August, 2009 archive
I Get Emails 0
From paulapoundstone.com. An excerpt:
America’s growing up. We have a black President, and we’ve spent almost as much time on health care as we have on Michael Jackson.
Malt Perception 0
The Rubyologist investigates “beer goggles”:
Second, one could overestimate the other individual’s attractiveness (B) when intoxicated, thus reducing H. Back in the good old days when they tested myths that did not involve explosions, the MythBustersTM[5] tested this one. Unfortunately, due a flawed experimental design[6], wide variation in results, and a small sample size, the results were inconclusive. Other research from the University of Leicester[7] is claimed to suggest that the estimations made by men are not affected while those of women are. The actual study (PDF) shows that the gender differences exist for age estimation, not estimation of attractiveness.
Twits on Twitter 0
Just plain silly:
According to the Associated Press, the Miami Dolphins prohibit fans and media at training-camp practices from tweeting, blogging or texting.
At least six other teams have also imposed such restrictions on reporters, even though the workouts are open to the public.
Lies and the Lying Liars . . . 0
Dick Polman analyzes the whoppers. His conclusion:
Because the lies can lead to bad things, such as, for example, the Great and Glorious Patriotic War for a Lie in Iraq.
But Republicans can’t help the lies. It’s all they have left.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
“Stabilizing” is just another way of saying “running out of people to lay off,” and it’s still over half a million (emphasis added):
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 38,000 to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 in the week ended August 1 from 588,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.
(snip)
However, the number of people collecting long-term unemployment benefits rose by 69,000 to 6.31 million in the week ended July 25 . . . .
But check this out for a comparison.
Civil Discourse 0
Take the pledge here.
Dobbious Reporting, Reprise 0
Details here.
Fred and Barney Are in Tears 2
(Actually, as I wrote the title, I realized that the Creationists’ cosmology and biology positing that humans and dinosaurs co-existed is apparently based on the Book of the Flintstones.)
Kent Hovind, who founded the park and a ministry, Creation Science Evangelism, is serving 10 years in federal prison for failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $470,000 in employee taxes.
He was found guilty in November 2006 on 58 counts, including failure to pay employee taxes and making threats against investigators.
“Failure to pay employee taxes” may refer to more than failure to send the income tax witholding payments to the IRS. It may also refer to failure to remit the employer’s and employee’s portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Employers are obligated to do this periodically throughout the year. At my church, we do it quarterly using a form 941.
Not do so defrauds not just the government, but also the employees who may later find that they owe taxes they thought had already been paid through withholding.
As a general principle, it is not a good idea to mess with the IRS.
Can’t Find Your Birth Certificate? 0
Get one here.
Ship of Tools 0
Over at the Great Orange Satan, percival constantine (the poster’s capitalization, not mine) looks at similarities between Orly Tait’s Kenyan Scam and the venerable Nigerian Scam and sees dollar signs.
YouTube link via the Huffington Post.
My Grandmother Was from South Carolina 0
The family goes back to well before the Revolutionary War; the original landgrant for the family farm, which her father drank away after the Civil War, was signed by one of the Kings George.
She lived through some really tough times and lots of changes in her 98 years.
She is fortunately not around to see her state become a sideshow:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Thank You, South Carolina! | ||||
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Birth of a Notion 0
These people are nuts.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
And so are the people who buy their snake oil.
Frankly, I think that’s a good thing. It reveals wingnuttery for the bigotted, hate-filled fantastickal thinking that it is.
One more time, if Mr. Obama were pink like me, this wouldn’t be happening.
Via John Cole.
Liars, Damned Liars, and Republicans 0
Dick Polman (emphasis added):
(Fred Thompson’s credulous reply was priceless. He said, “I didn’t know that,” thereby demonstrating what happens when you give a microphone to a failed politician who won’t even make a pretense of fact-checking.)
The lie soon traveled ’round the world, getting worse with each right-wing re-telling.
On the Media has more. Go to the website, where there’s a transcript, or listen below:
How To Know Times Are Really Bad 0
When even makers of pain relievers are hurting:
Whisky producer Whyte & Mackay has confirmed plans to cut dozens of jobs at sites across Scotland.
Up to 85 posts will be lost, with another 15 overseas sales staff facing the axe. A month-long consultation and review of operations is under way.
Brendan Writes a Column 0
Read it here.
Private Health Insurance . . . 0
. . . slopping at the public trough.
Cookie Jill points out that five of the 20 biggest cases of private companies bilking the federal government involve those bastions of fee enterprise, health insurance companies.
They don’t want their gravy train to end.