I never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever thought this country would need another Ronald Reagan; but he’s the only president who ever cut spending without ending a war.

WashingtonPost.com user WmarkW

For a good time peruse LOLTHULHU by way of The Solar Satellite.

I can laugh at the idea of a giant squid-faced god/monster eating everything in its path but can’t bear to watch a king crab running for its life across the deck of a trawler in Deadliest Catch. That’s because in reality, the insatiable, unstoppable monster is us.

“The Girl’s Guide To Comic Con”: Headdesk Powers, Activate!

Is it so hard, in 2009, to accept the fact that women enjoy comic books/sci-fi novels/television programs/films/video games/etc. not because of the “studs” who appear on the screen or on the page but because of the actual content? I know it may be hard for some people to believe, but women do have interests that go beyond shoes and eating poop-inducing yogurt. “The Girls Guide To Comic Con” isn’t a guide at all, but a rundown of the “hotties” who will be appearing in some form or another at the convention. Because, as the tipster who sent this article in notes (sarcastically, of course) “Oh, us GIRLZ, all we want are to look at those handsome menfolk and vampires!”

Come on, LA Times. If you really want to write a Girl’s Guide To Comic Con (and I’m not sure it’s necessary to split Comic Con into gender specific guides, but that’s another story altogether) you could have at least had women who know what they’re talking about write the piece. Like, say, the awesome ladies of io9, for example, who would probably have much more to say about the convention than “Women will be rushing the stage, offering to do star Jake Gyllenhaal’s laundry on those washboard abs that he acquired for the film, since he spends much of it fighting, shirtless or both.” Blargh.

The Girls’ Guide To Comic Con [LATimes]

My suspicion is that the Girl’s Guide to Comic Con was actually written for boys, who may be drawn to an event teeming with girls on the prowl.

It’s more likely that “a rundown of hotties” was the only way the subject could be covered as a photo slideshow in the LATimes’ Entertainment section. What else would they show photos of, Princess Leah pillow fights?

A low-flying Presidential 747 circled Lower Manhattan several times Monday morning, accompanied by a helicopter and two F-16’s as part of an Air Force photo-op.

New Yorkers Panic. Buildings are evacuated and rumor quickly spreads about a hijacking. The Police Department claims that the FAA barred them from alerting the public about the flight. The Air Force scuffs the dirt and says that it’s SNAFU, flights like this happen quite often. The White House apologizes.

First-person accounts from Staten Island:

My two year old was looking out my bedroom window and told me he was saying hello to the people on the plane! A few minutes later I saw the jumbo jet being escorted by a fighter plane flying over St. George! All I saw was a tremendous planes underbelly. It was very scary! I immediately called my husband who works in midtown. Shame on you to anyone who thinks we should not have been scared or concerned. You obviously were not in NYC on 9/11! -Victory724

I live in an apartment building on the North Shore. My terrace faces Newark Airport and Manhattan is on my right. This plane was so low I thought it was going to hit my building. We saw a fighter jet following so of course we thought the worst. It went over Newark, over Silver Lake Park and looked as if it was heading straight towards us but then it turned towards Manhattan. I was so scared I grabbed my son and ran for the door. We didn’t notice the presidential seal until it made it’s SECOND turn over the park…that’s how low it was and how close to our building it was. I am so angry and so upset. A little tip for this administration….if you’re going to fly a plane over NYC notify the residents esp., because of 9/11 WTC survivors and family members. - twittertweet

Gems from Democratic Underground’s Peanut Gallery:

It’s too close to Cheney warning of another attack and the torture memo’s being released not to make some of us suspicious about this. - KoKo

I hope they don’t do a documentary on anthrax in our mail. -blueworld

On page 37 [or rather, p41 of online version linked here] of the U.S. Joint Forces Command report [which was completed last year] the Army includes Israel within “a growing arc of nuclear powers running from Israel in the west through an emerging Iran to Pakistan, India, and on to China, North Korea, and Russia in the east.”

…By law, the U.S. would have to cease providing billions of dollars in foreign aid to Israel if it determined the country had a nuclear weapons program. That’s because the so-called Symington Amendment, passed in 1976, bars assistance to countries developing technology for nuclear weapons proliferation.

Commentors on this Military.com article assert that the Symington Amendment has been ignored in practically every instance of nuclear proliferation since it was adopted. Others suppose Israel had nukes before 1976 and so would be exempt.

Of note: the report also says that Japan and Taiwan would be able to build nuclear warheads very quickly if they ever felt the motivation to do so.

What a bombshell! Or not. If any good comes from the Army’s allusion, it would be that an open secret was finally spoken out loud.