Independence hangover

Fun research project time:
After listening to the innumberable rockets, mortars, shells, sparklers, snakes, bottle rockets, etc., launched last night, I got to wondering how much gunpowder did the nation use last night? And how that filtered through the air, into the water, etc. (Bonus question: if we'd all bought our explosives through Halliburton and KBR, how much markup would we have received?)

Most of the holiday can be summed up by the following three things I saw on the campus grounds while walking to work:

• An empty beer can
• An empty packet of Camel Lights
• A spent rocket, with scorch marks on the pavement

Now if the unknown reveler had just left a gnawed T-bone on the ground, the portrait would be complete.

The folks who so dearly loved the Iraqi Information Minister have a new site: TomCruiseIsNuts.com. And since the Library of Congress urges you to Read More About It: everything you ever wanted to know about Scientology is at Operation Clambake—after a visit, you might be like me and be unable to restrain yourself from making little open-and-shut clam motions with your hands.