Gotta say, having just been on a brief spin 'round the intertubes, that it seems like this was a very good week to be cut off from the intertubes. Things are fine but connectivity has been limited. Anyway, while we all deal with the fallout from our ongoing national freakout(tm) (note: freakout not guaranteed to be actually nationwide), here's a couple of semi-random things: Photo of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Taken from the Washington Monument by someone who apparently doesn't want it shared around all that much. Article from the Guardian about how dogs are either optimists or pessimists. I was prepared to find the whole thing ridiculous based on the title alone but reading the methodology, it actually makes a kind of sense. Even if it leads to the somewhat "no duh" conclusion that dogs who act up/out when left alone tend to do so because they're upset about being left alone. But apparently the old joke (that when you leave, your dog thinks "ohmigod! they're never coming back!") might actually be true for some dogs.