Archive for June 7, 2012
NASA is Holding a Bake Sale on Saturday — I Kid You Not
Things you should know before you go to bed:
Republicans Vote To Block Transparency On Political Ads
Rick Scott Dares the DOJ To Stop His Illegal Florida Voter Purge
Eric Holder, grow a freakin’ pair and throw Rick Scott’s ass in jail.
As always, the Republicans are working on creating jobs, jobs, jobs!
And the most unbelievable headline of all?
USA! USA! USA!
Hundreds of Humans, Millions of Animals Die in Heat Wave in India
Thank god climate change is a myth:
Amid reports that a number of people had died due to the severe heatwave conditions prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, the MeT office today said the hot spell would continue in the state for another 24 hours.
Local media reports claimed that over 200 persons died to due to severe heat this summer, but no cumulative figures were available with the officials.
Revenue officials in Visakhapatnam said about 40 persons succumbed to the heatwave this summer in the district, while a report from Medak said two persons died in the district in May.
Heatwave conditions may continue to prevail over isolated parts in the districts of West Godavari, Guntur and Krishna of coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 24 hours,” the Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Conditions are likely to abate in coastal Andhra Pradesh in the subsequent two days, it said.
I love the line, “died due to severe heat this summer.” It’s spring. Summer begins on June 20.
And there’s this:
The heat wave sweeping Andhra Pradesh has taken a heavy toll on the poultry industry in East Godavari district.
According to The Hindu, over 20 million birds have died in hundreds of farms spread across six mandals of the district since the first week of May and the toll is mounting with hundreds succumbing to the searing heat. Small farmers, already facing losses on account of increase in cost of poultry feed and labour charges, are the worst hit.
East Godavari occupies the first place in the State in layer chicks hatching and there are 1.65 billion chicks in different farms in the district. However, since the first week of May, the production of eggs has come down to 90,000 a day, impacting exports.
So many freaky weather events happening. It’s scary.
The United States — Israel’s Lacky
I absolutely love this post from 972mag because it so perfectly, perfectly!, illustrates the United States’ relationship with Israel for as long as I’ve been alive:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise yesterday to build 851 more housing units in the West Bank got the Americans “angry,” as usual:
“The US position on Israeli settlements is clear – we do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity. We also oppose any effort to legalize settlement outposts,” the official said.
Yada, yada, yada. Been there, heard that. If I had a buck for every time a State Department official condemned settlement activity, I’d have more than Warren Buffet.
And guess what? Israeli officials don’t even bother to hide how they take America for a dupe. Here’s what Ariel Attias (Shas), Minister of Construction and Housing, said to Army Radio this morning:
They condemn. We build.
It’s a pretty simple game once you get the hang of it.
And on and on it goes.
I am ashamed that the U.S. has looked the other way all these years on the issue of the Israeli settlements. Going against Israel, even when it would be the right thing to do, just isn’t done here.
My heart goes out to the Palestinians. Decade upon decade of this:
(Via.)
Heartbreaking Headline of the Day
From the Mail Online:
Brother, 5, of girl who was starved to death by mother, brought food to her funeral ‘so his sister could eat in heaven’
Marchella Brett-Pierce (Photo via DailyMail.co.uk)
What a wonderful brother.
Morning Darling Animal Video
Hamlet (great name) the piglet loves oatmeal so much he’s willing to brave the stairs to get to it.
So cute. I love the noises he makes.
(Via.)
The Romneys — Potential Neighbors From Hell
Here are some snippets from a rather long New York Times article titled: The Candidate Next Door. It is about the 3,000 square foot La Jolla, California beach home Mitt Romney bought four years ago and which he plans to demolish and replace with an 11,000 square foot mansion.
The Romney home is the one on the right, with the Spanish tile roof.
But many of the residents of this exclusive tract in La Jolla say they are rankled by what they see from their decks and patios as the Romneys’ blindness to their impact on the neighborhood.
[...]
Some neighbors say that they admire Mr. Romney’s devotion to his family, but question why he bought a house on such a crowded, built-up street to begin with, and wonder how such an extensive renovation can be achieved without shutting down their narrow street for hours a day.
“There are plenty of other big houses they could have purchased,” said a Dunemere resident who spoke on condition of anonymity, worried about antagonizing the Romneys and their friends. “This is a quaint little one-way street.”
Mr. Romney has hired a lawyer to shepherd the project through the local zoning process and has spent about $22,000 to lobby city officials for various permits. But construction is not expected to begin anytime soon.
[...]
The Romneys rarely entertain neighbors, but they have tried to weave themselves into the fabric of local life. Mr. Romney and his wife take regular walks around La Jolla, exchanging pleasantries with fellow strollers and occasionally enforcing the law. A young man in town recalled that Mr. Romney confronted him as he smoked marijuana and drank on the beach last summer, demanding that he stop.
The issue appears to be a recurring nuisance for the Romneys. Mr. Quint, who lives on the waterfront near Mr. Romney, said that a police officer had asked him, on a weekend when the candidate was in town, to report any pot smoking on the beach. The officer explained to him that “your neighbors have complained,” Mr. Quint recalled. “He was pretty clear that it was the Romneys.”
[...]
[Speaking to neighbors Randy Clark and Tom Maddox, a Secret Service agent] broached another pressing matter: recycling. “We have cans and bottles we’d like to recycle,” he said, explaining that the Secret Service was a vigilantly green organization, whenever possible. Mr. Clark offered to collect the group’s recycling every week and take it to the curb along with the couple’s trash. (Later, out of earshot, he wondered aloud why the Romneys could not handle the task.)
As the conversation wound down, Mr. Clark eyed a couple of Secret Service men polishing a black S.U.V. and playfully asked if they would mind washing his car.
One of them gave him a knowing look. “You’ll be fourth in line behind Mrs. Romney,” he retorted playfully. “She’s always asking, ‘When will you do my car?’ ”
Exactly the picture of the Romneys I would have expected. Piggish folks who don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves. And why does Ann Romney think the Secret Service should be responsible for washing her car?
The Uncropped Tiananmen Square Photo is Terrifying
We’ve all seen this photo of a lone man standing in front of a tank during the June, 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square:
Now, all of a sudden, an uncropped version of the photo is making the rounds and it is terrifying:
The new version, showing the man standing in front of that long, long line of tanks, all alone, puts his bravery and determination into a new light.
Incredible.
Larger version here.
66 Ft. Long Japanese Dock Washes Up on Oregon Coast
(Photo: AP)
A nearly 70-feet-long dock that floated ashore on a beach in Oregon is definitely debris from last year’s tsunami in Japan, a state official said Wednesday.
Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Haven said the Japanese consulate in Portland, Oregon, traced the seven-feet-tall concrete and steel floating dock to a manufacturer in Japan. He also confirmed the dock was in use in an area of Japan hit by the giant waves.
The dock carried a metal placard naming the manufacturer as Zeniya Ocean Service Engineering Ltd, which builds docks and floating marine structures and is dated June 2008.
[...]It’s made of concrete with a metal pontoon and measures 66 feet long, 19 feet wide and 7 feet high.
‘They don’t wish to have it returned,’ said Hirofumi Murabayashi, deputy consul general at the Japanese Consulate in Portland after repatriation inquiries were made.
