Neal Stephenson discusses the latest Star Wars film in this New York Times op-ed column:

"In sum, very little of the new film makes sense, taken as a freestanding narrative. What's interesting about this is how little it matters. Millions of people are happily spending their money to watch a movie they don't understand. What gives?"

Fred Kaplan explains what's really in the Downing Street Memos in this Slate article.

Thanks to the internet, you can now keep track of movies long before production has started. Done Deal lists scripts and pitches that have been bought by a Hollywood studio, while Query Letters I Love gives examples of scripts that hopefully will never be bought by a Hollywood studio.

Are you having trouble keeping track of all the Republican scandals? The Carpetbagger Report provides this helpful summary of revelations about the Bush White House just from last week. As the blog explains, "Any one of these stories could prompt congressional hearings, investigations, and massive media attention. They won't, of course, but they could."

This San Diego Union-Tribune article will help you get an early start on next week's Republican scandals:

"A defense contractor with ties to Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham took a $700,000 loss on the purchase of the congressman's Del Mar house while the congressman, a member of the influential defense appropriations subcommittee, was supporting the contractor's efforts to get tens of millions of dollars in contracts from the Pentagon."

"President's George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian."

A new book called The Rock Snob's Dictionary and its associated website, Snobsite.com were created to provide information on Rock Snobs and the music they love. I haven't read the book, but the website is amusing. This page explains who the authors consider a Rock Snob and the history of Rock Snobbery. This page includes excerpts from the book.

Joshua Foer discusses what its like to survive being struck by lightning in this Slate article.

In this American Prospect article, Michael Tomasky explains why, on everything from David Rosen to Mark Felt to Pol Pot, conservatives try to rewrite history to their advantage.

Follow this link to play Pac-Mondrian.

"Pac-Mondrian closes the perceptual distance between fine art and video games by combining Piet Mondrian's Modernist masterpiece 'Broadway Boogie Woogie' with Toru Iwatani's classic video game Pac-Man."

The Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau invested $50 million in two rare coin funds controlled by a Republican Party fund-raiser. Now $13 million of the state's investment is missing along with more than 100 of the rare coins. The Toledo Blade broke the story and provides extensive coverage in this article. This New York Times article gives a shorter summary of the scandal.

Here are three articles with more information on yesterday's announcement that Mark Felt was the secret source who provided the Washington Post with information on the Watergate scandal. First, Bob Woodward finally tells the story of his relationship with the source he called "Deep Throat" in this Washington Post article. Second, this New York Times article discusses the intrigue behind yesterday's announcement. Finally, in this Baltimore Sun article, John Woestendiek explains who was right and who was wrong in guessing "Deep Throat's" identity.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Dialect Survey asked 122 questions to determine "an accurate picture of how English is used." This page lists the questions with links to maps of the responses to questions like:

What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on?

What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school? (The correct answer is, of course, a. bubbler.)

Which of these terms do you prefer for a sale of unwanted items on your porch, in your yard, etc.? (I've never heard of it before, but from now on I'm using Jumble.)

In this Slate article, Neal Pollack explains how the Phoenix Suns saved the NBA.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan or BTC pipeline opened today. BTC, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, took $4B and 10 years to build and is a monument to the politics of oil. As this Asia Times article explains, the BTC pipeline is part of the struggle for the control of the resources of Central Asia.

Matt Zoller Seitz discusses the history of martial arts films in this New York Press article.

In this New York Times column, doctor and author Robin Cook explains why the success of the Human Genome Project may lead to "the inevitable movement to universal health care."

This Wired article discusses films that influenced George Lucas. According to the article:

"The film that made the most profound impression on Lucas, however, was a short called 21-87 by a director named Arthur Lipsett, who made visual poetry out of film that others threw away. Working as an editor at the National Film Board, he scavenged scraps of other people's documentaries from trash bins, intercutting shots of trapeze artists and runway models with his own footage of careworn faces passing on the streets of New York and Montreal."

The article explains that:

"One of the audio sources Lipsett sampled for 21-87 was a conversation between artificial intelligence pioneer Warren S. McCulloch and Roman Kroitor, a cinematographer who went on to develop Imax. In the face of McCulloch's arguments that living beings are nothing but highly complex machines, Kroitor insists that there is something more: "Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of force, or something, behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God."

When asked if this was the source of "the Force," Lucas confirms that his use of the term in Star Wars was "an echo of that phrase in 21-87."

Edward Jay Epstein explains why the weekly box office grosses "have little real significance other than to measure the effectiveness of the studios' massive expenditures on ads" in this Slate article.

As part of Slate's History Week, David Greenberg discusses the differences between academic historians and popular historians in this Slate article.

Las Vegas is 100 years old this year. To celebrate, the BBC presents a pictorial history of Las Vegas called In pictures: Viva Las Vegas. Do not miss picture 6.

In this Nation article, Garrison Keillor discusses his love of radio, even right-wing talk radio:

"I enjoy, in small doses, the over-the-top right-wingers who have leaked into AM radio on all sides in the past twenty years. They are evil, lying, cynical bastards who are out to destroy the country I love and turn it into a banana republic, but hey, nobody's perfect."

In this New Yorker article, Elizabeth Kolbert explains what can be done, and what is and isn't being done about global warming.

Tim Grieve explains Everything you wanted to know about the "nuclear option" in this Salon article.

"What's the "nuclear option"?

It's Frist's plan to change the Standing Rules of the Senate in order to prohibit Democrats from using the filibuster to block votes on Bush's judicial nominees. Under the current rules, senators in the minority can indefinitely delay a floor vote on judges -- or on just about anything else, for that matter -- by engaging in extended debate . . . With the nuclear option, Frist and his supporters would effectively change that rule so that filibusters on judicial nominees could be cut off by a simple majority vote."

Malcolm Gladwell discusses whether popular culture makes you smarter in this New Yorker article.

In this Slate article Jacob Weisberg explains how the Republicans have developed the unusual political philosophy he calls "interest-group conservatism":

"One might have expected that once in command, conservative politicians would work to further reduce Washington's power and bury the model of special-interest-driven government expansion for good. But one would have been wrong. Instead, Republicans have gleefully taken possession of the old liberal spoils system and converted it to their own purposes. The result is the curious governing philosophy of interest-group conservatism: the expansion and exploitation of government by people who profess to dislike it."

In 2002 major league baseball agreed to new economic rules designed to improve baseball's financial viability. One of these new rules, called the debt service rule, "ties the amount of debt a team is allowed to carry to its cash flow." As this Washington Post article explains "whether intentional not, the debt service rule has had another effect: Since player payroll is by far a team's largest expense, many debt-ridden teams found the best way to get in compliance with the rule was to shed payroll and limit spending." The debt service rule is reining in the free spending of the New York Yankees.

Are you looking for something to do this weekend? How about The Time Traveler Convention at MIT?

The Daily Show's Steven Colbert is getting his own show called The Colbert Report.

In this Washington Post column, E. J. Dionne explains the current debate in Congress over social security and advises the Democrats that its time to leave the table:

"Walking away from a rigged game is hard for some people, especially when those running it and the respected opinion-makers who support them insist that this time the game will truly be on the level. But, especially when the danger involves gambling away the future of Social Security, the truly responsible thing is to leave the table."

In this New York Times Magazine article, Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, follows two minor league baseball players as they try to learn to hit with power.

This St. Petersburg Times article profiles the writers of the Onion and discusses the process they use to write each issue:

"DiCenzo types a list of headlines that made the cut: 30 about the pope and 60 others. At 7 p.m., the writers gather around the table, the last glimmers of sunshine fading.

"We have a lot of good, solid pope jokes," says Garden.

They agree on "Pope's Renal System Proves Fallible" and "John Paul II's Last Words: "Pope Sled,"' their riff on the Citizen Kane "Rosebud" line. They also like "Pope-Killing Virus Claims Another Victim."

They decide against "Make 10 Billion Commemorative Plastic Items" because it's similar to their recent story about NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.

They choose three for the Web site and pick "Heaven Not As Opulent" for the lead pope story in their next issue."

Thomas Frank explains why the Democrats don't understand the culture backlash and why it cost them the 2004 election in this article from the New York Review of Books.

In this Newsweek column, Jonathan Alter explains why he thinks House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should stay in his post until the 2006 election:

"DeLay's views on muscling the judiciary and ending the separation of church and state (which he believes is a fiction) offend the Constitution. That makes it too important to leave to the media and the rest of the Washington scandal machine to remedy. This job belongs to the voters, who can hammer the Hammer by siding against his many acolytes in Congress. Let's make 2006 a referendum on the right wing. For that, DeLay must stay."

Edward Jay Epstein tells you "How To Finance a Hollywood Blockbuster" in this Slate article.


"As paradoxical and absurd as it sounds, it's cheaper for a Hollywood studio to make a big-budget action movie than to make a shoestring art film like Sideways. Consider Paramount's 2001 action flick Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. On paper, Tomb Raider's budget was $94 million. In fact, the entire movie cost Paramount less than $7 million."

Elizabeth Kolbert explains how global warming is changing the arctic in this New Yorker article.

I've added Metafilter to the blog roll on the right side of Blogenheimer. Metafilter is a community weblog with many members since anyone can join and contribute a link or a comment. I almost always find something interesting there.

According to this Globe and Mail article, Bobby Clarke, a ferry operator from Northern Manitoba may have video taped bigfoot:

"What he captured, according to his sister, Sharness Henry, is the image of a massive creature that stands eight, nine, maybe 10 feet (three metres) tall, walking along the edge of the water through some bulrushes. Near the end of the video, the creature turns and appears to stare into the camera, but the details of its face are impossible to make out.

"He's really hairy," Ms. Henry said."

As part of its series of discussions about "the present and future of the Democratic Party" Salon interviews Brian Schweitzer, the Democratic Governor of Montana.

"The future is wearing a turquoise bolo tie wrapped around the open collar of a blue-and-white-striped button-down dress shirt. And if that doesn't sound quite right, then you haven't considered the mismatched gray suit coat or the blue jeans and boots down below. Meet Brian Schweitzer, the soil sciences major who grew up to be the governor of Montana -- and may be the next best hope of the Democratic Party."

Sasha Frere-Jones discusses the reunion of the band Slint in this New Yorker article.

Web Zen presents 10 ways to kill time on the internet including games like Shootin' Starz and Notepad Invaders.

In this New York Times article, Edmund Andrews explains the potential dangers of the alternative minimum tax:

"Baffling in its complexity and often bizarre in its impact, the alternative minimum tax is a giant undeclared tax increase that will ensnare tens of millions of moderate-income families in the next several years."

This Slate article explains how names become popular:

"Once a name catches on among high-income, highly educated parents, it starts working its way down the socioeconomic ladder. Amber, Heather, and Stephanie started out as high-end names. For every high-end baby given those names, however, another five lower-income girls received those names within 10 years."

In this New Yorker article James Surowiecki explains why the value of the dollar is falling and what it could mean for America's economy.

In this American Prospect article, Michael Tomasky wonders why no one in the mainstream media seems to have noticed that, according to the polls, George W. Bush is one of the least popular presidents in modern American history.

Off the coast of Dubai, the Nakheel Corp is building a group of man-made islands called "The World", that will be shaped like the earth's continents.

"The World will consist of between 250 to 300 smaller private artificial islands divided into four categories - private homes, estate homes, dream resorts, and community islands. Each island will range from 250,000 to 900,000 square feet in size, with 50 to 100 metres of water between each island. The development is to cover an area of 9 kilometers in length and 6 kilometers in width, surrounded by an oval shaped breakwater. The only means of transportation between the islands will be by marine transport."

Google Maps can now find a satellite image of any address. Just click the Satellite link in the upper right hand corner.

According to this Business Week article, "In 1932, there were an estimated 150 pinball-machine makers worldwide. Today, Stern Pinball stands alone. Based in Melrose Park, Ill., about 10 miles west of Chicago, Stern has been the only game in town since its remaining competition folded in 1999, making Gary Stern -- its silver-haired, pinball-tie-wearing Willy Wonka of sorts -- the only person keeping this piece of Americana from extinction. "If we ever quit," he says, "that will be the end of pinball."

In this American Prospect article, Ohio University historian Kevin Mattson explains what liberals should learn from the tactics of conservatives during the 1960s:

"The right’s tactics weren’t loud or theatrical. Its activists operated under the radar to lay the groundwork. They worked almost entirely within the system, changing the Republican Party from moderate to conservative precinct by precinct. And their story challenges the left-wing narrative of idealism during the decade. That’s precisely why it should inform the way liberals think about the future. To win real power, liberals need to think about infrastructure, institutions, and ideas. And they’re not going to get these if they look to the late ’60s for inspiration."

According to this Scientific American article, "Researchers are starting to pin down what déjà vu is and why it arises. But have you read this already? Maybe you just can't remember."

This Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article discusses Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's recent trip to Alabama. According to the article, "Wisconsin's junior senator spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday driving around this politically forbidding "red state," meeting with liberal and conservative Democrats, Bush voters, local dignitaries and a curious Alabama media, enjoying the improbability of it all.

"When was the last time some Democrat from another part of the country went into Greenville, Alabama, and just said, 'What's the deal here?' " Feingold said before his trip.

You could look at Feingold's Alabama adventure as an extended conversation between North and South over the current woes and future direction of the Democratic Party.

Or you could view it as a guy who might run for president taking his style and message out for an early road test."

I blogged about the World Beard and Moustache Championships back in 2003, when it was held in Carson City, Nevada. This National Geographic article discusses the history of the event and the competitors as they prepare for the 2005 championships in Berlin, Germany. The article also includes this gallery of Beard and Moustache Champions.

This New Yorker article discusses the question, "How much money should a doctor make?"

In this Foreign Affairs article Historian Niall Ferguson examines the current world political and economic situation and wonders, "Could globalization collapse? It may seem unlikely today. Yet despite many warnings, people were shocked the last time globalization crumbled, with the onslaught of World War I. Like today, that period was marked by imperial overstretch, great-power rivalry, unstable alliances, rogue regimes, and terrorist organizations. And the world is no better prepared for calamity now."

According to this Nature.com article, "Two tiny species of tropical octopus have demonstrated a remarkable disappearing trick. They adopt a two-armed 'walk' that frees up their remaining six limbs to camouflage them as they slink away from trouble. . . . Instead of its usual sprawling crawl, O. marginatus fled from divers by striding on two arms, with the rest of its arms wrapped around its body, giving it the appearance of a walking coconut."

The article includes video of the walking octopus.

From the placebo effect to tetraneutrons to the Kuiper cliff, New Scientist lists 13 things that do not make sense.

David Brooks is a columnist who never met a conservative he didn't like. Surprisingly, Brooks uses this recent New York Times column to describe a group of conservative Republicans he calls the Masters of Sleaze. As Brooks' explains:

"Back in 1995, when Republicans took over Congress, a new cadre of daring and original thinkers arose. These bold innovators had a key insight: that you no longer had to choose between being an activist and a lobbyist. You could be both. You could harness the power of K Street to promote the goals of Goldwater, Reagan and Gingrich. And best of all, you could get rich while doing it!"

In this Los Angeles Times article Joe Robinson explains why paid time-off (PTO) banks are another way risk is being shifted from the employers to the employed:

"Paid time-off banks combine sick leave and vacation days, creating what at first looks like a jackpot — extra vacation days and more flexibility. But the winnings are subject to the vagaries of chance — your health — and corporate sleight of hand. Once your sick days are used up, further absences not covered by short-term disability come out of your holiday hide . . . American workers who have used up their puny sick-day allotment will have to decide whether to stumble to work sick or stay home and burn up vacation days. Or worry that if they roll the dice and take time off, it could jeopardize a paycheck if a health emergency hits. It adds another layer of guilt to gobs already there in taking a vacation, making it seem selfish to squander days that might be needed if you or a family member get sick."

Everyone gets spam, but only Cockeyed.com's Rob Cockerham understood that his spam was telling him "An Unsolicited Commercial Love Story."

David Edelstein picks the 20 movies with the most absurd twist endings in this Slate article.

You can download video of a 1981 Replacements concert in the 7th Street Entry from this page on the Twin/Tone Records site.

"During the first week of September 1981, Twin/Tone took the mobile recording unit and rented a bunch of video gear and recorded 15 bands live (five nights) at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis... These QuickTime movies are from the show on September 5th.

The band had released "Sorry Ma..." earlier in the year and were already working on future projects. These clips are presented as they were recorded live... in set order and very much with the tuning that troubled the night. The Replacements were the middle band of three (Husker Du closed the show) and played two 25 minute sets."

Batman: New Times is an animated movie made with Legos featuring the voices of Adam West, Mark Hamill, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Dick Van Dyke.

In 1964, a young Jim Morrison acted in a promotional film produced by Florida State that the people of IFILM have renamed Jim Morrison: College Dork.

Today William Gibson is best known as the author of novels like Neuromancer and Pattern Recognition, and as the man who coined the term “cyberspace.” But in 1967 he was a draft-dodging hippie living in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood. In this video clip, a 19-year-old Gibson takes CBC TV on a tour of the village where Beatle-haired kids, drugs, and free love ran rampant.

This Columbia Journalism Review article makes the case for comics journalism:

"Since the renaissance of the mid-eighties, more and more writers and artists have been producing serious nonfiction comics about current events, from war crimes to hip-hop. In the mid-1990s, Joe Sacco’s two books on Palestine were hailed as groundbreaking works and made Sacco the best known of the new graphic journalists. Now comics, or graphic, journalism is turning up in daily newspapers, where its inherent subjectivity contrasts sharply with the newsroom’s dispassionate prose — another round in the debate over what journalism should be in the twenty-first century."

In this Slushfactory column, Dwayne McDuffie explains his "Grand Unification Theory" of television: "The last five minutes of St. Elsewhere is the only television show, ever. Everything else is a daydream."

This Portland Mercury article tells the story of Warren Hill, who paid 75 cents at a yard sale for a Velvet Underground acetate that may be the most expensive record ever sold. While this New York Times article discusses "Chinese Democracy," the most expensive record never made.

While visiting my parents last weekend, I learned of plans to build a wind farm of 133 wind turbines on hilltops near my hometown. As this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article explains, these plans have divided local residents between those who see wind power as a clean energy source, and those who think its a bad idea to build 400 foot windmills next to the state's largest bird refuge. As my old high school science teacher says, "I can see 10,000 birds flying through a meat grinder."

This page contains links to a three-part Los Angeles Times series examining the U.S. economy.

"Los Angeles Times reporter Peter G. Gosselin has spent the last year examining an American paradox: Why so many families report being financially less secure even as the nation has grown more prosperous. The answer lies in a quarter-century-long shift of economic risks from the broad shoulders of business and government to the backs of working families. Safety nets that once protected Americans from economic turbulence — safeguards like unemployment compensation and employer loyalty — have eroded or vanished. Familes are more vulnerable to sudden shifts in the economy than any time since the Great Depression. The result is a daunting "New Deal" for many working Americans — one that compels them to cope, largely on their own, with financial forces far beyond their control."

In this Washington Post column, E. J. Dionne Jr. discusses the racial bait and switch technique conservatives have been using lately.

"Conservatives profess to be horrified by political correctness . . . But increasingly, it is conservatives who are using political correctness to sidestep hard issues. Consider the bait-and-switch in the Gonzales case: Democrats thought it appropriate to use Gonzales's nomination to launch a debate about torture policy. Gonzales is Latino. Therefore, Republicans insisted, Democrats who wanted to debate torture policy were anti-Latino."

In this L.A. Times column, Christina Klein explains "Hollywood's latest strategy of globalization, known as local-language production. As foreign audiences show signs of tiring of Hollywood's formulaic blockbusters and express interest in seeing portrayals of their own cultures on screen, Hollywood has responded by making "foreign" films" like "A Very Long Engagement", "Kung Fu Hustle," and "Sideways."

Stephen Metcalf examines "What the Clash meant to rock 'n' roll" in this Slate article.

Eric Boehlert updates the Jeff Gannon scandal in this Salon article entitled, "Gannongate: It's worse than you think."

According to this Guardian Unlimited article, "Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism."

The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time

Frank Rich discusses the Jeff Gannon scandal in this New York Times column. Rich writes, "The prayers of those hoping that real television news might take its cues from Jon Stewart were finally answered on Feb. 9, 2005. A real newsman borrowed a technique from fake news to deliver real news about fake news in prime time."

(New technology from the New York Times Link Generator allows you to use this link to access this article even if you are not registered at the New York Times.)

According to this Space.com article, "A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.

The scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, told the group that they have submitted their findings to the journal Nature for publication in May, and their paper currently is being peer reviewed.

What Stoker and Lemke have found, according to several attendees of the private meeting, is not direct proof of life on Mars, but methane signatures and other signs of possible biological activity remarkably similar to those recently discovered in caves here on Earth."

This Cleveland Scene article discusses some of the more clever tribute bands including the all-female AC/DShe, the all-dwarf Mini-Kiss, and the all-naked Nudist Priest.

According to this BBC article, last December's tsunami may have uncovered the remains of an ancient port city off the coast of southern India.

In this Salon article, Eric Boehlert asks, "How can a reporter using a fake name and working for a fake news organization get press credentials from the White House, let alone curry enough favor with the notoriously disciplined Bush administration to get picked by the president in order to ask fake questions?"

Neal Stephenson discusses science, his novels, and post-9/11 America in this Reason interview.

The History of the Heavy Metal Umlaut.

This New Yorker article describes how the U.S. Army's officers are adapting to the war in Iraq. According to the article, "Whatever else the Iraq war is doing to American power and prestige, it is producing the creative and flexible junior officers that the Army’s training could not."

One reason for this success is that the younger officers "grew up with the Internet, and have created for themselves, in their spare time, a means of sharing with one another, online, information that the Army does not control. The “slackers” in the junior-officer corps are turning out to be just what the Army needs in the chaos of Iraq. Instead of looking up to the Army for instructions, they are teaching themselves how to fight the war. The Army, to its credit, stays out of their way."

Deep Throat was the anonymous source used by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during the Watergate scandal. His identity has been a secret for more than 30 years. But according to former White House counsel and Watergate conspirator John Dean Deep Throat's identity may soon be revealed. In this LA Times column, Dean writes, "Bob Woodward, a reporter on the team that covered the Watergate story, has advised his executive editor at the Washington Post that Throat is ill. And Ben Bradlee, former executive editor of the Post and one of the few people to whom Woodward confided his source's identity, has publicly acknowledged that he has written Throat's obituary."

"'War daddy' is the rare bit of football jargon that somehow manages to be both ubiquitous and obscure." Josh Levin explains what it means in this Slate article.

This Washington Monthly article discusses the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). "Over the last decade, INR has frequently arrived at more prescient conclusions than the CIA and other intelligence agencies about the nature of threats to the United States. In 2001, when U.S. intelligence agents intercepted a shipment of aluminum tubes bound for Iraq, CIA analysts concluded they were for uranium enrichment, proof that Saddam Hussein was building a secret nuclear-weapons program. The INR, working from the same body of intelligence, concluded (rightly, it turned out) that the tubes were more likely intended for conventional, not nuclear, weaponry."

The Smoking Gun has collected the backstage riders from 197 acts. Their list includes everyone from the Foo Fighters (This rider is comprised of the things that make the band rock you like a proverbial hurricane!) to Luciano Pavarotti (There must be no distinct smells anywhere near the artist.)

This site lets you compare your height with the heights of famous people, everyone from Abraham Lincoln (6'4") to Woody Allen (5'5").

This Times Online article discusses an attempt by the Herculaneum Society to reexcavate an ancient Roman villa buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. They believe they may find a library of ancient books in the villa. According to the Society, “We can expect to find good contemporary copies of known masterpieces and to recover works lost to humanity for two millennia. A treasure of greater cultural importance can scarcely be imagined.”

Despite getting NBC's worst rating ever, the American version of the Office premiers on Tuesday, March 22 at 9.30pm.

In rememberence of Johnny Carson, who died this week of emphysema, the New Yorker posted this profile of Carson from 1978. Here's Johnny.

This New Scientist article discusses new research and theories on black holes. "Researchers on the quest for a more complete understanding of our universe are finding that black holes are not so black, and perhaps not holes either. Furious debates are raging over what black holes contain and even whether they deserve the name."

This NPR interview with Daily Show Senior Correspondent Stephen Colbert shows why he is the fake newsman's fake newsman.

Now that President Bush has been inaugurated for the second time, the Bush presidency is more than half over. To find out how much longer Bush will last, go to Backwards Bush, The Official George W. Bush "Days Left In Office" Countdown.

In this New Republic article, Peter Beinart asks "Why is President Bush having more trouble (so far) trying to partially privatize Social Security than he had cutting taxes in 2001?" Although Beinart see several possibilities, he explains why he thinks, "It may be that the GOP's victories in last November's elections, the very victories that Bush says give him the "political capital" to push through partial privatization, are actually making the effort harder. By killing off the Democrats most susceptible to his influence, Bush may have created a political dynamic that works for his opponents, and against him."

The Free Fall Research Page tells the stories of people who have survived a fall of thousands of feet without a working parachute. The page includes information on Free Fallers, Wreckage Riders, Unlucky Skydivers, and other Amazing Stories.

The three Free Fallers are perhaps the most amazing. These three men were all World War II airmen who fell at least 18,000 feet without a parachute and survived.

According to this International Herald Tribune article by Frank Rich, "One day after Tucker Carlson, the co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," made his farewell appearance and two days after the network's new president made the admirable announcement that he would soon kill the program altogether, a television news miracle occurred: even as it staggered through its last steps to the network guillotine, "Crossfire" came up with the worst show in its 23-year history.

This was a half-hour of television so egregious that it makes Jon Stewart's famous pre-election rant seem, if anything, too kind. This time "Crossfire" was not just "hurting America," as Stewart put it, by turning news into a nonsensical gong show. It was unwittingly, or perhaps wittingly, complicit in the cover-up of a scandal."

You can read the whole article here.

In this New Yorker article, Seymour Hersh explains the Bush Administration's plans for the next four years. The War on Terrorism will "be expanded, and effectively placed under the Pentagon’s control. The President has signed a series of findings and executive orders authorizing secret commando groups and other Special Forces units to conduct covert operations against suspected terrorist targets in as many as ten nations in the Middle East and South Asia."

Hersh also explains that, "According to a former high-level intelligence official, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff shortly after the election and told them, in essence, that the naysayers had been heard and the American people did not accept their message. Rumsfeld added that America was committed to staying in Iraq and that there would be no second-guessing.

“This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush Administration is looking at this as a huge war zone,” the former high-level intelligence official told me. “Next, we’re going to have the Iranian campaign. We’ve declared war and the bad guys, wherever they are, are the enemy. This is the last hurrah—we’ve got four years, and want to come out of this saying we won the war on terrorism.”

Adam Gopnik discusses the life of Leonardo da Vinci in this New Yorker article.

I haven't blogged much lately because Mrs. Blogenheimer and I have been busy with our new daughter. Mary Elizabeth was born on Sunday, January 2nd at 2:28PM. We will call her Molly.