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.
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.
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
"…the only real difference between the Kochs and the Gambinos is that the latter dressed a lot better."
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.
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.
U.S. Says it Needs Nukes to Defend Against AsteroidsThat explains everything.
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.
NOAA taps NASA satellite manager for NESDIS http://t.co/2gA5zJFZ0j
— Blogs of War (@BlogsofWar) October 2, 2014
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.
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.
"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.
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.)
"'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.'"
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."
James Nachtwey’s 9/11 Photographs - LightBox
Note by our Midwest and Elsewhere Bureau.
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?
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."
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."
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.’"
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?)
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.'"
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.
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.
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."
"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.
