More Maxx's Comet

Reuters/David Curtis

It's still cloudy and raining here, so I still haven't seen Maxx's comet. This photograph was taken over Dunedin in New Zealand.

Rainbow

AP/Michael Probst

Pretty. Photographed in Germany after this week's terrible storms.

Maxx's Comet

I'm really disappointed that the cloudy weather in central Texas has prevented me from seeing Maxx's comet the past two weeks. Luckily the weather has been better in other latitudes.

This gorgeous picture comes from Spaceweather.com. The photographer, Jamie Newman, shot this at twightlight over Auckland, New Zealand. Look at that plushy tail!!

Hat tip to smalfish.

I don't wanna be blessed!!

AP/Daniel Ochoa de Olza (both photographs)

From the Blessing of the Pets: The Feast of Saint Anton, the patron saint of pets, Madrid, Spain.

That cat is not enjoying himself.

Death Squads

Over at the swamp, Joe Klein lets us know that he's objectively pro-death squad:

A reader writes

Hey, Joe. How about addressing indications that the Bush Administration has employed the "Salvador" strategy to train death squads to take out militia leaders?

I certainly hope so. If ever there was an appropriate circumstance for covert action--in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere--it is the effort to find and eliminate terrorists. They really are the enemy, you know. (my emphasis added)

Oy. Where to start. Does Klein realize that he's advocating death by execution without trial?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's still illegal under U.S. law. Now I'm delighted that he thinks said 'death squads' ought to refrain from raping and killing nuns, but that's hardly taking a morally courageous stand.

I guess I should take heart- if I ever decide to become an amoral, murdering, assassination happy mercenary, Joe Klein will have my back.

Feh.

Memorial Cat Blogging

A golden oldy of the plushiest, sweetest kitty evah.

As much as I miss Maxx, I don't want thoughts of him to be sad. I was talking to a colleague about him yesterday, and just remembering all the silly, funny things about him made me smile. Rather than dwell on his sad early death, I want to celebrate the wonderful year and a half I got to spend with him.

I hope you guys will celebrate with me.

Abu Gonzales

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

I think someone didn't really enjoy their trip to capitol hill today. Panel Grills Gonzales Over Spy Program

He's a little fuckwit
Short and stout
Ask him a question
Watch him pout.

---Toonscribe

A little advice for Mr. Gonzales, think about reviewing that constitution. You seem a little confused.

Ooooof!!

A thousand thank yous to the delightful watertiger who sent me some talking critters to cheer me up.

Alex

I don't know if I'm ready, but this little guy still needs a home.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I'll ever get over Maxx. Who knows how long the adoption process will take? Maybe I'll be ready by then.

What do you guys think? He's terribly cute, eh?

Update: I'm going to meet Alex this weekend. When I talked to his foster mom she said hardly anyone has been interested in him.

Maybe he does need me.

Popularity

AP: President Bush examines cancer cells under a microscrope at the NIH.

"So these are the guys who are more popular than me!

Big Teeth

AP/EyePress

Just a friendly reminder of why it's not smart to mess with watertiger.

Saving the Tiger

AFP/Peter Parks

Great news on the siberian tiger front. Chinese Scientists have launched an artificial insemination program in a bid to rescue the endangered siberian tiger.

Scientists at China's Henghedaozi Feline Breeding Center in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang artificially inseminated a four-year-old tigress with sperm from a healthy older male on Saturday, Xinhua said.

Only about 400 tigers remain in the wild.

China has been spectacularly successful in breeding the chinese panda in captivity. Let's hope they have similar success with the siberian tiger.

Snow Leopards!!

Reuters/Siggi Bucher

The beautiful cub lives in a zoo in Zurich. Kittenz of all species are unbelievably cute, eh? I loves me the big feeties.

Kittie Pileup

These kitties live with taleoftwokitties. Left to right: Weege, Mimulus, and Bluto.

More Kitties!!

The rest of Political Cat's crew. Back to front: Zingiber, Gogira, and Madu. They live with that beast Bandicoot. No wonder they're huddled together on the bed.

(I keed, I keed)

Feral Kitties

Well, not really feral, these are the kitties that own FeralLiberal. Pippen (top) and Emma in a tree.

Last Ice Picture

This one looks a little like a waterfall. And to be clear, not everything here is shrouded in inches of ice. Most of these ice formations are caused by excess drainage off of drainspouts or something onto an unfortunate piece of vegetation that was unable to move out of the way.

You'd think the world was coming to an end.

Iraqis, "Thanks America!!"

Attending university in America:



Attending university in Baghdad:

Ghetty Images/Walhiq Khuzaie

Bush is right! They have so much to be grateful for. Iraqi students would never have gotten this intense, real-world, gritty experience without us.

3 Bombs Kill at Least 70 at University in Baghdad

Missing your plush fix?

If you're missing your daily happy Maxx photo, just look on the side bar and click on the "My Photo Albums" link. On the Yahoo page, there's a "Lion Kitty Maxx" photo album.

Browse the plushiness to your heart's content. I'll be adding photos as I find time.

Even more ice!!

To celebrate my additional day off tomorrow. Damn but I likes me some ice. Oh, and the camera isn't tilted in this photo, the wind, and gravity, combined to create this elegant display. Our amazing planet.

Don't these photos look like stuff Eli might have taken?

More Ice

More ice pictures. Because it's pretty and makes nice sculptural shapes.

Winter Storm!!

I was hoping for enough snow to create some lovely winter scenes in my neighborhood. Alas, it was not to be. Instead I took pictures of icicles.

I have high hopes for some snow this evening!

Return of Cat Blogging

How delightful! Kevin Drum and his wife have acquired a new kitty from their local shelter to replace their late kitty Jasmine. She doesn't have a name yet, but Kevin is taking suggestions.

Stop by and congratulate him. The triumphant return of cat blogging!!

Florida kitties

The top kitty is Otto, also known as Snoppo, Charley's late kitty. The adorable little grey kitty in the bottom frame is Steve, who grew up to be a bruiser who rules the Florida neighborhood where he lives with Charley and his sister Tai.

Charley adopted Tai and Steve after Otto went to kitty heaven.

I don't know about you guys, but seeing all of our plush life kitty buddies makes my heart feel better.

British Kitties

The lovely Moonbotica's abyssinian kitties. George (top) and Heidi (middle).

Separated at birth

Pictures of Mrstrailerco's late kitty, who looked remarkably like Maxx.

Oh, if they could only stay with us forever.

Tidbit

Had to steal this photo. From cuteoverload.com. Is there anything on earth cuter than a teensy little kitten?

hat tip to watertiger.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Copyright: Juan Casado (skylook.net)

This amazing photo of Maxx's comet, vertically compressed, was taken at sunset last Friday from mountains above Catalonia, Spain.

(Yes, it's actually McNaught's Comet, but only because the astronomy world hasn't been clued in yet.) Hat tip to Cardamon in comments.

Decapitatage

Via BBC News, Saddam Hussein's top aides hanged:

Two of Saddam Hussein's key aides have been hanged in Baghdad, two weeks after the chaotic execution of the former Iraqi president.

There were "no violations" this time, officials said, but Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, was decapitated as he was hanged.

Well, he wasn't taunted, but they did rip his head off. I guess that's alright then. / snark

Jesus fucking christ. Maybe this is why the civilized world has abandonned capital punishment. What's next? boiling in oil? drawing and quartering?

Bring it On

AP/Charles Dharapak

Bush and his chief controller, Darth Cheney, are vowing to escalate the war no matter what Congress or the American people want. Via the WAPO - Bush: 'We're Going Forward':

In an interview broadcast last night on CBS's "60 Minutes," Bush said he has the authority as commander in chief to move ahead with the deployment, regardless of what the Democratic-controlled Congress does in opposition.

"In this situation, I do, yeah," Bush said. "I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward."

Sounds like a "Bring It On!" moment to me. Someone should remind Bush what happened the last time he threw the gauntlet down like this. Hey chimpy!! "how's that working out for you bud?"

If chimpy continues to thumb his nose at the public and the congress, I predict that even republican senators and congressmen will finally get sick of him and pull the plug.

Too bad they'll be about 5 years too late.

Note: I chose the photo above because it's the perfect illustration of just how alone Bush is with his Iraq escalation policy and a good example of how powerful a well-composed environmental portrait can be.

Henriette

Henriette is ready for her close-up Mr. DeMille.

The lovely and talented Henriette lives with the lovely and talented Plum P. in Canada.

The Little Sociopath

If you never thought that Bush was pathological, you need to see the tape of Bush on 60 Minutes. He said this evening:

"The Iraqi people owe us a debt of gratitude."

Really? We invaded, uninvited, and broke their country. At least a 150,000 Iraqi civilians have died, the country is in ruins, and there is no end in sight.

Iraqi civilians are fleeing the country at the rate of 10,000 per month, and those who are too poor, or are unable to flee are basically "queing up to die," in the words of one correspondant.

Ethnic cleansing is a fact of life.

Things couldn't get much worse. (Well, aliens could land, I suppose, and unleash a plague or something.) And yet, Bush says they owe us a debt of gratitude.

Fuck you Mr. Bush. Fuck you.

Maxx's Comet, the Comet McNaught

AP/Jeff McIntosh

The Comet McNaught, photographed over Devil's Head Mountain (Alberta) in the Canadian Rockies on January 11, 2007.

Pretty Picture of the Day

Reuters/Jason Lee

From the International Ice Festival in China. Lovely.

Ntodd's kiddenz

Sam! who was found as a teeny little guy in Ntodd's garage. Two years, whoops, three years later, he is the elegant young teen you see today nesting in Ntodd's office.



Lola, who is actually a boy, and one of the punkz.



Vinnie, the other punk.