The Morning Blog

All that really matters in the world today is that I became an uncle. Please see the post immediately preceding this one. However, in the event that you're concerned with more trivial matters...

The pope has called on Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy laws. Which is a good thing. However, I don't recollect the Holy Father getting particularly worked up when the UN has proposed anti-blasphemy resolutions. Granted, I could be wrong and if so, I apologize. Still though, I can't recollect the Vatican taking a particularly vigorous stand.

Kevin “Seamus” Hasson, founder and president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm in Washington that opposes the resolution, said it is a slap in the face of human rights law.

“The whole idea of the defamation of religion is a Trojan horse for something else," Hasson said. "When you talk about defamation, you talk about people being defamed and people being libeled, but ideas can’t be defamed. Ideas don’t have rights, people have rights.”

South Sudan's referendum on independence is turning a bit nasty. But really, who cares about that when we can ponder what George Clooney is up to! Is he helping things? Is he hurting things? I dunno. I do know that while South Sudan (name to be determined later), may never become a mecca for happiness, Clooney can at least make it a mecca for handsomeness.

Will Palin actually make a statement regarding the killings on Saturday outside of an email or Facebook post? Should she? I think so. Though I don't think that her remarkably tasteless crosshairs map was to blame for the tragic killing of six people, I think that from a political standpoint, she has to do significantly more than avow that the crosshairs were in fact surveyor symbols and complain about how she's now the victim of scapegoating by the liberal media. Sorry Sarah, but in this case, unless you or a family member caught a bullet, you don't get to use the victim label. It is reserved.

While we're on the subject of Palin, any chance you can see North Korea from Alaska?

The EU is looking to open works of art digitized by Google to to commercial use by other companies after a seven year period. I'm for it. All of these works are in the public domain as is and should be widely available. Seven years should be enough time for Google to recoup any expenses it incurs during the digitization process. Competition is good right? Oh...wait. They also want the primary source for digitized European art to be a portal financed by the EU...Sounds like improving the marketplace through competition might not necessarily be what they're looking for.

I don't know that I would want to go to prison with a nickname like "The Hammer". Frankly, it seems like a bit to live up to. That said, Tom DeLay has been sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering and conspiracy. Wait for it....Wait for it....The sentence of DeLay will be delayed pending appeal!

Pun intended.

The Hubble Space Telescope keeps knocking 'em out of the park! Here is yet another bit of weird space crap.

In Western Pennsylvania, we are not satisfied with mere bank robberies. Oh my no, we do crime weird.

Kacee! Sweetie! Get your sleep!

If the Greeks build their border wall out of anything other than marble and naked statuary, they should be ashamed of themselves.

I seem to vaguely remember something called MySpace. It was something to do with the internet I think but I'm not sure.

By the way, who the hell edits the Telegraph? It seems like every article is laden with typos. Granted, I'm guilty of that too but nobody's paying to read me. Just saying here.

Finally, your daily dose of "Probably Not":

Atlantis?