Some news and stuff, 6-17-06

A couple pics of the asteroid 2002 JF56, taken by New Horizons a couple of days ago. Color pics with higher resolution are due next week some time.

In other news:

• This comment takes the place of an extended rant that used to be here. I'm not pleased about yesterday's "don't bother knocking" ruling from the Supremes. But the rant didn't really fit here, so I'll save it for later, probably.
  
• All of this (i.e. the aforementioned supreme court ruling) makes me want a beer. And here's yet another local beer blog I just ran across. Lookit all them hops in that there carboy. Mmmm, tasty.
  
• I don't know if Portland's ex-mayor Vera Katz is a beer drinker or not, and I kind of suspect not, but her new statue seems to like the occasional brewski.
  
• A fun little piece about Crazy Crab, the most hated sports mascot of all time, hands down.
  
• The "OMG PONIES" thing may have run its course, but Portland's tiny plastic pony thing is still going strong. More photos here. I was thinking about taking some photos myself and posting them, but now everybody's doing it. And as I've said before, I'm not much of a joiner.
  
• In Ireland, even mad scientists have literary leanings. "Bloomsday device". I love it.
  
• The OLCC's jackbooted thugs are at it again. Like I said before, I'm not a libertarian when it comes to the economic side of things, but I'm all in favor of abolishing the OLCC. Never give puritanical power-mad busybodies their own funding source and their own law enforcement arm. Everything they do would be handled better by local governments (licensing), regular state & local police (enforcement), and the private sector (liquor retailing). There's no need for them to exist. If we ever did abolish the agency there'd be no need to shed a tear for all the unemployed OLCC bureaucrats -- with their experience, they'll have no trouble finding similar jobs in Saudi Arabia.
  
• A couple of lists of the world's worst beers. If the OLCC really wanted to perform a public service, they'd establish minimum quality standards for beer and wine, as a consumer protection measure. But noooooo....