Congressman outs Cheney as a vampire.

Alan Grayson is pretty cool. From Raw Story:

The Democrats' newest quote machine was in fine form Thursday, suggesting that former Vice President Dick Cheney is a vampire.

Speaking on Hardball, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) denounced Cheney's attacks on President Barack Obama, who posited that Obama was "dithering" in failing to endorse a troop surge.

"I have trouble listening to what he says sometimes, because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he's talking," Grayson quipped. "But my response is this: He's just angry because the president doesn't shoot old men in the face. But by the way, when he was done speaking, did he just then turn into a bat and fly away?"

Matthews, somewhat aghast, replied: "Oh God -- we gotta keep a level here. Let me ask you this: Don't you have any Republican friends?"

Grayson laughed.

"Some of my best friends are Republicans," Grayson answered.

On Wednesday, Grayson offered another quote that made the rounds, saying, "Fox News and their Republican collaborators are the enemy of America. They're the enemy of anybody who cares about health care in this country, the enemy of anybody who cares about educating their children, the enemy of anybody who wants energy independence or anything good for this country. And certainly the enemy of peace, there's no doubt about that. They are the enemy."

43% of Americans are blithering morons.

From Daily Mail:

The number of Americans who believe in global warming has plummeted in just three years, a poll has revealed.

Some 57 per cent believe that world temperatures are rising - a drop of 20 points - while only one in three thinks humans are causing climate change.

It comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to debate legislation that will curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Last month, Cardiff University found an increasing number of Britons are also becoming more sceptical about climate change.

According to the U.S. survey, carried out by think-tank the Pew Research Centre, 36 per cent of the 1,500 adults questioned believe human activities - such as pollution from power plants and vehicles - are behind an increase in global temperatures. This was down from 47 per cent in 2006.

32 planets discovered outside solar system.

From CNN:

Thirty-two planets have been discovered outside Earth's solar system through the use of a high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope, an international team announced Monday.

The existence of the so-called exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system -- was announced at the European Southern Observatory/Center for Astrophysics, University of Porto conference in Porto, Portugal, according to a statement issued by the observatory.

The announcement was made by a consortium of international researchers, headed by the Geneva Observatory, who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS. The device can detect slight wobbles of stars as they respond to tugs from exoplanets' gravity. That tactic, known as the radial velocity method, "has been the most prolific method in the search for exoplanets," according to the European Southern Observatory statement.

The instrument detects movements as small as 3.5 km/hr (2.1 mph), a slow walking pace, the observatory said.

With the discovery, the tally of new exoplanets found by HARPS is now at 75, out of about 400 known exoplanets, the organization said, "cementing HARPS's position as the world's foremost exoplanet hunter." The 75 planets are in 30 planetary systems, the European Southern Observatory said.

Happy Birthday, Jeff Goldblum!!

Congratulations to The Goldblum who has shared yet another full 365-day cycle with us puny mortals. Thank you, O Fly of Chaos, O Half-Gay Tall Guy.