You can earn your 15 minutes of fame by doing just about anything

Artistic License – Futility Closet

"Before he died in an Amsterdam fire at age 31, Evans had painted nearly 4,000 stamps from 42 imaginary nations, bearing dates from 1852 to 1973."

So, not really

New racial profiling guidelines to exempt agents responsible for border checks, air passenger screens - Toledo Blade

“…the guidelines will not end the FBI’s ability to collect racial and ethnic information about neighborhoods, a practice known as ‘mapping’ that has long disquieted civil liberties advocates, said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, who is familiar with the new policy."

Like, never?

Kerry urges caution over timing of releasing U.S. torture report | Reuters

Whew

I just looked at the weather page and it’s supposed to keep raining just about all day, which is a perfect excuse to go back to bed.

And I can do the laundry tomorrow. 

What we put up with

Night of holiday fun in Greenfield | The Recorder

"Santa Claus arrived at 5 p.m. sharp, guided not by Rudolph’s glowing nose, but the red strobe lights of a fire engine."

From Apple maps at 7:01 PM Eastern

Sounds like a plan, alright

When being blue is not so bad (but yellow is better)

Gasoline Tax

Who is this Aaron Dobson (hamstring) and what is he being reserved for?

Source: Aaron Dobson (hamstring) to be placed on injured reserve | Boston Herald

Maybe I should spend more time with the sports pages.

So maybe the grand juries in Ferguson and Staten Island weren't so unusual after all?

I Told a Grand Jury I Saw a Cop Shoot and Kill an Unarmed Man. It Didn't Indict. | Mother Jones

"Many years ago, during the 1980s, I witnessed a killing: a New York City cop shooting an unarmed homeless man near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was later called as a grand jury witness in the case. The grand jury did not indict the officer."

This Toles cartoon about body cams is pretty funny…

Tom Toles: Political Cartoons from The Washington Post

…but even funnier might be waiting until the Defenders of Privacy figure out the cops are taking pictures of them just waking down the street. OMG! What if they catch you smoking when you’ve promised your insurance company you’ve quit? Or eating a donut? 

What if they’re beaming pictures to some three-letter federal agency? Or Roswell?

Pretty soon we’ll be needing full-body tinfoil suits.

How to get the email address you want

North Korea orders everyone sharing leader's name to change it: report | Reuters

"Kim Jong Un's name is not allowed for newborns and people who share the name must not just stop using it but must change it on their birth certificates and residence registrations, KBS reported, citing an official North Korean directive."

Imagine our dismay

Business Leaders Hold Meeting To Complain That Corporations' Free Speech Is Under Attack | ThinkProgress

"Panelists for a session called Today’s Free Speech Environment repeatedly argued that shareholder efforts to enforce political contribution disclosure requirements are an attempt to silence the business community."

Emergency

Police: Homeless man charged after taking ambulance to visit strip club - Toledo Blade

"Pontiac police said Bryan Kryscio was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of unlawfully driving away an automobile."

Heat up the olive oil, says Some Guy

$1 Million World's Largest Truffle - Business Insider

"Just a few shavings of the coveted ingredient can cost hundreds of dollars in restaurants, according to CBS news. "

I don't care what it means; I don't want to know

No, The Mediterranean Diet Won't Help You Live Forever

"The new study, published in The BMJ, finds that women who more closely followed a Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres on the end of their chromosomes. "

Now you can get a PhD (yes, I said PhD) in drones

Get a degree in drones and earn $100,000 a year | New York Post

"‘We don’t call them drones, we call them unmanned aircraft systems integration… "

Every syllable counts.

See, it's not just people carrying guns…

TSA seizes record number of firearms - CNN.com

"'The vast majority of passengers have no nefarious intent but forgot their firearm in their carry-on bag,' TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein wrote in an email."

…it’s people who can’t even keep track of where their freaking gun is.

Arrrggghh.

Let 'em sweat

Inhofe's Grand Climate Conspiracy Theory: It's All About Barbra Streisand | Mother Jones

"Sen. James Inhofe…the 80-year-old Republican from Oklahoma is one of the most notorious deniers of human-induced climate change. He has contended that God controls the Earth's climate, not Homo sapiens, and he has quoted the Bible to make this point: 'As long as the Earth remains there will be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.' And Inhofe, thanks to the recent elections, is in line to chair the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee when the Republicans assume control of the Senate next month. He has vowed to do all he can to block regulations aimed at cutting emissions."

But let's not let that stand in the way of a good scandal

Did This Flu Vaccine Kill 13? - The Daily Beast

"‘Extensive analysis has found no causal link between vaccination and these serous adverse events.’"

You say that like it's a bad thing

Where Is The Obama Of 2016? No Viable Dem Challenger In Sight Yet

Me, I don’t want to think about 2016 until, well, 2016. And even that might be too soon. 

NSFW?

What to Do With Your Thanksgiving Leftovers http://t.co/BQEz1bpYHm via @tnyshouts
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) December 2, 2014

Once again we come to that dismal moment…

…when it’s time to give up on the Bears and start rooting for the Packers to win everything. At least they’re from the right division. And, they’re far enough away I don’t have to hear about them constantly, unlike this local bunch. This morning’s Boston Sun-Times (who even knew there was a Boston Sun-Times?) carried 736 stories about Sunday’s game, all suggesting the most glorious thing the Packers have ever accomplished, in the entire history of the Green Bay franchise, was to beat the Patriots yesterday. So you can see.

Go Pack.

And while they're at it I hope they fix that calculus thing because Dude, that's hard

The GOP Controls Congress. Now It Can Change How Math Works. | Mother Jones

"Seriously. Republicans, led by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), their budget guru, are considering altering the way Congress calculates the costs of tax cuts—a move that could make big tax cuts for the rich appear less costly than they really are."

The end is near!

Are Humans Going Extinct?

Everybody loves a good rapture.

Can't have too much therapy

Does Free Speech Cover Murder Fantasies? The Supreme Court’s Definition of a ‘Threat’ - The Daily Beast

"Elonis maintains that these statements, despite their quite horrifying tenor and tone, were not ‘threats’ within the meaning of the First Amendment. Rather, he insists that they were therapeutic statements…"

Because if you don't look good on Twitter you just don't look good

Nip, tuck, click: Demand for U.S. plastic surgery rises in selfie era | Reuters

"Plastic surgeons in United States have seen a surge in demand for procedures ranging from eye-lid lifts to rhinoplasty, popularly known as a nose job, from patients seeking to improve their image in selfies and on social media."

Imagine our surprise

Social media data is RIDDLED with human behaviour errors, boffins warn • The Register

"Researchers who heavily rely on social media data when studying human behaviour have been warned that such information can be very easily skewed."