It was 67 years ago today that the US justified its $2 billion investment in the Manhattan Project (the equivalent of about $26 billion today) by more or less wiping Hiroshima, Japan off the map. Harry really gave ’em hell, that’s for sure.

And we celebrate this day with a somewhat more benevolent use of plutonium (okay, “Little Boy” used uranium 235, and it was actually three days later when the plutonium-based “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki) today, though, as “Curiosity” successfully landed on Mars. The Curiosity rover is powered by plutonium instead of from the sun, and it’s supposed to try and find signs of past oceans and maybe even life on the red planet. Either that, or it’s a hoax and they’re actually sending back pictures from the desert in Arizona (where it will be much more difficult to find signs of intelligent life – especially if they landed in Maricopa County).

Speaking of a dearth of intelligent life, Republicans were apparently out in force on the booblehead shows yesterday, and they are not one bit happy with Harry Reid.

On the Sunday talk shows, Republicans expressed outrage over Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) unsubstantiated claim that Mitt Romney has not paid taxes in 10 years, flatly accusing the Senate majority leader of lying.

On ABC’s “This Week,” an incensed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Reid a “dirty liar,” saying he “complains about people with money but lives in the Ritz Carlton here down the street.”

“It’s ridiculous, it’s wrong, it’s untrue, and it’s just going to hurt the president….”

Oh my. It’s quite touching to see the concern that the RNC Chairman has for the President. But Reince Priebus? That don’t sound like a regular American name to me. I think we need to see his papers.

Yes, as Vernon uncovered, yesterday was the wife’s birthday. It was also my brother’s birthday. A biggie for him, as he is now officially eligible for Medicare (which, he claims, will be a net savings of $100 a month for he and his wife). Hardly seems worth getting old for.

Oh well, time to start getting this week over with.