What Caught My Eye Today

U.S. Military - The Bush administration plans to announce that U.S. soldiers' combat tours will be reduced from 15 months to 12 months in Iraq and Afghanistan beginning later this summer. The move to shorter deployments has been pushed by Gen. George Casey, Army chief of staff, as a way to reduce the strain on troops battered by long and repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that goal has been hindered by the ongoing security demands in Iraq. Top military leaders made it clear to President Bush in a closed-door meeting late last month that they are worried about the war's growing strain on troops and their families. Don't you just hate when reality gets in the way of a perfectly good war? Speaking of reality sucking... In a related move Friday, Democrats signaled that they don't see much hope in ending the Iraq war this year so long as Bush insists U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers. And how long did it take these rocket scientists to figure this out? Since Democrats lack a veto-proof majority, they have repeatedly failed to force Bush to accept any anti-war legislation, including one measure supported by many Republicans that would have required that troops spend more time at home between combat tours. And Congressional leaders wonder why their approval ratings are stuck in the cellar. Here's a radical idea. Seeing as the voting public put you in office in the first place, maybe you could see fit to actually doing what the public wants. A foreign concept to the White House, to be certain, but you guys got in on the promise of change. So change something, will you?

Doomsday - Sounds kind of ominous, don't it? Relax, it's probably much ado about nothing. Still one wonders... A scientist in Hawaii has filed a federal lawsuit seeking a stop-work order on the Large Hadron Collider, contending that it could conceivable create a black hole and swallow up the Earth. That would be bad. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator and Hadron collider located at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland. It is currently in the final stages of construction. The LHC will become the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator.[2] The LHC is being funded and built in collaboration with over two thousand physicists from thirty-four countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. When activated, it is theorized that the collider will produce strangelets, micro black holes, magnetic monopoles and supersymmetric particles. Other than black holes, the rest of this stuff is completely foreign to me. Click here if you are interested in more information. As for me, if the Armageddon is just around the corner, I've got to get busy on some serious benders in the penthouse suite at some high-end Vegas resort.

Education- Here's another indication of just how much America's educational system has deteriorated. Students at the University of Texas drew up an "honor code," in which they pledged not to cheat or commit plagiarism. Seems harmless enough, even noble, doesn't it. The students accomplished this by copying an honor code in effect at Brigham Young University, which itself was copied from one at Clemson University. There is a saying that suggests imitation is a form of flatter, but I guess that doesn't apply in this case.

Fish - Scientists are developing a farm-bred fish that can be released into the open sea after being trained to swim back when it's time to be turned into food. The farmed black sea bass hear an underwater tone every time they're fed, conditioning them to swim toward the tone whenever it is sounded. The plan is to train the bass long enough that they'll remember the tone after weeks or months of feeding and growing in the open see. In theory, when the sound is sett off, they'll swim back to an underwater cage and be caught. If the experiment works, aquaculturists could raise better-tasting fish more cheaply, with less food and waste. Is it just me or is this whole idea more than just a little bit creepy? First of all, there is this whole "step into the light" metaphor that keeps popping into my head. And let's suppose this notion actually works. What's to stop someone from trying to duplicate the same behavior with more sophisticated life forms, like say humans. I'm not sure that would be too difficult to pull off. People can be rather susceptible to a herd mentality--monkey see, monkey do.

Music - First Mariah Carey tops Elvis for #1 hits, and now Rick Astley is making a comeback. Dude, maybe that black hole isn't such a bad idea after all. It's been more than 20 years since Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" topped the Billboard Hot 100, but it is once again infiltrating the public consciousness thanks to the phenomenon known as "RickRolling." I swear that I only report the stuff; I don't make it up. Around March 2007, bloggers and online social networkers started casually linking to the song's nostalgically '80s music video via YouTube. RickRolling was a psych-out for readers who would click on tantalizing hyperlinks, only to fall prey to a young Astley's blonde bouffant and idiosyncratic dance moves. They're kidding, right? The movement has spurred digital sales for the track, which has sold at least 1,000 downloads per week since late December and peaked with 2,500 sales the week of March 9. On April Fools' Day, YouTube RickRolled users by linking to the video on all of its home-page features. Other online outlets like Sports Illustrated and Live Journal followed suit. Altogether, the video was viewed 6.6 million times in one day, generating 43,000 user comments and boosting the track to No. 77 at Amazon's download store. Oh my God, they aren't. That's it. I cannot take anymore. Fred has left the building.