Wayyyy Too Early Saturday Morning - 3/13/2010

well, my Tarheels lost in the first round of the ACC tournament. Even though Coach says he'll play anywhere he's invited to play, doesn't look like we'll even make the NIT (Not Invited Tournament). Though financially, it would be wise for the NIT-ers to invite us with our rabid fan following.

here are some stories I saw on the interweb.....

A group of Republican senators is questioning high salaries and expensive travel bills for executives at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, raising issues that could jeopardize millions in federal funding for the national charity. The four senators said they were concerned that Roxanne Spillett, the chief executive of a charity that has been closing local clubs for lack of funding was compensated nearly $1 million in 2008. They also questioned why in the same year officials spent $4.3 million on travel, $1.6 million on conferences, conventions and meetings, and $544,000 in lobbying fees. Evan McElroy, senior vice president of communications for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, said the charity's compensation committee follows Internal Revenue Service guidelines for nonprofit organizations. He said Mercer, a human resources consulting firm, analyzed executive compensation and found it was "appropriate for a large, national, tax-exempt, youth organization."

A musical celebrating Ray Charles is headed for Broadway this fall. "Unchain My Heart" will open Nov. 7 with preview performances beginning Oct. 8.

One of the world's largest studies of the contraceptive pill has found that women who have taken it can expect longer lives and are less likely to die from any cause, including cancer and heart disease. Click HERE for the full story.

Germany's sex abuse scandal has now reached Pope Benedict XVI: His former archdiocese disclosed that while he was archbishop a suspected pedophile priest was transferred to a job where he later abused children.

An American seized in Yemen in a sweep of suspected al-Qaida members had been a laborer at six U.S. nuclear power plants, and authorities are investigating whether he had access to sensitive information or materials that would be useful to terrorists. Sharif Mobley, 26, worked for contractors at plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland from 2002 to 2008, mostly hauling materials and setting up scaffolding, plant officials said.

According to the fine folks at CBR, Hugo Weaving is in talks to play The Red Skull. Weaving recently worked with director Joe Johnston on "The Wolfman" and will look interesting with his skin flayed off. Weaving also appeared in the Matrix and Lord of the Rings movies.

Director Rupert Wyatt has signed on the helm the "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" remake/series reboot. According to a source at the CBR.com, the film is more directly tied to the original "Planet of the Apes" and has many subtle references to it.

Disney will close Robert Zemeckis' studio ImageMovers Digital. The Marin County California studios will bow early next year. Disney claims the closing is due to 'economic realities.'

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. ruled that the Federal Communications Commission could continue its so-called "program access rule," passed by statute in 1992, that are intended to prevent cable companies from withholding the most desirable channels, particularly sports channels, from rivals; basically stating the companies must continue to make programming they own available to satellite companies.

and finally, this headline from space.com -- Life-Enabling Molecules Spotted in Orion Nebula

The chemical fingerprints of potentially life-building molecules have been detected in the Orion nebula by Europe's Herschel Space Observatory.


The Orion nebula is a nearby stellar nursery, brimming with gas, dust and infant stars. It is known to be one of the most prolific chemical factories in space, although the full extent of its chemistry and the pathways for molecule formation are not well understood.


Researchers have used one of Herschel's instruments, which looks at the cosmos in the far infrared wavelengths of light, to provide more insight into how organic molecules form in space.


By sifting through the pattern of spikes in Orion nebula's light signature, or spectrum, astronomers have identified a few common molecules that are precursors to life-enabling molecules, including water, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, methanol, dimethyl ether, hydrogen cyanide, sulfur oxide and sulfur dioxide. Each spike in the spectrum corresponds to a particular molecule.


"This HIFI spectrum, and the many more to come, will provide a virtual treasure trove of information regarding the overall chemical inventory and on how organics form in a region of active star formation. It harbors the promise of a deep understanding of the chemistry of space once we have the full spectral surveys available," said Edwin Bergin of the University of Michigan and the principal investigator of the HEXOS Key Program on Herschel.


Because of Herschel's unique infrared observing abilities, this new spectrum is already an improvement on previous one's taken of the Orion nebula.


"We obtained this spectrum in a few hours and it already beats any other spectrum, at any other wavelength, ever taken of Orion," said Frank Helmich, Herschel HIFI principal investigator of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.


Built by the European Space Agency, Herschel launched in May 2009 on a mission to scan the universe in the far-infrared range of the spectrum. The observatory is expected to last until 2012 and has the largest single mirror ever built for a space telescope.


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your ol pal,
John