International

I've got several things going for me with this gem from the BBC. First, I suffer from a fairly healthy dose of paranoia when it comes to checking baggage for a flight. I don't like the idea that my bags are ever out of my sight, though I understand there is now way the airlines or their lawyers would ever consent to allowing me to load my own luggage (other than carry-ons, of course) onto an aircraft. But I also don't like the idea that people can just rifle through my personal effects. Things get stolen that way.  read more »

Just to be fair, Muslim extremisim does not corner the market on insanity. Christians have their own as well:

This is part of a BBC documentary posetd on YouTube about the members of the Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps family.  read more »

I really have issues with religion. Without getting too far into it at this point, I have problems in that every organized religion has, at some point, been responsible for atrocities that we can hardly imagine. Many involved canabalism or human sacrifice, many were used as an excuse to subjegate entire nations and states, still more were used as an excuse for hate and murder.  read more »

It looks like good news for Ham Radio in the coming years. NASA is now predicting a massive solar storm, possibly as big as the last massive storm in 1958. This should generate all sorts of wacky effects on things like cell phones, satellite TV and radio. But for Ham, it may mean some wicked propogation. Oh, and potentially we of the lower 48 will get to see the Aurora Borealis as the storms energy hits our upper atmosphere. Here's a bit from the article, which can be found on NASA's Web Site:  read more »