China has announced that they will attempt to put a man on the moon by 2024. This follows President Bush’s January announcement that the US will return to the moon by 2020. Given the general decline in US-China relations, could this result in a new space race?

Speaking of US-China relations, most don’t realize that China actually owns much of the US National Debt. Is China in the midst of financially overthrowing our nation? It’s hard to say, but I assure you that, sooner or later, our culture of debt will kick us in the ass.

Last week I had the opportunity to see a lecture by Jean-Michel Cousteau (son of Jacques). Like his father, Cousteau has spent a lifetime exploring the oceans and communicating his discoveries to the public. On recent expeditions, his team traveled to all of the marine sanctuaries in the US. Last week there were 13. This week, thanks to Cousteau and the Bush administration, there are 14. Cousteau made a documentary called Voyage to Kure, which documents his voyage to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. These uninhabited islands are so remote that most visitors don’t even know that they’re there. What they found on this island was absolutely shocking. There were heaps of trash covering the beach. This trash has floated in from all over the world: toys from the US, fishing equipment from Asia, trash from Europe. It was so pervasive that the seabirds were choking on it.

You see, most beaches are cleaned when trash starts accumulating so that we never have to think about all of the trash that is floating around in the oceans. But this untouched beach contained mountains of refuse that had accumulated over the years.

They also found a beautiful wild ocean ecosystem that needed protection.

Fortunately, the Couseau's have influential friends, and the film caught the attention of President and First Lady Bush. The Bush’s were so touched that they even held a private screening of the film for their friends. The result was that President Bush established the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a National Monument yesterday.

With so much crap going on in our nation, it’s nice to hear a success story like this. Let’s hope that this administration and future administrations maintain a legacy of stewardship in our national sanctuaries, parks and monuments.

People who have suffered life’s hard knocks while growing up tend to be more gullible than those who have been more sheltered. No wonder I’m so gullible, I was raised by wolverines in the Gobi Desert who ate the baby that I conceived with Elvis when I was 13…

Vegans are five times less likely to concieve twins than non-vegans. Of course due to the consumption of hormones in dairy. I am torn between my desire to have twins and my despise of the goddamn chemicals that are being pumped into my system due to my love of cheese.

Snow pack on mountain tops will be drastically diminished by the end of the century, causing major water resource issues for the affected populations. Time to start mining ice on Mars!

Schizophrenia limits understanding of body language. But no one can misinterpret the language of rock! \m/

Nationwide, an estimated 20,000 families have fallen below the poverty line as a result of Wal-Mart’s expansion. Bastards.

Young America’s political views are negatively affected by the Daily Show. Wow, you mean we're not depressed by the fact that this country is run by two political parties that are both so ridiculous that comedians barely even have to try to make them funny?

Robots can be used to interact with, communicate with and control roaches. Now the only things left on this planet after the shit hits the fan are roaches, AND the tiny robots that we use to control them!

This Washington Post article highlights gross incompetency at the US Army Corps of Engineers which has not changed over the past 60 years. US ACE is allowed to endorse any project where the economic benefits to private parties exceed the cost of the project. The cost-benefit analysis often overlooks the value of human life and environmental benefits. Most of the funding for these projects comes from earmarks, money set aside in legislation for specific projects, which are often regional and pushed by specific members of Congress trying to bring economic benefits to their districts to get themselves re-elected, i.e. “pork-barrel politics”. Many of the projects are embarrassingly bad ideas. The article has an infuriating analysis of how US ACE screwed New Orleans by not preparing the city for Katrina.

According to an article in the Washington post, the city of Fairfax is participating in a federal pilot program which will investigate whether the drug use of a city can be assessed by analyzing the sewage. Since current assessments of how many individuals in a population are using drugs rely on personal interviews, this will apparently give better estimates.

I have watched enough crime dramas to know that garbage is public domain and the police do not need a warrant to search it. I am sure that this would apply to sewage. In the future, could it be possible for police to get warrants to search your home based on random drug testing of sewers?

Really, don’t we have better things to do with our money than testing cocaine in the sewers? Does knowing how many people are doing drugs really give us a way to solve the “problem”? Will this technology really save us? [Insert big long rant here, because you know where I'm going.]