Our guest columnist this morning is marking time while we wait for the latest news to break.

Most early evidence of cat domestication comes from ancient Egypt. Some experts believe that the Egyptians may have tamed and bred felines to produce a distinct species by the 20th or 19th century B.C.

Cats are frequently represented in Egyptian mythology in the form of the feline goddesses Bastet, Sekhmet, and other deities. Cat art and mummified remains are known from as far back as 4,000 years ago.

But researchers have also stumbled across hints that cats were domesticated much earlier. Experts have found 10,000-year-old engravings and pottery that depict cats dating to the Neolithic period (late Stone Age), [French archaeologist Jean-Denis] Vigne said. He notes such finds provide evidence that, even then, cats had a spiritual significance.

Oldest Known Pet Cat? 9,500-Year-Old Burial Found on Cyprus [National Geographic, 2004]

Image: Mask from a Cat Mummy, Roman Period, 1st Century AD [Solar Navigator]

We don’t know why it took us so long to notice what’s wrong with this picture, but now that we have, it’s freaking us out.

We have this sneaking suspicion that the world might have changed between the time we write this Monday night and when it appears Tuesday morning, so let’s just say farewell to composer John Barry while we wait for events to unfold.

John Barry Dies at 77; Composed for Bond Films [NYT]

You probably don’t know Milton Levine by name. But you know him by his works.

His was an American life. Born in Pittsburgh, in 1913, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Fought in World War II. Built bridges in France and Germany. Married the USO piano player in Normandy. Returned home to start a business with his brother-in-law. Moved to Hollywood in 1952 to seek his fortune.

And there, ladies and gentlemen, there he found it.

For it was here, in Southern California, the Land of Dreams, that the fecund mind of Milton Levine conceived that Icon of American Modernity, that Symbol of Progress, the Eighth Wonder of the World:

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One of the advantages of allowing Our Dear Scatterbrained Readers to stray off topic is that you never know what kind of perverse shit they’ll come up with. For example, a polite discussion Thursday about Sarah Palin’s surprising onset of verbal acuity suddenly morphed into nominations for America’s Most Phallic Civic Landmark.

As we were unfamiliar with most of the nominees — clearly we’ve led a sheltered life — we thought it expedient to line them all up for a Stinque Priapic Edifice Challenge. While everyone can agree that Size Matters, we think the most telling observation is this: Which would embarrass you the most around your mother?

And yes, everybody knows about the Washington Monument, which spends its days taunting the totally not gay Lincoln Memorial. We’re excluding that on account of obviousness.

With that out of the way, here are your nominees:

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Stinque is a Sandy Eggo operation, answerable to the laws of California, the United States, and of God.

GOD TV is based in England, which qualifies them as socialist.

Vimeo is a New York-based video-hosting service, popularly known as “Who?” Vimeo offers, at user discretion, the capability to embed uploaded videos on third-party websites.

Max Blumenthal holds a Vimeo user account, to which he posted the above video, entitled “GOD TV and Jewish National Fund’s Forest Of Hate”, in December 2010. The video — linked from his related December 12 blog post — includes his original footage, as well as clips from GOD TV and CNN. Blumenthal has elected to make the video available for embedding.

Salem-News.com is an alternative-news website based in Salem, Oregon, better known as “We’re still an hour away from Powell’s.” On December 19, 2010, Salem News elected to embed Blumenthal’s Vimeo video in a news story.

GOD TV was not amused.

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It may look like the setup for a porn video, but an enterprising dental practice in Munich has outfitted the staff in busty garments:

“The most important thing is to take away patients’ fear. The sight of cleavages gets patients narcotised and distracted from the pain rather quickly. Some patients’ mouths are already wide open on entering the practice.”

The boss’s name is Klarkowski, but we’re not going to be more specific. Instead, today’s Stinque Challenge: Which one’s the dentist?

Dentist uses sexy dresses to distract patients [Metro UK]