Brian!!!

National - So here’s something I didn’t know: Arizona has a new moonbeam collector out in Three Points (where is that?). A Tucson businessman and inventor, Richard Chapin, built the wife for possible medicinal, industrial, and agricultural uses. It seems more likely it was built for no real reason except Richard wanted to and because he has some nutty views about the power of the reflected sunlight off the moon’s surface. Chapin calls the big-ole-thing the “Interstellar Light Collector". It’s hard to describe without going into many words so you can check out the article to see a picture. The thing cost $2 million and has so far attracted 1,000 visitors.

Opinion – Personally, I think this thing is a just nutty and the moonbeam collector probably doesn’t any practical uses. But it still looks and sounds cool, and I definitely want to go see it sometime. The article mentioned people listening to ambient music while “bathing” in the moonlight, and I think that’s something I could get into.

National – So a guy murdered his father with a machete in Alaska. There’s a very nice picture of him on msn. His name is Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. He also shot a killed one other person and shot and wounded three others at random, just because he wanted to kill more people before he was caught (+ he was caught in a high-speed chase). The article I read gives no motives for this man’s violence.

Opinion – I think this is what Mr. Gumm calls “Passive Aggressive Disorder”, except in this case it turned active, so I guess it is “Active Aggressive Disorder”. It’s frightening to think that people so prone to violence could shoot you at any time just because they want to kill someone. But at least this guy was inventive and used a machete instead of a plain old knife. And that picture of him is creepy.

International – New US Intelligence reports that Iran halted work on nuclear weapons four years ago, but Bush is urging the international community to not let up on Iran. His reasoning is in case they restart the program. However, this new intelligence contradicts earlier reports from the Bush administration and serves to weaken Bush’s earlier arguments that Iran posed the threat of starting WWIII. Bush is also being criticized for being all talk and no action as he recently called his first news conference in seven weeks.

Opinion – It’s a relief to know that Iran stopped their program, and I agree we shouldn’t let up on them in case they were to restart it. However, it does seem Bush should have at least recognized the discrepancy between earlier reports and the new intelligence. And I’m not sure I don’t agree that maybe he isn’t trying hard enough to find bipartisan solutions to issues, rather than being a stick in the mud.

International – In Rome at Herculaneum, a Roman throne made of wood and ivory has been discovered under volcanic mud from Mount Vesuvius. The throne belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. The scene on the throne depicts Attis, a Roman cult-deity who went through a cycle of life, death and rebirth as pine tree.

Opinion – This is pretty cool. I’d like to see it. I also think the whole idea of Attis is interesting, because of the parallels to the figure of Christ who died on a tree rather than being reborn as one.