Linkee-poo's lover's got humor, she's the giggle at a funeral

Prehistory, when giant mushrooms roamed the Earth. Okay, we not roamed exactly, but towered 25 feet high and were forest like. Que hookah smoking caterpillars in 3 2 1 (grokked from Alex Renwwick)

"Researchers from North Carolina State University have confirmed that blood vessel-like structures found in an 80 million-year-old hadrosaur fossil are original to the animal, and not biofilm or other contaminants. Their findings add to the growing body of evidence that structures like blood vessels and cells can persist over millions of years, and the data not only confirm earlier reports of protein sequences in dinosaurs, they represent a significant advance in methodology." BWA?! Who needs insects in amber! (Grokked from Steven Gould)

So, some eggheads have taken an Xbox Kinect and repurposed it as an x-ray assistant. Well, actually, I did predict this (this is one of the few areas left for automation). And I'm all for ALARA (as low as reasonably possible, our guiding principle for radiation exposure to patients). But I've never used calipers on a patient. AEC (automatic exposure controls), which they then go on to talk about in this paper on their "breakthrough", have fairly well eliminated their use in all but the most outdated equipment rooms. I've also been trained to use the exposure charts to accurately estimate technique (roughly your exposure to get a good x-ray) when patients aren't "ideal" (overweight, old, young, have some other disease process going on which alters the anatomy). A few times that doesn't work well (but this wouldn't help those times as there are conditions you really can't measure or compensate for before taking an exposure), and I've seen the seasoned techs that have trained me also be fooled by a patient. While help for positioning would be fabulous, there again are times that when positioning a patient correctly, I've made minor adjustments and come out with a better exposure (human bodies are similar, but not exactly the same), and that has to do with palpating the patient (which this wouldn't be able to do), and such minor changes because of experience (more intuitive guesses) that I don't believe this is the perfect solution they're touting. But I think it would help. (Grokked from Dan)

The 10Tb hard drive. Also with some deep geekery on the engineering behind hard drives (including using a laser to melt parts of the magnetic medium and thereby free up more atoms to change their polarity and the write head passes over). (Grokked from John)

Brilliance in marketing, combining two things the American public love, TV and guns, and adds in the convenience of the home shopping network. Genius.

But they're only going to focus on the positive parts of Presidential Nominee Trump. Yea, that'll work out well. Actually, with the way our legislative districts have been gerrymandered, it probably will.

"'Even if [the President] won’t sign them into law, we will put out specific proposals and give the people a real choice,' (Speaker Paul) Ryan will say. 'And I don’t mean just undo what the president has done—as if we could time-travel back to 2009. I mean show what we would do, what our ideal policy would be—looking forward to 2017 and beyond.'" Looks at chart, let's see, that'll be the 8th year in a row he's promised to do that. Not holding my breathe.

Linkee-poo, if you're compelled to go spinning be sure your spindles are steel, let liberty be your motto and glory will turn your big wheel

On the difference between Hollywood's Ancient Rome, and the actual Rome.

Meritocracy my ass. Smart poor kids less likely to graduate college than mediocre rich kids. Another study to show what we already knew (and one that the people who don't know this will never read or believe). (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

We're boned.

Yes, Virginia, small town America is chock-a-block full of teh crazy. "The two-term mayor of a small Ohio town has apologized for alleging that 'blacks have all but formally declared war on whites' (among other things saying the war has started) in a Friday Facebook post." I'll bet he gets re-elected.

"The Alabama Justice Project has obtained documents that reveal a Dothan Police Department’s Internal Affairs investigation was covered up by the district attorney. A group of up to a dozen police officers on a specialized narcotics team were found to have planted drugs and weapons on young black men for years." And that's where this story starts. It goes downhill from there. The good news, there was a group of police officers who tried to expose the other officers. Unfortunately their police chief and the district attorney were in on the corruption. (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)

Putting the Christ back in Christ-ma-Christ. Because too much is never enough. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

There's this moment that we expect computers to become self-aware. But, the opposite happens in humans. Dr. Ben Carson on Syrian refugees. Seriously, read that second paragraph and try not to make the curious dog head tilt at the cognitive dissonance and blatant un-awareness of self and politics going on there.

Not only does Eric Bolling of Fox News double down on Trumpster's thousands of NJ Muslims celebrating after 9/11, but goes one further saying "they were tipped off." It's like Fox News pays bonuses for who can be the most idiotic conspiracy theorist. Oh wait, they probably do.

To all the people who cheer to the Trumpster's statement about killing the terrorists' families as well, you do know you're endorsing a war crime, and legitimizing the terrorist's tactics, right?

The Trumpster just uses people for his own purposes. This isn't new. He's been doing it for years.

The conscience of the conservative. Sen. McCranky "GetOffaMyLawn" Pants will be troubled by voting to kill Obamacare and the expanded Medicaid services, but fuck the poor, he'll do it anyway.

The conservative right lies to promote their pre-conceived ideas about Planned Parenthood? Shocked, shocked I am… Next you'll be telling me they support contraception. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

Linkee-poo looks for more spoons

Screen writing tips from Aaron (fuckin') Sorkin. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)

Vulcan, the planet that scientist convinced themselves was there, but never was.

There's apparently a shortage of Rey merchandise (for Star Wars). Funny about that. Hey Disney, good thing the chicks don't dig fantasy or this could be really bad. (Grokked from Yanni Kuznia)

"Politicians are quickly learning that they can say just about anything and get away with it. Along with vindication, apology and suffering, there now exists a fourth way forward for the politician spewing whoppers: Blame the backlash on media bias and walk away a hero." A self-inflicted wound. (Grokked form Matt Briggs)

I don't know where liberals get the idea that social conservatives are responsible for irresponsible goading of "lone wolf" actions. You know, like maybe this guy. "Popular Facebook evangelist Joshua Feuerstein calls on Christians to 'punish Planned Parenthood' and make abortion providers fear for their life." And he's not the only one. (Grokked from Charles R. Terhune)

More cause to believe that Ted Cruz (and many other conservatives) live in their own fairy tale worlds (of the Disney variety). "'Now, listen, here's the simple and undeniable fact: the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The media doesn't report that,'(Hugh Hewitt) continued…" as he "interviewed" Ted Cruz. Citation please. I mean, that right there is the victimization mindset of the whackaloon GOP.

"The Republican-controlled Senate is moving forward with plans to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and gut Obamacare despite a deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs that left three dead and nine injured." Because nothing, nothing will convince them to head away from this path. But it's all political theater anyway. "(S)ome Republicans from states that had expanded Medicaid expressed reservations about what their voters back home would think if they rolled back insurance coverage for the poor. They were assured by leaders that the bill was going to be vetoed anyway so there was no reason to harbor real worries about the political repercussions." And because beating up on Planned Parenthood plays well to the home audience of these people. Yes, they are coming for your birth control. Notice Cruzmania is only talking about male contraception, "You can get rubbers anywhere." Note he's not discussing the ongoing battles of having health insurance cover female contraception.

Here's hoping CNN tells the Trumpster to go pound salt. He's asking for $5M to participate in the next debate. CNN, you'd be wise to tell him that he's not invited, no matter what his poll numbers might be. More room for the rest of the field.

America is wonderful, the land of the free, the home of the brave. Unless you're muslim (or black, or hispanic, or agnostic/atheist, or…). Twenty-seven example of anti-Islamic hate since the Paris attacks. To which my first comment was "only 27, wow, my estimates were way off." (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

Pope'splaining.

Linkee-poo, madmen fed on fear and lies to beat and burn and kill

An exercise to get students to use more active words kinda runs off the rails. I appreciate what the instructors are trying to do here, really. By "banning" certain words they're encouraging their student to expand their vocabularies, and conjoined with the concept of "students teaching themselves" they've tried their best. But how they're going about it is very stupid. If you want kids' vocabularies to expand, expose them to good words, teach them their meanings, encourage them to explore books. (Grokked from Steven Gould)

And because it needs to be said, sex workers can be sexually assaulted and raped. Again, non-consent is non-consent. Saying no means no. So, yes, a porn star can be raped on set as well as off the set. Because she works in porn (or in a strip club, or even as a prostitute) is not an excuse. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

So, why is it a problem that injection wells linked to fracking may cause earthquakes? "The ground is shaking near Cushing, Okla., home to the largest commercial crude oil storage center in North America… (and) one of the most important places in the U.S. energy market." Yea, because the ground subsidence, sink holes, damage from earthquakes in places that don't have building codes that enforce compliance with buildings that may be shaken, it could really fuck up our energy supply of fossil fuels.

"Republican presidential hopefuls… noticeably silent about a fatal shooting… at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs…All three of their Democratic counterparts tweeted in support of the organization… Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the only one of the major GOP candidates to comment…" saying he was praying for the families of those killed and injured, and the first responders. Note, not the people actually injured. Color me unsurprised. This was posted on Saturday, I'm sure they'll bow to public pressure and comment by Monday. (Grokked from Dan)

Taxi driver is asked about his nationality, rider goes into house, comes out with a rifle and begins shooting. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

Couple finds those online healthcare pricing tools are mostly suggestions. Again, we won't have good pricing controls until health facilities and doctors' offices are required to publish their pricing like a fast-food restaurant. Tell me again how we don't need a single-payor system in this country.

Because for the Trumpster, everything is awesome. "'I have a great relationship with the black pastors,' Trump said." Yea, but after several pastors he was supposed to meet with said that they wouldn't be endorsing him, the closed the meeting to the press. And then they cancelled it. Because it would have been bad optics. And then they blamed it on the Black Lives Matter movement. Stay classy, Trump.

"It’s all an elaborate stage production, manufactured by Fox News, talk radio and rightwing politicians, that fills the lives of the working class with terrorists, feminist, atheists and gay people, convenient groups used to distract from who is really screwing them over this week. The votes of the working class have been neutralized or co-opted with tidy scapegoats, the Second Amendment, Jesus and white victimhood." On the disappearing middle-class, the rise in death rates in the white middle-class, and committing political suicide. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

Well, the GOP candidates are finally responding to the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting. Carly Fiorina demonstrates that she can blame the left for anything. Yes, it's all in the leftist politics manual right here, on page 3 it says, "always blame the right for everything, especially those things they espouse," Ted Cruz, not to be outdone by teh crazy, goes full birther.

"Where all da white women?" Ah, Michelle Bachmann, you're daily dose of spittle-flecked insanity.

Even CJ Pearson, the 13-year-old conservative wunderkind gets it. Dear GOP, even he can see through you. Ah, but don't worry, I'm sure next week the RNC will bring him back into the fold and he can blame watching the "liberal mass media" for making him doubt his conservative love. "'I don't want to be the conservative wonder kid that people follow because I make them feel good and like young people are part of their movement…' he told CNN." Too late. Although I'm sure the heaping helping of scorn he's now facing will convince him to come back as well.

Linkee-poo never gets to say much, never get to talk, tell us a little bit, but not to much

Hey, you know all those people who say that their middle-ages novels set in an English type country where everyone is white, when they get called on that say, "they're just being true to history"? Well, bullshit. Here is DNA evidence of skeletons found in London that show it was a very diverse city. Always has been. (Grokked from Chia Evers) Slavic fairy tales illustrated. Interesting. (Grokked from David Klecha) You'd think with all the hype and attention the NFL's Pinktober campaign gets there would be log of money flowing to help prevent breast cancer and for breast cancer research. You would be wrong. (Grokked from Charles Terhune) A subterranean pagan basilica is restored in Rome. Going on my vacation list right now. (Grokked from Michelle Swiniarski) "Many or most of the 150 or so people at the meeting seemed more tolerant and open-minded. But the loudmouths who vented their poisonous views dominated the proceeding, and no one had the appetite to take them on." And that's part of the problem, the majority is tired, and because of that, the loudmouth bullies think they're in charge. And the problem is that those people aren't actually the targets of the hatred which makes it easy for them to ignore it and not take action. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed) And in other gun news, a Mississippi man shoots a Waffle House waitress in the head because she asked him to not smoke in the restaurant. Because we're a rational society. (Grokked from Steven Gould) Something that's been on my mind lately, Have we, as a country, become a kleptocracy. I mean, it's been evident that many places in the US have been running on the banana republic model. But has it gone too far already? (When I say I know a revolution is coming, this is a major part of that) (Grokked from Debbie Morrow) Dear Rep. Grayson, don't be a dick. I understand the urge, the sense of righteousness and revenge, but nobody is served by it. "'I am being attacked and smeared by the liberal media for legally exercising my 1st and 2nd Amendment rights and for using public data to defend my credibility when they make accusations against me,' (David) Wright wrote on Thursday." On his replacement Facebook page, after he took down the original page where he published the names and addresses of people who spoke against an anti-Sharia law in Irving, Tx. Nah, dude, we're just calling it what it was and calling you what you are. And if you don't understand what you did and how you portrayed yourself, well, I guess you shouldn't have reposted the list until you figured out how to be a real human. What the real problem here is, you didn't think anyone would notice. Tweet of my heart: @Are0h White people have physically attacked everything conservative candidates of have criticized. Are you paying attention?

Linkee-poo, shut up Uncle Ted

"And they’re telling us that the only way a female character can be strong is if she acts, in every way possible, like a man." On the absurdity of Scott Bergstrom's interview with Publishers Weekly. (Grokked from Julie)

"No matter what the adults say, nine times out of ten, the kids are ready to talk." One writing books that ask questions that are topical, and difficult. (Grokked form Leah Bobet)

Read this a while ago, but io9 made it into a more readable version. That's how a homophobic post on tumblr was turned into a dystopian science fiction lovefest. (Grokked this time from Cat Rambo)

Apparently, even looking at cops is disrespectful, at least according to Fox News. I would like to say that this isn't racism rearing it's ugly head and that Megan Kelly really isn't trying to say that this black man should lower his gaze while standing in front of a police officer, but unfortunately I believe that is exactly what is going on here. Just pointed to in case you need a reference.

This is how terrorism works. IT's a little short sighted and doesn't look at the long con, but a good thing to keep in mind. Especially when you read the next article. (Grokked from Janiece)

The armed protestors outside an Irving, Texas mosque publish the names and addresses of people who spoke out against an Anti-Sharia resolution. I'm of two minds about this. One, it's an obvious case of intimidation given that the group that published them is advocating for an eventual conflict (and also believe it's a good idea to bring guns to a "peaceful" protest). But two, it's a part of the public record. Now why the council required residents to register with all that information just to speak before council, that's another question (and frankly a little archaic and stupid). But I'm also surprised to find this happened in Texas, given their general proclivity to deny FoA/Sunshine/Records requests. Also, that it's published by the side of the conflict by those who are wearing the masks is a negative. Not to mention the context of how it was published as a list of "of Muslims and Muslim sympathizers". I wonder what would happen if a list of the names and addresses of the idiots with guns were also published? (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

Some inside perspective on ISIS. I'm not familiar enough with the various sub philosophies of Islam to gauge the veracity, but it sounds plausible. A nation state built on apocalyptic vision, it's happened before. And that the vision is disputed by the majority of the rest of the adherents to that religion also isn't unique (what's in your eschatology?). Also, that those people who support the ideals, who live outside the actual real life application of those rules, find it exciting and desirable also isn't new. And that internally, within that state, the actual application of those values is brutal and oppressive, justifying the unjust, and lying to themselves that it's all for the greater good also is not new. (Grokked from Janiece)

And Janiece herself has some good things to say about all of this; Paris, ISIS, terrorism, and American compassions and courage. Yes, that.

The Trumpster (well, his spokesman) says, "don't fuck us, GOP, or we'll go nuclear on your ass." Okay, he was a little nicer about it. Have we mentioned the cracks are beginning to show? But if the Trumpster goes "rogue" as a third party play, will the lunatic fringe Reagan invited in actually split from the party (in this case, I'm thinking permanently, not just at the Nov 2016 election)?

"No, if you want to take down Trump, there is only one line of attack that will work—but it is an attack that requires the party leadership and its donors to attain some critical distance from their own beliefs and points of view." And that's where the schism happens. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

"Write your story the way you want to write it. You don’t have to talk to anybody. It doesn’t make any difference. But many people were shot. It makes sense." The Trumpster on being challenged about his Civil War memorial on his golf course.

Yes, Rep. Steven King is just that racist. I wonder just how he would feel about Cleveland's Little Italy, which not only being very Italian in feel (it's slightly mixed now with lots of student off-campus housing), but also very Catholic, both of which at one time were considered un-American.

"On a scale from zero to 100, the scientists gave Cruz a six." Drops mic, walks away.

Slow clap. Well played, Vice, well played. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)

Tweet of my heart: @robertjbennett In the first 10% of your story, you make the case for reading the following 90%.

When I look, and I find, I still love you

Because Saladin Ahmed reminded me, today is the day the heavens cried for the loss of a star that burned ever so bright and ever so fast, this has been in my head all day. And now it may be in yours.


I still tear up a little listening to this.

Linkee-poo is always drunk on Sunday, trying to feel like I'm at home

Robert J. Bennett puts on his Cranky-Pants™ and talks about story.

Advertising gone wrong. An ad campaign for The Man in the High Castle, Amazon's series based on the same novel by Philip K Dick, misses the very basic test of "do not piss off the customer." The story is set in an alternate history where the Allies lost WWII, and the Axis powers have divided the US. So the ad agency divided a subway car and put Nazi iconography on ones side, and Empirical Japan iconography on the other side. Seriously brain-fucked idea. While it may "pass the rules" (which it really doesn't), it was just dumb, dumb, dumb. No, really, the ad exec who pitched this should be flogged, and not in a 50 Shades of Grey way either. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

Living in panderville. Or, even in 2015 our culture still sees women and minorities this way, and it's a fucking problem that is long passed time to fix. But that means men must get over being privileged, and I think if you look at the presidential campaign, or almost any marketing campaign, we're still a long way from home on that score. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)

One explosion in Spectre sets a Guiness World Record. (Grokked from Dan)

Electric cars really are greener. "The media loves these stories. They're counterintuitive, surprising, and best of all, show that those silly greens, with their idealistic yadda yadda, don't know how to do math." I remember a reader commenting that electric cars were "dirtier" than gas because all that electricity was produced by coal. As I replied, we can get electricity from things other than coal (and now, 5 years down the road, coal is already going away here in the US). (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

Thanksgiving without the turkey.

As a reminder, it's the white supremacists who believe the race war is coming, not the Black Lives Matter movement. In this case, 3 white men open fire on a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)

And then, after 5 Black Lives Matter protestors were shot by white suspects, police used mace on the Black Lives Matter protestors. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Time interviews Randall Munroe, he relies in cartoons. Like a boss. (Grokked from Dan)

Pro ISIS messages painted on "the rock" at Youngstown State. Not mentioned in this report, the Arabic was misspelled. This, I'm fairly confident, is a false-flag operation. Because 1) Youngstown? Seriously, Youngstown doesn't even make the Cleveland news, and 2) A message rock? Look, if you're going to fake these kinds of things trying to incite violence and drama you have to think big. Because that's what ISIS does. Why were the attacks in Paris and not in Brussels (were the attackers were supposedly based)? Because people the world over care about Paris, they don't care about Brussels where there are plenty of EU official buildings.

Dr. Ben Carson would like you to know he's a very smart person. And he can learn foreign policy issues, once he puts his mind to it. :: shakes head :: You'd think he'd do that once he said he wanted to be President.

Dr. Carson chalks it up to a rookie mistake. When he was asked if he supported what the Trumpeter had said about NJ Muslims celebrating on 9/11, "I didn't know that they had an agenda behind the question." Seriously, he keeps telling us he's smart.

Link-poo goes over the river and through the wood

The reboot we didn't need, Netflix is going to relaunch Lost In Space. (Grokked from Dan)

There are reasons I stopped reading Dilbert regularly. Here's one more. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)

How to handle those awkward holiday conversations with Relative Fact-Free-News-Letter. 'Cause you know you're gonna need it (also, I hope to have provided enough ammunition to fortify your own opinions). (Grokked from Mary Robinette Kowal)

"product acceptance challenges." Okay, see, here's a major problem of marketing (and Hollywood sequel making). It's what happens when there is a success in the marketplace; like a successful product, store, service, media. Then come the business consultants to determine how these things made money, how they appealed to the market (ie. consumers). Instead of saying "because it was well made and exceeded consumer's expectations", instead they look for the granular metric that can be repeated to make another success. Even though what was really the cause of the success is a holistic quality statement. But you can't measure or "replicate" that (actually you can, but it requires people who have brains). So they then focus in on things that progressively matter less in an attempt to make another best seller. So eventually they end up with products that nobody wants (or sizes that nobody buys). (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Fred Clark says, "Dear Google, you still want to make Google+ a thing? Well, first you need to apologize for killing Google Reader and for getting rid of the blog search option." And there you have an example of the above thesis.

"Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Friday suggested that Syrian refugees are just trying to come to the United States for a 'paid vacation,' noting how much the federal government spends to resettle refugees." Dear Representative Mo Brooks, you're an asshole. You might want to work on that. You're correct, I'm being mean. Dear Rep. Brooks, you're an ignorant, racist, know-nothing, "oh pity me" asshole. I apologize to all the other assholes who were offended by my earlier statement.

Sometimes you wonder if the Trumpeter is just a blowhard the brownshirt like, and then you find he is a brownshirt himself. It's one thing to remove protestors, it's another to cheer them being "roughed up" by your followers (or security). You know, especially after he says that it shouldn't happen.

Fred Clark has some words for the people who like to roll out the "why should we do (this) when we still have homeless veterans we should be taking care of!" argument (this, by my recollection, is the 4th time in the last 6 years). "Decent people don’t play that game. Happy people don’t play that game. People who genuinely care about one good thing do not treat every other good thing as competition that must be crushed and stopped. They do not argue that justice for X should come at the expense of injustice for Y." Fred Clark speaks the truth. And then he also tells the truth that the current administration has actually been working to solve that problem everyone is so upset about now. Note how they weren't upset when President Obama actually was solving the problem.

"'Jake, what should've happened is we should've been informed about it and we were not,' (Presidential candidate Chris) Christie said. 'We should have these folks vetted and vetted well.'" On his comments about Syrian refugees. Basically, Christie is admitting to being willfully ignorant of how refugees are vetted. This isn't the government's fault, this is his fucking fault for not being curious about issues that affect his state. This is the state of the GOP today, "We don't know, and we don't wanna know, we just want to be afraid and ignorant." No, really, this is what he is admitting to here.

Ted Cruz pulls a Mitt Romney. Proving once again, the party of "fiscal discipline" can't even read a spreadsheet. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Linkee-poo for the weekend

Okay, get your geek card out, what's wrong with this Star Trek Picture. (Grokked from John)

Sex (as in male or female) isn't as binary as we think. "In the area of 1 in 2,000 people are born intersex. These individuals may have mixed genitalia, meaning some combination of ovaries and testes. This comes about either because ovarian and testicular tissue grow together in the same organ or because a "male side" and a "female side" develop in the body." And this doesn't count the thousands of ways people don't fall into the black and white categories of male or female (while mostly presenting as female, because it's nature's default, there are at least 4 genetic variations of the 23rd chromosome which may include extra chromosomal material - ie. XXY, XXX, XYY). And all of this is just the physics of sex, this is all before we get to who we identify with and what turns us on (which tends to expand the spectrum by 100x or more).

Seven things to know about antibiotics. Let me add an 8th, antibiotics don't actually kill bacteria. For the most part they defeat the bacterial defense mechanisms (mostly weakening the capsule they build around themselves). You body then is able to effectively battle the bacteria. This is why people who have compromised immune systems need extra protection. (Grokked from Debbie Morrow)

Here we go again. "This week, the House of Representatives voted to help banks and car dealerships discriminate against customers of color. And it wasn't just Republicans -- 88 Democrats, including Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) -- voted in favor of the legislation." Fuckstockings. Yes, the CFPB is doing great work, but because that threatens corporations, they lobby to have laws passed to nullify their rulings. Note, all conservatives voted for this. (Grokked from Julie)

The dangerous secret of biology. Most infectious bacteria still share genetic code (extra-cellular communication of DNA/RNA), specifically the genes to anti-biotic resistance (also to infectious vectors, the handles they use to latch on to cells). Also of note, not many companies are working on new antibiotics these days.

Oh, Canada. For those who say they'll move there. Also note, Canada actually has some pretty strict immigration policies if you want to move there.

Well, so much for any federal funding off the Holocaust Museum. And while some people say having a museum make a statement on current affairs is quite strange, these people don't understand what museums are for.

Linkee-poo, not sure who to thank or why because it's Friday

Alan Moore's advice to unpublished authors. (Grokked from Emma Audley)

XKCD on DNA as code. Hahahahaha (Grokked from Dan)

Peter Jackson admits he winged it with the Hobbit. Yea, we all kind of figured that out. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)

I'm sorry, Dear, I'm so fucking sorry. A letter from a nurse to the parents of a child who was brought into the ER DOA. There are some times those stolid faces we put hide the humor we're seeing, but more often it's this. We're dying on the inside, but you don't need to see that. Not in your condition. You don't need to see us panic as you're crashing. You don't need to see us knowing exactly what your doctor just told you, but it hasn't sunk in (or you don't quite understand the words they used, "it isn't broken, he said it was fractured"). (Grokked from George Takei)

"The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life." Well, most campaigns set up opposition committees, partly they are to keep track of the political opponents and do background research (looking for skeletons and other weaknesses). But this is a whole different animal. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

And for the Carson campaign, the wheels are coming off the bus. Apparently one of the people hired to help bring Dr. Carson up to speed on international affairs claims that the good doctor hasn't been able to absorb any of it. Make you wonder just where he found those Chinese people in Syria. (Grokked from Dan)

I'm sure if we get the world's muslims to condemn terrorism just one more time conservative fartbags would finally accept that Islam isn't the problem. But probably not.

"Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) said Tuesday that 'Mary and Jesus didn't have suicide bomb vests strapped on' during a discussion about the refugees expected to come to the United States and how the course of the conversation might change as the holiday season approaches." Well shit, if that's the criteria that's going to make vetting these refugees a snap. "People with suicide vests in this line, people without vests in this line."

In case you're still wondering if Ted Cruz is the bully in the schoolyard… "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) addressed President Obama directly while speaking to reporters Wednesday, telling him to 'come back and insult me to my face.'" Oh boy. It plays well to the base and he'll score points for it, but seriously, dude, did you just challenge the President? While I'm sure Mr. Obama won't rise to the bait, I'd really like to see him summon Cruz to the Oval Office, have him come in, call him an idiot to his face and then tell him to get out of the White House. Note, there would be many Secret Service Agents to enforce that command. But that's just my liberal fantasy (although the President has shown a tendency to not have any fucks left to give, so who knows).

I've seen this movie before. I wonder if all those "free speech activists" on the right will decry the Trump campaign's treatment of reporters? Yea, I know the answer to that. Also, Trump is just an ass. But that plays well to the base. He's often quite wrong. But in a way that plays well to the base, also.

"Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich nixed his idea Wednesday to form a new agency to spread Judeo-Christian values across the globe, according to The Columbus Dispatch, instead saying that he would expand the existing government broadcast agency, Voice of America to serve the purpose." And, we could change the name of VOA to "The Ministry of Truth".

Linkee-poo was seventeen and terminally fey, I wrote it down and threw it all away

The best preserved cave lions have been found. Basically, two cubs made into ice mummies. Neat. So lets clone them. What could possibly go wrong? (Note, reproductive science on felines is notoriously finicky, so we may luck out there). (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)

Last year, police civil forfeitures exceeded all burglaries. So, what's the definition of a police state? So what do our elected officials do? Why lets try and repeal Obamacare, stuff in a clause to remove the EPA's authority to regulate pollution, and (here in Ohio) make sure you can take your concealed weapon anywhere (except government buildings, natch). (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

"As many as half of all natural history specimens sitting in our museums are mislabeled, according to a team at the University of Oxford and the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh." Well, for botanic specimens at least.

Ah, the glories of the free market. Fucking poor people over since 1840. In this case a story about how rents are rising, mostly on the low-end of the spectrum.

Hey brave fucktards, don't do the work of the terrorists. This shit is exactly what ISIS wants you to do. And that this happened in Canada is doubly disheartening. Seriously, you all are supposed to be the polite neighbors. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

"They hate the pictures of Germans welcoming refugees. They're convinced that Muslims cannot peacefully co-exist with their neighbors in western societies. More than anything else, they want to convince other Muslims of this. They chose France as a soft target where racist politicians are already doing well, where it will be easy to provoke reprisals." Declaring war on a terrorist organization is the big time, for them. That's when they know they've made it. And, as long as one of them survives, they will declare victory. (Grokked from Dan)

Hell, even Shepard Smith knows this. (Grokked from John)

So, the voice on the tape is a frenchman. Strange how that happens. It's not the people fleeing ISIS who are the problem. Really wish the people "in charge" in this country would fucking grow a pair (balls or boobs, whichever gives them the fortitude to not piss their pants). (Grokked from Xeni)

"'I'm not worried about what a bureaucrat in D.C. or an unelected judge thinks… We need to gather [Syrian refugees] up and politely take them back to the ICE [federal immigration] center and say, They're not coming to Tennessee, they're yours,' Tennessee state House GOP Caucus Chairman Glen Casada told The Tennessean Tuesday." Well, as long as we're polite about a racism and pants-pissing fear, I guess that's alright. Ignorant, xenophobic, racist fucktardism at it's best right there. Good job, Tennessee state House GOP Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, I think you will win some kind of award for that. You can put it on the shelf next to all the participation trophies you've gathered. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett who retweeted Steve Silberman ‏@stevesilberman "We can stop wondering how Japanese internment happened in America. Guys like this did it.")

A more comprehensive strategy for Syrian refugees? Fuck, it already takes years for refugees to get approval to come to the US. Years. Literally years. Look, in all seriousness, all these political leaders are pissing themselves with fear and trying to make you afraid of absolutely fucking nothing. They hope to take this into next year's election cycle, "Booga Booga, be afraid and vote for me 'cause I'm the only one who will save you." (BTW, Giuliani, the GOP denied the President's request for more war powers to go after ISIS, fuck you) This isn't bravery or leadership, this is cowardice in the face of the enemy. This is exactly what ISIS wants us to do. It's is also especially sad that these very same people will also tell you how "Christian" they are (and most of them will give you their eschatology if you scratch hard enough). The Bible they so revere has many stories that should be informing to them, yet they choose (because it is a choice) to go the way of sin. They're all cowardly fucktards, the lot of them.

Oh, and about those passports. They may have been fake. Like, you know, a disinformation campaign. Boy, those tewowists awe sneaky. If only… if only we had an intelligence service that could help us with this, or intelligent people in charge (in politics and the media) who might have thought that the passport found at a distance from the people who killed themselves with explosive belts might have been planted. You know, away from the bodies so they wouldn't be destroyed by the explosion. :: beats head against desk :: (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

My governor. It's not in the "highlights", but during the interview when confronted with having said we should welcome refugees because we're Americans, and his "deeply held Christian values" he actually said, "I've said what I'm going to say on the subject and no more." That is what you say when you realize you've just been caught lying, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." Jebus, doesn't any of these candidates have intelligent political advisors to help keep them out of these messes? (well, no, they're in deep pandering mode, unfortunately the GOP voter rolls a shock full of ignorant bigots)

Tweet of my heart: @thesadheight Where are the "belt-tightening" fiscal conservatives on police abuse? It's expensive and an excess we can't afford. (about this article on Baltimore police settlements this year alone

Double dip: @raganwald If you have an open office space, and everyone has headphones on, and people escape to breakout rooms, what should that tell you?