absence of Justice: Report on Bloody Fighting in the Gaza Strip from 7 to 14 June 2007””

Today’s weird thing is “True art, or a fake?”. I got 83% right on the quiz, much to my surprise. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

27 Tishri 5768: National Poetry Day/Leif Erickson Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Birds of a Feather”
  
• “Hillary Clinton on science”
  
• “Polar Bear Plays with Sled Dogs”
  
• “The weight of words: 'Intifada' and 'jihad' pack a punch”
  
• “When Your Most Significant Other is a Computer” (Submitted by Erin.)

Today’s weird thing is Stuff On My Cat. Enjoy and share the weirdness with the cat in your life.

Aaron

26 Tishri 5768: Columbus Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “Report: Scientists Create New Life Form in Lab”
  
• “Book now for the flight to nowhere”
  
• “On stage in Jerusalem, Jewish and Arab audiences hear the other side of the story – in their own language” (Interesting approach.)
  
• “Purpose of appendix believed found”
  
• “The trouble with herbals”
  
• “Don’t invent, evolve”
  
• “Egyptian police, Sinai protesters clash”
  
• “Bar gossip leads to nasty surprise for couple”
  
• “The flip-side of the refugee issue”

Today’s weird thing is “Not So Grand Cliche List”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

25 Tishri 5768: Bathtub Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Peacekeepers attacked - act now!”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Top Five Republican Gay Sex Scandals”
  
• “How the capital of the Galilee housed the Sanhedrin”
  
• “Indonesia aims to plant 79 million trees”
  
• “Crows bend twigs into tools to find food”
  
• “Biologists aim to wipe out "Rat Island"”
  
• “Though colder than Earth, Titan is tropical in nature”
  
• “Turkish envoy warns against U.S. genocide resolution”
  
• “Giant spider moves to Thames”

Today’s weird thing is Lobster Petting X 1.5. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

21 Tishri 5768: Hosha‘na’ Rabba’/National Computing Day

Greetings.

Note: Tomorrow and Friday will be Shemini ‘Asereth and Simhath Torah. As such, there will be no posts until Sunday.

Worthy cause of the day: “Protect Free Speech -- On Phones, the Internet, Everywhere!”

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Defenseless”
  
• “Israel Finally Refutes Al-Dura”
  
• “World's most boring TV show to measure energy use”
  
• “homecoming costume”
  
• “Gibson's Self-Tuning Guitar”
  
• “Galaxy Garden ”
  
• “Scientists amazed at fish tag journey”
  
• “UNHCR Says More People On the Move”
  
• “From heart-broken to broke? Japan divorce loan helps”
  
• “Iran dam sparks row about ancient Persian relic”
  
• “Huge Stockpile of Oxygen Found Deep Inside Earth”
  
• “Questions raised over terror exercise”
  
• “Brain Stains”

Barry suggested today’s weird thing, Doctor Who And The Daleks Cartoons. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and hagh sameah.

Aaron

20 Tishri 5768: Ḥol hamMo‘edh Sukkoth/Name Your Car Day

Greetings.

In honor of today’s pseudo-holiday, I name my car “the Ugly Gray Thing”.

I would also like to thank Emily, who has been sending me lists of weird holidays to supplement my iCal calendars.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Craziness (1997)”
  
• “Photo in the News: See-Through Frog Bred in Japan”
  
• “The Islamist Head Fake”
  
• “Saber-Toothed Cat Had Weak Bite, Digital Model Says”
  
• “Slimy Salamanders Caught Crossbreeding” (Submitted by Barry.)

Today’s weird thing is something silly Barry forwarded to me. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and hagh sameah.

Aaron

---

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her, ‘‘I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.”

She got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out my wine.

19 Tishri 5768: Ḥol hamMo‘edh Sukkoth/World Vegetarian Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “What's Next?”
  
• “Mainstreaming Judaism”
  
• “His Noodliness reigns unchallenged in Hampden”
  
• “57 Palestinian prisoners head home” (What the gezornenblat is ’Olmert thinking?)
  
• “Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?”
  
• “Bush Administration Pushes Climate Change Action into the Future” (For shame!)
  
• “Water forms floating 'bridge' when exposed to high voltage”
  
• “What's So Precious About Bad Software?”
  
• “Alabama Governor Blocking DNA Testing Before Execution” (What the gezornenblat is he thinking?)

Today’s weird thing, courtesy of Barry, is “Animator vs. Animation”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron