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Saturday, August 25, 2012

NBC Reports On Death of Astronaut Neil Young

via Instapundit.

Gorgeous long exposure photo of moth trails at night

via Neatorama.

Lifehacker: Top 10 DIY Projects That Cost Less Than $3

One of my favorite websites.

R.I.P. Neil Armstrong, First Person to Set Foot On the Moon

Neil Alden Armstrong, spacecraft commander of NASA's Apollo 11 mission and the first person to walk on the Moon, has died at 82.

Roundup of research results on alcohol and aggression

Drinking in the research results.

Also, Studies on alcohol so often involve going to the pub.

Physics of string-tangling

More information at Improbable Research.

Camera that takes video at one trillion frames per second

Super slo-mo: video, comments and links at Hot Air.

UVA Declines Obama Request to Speak

In a statement released Friday, it was confirmed that the university declined the president's request to speak at UVA.

Are You a Hero or a Bystander?

Who Is Likely to Step Up or Freeze Up in a Crisis; Research Identifies Prime Traits.

He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died

Interesting old story at Mental Floss - their most popular story of 2008.

When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Crony

After all, why be a taxpayer, when you could be a tax spender?

Friday, August 24, 2012

Apple Awarded $1 Billion in Samsung Trial

CNN.

Semen: Nature's antidepressant?

A new study by researchers at SUNY Albany claims to have identified an unexpected weapon against depression: Unprotected sex. Apparently, semen is rich in chemicals that help increase a partner's happiness, mood, and even quality of sleep.

Gallery: Monarch butterfly migration

Excellent collection, and here are some equally impressive photographs of the swallowtail butterfly.

Inside an Abandoned Soviet Submarine

This Foxtrot B-39 (U 475) Russian submarine was apparently built in 1967 and operated through several decades of the Cold War before it was decommissioned in 1994.

WikiWeapons: 3D printed guns for everyone

'Wiki Weapon Project' Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home.

Norway massacre killer of 77 declared sane, gets 21-year max sentence, 10 year minimum

He will return to his relatively spacious cells, enjoying the comforts of a computer, newspapers and a separate exercise room.

Friday links

Badly stuffed animals.

This butterfly can see with its butt.

Swiss Army Knife with animals instead of blades.

Sculptures Made From Plastic Utensils. 

Turtle rescued after being taped to helium-filled balloons.

Guy Playing a 1926 Fotoplayer.


Gallery of vintage ambulances.

Obama: We don’t want “politicians making health care decisions?” Wait, what?

Excuse me, but did the guy who gave us Obama- care just say we don’t want “politicians making health care decisions?” Am I missing something?

Seven-Year-Old Wins Ram Groping Contest

Among the prizes is sperm from the Insemination Center of West Iceland.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Marine forced into a psychiatric ward for anti-government Facebook postings freed from the hospital

The Circuit Court judge dismissed the case against Brandon Raub, who had been detained by government officials and transferred to a VA Hospital in Salem, Va., earlier this week. The judge called the petition to continue Raub's forced detention “so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.”

Here's the previous post.

Supercuts: Temper tantrums and 100 greatest movie threats

Both NSFW!



These glow-in-the-dark cockroaches look exactly like jawas

Discussion and links at io9.

Can states go after Corzine if Obama administration won’t?

Hot Air has links and comments, including a video of Rick Santelli and James Koutoulas discussing it.

Per Koutoulas, "Eric Holder's Dept of Justice is the biggest enabler of financial crime in US history."

Pigs Depicted Having Sex Doggy-Style In Chinese Public Square Are Said To Represent Filial Piety

"Some people’s minds have not been corrupted by the unseemly elements of our indecorous times. They glimpse a work of art such as this and think of the lessons a mother can pass to her child, who is not at all uncomfortable with her exposed tit. Um. PIETY.

By unseemly elements, by the way, I mostly mean liberals, but also pranksters, and middle-aged men who have lost hope, and those young people who know not what they do, and vagabonds who have slipped through society’s cracks, and fallen women, and criminals of blue or white collars, and the irreligious, and factory workers, and that guy I saw drinking a beer on the street with red meat on a plate in front of him, and girls who smoke, and those who enjoy watching the world burn. Constantly in the gutter, is it any surprise they reek of impropriety and egomania, and threaten to drag the rest of us into their sordid lair?

These rotten apples would never look upon this sculpture in Zhengzhou, Henan province and think of “a young pig giving his mother a back massage."

via BoingBoing.

Fawlty Towers: Basil-isms Supercut


Angry Birds variation: Angry Kremlins!

Putin & Patriarch versus ladies in balaclavas

German rabbi facing charges for performing a circumcision

"... less than two months after a Cologne court outraged Jews and Muslims by outlawing the procedure."

Drunk Driver Pees into Breathalyzer Equipment, Fails Sobriety Test

After driving into the living room of an elderly woman's house.

318 Homeland Security Employees Arrested Last Year, 519 in 2010

Wired: reporting on a newly released DHS inspector general’s summary of its significant investigations.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Jeffrey Dahmer's Childhood Home For Sale In Ohio

Site of his first murder.

Some Guy Broke Into LL Cool J’s House, So LL Cool J Beat the Hell Out of Him

The burglar ended up with a broken nose and a broken jaw.

Spanish fresco restoration botched by helpful elderly amateur

An elderly parishioner has stunned Spanish cultural officials with an alarming and unauthorized attempt to restore a prized Jesus Christ fresco. 

"The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic."

Why can’t you tickle yourself?

Interpersonal or reflex?

Justice Dept to affirmatively recruit dwarfs and those with “psychiatric disabilities” or “severe intellectual disabilities.”

Via Jonah Goldberg, who says, "Insert Eric Holder joke here."

The PJ Tatler has obtained documents from the Justice Department detailing efforts to recruit attorneys and staff who are dwarfs or who have “psychiatric disabilities” or “severe intellectual disabilities.” On May 31, 2012, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez issued a directive to affirmatively recruit people with these “targeted disabilities.”

This DOJ policy does not merely involve prohibitions against discrimination, but rather the documents reveal deliberate recruitment efforts to hire as attorneys and staff for the Department of Justice people suffering from psychiatric disorders and intellectual disabilities. Moreover, applicants can “self-identify” their disability by means of the “Standard Form 256, Self Identification Disability.”

Children Collaborate to Build 1.8 million LEGO Map of Japan

That's a lot of LEGOs, and a lot of kids.

Wednesday links

Gallery of towels folded into animal shapes.

Is There a Limit to How Tall Buildings Can Get?

Here's a Blog Featuring Dogs Being Humiliated For Bad Behavior.

Can hot water freeze faster than cold water?

25 fan-modded stormtrooper suits.

Infographic: Could A Man Handle Pregnancy?

Probably not, but it's fun to think about (if you're female).

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Virginia veteran detained for posting anti-government messages on Facebook

A former Marine involuntarily detained for psychiatric evaluation for posting strident anti-government messages on Facebook has received an outpouring of support from people who say authorities are trampling on his First Amendment rights.

Aww.. After 24 years, Nintendo Power magazine to cease publication

My kids and their friends used to fight over this magazine.  ;-)

Per Israeli TV, Netanyahu Determined to Strike Iran Before U.S. Elections

Netanyahu “is determined to attack Iran before the US elections.”

Comments and links at Breitbart.

The evolutionary history of dragons, illustrated by a scientist

An evolutionary ecologist has created a dragon phylogeny, or evolutionary tree: the best part is his elaborate explanation of how he came up with the evolutionary relationships between different species and families of mythical beasts.

Justice Department upholds Virginia voter ID law

Not a particularly stringent law, but good news.

Bong mistaken for pipe bomb caused road closure

Dude.

German wind and solar power: Grid Instability Has Industry Scrambling for Solutions

Sudden fluctuations in Germany's power grid are causing major damage to a number of industrial companies. While many of them have responded by getting their own power generators and regulators to help minimize the risks, they warn that companies might be forced to leave if the government doesn't deal with the issues fast.

Waste and abuse at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Breaking news: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wastes piles of taxpayer money on ludicrous nonsense, just like every other organ of our bloated government.

Read the whole thing, but here's a couple of highlights:

$479,354 for sign language translation services for two “entry level employees.”

Starting salaries at the agency exceeded Office of Personnel Management standards by up to 90 percent.  Judicial Watch adds that “a dozen new hires take home more than $225,000 a year, while a student intern was paid $51,620 ‘through completion of education & study.’”

Back to School: The Rise of Customized Education

Hybrid schooling: piecing together education from parents, TV, district and university teachers, parent co-ops, and online providers.

I have 7 grandchildren, and 5 of them (so far) are homeschooled.

California Puts Raw Dairy Farmers in Jail; in France, Raw Milk Sold in Vending Machines

Comments and links at Carpe Diem.

Thomas Kinkade Meets Godzilla

Stomping through the countryside.

via io9.

Back Up Your Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter Accounts - Here's How

Useful article at Slate, via Instapundit.

The Coalition of the Constipated

Protest was over the lack of public toilets at an Australian beach.

R.I.P. Phyllis Diller - she died yesterday at age 95

1969 clip of Diller with Liberace.

Speaking of gov't jobs, Detroit has a horseshoer, but no horses

The local union president said it is "not possible" to eliminate positions.

Obamanomics: Almost 500,000 Federal Workers Make Over $100,000

Also, a reminder that Obamacare is slated to add another 21 million unionized workers.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Another robbery foiled by a little old lady with a gun

Out in Hendersonville, NC, an 87 year old lady persuaded two armed robbers to leave her house when they broke in at 3 AM. And by “persuaded” I mean that she showed them the handgun she was going to shoot them with if they didn’t exit the premises immediately.

Senator Webb Regrets Healthcare Vote

Well, BFD, as Joe Biden would say.  Too bad it's too late.

Retiring Virginia Sen. Webb: Healthcare bill 'great regret'.

New Under Obamacare, Medicare Double Taxation Begins in 2013

Medicare taxation on investment income starts January 1, 2013.

How One Texas County Fakes Crime Statistics to Make the Border Look Safe

Federal grant money creates an incentive for local law enforcement to falsify their crime statistics. The fake stats tell a story that ends up benefiting the local agencies that clamor for the grants, while helping Washington sell its story that the border is safer than it really is.

Dream Team: The 10 Best Conservative Columnists

With Charles Krauthammer as team captain of the Right's intellectual Olympians.

Monday links

Jumbo fingerprints made from random stuff.

France in the Year 2000 is a series of futuristic pictures issued in France in 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910. Also, SF Writers Predict the 2012 Future, from 1987.

Gallery: Caravanserai – Staging Posts of the Desert.

Cooking with Power Tools

Flamingos have erectile tissue in their mouths. Related: Want to persuade Flamingos to mate? Play them Barry White and Marvin Gaye.

91 year old takes controls of rare two-seat aircraft 70 years after he first flew one in WWII.

Video: Romney Roach Beats Obama Roach In Presidential Cockroach Derby

In the 16th Running of the Roaches, a Mitt Romney roach handily beat a Barack Obama bug. The race has an 84 percent success rate in picking presidents.

The General Motors streetcar conspiracy

The story of the manipulated replacement of electric-powered street cars with buses.

The dangers of Seinfeld

Why laughter isn't always the best medicine.

You’ll never guess where flamingos hide their erectile tissue

Flamingos have erectile tissue in their mouths.  Also, Want to persuade Flamingos to mate? Play them Barry White and Marvin Gaye.

Universal Mediocrity: Why do Britons like their sub-par health-care system so much?

Popular satisfaction vs measures of actual achievement.

The average Briton is unlikely to know that the NHS ranked worst for five-year survival rates in cervical, breast, and colon cancer.  By contrast, the average Briton knows that if he suffers a heart attack, he will be taken to the hospital and connected to a lot of machines, from which he concludes that he is having the best possible treatment.

State Stereotypes Using Google Autocomplete

Clever map of US state stereotypes, using Google Autocomplete to fill in "Why is [state X] so..."

via Geekpress.

Urine cocktail can help fight global warming

None for me, thanks.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Video: We're NASA and We Know It (Mars Curiosity)

Geek fun.

Elephant birth control

to prevent a population explosion.

Excellent story: An unexpected ass kicking

Unexpected meeting with an elderly man in a coffee shop has a blogger re-thinking lots of things.  Follow-up here.

Via Instapundit.

What if Hemingway or Oscar Wilde wrote The Lord of the Rings?

Alternative authors' versions of Lord of the Rings.

Matt Groenig, A.A. Milne, Andrew Lloyd Weber, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling and others, including:

Hemingway - Frodo Baggins looked at the ring. The ring was round. It was a good ring. The hole at the heart of the ring was also round. The hole was clean and pure. The hole at the heart of the ring had an emptiness in it that made Frodo Baggins remember the big skies of the Shire when his father had taken him out and taught him to tear the heads off the small, furred things that walked there, even though he hated blood in those days and the stink of the blood was always part of the emptiness for him then and ever after.

via io9.

Space Age Hair Fashions


Lunch lady faces $600/day fine for feeding poor kids in Pennsylvania

"If we don't have laws, there's chaos."

Building M.C. Escher with a 3D Printer



More here, via Neatorama.

Obama campaign insist they’re getting smaller crowds at rallies on purpose.

Jonah Goldberg: We Meant to Do That.

And Mark Steyn's response: Re: We Meant to Do That

Apocalypse not - a history of bogus environmentalist scares

MUST READ set of articles:

Wired: Apocalypse Not: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Worry About End Times

Carpe Diem: On the 40th Anniversary of the "Limits to Growth" 

George Will: Why Doom Has Not Materialized.

Court rejects challenge to EPA E15 ethanol

Rejected not on merit but on standing - per the court those who brought the challenge didn't have the right to do so, so there's still hope.

Here's an report on the problems with engine durability with E15.

Smarter Fuel Future has provided you with a helpful graphic detailing just what the real cost of E15 will be to consumers, including a reminder that by 2022 (10 years) the goal is E40.

Steyn knocks one out of the park: Obama's The Man With No Plan

Underneath the poseur narcissism, the half-wit demagoguery, and the 13-figure innumeracy is bleak reality: a flatline economy, underwater property, declining social mobility, half the population getting a check each month from the government and with minimum-wage service jobs as the only alternative to long-term dependency.

If you seriously think this election is about gay marriage or affordable contraception, you’re about to do to America what Gavrilo Princip did to the Habsburg Empire.