Portland Public Schools Enlists 39 Goats, Llama, To Eat Back Invasive Weeds
Colorado 6th grader's beer-making experiment headed for Space Station
First ever evidence of a comet striking Earth — The first ever evidence of a comet entering Earth's atmosphere and exploding, raining down a shock wave of fire which obliterated every life form in its path, has been discovered by a team of South African scientists and international collaborators.
Deep Time, Big History, and Existential Risk
Knock Knock: 1943 — "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana. Locomotive coupled to caboose." A somewhat unusual perspective.
A Colorful Gathering — A mystery explained.
Why A Little Mammal Has So Much Sex That It Disintegrates — I've been on dates like that. (Thanks, I think, to Ellen Eades.)
Giant Squid Washes Ashore In Cantabria, Spain
Experts warn public not to touch cylinders washing ashore — Mmm, white phosphorus.
Mercury Azides. I'll Get Right On Those For You. — Explosions are definitely underappreciated as a mixing technique. Ah, chemistry humor. (Via David Goldman.)
Music and Color: the French Connection — Ocular harpsichord? (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
Destroying so many little lives — Crime as corporate endeavor. (Via David Goldman.)
Is Profit the Ultimate Value? On JP Morgan’s $11b Fine — Sigh. This story says so much about what has happened to our culture and our economy.
Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Political Parties — When it comes to major policy battles, since 2009 the GOP is 0-3. Before it fails again, David Frum offers up seven ways the party is shooting itself in the foot. Things extremists should not do. I object with the piece's thruway assessment of Obamacare costing more than we can afford — it's actually a net budget reduction, and that is just a nod to the usual conservative lies — but otherwise this is pretty interesting. (Via
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Shutdown Cancels US Antarctic Research Program — Any good conservative will tell you science is bad. It encourages critical thinking, and as the Texas GOP has pointed out, that might cause fewer people to vote Republican.
Dear Tea Party: The Gov’t Shutdown is Hurting White People, Too — Making American science and technology less competitive in world terms, compelling our scientists to emigrate to countries that more reliably support their work, risking the public’s health, and harming investors– none of that helps the Tea Party constituency. How odd that they appear to think that it does.
Reagan and Debt Ceiling “Blackmail” — House Republicans are behaving in a way that is less reasonable than behavior that Reagan dubbed blackmail, and they are doing it with no chance of success. On top of that, they are potentially exposing the U.S. to real harm in the process.
Domestic Violence Programs Brace For End Of Federal Funds After Friday — Your Republican party: enabling rapists and abusers nationwide, which is a small sacrifice in the patriotic cause of opposing the scourge of more affordable healthcare. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.
?otD: Are you a writer and arranger, and a young boy bearing arms?
10/9/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo brain)
Hours slept: 7.25 hours (solid)
Body movement: 30 minutes (stationary bike)
Weight: 239.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block enforcing laws passed under the Constitutional process and fully subjected to judicial review: 0
Currently reading: n/a (chemo brain)