5.09.2015

Don't mess with mothers

Watch Bears Chase Tourists Who Got Too Close in Yellowstone National Park | TIME

"Tourists in Yellowstone National Park got a little too close to the wildlife this week, and one mother just couldn’t bear it."

So if you need a few easy credits…

College to offer ‘Deflategate’ course this fall | New York Post

“[University of New Hampshire] sports law professor Michael McCann has designed the four-credit undergraduate class to look at the legal underpinnings of the NFL scandal."

Whatever happened to just food?

Who is behind organic brands - Washington Post

So they're giving up baseball then?

San Francisco Bans Chewing Tobacco at Sports Venues | TIME

Nothing's perfect

 

It occurs to me I haven't had a waffle for 20 years

Maple Syrup Will Cure Everything - The Daily Beast

"[Sap] has complex components that are things we also need to stay healthy, just like the trees."

5.08.2015

Let's call the whole thing off

Flowers may be nice for Mom, but they’re terrible for Mother Earth - The Washington Post

So all we need is 3 billion people to donate a buck apiece…

Tomgram: Nomi Prins, Hillary, Bill, and the Big Six Banks | TomDispatch

"This effort to recast Clinton as a folksy, down-to-earth, woman of we-the-people is, however, about to collide with the reality of American politics in the money-crazed, post-Citizens United era. Winning the White House in 2016 will cost somewhere between $1 billion and $3 billion -- money raised by the candidate's own campaign and outside groups like super PACs and dark-money nonprofits."

Yikes!

Top DC-Anti-Islam Group: Texas Takeover Hype Distracting From Sharia Law Threat

"‘For example, the Muslim Brotherhood has conspired for decades to attack our civilization from within – and they have succeeded immensely,’ Waller wrote. ‘The Brotherhood’s fingerprints are on everything from our nation’s failed foreign policies to Ferguson, Missouri.’"

We’re staying right here under our bed, no kidding.

Technology may save us yet

How to Rid Yourself of the Kardashians - The Daily Beast

"The 21-year-old British viral marketer is the man behind #KardBlock, a browser extension designed to scour your feed of all things Kim, Kanye, Kris, Khloe, Kendall, and even the occasional Rob and Bruce. In other words, Shamsi seeks to do something that has been all but unimaginable since about the middle of 2007: make the Internet a Kardashian-free zone."

Only what would be left?

Bangor Maine police department needs help with station lawn

Bangor Maine Police Department - Bangor, ME - Law Enforcement | Facebook

"For your volunteer efforts, we would provide things like: no cost jail cells for visiting family from out of state, hugs from the better looking detectives and accolades on our world renown Facebook page. We would also give you coffee. We always have coffee."

May

Some Bostonians Are Admitting They Actually Enjoyed That Awful Winter | The New Republic

"This kind of joy cut deep into New England's longstanding custom of dutifully savoring all possible misery.

"Here is a brief but relevant lesson in Boston etiquette. When riding an elevator with strangers, there are only two acceptable topics of conversation: (1) weather and (2) the elevator itself. If you’re in an elevator in greater Boston in May and someone comments on the good weather, the proper response is: ‘We deserve it!’ If you don’t respond with the words ‘deserve’ or ‘earned,’ you failed at that conversation."

LIFE Magazine was our TV…

…a weekly back in the mid-1940s, it published some of the finest photojournalism ever and was the way we saw the world.

See Photos of Jubilant V-E Day Celebrations in New York City | TIME

Today is the 70th anniversary of V-E day, the end of World War II in Europe.

5.07.2015

Super Cheat

Tom Brady takes hit from ‘Deflategate’ report | Boston Herald

"Four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady could face an NFL suspension — and a tarnished legacy — after a bombshell report found that he likely knew the balls in this year’s AFC Championship game were deliberately deflated and it’s ‘more probable than not’ Patriots personnel were behind it."

Can't we just put this off a year or so?

Beyond the Demon Sheep - Gail Collins at NYTimes.com

"Do you want the next president to be somebody who brags about not being a politician?

"Think about that for a minute. ‘Politician’ isn’t a popular term right now. But claiming that you’re not one when you run for president is a little like applying for a job as brain surgeon by announcing, ‘I am not a physician.’"

Even I am not old enough…

…to remember when audio was this bad—or this miraculous. It’s an 1890 recording of Alfred Lord Tennyson reading his poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, made on an Edison wax cylinder. To my ear it’s nearly unintelligible—a striking example of the vast improvement made in audio reproduction over the last century or so.

File:LightBrigade-Tennyson.ogg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(The recording is in an audio format called Ogg Vorbis, which will play natively in the Firefox, Chrome, or Opera web browsers or on special audio software.)

5.06.2015

Here's a pretty nifty password generator if you're needing one

Create Safe & Secure Passwords - Password Generator | Norton Identity Safe

Now we're having fun

Meet the Country’s First Self-Driving Semi Truck | TIME

"Daimler Trucks North America has unveiled the first self-driving commercial truck licensed to drive on U.S. public highways."

Imagine our surprise

It’s called the Second Oldest Profession for a reason | The XX Committee

"We’ve started the new week with more ‘shocking’ revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency, a foreign intelligence agency, is actually conducting foreign intelligence operations."

At least generally aware, more probable than blah not blah something something zzzz

NFL report: Patriots probably broke rules on footballs - CNN.com

Our heart goes out

Tomorrow is a very handy day

If you can do it then, you don't have to do it now. Which, today, applies to both the laundry and the grocery shopping. I'm going for a walk.

On computers, circa 1976

1976 | When Cutting-Edge Technology Involved a Rotary Dial - NYTimes.com

"There is no room for argument, no bargaining: anything the computer finds outside its limited understanding causes the type of tantrum expected of a spoiled brat. The machine stops itself — and its user — cold with a simple, chilling ‘WHAT?’ or a curt accusation of ‘ILLEGAL INSTRUCTIONS.’ But when everything works, it’s magical."

5.05.2015

Public sculpture: Cute, but it's got a long way to go to equal David

Giant billowing aerial sculpture installed over Boston park

Let’s see how it looks after, say, six centuries.

Yeah, the Wal-Mart stores are a dead giveaway

Jade Helm 15: No, Pentagon says: We’re not plotting the military takeover of Texas - POLITICO

"Some conspiracy theorists have postulated that the exercise is a ruse to institute martial law, possibly involving underground tunnels and five recently closed Wal-Mart stores."

Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have one here after all.

Open windows

Who knew?

More to be done

Contrary to goals, ER visits rise under Obamacare

"A major reason that hasn't happened is there simply aren't enough primary care physicians to handle all the newly insured patients, says ACEP President Mike Gerardi, an emergency physician in New Jersey."

5.04.2015

Retro: A political candidate with no domain name

Carly Fiorina’s campaign mocked after not securing domain name - Adam B. Lerner - POLITICO

"A website attacking Carly Fiorina reinforced an important digital-age campaign lesson: Secure your domain names."

The last dunk

Shirtless man gets stuck in basketball hoop | FOX2now.com

"At times, the man could be seen thrashing around while police attempted to secure him. Police had to call in help from the fire department after the man appeared uncooperative."

We'd love to know

Better than GPS: a history of cartography in 12 amazing maps | David Shariatmadari | Comment is free | The Guardian

"How likely is it that millennials will find themselves far enough from civilisation (for which, read a battery charger) that they’ll be caught short and disappear like the girls in Picnic at Hanging Rock?"

5.03.2015

Too late—he's turned into a frog

Boston Marathon runner seeking man she kissed on a dare

This time of year


Where are you, Yogi, when we need you?

"I never make predictions, especially about the future" - Yogi Berra

If you can get your hands…

or your mouse pointer on a copy of the New York Times Sunday magazine of April 28, you’ll find a nifty meditation on the meaning of the word, “natural.” 

Whew, there's a load off

Rick Santorum: I 'Love And Accept' Bruce Jenner | ThinkProgress

"‘If he says he’s a woman, then he’s a woman,’ he told BuzzFeed."

The good wetback

Inside Fidel Castro’s double life as a drug kingpin | New York Post

"Sanchez made 10 attempts to escape [Cuba], finally making it to Mexico by boat, then across the Texas border in 2008. Now he reveals all in his new book, ‘The Double Life of Fidel Castro.’"