Doctor, Minnie Mouse, or Princess? Hmm, so many choices.
In Closing: hell froze over; die with a t on the end; to paraphrase, “I didn’t mean any ill intent, only that the military should rise up and put that ****** in his place!”; and a cool way to explore the periodic table.
The TSA really doesn’t like that Apple and Google both have products they can’t just hack remotely. As in, they are trying desperately to make them stop it. Poor babies may actually have to get search warrants. Oh, and here’s a nice article on some of the NSA’s computing issues and an item on how this mess got started.
In Closing: our rising police state; bankers gone wild; be afraid!!!; don’t you have anything better to do?; and adorable kittens.
Ok, good for the NFL deciding that beating the **** out of your wife or girlfriend is a bad thing.
But in the interest of fairness, why not suspend any player facing felony charges until everything is settled in the courts? After all, Joe Average would probably lose their job (mostly because of the inability to post bail).
In Closing: Nothing today but poverty in our mediocre economy, and spying on Americans (and others).
Appetizers: Let’s start with the NSA poppers, and perhaps a beer flight to wash it down?
Soup or salad: The soup du jour is puree of police violence and race issues with a hint of civil forfeiture, topped with prison visit data. Perhaps the lady would prefer our Cosmo-inspired salad with cranberry vinaigrette?
The main course: Make sure it has enough protein! It’s good for you.
A few quick words about your server: Don’t forget that he or she works for a living.
Can I interest you in dessert?: My local news is excited about a study that says we are relatively safe city compared to, say, any major city in Oklahoma. Among the data collected was crime (both violent and property), cops, and traffic fatalities per capita — seems legit. Also included was the number of sex offenders per capita. A quick look at their data table without breaking out the stats tools would tend to make me think that the number of sex offenders has little to do with much of any other data they collected. It’s as if they put it in because they thought it would be important, or thought it made their data look more complete. What makes several California cities, Scottsdale, Augusta, Mesquite, and Chicago more safe than Tulsa despite having at least ten times the number of sex offenders per capita? Could it be that the risk sex offenders will re-offend is overrated?
Oh, need a doggie bag?: Here you go, tips for dealing with strange dogs.
The Monk who Saved Lives: Ittetsu Nemoto.
The Priest who Preached Happiness: Let’s hear it once more for Pope Francis.
Israel and Palestine: Just a few assorted and random links.
You know you want it: Here’s the NSA, privacy, FBI, CIA, War on Terror, and related links.
Broken: immigration and immigration reform problems.
Wow: Larry Kudlow seems to have found his lost mind.
All about the Jobs: We did have good jobs numbers this week. Let’s put it in perspective.
Research supports my observation: Indeed: “[I]t sure does seem like the vast majority of the people who say diets don’t work have somewhere in their story a sentence like ‘I went on my first diet when I was 13.’ Or 11. Or 16.”
Fiddling while America Burns: Congress is too busy making baseless lawsuits and running out of town, so they can’t be bothered to fund things like fighting forest fires.
Want to know the interesting thing about this article?: This article about events that empower girls by reinforcing gender stereotypes was written by a man.
And finally: Keep it clean, people.
Just a friendly reminder though: there is a difference between a fine booty and a fat ass.
In Closing: a few birth control and other women’s issues items; this is why net neutrality is important to you even if you didn’t know it; a couple random NSA and CIA items (you know, they could halt the scandal by shuttering the program); maybe a poor choice; send in the drones?; wow; and I do feel certain your life isn’t 70% better than it was in 1980 (assuming of course that you were alive then).
Ok, so the Supreme Court came out with an extremely narrow ruling regarding whether closely held private corporations can refuse to provide contraceptive coverage for employees. So yeah, even if I were a crafty type of person — which [Deity] knows I’m not — I won’t be going into that hobby store with the rhyming name. Except maybe to loudly announce “Oh wait! This is that place where the employees aren’t allowed to have birth control!”* and walk out.
* Ok yeah, an exaggeration I know.
In Closing: Wow; truth; veggies; workers; Oz; sneeze; military; and infrastructure.
Ok, I know why some of you are here: to get your sweet sweet dose of NSA links.
Turns out not: There’s no shortage of STEM workers. There may, however, be a shortage of STEM workers who want to work for crappy wages.
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me: Which of these inventions is likely to be fake? Two teenage girls invent new bomb detector that could revolutionize getting around their home town, teenage boy makes browser plugin that allows you to see who a politician’s major contributors are with a simple mouse-over, or Egyptian military invents a gadget that can detect AIDS and Hepatitis C without taking blood samples? Regrettably, I cannot promise that Carl Kassel will record your voicemail message.
Sick of Politics and November is So Far Away: Pelosi thinks immigration reform is now a longshot (because hey, we can’t have a Democratic Kenyan President signing that into law or something). Republicans don’t like it when President Obama does things that President Bush and President Reagan did frequently. Maybe Senator McCain shouldn’t talk about ISIS anymore. And the Koch agenda.
A Couple Items on Abortion: Southern Beale points out that abortion restrictions don’t keep women from getting abortions, just from getting safe ones. And someone I’ve not had the chance to link to in a long time, MahaBarbara on “What If Banks, Not Abortion Clinics, Needed Buffer Zones?”
Have you ever wondered what these signs mean?: In short, the higher the number, the more dangerous it could be.
I’ve said it before: In areas where schools push the high school start time back, student traffic accidents dropped 70%. Oh yeah, and their grades improved.
Have you read this one yet?: It’s been making the rounds, just want to make sure everybody’s seen it.
And finally: A gun safety ad that doesn’t involve a made up tragedy.
Happy Friday the Thirteenth, and Happy Honey Moon.
NSA: Aw, you know I can’t possibly go more than a few days without coming up with some NSA, spying on Americans, War on Terror,or Privacy right? Heck, they may actually have to do things the legal way.
We Don’t Need No Education: Maybe. Unless of course we do.
It’s good to be the king: Or even just the CEO. Not so good to be a serf, but that’s “same as it ever was.”
Election Follies: So much to ridicule, so little time. At least the Chicken Lady lost her bid to be a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Nevada.
Is anyone in their right mind surprised?: The DEA is playing hard ball with docs who associate themselves with medical marijuana. This is why Nevada doesn’t require a prescription. Remember: pot is still illegal under Federal law, and when all is said and done the Civil War established that Federal law will always trump state law (in that case, the state laws that said people could own other people).
Times haven’t changed: Perception has.
Maya: Zen Pencils.
And Finally: Purple Toes. More.