It's Randomonium!

What a week

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:51:27 -0600

So far, I have:

Dealt with an attempted scam on my 92-year-old grandmother.
Sued my former landlord in small claims court.
Got a settlement payment from the city of Fargo for overcharging speeding tickets.
Started doing yoga.
Witnessed my 1-year-old poop in the bathtub for the first—and, I hope last—time.

It’s been a productive week. Monotony is for suckers.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault - Wikipedia link of the day

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:30:59 -0600

Svalbard Global Seed Vault - Wikipedia link of the day

We Bought A Toxic Asset; You Can Watch It Die

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:20:45 -0600

We Bought A Toxic Asset; You Can Watch It Die

List of communications satellite firsts - Wikipedia link of the day

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:23:15 -0600

List of communications satellite firsts - Wikipedia link of the day

Jeff Stahler. via thedailywhat.

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:52:07 -0600

Jeff Stahler.

via thedailywhat.

The Woman Behind ‘My Sherona’ by The...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:20:00 -0600

The Woman Behind ‘My Sherona’ by The Knack

She’s now a real estate agent.

Your new favorite blog: March of the Monsters at An...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:39:24 -0600

Your new favorite blog: March of the Monsters at An Illustration-a-Day Blog by Matt Kaufenberg.

Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:52:22 -0600

Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse

Liz Cheney says terrorists have no rights. Also, you're a terrorist.

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:23:49 -0600

Liz Cheney says terrorists have no rights. Also, you're a terrorist.:

When the “al-Qaida Seven” and their two DoJ colleagues fought to defend alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, they weren’t fighting to protect jihadist murderers. They were defending the U.S. Constitution—the great whomping chunks of the Bill of Rights that Cheney and her friends are so eager to write out of existence. They did it because that’s what lawyers are ethically obligated to do. They did it because—as Spencer Ackerman points out—the Military Commissions Act of 2006 expressly provided that detainees get defense lawyers. And they did it, as Jay Bookman notes, for the same reason John Adams agreed to represent British soldiers charged with killing civilians during the Boston Massacre in 1770. Because long before Liz Cheney was born and long after she’s gone, the Bill of Rights requires serious people to take it seriously.

Side note: Since when did anyone take Liz Cheney seriously in the first place? It’s not so shocking that media would take notice when Bill Kristol says something cynical (and utterly thoughtless), but Cheney has never been on the radar aside from being a curiosity as the only Cheney daughter that isn’t gay.

Furthermore, you’d think Cheney would understand the Military Commissions Act of 2006, considering she was still working for the State Department at the time of its passage.

"Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking..."

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:43:57 -0600

“Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar.”

- Alice in Wonderland’s rating. Motion Picture Association of America. Not surprisingly, the MPAA has a terrible Web site.

Photo

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:02:49 -0600

Lucy Temerlin - Wikipedia link of the day

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:25:37 -0600

Lucy Temerlin - Wikipedia link of the day:

Lucy Temerlin (1964–1987) was a chimpanzee owned by the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, and raised by Maurice K. Temerlin, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and professor at the University of Oklahoma and his wife, Jane W. Temerlin…She appeared in Life magazine, where she became famous for drinking straight gin, rearing a cat, and using Playgirl and a vacuum cleaner for sexual gratification.

Learn more about her on this week’s RadioLab.

Also, take the time to read Stella Brewer’s short piece on Lucy and the circumstances surrounding her death:

There is not one single person that I know of who does not come out badly in the whole Lucy saga except possibly Jane Goodall, who was very critical of the venture—but somewhat after the event. What a sorry bunch we are: the woman who sold a two day old chimp; the researcher who bought her for one of his students to experiment on; Maurice Temerlin, who conducted the experiment for almost 12 years; my father and I, for not being effective monitors and ensuring that Lucy just retired as I had planned. Perhaps sorriest of all is Carter, for so personally insisting that Lucy should endure the rehabilitation process—which Lucy so obviously found difficult and confusing—for so long. In truth, Lucy’s whole life was manipulated solely for the benefit of human beings. Her death was probably the only event she suffered that was not manipulated. For her sake can we please just leave it that way?

thedailywhat: Take Your Child To Work Day of the Day: JFK air...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:28:00 -0600

thedailywhat:

Take Your Child To Work Day of the Day: JFK air traffic controller lets his cute kid provide pilots with departure directions.

Surprisingly, some people have a problem with this.

[cbs.]

I’m pretty certain that a child talking to pilots from flight control should be the least of the FAA’s—and anyone who flies—concern.

nerdgasms: I don’t even know what lutefisk is, but that does...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:48:50 -0600

nerdgasms:

I don’t even know what lutefisk is, but that does sound gross. Sweet soup however is delish! But then, I am a cooked fruit fan.

Lutefisk: A fish soaked in lye, the poison, and then soaked in water (apparently to remove the poison). When properly prepared, it has the consistency and mouth feel of warm Vaseline and tastes like rotten fish soaked in lye. A lot of Scandinavian-Americans are proud of it, but I’ve never seen one ask for a second helping.

Essay - I Was a Teenage Illiterate

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:58:49 -0600

Essay - I Was a Teenage Illiterate

"And that is Hawaii?"

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:03:56 -0600

“And that is Hawaii?”

- Rick Sanchez, pointing to the Galapgos islands (via blogonthe)

Spy cameras won't make us safer

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:51:03 -0600

Spy cameras won't make us safer

Washington is working just fine. It's us that's broken.

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:40:15 -0600

Washington is working just fine. It's us that's broken.:

In the last 30 or so years, Americans have lived as if there is no tomorrow. They have racked up personal debt, spending more than they save and borrowing heavily. Americans have become fatter: between 1960 and 2002, the average adult male in the United States put on 25 pounds, and the average woman gained 24; between 1998 and 2006, the percentage of obese Americans in-creased by 37 percent. Some attribute these gains to factors beyond individual control, but who can deny that self-restraint and self-denial are antiquated values? (In the college hookup culture, the ethos is to have sex first and only then, maybe, get to know the other person.) It’s not just in Lake Wobegon, where all children are above average. Grade inflation is so out of control in the nation’s high schools that 43 percent of college-bound seniors taking the SATs have A averages—even though SAT scores have remained flat or drifted slowly downward for years.

In which I attempt to explain the latest resurgence of "Hallelujah."

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:49:52 -0600

In which I attempt to explain the latest resurgence of "Hallelujah.":

(via maura)

Notes from an Amateur Spectator at Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Fights

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:07:44 -0600

Notes from an Amateur Spectator at Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Fights