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Posts Tagged ‘Open thread’

Mars Orbiter Animation

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 198 Comments › )
Filed under Open thread, Science, Technology at June 10th, 2010 - 10:30 pm

Mars Express consists of two parts, the Mars Express Orbiter and the Beagle 2, a lander designed to perform exobiology and geochemistry research. Although the lander failed to land safely on the Martian surface, the Orbiter has been successfully performing scientific measurements since early 2004, namely, high-resolution imaging and mineralogical mapping of the surface, radar sounding of the subsurface structure down to the permafrost, precise determination of the atmospheric circulation and composition, and study of the interaction of the atmosphere with the interplanetary medium.

Due to the valuable science return and the highly flexible mission profile, Mars Express has been granted four mission extensions, the latest until December 31, 2012.

.Gif animation found here, description & links from here, and a post-radio show  Overnight Open Thread is here.

This Must Be Why He Had Sir Paul Over

by Deplorable Macker ( 113 Comments › )
Filed under Economy, Music, Open thread at June 10th, 2010 - 2:00 pm

I guess Президент Оба́ма now has enough of his own words on storage. Here’s a cut-up of his singing of a famous Beatles song, so apropos it’ll make even the British blush:

Time for a Taxman OPEN THREAD!

Rodan News Update:

The Islamic Colonialist organization and Muslim Brotherhood affiliate Muslim American Society, is planning on building a Mosque in Staten island. They plan to buy the property from the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The residents of Midland Beach don’t want this symbol of occupation and are planning on resisting it.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A meeting about a controversial plan for the Muslim American Society to build a mosque in Midland Beach ended the same way it began: with tension, anger and even hostility.

The two-hour affair, organized by the Midland Beach Civic Association, was intended for members of the community to ask questions about MAS and determine whether the mosque would be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. It was held last night at the Olympia Activity Center, which was filled to its 384-person capacity five minutes before the meeting was to start, and no one else was allowed in.

Instead, both sides used the opportunity to vent their frustrations; no issues were resolved and some people, shaking with anger, seemed more unsettled than when they arrived.

I salute the resisdents of this Staten Island Neighborhood and hope they succeed is stoping this symbol of Islamic Imperialism.

Big Mystery Food

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 131 Comments › )
Filed under Art, Humor, Open thread at June 9th, 2010 - 10:00 pm

[Image found in here.]

There’s a lot of talent standing on that crate, but I have no idea who he is, what he’s painting, or why. Although the slices of porkroastraisinbread don’t match the marbling of the cuts, I don’t think I’d have the heart to tell him. There’s always the remote possibility that after all that work he might become despondent, down a bottle of cheap sherry and step in front of a trolley. Then where would we be?

There’d be one less porkroastraisinbread illustrator in the world, and we’d all discuss it on an Overnight Open Thread.

Kudos to Stephan Pastis.

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 191 Comments › )
Filed under Art, Open thread at June 8th, 2010 - 10:36 pm

“Pearls Before Swine” is a comic strip written and illustrated by Stephen Pastis. It first caught my attention in the Orange County Register Sunday Funnies, with an hilarious logo showing the main characters, Pig, Rat, Zebra and Goat as the Ramones. I’ve been following it ever since.

IMO, it’s not laugh out loud stuff (sorry Stephan) but some of it is very clever. When the strip began foundering, Pastis introduced a new group of characters to the mix: crocodiles.

The bumbling crocs speak in broken English, and spend all their time trying to dupe the smarter Zebra into letting them eat him.  Pastis was way too subtle for me, until I spotted a not-so-subtle commentary in Pastis’ new storyline:

I don’t think I need to point out the symbolism here. On Monday 7 June 2010, Pastis continues:

In today’s strip, POTUS apologizes and Zebra asks him to “Just leave.”

Pastis deserves commendations for his subterfuge. Now, Stephen, about that elephant…