Here’s an interesting article about the Oklahoma City bombing, which would be more convincing if they at least bothered to get the number killed right (168, not 185)… but still, it’s worth reading. Could it have something to do with Sept. 11 and the D.C. sniper? Well, probably not, but speculating about random conspiracy theories is what blogging is all about!

Meanwhile, CNN’s “All Sniper, All The Time” coverage continues to virtually ignore the 600 people being held hostage by Islamist terrorists in Moscow, a crisis that has still not been resolved.

Finally, in far more important news, the Rally Monkey failed Wednesday night; the Giants won. Tie series, 2-2. Sob, sob. On the other hand, this means there will be at least one more game in Anaheim, so the news isn’t all bad. Go Angels!

“We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.” What the heck are they talking about? Here’s a diagram of a duck noose, if that’s relevant.

UPDATE, 10/24/02 2:38 AM: The Baltimore Sun did a wonderful job putting together the various pieces of Wednesday’s sniper stories in an article this morning, explaining the connection between D.C., Tacoma, and Alabama, as well as one possible meaning of “a duck in a noose.” Read it!

A deserter from a elite French military school, a 25-year-old of Yugoslav origin who has “a very, very good reputation as a marksman,” is missing in North America, and there’s speculation he might be the D.C sniper. Upon hearing the news, France surrendered and was quickly occupied by the Montgomery County Army, led by Major General Moose. :)

In Moscow, Chechen rebel symphathizers have taken between 500 and 700 innocent theater-goers hostage in the world’s latest terrorist outrage. They are reportedly demanding an end to the war in Chechnya… and they’re reportedly laying land mines. Meanwhile, a Russian plane has been stopped in New York because of possible radioactive materials on board.

In other news, an hourlong attack — cyberterrorism, perhaps? — crippled 9 of the 13 key servers that manage the Internet Monday in “the most sophisticated and large-scale assault against these crucial computers in the history of the Internet.” For the latest, visit the Internet Storm Center or the Internet Weather Report.

It’s October 23… 10/23… and that can only mean one thing: today is National Mole Day!

This annual holiday — which technically starts at 6:02 AM and ends at 6:02 PM — does not actually celebrate small furry animals that dig holes in the ground, but rather, a chemistry concept: Avogadro’s number, the “mole,” 6.02 x 10²³. (10/23… 10²³… get it?) That’s 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, for the scientific-notionally challenged among us, and it’s an inconceivably huge number. How huge? A mole of marshmellows would cover the planet Earth 12 miles high, and a mole of seconds would last so long, the universe would die out before it was done! If you’re wondering what the mole’s significance to chemistry is, here’s an explanation.

I learned about moles and Mole Day when I was in Dr. William Pilotte’s chemistry class my junior year in high school (that would be 5 years ago now, 10/23/97). Since then, I’ve celebrated Mole Day each year, if only by making a few nerdy comments to my friends, writing a couple of e-mails, or, now, posting something about it on my website. :) You see, the holiday has special significance for me, not only because I’m a nerd, but also because my dad’s nickname ever since he was in college has been “the mole,” and as a result, my family has had an obsession with all things mole-related since long before I learned about Avogadro and his mole.

My dad, the mole

I also had this friend in my freshman-year dorm, Marcelo, who would occasionally wear a “MOLE” t-shirt with Avogadro’s number on the back.

Marcelo and the mole shirt

Anyway, here are some mole-related links for you:
• National Mole Day Foundation
• Avogadro Web Site
• Biography of Professor Mole
• 2002 Mole Day page from Waukegan Public Schools
• More Mole Day links from Yahoo

In other news… there is now officially only one week left until I turn 21!!!

I’ve gotten 15 hits in the last 6 days from people searching on Google and other search engines for the Rally Monkey. Most seem to want videos of the suddenly famous Angels mascot. Sorry, I don’t have such a video, and I don’t know where to find one. But you can buy a Rally Monkey if you want! And here’s a picture of the Rally Monkey doing an ESPN interview. Hey, here’s another picture from that same interview! And here’s the Rally Monkey holding his “believe in the power” sign. Gotta love that monkey!