President Should Not Be In the Classroom

Ya know... I was thinking about pointing this out. Did Bush ever quit visiting classrooms? Did he get parental permission slips from each student? Was he greeted by protestors carrying signs with "Stay Away From Our Kids" emblazoned across them?

Will I ever learn to quit asking pointless questions?

Slow-Motion Hummingbird Moth

A couple of Geobloggers, Silver Fox and Kim, have put up posts on the hummingbird moth over the last few months. A physics blogger I follow, who has a hobby of high-speed photography (rendering the resulting video in slow motion), has put up a lovely video of one of these fascinating insects in action. From Swans on Tea.

I Don't Know Why This Moves Me So

It has sort of a new-agey Windham-Hill sort of sound... quite lovely!

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Australopithecus Spiff-arino

Snopes sez this is false. Too bad. Click over to read the second half and the evidence that it's fake.

Paleoanthropology Division
Smithsonian Institute
207 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20078

Dear Sir:

Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled “211-D, layer seven, next to the clothesline post. Hominid skull.” We have given this specimen a careful and detailed examination, and regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it represents “conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in Charleston County two million years ago.” Rather, it appears that what you have found is the head of a Barbie doll, of the variety one of our staff, who has small children, believes to be the “Malibu Barbie”. It is evident that you have given a great deal of thought to the analysis of this specimen, and you may be quite certain that those of us who are familiar with your prior work in the field were loathe to come to contradiction with your findings. However, we do feel that there are a number of physical attributes of the specimen which might have tipped you off to it’s modern origin:

# 1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are typically fossilized bone.

# 2. The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic centimeters, well below the threshold of even the earliest identified proto-hominids.

# 3. The dentition pattern evident on the “skull” is more consistent with the common domesticated dog than it is with the “ravenous man-eating Pliocene clams” you speculate roamed the wetlands during that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this institution, but the evidence seems to weigh rather heavily against it.

Down Time

The server has been sporadic here at my favorite coffee shop yesterday and today, and there has been a frustrating amount of time I've been offline. I was able to get some facebook conversation time in last night, but the neighborhood signal is weak and slow. So one of the things I've done this morning is go through some of the pictures I've downloaded onto my hard drive to see if I can come up with captions.So has Obama given his speech yet? Did the world explode? I'm off to find out.

First Snow of the Season

That's Mt. Bachelor, a little bit west of Bend, OR (the peak behind and to the right is South Sister, and you can make out Middle Sister farther to the right, behind the pair of trees). The first snow this "winter" fell yesterday. The snow level was at 7500 feet; the peak itself goes up to a bit over 9000 feet. But we're supposed to be back up to nearly 90 by the weekend; I expect most of the snow will melt off before it goes below freezing for the season.

I Guess I Knew This

but I didn't realize that a fair amount of research has been done on it, nor did I realize how effective it is... even against otherwise antibiotic-resistant bugs: cinnamon oil kills bacteria.

Hospitals will henceforth smell like bakeries, but they'll all be shut down, 'cause the fasislamicommie Obama wants everyone to die under his gummint-run antihealth plan.

Here Ya Go, Tengrain!

Damn Typo! If you like snarky, satirical and liberal humor, and you don't read Mock, Paper, Scissors, that counts as a FAIL! 100 fails per semester, and you lose the innernetz.

Health Care Mythology

• The U.S. has the best health care system in the world.
• Private health insurance companies are more efficient and customer-focused than the government.
• Covering the uninsured isn't our problem.
• We don't need comprehensive reform now -- we can wait.
• I don't need to worry. I have good insurance through my job.

Nice debunking of these myths at OregonLive. I've read a couple of pieces in the last few days claiming the problem isn't that the dems are wrong, or that they have proposed bad ideas, the problem is that in addition to their complete mental and ethical vacuity, the republicans have an astonishing knack at drumming up short, memorable slogans and talking points... "death panels," "pull the plug on Gramma," "government-run health care" and so on.

The editorial piece linked above does a nice job of taking each of the above sentences and making them into slogans by tacking the word "Myth."

Obama's Big Let Down

I just finished reading the prepared speech he's planning to deliver to America's school kids tomorrow. I am SO disappointed.

There's not one use of the word Nazi.

Nor of indoctrination camps.

He doesn't encourage anyone to read Marx, or Mein Kampf.

He says being educated takes hard work and persistence.

He says it's unlikely that most will grow up to be wealthy rappers or sports stars.

Not once does he tell the kids to strip naked and have gay sex while they're watching the speech.

He doesn't tell them that Christianity is evil, nor encourage anyone to blow up the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, or congress.

No, all we get is insipid platitudes like this:

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

I feel completely let down. Maybe he'll stray from his remarks; one can only hope.

Followup:

Students in the state's largest school district may listen to President Barack Obama's education speech Tuesday morning. Portland Public Schools officials say they will allow teachers and principals to decide what's best for students on the first day of school.

Criminey... go read the speech, seriously! Can you imagine anyone who honestly thinks of themself as an educator wouldn't want that message to get out to kids? And officials will allow principles and teachers to decide? How... magnanimous... of them.

Also, John Cole at Balloon Juice has an amusing, snarky piece on his predicted response from righty pundits:

BTW- Who do you all think will be the first wingnut to find a hidden coded message in the text of the speech? The odds on favorite for that kind of lunacy would be Glenn Beck, but then again the one lunatic who pushed the “Republican car dealers is being punished!” nonsense would be a good bet, too, as would that clown who freaked out over dijon mustard. There is just so much quality amateur wingnuttery going on these days that there really is no safe bet anymore.

You can, in fact, make this shit up. But Beck and Co. will still go you one further, and astonish you with their interstellar conclusion leaping.

I Would So Love to Teach This Trick To Ozma

but it isn't going to happen. She startles and moves away from anything that sounds like running water.

Speaking of which, we've been having steady, but fairly light, rains for the last couple of nights, then occasional light showers during the day. I think the precip is supposed to taper off over the next 24 hours, but it's actually been very pleasant. I love the odors associated with the first fall rains, as the parched ground and vegetation come back to life.

I've been referring to this 2-3 day window as "our fall preview trailer." We'll be back to summery weather by Tuesday; 90's are not unknown in September, but I hope we're done with that range for the year.

Worse Than 9/11: Obama's Gonna Fly a Work Ethic Into My Kids!

Poor, poor conservatives... crying (literally) about the fact their precious little ones might be exposed to the President of the United States encouraging them to study hard and stay in school. If they want to keep their kids home, that's fine by me. As an ex-teacher, I guarantee you that your effect as parents on your kids' attitudes toward education is magnitudes larger than any teacher's. If you want them to wallow in hate, stupidity, ignorance and fear, that's exactly what they'll do. Just one word of warning: as they pass through their teens, they're likely to start rebelling. It's sort of surprising to me how many libs I know who came out of profoundly conservative households. Just keep that in mind, Okay?

From Mock, Paper, Scissors; Tengrain then pointed out what the righties are picturing:

Via BAC

Lobautomatic Part Two

Haven't forgotten the LOLBecks, I've just had other topics that interested me more. I'll be damned if I'm going to give this putz his own tag, but I have been seriously thinking about instituting an "Idiots and Scoundrels" label. However, I do use the "Monsters" label for this guy and his ilk when the latest offense warrants.

Lobautomatic

A current facebook conversation (with names and pics other than mine redacted).

Sunday Funnies

This is just so wrong... Skull Swap.
see more Funny Graphs

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
epic4chan
He finally got to live his dream of swimming with dolphins... Skull Swap.
Times New Roman... web comics were crap back then. Luke Surl.
Cyanide and Happiness.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
I Hate my Parents, a recent find. I just realized it's put together by the same person who does the Skull Swap tumblr feed.
I find your lack of cake disturbing... No Cats on This Blog.

see more Political Pictures
Serious Lulz.

see more Lol Celebs

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
Steven Spielberg's worst nightmare... Skull Swap.
epic4chan. (now I have 867-5309 running through my head again...)
Misery Loves Sherman.
Evolutionary forces are powerful... epic4chan.
Pavlovian Obesiance.
Skull Swap.
Pygalgia.
Cyanide and Happiness.
Phydreaux Speaks
My First Dictionary.

see more Celeb Look-A-Likes

moar funny pictures. Via EB Misfit. Probably Bad News. This was sent widely around the innernetz after the disaster, but I'm pleased to see it again. 18 times the speed of light is relatively fast.
This group should be called "Hug." Skull Swap.
CNN Speaks in Tongues! Probably Bad News.Also speaking in tongues... epic4chan
Glenn Beck, however, may not be. From Criggo.
From That Will Buff Out, silly-looking accidents, a recent find. The next two are from the same place.

see more Fail Blog. OSU starts Fall term three weeks from tomorrow; the kids are starting their shopping already though.
Pareidolia for the godless, from Pharyngula.And more pareidolia from LOLtheist: Whatever. Jesus is everywhere, blah, blah, blah. Click over for a very snarky, funny discussion, and a link to an enormous and amazing image of martian fluvial-alluvial geomorphology.
Skull Swap- Awwww!
Skull Swap
Night Deposts
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
BuzzFeed