these gave me pause

Lately I don't post on politics. The debate is heated enough with out my amazed mutterings and frankly I'm exasperated with the whole thing. But:

Since when is it a minor offense to plan an assassination of one of the presidential candidates? FBI Wanted Obama Plotters Charged but A Rove Appointee Said No - the title says a lot; the article says much, much more.

This, when RNC protestors are pre-emptively arrested for planning to merely protest. Which, I thought, was a constitutional right.

Switching gears: Popularity of a Hallucinogen May Thwart Its Medical Uses. Anecdotal observations suggest that salvia divinorum could be used to treat depression and addiction, but because some people are using it for fun - with few ill effects (it hasn't caused addiction or ER visits), it's just GOTTA be bad.

Writer's Block: Missing from Nature

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Spiders. The scary ones, anyway.

Yeah, I know they occupy an important ecological niche. I don't care, they're scary!

now, some levity

Cat's dance with the Blue Midget - from Red Dwarf (actual dancing starts about 1:30 in):

I've got too much to do to be surfing all day....