Friday, October 25, 2013

“OK, Louie. Drop the mop.”

“OK, Louie.  Drop the mop.”  That's my quote of the day, written by Cecil Adams, the self-proclaimed (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) “world's most intelligent human.”  The occasion for this quote is an issue of The Straight Dope, wherein Cecil answers a reader's question:
Why does the label on a bottle of Pine-Sol say, "It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling"? Exactly what uses are unlawful? We'd hate to be sent up the river on a Pine-Sol rap.
You just gotta love Cecil...

Now, this smells like the beginning of an ObamaCare death spiral...

Now, this smells like the beginning of an ObamaCare death spiral...  Dave Carter, writing at Ricochet, leads off with:
"Let me be exactly clear," he said, at which point prudent Americans everywhere reached furtively for their wallets, because clarity to Barack Obama becomes a dismal and dangerous fog of dissimulation for everyone else. The prelude out of the way, the conductor continued:
First of all, if you've got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Nobody is talking about taking that away from you.
In a purely sophistical sense, that last sentence may be correct. They didn't talk about it. They just did it. But the rest of that statement is as blatant a lie as we've heard from any president since Bill Clinton denied using a subordinate as a humidor. And whereas Clinton was exposed, so to speak, as having dallied with one vulnerable young lady, we now face a situation in which the whole country is getting the shaft.
He points out several very public examples of ObamaCare delivering precisely the opposite of what was promised.  California leads the way in ObamaCare-related health insurance cancellations, and for some reason that doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Do read the whole thing – like all of Dave Carter's posts, it's good reading and full of information...

First it was kids, now it's animals!

First it was kids, now it's animals!  Philosophers, that is.  Via my mom, who says she couldn't pick a favorite.  Click on any of them to embiggen them all...


Euonymus oxyphyllus...

Euonymus oxyphyllus, aka Korean spindle tree.  Your morning gorgeous, courtesy of BPOD.

This will definitely get your heart started!


This will definitely get your heart started!  The Boogie-Woogie Twins...

Stress reliever...

Stress reliever...  Via reader Jim M., who swears this works great:
In case you are having a rough day, here's a stress management technique recommended in all the latest psychological journals. The funny thing is that it really does work and will make you smile.

1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.

2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.

3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.

4. No one knows your secret place.

5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.

6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

7. The water is so clear that you can make out the face of the Congressman you are holding underwater.

See it worked. You're smiling. You feel better already.
Jim's right – this works wonderfully!

Something new in storage...

Something new in storage: Seagate's Kinetic Open Storage.

Key/value pairs on a disk whose interface is TCP/IP on Ethernet, with a supporting protocol.  Real “storage in a cloud”, not a disk array and file system wrapped with a cloud interface. 

This smells revolutionary to me.

Seagate appears to be making the entire stack open, in the hope of creating a ubiquitous standard, much like TCP/IP is today.  If they pull that off, this will be revolutionary.

I want to buy one.  Right now.  

Kids say the darndest things...

Kids say the darndest things...  This Reddit thread is full of interesting things that kids said.  Most of them also have lots of comments.  It all makes for fascinating reading.  Here's one thing, just to whet your appetite:
I was on a train with mum when I was maybe 4 or 5. I was facing the direction we were coming from and she was opposite me. Then I said 'It's like I'm looking into the past, and you're looking into the future."

Most transparent administration ever?

Most transparent administration ever?  What a crock!

These people have no shame at all.  None.

Sean Hannity is someone I frequently disagree with, but I think his response to the administration's action was admirable...