Triple Sunrise on Earth: It’s yesterday’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, and it’s beautiful.  Be sure to read the brief explanation of this common event just below the photo.

I mentioned once the “hunter’s conversation”: the way domestic cats talk when they have prey in their sights.  It’s a broken speech pattern full of chirps and sputtered meows that lets you know they are in the hunting zone.  Well, thanks to Mark at Biomes Blog, you can see precisely what it is in this video.  It’s all too familiar to me.  Note they call it “singing cat” because, well, they haven’t a single clue about cat personalities or behavior… I assume.  Oh well…

This is exciting.  The first private space habitat for humans could be in orbit by 2010.  No longer is everything outside of our atmosphere the purview of governments only, but now we have true private interest and expenditures focused on making real the heretofore empty promise of space tourism for private citizens.  Very cool, and I’m glad to see how quickly this new space race is expanding around the globe.  It’s about damn time.

Remember when I talked about Paula the Persian cat who was dumped on an animal welfare worker by someone claiming to have found the feline?  The person who dumped the cat, of course, promptly disappeared as it was discovered the cat had been sorely neglected.  That neglect made the cat quite sick and has pushed her to the edge of death because of her advanced age.  While I feared she would already be dead given her failing condition just a few days ago, I’m thrilled to see she’s still holding on and appears to be doing well enough.  There’s a new video and photo of her on that page.  I know the care facility where she is will not hesitate to end her suffering if that’s most appropriate, but right now, despite not eating, she seems to be doing as well as can be expected given her history and age.

Before I offer an update on Zeke’s condition, I wanted to point out how thankful Chris Clarke is for the outpouring of support from around the globe in response to what appears as an unhappy ending in progress.  He offers On the Internet everyone knows your dog in response, and it’s a humorous tale from Zeke’s past.  I assure you it will tickle your funny bone.

And now the serious Zeke update: While filled with good news, even Chris admits “our route is clear, and the only question timing.”  Go read the update to understand why he’s now reached this conclusion, to see the latest tragedy in Zeke’s life, and to feel a bit of hope at what seems to have been a great day due in no small part to a commenter on the site who probably “extended by some precious weeks the time in which life is worth [Zeke’s] hanging on to.”

Do you think the world is ready for an openly gay national leader?  There have been, are, and will be such leaders who are gay but closeted, so set that consideration aside and ask yourself if knowing their sexuality makes any difference in such a case.  What if we’re talking about the chancellorship of Germany?  It seems the possibility is now very real that the two-time mayor of Berlin, openly gay Klaus Wowereit, could have a shot at the leadership position for that country.  I have my doubts, of course, because too many people pretend at tolerance without really acting on it like a true conviction, and he does have apparent limits to his ability to manage at high levels, but his popularity, his repeated wins at governing the country’s capital despite its ongoing problems, and his reputation as a consensus builder all seem empowering.  This race will be interesting to watch.  [via Michael at Gay Orbit]