Extinctions and Supernovae

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According to a new proposal by astronomers, two-thirds of the world’s living creatures may have been destroyed by a supernova near by. Its gamma rays would have recomposed the Earth’s atmosphere and allowed deadly ultraviolet radiation from the sun to hit the surface.

It would have also created dust in the atmosphere, cooling the surface, and setting up conditions that would allow an ice age to begin. Neat. Well, it’s neat, except for the fact that a supernova might expose the Earth to harmful gamma rays every few hundred million years and could happen at any time without warning.

We’ll be safe once we learn to live under water in the deep ocean.

Health Care

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Last year, I paid $52.89 for my health insurance every other week. This year, I will be paying $61.15 for the same benefits. That’s almost a 16% increase. I’m not going to be getting a 16% raise; at least, I highly doubt it. Part of me wants to be thankful that I have any health insurance at all, but that part of me is barely on talking terms with the other part of me.

The good news is that all employees of my company are reimbursed a partial amount for health insurance payments. The bad news is the amount of reimbursement didn’t increase 16% from last year. It increased 0%.

Martian Sunset

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I bet it’s beautiful in color. There are more photos of Mars here. They are stereoscopic pairs, which I believe means that if you take the left image of the pair and tint it in red in Photoshop, tint the right image in blue, overlay the images, and put on your 3-D tinted cellophane glasses, the photographs will appear to have depth.

Update: Apparently NASA has the technology and ability to read my mind. They’re expected to release color photographs today.

I’m Over It

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britlive.jpeDon’t worry, Britney. I’m not offended that you didn’t invite me to your wedding in Las Vegas. I was a little hurt at first, but now I’m over it. After all, you probably didn’t even plan it in advance. In fact, you may not even know yet that you are married, considering it’s likely that you’re still reeling with a hangover from the drunken stupor you must have been in that night. Well, when you wake up, I’m sure the whole world will let you know what happened, Mrs. Britney Alexander. <grin> … or maybe <groan> is more appropriate.

Now if you excuse me, and I hope you don’t mind, the Democratic debate is on and I have to decide which of these guys I’m going to vote for in the nearly futile attempt to claim back this country…

Update on Britney: Looks like she woke up.