10.31.2015

Republican candidates "embarassed"…

NBC News fails to tell RNC to kiss off - The Washington Post

…(yeah, we know that’s hard to believe) says Reince Priebus (no kidding), the chairman of the RNC. The people who embarrassed them were three almost totally unknown news personalities from the almost totally unknown TV network CNBC. If those three could embarrass the Rs so much, imagine what guys like Vlad Putin, Xi Jinping, Ashram Ghani, or, for that matter, François Hollande could do. 

"Chilling scientific studies," they say

13 spooky science stories to get you in the Halloween spirit - The Washington Post

 

10.30.2015

Afternoon


Kneecapping Bernie

Clinton allies shout ‘sexism’ at Sanders - POLITICO

 

It's cheaper to dress like a bunny (or Donald Trump)

Costume or Clothing? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

“…when it comes to imported costumes, 'festive articles' — like wigs and beards — enter the country duty free, while costume apparel commands the ‘garment' duty rate of as much as 32 percent."

[Meanwhile just a quick note about priorities:

"Americans take Halloween seriously, spending over $2 billion on costumes alone.”]

Wait! Forget about the blimp!

Watch a Giant Inflatable Pumpkin Break Free and Roll to Freedom | TIME

Man! Runaway airbags and political debates…but I repeat myself.

Has this turned into a terrific month or what?

10.29.2015

Who knew this?

Apparently we have a national space weather strategy. I don't know what it is but I bet it's really good.

My own personal weather strategy is avoid it wherever possible.

Awww

Cops Used Shotguns to Deflate Lost Blimp - The Daily Beast

 

All that hot air from Colorado last night…

…blew straight across the country, it seems, and wound up here early this morning. So instead of the low-50s highs we'd grown accustomed to this month we're seeing a bright, sunny, balmy 72° day now. It'll blow on out of here this evening, presumably on toward France, where they only have to work three days a week and therefore can enjoy it more.

Yes, we watched the show, and it was swell—a whole corps of excellent jugglers, a disappearing man (looking at you, Jeb!) a big guy able to hold up an even bigger bridge, a Buckeye, and clowns.

Also, a "debate." The losers were CNBC and anybody not named Rubio or Cruz. Well, and the clowns. Nobody knows about the clowns because what happens in clownworld just stays there.

You absolutely do need to be careful about those unexpected honeys

Unexpected Honey Study Shows Woes of Nutrition Research - NYTimes.com

""

10.28.2015

Could be shot down!

A Huge Army Airship Is on the Loose, Could Be Shot Down

Dude, this might be even more fun than the R’s debate! Ka-boom! We’re ordering pizza.

It's the berries


Woohoo! Rogue blimp!

NORAD blimp comes loose from tether in Aberdeen, Maryland - CNNPolitics.com

"It's unclear what the current danger is to the public or how the blimp will be brought back down.

"Raytheon, which produces the aircraft, described the likelihood that the tether would break as 'very small.'"

Well, grant you that

So what if Ben Carson is a creationist? - The Boston Globe

"It is certainly true that Carson denies that life developed through random, unguided genetic mutations over millions of centuries. It is also true that he believes in literal six-day creationism (though he’s agnostic on the question of the planet’s age) and that he attributes the rise of Darwinian thinking to the influence of “the Adversary” — i.e., Satan. Those are not mainstream views…"

It's all about the red


Maybe we're on to something here

‘If I lose Iowa, I will never speak to you people again’: Trump begs | New York Post

 

More about those dogs

In the past five years, at least six Americans have been shot by dogs - The Washington Post

"This past weekend, a chocolate Labrador retriever named "Trigger" accidentally shot an Indiana woman in the foot during during a hunting trip, according to news reports.…

"After getting patched up at area hospitals, she is expected to make a full recovery -- joining a short list of Americans who apparently have been shot by their dogs, according to news reports -- five others since 2011, and ten total since 2004."

Clearly what we need is more dogs with guns

10.27.2015

Including Thomas Jefferson

And almost everybody else. Actually, Kerry is only the third secretary of state to ever use much email, so it’s really just him, Clinton, and Colin Powell.

Clinton says John Kerry was the first secretary of state to rely on a government email account | PolitiFact

"In fact, beyond Clinton herself -- and Kerry, who has to abide by a requirement to use departmental email -- we only have three secretaries of state to consider. They are Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright.

"Of those, Powell is the only one who used email very much at all."

A little autumn along the way


Our work avoidance Person of the Week

Jester Lester

"There were always well-developed plans in Jeeter’s mind for the things he intended doing; but somehow he never got around to doing them. One day led to the next, and it was much more easy to say he would wait until tomorrow. When that day arrived, he invariably postponed action until a more convenient time. Things had been going along in that easy way for almost a lifetime now; nevertheless, he was again getting ready to burn off the fields and plow the land. He wanted to raise a crop of cotton."

-Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road 

Not to mention all the secretaries of State

Six things firms should do to improve cybersecurity - BBC News

"Google and McAfee estimate there are 2,000 cyber-attacks every day around the world, costing the global economy about £300bn ($460bn) a year.

"Yet more than two thirds of firms say they feel inadequately protected against increasingly sophisticated hackers…"

After the Cubs come…

…right. The Bears.

Chicago Bears shuffling bodies on defensive line - UPI.com

"Bears head coach John Fox refused to call the defensive line depth situation worse than any other position…"

Good thing it wasn't named Bombardier

Dog named Trigger shoots owner in Indiana - NY Daily News

"The chocolate Labrador retriever blasted his 25-year-old owner, Allie Carter, in the foot at point-blank range after she left her shotgun on the ground without the safety on, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources."

Best plan we've heard yet

Train for the NYC Marathon without actually running | New York Post

 

Imagine the horror

LEGO wouldn’t sell bricks to Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, so fans are donating theirs - The Washington Post

"LEGO declined to sell him its tiny toy bricks for his upcoming art installation because it was ‘political.'"

Makes perfect sense to me

Florida university bans zombies from haunted house | Miami Herald

"School officials told the News-Press they made the changes because they want to keep students safe."

At least until they get their loans paid off.

10.26.2015

I still say…

…put them all on an island and then vote one off every week. But this is almost as good:

The GOP Should Be Having Duels, Not Debates | The New Republic

 

Pssst…there's a zipper

Jeb Bush, Millenial Hero, Doesn't Know How Hoodies Work

"How can even a Very Cool Candidate™ like Jeb! maintain his favorable estimation in the eyes of The Kids? By donning their customary garb: the hoodie."

October 26

Hooray, a sunny day


They're just so cluelessly cute, those Clintons

Bill Clinton rallies Iowa crowd with talk of emails - POLITICO

…he told the crowd that had been waiting an hour and a half for Katy Perry’s concert for Clinton. “To everyone of them, I wrote back, ‘I think I’ll vote for her.’”

…In March, he said through a spokesman that he has only sent two email messages in his life, back when he was in the White House.

A Clinton aide said the former president… meant people were texting him, not emailing him.

The reason government systems keep getting hacked is, in the end, because the government is run by people like this.

See, I didn't even know we had a foreign policy in New Hampshire

Trump unleashes criticism of US foreign policy in New Hampshire - The Boston Globe

"Trump, waving a hand across his face, also said women might prefer wearing burkas because it obviates the need for make-up."

Also that too.

10.25.2015

Gotta love New York (but Kansas City more)

Mets fans considering Missouri trip for World Series - NY Daily News

"Mets fans suffering sticker shock from the $1,600 average resale price of a World Series seat for Citi Field instead pondered plans Saturday to head west for the first two games at Kauffman Stadium."