That’s it. The end. For real and forever. Now that you know, how does it make you feel, exactly? As published in the journal Science, and summarized below by the BBC:

Astronomers used the way that light from distant stars was distorted by a huge galactic cluster known as Abell 1689 to work out the amount of dark energy in the cosmos.

Dark energy is a mysterious force that speeds up the expansion of the Universe.

Understanding the distribution of this force revealed that the likely fate of the Universe was to keep on expanding.

[...]

Eventually it will become a cold, dead wasteland with a temperature approaching what scientists term “absolute zero”.

Professor Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale University, a leading cosmologist and co-author of this study, said that the findings finally proved “exactly what the fate of the Universe will be”.

Hmmm. And how does Professor Natarajan feel about that, I wonder? She seems happy enough to be the messenger, and I suppose it is quite the feather in her cap.

You would think that this news about the ultimate fate of the Universe and everything that it has ever contained — including all of our lives, legacies and dreams — would be getting more attention, and indeed perhaps it will once it filters out through the rest of what’s going on in the headlines today, like the baseball player Roger Clemens being indicted for perjury and the salmonella-induced recall of 340 million eggs in the United States. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Faith, News by Sean Curnyn
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From Fox News, no less, this piece of unmitigated liberal misinformation:

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan told her confirmation panel Tuesday that the landmark decision extending gun rights to all 50 states is “binding precedent,” despite a senator’s suggestion that the 5-4 ruling was on shaky ground. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, News by Sean Curnyn
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PALM BEACH, FL — Leading American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, 59, married legendary British rock star Elton John, 63, in a ceremony here on June 5th. People Magazine reports:

Amid dozens of giant bouquets of white roses (and very tight security), reports the Palm Beach Post, guests at the wedding included former Bush adviser Karl Rove; actor-politician Fred Thompson; former Kansas City Royals slugger George Brett; Fox News commentator Sean Hannity; former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft; former Clinton adviser James Carville and his wife, GOP analyst Mary Matalin; and golfer Tom Watson. A wedding guest also tells PEOPLE that among the others was Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Humor, News by Sean Curnyn
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So goes the news tonight:

Chaos, Anarchy To Reign If [Governor] Paterson Shuts Down NY
Monday Could Be Doomsday If Budget Deal Can’t Be Reached
Shutdown Would Mean Closing Of State Parks, DMV, Courts, N.Y. Lottery

Wow! Well, I’m ready. I’ve been ready for anarchy and chaos in New York City for a long time; I have the necessary resources stored away, and I fully expect to be one of the few survivors in Manhattan. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Humor, News by Sean Curnyn
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The false narrative of the supposedly innocent “aid flotilla” attacked by Israel (when in reality the only violence which took place occurred when IHH terrorists attacked Israeli commandos with the goal of creating this story) is lending fuel to an already-burgeoning global movement of boycotts and divestment that poses a very real risk to Israel’s survival. From the Wall Street Journal:

Israeli officials point to a significant toughening by many allies on important Israeli strategic issues, such as peace efforts with the Palestinians and the country’s nuclear program. But the fallout has ricocheted beyond diplomacy as well, they say. It is reflected in incidents including British grocery chains dropping products produced in Israeli settlements; Scandinavian pension funds divesting from an Israeli defense company; and the spread of an annual “Israel Apartheid Week,” backed by mostly left-leaning Western organizations, to 50 cities world-wide. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, News by Sean Curnyn
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Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, addressing a gathering of Bible-based Christians in her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, said the following:

“They ask me all the time, ‘What is your favorite this? What is your favorite that? What is your favorite that?’ And one time, ‘What is your favorite word?’ And I said, ‘My favorite word? That is really easy. My favorite word is the Word, is the Word. And that is everything. It says it all for us. And you know the biblical reference, you know the Gospel reference of the Word.”

“And that Word,” Palin said, “is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word. The Word. Isn’t it a beautiful word when you think of it? It just covers everything. The Word.

“Fill it in with anything you want. But, of course, we know it means: ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.’ And that’s the great mystery of our faith. He will come again. He will come again. So, we have to make sure we’re prepared to answer in this life, or otherwise, as to how we have measured up.”

Get it? “Public policy that would be in keeping with the value of the Word.” What incredible theocratic narrow-mindedness. This is what Sarah Palin would impose on the entire nation, in the name of her own personal and absurd religious beliefs?

Well, it would be, except it wasn’t the Wasilla Republican Sarah Palin who said any of the above. It was the San Fransisco Democrat and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

(Has she really been asked, by the way, as she claims, “What is your favorite word?” In some ways, that particular piece of insanity is the most disturbing part of all this. How important does she really believe she is?)

From section: Commentary, News, Politics by Sean Curnyn
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Hamas fired two Kassam rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip earlier today, but that’s far from the most serious attack being made on the Jewish state. Unable to defeat Israel in a direct military assault, her enemies have become well practiced at tactics that seek to damage her in the court of world opinion, to strip her of support (or even tolerance) and to encourage the kind of opposition that could ultimately break the nation’s spirit.

The inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank receive more international aid per capita than any [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, News by Sean Curnyn
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A local TV station in Santa Barbara, California is reporting that a dog named Sydnee has been taught to count (up to ten and numbers in-between) by her owner, Maxine Davis. The dog barks the requested number of times and then receives a raisin as a reward. Hmmm. You can watch the video from KCOY-TV below. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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As much as I might look askance on the styles and practices of other dog owners at the local park, the very idea of the government testing and regulating and taxing dog ownership to this extent is utterly horrifying. Yet it is at least under consideration in Britain, according to [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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Just another tale of a dedicated pooch staying beside a lost child and keeping her warm through a cold night. The story is from Arizona and features a a Queensland Heeler (or “Australian Cattle dog”) named Blue, and a three year-old girl named Victoria. The girl apparently wandered away from her home in a place called Cordes Lakes at about 5 p.m. last Thursday. The area being rugged and abutting state park land, finding her constituted a challenge that immediately demanded rescue teams, volunteers, ATVs, night-vision goggles, and a concerted attempt by local law enforcement to interrogate registered sex offenders in that locale. The night would get cold, falling to the mid-30s Fahrenheit, and the girl had been dressed in a t-shirt when she disappeared.

Despite the best efforts of all the people and resources that could be summoned, the night passed without the little girl being located. With sun-up, a rescue helicopter took off. Around 7:30, after being in the air only about five minutes, the rescuers saw the dog in a dry creek bed roughly a half a mile from the girl’s home, and then saw the girl too. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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