pds.jpl.nasa.gov
A bereft, forlorn blogosphere made "Pluto" the number-one search on Technorati today as it struggled to come to terms with our lonely, chilly neighbor's abrupt ejection from the planetary club. "Poor Pluto," said KY at Catch My Shooting Star; Maggie at MySpace was "horrified" to learn the news: "I felt like somehow the scientific community had robbed me of a piece of my universe," she lamented on her page, calling for readers to "pause for a moment of silence." (According to her MySpace page, Maggie is also a Virgo, so need not fear the astrological consequences which may yet be visited upon Scorpios, ruled by Pluto as they traditionally have been.) Said Mikey129 at LiveJournal: "Good bye Pluto... You will always be remembered... you will be missed."
Ian Musgrave of Astroblog points out who's really getting hurt here: the children, and the planetariums, and the family of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930. They say they are "saddened" by the change, but that "he would understand." Oh Clyde, we're so sorry.
Some have tried to be coldly clinical about Pluto — and failed. Said Walt at Ars Mathematica: "I know it doesn't really matter, but I felt very strongly that Pluto should be demoted from being a planet. Now that it's actually happened I feel sad that it's happened. That means I've had two more emotions about Pluto than I ever expected to have." Well Walt, it's a little late for that — the damage is done. Can I suggest a third emotion: Guilt, you Pluto-hating fiend! Sorry. That was uncalled for. I know this is hard for you, too.
Word on the street is that Neptune's status is being deliberated as well. We just hope they stay away from Uranus.
from conspiracyplanet.com
Newsweek's Michael Isikoff reveals that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage admitted to leaking Valerie Plame 's name — but that the State Department held that information back.
This is revealed in Isikoff's upcoming book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War," written with The Nation's David Corn and State Department intelligence chief Carl Ford Jr. Armitage apparently let the tidbit slip to Robert Novak in an unguarded moment, and realized that he was the source when Novak revealed in a column that the source was a senior administration officially who was "not a partisan gunslinger". Revealed Armitage to Colin Powerll: "I'm sure he's talking about me." State Department officials Armitage, Powell and William Howard Taft IV, the State Department's legal adviser did not reveal the information, which was, according to Isikoff, that "rarest of Washington phenomena: a hot secret that never leaked."
Earlier this week it was revealed that Armitage may have also told Bob Woodward about Plame's identity. It was previously established that Karl Rove had confirmed to Novak that "Wilson's wife" — the identity of which was just a Who's Who entry away — worked at the CIA, and also revealed that information to Time's Matt Cooper; separately, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, told the New York Times' Judith Miller.
from ChicagoTribune.com
Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune correspondent Paul Salopek was charged with espionage, passing information illegally and writing "false news" today in a Sudanese court. Salopek has been held since August 6, 2006, when he was arrested in Darfur while on assignment for National Geographic during a leave of absence from the Tribune. Both his driver and his interpreter have been similarly charged. The trial has been set for Sept. 10th.
It has been a scary week for journalists overseas: Fox News correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig have been in the hands of kidnappers in Gaza since August 14th, and New York Times researcher Zhao Yan was sentenced to three years in prison in China yesterday.
Both the Tribune and National Geographic are working to secure Salopek's release and Senator Barack Obama, in Africa on a separate trip, is "monitoring the situation" according to the AP.
from NYTimes.com
The NYT is kvelling: New Yankee Shawn Green is a slugger and an all-star, but more importantly, he's a Jew. What, you say? A Jew who doesn't hit like a girl? Oy! It's true, baruch hashem: There's one more to add to that long list of Jewish sporting Gods that includes Sandy Koufax, Matthieu Schneider, and Max Baer. As the NYT reports, Jews "are famed for their prowess in many fields" but not so much on many fields. What, you think controlling the media doesn't keep us busy enough? Well, think again, Mr. Smart Guy. There's a reason that the nation's top newspaper can mention a "chai" necklace without bothering to explain what it is. L'chaim!
In any case, the article cites some very very happy fans who are excited to have an icon to call their own. We're more concerned with why Green is holding his head like that. Does he have a headache? Is he eating enough? Is he getting enough sleep? Why won't he just go to the doctor already? Didn't he get the last four messages from his mother? No, no, it's fine, she's fine; he's busy, he's got more important things to do than call her to see if she's alive. She doesn't want to be a burden, it was so long ago that she screamed in agony giving him life, who can remember? Go, play your little game with a stick and a ball, she'll be fine.
Best part of the article: Sample playing card from a deck of "Jewish Major Leaguers." Collect all two!
