We’re all going to die before they get to turn on the Large Hadron Collider

Our good ol’ fission bombs will have done us in long before CERN starts smashin’ atoms next year.
A fire at a nuclear missle launch silo caused $1.4million in damage in May, but wasn’t discovered until five days afterwards. Seriously:

A fire at a US nuclear missile launch site burned itself out and was undetected for five [...]

Somali rape victim stoned to death before “crowd of thousands”

Via NYT, though I’ve reporduced the entirety of the report:
A woman was stoned to death for adultery on Monday in an Islamist-controlled region of Somalia. Somali human rights officials said the woman, 23, had been raped, but the Islamist authorities determined that she was guilty of adultery. She was buried up to her neck and [...]

“Rape is not something we’d be allowed to discuss within our community”

The BBC reports on a woman who said her imam tried to talk her out of reporting sexual abuse by her father.

Do they even know what “wench” means?

 
I’m not in any position to judge 9-year-olds’ clothing, but is there anything objectionable in the dress in of itself?
Oh, and the “they” in the headline refers to the marketers of the above product. It would perhaps be disheartening if a 9-year old knew the definition of “wench.”
Also, a commentor did more poking around Hallowween [...]

Obama’s 8 p.m. Eastern-Standard Time infomercial tonight: As if anyone has time

I know I don’t.
But does anyone else think it’s a little much dropping $3 million on a prime time slot to rehash talking points? Unless he’s got some October suprise in store. Oo! Do we finally get to see those drapes he’s been measuring for the Oval Office? McCain’s been harping about those for months, [...]

California Rep. race gets fugly

Wait until the 30 second marker:

Also, to any California readers: Vote no on Prop. 8, please.

An inaguration: Impossible Question Tuesday

Is it better to be fired from a horrible job or to quit?

Tribune publishes chiding column on “sexy Halloween”

            And here it is. A highlight:

…Let me say I’m all for the fun of the holiday, and every year I see costumes on campus that make me smile with their originality or hilarity. I hope you all enjoy a fun and safe Halloween in a costume you can enjoy yourself in, while perhaps giving some extra [...]

Evangelical teens have sex eariler, use less contraceptives

Via the elitist New Yorker:
 …According to Add Health data, evangelical teen-agers are more sexually active than Mormons, mainline Protestants, and Jews. On average, white evangelical Protestants make their “sexual début”—to use the festive term of social-science researchers—shortly after turning sixteen. Among major religious groups, only black Protestants begin having sex earlier.
Another key difference in behavior, [...]

AL Sen. Ted Stevens found guilty on ethics charges

That’s on all seven charges. That charmer had accepted innapropriate gifts from an oil contractor, including free home rennovations. His road to redemption won’t be a truck ride; spend the next few years winding through the series of tubes that are the bowels of the US justice system.
Incidentially, one of his fundraising 527’s was run by Sarah Palin. She’s a reformer!