From today’s news, Somali pirates hijack Saudi oil tanker.

From the NY Times a few weeks back, Somalia’s Pirates Flourish in a Lawless Nation .

A map of worldwide piracy, from the ICC.

From NPR, working as a pirate in Belakang Padang, Indonesia.

And a good robust section of information here at the NYTimes website.

Uncensored crime scene photo here.

Thanks to Noah for pointing it out. Should be all better now.

He’s Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man looking to buy a plumbing business who came to symbolize the middle class in Wednesday night’s presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Days earlier, Joe the Plumber had told Obama that the Democrat’s tax plan would keep him from buying the business. McCain, the Republican candidate, cited Joe’s exchange with Obama when he was asked about his tax plan and why it would be better for the country than Obama’s.

Joe Wurzelbacher was mentioned several times during the debate.

So what does he have to say about literally being at the center of the debate.

He says his name being mentioned in the campaign is “pretty surreal.”

On the downside, he has a tax lien, is hooked in with the Keating family, and he isn’t even a licensed plumber.

Maybe the real Joe The Plumber is having a better day. Or at least getting some good business out of this.

I had cats all growing up (one lived to be 23 years old…true story), and a dog too. And hamsters, and even a rabbit in the house as well. I just was always a pets and animal person, and a couple of years ago when I wanted a pet, the cat was a logical choice. I live in the city, I am gone about 10 hours a day, and travel enough where having a dog just wouldn’t be feasible. As much as I would love another black lab or other big fun dog, I’d just feel terrible leaving it home alone all day long, and it would be a pain in the ass when I traveled away for more than a day or two. So enter the cat.

The way it all went down was pretty straightforward. We popped on Craigslist, found a litter of kittens for the taking, and chose a tiny (I think he was the runt) all black kitten that we decided to call Cat Stevens (clever, I know). Though he mainly goes by “kitty” as in “NO KITTY!“.

So far it’s been great. The cat is a nut, totally hilarious and full of personality. Aside from being generally social and all up in everything all of the time, he runs full speed around the apartment, sleeps on your head, greets you at the door when you come home, and loves to play and hang out with anyone and everyone that comes by. I even thought about trying to teach him to use the toilet, until it turned out he wanted to swim in the toilet, not crap in it. He loves water…go figure.

Anyways, the NY Times article I thought was interesting at the least, and gave some new perspective on the male cat-owner thing. I think they played up the anti-dog owner stuff a bit too much, which I don’t agree with at all, and of course they had to have the requisite crazy cat man angle, but all in all it was pro-dudes-with-cats, which I thought was solid.

“They make the best boyfriends because they’re totally cool with staying home and watching a movie,” said Elizabeth Daza, 28, a video producer in Manhattan, who dated a cat-owning man for eight years. “Straight men with cats seem to be really secure and stable. They don’t need to be running around the park and proving their masculinity like the dog guys.”

On a practical level, cats are easier, male owners say — especially if they (the men) travel a lot. They can leave the cat alone for days on end, and the cat will survive.

So say what you will, but I have a cat, and I think he’s pretty cool.

• It isn’t often I say to myself “Wow, what a cool pillow”, but this one made me actually utter those words. Simple but brilliant idea.
• Charles Barkley’s body of work when it comes to inane quotes, is second only to that of Mike Tyson. (Via Brendan)
• Everything about this is just awesome.
• But this is pretty great also.
• And I am just a sucker for stupid, hacky photoshop jobs. And one’s involving Hitler are even better.

But seriously folks, our rented Toyota Prius will be taking us on an adventure through Chicago, the Badlands, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons (translate at your own risk), Jackson Hole, Zion/Bryce/Arches, the Grand Canyon, the California coast and several other places that we didn’t feel like listing here because honestly, who the hell goes to Buffalo, Wyoming?

In true nerd style, they have a blog, which will chronicle their travels, and said blog can be found at AccordingToThisMap.com.

So if you are looking for another blog with a writing style sort of like mine, but with more pictures of road signs and city names that sound vaguely sexual, and of wild animals humping in our national parks, you should add this feed to your reader.