Saturday, August 18, 2012
Here's Your Chance To Kill Osama Bin Laden Yourself, for $325
Quite a bargain. For only $325 and a trip to Minnesota, you can join an elite team of Navy SEALs for a day and tell all your buddies that you were the one who killed the al-Qaeda leader.
Gary Kasparov: When Putin's Thugs Came for Me
I was dragged away Friday by a group of police—in fact carried away with one on each arm and leg.
And this: Mr. Putin could not care less about winning public-relations battles in the Western press, or about fighting them at all.
And this: Mr. Putin could not care less about winning public-relations battles in the Western press, or about fighting them at all.
The History of Surfing
For at least 3,000 years, seafaring Polynesians who settled the many islands in the Pacific Ocean have been surfing.
Food-borne illnesses and reusable grocery bags
Health Costs of Plastic Grocery Bag Bans. Maybe it’s actually a good idea to dispose of the materials with which we transport our raw foods.
British schools drop Holocaust from history lessons so as not to offend Muslims
I should say "continue to drop..." since this has been going on for a while:
Comments and links regarding the long list of politically correct changes that gradually are bringing hundreds of British primary and secondary education into conformity with Islamic Sharia law.
In London, 85 of 90 schools have implemented “no pork” policies, and the trend is toward fully Halal.
Teachers are required to teach ‘key Muslim contributions such as Algebra and the number zero’ in math and science courses, even though the concept of zero originated in India.
Muslim leaders are demanding that Islamic preachers be sent to every school in Scotland to teach children about Islam.
Comments and links regarding the long list of politically correct changes that gradually are bringing hundreds of British primary and secondary education into conformity with Islamic Sharia law.
In London, 85 of 90 schools have implemented “no pork” policies, and the trend is toward fully Halal.
Teachers are required to teach ‘key Muslim contributions such as Algebra and the number zero’ in math and science courses, even though the concept of zero originated in India.
Muslim leaders are demanding that Islamic preachers be sent to every school in Scotland to teach children about Islam.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Hillary turned down VP slot … two weeks ago?
Hot Air calls it too good to check: the presumed 2016 frontrunner wants to maintain her distance from the campaign.
Obama Edits Official State Department Documents to Tout Himself
Links and comments at Heritage: The State Department has recently ended its long-running series of
Background Notes, which were analytical, objective histories of other
countries. In their place, new “Fact Sheets” now tout Obama’s policies
and actions toward each nation. No more historical context, no
recounting of complex and long-standing issues in the country. Just cut
to the chase—that is, the time when the current Administration came to
power.
And this: 4,100-word Bush document, chock full of facts and figures helpful in analyzing the country and its importance to the U.S., never once mentions the name of any U.S. President. The 300-word section on U.S.–Brazil relations takes up about 7 percent of the document.
Conversely, fully 70 percent (830 words) of the new 1,200 word Brazil Fact Sheet, which is focused exclusively on U.S. relations with Brazil, discusses President Obama either directly by name (twice!) or in the context of the plethora of programs his Administration has launched with Brazil, including a shared “commitment to combat discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) status; to advance gender equality; a bilateral instrument that targets racism; support for HIV/AIDS prevention, promotion of clean energy technologies in Brazil, and mitigation of climate change.”
Remember when he was inserting himself into the biographies of past presidents?
And this: 4,100-word Bush document, chock full of facts and figures helpful in analyzing the country and its importance to the U.S., never once mentions the name of any U.S. President. The 300-word section on U.S.–Brazil relations takes up about 7 percent of the document.
Conversely, fully 70 percent (830 words) of the new 1,200 word Brazil Fact Sheet, which is focused exclusively on U.S. relations with Brazil, discusses President Obama either directly by name (twice!) or in the context of the plethora of programs his Administration has launched with Brazil, including a shared “commitment to combat discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) status; to advance gender equality; a bilateral instrument that targets racism; support for HIV/AIDS prevention, promotion of clean energy technologies in Brazil, and mitigation of climate change.”
Remember when he was inserting himself into the biographies of past presidents?
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Israeli sperm banks find quality is plummeting (plus bonus Monty Python)
Sperm quality is down everywhere, but Israel is worse off than other developed countries. Theories about why vary from cellphones in pockets to estrogen in milk or water.
However, as Monty Python told us, Every Sperm is Sacred.
However, as Monty Python told us, Every Sperm is Sacred.
MSNBC's Toure: Romney Engaged in 'Niggerization' of Obama
Watering down racism to the point where anything qualifies: Apparently "angry" is one of those dog-whistle words.
What exactly did Romney do to earn this reprehensible slur? He said that Obama, whose campaign has already called Romney a racist, a sexist, a felon, and a murderer, should “take [his] campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago.”
What exactly did Romney do to earn this reprehensible slur? He said that Obama, whose campaign has already called Romney a racist, a sexist, a felon, and a murderer, should “take [his] campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago.”
Big Brother: Privacy and the rapid rise of license plate readers
Long, worthwhile article at Ars Technica: Largely unregulated, cameras now collect millions of travel records every day.
Surprise: No Criminal Case Is Likely in Loss at MF Global
Great news: Prominent Dem and Obama bundler John Corzine probably won’t be prosecuted for $1B+ disappearance of customer funds.
via HotAir: Imagine that: Prosecutors can’t build a case against a guy who simply doesn’t know where $1.2 billion of his clients money is, but who also managed to raise $500,000 for Obama.
via HotAir: Imagine that: Prosecutors can’t build a case against a guy who simply doesn’t know where $1.2 billion of his clients money is, but who also managed to raise $500,000 for Obama.
Forbes: GM is heading for bankruptcy again
Not before the election, but soon.
via Dr. Zero, who has excellent comments, including "The exact degree to which the rest of us got soaked so Obama could give GM to his union allies changes constantly as the value of the stock held by We the People fluctuates. You don’t remember being asked if you would like to become a GM stockholder and willingly accept massive losses to protect highly compensated union jobs, do you?"
Can't wait til he applies the GM model to every industry.
via Dr. Zero, who has excellent comments, including "The exact degree to which the rest of us got soaked so Obama could give GM to his union allies changes constantly as the value of the stock held by We the People fluctuates. You don’t remember being asked if you would like to become a GM stockholder and willingly accept massive losses to protect highly compensated union jobs, do you?"
Can't wait til he applies the GM model to every industry.
Cow week: Welsh cattle kill dog walking women
Today's installment in Boing Boing's answer to Discovery's Shark Week.
Previous posts:
Bull gores man, follows him until certain he is dead.
Cows kill 27 times more people than sharks do.
And here's Popular Mechanics' cow attack survival guide.
Previous posts:
Bull gores man, follows him until certain he is dead.
Cows kill 27 times more people than sharks do.
And here's Popular Mechanics' cow attack survival guide.
Thursday links
Gallery: Small Dogs Dressed As Napoleon.
Drunk man falls asleep in a dumpster, gets picked up, compacted twice.
25 European castles you can stay in.
A brief history of the lawnmower.
Weird Animal Defense Mechanisms.
A furred animal shakes itself dry at a characteristic frequency. This video documents the physics of it, in slow motion accompanied by music.
Drunk man falls asleep in a dumpster, gets picked up, compacted twice.
25 European castles you can stay in.
A brief history of the lawnmower.
Weird Animal Defense Mechanisms.
A furred animal shakes itself dry at a characteristic frequency. This video documents the physics of it, in slow motion accompanied by music.
Giant catfish burgles couple's home
Xu Xianmin and his wife claim the fish sneaked into their home when their backs were turned.
Usain Bolt's UK Tax Lesson
"As soon as the law changes I'll be here all the time." Punitive tax policy had kept the world's fastest man from competing in Blighty for the past three years.
via Lucianne.
via Lucianne.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Cow Week: Bull gores man, follows him until certain he is dead
The second installment in BoingBoing's answer to Discovery's Shark Week.
Previous post:
Cows kill 27 times more people than sharks do.
So BoingBoing is having Cow Week to balance out Shark Week on Discovery.
And here's Popular Mechanics' cow attack survival guide.
Previous post:
Cows kill 27 times more people than sharks do.
So BoingBoing is having Cow Week to balance out Shark Week on Discovery.
And here's Popular Mechanics' cow attack survival guide.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Record-Breaking Python Found In Everglades With 87 Eggs Inside
Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey captured a state record-breaking Burmese python that was not only a whopping 17 feet and 7 inches long, but carrying an also-record-breaking 87 eggs.
I'm apparently the only one appalled that they killed it.
I'm apparently the only one appalled that they killed it.
Will Your Doctor Quit? Obamacare Foretells Mass Exodus From Patient Care
83 percent of physicians surveyed are thinking of quitting because of
Obamacare, and 90 percent feel that the U.S. health care system is now
heading in the wrong direction.
Many doctors are quietly thinking about "exit strategies" to leave clinical practice if ObamaCare is not repealed.
via @PaulHsieh
Many doctors are quietly thinking about "exit strategies" to leave clinical practice if ObamaCare is not repealed.
via @PaulHsieh
Video: Daddy Skills, A Rap Music Video About The Adventures of Fatherhood
This is from 2012, from a father of two young boys and triplet toddlers:
Daddy Skills, A Rap Music Video About The Adventures of Fatherhood:
Reminds me of those Swagger Wagon commercials. Via Laughing Squid.
Diaper smells: why my baby is less disgusting than yours
The 'plasticity of disgust' - consistent with underarm research which found that we prefer our own odors.
Cows kill 27 times more people than sharks do
So BoingBoing is having Cow Week to balance out Shark Week on Discovery.
And here's Popular Mechanics' cow attack survival guide.
And here's Popular Mechanics' cow attack survival guide.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Mission Creep Leads TSA to Racially Profile in Pursuit of Non-Terrorists to Arrest
The TSA has no business looking for drugs, outstanding arrest warrants,
or immigration problems unless it has serious reason to believe that the
person involved poses a serious threat to air safety. If it is going to serve as an extension of every other sort of law enforcement, then its searches should be subject to the same requirements for probable cause.
Overregulation: The problem we can’t outproduce
The excellent J.E. Dyer: most new jobs – about 70% — have always been created by small businesses in America, and those small businesses are being steamrolled by regulation. Regulation is having a serious impact even on big business,
and all its costs are passed on to the customer. “Business” doesn’t
pay for anything; you pay for it all. If you don’t, the business isn’t
viable, and you don’t have those big, clean grocery stores with
thousands of products, or gas stations charging competitive prices on
every corner. Either you pay all the costs of regulation, or the
product isn’t available.
And this: We get used to regulation. It deters new hires, it puts small firms out of business, it makes everything cost more for us and reduces all our options and opportunities – but it operates by stealth, and most of us don’t even know it’s affecting us.
And this: We get used to regulation. It deters new hires, it puts small firms out of business, it makes everything cost more for us and reduces all our options and opportunities – but it operates by stealth, and most of us don’t even know it’s affecting us.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The end of the NFL?
Comments on George Will's column on NFL injuries.
I agree with this: There have been some serious advances in football equipment over the years, but many of them are largely sledgehammer fixes to problems requiring tweezers. It seems to me that player equipment could be made more protective from high momentum impact damage without turning it into a spacesuit unsuitable for game day. Let’s not give up on the greatest game in America. Let’s get some top minds to work on making it safer while retaining the legendary character of it that we know and love.
I agree with this: There have been some serious advances in football equipment over the years, but many of them are largely sledgehammer fixes to problems requiring tweezers. It seems to me that player equipment could be made more protective from high momentum impact damage without turning it into a spacesuit unsuitable for game day. Let’s not give up on the greatest game in America. Let’s get some top minds to work on making it safer while retaining the legendary character of it that we know and love.
A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition
Kipling quote du jour.
Stranded jet-skier saunters through JFK safeguards
He effortlessly overcame the Port Authority’s $100 million, supposedly state-of-the-art security system at JFK Airport — walking undetected
across two runways and into a terminal.
via Instapundit.
via Instapundit.
Detailed scientific explanation of the “wizarding gene” in Harry Potter
Geneticist takes on why the wizarding gene isn't always dominant - dominance does not explain muggle-borns, squibs, or the steady inheritance pattern of magical abilities; but I got your back. Magical
ability could be explained by a single autosomal dominant gene if it is
caused by an expansion of trinucleotide repeats with non-Mendelian
ratios of inheritance.
via io9.
via io9.
Germany Has "Reached Its Limit" On Greek Aid
Zerohedge: and reiterated the double-whammy that the ESM should NOT receive a banking license and that the ECB should NOT act as "money printing press in disguise" by extending emergency loans and bypassing EFSF/ESM.
Ryan Will Allow Republican Ticket To Make Moral Case For Capitalism
You have to make your own moral case for free enterprise, right from the
beginning. No data, no appeals to stats from the Congressional Budget
Office. You can bring that stuff in later. When you first open your
mouth, it better be to say what’s written on your heart about the country you love and the system that makes us strong and free.
Spengler: Reassuring Romney
If Americans are having a hard time believing in themselves, they know
that Mitt Romney believes in them — and it is an authentic, deeply held, lifelong belief. He believes in them concretely, in their businesses
and schools and churches, not in the abstract. And that’s exactly what
this country needs: a president who can sell the idea of America back to
its original owners, the American people.
Porn Star Ron Jeremy Endorses Obama
Presidential endorsements are coming fast and furious, per Yid With Lid.