Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Priorities of the Catholic Church

Testimony: Catholic Diocese Arranged Treatment For Abusive Priest But Not For His Victims:


Gene Gianelli, as bad as the sex criminal he sheltered.


A priest who was a former top aide in the Catholic Diocese of Hartford testified Tuesday that he arranged treatment in 1979 for a fellow priest [Ivan Ferguson] who sexually abused boys, but said he has no knowledge of the church ever doing anything for the victims.

This First Aid tip not suggested for campers ...

Honey Helps Heal Wounds


Lest you attract ...


Seen in parking lot at work ...

FSM FTW!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Internet's latest dog and pony show is opium for the masses.

NYPL Labs : Stereogranimator

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index
GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator


A bit seizure-inducing, I'm afraid. Let me try one more though, a little opium to settle the nerves ...

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index
GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

One Album Wonders and Thirty Five (Or So) Album Wonders

The 10 Most Memorable Bands Who Only Released One Album :: Blogs :: List of the Day :: Paste:
4. The Monks
Black Monk Time, 1966
Black Monk Time is what happens when a group of American servicemen in 1960s Germany form one of the most plodding and single-mindedly savage groups of any era. The Monks’ primal garage rock landed with a thud, both sonically and commercially, but Black Monk Time is easily one of the most acclaimed and important cult records of all time. The band’s rhythmic and repetitive stomp predated the official dawning of punk by a decade but sounds absolutely timeless, as grumpy young men with no recording budgets have basically attempted to recreate Black Monk Time a thousand times over the last 45 years. Fans of the Fall (a band that missed this list by a good 35 albums or so) should definitely take heed, but then they probably all know about The Monks already.




Gun retailer preaches gun safety

Retailer preaches gun safety :: WRAL.com:


Image via WRAL.com
It is personal for Franks. "I have seen what guns can do to people."
Safety first. Well, technically, it's: "Sales first, then safety." But at least he's emphasizing the safety with the ardent backing of WRAL.

Mayor Taco and the Adventure of the Latino Appointment


East Haven Joseph "Taco" Maturo just doesn't get it...in fact, his latest statement regarding his response to the situation in East Haven is even more offensive then his boneheaded statement last week.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

#ProtectNC Vote against Amendment One on May 8th

The Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families



I've pledged to vote against Amendment One on May 8th, 2012. My fellow North Carolinians, please consider doing the same.

Heads up #Fuquay ... Help CupCake Bite get on Cupcake Wars!

Cupcake Wars...:




Cupcakes tonight!
We're looking to get a good size crowd outside the shop around 3 pm [Saturday, Jan. 28th, 2012] ! It won't take more then a few minutes. Feel free to bring signs or just yourself to show your love for the show and our town! We just need ENERGY! 

I wouldn't be a very popular reporter ...

Moore County boy hit by truck: 'God saved me' :: WRAL.com:


Slayton Maness via WRAL.com
A 9-year-old Moore County boy who spent more than two weeks in a coma and suffered two broken ribs and a fractured neck, pelvis and ankle is recovering at home, nearly three months after a truck hit and nearly killed him at his bus stop.
Or, maybe I couldn't be an editor. Either way, I couldn't publish a story with that headline without including some other details in the story, like the names of the doctors that actually contributed towards saving his life. I don't begrudge the Manesses their faith; it's just that, reading the article and not sharing that faith, I perceive (perhaps crankily?) an implied agreement on the part of the news outlet that something miraculous has happened.

Look, miracles happen every day, when you define miracles as things that had long odds of turning out the way they did. What happened here was clearly not a miracle or a case of a supernatural being intervening to save a child. His mother was there to perform CPR, he was rushed to a hospital where he received medical care. Give credit where credit's due.

The headline easily could have been written, "Family praises God for hitting young boy with truck at bus stop, nearly killing him, and forcing him to endure months of recovery instead of instantly healing him, as a deity easily could."

I see the eye-rolling out there, "why gripe about it?" I imagine you asking. "The family believes a magical being saved their child and the newspaper reported what they believe, let it go." Fair enough. WRAL didn't come out and say this was a miracle, and they didn't leave out how he received medical care.

You tell me, am I being tetchy? Do you see a bias in the reporting of the story? Is WRAL pandering to the religious mindset here?

Friday, January 27, 2012

Ideas from the Southern Conservative Brain Trust

Cabarrus lawmaker calls for public hangings :: WRAL.com:


Rep. Larry Pittman


A Cabarrus County lawmaker wants to bring back public hangings in North Carolina as a deterrent to crime, and he says doctors who perform abortions should be in the line to the gallows.
Can we stop electing these disgraceful psychopaths? They're not hard to spot, they put (R)s after their names for us.

Here we go again ...

Witness: Priest Said People Would Think Boy Was Gay If Abuse Were Reported - Courant.com:

A man who says a priest molested him when he was 13 years old testified Friday that the priest warned him that people would believe he was gay if he ever reported the abuse.

"When I would resist, he would say, 'People will think you are gay if you bring this out,'" the victim said.
I don't even know what to say about these anymore. The sheer volume clerical sexual predator stories is mind-boggling.

25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore

19. If you're thinking of giving someone a religious book for their graduation, rethink. It will end up unread and in pristine condition at a used book store, sometimes with the fifty dollar bill still tucked inside ...
21. A surprising number of people will think you've read every book in the store and will keep pulling out volumes and asking you what this one is about. These are the people who leave without buying a book, so it's time to have some fun. Make up plots.
Many chuckle-worthy entries in the list.

My son's idea of making his bed ...

"Dad, I taught Mr. Puppy to read!"


Thursday, January 26, 2012

Nothing controversial in this study. Nope.

Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice - Yahoo! News:


Sign written by a Certified Genius™. (Via Wonkette)


There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.
The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.
Wow, it is hard to read Yahoo! News articles loaded as they are with all those useless links. I tried to find a link to the actual study discussed in the article and gave up. So, take the whole thing cum grano salis.


DIY El Caminos in East Hartford

Car Trends In East Hartford | Sad City Hartford:

Image via Sad City Hartford

What we've been missing out on is what appears to be a return on the "car pickup" hybrid, a style first introduced by the Chevrolet El Camino in 1959. 
While this type of car seems to have faded from fashion decades ago, loyal reader Farm Boy occasionally treks out to our neighbor to the East and has photographic proof that East Hartford may be bringing the "car pickup" back into fashion as he spotted two on a single journey.
You can't stop an East Hartfordite from driving an El Camino just by not making and selling them anymore.

I keep looking up ...

Backyard Universe: Watch two bright planets converge and a special winter surprise | fayobserver.com:

I don't know how to screencap my phone yet, but this image  (via) gives you the idea.

Between now and March, Jupiter and Venus will draw closer together each night. By late February, the pair will be pretty close to one another, and on Feb. 25, a dramatic crescent moon appears near Venus. The moon passes Jupiter the next evening.
Taking out the garbage last night, I was struck by how bright Jupiter (I confirmed with the help of Google Sky Maps) was in the sky. It'll be fun to watch Venus and the (sadly, moonbase-free) Moon do-si-do in the coming weeks.

#NC Gov. Perdue to step down?

Washington Post: Perdue to announce today that she won't run | bluenc:


Sierra Nevada announcement with Gov. Bev Perdue and others
via flickr

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue (D) is set to announce today that she will not seek reelection in 2012, according to two sources familiar with her plans.
This'll shake up the political landscape a bit here in NC.

Living links to ante-bellum Presidential history ...

President John Tyler's grandsons are still alive!! | Kottke.org:

Image via whitehouse.gov

John Tyler was the 10th President of the United States. He was born in 1790 and took office in 1841. His son, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, was born in 1853, when Tyler was 63 years old1. Lyon had six children with two different wives2, two of whom were Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr. (born 1924 when Lyon Sr. was 71) and Harrison Ruffin Tyler (born 1928 when Lyon Sr. was 75). They are reportedly both still living in their 80s.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

U R Doing It Wrong of the Day

Wake animal shelter director resigns after less than three months :: WRAL.com:


via WRAL.com



The director at the Wake County Animal Center, which came under fire in November after WRAL's "Pet of the Day" was euthanized within hours of appearing on the newscast, has resigned, Deputy County Manager Joe Durham said Wednesday.

Is there nothing bacon can't do?

Pork, the surprise remedy for a nosebleed:


"Ta-Da! I'm also a nasal tampon!"


"Cured salted pork crafted as a nasal tampon and packed within the nasal vaults successfully stopped nasal hemorrhage promptly, effectively, and without sequelae … To our knowledge, this represents the first description of nasal packing with strips of cured pork for treatment of life-threatening hemorrhage in a patient with Glanzmann thrombasthenia."
OK, so salt pork isn't exactly bacon. But let's not pick nits.

Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.

Secret Slaughterhouse Pipeline Fills Texas Creek With Pig Blood:


Image via The Consumerist


An amateur drone pilot in Texas was flying a simple rig with a point-and-shoot camera attached for fun, and noticed something strange in a creek. There was an awful lot of dark red in the water. He notified the county, and a Department of Health and Human Services investigation showed that the substance discoloring the water was blood. Raw pig blood from a nearby meatpacking plant.
These are the kinds of things we have regulations, and regulatory agencies with the ability to enforce the law, to prevent. When you argue for "self-regulation," remember that capitalists run businesses to make a profit -- not to promote the general welfare, not to be stewards of the environment, and not to prevent anyone who feels like taking in the Trinity River from coming out looking like Carrie on prom night.


Mill on one shoulder, Kant on the other?

Profit vs. Principle: The Neurobiology of Integrity:

Via Wired.com

When test subjects agreed to sell out, their brains displayed common signatures of activity in regions previously linked to calculating utility. When they refused, activity was concentrated in other parts of their brains: the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which is known to be involved in processing and understanding abstract rules, and the right temporoparietal junction, which has been implicated in moral judgement.

No Poaching!

Three charged in poaching of rare Venus flytrap plants | WRAL.com:

Via WRAL.com

The Venus flytrap, a rare carnivorous plant that only grows in southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, had three Brunswick County people facing charges Tuesday. 
Kasey Gerald Whaley, Joyce Zarol Whaley and Elizabeth Ann Whaley, all from Shallotte, are accused of trying to steal 200 of the protected plants from The Nature Conservancy's Green Swamp Preserve on Monday. Stealing the plants without the landowner's consent is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
As opposed to stealing the plants with the landowner's consent?

The Needle in the Haystack

A Henderson teenager shot and killed an intruder Thursday morning, according to the Vance County Sheriff's Office. When deputies arrived at 586 S. Lynnbank Road, they found a man lying in the yard. Michael Anthony Henderson Jr., 19, had been shot in the chest with a shotgun, deputies said. He was taken to Maria Parham Medical Center where he died.
Finally, after reading scores and scores of news reports of: parents shooting their own children; children shooting themselves, their friends, and their parents; people shooting their neighbors; people shooting themselves by accident, and on purpose; people hit with stray bullets; people stealing guns and using them to terrorize schools; stray bullets from gun ranges striking peoples's homes and cars, etc. ... finally, a story where someone other than a police officer used a firearm to successfully thwart a criminal.

Of course, now that kid has to live with the fact he killed someone, even if it was a scumbag who would have stolen his family's TV.

Still, I've blogged about the stupidity and ignorance of gun owners so many times, I felt it only fair that I post the first story I saw where someone legitimately defended their property.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Student Paying Customer Only Seating

Low attendance forces Duke Athletics to sell student seats | The Chronicle:




Student attendance at men’s basketball games has fallen consistently over the last five years, even dropping after Duke won its fourth national championship in 2010. This season, approximately 650 undergraduates have attended each game, 150 fewer than during the 2008-09 season. As a result, Duke Athletics has begun to sell an increasing number of general admission tickets in the student section on a regular basis.
Even their own students can't stand them.

via Gerry Canavan 



Land of the free.

Mass Incarceration and Criminal Justice in America : The New Yorker:


via springercreative


Six million people are under correctional supervision in the U.S.—more than were in Stalin’s gulags.

NC death row inmate is taunting us. (He won't kill again though, so I'm not so sure he gets the last laugh.)

NC killer's taunt: Death row means leisure :: WRAL.com:


Asking for it. (via WRAL.com)


A death row inmate accused of killing three women and dumping two of them in South Carolina says in a letter to his hometown newspaper that he will spend many years getting decent care and enjoying frequent naps before he meets his end.


"Kill me if you can, suckers," Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. wrote in a letter to The Gaston Gazette. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"


The 50-year-old is on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh for suffocating Heather Catterton, 17, in 2009. He's also accused of the 2009 killing of Randi Dean Saldana, 30, whose burned remains were found near Blacksburg, S.C.
I remain staunchly opposed to the death penalty. But, man, this sure chafes. Oh well, he can taunt all he wants. He's going to rot in that cell and won't get a chance to kill again. Fuck him.



Next contestant ...

Blogger Adds +1 Data to Dashboard to Track Popular Posts

Oddly, when I scroll through my posts looking for +1s, it starts playing the sad horn from The Price is Right. You know the one:




Must be broken.

If you thought online poker was insanely stupid and frustrating before ...

'When Online Gambling Is Legalized, Facebook Will Be A $100 Billion Company' | Business Insider:




At a party this evening in Munich, an industry insider close to Facebook made the following prediction: "When online gambling is legalized, Facebook will be a $100 billion company." 
That's $100 billion of revenue, not $100 billion in market value (Facebook's already close to the latter.) For context, Google is a $40 billion company. And Facebook did about $4 billion of revenue last year.

Brazilian Citizen Philosophers and Bacon (Canadian, not Francis?!)

Boston Review — Carlos Fraenkel: Citizen Philosophers


The Brazilian Socrates (RIP)


“Learning how to read and write and basic mathematics is useful,” one student said. “But why should I care about Plato’s concept of the soul?” 
I conceded to the class that learning philosophy for the sake of erudition may not be the best use of their time. 
“But if you want to build a just and democratic society, isn’t it useful to get as clear as possible on what you mean by justice and democracy and to examine if you have good reasons to pursue these?” I asked. “And aren’t your intuitions about knowledge, goodness and beauty worth investigating?” 
Well, perhaps. But first the students had more questions for me. Is it true that Canadian bacon is the best in the world?
I argued a while back that a citizenry with a well-rounded education, including philosophy, would not accept the ignorant bullshit the Tea Partiers here lap up and regurgitate. Brazil, it turns out, may be the experiment that proves me right. Or, proves me hopelessly optimistic.


Monday, January 23, 2012

The (A)Udacity of Hope (for a free education)

Just a couple of datapoints from Thrun’s talk: there were more students in his course from Lithuania alone than there are students at Stanford altogether. There were students in Afghanistan, exfiltrating war zones to grab an hour of connectivity to finish the homework assignments. There were single mothers keeping the faith and staying with the course even as their families were being hit by tragedy. And when it finished, thousands of students around the world were educated and inspired. Some 248 of them, in total, got a perfect score: they never got a single question wrong, over the entire course of the class. All 248 took the course online; not one was enrolled at Stanford.

Don't shoot the sasquatch.

Killing Bigfoot

Pro-tip: If you think you see a sasquatch, that'd be the first clue you are in no condition to be carrying a loaded weapon.

Via GhostTheory

Tea parties issue demands to Tennessee legislators ... we can only hoped they were laughed out of the building.

Tea parties issue demands to Tennessee legislators | The Commercial Appeal:


via SodaHead.com


Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group’s lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.

“The thing we need to focus on about the founders is that, given the social structure of their time, they were revolutionaries who brought liberty into a world where it hadn’t existed, to everybody — not all equally instantly — and it was their progress that we need to look at,” said Rounds, whose website identifies him as a Vietnam War veteran of the Air Force and FedEx retiree who became a lawyer in 1995.
Shorter Tea Partiers: "We should be more like North Korea!"

Sometimes less is more.


Far from expanding your mind, the hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms induces widespread decreases in brain activity, researchers report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
'Shroom in, turn off ... whoooooaaaah.


Little by little, it gets better.

Canine Intelligence

Fenichel's Current Topics in Psychology | APA 117th Annual Convention:


Image via Fenichel.com


OK, so where do we begin in looking at how dogs think? This was not to be a "dog & pony show" where animals are merely a source of entertainment, but a loving and empirical look at how dogs actually think, employing a scientific framework not unlike the work of Piaget and others who look at early acquisition of language, "object constancy", and goal-directed behavior. The methodology may vary, but some of the well-known dimensions of human learning, such as learning of words and sequences and quantity, are quite amenable to rigorous study. Some of the results are quite interesting, and Dr. Coren presents an engaging blend of historical and sociological canine functioning, as well as some empirical study of cognitive functioning. Along the way he joked about the way people dearly love their breeds and tend to forget the origins of how that breeding came about. Clearly he loves them all, whether smart or not so smart, and his humor underscored how we have many preconceptions of what "smart" really means - to dogs. Here are some scientific studies of dogs, along with some video clips (in his presentation) and clever, engaging graphics to illustrate some of the talents and foibles of (wo)man's best friend.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Blogger and the DMCA



As Raoof told The Next Web, “There is a thin line between really working on protecting content and attribution, and censorship in the name of protection.”
Raoof’s experience also doesn’t speak very highly of Google’s attempt to exercise a little bit of customer service when it comes to its Blogger users, with an entire month passing, and all of his emails and inquiries have been ignored up until now.

Another NYT article from the Education Life section ...

What You (Really) Need to Know - NYTimes.com:
There was a time when professors had to prepare materials for their students. Then it became clear that it would be a better system if textbooks were written by just a few of the most able: faculty members would be freed up and materials would be improved, as competition drove up textbook quality.


Similarly, it makes sense for students to watch video of the clearest calculus teacher or the most lucid analyst of the Revolutionary War rather than having thousands of separate efforts. Professors will have more time for direct discussion with students — not to mention the cost savings — and material will be better presented. In a 2008 survey of first- and second-year medical students at Harvard, those who used accelerated video lectures reported being more focused and learning more material faster than when they attended lectures in person.
As the cost of higher education goes up, the middle class disappears, and the tools available to teach with evolve, it seems clear the educational system in this country is heading towards, if not already at, a crossroads. There's not going to be anyone left that can afford to go to a state university only to get the sort of education those schools can give on the paltry funding cash-strapped states will have left once the burden of maintaining the social safety net has shifted down from the federal level.

I suspect there's never been a better time to be an autodidact. Our kids had better want to learn, because just like corporations are doing away with pensions and workers need 401(k)s to save for retirement, the wealthy elites pushing the right wing agenda in this country are drooling at the idea of destroying public education.

Blogs vs. Term Papers

Blogs vs. Term Papers - NYTimes.com:


via cathydavidson.com


Cathy N. Davidson, an English professor at Duke, wants to eradicate the term paper and replace it with the blog.
She has a post on her blog about the article, too. I'll put aside my loathing of all things Duke long enough to give a critical reading.

Raleigh Downtowner Magazine: Free Classical Music Programs for Monday, Jan. 23rd, 2012.

Raleigh Downtowner Magazine:




MONDAY JANUARY 23: Sarah Graham Kenan Recital Hall, William Peace University, corner of Peace and Halifax Sts. in downtown Raleigh; 7:30 PM.
Here’s a good example of a free program “to boldly go” to ... The endowed Manning Chamber Music Concerts present stellar musicians from our flagship North Carolina Symphony, sometimes joined by Peace music faculty members. Typically those who take part play strings or piano, occasionally wind instruments -- and on one never-to-be-forgotten evening, it was the percussion section!
 
MONDAY JANUARY 23: Carswell Concert Hall, Meredith College on Hillsborough St. near downtown Raleigh; 7:30 PM.
The last time Anatoly Larkin performed at Meredith, local music critic John W. Lambert wrote: “Psst! Wanna hear a fabulous pianist, have a good time, and learn something, all at once? Look for the next area performance of Crazy Anatoly and get thyself to it!” Lambert’s entire review is well worth reading; go online at cvnc.org or do a search for “Anatoly Larkin.”
Need to talk to my wife when she gets home from work, but we were discussing the other day how the kids both seem to like we we tune the radio to theclassicalstation.org for longer drives, and I mentioned it would be worth taking them a concert if we could find a free series to try out. Lo and behold, two performances are offered tomorrow night. Here's hoping our schedules permit. I'm leaning towards the Peace University concert.

It's good to be a dragon. (If it's because your parents were superstitious in that way.)

Does Fortune Favor Dragons? | Mercatus:


Image via Water Dragon, Inc.



Why do seemingly irrational superstitions persist? This article published by the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization analyzes the widely held belief among Asians that children born in the Year of the dragon are superior.
迎春接福

Shorter Bill Maher: "NFL : Democratic Party :: MLB : Republican Party"

Bill Maher - Irritable Bowl Syndrome on Vimeo:

A short essay animated from the audio recording of 'The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass'. It was originally performed on 'Real Time with Bill Maher'.

Bill Maher - Irritable Bowl Syndrome from Fraser Davidson on Vimeo.

Went to Goodnight's last night, saw Charlie Viracola's stand up act ...

How Do I Bleach My Butthole - Ask.com:


Not for buttholes.


Answers to Other Common Questions
What happens if you bleach your butthole?
Butthole bleaching is something I would not have guessed was real. But it is.

Viracola is pretty funny, by the way.

Virginia to Consider Regulated Sales of Marijuana

Virginia to Consider Regulated Sales of Marijuana | Thurman's Notebook:




Should the state government get into the marijuana business? At least one local lawmaker wants to take a look at the idea.


Del. David Englin (D-45th) has patroned legislation that, if it wins passage, would authorize creation of a joint legislative subcommittee – insert punchline if you must – to study the potential revenue impact on state finances by legalizing the use of marijuana and selling it through Virginia’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) stores.

Scottish Adventure Writers

Keep the heid!



Sure, everyone knows Stevenson, Doyle, and Scott, but further down the list we get some lesser-knowns that bear investigation.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Shorter #Fuquay shooting range owner: "What's the big deal about a few stray bullets? We haven't killed anyone ... yet."

Rollins urged neighbors not to jump to conclusions about where stray bullets might be coming from and some people spoke out in defense of Drake Landing. 
"I've lived less than a mile from there for 10 years and have never felt unsafe," said Ben Elam. "I've never been bothered by any noise there."
The man has a point. After all, only four of the five bullets that struck someone's home or automobile in the last were determined to have come from the shooting range.

Values, Palmetto-Style

South Carolina values by @DavidOAtkins:


Mark Sanford and those wholesome family values. (via)

Last year, South Carolina was sued for issuing "choose life" vanity plates while refusing the same option to pro-choice citizens, justifying its decision by claiming that the anti-abortion message constitutes protected government speech. Today, more than eight decades after women first won the right to vote, the South Carolina state legislature is the only one in America where women do not hold at least 10 percent of all seats.
We're not saying the conservative voters of the Deep South don't have values. It's just that their values are repugnant.

Apologies to the only the SC-born blogger I know. Clearly not *all* South Carolinians are nutters.

Psst ... I use Google+, too.

Darvish: Dudes, chill.

Just installed an extension that adds a 'share on ...' feature to Google+ and wanted to see how it played with Blogger. As long as I'm giving it a go, I want to point out that if you've not circled me on G+, you're not experiencing the Full Cdog. It's really not as disgusting as it sounds.

For example, G+ has this feature that makes it very easy to put text over a shared image, so when I feel like doing something like this:

Yes, I realize now I capitalized the 'l' incorrectly. Derrrrr.

It's easier to do over there.

Friday, January 20, 2012

CT Florist Delivers Flowers To Atheist Teen After RI Florists Refuse


Jessica Ahlquist via WPRO

A [W]arwick florist had agreed to the order, but later withdrew. Ending the flower efforts with Sean Condon. [Who wrote/edited this article? An illiterate?] He says almost immediately after delivering the flowers he started receiving harassing phone calls. 
Condon said, "That we should be ashamed of ourselves for delivering to that girl. She sounded like a middle-aged woman and this is a teenage girl so I thought to myself I'm not so sure I should be the one ashamed of myself." 
The Freedom From Religion Foundation in Wisconsin says they are filing civil complaints against the florists that refused their order.
Vote with your wallet, too. If I ever need to send flowers to someone back home, I know where I'll order and where I won't.

More:
Facebook page for "I Don't Stand With The Cranston Florist" 
#FF @JessicaAhlquist

Study: Want fewer abortions? Instead of oppressing women, try keeping it safe and legal, for starters.

Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2008 : The Lancet:
Worldwide, 49% of abortions were unsafe in 2008, compared to 44% in 1995. About one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2008. The abortion rate was lower in subregions where more women live under liberal abortion laws.
Planned parenthood (not to mention Planned Parenthood), is a good thing. Secular education and universal healthcare will lead to more happy, healthy households than all the patriarchal religious indoctrination in the world. If the studies and statistics that demonstrate and measure these simple truths aren't convincing, if -- like ol' W. -- you think with your gut, doesn't even your gut tell you prohibition never works?

Fascinating and disturbing: Math may explain why serial killers kill

Math may explain why serial killers kill - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - msnbc.com:


Light's on but the conscience isn't home.
(Image via Vitreosity)


Though the new paper presents a compelling systems-engineering quantitative analysis of serial killing, the theoretical model must be adjusted, Fallon said. "The time course of (neuronal cluster firing) is in terms of milliseconds to seconds, and not months to years (which the authors acknowledge). So I think they need to add a component, perhaps a hormonal-type damping mechanism that has a time constant over weeks, months and years," he wrote in an email.
We clockwork oranges are complicated things: if the chemistry is just a bit off, you get light shades made of our hides at (perhaps) predictable intervals.

#FF @KimJongNumberUn Even better than the real thing.


I usually stay out of US politics, yo - but in solidarity I must endorse the fat dude who spews hatred. #itsallgoodFri Jan 20 13:44:33 via web

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Caption This

Via HuffPo
"You want Medicare? How about if I suffocate you to death instead?"

Best Super PAC Ad Ever?

The Adventure of the Three Sherlocks?

CBS Orders Modern ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Pilot (In Spite of BBC’s ‘Sherlock’) | Screen Rant


Image via screenrant.com


CBS is looking to bring even more Sherlock Homes to the entertainment industry by announcing today that they have ordered pilot for Elementary, a modern-day take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic Sherlock Holmes cases by former Medium producer and writer, Robert Doherty.
I am an unabashed Holmesophile. Still, this might be more than is, strictly speaking, necessary.

Via:

CBS plan a modern day Sherlock series called 'Elimentory'. What a great idea…someone already had! http://t.co/izAxbIxQFri Jan 20 01:47:26 via Twitter for Mac

Triangle Wiki

Triangle Gets Wiki of Its Own | Raleigh Public Record:


Triangle Wiki


Part blog, part local database, the new Triangle Wiki launching next month is a free site that aims to change the way Triangle residents interact with each other and the region.
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