"Lunar eclipse delight for sky watchers around the world...the result of the moon starting to move into the earth's shadow."  Enjoy the photos.

The tragedy of A.S.S. (Amazing Stupidity Syndrome) is not limited to Texas lawmakers but is endemic on Capitol Hill and often in the White House.

Speaking of A.S.S. on Capitol Hill, Sen. Mark Warner, millionaire, from VA, considers the deficit the "issue of our time."  "Warner and his little band of misguided goofs are going to parade a phony crisis as the "issue of our time" because, what, the greatest divide between rich and poor, the class warfare underway, climate change are really small potatoes."

The hypocrisy and hubris of secretive, oligarchic government: "NYT exposes key military secrets on front page....those who want to prosecute Assange should remember that WikiLeaks has only exposed past conduct, and never -- like the NYT just did -- published imminent covert military plans.  Moreover, WikiLeaks has never published "top secret" material.....(However) By exposing these classified plans, (NYT reporters) Mazzetti and Filkins did exactly what good journalists ought to do:  inform the public about important actions taken or being considered by their government which the government is attempting to conceal."

When Republicans talk about "freedom" and "liberty," it is always the freedom of the rich and powerful to do whatever they want, no matter how dangerous it is for the rest of society, and the liberty of pursuing the bottom line without regard for the consequences of the rest of us."

"Karl Rove, Assange and the Swedish connection."

"Toyota has been fined $32.4m (£20.9m) by the US government for failing to swiftly recall millions of vehicles with faulty brakes and steering. The fines follow months of investigations that concluded Toyota had failed to report defects to safety regulators, who found that Toyota began a recall in Japan over faulty rods but waited a year before conceding US models were also affected."