8.13.2016
So much for all those pricey, so-hip pre-torn jeans
Nature World News Imagine a world where your torn clothes could fix themselves without the need to go sew them. Now, it's possible. A team of scientists has created a self-healing textile using a special liquid.…
It's so hot in here my chocolate is melting
Maybe I should take it out for lunch. Somewhere cool.
Awww
Poor Hill, people being all mean and stuff. But Big Dawg will save her, never fear. It's always a happy ending at the circus.
Clinton says it didn't occur to diplomats sending the emails at the time that they should be concerned with records classification.
The former president also says the email server shouldn't be a cause for distrust, and that people in the national security community wouldn't endorse Hillary Clinton's candidacy if it was.
8.12.2016
August!
It was a really hot day in Paris and…
A company spokesman described it as a "possible issue with the aircraft's cargo door latching mechanism."http://goo.gl/727yce
Is anybody attention, anywhere?
Russian Hackers Reportedly Tried "DC Leaks" Site to Leak Emails Before Moving on to WikiLeaks
Slate Magazine (blog) It's long been speculated that the Russian hackers widely speculated to have swiped tens of thousands of emails from the DNC still had more documents to dump.…
The hackers appear to have had access to emails at George Soros' Open Society foundation for a long as a year. They were also apparently monitoring former U.S. Gen. Philip Breedlove's personal email as far back as 2012, when he was commander of the U.S. European Command and NATO Allied Command Operations.…
Banned in France…for wearing too much
Cannes bans full-body 'burkini' swimsuits from beaches
PARIS (AP) - The French resort of Cannes has banned full-body, head-covering swimsuits worn by some Muslim women from its beaches...
Cannes Mayor David Lisnard issued an ordinance forbidding beachwear that doesn't respect "good morals and secularism…"
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Bet on Hillary for a gold medal in the Winter Olympics…for skating
Looks like Hillary Clinton's getting another pass: The Justice Department reportedly declined to probe the cozy ties and collaboration between the State Department and her family foundation.
This is why we have professors in the first place…
"In theoretical terms, so-called 'spornosexuality' is an embodied response to material changes brought about by neoliberal austerity."
8.11.2016
Imagine our relief
New wireless hack can unlock 100 million Volkswagens
Digital Trends Is your keyless remote safe? Connected cars face increasing threats as new technologies present hackers and thieves with additional ways to access vehicles.…
Neither of the two hacks, which use different methods, do more than let thieves unlock and enter the cars, which of course would enable them to steal the contents. They'd have to use other tricks to start the engine and steal the car.…
Imagine the free peanuts
How do you fly 300 Olympic horses to Rio? Business class, of course
Chicago Tribune Australia's Christopher Burton warms up horse Santano II before a horse inspection for the equestrian eventing competition at the Olympic Equestrian Center ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 5, 2016.…
But there's a silver lining: It won't eat you
The grimy, black biofilm that's creeping over the Jefferson Memorial
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Biofilm, a microbial invasion of uncertain origin, has begrimed the stone surface of one of the nation's most hallowed monuments, and is also on the memorial amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. And it can't be killed.
[Still, I'm leaving the post in place because biofilm.]
Reprieved!
Bloomberg Global oil markets will continue to re-balance this year as a pick-up in demand from refiners absorbs record output from several Persian Gulf producers, the International Energy Agency predicted.
"The massive overhang of stocks is also keeping a lid on prices," the IEA said.…
Wait. No. What?
Doesn't even use email…
Hack of Democrats' Accounts Was Wider Than Believed, Officials Say - The New York Times
www.nytimes.com
So far, it does not appear that the Russian hackers sought or gained access to any computer systems used by Mr. Trump, who is known to avoid email, officials said.
…is the go-to laugh line these days when depicting someone as impossibly behind the times, technologically inept. Except, maybe not.
Until the government, the political parties, and a whole lot of other big, important organizations (and some small ones, too) start getting their collective cyber security act together, avoiding email for critical messaging just might be the most techno-savvy move there is.
Blaming hackers (and Russians! OMG!) for the dismal state of our current political affairs is a classic case of blaming the messenger. Politicians: If you must cheat, at least have the decency to do it where no one can see.
In case you don't have enough to be confused about this morning
Defining politics: If Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are "progressive," then the word has lost all meaning
Salon
This article originally appeared in In These Times. What's a progressive, anyway? The term has a long and unruly history, which I'll be getting to. But the common-sense meaning of "progressive" is someone who is pretty darn liberal. In fact, you might even say that it signifies politics that are distinctly to the left of liberal. That, at least, has been the contemporary connotation of the word for as long as I've been following politics. Increasingly these days, the term is being dumbed down… Read the full story
8.10.2016
No wonder! I feel much better now
Today there will not be much information regarding this annually celebrated holiday as we do not feel like doing any research…we choose to be lazy rather than tell you that this holiday is observed each year on August 10th. The creator and origin of National Lazy Day could not be found.http://goo.gl/yhS8hc
Sure, why not Libya too?
The troops are coordinating American airstrikes and providing intelligence information to local forces battling to oust the group from a militant stronghold.…
https://goo.gl/mHQifu
Sounds cozy
There are some 85,000 soldiers stationed across the city, including plenty of them at the Olympic venues. Some carry machine guns and have their fingers on their triggers, the ready-for-trouble mode you associate with guards overseeing a cash drop near a Brinks truck. Some of the soldiers travel in dark green troop transport trucks associated with war-zone invasions.http://goo.gl/v1ctVu
8.09.2016
Wherein I relinquish my dream of fame, fortune, and some kind, any kind, of fabulous stardom
Maybe I should just turn it off.
8.08.2016
Wait, what?
As a sociologist, I find barbershops fascinating because they've also traditionally been places where men spend time with other men, forming close relationships with one another in the absence of women. Many patrons will even stop by daily to simply chat with their barbers, discuss the news or play chess.
Bubbles over Brooklyn
Cases of the "King of Beers" hit the street and scattered cans in every direction. Many of the cans exploded and gallons of brew washed over multiple lanes of traffic and rained down onto the streets below an elevated stretch of the Gowanus Expressway.
Details, details
Fox News Hillary Clinton's jobs record as a New York senator - which her campaign has made a centerpiece of her pitch to voters - is coming under fresh scrutiny...
In the Senate, for instance, Clinton struck up a relationship with Corning – an upstate glass and high-tech product manufacturer. The Post reports that while Clinton helped steer money to Corning through legislation and federal grants, Clinton's efforts did not reverse the economic decline of Steuben County, where Corning is based.
Meanwhile, employees of the company have donated to Clinton's campaign; the company paid $225,500 for her to speak in 2014; the chief executive co-hosted a 2015 fundraiser for her; and the company has given over $100,000 to the Foundation, the Post reported.…
You can vote for Donald Trump or you can vote for a Republican
A former President George W. Bush aide undercut Donald Trump's economic address before it even began Monday, leading the latest batch of Republican defections by casting Hillary Clinton as the best candidate to grow the economy.
8.07.2016
Maybe this short-circuiting is a thing
"Audible laughs could be heard in the auditorium as Clinton came close to calling Trump her spouse."