Seeing as I just got back from Niagara Falls, Ontario, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to wish our neighbours with the 'u' a Happy Canada Day.

141 years young today. More below the fold...

This diary entry begins with one question. Before you read on, or Google for the answer, I want you to answer this question honestly.

Does the name Joel Hinrichs mean anything to you? Either you know who he is, or you don't. If you're thinking of Joe Hinrichs, the current V.P at Ford, it's not that guy.

Answer the question, then join me below the fold...

If you have any nervous creationist types in the vicinity, you might want to make a scene so they see this on your computer screen.

A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers' eyes. It's the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait.

And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance events.

More about this observation at the Michigan State University in East Lansing below the fold...

This has been doing the rounds in some non-political threads over the last week. I thought it would be a good time to show it to a wider audience because it means one thing...

...if Barack Obama's image is being used to sell cars to Texans, the Republicans have a bigger problem in November than they thought.

More, below the fold...

Fist-bumps. You know the fist-bump of which I speak.

Well, thanks to the people sub-human gargoyle E.D. Hill at Fox Noise,  it is much darker than we realized...

"A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently."

I'm sorry... a WHAT?!??

Excuse me for one second...

More, below the fold...

There's something that John McCain said in his chromakey speech (and please, someone put some sports bloopers behind him on the green-screen, because no sports out-takes can be as painful as that speech). It was this bit:

It's the attitude of politicians who are sure of themselves but have little faith in the wisdom, decency and common sense of free people.

Wisdom, decency and common sense, huh?

More, below the fold...

This diary is to serve as a time-line of the attempts by Larry C. Johnson, former intelligence officer of the CIA and vocal Hillary Clinton supporter, to take his own personal train and derail it as close to the city of Bitterville as he can get.

I'll show you how I don't think he's evil, he's just desperately trying to cover his ass in the face of unsurmountable facts: that he's pinning too much hope on a tape that, apparently, only Republicans have seen. Or maybe anyone can buy it. Or maybe it's not a tape after all. Either way, someone has taken Larry C. Johnson's overwhelming desire to want something and used that to make him look a fool.

And how, ultimately, Larry C. Johnson may turn out to be this year's Dan Rather. And how it's his own fault. There are twists of words, changing stories, and even doctored Wikipedia entries and doctored pages from Larry's own site to go through. Only venture in if you have time to finish the read!

More, below the fold...

Yep. It has already started. Obama's an elitist, waaaah.

Of course, it's always funny when the smear machine gets caught with their pants down in the caviar. More, below the fold...

Hi, I'm Alice. ShawnGBR's cat. Meow, Kossacks.

I'm proud to say that I am not an otter killer. But many cats are, and it's easy to make sure your cat doesn't end up wiping out a special marine mammal.

How to prevent your kitty from being a killer, below the fold (wow, this keyboard is really difficult with paws...)

I know, it almost sounds like a troll diary (but do check my other entries to see that I'm no troll). But there are two very real questions I'm asking here:

Would Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, ever change his nationality and become Turkish?

Would Rupert Murdoch actually endorse the almost-presumptive Democratic Party nominee for President in the US, Barack Obama, over John McCain?

The answers may surprise you. More, below the fold...

Good afternoon, fellow Americans.

Just to let you know that you are currently part of an ongoing psychology experiment, being undertaken by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Do not be alarmed.

We will use well-documented methods to get a majority of you into a particular mental state, which will work to our advantage. And looking at the posts on this board, thankfully, it looks as though nobody has found out about the tactics being used.

Because once the tactics are revealed, the experiment cannot work.

More, below the fold.

I've decided to start an occasional talking point of the [f]right wing (be they be self-proclaimed Libertarian, Conservative, or Republican), and completely tear it apart using something I like to call 'thinking'.

The first myth on the list: how Government is "too big", and a cure for so many ills in the country is to make the government "smaller".

I'll take the first site Google gives me, and show what the connections are, and what really motivates people to want 'small government'. I'll then take the whole idea of 'small government' and work it through to its logical conclusion.

Details, below the fold...

I was thinking, last night, about just how stupid some political 'experts' are on TV.

Take, for example, the nugget that Obama should have courted the voters in places like rural West Virginia more. If only he had made more appearences, Hillary wouldn't have won in the way she did.

Rrright...

For those that actually think that's viable, I have a video from BBC's 'Top Gear" for you to watch. Enjoy ...and there's more, below the fold.

One of the advantages of being from another country is when something huge happens and yet people go on about their daily lives as normal. Probably because the 'whatever it is' means nothing to them and their lives.

Which is fine by me.

For I am a Manchester United fan. Have been since the 70s. And just because I'm  a US Citizen doesn't mean I don't get to cheer the Red Devils on.

Especially as they're Champions of Europe.

Behind in the delegate count and popular vote, and with no chance of achieving a winning number of States and territories, Hillary Clinton declared that a win in Kentucky tomorrow would mean she wins "by Blockbusters rules."

More, below the fold...

It's funny, really. I make diary entries that get no love all the time. And then yesterday I left a comment on a diary and it got over 70 almost 80 Recommendeds. I think it was the video I used to make my first point - it seemed to make people say "yeah, that's what we're talking about..."

So I'm going to post it as a diary entry.

Here's the thing: this whole 'appeasement' non-issue? It's just that. It's a non-issue compared to what matters - the war, the economy, the raping of this nation by Bush's special friends. Chris Matthews showed it was just the latest buzzword that was to be used in concert with the rhyme "energizes, legitimizes."

And how trying to explain how someone practiced appeasement with the answer "he appeased, he was an appeaser" wasn't an answer, it was a solo game of Mad-Libs.

But there was one thing at the end of that video: something said by Kevin James which wasn't questioned. It never is. And it's the Conservative's biggest weakness, because once the facts are presented their whole world will fall apart.

Join me... below the fold.

In keeping with a theme I use frequently ("this is the information age"), I thought it would be fun to search for the 2000 election promises of Bush and Cheney, and see how they match up to the reality of 2008.

I'll show how I found a website that no loner exists, go through the first few of their campaign promises as quickly as I can, and then wrap it all up at the end. This may be a long read, but it will certainly be worth it.

It all starts below the fold...

I think this video says it all.

Have a great morning.