2.06.2015

This is simply natural selection at work

States Move For Tougher Vaccine Rules As Measles Epidemic Grows

"But some lawmakers are going the other way, backing measures that expand parental freedoms even in the face of mainstream medicine and science supporting vaccinations.

"Bills in New York State and Montana would add philosophical and personal beliefs to the current medical exemption, while proposals in Mississippi and West Virginia would add exemptions for ‘medical reasons or conscientious beliefs’ and on religious grounds, respectively."

When live TV was really live

A Funny Mexican Guy with Groucho Marx [VIDEO]

[Forwarded by Charlie from Wisconsin.]

Cut. It. Out.

Train of Storms to Bring Midwest, Northeast Unrelenting Snow Into Next Week

"The storms will bring episodes of snow every 12-24 hours or so from northern Minnesota, upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and New England."

Do not fool with Mother Nature

Joggers warned to beware of angry owl in Oregon

Vermont college searches for missing boa constrictor

Hundreds of manatees invaded and shut down a Florida wildlife refuge

Dutch chimps 'learn Scottish accent’ [VIDEO]

(How terrifying is that?)

Imagine our total surprise

Among New York Subway’s Millions of Riders, a Study Finds Many Mystery Microbes

"City and transit officials did not sound grateful for the examination."

From Borowitz, as a public service

The Fact-Checked Adventures of Brian Williams - The New Yorker

Radio Shack crashes

A Visual History of RadioShack's Logos - Bloomberg Business

"RadioShack's bankruptcy filing caps a nearly century-old history of supplying useful and sometimes strange things to America."

And  this: The great Trash-80

These guys belong in day care, not the Congress

Democrats Exercise ‘No’ Power in Senate to G.O.P.’s Dismay - NYTimes.com

"For the third day in a row, Senate Republicans called a vote on a bill to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded. And for the third time, it failed to clear a Democratic filibuster.…

"Democrats were gleeful as, one by one, they flashed thumbs down to the Senate clerks and recorded their no votes."

We predict a long winter for birds

Family blames Seahawks’ ‘lousy play call’ for man’s death | New York Post

A little reminder from Ollie

PS:

Anti-vaccination movement spreads to dogs - NY Daily News

"Diseases like rabies, distemper could spread."

2.05.2015

"Beast" gets new Area Code

Revelation! 666 is not the number of the beast (it's a devilish 616) - This Britain - UK - The Independent

Stickier today


We should get another foot (or more) by the end of Monday. But this looks like about it for now.

Don't worry, your urine sample is safe

Anthem, Major Health Insurer, Suffers Hack Attack - NBC News.com

"The information accessed included names, birthdays, Social Security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, such as income data, Binns said.

"'No credit card banking or financial information was compromised, nor is there evidence at this time that medical information such as claims, test results, or diagnostic codes were targeted or obtained,' she said."

Everything else is toast.

2.04.2015

But there is no anti-avoidance except work itself

Noted by Some Guy in Seattle:

Work Is Bullshit: The Argument For "Antiwork" | Co.Exist | ideas + impact:

"Now, as technology makes more and more jobs unnecessary, maybe it's time for a different framing of work. Twenty years ago, Jeremy Rifkin estimated that about 75% of jobs in industrialized countries included tasks that could be at least partially automated, and as artificial intelligence and engineering improves, that number keeps getting higher."

I heard somebody from Scientific American make this point some 50 years ago. His answer was to find some way other than traditional work to certify people as consumers, perhaps expanding the definition of work to include such things as being a student, being a parent, posting selfies on Twitter. A guaranteed wage would have the same effect.

Or, the people with the money could just get busy and eat a lot more burgers. Spread it around.

What? What happened to long johns?

Fox News Segment: Movies Like 'Frozen' Are Emasculating America's Men

At last, somebody does something sensible

Italy's Sex Workers Take Refuge in Switzerland

The day the word, "curate," died

Wherein Earthlings begin to get on my nerves

The Political Battle Over Red Meat - NationalJournal.com:

"Green groups want the government to tell Americans that eating less meat benefits the earth. And they are lobbying to add what amounts to a climate-change warning to federal dietary guidelines."

More snow

Four or five more inches today, says NWS.

The good thing about really big snows like we had earlier this week is that people do a better job cleaning their sidewalks than they do when it snows just a little. This snow, forecast for today and tonight, is right on the borderline between light and heavy. Could go either way. Just have to wait and see.

All in the details

XKCD

2.03.2015

Public health is such a commie pinko libsymp thing

GOP Senator: Don't Force Employees To Wash Their Hands After Using Toilet

"The senator said he'd be fine with it, so long as businesses made this clear in 'advertising' and 'employment literature.'"

But sunny today


Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out

I'm done with the Super Bowl. The leftists have won. | RedState

"Next year?  Bring back the beer, boobs and bacon-burgers. "

We like this Chuck

Conflicting predictions from S.I. Chuck, Punxsutawney Phil - NY Daily News

"Staten Island Chuck emerged and didn’t see his shadow — so we can expect an early spring."

But we may need six weeks to get all this snow that fell yesterday melted. 

2.02.2015

What is this guy doing with a medical degree?

Anti-Vaccine Doctor: I Don't Care If My Kids Make Others Gravely Sick (VIDEO):

"‘I’m not going to sacrifice the well-being of my child. My child is pure,’ Dr. Jack Wolfson said in the interview. ‘It’s not my responsibility to be protecting their child.’"

Got wings?


Just keeps coming


Dig


Duck


Going nowhere


Filed under Stuff You Can't Unlearn

Prognosticating marmot forsees six more weeks of winter - CSMonitor.com

"Despite the German legend, Phil's handlers don't wait to see if he sees his shadow — as he likely would not have on such an overcast day. Instead, the Inner Circle decide on the forecast ahead of time and announce it on Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in the town for which the groundhog is named, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh."

Oh, those French

DSK’s 'Aggravated Pimping' Trial Is Set - The Daily Beast

"Strauss-Kahn will appear in court alongside accused brothel owner ‘Dodo the Pimp.’ Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers are claiming that although he attended these sex parties, he did not realize the women were prostitutes. "

Twitter on birds coach

Pete Carroll made the worst play call in Super Bowl history and we’re not over it - Salon.com

If letting your kid walk home from school alone is some kind of child abuse, why isn't this?

Chris Christie: Parents should have ‘measure of choice’ on vaccinations - Jonathan Topaz - POLITICO

Walk

FlightAware MiseryMap

(Here we got six or eight inches of the white stuff overnight—more than we got in the Greatest Blizzard of All Time last week—and it’s still coming down. The weather service says another nine inches by the end of the day. 

(First the birds, now this. Where did we go wrong?)

2.01.2015

Can't we just watch the game already?

From the U.S. Department of State:

What Do Cheerleading and Football Have To Do With Science and Diplomacy? 

From The New Republic:

The Super Bowl Is a Science Experiment

From The Hill:

Christie catches 'football game' in London

From Newsweek:

In Honor of the Super Bowl, the 16 Most Superb Owls of All Time

Shut up!

Win? Lose? Heeyyyyy

Seattle Pot Producer Rolling Out 12,000 Joints Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday - NBC News.com:

Any just regular people?

BREAKING: Big businesses spend money on advertising.

Who Needs Lobbyists? See What Big Business Spends to Win American Minds

Also public relations.

Oh, the humanity.

Which one has less snow?

Google Earth Pro is Now Available Free of Charge

“…though we’d understand it if you’d still prefer Google Earth in its standard, much more simple form."

Where is the outrage?

Secret Service to monitor social media in massive Super Bowl security operation | TheHill

But Phoenix is still up in the air

Super Bowl 49: Patriots no longer favored to beat Seahawks in Vegas - CBSSports.com

At least it kept him off the Interstate

Fargo Zamboni driver arrested on suspicion of DUI - CBSSports.com

"A Fargo, N.D., man was arrested Friday night on suspicion of driving under the influence. The vehicle he was driving while alledgedly intoxicated? The Zamboni during a girls' high school hockey game."

Game or no, Pats fans lose. Again.

Massive storm complicates travel on Super Bowl Sunday

"A massive storm stretching from Nebraska to Maine will dump snow, ice and freezing rain on Sunday, getting progressively worse throughout the night in the Northeast. Forecasters declared a blizzard warning for Chicago, predicted up to a tenth of an inch of ice on Ohio roads and up to 14 inches of snow in parts of Massachusetts.…
"Airlines had already canceled nearly 1,900 flights into Chicago-area airports and that figure was expected to grow throughout the day."

Gonna be a long slog home.

Dastardly! W00t!

Why Super Bowl Is a Gold Mine for Mobile-Device Hackers

“…a window of opportunity for bad actors to do their dastardly, untaxable business."

On jumping guns

What does measles actually do? | Science/AAAS | News

"The United States is now experiencing what promises to be one of the worst outbreaks of measles since the virus was declared eliminated from the country in 2000…."

Arizona?


We (the dummy and I) are from National Conference heritage (Go Bears. Please. Some day.) so of course we're for the birds in today's game, but isn't it supposed to be cold when they play football? We are confused.

Wow: Some Guy's daughter…

A rising tide lifts Iceland — literally | Public Radio International
"How is that possible? Think of a trampoline. 'The weight of that person is going to make the trampoline sag beneath them,' explains Kathleen Compton, a graduate student in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. 'If they hop off, the trampoline regains its shape. It's a similar phenomenon going on with the Earth. The weight of the ice is so much that it makes the surface of the Earth sag.'"
…world-renowned (no kidding) geoscientist (no kidding) Kathleen Compton (really) makes a splash with all kinds of stuff about ice caps and volcanos and Iceland (we’re not making any of this up) in an interview on Public Radio international and in the Arizona Daily Star, Daily Mail Online, and TIME. (And here. Of course.)

If we can get a link to this paper we will put it in our Work Avoidance Hall of Fame. (Also, we’re looking into beachfront property in Iceland.)

Having finally (maybe) made it out of Logan on their way to the big game…

Perfect storm of snow, sports leads to scramble | Boston Herald

"A winter storm warning was issued yesterday for late tonight into tomorrow with the National Weather Service calling for a ‘major winter storm’ that will dump 8 to 14 inches of snow across the state."

…New Englanders might have trouble getting home again, if the current weather predictions hold true. There’s going to be a lot of post airport stress disorder by the end of next week.