Anthrax bacteria

The Tale of Wasted Resources, FBI Edition: Was Bruce Ivins the anthrax man? According to the Guardian, the US microbiologist, a civilian bio-defense researcher at a top military research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland, was notorious for his unauthorized Anthrax testing. A government scientist for 18 years, his office was found positive for “Ames” anthrax spores. He took his own life when federal agents identified him as the culprit and informed him of impending prosecution.

What this means is that the FBI officials who, according to their own numbers, traveled to six different continents, interviewed over 9,000 people, conducted 67 searches and have issued over 6,000 subpoenas, should have looked in their own country first.

(But terrorists don’t live in America.)

Finally the Martians Get Their Recognition: David Bowie was never more correct (and this is also probably the best music video make-up in life) and Bradbury never made more sense. There is life on Mars. Or at least damning evidence of it. NASA scientists today have announced there is indeed water on Mars. The Phoenix Lander landed on an ice sheet in May, and samples of the ice could be seen slowly melting in photographs taken by the Lander’s camera in June. E.T. phone home!

Time to Erase my BattleStar Galactica Fan Club Bookmarks: The Washington Post reports that border agents can now seize and search a traveler’s cellphone, laptop, iPhone, Sidekick or any other electronic device without any suspicion of wrongdoing. The law covers “any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form, as well as all papers and other written documentation.” What about MY MIND, FBI? Can they seize that? :/

More Good Job, Gov’t: The US military has detained a Reuters photographer who also works for the BBC and NPR without saying why. And he’s Iraqi. Ali al-Mashhadani was held in “the Green Zone” today while applying for a US military press card. Reuters is attempting to coerce the military to immediately release him or to publicly produce evidence to justify his detention. Al-Mashhadani had also spent five months in U.S. custody in 2006 before being released without charge.

BABY CHICKENS!: Boing Boing has an adorable piece on a chicken growing up. Come on! Stop resisting the circle of life! Or read about face-swapping software. I’m going to go paste Alf’s face on mine now and have a lol-fest! Or maybe a rofl or lmao-fest depending on the outcome.

I Don’t Like Politician Metaphors Involving Cooking: But Barack Obama is the Teflon man, according to Slate. Read about how Bama can “achieve superslipperiness without becoming greasy…” And then read this Ames piece because it’s probably my favorite article written for Slate ever.

Mo’ Money, Mo Delegates: If you’re in LA, go to this Obama funktastic fundraiser tonight at the Echoplex. And then make a stop at the the time-travel store. It’s worth it.

And Lastly, Probably My Favorite Story All Week: The Bear Jar: What if there was an aspiring Sylvia Plath bear? What would he do? Perhaps put his head in a jar instead of an oven? Keeping with their fabulous record for lecherous captions, the best part about this story is, well the caption, and the fact that it was the most-read story on BBC for Wendesday.

Ok Wait Wait…: I have to include LiveScience’s top ten monsters of all time. Alright, NOW have a good weekend.

Tags: anthrax, bruce ivins, fbi, mars, racial profiling, sylvia plath