Hurricane Preparedness: Presented as a Public Service

And then there's the third possibility

New Local Forecast Here on the East Coast

From Uncle Michael.

He Makes it Sound Like a BAD Thing

Andrew Sullivan on a Ron Paul presidency:

His ideological rigidity would result in a de facto government shutdown wherein almost all legislation would require a two-thirds majority in both houses in order to override Paul's veto.

Creative Investments

Ouch:

On Feb. 17, 2009 — the day Obama signed into law his $787 billion stimulus bill — gold was selling at $970 an ounce. For a mere $600 billion, we could have bought two ounces of gold for every man, woman and child in America, and the value of that investment would today be more than $1 trillion, or $3,514 per capita, a net gain of 81 percent.

Unpatriotic! I'd vote for this guy.

Songs of a Sourdough

Here in the 21st Century -- on the cusp of the Singularity -- does anyone read Robert Service any more?

"There are strange things done in the midnight sun . . . ."

How about Hugh Antoine d'Arcy?

. . . . did you ever see a girl, for whom your soul you'd give,
With a form like Venus De Milo, too beautiful to live,
With eyes that would beat the Koh-i-noor,
And a wealth of chestnut hair?

Never Forget

Practical Physics

Quick! Tax the rich!

Before they disappear entirely.

Via LRC.

What's the over/under on Number 8s going into production?

"When did Libertarian Ron Paul become the 13th floor in a hotel?"

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Hope & Change

First comes the Hope!

Back in April, 2009, this White House release touted "The Obama-Biden economic plan: creating jobs, strengthening the economy for Massachusetts families." Within the showcase of Massachusetts Miracles produced by the Federal Government's stimulus grants was Evergreen Solar, and the White House quoted the Boston Globe:

"Evergreen Solar, the Marlborough-based maker of solar panels, also is hoping to hire 90 to 100 people at a manufacturing plant in Devens, said Gary Pollard, vice president of human resources. The plant, which opened last summer, is expected to employ more than 800 when it reaches full capacity."

New jobs, green energy, buckets of federal tax credits and grants to customers, and federal cash to the state for direct grants to the company.

Then comes the Change!

Today's Boston Globe reports:

Evergreen Solar Inc., the once promising alternative energy company that received millions in state subsidies, revealed today that that it has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Headquartered in Marlborough, Evergreen makes solar cells. Struggling with low-price competition from Chinese rivals, it shut its manufacturing plant in Devens in March and cut hundreds of jobs at the facility.

As part of its reorganization activities, Evergreen Solar said it will reduce its US and European workforce by about 65 people, including suspension of operations at its facility in Midland, Mich.

Money ---> toilet ---> flush ---> repeat.

This Exists

No, really. Because in the crayon world of pink horses, purple cars, and orange monsters, it's important for every little girl to recognize that Uncle Phil's skin color is slightly different from hers. Come the revolution, that will be critical.

It all starts with a vision . . .

At a time when IBM thought the personal computer market would be saturated with, say, 10,000 units, Jobs and Wozniak imagined them as ubiquitous office tools and home appliances. Billy Mitchell foresaw the demise of the battleship in the age of air power.

It all starts with a vision . . .

Scott Adams continutes to chronicle my career

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Via that girl who reads all those books.

And so it begins

"Asian carp could invade by truck."

I need to learn how to use PhotoShop.

Sith? Sikh?

Whatever.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming . . .

. . . to bring you some good news.

Al Gore Lives in an Alternate Reality

In Al Gore's world, there exists the orthodox dogma handed down by the Global Warming Magisterium, and then there is all other opinion. Opinion, research, facts that don't square with Received Wisdom is, as he so eloquently put it recently at the Aspen Institute, "Bullshit!"

Listen for yourself:

Al Gore calls B.S. on climate change naysayers ... by RealAspen

Best comment at Soundcloud: "Al Gore thinks the sun is bullshit?"

My Career, in a Nutshell

Just So

On news that British sales of baseball bats are up 5,000% as a consequence of the "troubles," Say Uncle asks the pertinent question, and provides a simple response: "What’s the cause of the riot? I’m guessing lack of incoming fire."

Hard Core

Contributed by Uncle Michael.

Film at 11

From the Montgomery County (Texas) Police Reporter:

On July 24th 2011, Dep. Knight and Dep. Eisenmerger responded to an apartment complex on Borough Park Drive for the report of a sexual assault. The alleged victim stated to the deputies that her 26 year old male friend had sexually assaulted her. Upon further investigation the deputies watched a video recording the male had made that showed the female telling him that she was calling the police because he was making her leave the apartment and she would tell the police he assaulted her. The 25 year old female was taken into custody for making a False Report.

Sorry, You Can't Take it Back

"Cat Face" Appears on Piece of Bread

No, really.

Excellent Eye-Paw Coordination

Breakthroughs in the Biological Sciences

Parasite becomes host.

Rules of the Internet

Rule 62: it is often a bad idea to take pictures.

Rule 62.1: it is usually a bad idea to email them to anyone.

Rule 62.2: it is always bad when the news story includes the phrase "posted them on Facebook."

The Mask Slips

Back when I was a young attorney, I was taught that it is always a mistake to use adjectives instead of explanations. That is, to say that the other side's arguments are "absurd" or "ridiculous" is counter-productive for two reasons. First, it doesn't add anything. It does nothing to help the judge decide the case. Second, and more important, it suggests that you can't explain why the other side is wrong in a way that the judge can understand. In short, you don't have anything substantive to say, or you're suggesting the decision-maker is too stupid to understand what you have to say.

I've been reminded of this as I read that "Tea Party" (whatever that means) members of Congress were no better than terrorists, or that they held America hostage, or that they constituted the Hezbollah wing of the Republican Party. These aren't arguments, and they suggest that the speaker either has nothing substantive to say, or thinks his audience is too stupid to understand.

I had not considered that there is a rhetorical step beyond the "that's stupid" non-argument. But apparently there is. It's the "that's so stupid the other side shouldn't be allowed to say it in the first place" view. If there is an argument to which you know you have no effective response, what could be better than to rig the system so that that argument can't be made in the first place? That way, you're relieved of responding, and don't run the risk that your unpersuasive non-argument will reveal that you don't actually have anything to say.

Enter the senior senator from Massachusetts, the Honorable John Forbes Kerry, who has clearly just about had it with people making arguments to which he has no coherent, understandable effective response:

Personally, I think persons who don't know the meaning of the word "literally" should be prohibited from using it.

Fundamental Questions of Constitutional Law

Do rights protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution trump rights granted by the First Amendment? Sometimes.

Do you miss Don Draper?

We do.

What are we missing here?

HERE's a perfectly ordinary story of road-rage:

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Police are using a sketch and a description to search for the man behind a violent assault. He punched and threatened a woman on the side of a busy highway all because of a fender bender.

The authorities are asking for help from the public, and have released one of those police sketches of the suspect:

The story is being covered for the local television station, WJZ, by a fellow named Mike Hellgren. Here's a picture of Mr. Hellgren:

Interesting.

Perspective

Headline: "Plus-size model, Robyn Lawley, the first plus-size model to feature in Vogue Australia."

Vogue's idea of a "plus-sized" model:

They Just Don't Get It

Chris Matthews: "How is this behavior by the right, any different than the bully in the classroom going up to the kid who got the good lunch and says 'give me your lunch or I’ll beat you up?'"

No, Chris, it's more like they're the skinny kid whose mom sends him to school with carrot sticks for lunch. The k00l kidz (like you, Chris), make fun of him, but he eats 'em anyway, and doesn't even sneak a Twinkie.

Science Marches On

"1 death, 76 illnesses linked to ground turkey"

Neither death nor illnesses attributed to tree turkeys, apparently.

Modern Life

"In her deposition, Rebecca White describes Norman as 'this big rat-looking thing with some hair all sticking out. He was standing there and he turned towards me and he looked at me' as she approached the cola section to get a drink."

Not Norman

More HERE.

August 1, 1981

On this day in 1981, MTV pushed its first electrons into America's communal mind. The first video broadcast was the immortal "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, a choice no doubt considered highly ironic. Pat Benatar's "You Better Run" followed. This was an age in which it was still possible to say "Rod Stewart" without eye-rolling, and seven of his videos aired that first day. Wikipedia has a complete list.

Obama Releases 500,000 Men From U.S. Strategic Bachelor Reserve

Obama Releases 500,000 Men From U.S. Strategic Bachelor Reserve