Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness, in a descending spiral of destruction.
The chain reaction of evil must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Be sure to visit Carnival of the Cats #127 for links to great feline photos.

Our galactic neighborhood is becoming more and more crowded.  “Four new satellite galaxies of the Milky Way have been discovered, bringing the total known to about 20. The pace of new discoveries suggests that many more such satellites remain unknown…”

Tornado photos!  Awesome, dude.  [via Biomes Blog]

Don’t use Green Mountain Energy under any circumstances.  Here’s why.

I won’t harp on the lack of action and political machinations by Republicans on the minimum wage scandal.  I’ve said it often enough and need not even hunt down my own posts for links.  Suffice it to say we’re getting screwed by corporate America while the GOP creams their jeans in response.

The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity — the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation’s living standards — has risen steadily over the same period.

As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as “the golden era of profitability.”

Until the last year, stagnating wages were somewhat offset by the rising value of benefits, especially health insurance, which caused overall compensation for most Americans to continue increasing. Since last summer, however, the value of workers’ benefits has also failed to keep pace with inflation, according to government data.

What does that mean?  It means you, poppets, are working harder and giving more of yourselves while your employer takes more from you and gives you the shaft for your dedication.

It also means your employers are fisting you on benefits while they roll in the dough of historic profits.

I said I didn’t think he did it, and now we learn he didn’t do it.  At least according to preliminary reports.

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) — Schoolteacher John Mark Karr will not be charged with the murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant competitor JonBenet Ramsey, Karr’s attorney said Monday.

“The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney,” public defender Seth Temin said outside the jail. “They are not proceeding with the case.”

[…]

…CNN’s Denver affiliate, KUSA, reported that the DNA sample taken from Karr does not match DNA found on JonBenet’s body. KUSA quoted two sources in a bulletin on its Web site.

Again, he’s a freak and a loon, but he didn’t kill that little girl.  Well, I say that without knowing for certain, but the evidence and his own confession seem to contradict the idea.