*giggle* K, This Is A GREAT Line

The setup: the story about the oldest human tooth found thus far, in Israel.

Short mention of other aspects.

Then:

Remember, this means we all have the right of return.

*laughs* Made my morning!

Cloning for Steak?

This sounds a little silly-- given that it's Japan, either their reasoning isn't exactly "the ox that died in '93 and fathered 30% of our black cattle has genetic qualities we can't get except by cloning" or it's some kind of marketing gimmick. (Hey, we're talking about Yasufuku-go, the livestock research center of Gifu Prefecture and Kinki University of Osaka Prefecture, right?)

OTOH, the site seems to be very, very credulous about what counts as a story.  (Hey, the Costco down the road has a TON of birds that live inside there, uninvited!)

Still, interesting morning read, thanks CLD!

So THAT is Why They Can Claim "Military Spending" is #1

I feel a bit silly for not writing down names and looking this up before-- in my defense, I was usually driving, so obviously not a good plan-- but anyways:
if you remove all the non-Vet entitlements and the interest payment, and then roll everything military related into "military spending," then it's a huge chunk of spending!

 I am going to call these "appropriated" programs, since that's what they are-- it means you have to get the funding every X years, rather than funds supposedly being built in.

Now, that non-descretionary spending includes impossible cuts like:

Adult Podiatry: Medicaid will no longer reimburse for foot care that is not medically necessary to treat an acute condition.

Whups, that's an actual cut (in Washington).

But here's one threatened but not cut:

Take Charge Family Planning: Program is available for incomes under 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Medicaid also will continue family planning services for a full year post pregnancies.

So my classmates that are still in college (yes...a decade later...) on mom and dad's dime don't have to pay for the Pill! Ditto for those who work only under the table, or do the welfare dance. I'm sure that Planned Parenthood doesn't have to worry too much about their fraud-cash being cut too much.

I'm going to call the "non-discretionary" spending, excluding interest, entitlements.  Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, TARP, and "other."

PDF for summary of FY2010
Copying from S-3 on page 6, I offer first the appropriated budgets, and then the entitlement budgets, for 2010, in billions.
1,421
2,037

Yes, when you ignore most of the budget, defense spending is a the major outlay!

Here's the defense spending, including overseas cont. costs: 755
Social Security: 696
Medicare: 452
Medicaid: 290
Interest: 176

Now, I'm all about finding ways to cut the fat in defense spending-- shoot, I think the gov't as a whole needs MAJOR overhaul for how it spends and on what, including some real protections on those who drop a dime on fraud, waste and abuse, and the way supply contracts for the military are written needs to be changed.  Also, military contractor unions suck, and civilians are used as "cost saving measures"...getting distracted.  (I've beat this drum before.)

All that said:
really, really dishonest to talk about Defense being the largest item in the budget.  Not that I'm surprised, just sayin'.

Hints a Fan Fic Writer May Be Reading Catholic Theology--

at least second or third hand.

This really sounds like someone trying to explain angels vs humans, flitered through horror films and eastern mythology:

"Spirits are energy, that can sometimes take a physical form," Amaya began. "Living beings are energy in a physical form. What works for one, sometimes doesn't work for the other. That's why malevolent spirits can often be harmed by salt, when to us it just stings in cuts. Our physical body protects us from what salt does to them." She looked at Zuko. "The fire-blow you took seared you down to your spirit. It left a hole in you. A scarred hole, where some of your own energy should have been. An… empty place, Yue could fill with water." Amaya winced. "But to do that - she ripped out the scar."