a stranger here myself

By now you've all heard about the comet that could maybe hit Earth sometime down the line and kill us all but probably won't.  I hadn't heard that they'd named it Apophis, though, until Amanda Downum pointed it out.  Are these astronomers actually hankering for an apocalypse?

Fortunately, Wikipedia's entry on Apophis/Apep contains ancient clues on how to defeat the asteroid, in case Bruce Willis isn't around:

The Egyptian priests even had a detailed guide to fighting Apep, referred to as The Books of Overthrowing Apep or (in Greek) the Book of Apophis. The chapters described a gradual process of dismemberment and disposal, and include:

    * Spitting Upon Apep
    * Defiling Apep with the Left Foot
    * Taking a Lance to Smite Apep
    * Fettering Apep
    * Taking a Knife to Smite Apep
    * Putting Fire Upon Apep

Citizens of Planet Earth, gather together, and get ready to spit and defile!  I don't think NASA has the technology to hock a loogie into outer space, so here's hoping that collectively, we have a very long left foot.

Basketball player makes homophobic statements. Sulu sets phasers to stunning.

Molly Ivins died today at the age of 62.   She was one hell of a lady, one hell of a writer, one hell of a fighter.  I was hoping she'd be around, shining her light into the dark places, for a long time to come.

I guess this means it's left for the rest of us to step up our game, make our voices count for something.

My homepage is Google News, so I'm constantly glancing over an assortment of the latest headlines. At the moment, top of the list is "Clinton Seeks to Become First Female U.S. President". My brain did not skip a beat before thinking, "Damn, what won't that guy do to get a little love and attention?"