Are you the type of person who waits until the last minute, and then stresses out trying to find gifts for your loved ones? Well, have I got a gift idea for you, and you have plenty of time before the holidays.

If you enjoy stuffed animals, and you like micro-organisms, then you're going to LOVE GIANTmicrobes. What could be more special than giving your loved one a giant-sized version of Treponema Pallidum (Microbe that causes Syphilis), N. gonorrhoeae (microbe that causes, you guessed it, the "Clap"), Y. Pestis (Cause of the "Black Death"), H. pylori (Cause of ulcers), or P. acnes (Causes zits). My personal favorite, is the Hepatitis C stuffed toy. He's almost a spittin' image of that little Pikachu. (I know, I know, Hep C isn't technically a microbe, but a virus....but who really cares when you're this cute.)

I do suggest, however, that you make sure your loved one doesn't already have the particular organism that you plan on getting them, (and I don't mean the stuffed version), as you might be in for an adverse reaction from them.

I know that these little guys will be on my Christmas list! (I wish I could think up something as cool as "GIANTmicrobes"...I bet they're getting rich!)

Well, nothing until THIS. Sure enough, a meteorite, worth in the millions, was dug up right outside this little town. According to the article, it's the 3rd largest meteorite of this type ever found. 50 years ago, there was another one found here that was similar in size. Wow. Forget looking for oil, I'm going meteorite hunting when I go back! "There's no place like home. There's no place like home...."

The cartoon's where Calvin did various "art" with the snowmen were always genius, in my opinion. Growing up with Calvin & Hobbes, these type of strips really made me "think outside the box," as they say, as a young kid. Want more Calvin & Hobbes? Here is a recent Slate article with a slide show that is available. Here is another article, which rates what the authors view as the top 25 Calvin and Hobbes strips of all time. Enjoy.

Back to the Pope. The reason that this is important is because you get a lot of religious people who look up to the Pope, who are Christians, and who also somehow reconcile a belief in non-teleological evolution with their Christianity. The Pope is saying that this is not the case and that this view does not line up with what the Scriptures, or early Church Father's, teach. If you are a Catholic evolutionist, you might be in a little bit of an awkward situation. Oh well, I'm sure they'll find some way to explain around it.

PS- If you go to article linked, check out the picture of Bernini's Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (It's where the Pope is sitting) It's beautiful. Remind me to go to Rome before I die.

Also of note...a little update on the Wikipedia article I've been editing....It's been left alone for an entire 24 hours...Did someone there finally read the KBOE standards for themselves and see that I was right? Wow, a first-hand source of information, how about that.

(Why would a story like this not be run on the headlines of their web pages? I would think that their would be a lot of people who would be interested with it. However, it was buried in the recent archives....maybe I just missed it, or maybe, just maybe, they didn't want a lot of exposure for it?)