10.04.2014

Dracula

With Halloween right around the corner, a macabre discovery in Turkey almost seems too coincidental. Archeologists believe they have unearthed the dungeon that once held a young Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Dracula.

The Weather Channel (no kidding)

Revenge

XKCD

Or, to be more specific, gobs and gobs

Airport Ebola-Screening Procedures Keeping 'Dozens' Off Planes
Speaking at a Friday press briefing, [Homeland Security Advisor Lisa] Monaco said that airport screening, which has been in effect since the summer, has been "effective" preventing "dozens and dozens of people" from getting on planes.

And we could get some guys with lawn chairs and call them Minutemen

Time to Build a Fence Around Texas
Now that the first Ebola case in the United States has been diagnosed, we know that the infection of the entire nation is imminent. Because of this very real possibility, it is time to build a fence around the entirety of Texas, all 3029 miles, in order to keep the rest of the country safe from diseased Texans.
-Rude Pundit

Picky, picky

CRIMINAL MINDS (Esquire)
"…the only real difference between the Kochs and the Gambinos is that the latter dressed a lot better."

Rimrock scoring streak snapped

The Raiders scored 14 points last week but yesterday…
The Rimrock Raiders football team lost Friday's away conference game against Idaho City by a score of 57-0. 
Raiders are 0-5 for the season (0-2 in conference play), have scored 14 points against opponents' 262.

For extra credit—a Missouri middle school team scores on a (probably illegal) trick play called "The Ugly Kardashian." VIDEO HERE.

10.03.2014

Late sun

I'm not even gonna ask

World hand-milking champion hounded by doping allegations

Well, no it doesn't

"Calling whole milk, "whole milk" conjures up rivers of cream," says Roberto A. Ferdman at the Washington Post in a piece entitled "'Whole milk' is actually '3.5% milk.' What’s up with that?"

But no, it doesn't. It conjures up milk, unhomogenized. Like we used to get delivered to our doorstep back in the day, by a guy who also brought the cheese and cottage cheese and eggs and whipping cream. (We all died from cholesterol poisoning years ago except, of course, we didn't—we're still here.)

The milk used to come in bottles—bottles—with the cream at the top in a narrow (or sometimes a specially-shaped bulbous) neck, and anybody who's ever seen milk like that—whole—would not need the Washington Post to tell them about how much of it was cream.

My Mom used to pour the cream off the top to use in coffee, and we drank the rest, which was—you're ahead of me now,  aren't you?—skimmed.

"Whole milk" is not wholly cream, Dude,  get with the program.

I…think…I'll…havea…letmesee…

What is it with people who stand in line until they get to the front and it's their turn and then they start to wonder what they want to order? It makes me nuts. Come on, willya?

And then, after they finally make up their minds and get served and ask for their extra sugar or ketchup or whatever, then they start fishing around for their money, like, oh right. I'm telling you, nuts.

And another thing (while I'm at it). I recently re-upped my wireless service with a carrier whose initials are A, T, and T, and what do they do? They send me mail. The snail kind. What's up with that?

Come on, people. Pay attention.

Rampant vote fraud

Some woman in Connecticut did it:

State Rep. Christina “Tita” Ayala, D-Bridgeport, was arrested Friday on 19 voting fraud charges.
Ayala, 31, is accused of voting in local and state elections in districts she did not live, the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

This guy on Michelle Malkin's blog is outraged.

Vote fraud is, well, fraudulent, boys and girls. Don't do it. OK?

Sort of like a mini-Middle East

Man arrested for shooting down a neighbor’s drone

A Wall Remembers
iPhone photo: Phil Compton

On getting the right things right

Amid all the hysteria about ebola, here's a piece from Reuters worth reading.
Whether Ebola infects others beyond the Dallas patient is a good litmus test for our high-tech health system. Ebola is still spreading in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, which all have primitive health systems. But in Nigeria, where almost 900 people were exposed to Ebola and 20 were diagnosed with the disease, the outbreak has been stamped out. In Senegal, more than 60 people were exposed to a single Ebola patient — and no one came down with the disease.

10.02.2014

WWI Poster exhibit

Opening in Boston,  featured here, in the Los Angeles Times (go figure). Worth a look.

Of course!

Why didn't we think of this?
U.S. Says it Needs Nukes to Defend Against Asteroids
That explains everything.

Rimrock Raiders put up first points of the season

Last Friday night:
The Rimrock Raiders football team lost Friday's home conference game against rival school Notus by a score of 45-14.
Go, Raiders. One field goal and they would have tied the Bears.

We'll fly away

LMAO

Whew, everything back to normal now

As Ebola spreads, drug stocks surge, notes CNN Money.

Just look at the soaring stock price of drug companies scrambling to come up with a cure for the disease, which has killed more than 3,000 people in West Africa.
Imagine our relief. 

10.01.2014

Let's run around in circles and flap our wings

Ebola has dominated headlines and nightmares in America since the arrival of missionaries infected with the virus. But the first case diagnosed in the U.S. threatened to turn that whiff of fear into full-blown Ebola hysteria.
That's from a story entitled "5 Reasons Why You Should Not Panic Over This Virus." Thanks, NBC.

I haven't had a single nightmare about Ebola ever, but maybe that's just me. I'll keep trying. I listened to CNN's radio feed this afternoon and heard some guy named Jake Trapper trying to help. And just about every other media outlet, as well. I'm sure with all that assistance, I'll have a nightmare eventually.

For now, though, I'm more worried about whether the Bears will ever find a quarterback.

Way more.

Computer glitches all day

I'm using the beta version of a certain well-known operating system and an upgrade last night resulted in a big bunch of weird and annoying glitches today. After nearly a week of dealing with other people's computer problems, I crashed on my own.

My own go-to solution for any computer woe is: Take a nap. Today, the nap didn't work. But I'm next to certain a good night's sleep will. Tomorrow will be fine.

Really, I have nothing against your cat

"Allowing easier tracking of crimes against pets…
"The category also will help identify young offenders, and a defendant might realize ‘if he gets help now, he won’t turn into Jeffrey Dahmer,’ she said."
Also, I don't want anybody turning into Jeffrey Dahmer. Really.

But…this just seems a little bit over the top. Doesn't the FBI have anything better to do?

9.30.2014

Pavilion, Fog
 
iPhone photo: Phil Compton


Is it bigger than a breadbox?

Mysterious feature on Saturn's moon baffles NASA scientists - The Week

"NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered a 'mysterious feature' on Saturn's moon Titan. Scientists are working to determine, what, exactly, this feature might be."

(OK, that’s pretty old-school, the breadbox thing. It was a standard question on an old radio quiz show called “20 Questions. And yes, I did say radio.)

Never thought you'd hear anybody say that, did you?

“I’m so excited to be in Milwaukee:” First lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Mary Burke | FOX6Now.com

Ooops

Obama has had accurate intelligence about ISIS since BEFORE the 2012 election, says administration insider | Daily Mail Online

"'Unless someone very senior has been shredding the president's daily briefings and telling him that the dog ate them, highly accurate predictions about ISIL have been showing up in the Oval Office since before the 2012 election,' said a national security staffer in the Obama administration who is familiar with the content of intelligence briefings. …

"'We were seeing specific threat assessments and many of them have panned out exactly as we were told they would.'"

Perfect: Now you need two phones

How do you make a phablet easier to use in one hand? Give it a Buddy | The Verge

"Phablets are big and can be hard to use in one hand, but Alcatel thinks it has the solution for this dilemma. Its latest Android phablet, the Pop Mega, a six-inch honker available from Tracfone's prepaid Straight Talk brand next month, actually comes with a secondary, little phone for making calls, sending texts, and getting notifications."

9.29.2014

This time, the word "awesome" is appropriate

James Nachtwey’s 9/11 Photographs - LightBox

Note by our Midwest and Elsewhere Bureau.

Pierce

Good coffee, weird coffee

I hear a woman at McDonald’s this afternoon: “I’ll have a senior coffee with two creams and out the door.” Good coffee.

But…

Caffeine-infused weight loss underwear buzzless: FTC - Yahoo News

"The Federal Trade Commission said Wacoal America and Norm Thompson Outfitters, which owns Sahalie and others, were accused of deceptive advertising that claimed their caffeine-impregnated clothing would cause the wearer to lose weight and have less cellulite."

Who would have guessed?

Keeps on ticking (or clicking)

Inside the building where Apple tortures the iPhone 6 | The Verge

"What's the exact number of devices Apple went through before it was done? About 15,000 for each the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, according to the company."

Now we're worried Germany doesn't have *enough* army?

Germany’s Military Can’t Meet NATO Commitments | Fortuna's Corne

The shin guards are a nice touch

adee36c0-4677-11e4-8bdf-5ff289e5fb11_AP390517530585_15.jpg 1,050×700 pixels

Brave new world

Clooney father-in-law hails wedding as good news for Mideast - Yahoo News

"'The roads in the country are blocked, we don't have a president, parliament is paralysed, (Prime Minister Tammam) Salam is busy with the issue of the soldiers (kidnapped by jihadists), and the country is on the verge of collapse,' said one Twitter user, using the hashtag #congratulations.

"'But thank God, Clooney has become the son of Lebanon,' he added."

Can they arrest your 'vette?

GM warns Corvette drivers new valet mode may be illegal | Hot Stock Minute - Yahoo Finance

"As a result,GM has sent a letter to drivers and dealers with detailed instructions. The letter reportedly tells drivers not to use the feature, and if they do, to ‘obtain consent from the vehicles occupants.’"

Pretty thin gruel, this

5 radical right-wing food companies - Salon.com

"White Castle joins Carl’s Jr. on the list of beloved burger joints with right-wing ties. According to a recent ThinkProgress report about companies that have helped bankroll right-wing attack ads, White Castle has given $25,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC, a group linked to House Speaker John Boehner that is supporting conservative candidates in the November election."

Donating money to a group that supports conservative candidates makes you a radical right-winger?

Pass the sliders, please.

(I get it. Had to fill up the space. But a little more effort, OK?)

So not overly confident then?

Obama says US 'underestimated' rise of ISIS, admits 'contradictory' Syria policy | Fox News

"'Right now, we've got a campaign plan that has a strong chance for success in Iraq,' the president said. 'Syria is a more challenging situation.'"

9.28.2014

By the power canal


Go ahead, Siri, rub it in


Burying the lead

Secret Service took four days to realize White House had been shot.

"A fascinating Washington Post piece today [recounts] how it took four days for the Secret Service to even realize that someone had fired shots at the White House and that seven bullets had struck the upstairs residence in 2011.…
"Once the Secret Service actually started investigating, they quickly realized this was no small matter, finding $97,000 worth of damage."
-Emphasis added.

If you’re keeping score at home, that's $13,857.14 worth of damage per bullet.

Really.

I get it about the need for secrecy (wait, Global News Anchor?)

Holder: Al-Qaida offshoot hit by airstrikes was close to attack on U.S., allies - Yahoo News

"While most Americans had never heard of that band of Islamist extremists prior to the sustained overnight bombing campaign, ‘this is a group that has been known to us for two years,’ Holder told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric."

Really. I do. I also get it about the need for transparency. And I get it that sometimes those ends are contradictory.

But that’s no excuse for flat-out buffoonery. If you’re this worried about some branch of Al-Qaida (or however we’re spelling it today), don’t babble on about how Al-Qaida has been defeated, downgraded, disrupted, or (my personal favorite) decimated. It’s just unseemly, dude.

Try just shutting up.

Imagine our surprise

US-led raids hit jihadist oil as Qaeda threatens reprisals - Yahoo News

It's a bug, not a feature

Women find python in the trunk of their rental car - Yahoo News

Fear itself

European ISIS fighters: Are there really 3,000 jihadis? (+video) - CSMonitor.com

"Last week,  Matthew Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said: 'Thousands of foreign fighters have flocked to Syria over the past three years. This includes more than 2,000 Europeans and more than a hundred Americans.'

"The figure of more than 100 Americans fighting with ISIS has been cited by several Obama administration officials and members of the US Congress.

"But on Thursday, the FBI director challenged that number.

"The US only knows of about 12 Americans who are currently in Syria fighting, FBI Director James Comey said Thursday."

100 sells more papers. And maybe gets more votes. The answer to pretty much any question beginning with “why” you can think of right now is, “It’s an election year."

But why would they want to be Packers anway?

If Bears want to be Packers, then they’ll have to beat them - Chicago Sun-Times

Fly away, fly away

O'Hare, Midway still reeling after arson at radar center, more cancellations Sunday | Chicago Sun-Times

"Southwest Airlines, the dominant carrier at Midway Airport, said Saturday that it anticipates operating at a reduced rate that allows only a dozen departing flights every hour. Its normal operations allow more than 25 departures an hour."
-Emphasis added

When I was a kid—we’re talking jr. high school here—Midway, on Chicago’s south side—was the busiest airport in the world. After O’Hare opened Midway fell out of the big carriers’s favor and was used mainly for freight and private aviation for 15 or 20 years, whereupon the terminal was rebuilt and the airlines started moving back in. Seems like it’s up and running now (although nowhere near as busy as O’Hare).

Meanwhile, I don’t want to seem paranoid or anything but it is somehow a little unsettling to see how much damage can be done by one guy with a match. 

Oh come on, New York Times, can the cute

Daughter for Chelsea Clinton (and Granddaughter for a Certain Couple) - NYTimes.com