New evidence supports that super-massive black holes at the heart of galaxies spin at close to the speed of light. Damn!
28 February 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Stephen Colbert: The Man
A rare glimpse of Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert as himself and out of character.
26 February 2013
26 February 2013
Jennifer Lawrence Oscar
If I had not been a fan of actress Jennifer Lawrence before, this post-Oscar interview would have made me one. Cute.
Watch More News Videos at ABC
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2012 Presidential Election
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Entertainment & Celebrity News
26 February 2013
Watch More News Videos at ABC
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2012 Presidential Election
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Entertainment & Celebrity News
26 February 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Chuck Hagel Nomination
Jon Stewart tells you everything that you need to know about the Republican efforts to block former senator and Republican himself Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.
It is also another nail in the death of John McCain's honor.
22 February 2013
It is also another nail in the death of John McCain's honor.
22 February 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Owl 1, Squirrel 0
We spotted this bit of the circle of life outside our window this morning.
21 February 2013
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| Sorry, you will have to turn your head. |
21 February 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
What Love Is
For Valentine's Day, I offer you the story of Danny & Annie. They told -- part! -- of their story on StoryCorps and it surely represents what love truly is.
Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.
As commercial as this day is, it is still worth marking and love certainly is worthy of celebration. To My Love on Valentine's Day, I say what I always say, but can never tell you often enough.
You are my heart.
14 February 2013
Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.
As commercial as this day is, it is still worth marking and love certainly is worthy of celebration. To My Love on Valentine's Day, I say what I always say, but can never tell you often enough.
You are my heart.
14 February 2013
An End to Two-Party Government?
The National Journal has an interesting piece on the possibility of a third or even a fourth party rising from the postulated ashes of our current two-party system of elected government in the United States.
14 February 2013
14 February 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Vassar Fights Back: WBC
Westboro Baptist Church, the "church" of Kansas bigots, mouth-breathers, and assholes, has posted that it will be picketing Vassar College, my alma mater. WBC has posted a screed against the College filled with the most vile hate of which I can think, but it pretty much boils down to them not liking Vassar's long history of supporting gay rights and the LGBT community.
I have made the decision not to post a link to the WBC announcement. I ultimately concluded that the world doesn't need me pushing that venom even for educational purposes. Suffice it to say that "fag" and "whore" are front and center. They even threw "fourfooted [sic] beasts" in for good measure.
As you might imagine, my college friends and I have been trading messages about this situation since the news broke. We all decided that anything the WBC was against is almost certainly a force for good in the world. I expressed hope that I myself played some small role during my time in college and through my support of Vassar since in helping to create an institution that pisses these people off so very much. The best line from these messages came from a friend who indicated that with all the talk of "Vassar's loose, whoring women," he must have gone to the wrong parties. Nice.
What pleases me most, but does not surprise me, is the College's response to the WBC announcement. Social media went crazy, with many posts from students and alums being humorous. The administration came out forcefully against the WBC, with acting College President Jon Chenette writing a letter to the Vassar community that included:
Perhaps my favorite response was by a Vassar student, who created a CrowdRise site to raise money for The Trevor Project. From the posting:
As of this writing, over $56,000 has been raised, or over $1,000 per minute of the planned protest, and the story made the front page of The Huffington Post. I like the idea of this type of protest and am pleased to support it. It sends the WBC a strong message that every time they mobilize to spread their filth, armies of people will mobilize in opposition and money will be raised to counter their viewpoints. I do wish that the students hadn't ended their call for action with a preposition. Yes, I can be an asshole, too.
Nicely done, Vassar, nicely done.
13 February 2013
14 February 2013 Addition: Almost $68,000 and counting!
22 February 2013 Addition: Looks like the total is up to almost $85,000. Marvelous!
I have made the decision not to post a link to the WBC announcement. I ultimately concluded that the world doesn't need me pushing that venom even for educational purposes. Suffice it to say that "fag" and "whore" are front and center. They even threw "fourfooted [sic] beasts" in for good measure.
As you might imagine, my college friends and I have been trading messages about this situation since the news broke. We all decided that anything the WBC was against is almost certainly a force for good in the world. I expressed hope that I myself played some small role during my time in college and through my support of Vassar since in helping to create an institution that pisses these people off so very much. The best line from these messages came from a friend who indicated that with all the talk of "Vassar's loose, whoring women," he must have gone to the wrong parties. Nice.
What pleases me most, but does not surprise me, is the College's response to the WBC announcement. Social media went crazy, with many posts from students and alums being humorous. The administration came out forcefully against the WBC, with acting College President Jon Chenette writing a letter to the Vassar community that included:
Yesterday I sent an email to the campus community about plans announced by the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, to picket Vassar on February 28 in protest of our open support of LGBTQ students, employees, and alums. As I said in that message, we look forward as a college to any opportunity to counter messages of hate and bigotry and to underscore our values. Since the campus and alumnae/i became aware of Westboro's plan, we have received an outpouring of support for reaffirming our commitment to inclusion.
Many of you have posted similar sentiments on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. The responses from members of our community, while not surprising, have been remarkable and have made all of us who have read them proud to be part of Vassar. In the face of Westboro's statements, we want to celebrate the inclusiveness of our community and the multitude of backgrounds, interests, and preferences that enrich our experiences. In an effort to coordinate activities that members of the campus and alumnae/i communities are planning, the senior staff of the college has organized a group representative of students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i to serve as a clearinghouse and sounding board. I know they will foster an array of events that will speak powerfully to our values.
Perhaps my favorite response was by a Vassar student, who created a CrowdRise site to raise money for The Trevor Project. From the posting:
The Westboro Baptist Church has announced that they will picket Vassar College on Feb 28th. In response, we are raising money for the Trevor Project, "the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth." Our goal is to raise $4,500, or $100 per minute that the WBC is planning to protest for.
As of this writing, over $56,000 has been raised, or over $1,000 per minute of the planned protest, and the story made the front page of The Huffington Post. I like the idea of this type of protest and am pleased to support it. It sends the WBC a strong message that every time they mobilize to spread their filth, armies of people will mobilize in opposition and money will be raised to counter their viewpoints. I do wish that the students hadn't ended their call for action with a preposition. Yes, I can be an asshole, too.
Nicely done, Vassar, nicely done.
13 February 2013
14 February 2013 Addition: Almost $68,000 and counting!
22 February 2013 Addition: Looks like the total is up to almost $85,000. Marvelous!
Monday, February 11, 2013
"The Ignorance Caucus"
Paul Krugman wrote a good op-ed over the weekend in the NY Times. It doesn't really contain any new info, but it is a good summation of Republicans in Congress. From the op-ed:
Willful ignorance matters.
O.K., at this point the conventions of punditry call for saying something to demonstrate my evenhandedness, something along the lines of “Democrats do it too.” But while Democrats, being human, often read evidence selectively and choose to believe things that make them comfortable, there really isn’t anything equivalent to Republicans’ active hostility to collecting evidence in the first place.
The truth is that America’s partisan divide runs much deeper than even pessimists are usually willing to admit; the parties aren’t just divided on values and policy views, they’re divided over epistemology. One side believes, at least in principle, in letting its policy views be shaped by facts; the other believes in suppressing the facts if they contradict its fixed beliefs.
11 February 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
2013 Sony World Photography Awards
TPM put up a selection of the photographs Sony chose this year. They are pretty spectacular.
Navigate using the "dots" at the top of the page.
6 February 2013
Navigate using the "dots" at the top of the page.
6 February 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Space Janitors
Being a gamer, I’ve been a big fan of the web series The Guild for years. Its creator, the amazing Felicia Day, helped to found a repository for such
series last year called Geek and Sundry. That lead me to the show SpaceJanitors. If you are a Star Wars fan, you'll enjoy it... almost certainly more than you did the last three films. I'll link the first episode of the just-concluded first season below.
4 February 2013
5 February Addition: My sister brought this bit by Eddie Izzard to my attention. Classic! (Strong language warning.)
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4 February 2013
5 February Addition: My sister brought this bit by Eddie Izzard to my attention. Classic! (Strong language warning.)
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