Mars Phoenix Lander sends photos of face gouged into Martian rock

Tucson, Arizona June 14, 2008
By Mary Houlihan,
All This Is That science editor



-Click to enlarge-

About three weeks after it landed on Mars, the Phoenix lander has transmitted new photographs of geologic features and the planet's surface, including one that appears to show a direct link between earth and Mars.

NASA's $420 million lander may have also located ice in the Martian polar region, in a photo with with rocks and hills trailing into a dusty horizon. Ice, and its parent, water, may be necessary for life, or at least life as we understand it.

"We're getting about twice the data volume we were told to expect," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona.

Mary Houlihan, discussed the photograph of what appears to be a butte, or mesa, with a smiley face gouged into the rock and dust: "Of course, the scientists at NASA and JPL have already dismissed the smiley face as a geological anomaly. However, the question may really be 'did they get the smiley face from us, or did we get it from them?'"
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Painting: George W. Bush announces abolishment of the Supreme Court

Click POTUS to enlarge

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Friends of All This Is That

click to enlarge

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President escorted, ranting and half-naked from WH Press briefing room

By Pablo Fanque,
National Affairs Editor, All This Is That
Washington, D.C. June 12, 2008

In a bizarre turn of events, President George W. Bush made an unannounced visit to the White House Press Briefing Room this morning. The President was clad only in a pair of white briefs and black socks. Although I rarely attend the highly scripted and controlled events in the Press Room, I just happened to be there, meeting a friend from Reuters.



The President stood at the podium, and began ranting about today's Supreme Court ruling that clears foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. Bush suggested new legislation may now be needed to keep the American people safe: "If it was up to me, these sons of bitches in Guantanamo would all be missing limbs by now. If I had a free hand, we'd make what Jack Bauer does look like Rebbecca of Sunnybrook farm. What a bunch of hand-wringing pansies this f***ing Supreme Court has turned out to be! Clarence and Tony--I love you f***ers!"

Two minutes into the President's rant, he was coaxed from the podium by his Chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, As his top aide edged him toward the door, The President exploded, screaming at Bolten and and throwing long, roundhouse punches and haymakers. "You get your f***ing hands off me or I'll have these agents break your f***ing arms ***hole!"



With the Chief of Staff unable to calm the President (or get him out of range of the press), two uniformed Capitol Police put a sweatsuit on Bush, and escorted him to an undisclosed location.

Needless to say, the Press Room exploded into action, between people phoning in stories and trading photographs, video and audio clips. Later, one reporter claimed a source told him President Bush had been taken to St. Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital in Washington for observation, and possible treatment.
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The murder case against President George W. Bush

A former Republican prosecutor, Vince Bugliosi, has written a book that lays out the full legal case for a murder prosecution of George W. Bush (!!!) in his new book, The Prosecution Of George W. Bush For Murder.

Bugliosi achieved fame (and later fortune) as the prosecutor of Charles Manson. He went on to write the boffo best-seller Helter-Skelter. Helter-Skelter was an OK book. The great book about Manson, The Family, was written by the poet and founder of the seminal band, The Fugs from Woodstock, New York, Ed Sanders.
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Homeland Security starts at the filling station

reprinted with permission of TBH Politoons - click to enlarge
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drawing: six heads

click the heads to enlarge

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The Clinton Enemies List

According to the International Herald Tribune:

". . .that does not mean all is forgiven by others in the Clinton universe."

"For proof, look no further than Doug Band, chief gatekeeper to former President Bill Clinton. Band keeps close track of the past allies and beneficiaries of the Clintons who supported Obama's campaign, three Clinton associates and campaign officials said. Indeed, he is widely known as a member of the Clinton inner circle whose memory is particularly acute on the matter of who has been there for the couple — and who has not."

" 'The Clintons get hundreds of requests for favors every week,' said Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. 'Clearly, the people you're going to do stuff for in the future are the people who have been there for you.' "

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Poem: Flying, depending on the context, is better than not flying

Flying is the straw man.
It’s falling that is the issue,

And even falling per se is OK.
The hitch arises the moment

Falling becomes not falling.
I call it the uncontrolled landing problem.
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Painting: map 12

I have painted several of these maps over the years, but I still haven't done the one I really want to do. If I do paint it, I guess I'll know it. Of the ones I've done, this is the only one I own, so it's a bit of a sentimental favorite. Apologies for the photography. I just can't get the hang of photographing paintings and drawings.


click the map to enlarge
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Painting: The Sage

Click painting to enlarge
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Growing up: Hillbilly home-made toys

click young John/Jack to enlarge

If you've read any of these growing up stories, you remember I grew up poor. That didn't necessarily mean we didn't get toys (which my parent's generation would call "store-bought"). We did get toys for birthdays and Christmas, and in between, we played with toys my dad made (he also built boats, bikes, and even campers). There are a few he made I can't quite remember, but I know they involved bobbins, and wooden thread spools. He could create dozens of objects from rope. His Navy days had left him a master knotsman, and some of my favorite toys were his ropework. Here are some of the toys he made, and we played with. This is only a small part of his toys--the others are lost somewhere in the haze floating over the Green & White River Valley.

The Paper Hat. He could fold several styles of paper hats from newspapers. One was the one below--almost a Papal hat; another was a skull-cap sort of affair; and he could also create an excellent Pirate Hat as well. E-how tells you how to make your own, if you'd like to take a crack at it.



Dad also made several varieties of bathtub or pond motorboats. The illustration below shows one of his standards.


This was no work of genius, but he also made us tin can telephones (and tin can puddle jumpers):

One of my favorites was the Monkey Fist. It wasn't that useful if you weren't climbing mountains or tossing a rope from a ship, but it had this heft and symmetrical coolness that made you want one. We always had one tied to the dinner bell on our back porch (how tarheel is that? How many of you had a "dinner bell?").

There was a very simple toy called a Buzz-toy, that John, Sr. called a "zippo." This was possibly my most beloved toy. I could even make one myself when he showed me where to find the cord. He always used a kind of hybrid thread, with cotton and some sort of synthetic like nylon. You could really get these zippos zipping! If you had a strong cord, you could really get these things moving, and it generated a great low, rumbling whirring sound:

Other growing up stories on All This Is That:

The Time I Got Drunk With Roy Rogers

Kent, Washington

It Can Happen Here: Japanese Relocation Camps, 1942-1946

More on the El Rancho Drive-in in Kent, Washington

snack bar ads, intermission countdowns, and the El Rancho drive-in

All This Is That reheated: Hucking eggs in Kent, Washington

A Blog for Phil Kendall

Four more images of Kent, Washington in the 40's and 50's

Kent, Washington's Meeker Street 1946

Too good to leave in the comments: Scooter and the Hell's Angel Heavy chug-a-lug

Scooter and $2 all you can drink beer day at the Sundowner circa 1973

Fishing With The Old Man

Uncle Romey

Uncle Guy, more hillbilly cred, and living a good life

My Grandma's tavern in Carnation, Wash.

My Dog Slugger

Hucking Eggs in Kent, Washington

Square Dance At Valley Elementary

Foot Washing Baptists & The Catholic Devils

Hillbilly Cred

Growing Up In Kent, Washington: Tarheels, Hayseeds, Hillbillies, and Crackers

Cruising the Renton loop with a keg of nails

My Worst Jobs: 50 Tons of Sand

My Pathetic Political Career

Defensive Daydreaming (the second poem in these links, and one of my favorites)

"Chicken Thieves Busy in Kent And Vicinity"

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Oh, you can't get to heaven: Boy Scout songs

Click the scouts to enlarge

This is a song we often sang in Boy Scouts. We substituted verses that spotlighted the adults who were along on our camping trips ("Oh you can't get to heaven/in Mr. Crawford's car/Because Mr. Crawford's car/stops at every bar").





Oh, You Can't Get to Heaven
Written By: Unknown
Copyright Unknown


Oh, you can't get to heaven
(Oh, you can't get to heaven)
On roller skates
(On roller skates)
'Cause you'd roll right by
('Cause you'd roll right by)
Those pearly gates
(Those pearly gates)

Oh you can't get to heaven
On roller skates
'Cause you'd roll right by
Those pearly gates
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

Oh, you can't get to heaven
(Oh, you can't get to heaven)
In a rocking chair
(In a rocking chair)
'Cause a rocking chair
('Cause a rocking chair)
Won't get you there
(Won't get you there)

Oh, you can't get to heaven
In a rocking chair
'Cause a rocking chair
Won't get you there
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more

I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

Oh you can't get to heaven
(Oh you can't get to heaven)
In a limousine
(In a limousine)
'Cause the Lord don't sell
('Cause the Lord don't sell)
No gasoline
(No gasoline)

Oh you can't get to heaven
In a limousine
'Cause the Lord don't sell
No gasoline
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more

I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

Oh, you can't get to heaven
(Oh, you can't get to heaven)
In a motorcar
(In a motorcar)
'Cause a motorcar
('Cause a motorcar)
Won't go that far
(Won't go that far)

Oh you can't get to heaven
In a motorcar
'Cause a motorcar
Won't go that far
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more

I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

If you get there
(If you get there)
Before I do
(Before I do)
Just dig a hole
(Just dig a hole)
And pull me through
(And pull me through)

If you get there
Before I do
Just dig a hole
And pull me through
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more

I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.
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"18 Million cracks in the ceiling": Hillary Clinton calls it quits

by Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor, All This Is That
Washington, D.C. Saturday 6/7/08

OK. We supported her. And then we didn't support her. She and her husband have perhaps too often aggressively pursued their dream, and along the way made some dumb comments about race, Obama's religion, Bobby Kennedy and other tasteless faux pas. . But today, when she finally conceded defeat, it was Hillary Clinton who made the big classy speech, as she bowed out.



"As we gather here today," she told her fans and staff at the National Building Museum yesterday, "the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House."

"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it," the Senator said, "and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time."
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"A lack of focus" [on our nuclear weapons!!!] " Gates fires Air Force officials

This is a mind f***er of all mindf***ers. Like some of you, I grew up in the duck and cover era. We practiced dodging the effects of a nuclear bomb. Watch this video to get an idea of the national obsession with nuclear attack, as well as our laughable solutions for surviving a direct atomic bomb attack. As it turns out, not only are we under-prepared, but the air force may even be part of the problem, and not the solution, and safety-net, we've been led to believe in.

This week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired (rather, he asked for the resignations of...) two top Air Force officials Thursday, saying an investigation into the mistaken shipment of missile parts from Hill Air Force Base to Taiwan exposed a systemic "lack of focus" on nuclear accountability. In addition to the resignation of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, Gates said a "substantial" number of other officials - presumably including some from Hill - might be fired or reprimanded.



Our handling of nukes seems just about on the order of those of the breakaway 'Stans and former Soviet Republics. We are about as casual in handling these deadly weapons as the guys who stock the shelves at your grocery store. In short, whatever they found was so scary it even spooked the Bush Administration. And those boys are not easily spooked. If Bush is spooked, the rest of us should be racing for the Pampers and shoveling out a bomb shelter in the back yard.
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