All things Feynman. Richard Feynman, that is. Lots of videos, photos, links and more here. One of my personal heroes, taken by cancer after just 69 amazing years on this planet...
Better be quick! At least in Arkansas, where if you want an investigation of a police homicide, you'll need to file your request within about 30 minutes of the death...
This is just wrong. Forensic labs get a bonus when the evidence they produce convicts you...
You can't please 'em all... Labor unions were one of the key supporters of Obamacare – until they figured out what was actually in it. Many unions are now calling for “fixing” Obamacare (translation: lard it up with more free goodies), and some are actually calling for its repeal. Hard to know where all that noise is going to lead...
As unions gain power ... they tend to evolve into racketeers and shakedown artists. We've seen that here in the U.S. in the past, and today with public sector unions. But in Mexico, unions have elevated the art of the racket to epic proportions. Teachers there effectively “own” their positions, freely selling or bequeathing them as they please. Nowhere in the teacher employment criteria does competence appear. The government is trying to change that, and the unions are fighting back by shutting down Mexico City. It's not clear who's going to win. It's very clear who's losing now: the kids.
What the hell is happening to my country? It's abundantly clear now, even to the most pig-headed of progressives, that Lois Lerner grossly abused her position at the IRS. In a just world, she'd be prosecuted, and jailed if convicted. Instead, she's still at the IRS, still being paid, being considered for promotion, got a bonus, and ... isn't being charged, much less prosecuted...
Don't tell Al Sharpton! Migaloo, the white (albino) humpback whale from Australia...
Talk about redundant systems! Jonathan Trappe is trying to fly across the Atlantic, slung under 370 helium balloons. His Facebook page is streaming his log and diary...
Ya think? Parents are pulling students out of the Michigan school system whose teachers, administrators, and even board members supported a teacher who admitted pedophilia and was convicted and sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.
Unexpectedly! “G” – the gravitational constant – appears to have changed. Just a little, but still – that's not supposed to happen. Growing by 0.02% may not sound like much, but in the world of physics that's big change – especially when zero was the expected change...
Another nail in California's coffin... California's legislature passed an increase in the state's minimum wage, to $10 an hour. Governor Moonbeam has indicated he'll sign it. Of course they're completely ignoring the recent instance proof that raising minimum wages causes employers to lay people off. The “optics” are all those self-serving politicos care about...
Knaves or fools? Oh, knaves for sure – though they may be fools as well. Via Moonbattery...
Smoking is bad, part 3,408,622: The cigarettes handed out to WWII troops killed more of them than the enemy did. And that's not even counting the indirect effects of smoking on physical fitness, which surely killed even more...
But but but... It's illegal for them to be here, but we'll give them driver's licenses just the same. Even though I support open legal immigration, and oppose government licensing of almost every kind ... I can't make any sense out of this sort of incremental, ignore-one-law and enforce another nonsense. We need to straighten the entire mess out, but there's no political motivation to do that – so we get idiocy like this, instead. California's dominant low-information voters will probably love it. Along with the illegals, who (thanks to the equally idiotic “motor voter” law) will now be able to vote...
Eeeeww! Strange things people do to themselves...
Kermit is not happy. NASA doesn't just launch rockets these days – it seems they're launching frogs as well! No word on how this worked out for the frog, but I'm betting the rocket won...
This was completely predictable. Obamacare supporters want to get rid of ERISA. Of course – more people contributing to ERISA plans means less people paying Obamacare insurance. All those promises not to touch ERISA? Crickets...
Calling George Orwell... Obamacare requires your doctor to collect sexual histories (and much more) from their patients. And they haven't even started yet!
The mom is at fault, not the zoo. This seems pretty clear to me. But I'll bet my opinion is in the minority. What a collection of ninny-pies we're turning into!
Hopeful signs. North Korea is starting to look like Eastern Europe in the late '80s. Maybe it will collapse in a similar manner. Can't happen too soon for me...
Preventing amputations in our wounded warriors. Awesome!
The 2013 IgNobles have been awarded. Beer goggles. Watch the ducks. And much, much more...
In the “Surely you're not surprised?!?” department: tenured professors make worse teachers. Any business manager can tell you that incentives matter...
Tradeoffs. Google's Android system for smartphones automatically backs up your phone numbers, contacts, WiFi passwords, etc. But...that means Google has your phone numbers, contacts, WiFi passwords, etc. Bruce Schneier has written a lot about these sorts of security vs. convenience tradeoffs. They're only going to get more common, and more difficult to navigate. We need transparency on these things, and we need liability attached to the right players. So far all we've seen in the U.S. is reactive, largely ill considered moves...
The CEOs? Why aren't the politicians in jail? This article bemoans the lack of Wall Street CEOs in jail for “causing” the latest financial crisis. The author bemoans the wrong thing – the real problem is that the politicians who enabled the housing bubble (especially) and other systemic problems have never been held accountable. Nor, most likely, will they ever be...
Unintended consequences... Apple's newest phones identify you with a fingerprint scanner. Google pronounces “Passwords are dead!” and pushes biometric identification. If this stuff works (itself a very dicey assumption), there's a legal issue with biometric identification that may bother you. In the U.S., the government cannot (not yet, anyway) compel you to provide a password. They can, however, compel you to provide your fingerprints or other biometric source data. I don't know about you, but that's enough to prevent me from using it...
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