(And somewhere in the world it's probably April 1.)
3.31.2012
They may be cold but they're unbearably sensible (although some demur)
In Canada, the penny's about to drop into history - Yahoo! News
TORONTO (AP) — They clutter your dresser and cost too much to make. They're a nuisance and have outlived their purpose.
Meanwhile the American zinc lobby, etc.
Does poisonous nut beat mythical bird?
 | AP AP INTERACTIVE: Natural Selection: What #FinalFour mascot would win in the wild: http://t.co/HF2g6krY #MarchMadness 3/31/12 11:18 AM |
Deals you can't refuse
News Desk: The Next President Needs Your Help : The New Yorker
Dear Supporter,
As you know, our candidate, Newt Gingrich—despite the consensus among historians that he will be more effective than all previous Presidents combined—has recently run into some fundraising difficulty. Therefore, we are announcing the following changes to campaign policy.…
Or maybe you can.
3.30.2012
Yes, Bunky, terminal performance
Undernews: Homeland Security is more than a little worried: it's buying 450 million bullets
Business Insider - The Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement office is getting an "indefinite delivery" of an "indefinite quantity" of .40 caliber ammunition from defense contractor ATK.…
The high performance HST bullets are designed for law enforcement and ATK says they offer "optimum penetration for terminal performance."
It looks warm out there, nice and sunny and everything…
…but it lies. It's friggin' icy cold. Where did we go wrong? We want hot.
Those R's are such a huggy bunch
Paul Ryan embraces Mitt Romney
And BTW, how did this guy Ryan get to be such a big deal anyway? What is it with Wisconsin politicians? They're, like, from Wisconsin. Wisconsin is just a flatter Vermont. Plus the Packers. Of course.
Who says the IRS doesn't think of everything?
From our ever-vigilant tax department (and just in time), this IRS bulletin (it's a PDF): See page 4.
Maybe we should have a chat, Yahoo
Found on the Yahoo News page listed under "News for You":
'Dancing's' Melissa Gilbert Reveals The Inspirations Behind Her Tattoos - Yahoo! News
Nearly almost somebody maybe: We nominate the most useless statistic of the hour
Obama approval ratings near milestone - POLITICO.com
Nearly every incumbent president with a rating of 49 or higher has won reelection while nearly every one rated 48 percent or lower lost, according to New York Times number cruncher Nate Silver.
Or…
Commentary: Case is not about Trayvon Martin's hoodie - KansasCity.com
One month later, some of us fail to understand what this is about.…
…to paraphrase (but not very much) Oliver Wendell Holmes:
Controversy equalizes fools and wise men, and the fools know it.
3.29.2012
Who's this Allison?
U. of C. grad hunts for nerdy graffiti - Chicago Tribune
She also has concluded, after careful "statistical analysis" of the more than 1,700 pieces of graffiti she has documented at the Reg since September 27, 2007 — and judging by the words and doodles she has found scrawled — that a University of Chicago student is 63 percent more likely to be happy than sad. How does she know this? Because she categorized student graffiti into a handful of topics such as sex, school spirit and advice; transcribed and interpreted each piece of graffiti; converted her findings into spreadsheet data; then, using simple math, she crunched and considered her data. But in general, according to their scribblings, students hate chemistry, finals, themselves, the University of Chicago, everyone, Obama — and that's about it.
They love Milton Friedman, chemistry, silence, Allison, the University of Chicago, tiramisu, life, chocolate cake — and tons more.
But still not exactly without a paddle
Shrinkage: Navy Won't Build as Many Ships as It Planned | Danger Room | Wired.com
According to the new shipbuilding plan (.pdf), released Wednesday by Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, the Navy won’t build any new ballistic missile submarines until 2021. It won’t build any big-deck amphibious assault ships, key for the Navy and the Marines to fight as a team, until 2017, when it will build… one more. After next year, the Navy won’t fund the construction of ships above replacement levels until 2018. All told, the Navy’s downgrading the total number of ships in 30 years it wants to maybe 300, a drop of at least 13 ships. And all this will occur as the Navy surges in the Persian Gulf and the Western Pacific.
Also points out kettle is black
China tells Apple to ‘care for workers’ | The Raw Story
The man tipped to be China’s next leader has told Apple that foreign firms should protect workers, state media said Thursday, as the US giant fends off criticism over factory conditions in China.
Holy crap, Globe columnist writes "for goodness sakes"
SCOTUS-ACA Watch: Well, That Was Interesting - Health Stew - Boston.com
Second, could someone explain to me how the U.S. Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli Jr., could have been so unprepared to defend the ACA? For goodness sakes, he was unprepared to answer the questions on broccoli and limiting principles -- two issue everyone knew would come up.…
Maybe it's true what they say about Boston.
Crime pays
Gangster Banks Keep Winning Public Business. Why? | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone
The settlements out there with banks like Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and UBS cover hundreds of localities in virtually every state in the union. The sheer number of cases suggests that this activity is epidemic and systematic – in other words, that it’s simply the way to do business in America.
But what was the song?
Assorted Stupidity #36 - Lowering the Bar
In the latest case of karaoke rage, last week a Florida man reportedly knocked out an Applebee's manager who asked him to stop singing after other patrons complained.…
3.28.2012
Game on
Undernews: A national food mandate?
George Healy, Washington Examiner- Ronda Storms, a Republican state senator in Florida, introduced legislation to bar the use of food stamps to purchase "salty snack foods" and sugary treats. She's nicknamed the legislation the "No Twinkie Left Behind Act."
New York Times' food columnist Mark Bittman praises Storms for raising the important question: "How do we regulate the consumption of dangerous foods? ... The government isn't doing its job," he argues.
Once upon a time (last week) it was Spring
Once upon a time (last week) it was Spring, originally uploaded by Ted Compton.
Now, not so much. But we hope on.
This is the smell of panic in the morning
From an editorial in today's NYTimes:
There appear to be indications the Supremes (including at least two of them who really should be recusing themselves from this deliberation) are about to bat down all or part of the so-called Obamacare law and all the usual suspects are running for cover just as fast as they can. The D's, meanwhile, even at this late date, seem totally incapable of defending or even explaining with any conviction any of the health care law in any public place. Alas.
A lot of people don't like the health care law in question, and not all of them because they think it overreaches. Many, myself included, don't like it because it doesn't go far enough (and the proverbial nose under the tent will be soundly smacked every time). What we need to do is grow up, join the company of respectable nations, and establish a decent national health care plan.
But of course we won't.
In ruling on the constitutionality of requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance, the Supreme Court faces a central test: whether it will recognize limits on its own authority to overturn well-founded acts of Congress.
There appear to be indications the Supremes (including at least two of them who really should be recusing themselves from this deliberation) are about to bat down all or part of the so-called Obamacare law and all the usual suspects are running for cover just as fast as they can. The D's, meanwhile, even at this late date, seem totally incapable of defending or even explaining with any conviction any of the health care law in any public place. Alas.
A lot of people don't like the health care law in question, and not all of them because they think it overreaches. Many, myself included, don't like it because it doesn't go far enough (and the proverbial nose under the tent will be soundly smacked every time). What we need to do is grow up, join the company of respectable nations, and establish a decent national health care plan.
But of course we won't.
Is this really necessary?
I got hailed on on the way home from the grocery store. Not huge hail, just little grainy stuff, but enough to bounce around on the sidewalk and bunch up in low spots, not to mention seriously confuse two robins on the lawn. Luckily I was wearing the hat for it, a big wide-brimmed western-style hat that's perfect for times when things might otherwise drop down your neck. Or, more to the point, mine.
And now the sun's come out so we just have rain. And it may be a little chilly, but it's still spring.
And now the sun's come out so we just have rain. And it may be a little chilly, but it's still spring.
3.27.2012
Photo puzzle
As a guy who once owned the kind of field camera you have to mount on a tripod and put your head under a black cloth to use (a 4x5 Super Graphic) I can appreciate the insane weirdness of building a camera into an iPad. I'm not talking about the front-facing camera (or is it rear-facing?), the one you use for video chats and the like, but the other one, the one you would actually take a picture with if you wanted to, say, bring your iPad to shoot the 4th of July parade. They say it's pretty good. I'm thinking, why?
True, there are other things I don't understand about the state of photography today, too. Like, why is it, now that people have the technical means to take a virtually perfect picture virtually every time, has there suddenly developed a craze for pictures that look like they were taken in 1960 and have been sitting in the sun ever since. We used to go to great lengths to avoid that (archival papers, UV-blocking glass, Cibachrome), but now there are all sorts of apps to do it, and do it instantly. I can understand how that might be fun once or twice (I've done it myself once or twice), but Instagram? Really?
Oh well. Maybe I should see if I still have that dark cloth around somewhere. And would an iPadTriPod be the product of the year or what?
Cool!
Mitt Romney's four-car fantasy home - Reid J. Epstein - POLITICO.com
SAN DIEGO — At Mitt Romney’s proposed California beach house, the cars will have their own separate elevator.
I suppose if he goes to Washington and lives in the White House the cars will just have to take the stairs.
In fact, why don't we just forget the whole thing
In a bizarre case of political correctness run wild, educrats have banned references to “dinosaurs,” “birthdays,” “Halloween” and dozens of other topics on city-issued tests.
That’s because they fear such topics “could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.”
Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists; birthdays aren’t celebrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses; and Halloween suggests paganism.
Even “dancing’’ is taboo, because some sects object. But the city did make an exception for ballet.…
Words that suggest wealth are excluded because they could make kids jealous. Poverty is likewise on the forbidden list.…
3.26.2012
It's the Canadians doing this; it's all their fault
Really. They have a great big H up there and it's leaking cold air all over the place. Wind too. Lots of wind.
Of course, cold is 40 now, not 10. Still. What was the matter with last week, I'd like to know. I liked last week just fine. Let's go back to that.
Of course, cold is 40 now, not 10. Still. What was the matter with last week, I'd like to know. I liked last week just fine. Let's go back to that.
3.25.2012
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