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silveradeptOf interest before we begin, your library may have digital materials available so you can download without having to get to your local library branch. If you're in Toronto, the prime minister of Canada just gave $3 million CDN to help with renovations of the library.
Perhaps also of interest are the drunkards driving flaming vans through towns.
The Dead Pool also claimed someone from this generation's geeky childhood, and for adults in a different venture. Captain Lou Albano, best known to me as Mario on the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, passed on to the Mushroom Kingdom.
On this day in history, remember John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, what might be accurately pegged as the beginning of that which would be the Civil War.
Internationally, a deadly attack in Afghansitan may have had forewarning, but according to the U.S. military, warnings like it are commonplace and they could not corroborate the story. Thus, no troop buildup or extra preparations.
Pakistan does not look like a particularly good place to be, either, with increased militant attacks.
And a parental heart-stopping story of letting go of a stroller meant it got hit by a train. The baby inside survived.
Domestically, Maths proficiency in the United States is not improving significantly among fourth or eight grades tested. Well, maths are not exactly being taught as important things, nor are there a whole lot of good maths role models for men or for women. Although we could possibly get some good ones if we enlisted the gent who found a missile launcher in his back yard. Much more fun with parabolic equations when the intent is to blow things up.
Guess what? Your telephone company is acting as spies for the government. At least now they're admitting what's already been known. Luckily, that also menas we can find out what they've been talking about with the federal government.
I expect to see a lot of opinion-writing about earmarks in a defense appropriations bill that apparently steal some $2.6 billion dollars away from troop resupply, fuel, and ammunition into "pet projects" of the Senators, for things like vehicle repair, space surveillance, and health care for servicemembers. (As well as more planes and such.)
Another possible opinion topic would be an apartment complex's decision to ban the flying of flags by their residents, claiming that in a diverse community such as theirs, flying flags of any stripe might be offensive to some of the residents.
The third, which has been the topic of some opinions already, is the dollar's apparent weakening as a reserve currency, losing to the yen and the euro over the last few months. Naturally, places like Bloomberg are predicting dire straits for the dollar, mostly blaming stimulus spending as the reason why.
The GAO says long-term outlooks for the country don't look good, and while CNS's regular comment crowd might blame the current administration for all of it, we note the article posted mentions that costs for health care and pensions are likely to be the worst chompers of GDP, unless they're reformed. So the Do-Nothings are being told even by the GAO that they need to get off their asses and make reforms.
Food prices may be going up some for next year, despite the general opinion being that the economy is pretty bad. That said, food producers are probably not doing too well, either, and subsidies for ethanol and other things are messing with prices some, so price increases aren't too weird, I guess. If, however, you fear the pinch, fifty quick ways to avoid wasting food, usually by transforming it into something else.
What is weird is that the Dow is at 10,000, and unemployment is at 10%, things that shouldn't be together (unless one were to point out that something like this is the natural consequence of capitalism, but that would get one called a socialist).
Furthermore in economics, Social Security benediciaries will be receiving no cost of living increase, for which Mr. Obama proposed sending economic recovery checks and The WSJ accuses him of trying to bribe seniors with this so as to make his health care plan easier to swallow. Plots within plots, apparently.
Some homeowners are getting a rude awakening - their insurance policies are no longer covering them once it is found out their houses have tainted drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. Wait, we thought insurance was supposed to protect us in case something like this happened? Or is our homeowner's insurance turning our more like our health insurance?
Here's something to spend some cash on - infrastructure, like the stuff that's falling down around your ears. Stimulus spending was supposed to help with that some, but it seems like there's much more work needed.
Last out before opinions, a very long series of "Meet the Nuts", starting with Congressional Republicans accusing the Council on American-Islamic Relations of attempting to plant spies posing as Congressional interns...like any other lobbying organization does, but they're Muslims, so they must be terrorists!
From there, the Later-Day Saints leader claiming that after all the LDS meddling in the passage of Proposition 8, the backlash, "coter-intimidation", and persona non grata status they received was akin to the treatment of African-Americans before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Furthermore, a a Baptist church in North Carolina will be holding a chicken dinner along with their book and music burning, with notable authors such as Mother Teresa, Rick Warren, and Billy Graham slated for the pyre, as well as any version of the Christian Foundational Writings that is not their preferred one, the KJV. Furthermore, the church insists that all interpretation decisions and authority rests solely on the minister. You know, that kind of worked when the Catholic Church was really the only game in town and a significant amount of the populace was illiterate in the language of the service and the religion, but these days, people only put trust and authority in the minister as much as the minister confirms whatever they already believe. This church is clearly afraid of the world and its ideas, to say that only the minister can proclaim and that all other influences must be burned.
There's also the judge who will not marry interracial couples because he thinks children of interracial marriages will suffer too much to justify the marriage, including some very classic "I'm not a racist" defenses. We repealed miscegenation laws a very long time ago, and thus, the State doesn't care who's applying, so long as they can legally marry in the state. I cannot decide that I'm only going to serve white people, because I think black people can't learn and trying to help them would only cause them pain, for example.
We stop off at the manager alleged to have reprimanded an employee for calling 911 after someone put a poisonous substance in her drink and she ingested it, saying the public perception of the chain was damaged by the presence of the police. We hope the person reprimanding her, if the allegations are true, finds out how much damage to his or her own career that remark brought on - by not having a job.
Then there's the bizarre car campaign that made someone feel like they were being stalked by someone who meant to do them harm, with their permission to be pranked apparently obtained through the use of a "personality test" that had quite the opt-in legalese associated with it.
A Utah man missed the brith of his child because he attempted to grope the nurse who was attending and was arrested for it.
Megan McCain posted a picture of herself with some ample cleavage and an Andy Warhol book, describing what her nights were like these days. She then got called a slut and several other bad words for showing off her chest. She considered dropping Twitter because of the response, but eventually apologized for posting the picture. Megan McCain, meet the part of the conservative movement that hates you and will continually be trying to undermine your attempts to make the Republican party relevant again. You may refer to them as the Anti-Sex League at your whim.
Finally, though, a moment of clarity and good taste - a $20,000 USD fine and a smackdown to the Birhter Queen Orly Taitz for wasting the court't time with the whole birth certificate thing.
Into opinions we go, where Mr. Rombinson rips the President a new one for his drive-by compassion in New Orleans.
Mr. Kyle suggests the Federal Reserve is not evil, but just doing its job and that it has helped us by keeping important institutions from melting down entirely, and that if we want to point fingers, it should be at the President for not doing what he promised and what would get him re-elected by the people that support him - things like health care reform.
The WSJ is predictably against the decision of a group to drop Rush Limbaugh as a backer from their bid to buy the St. Louis Rams, thinking the NFL needs some courage, instead of bowing to liberal pressure. This is the same Limbaugh, that as a commentator for ESPN, said the NFL was desperately looking to have a black quarterback do well. The WSJ says, "Well, NBC lets Olbermann do Football Night in America", neglecting to mention that Olbermann was a sportscaster before an opinion host, and says Bill Belicheck should be thankful he hasn't been banned by the Limbaugh standard.
On health care, Ms. Noonan says that Mr. Obama is doing too much of campaigning divisively and not enough of being a smooth and loving governor. I'm guessing she does realize that the opposition has been doing quite a bit to fan the partisan flames, right? And that one should not simply roll over if the opposition makes objectionable noises? Considering, as Mr. Boehlert does, that Fox News has become the Opposition Party to the President, superceding the Republicans in popularity, following, and spin, even in their news coverage, when your opponent is or has major outlets and audiences, you need some of that, too, just so that your message gets heard.
And on the Nobel, two differing opinions - ddjango sees the prize as "Put up or Shut Up", a demand for the President to walk the talk he's very good at, and Messrs. Rotunda and Pham see the Nobel Prize as accepting an award from a foreign government, something not permitted under the Constitution, and thus Mr. Obama would be forced to reject the award and the prize. Excepting that the Nobel Committee isn't actually acting as an agent of a government, but as a group that happens to have non-Americans sitting on its decision committee. So I guess it's not really Constitutionally prohibited after all.
Last out, would someone kindly sodomize the preachers who claim that passing a bill to make crimes against homosexuals based on their homosexuality hate crimes will make it illegal for them to preach their church's undying hatred for homosexuality with a cluebat until they get the... you know what, I guess that wouldn't work. We'll settle for "Would soemone please stop make these people say 'dragon'?" (Or at least the realization that the gate swings both ways and that WASPs are protected if someone attacks them primarily because they are any part of that WASPiness.) The Slacktivist gives it a go, about how many of those preachers saying nonsense like that are consciously lying to their population, despite that they know full well that hate crimes legislation doesn't mean they're being policed for thoughtcrime and it's only if they incite someone to action or do something themselves that hate-crimes legislation kicks in.
In science and technology, a ribbon at the edge of the Sol system?, a camera shot that has both Terra and Jupiter in the same frame, concerns that glacial melt is rereleasing dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere, measurements that may indicate the brain's language center is doing a lot more than previously thought, and broadband has become a fundamental right in Finland, meaning the whole country gets to get wired.
Last for today, Costa Rica is apparently the happiest nation in the world, and some very nice pictures of autumn in the United Kingdom.
Perhaps also of interest are the drunkards driving flaming vans through towns.
The Dead Pool also claimed someone from this generation's geeky childhood, and for adults in a different venture. Captain Lou Albano, best known to me as Mario on the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, passed on to the Mushroom Kingdom.
On this day in history, remember John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, what might be accurately pegged as the beginning of that which would be the Civil War.
Internationally, a deadly attack in Afghansitan may have had forewarning, but according to the U.S. military, warnings like it are commonplace and they could not corroborate the story. Thus, no troop buildup or extra preparations.
Pakistan does not look like a particularly good place to be, either, with increased militant attacks.
And a parental heart-stopping story of letting go of a stroller meant it got hit by a train. The baby inside survived.
Domestically, Maths proficiency in the United States is not improving significantly among fourth or eight grades tested. Well, maths are not exactly being taught as important things, nor are there a whole lot of good maths role models for men or for women. Although we could possibly get some good ones if we enlisted the gent who found a missile launcher in his back yard. Much more fun with parabolic equations when the intent is to blow things up.
Guess what? Your telephone company is acting as spies for the government. At least now they're admitting what's already been known. Luckily, that also menas we can find out what they've been talking about with the federal government.
I expect to see a lot of opinion-writing about earmarks in a defense appropriations bill that apparently steal some $2.6 billion dollars away from troop resupply, fuel, and ammunition into "pet projects" of the Senators, for things like vehicle repair, space surveillance, and health care for servicemembers. (As well as more planes and such.)
Another possible opinion topic would be an apartment complex's decision to ban the flying of flags by their residents, claiming that in a diverse community such as theirs, flying flags of any stripe might be offensive to some of the residents.
The third, which has been the topic of some opinions already, is the dollar's apparent weakening as a reserve currency, losing to the yen and the euro over the last few months. Naturally, places like Bloomberg are predicting dire straits for the dollar, mostly blaming stimulus spending as the reason why.
The GAO says long-term outlooks for the country don't look good, and while CNS's regular comment crowd might blame the current administration for all of it, we note the article posted mentions that costs for health care and pensions are likely to be the worst chompers of GDP, unless they're reformed. So the Do-Nothings are being told even by the GAO that they need to get off their asses and make reforms.
Food prices may be going up some for next year, despite the general opinion being that the economy is pretty bad. That said, food producers are probably not doing too well, either, and subsidies for ethanol and other things are messing with prices some, so price increases aren't too weird, I guess. If, however, you fear the pinch, fifty quick ways to avoid wasting food, usually by transforming it into something else.
What is weird is that the Dow is at 10,000, and unemployment is at 10%, things that shouldn't be together (unless one were to point out that something like this is the natural consequence of capitalism, but that would get one called a socialist).
Furthermore in economics, Social Security benediciaries will be receiving no cost of living increase, for which Mr. Obama proposed sending economic recovery checks and The WSJ accuses him of trying to bribe seniors with this so as to make his health care plan easier to swallow. Plots within plots, apparently.
Some homeowners are getting a rude awakening - their insurance policies are no longer covering them once it is found out their houses have tainted drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. Wait, we thought insurance was supposed to protect us in case something like this happened? Or is our homeowner's insurance turning our more like our health insurance?
Here's something to spend some cash on - infrastructure, like the stuff that's falling down around your ears. Stimulus spending was supposed to help with that some, but it seems like there's much more work needed.
Last out before opinions, a very long series of "Meet the Nuts", starting with Congressional Republicans accusing the Council on American-Islamic Relations of attempting to plant spies posing as Congressional interns...like any other lobbying organization does, but they're Muslims, so they must be terrorists!
From there, the Later-Day Saints leader claiming that after all the LDS meddling in the passage of Proposition 8, the backlash, "coter-intimidation", and persona non grata status they received was akin to the treatment of African-Americans before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Furthermore, a a Baptist church in North Carolina will be holding a chicken dinner along with their book and music burning, with notable authors such as Mother Teresa, Rick Warren, and Billy Graham slated for the pyre, as well as any version of the Christian Foundational Writings that is not their preferred one, the KJV. Furthermore, the church insists that all interpretation decisions and authority rests solely on the minister. You know, that kind of worked when the Catholic Church was really the only game in town and a significant amount of the populace was illiterate in the language of the service and the religion, but these days, people only put trust and authority in the minister as much as the minister confirms whatever they already believe. This church is clearly afraid of the world and its ideas, to say that only the minister can proclaim and that all other influences must be burned.
There's also the judge who will not marry interracial couples because he thinks children of interracial marriages will suffer too much to justify the marriage, including some very classic "I'm not a racist" defenses. We repealed miscegenation laws a very long time ago, and thus, the State doesn't care who's applying, so long as they can legally marry in the state. I cannot decide that I'm only going to serve white people, because I think black people can't learn and trying to help them would only cause them pain, for example.
We stop off at the manager alleged to have reprimanded an employee for calling 911 after someone put a poisonous substance in her drink and she ingested it, saying the public perception of the chain was damaged by the presence of the police. We hope the person reprimanding her, if the allegations are true, finds out how much damage to his or her own career that remark brought on - by not having a job.
Then there's the bizarre car campaign that made someone feel like they were being stalked by someone who meant to do them harm, with their permission to be pranked apparently obtained through the use of a "personality test" that had quite the opt-in legalese associated with it.
A Utah man missed the brith of his child because he attempted to grope the nurse who was attending and was arrested for it.
Megan McCain posted a picture of herself with some ample cleavage and an Andy Warhol book, describing what her nights were like these days. She then got called a slut and several other bad words for showing off her chest. She considered dropping Twitter because of the response, but eventually apologized for posting the picture. Megan McCain, meet the part of the conservative movement that hates you and will continually be trying to undermine your attempts to make the Republican party relevant again. You may refer to them as the Anti-Sex League at your whim.
Finally, though, a moment of clarity and good taste - a $20,000 USD fine and a smackdown to the Birhter Queen Orly Taitz for wasting the court't time with the whole birth certificate thing.
Into opinions we go, where Mr. Rombinson rips the President a new one for his drive-by compassion in New Orleans.
Mr. Kyle suggests the Federal Reserve is not evil, but just doing its job and that it has helped us by keeping important institutions from melting down entirely, and that if we want to point fingers, it should be at the President for not doing what he promised and what would get him re-elected by the people that support him - things like health care reform.
The WSJ is predictably against the decision of a group to drop Rush Limbaugh as a backer from their bid to buy the St. Louis Rams, thinking the NFL needs some courage, instead of bowing to liberal pressure. This is the same Limbaugh, that as a commentator for ESPN, said the NFL was desperately looking to have a black quarterback do well. The WSJ says, "Well, NBC lets Olbermann do Football Night in America", neglecting to mention that Olbermann was a sportscaster before an opinion host, and says Bill Belicheck should be thankful he hasn't been banned by the Limbaugh standard.
On health care, Ms. Noonan says that Mr. Obama is doing too much of campaigning divisively and not enough of being a smooth and loving governor. I'm guessing she does realize that the opposition has been doing quite a bit to fan the partisan flames, right? And that one should not simply roll over if the opposition makes objectionable noises? Considering, as Mr. Boehlert does, that Fox News has become the Opposition Party to the President, superceding the Republicans in popularity, following, and spin, even in their news coverage, when your opponent is or has major outlets and audiences, you need some of that, too, just so that your message gets heard.
And on the Nobel, two differing opinions - ddjango sees the prize as "Put up or Shut Up", a demand for the President to walk the talk he's very good at, and Messrs. Rotunda and Pham see the Nobel Prize as accepting an award from a foreign government, something not permitted under the Constitution, and thus Mr. Obama would be forced to reject the award and the prize. Excepting that the Nobel Committee isn't actually acting as an agent of a government, but as a group that happens to have non-Americans sitting on its decision committee. So I guess it's not really Constitutionally prohibited after all.
Last out, would someone kindly sodomize the preachers who claim that passing a bill to make crimes against homosexuals based on their homosexuality hate crimes will make it illegal for them to preach their church's undying hatred for homosexuality with a cluebat until they get the... you know what, I guess that wouldn't work. We'll settle for "Would soemone please stop make these people say 'dragon'?" (Or at least the realization that the gate swings both ways and that WASPs are protected if someone attacks them primarily because they are any part of that WASPiness.) The Slacktivist gives it a go, about how many of those preachers saying nonsense like that are consciously lying to their population, despite that they know full well that hate crimes legislation doesn't mean they're being policed for thoughtcrime and it's only if they incite someone to action or do something themselves that hate-crimes legislation kicks in.
In science and technology, a ribbon at the edge of the Sol system?, a camera shot that has both Terra and Jupiter in the same frame, concerns that glacial melt is rereleasing dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere, measurements that may indicate the brain's language center is doing a lot more than previously thought, and broadband has become a fundamental right in Finland, meaning the whole country gets to get wired.
Last for today, Costa Rica is apparently the happiest nation in the world, and some very nice pictures of autumn in the United Kingdom.
