inkbluesky

namib desert wallpaper. the namib is generally considered to be the world’s oldest desert and home to charles darwin’s “platypus” of plants the welwitschia. the welwitschia won’t be winning any beauty contests, but it is interesting that being desert natives they have evolved the ability to sustain themselves by absorbing moisture from fog.

You can only lie to people and abuse them for so long and then they start to see the light, Military starting to lean Democrat for 2008,

    Assessed favorably this week by the war’s lead general, the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq appears to be causing a surge of another sort — and one that’s not positive for President Bush or the Republican Party. Since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, members of the U.S. military have dramatically increased their political contributions to Democrats, marching sharply away from the party they’ve long supported. […]

“People are saying now enough is enough,” said Lt. Col. Joyce Griggs, an intelligence officer who said she spent two months in Baghdad earlier this year, speaking for herself and not the Army. “If you’re a soldier, you’re going to do your job, do what you’re commanded to do. But that sentiment is wide and deep.”

The shift is more than just a few percentage points. In 2002, the last full cycle before Bush launched the Iraqi invasion, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found that 23% of military members’ contributions went to Democrats. So far in 2007, that number is 40%.

More specifically, the drop-off for Republican support within the Army is striking. Before the war, 71% of Army campaign contributions went to the GOP. This year, that number is down to 51%. So, the GOP’s advantage went from more than 2-to-1 before the war, to near-parity now.

The Old Cottage Littleover Lane by George Turner (English 1843-1910)

Carnegie Mellon building robot for lunar prospecting. maybe the private sector can cough up the cash to send the prospector into space since G.W. has put the nation into the deepest debt in our history.