Lead-Laden Toys Found at Wal-Mart, Sales Continue

But... the lead toys are so much tastier!

 

http://health.change.org/blog/view/lead-laden_toys_found_at_wal-mart_sales_continue

--

"Bats are my favorite mammals by a wide margin, and yes, I'm aware that humans are mammals."
- Tycho, Penny Arcade

The US electrical grid is too crappy to be vulnerable to terrorist attack, say physicists

More sad than reassuring...

 

"The US government worries that terrorists could take down the country's electrical grid just by hitting a small node in the system. But a new study reveals the grid is too unreliable for that kind of attack."

http://io9.com/5662593/the-us-electrical-grid-is-too-crappy-to-be-vulnerable-to-terrorist-attack-say-physicists

Proper

Neat 110-word story: http://www.ommatidia.org/2010/10/11/proper/

--

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward." (Matthew 6:5, Bible)

 

Holiday Spirit

Happy White Subjugation of Native Peoples Day!

--

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward." (Matthew 6:5, Bible)

 

Nivagi 2010.10.08

Last night I had a pleasant, if busy night, with Nivagi.  Work was
horrible, so I was happy to escape and have about an hour alone at
home before I had to venture back out.  I talked to Jero, Ke, and Mira
on the phone (they're already in Chicago), and then ran around my
apartment packing for the weekend.  Around 8 o'clock I packed up and
headed to Castleton to meet Nivagi at a costume shop after she got out
of class.

I got there just before it closed, and looked around, although I
didn't find anything perfect for either my Graverobber from Repo! or
my Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter costumes.  Nivagi bought a wig and
some accessories for her Goth baby doll costume, and then we went to
Perkins for a late dinner.  We talked about her plans for the weekend
– she plans to move out of Ke's today, and then go to a party.  I'll
be in Chicago.

Nivagi and I stopped by my apartment to pick up her phone and Mira's
hair straighter, and then we went to Ke's house to sleep.  I was
planning to help Nivagi pack, but it was already late and I had to get
up for work in the morning.  Instead I read her a bedtime story –
Thumbelina, a story of interspecies rape and sexual bondage (hey, I'm
not completely making that up – every creature Thumbelina meets wants
to force her to be his wife!).  At last we curled up and went to
sleep.  B)

--

"It's time to prove to your friends that you're worth a damn.
Sometimes that means dying, sometimes it means killing a whole lot of
people." - SIN CITY

Conversation at work

(referring to the zombies pictured on my BHRG calendar)

Coworker: "I like your calendar.  Those gentlemen are very scary!"

Me: "They're not gentlemen.  They're roller girls."

Coworker: "They're roller girls?  That's even scarier!"

Me: Hee!

Yay Party Foul, Tijuana Momma, and Narnageddon!

--

"It's time to prove to your friends that you're worth a damn.
Sometimes that means dying, sometimes it means killing a whole lot of
people."
- SIN CITY

Polygamy, Polyamory, Sister Wives and You

From bigger-love.com -

'By Lucius Scribbens on October 4th, 2010

Some of you may be saying to yourself: "Self, why has Lucius Scribbens
developed such an interest in polygamy and the plight of the Brown's
(the family featured in the TLC reality series Sister Wives) in Lehi,
Utah?"

Well it's like this. Kody Brown and his wives Meri, Janelle and
Christine (and soon to include Robyn) represent more than polygamy.
They are a very functional, long-term plural quad with 15+ years
together and 13 kids, and any consensual plural relationship that
constitutes commitment (such as they exhibit) could be prosecuted
under current bigamy laws across the United States.

Just because you are legally married to one person and have a
handfasting to another, doesn't make you safe from being convicted of
a third degree felony for bigamy. You are under U.S. laws, a
polygamist… Like it or not. The only thing saving your ass at this
very moment is that you aren't Mormon therefore you aren't garnering
the attention of the representatives of the State.

The U.S. Model Penal Code (MPC) states that you don't have to be
married to more than one person, you only have to say that you are to
be guilty of bigamy. Hell, in eleven states just coinhabiting with
someone other than a family member is illegal and can earn you a fine
and possibly jail time.'

More here: http://www.bigger-love.com/2010/10/polygamy-polyamory-sister-wives-and-you/

Adjectives

I love XKCD: http://xkcd.com/798/

--

"Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. Sorry, Ted, that's a dumb question... skip that."
-- Rex Kramer, Airplane

This is a news website article about a scientific paper

hee!  The Title of the Song -- er, Vapid Science News Article:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2010/sep/24/1

--

"She doesn't quite chop his head off. She makes a Pez dispenser out of him."
-- SIN CITY

Halloween bout

For our co-ed Halloween bout, the theme is going to be Barbie vs. G.I. Joe.  I told them I'd be on either team, and so since most of the female skaters are reportedly asking to be on the G.I. Joe team, I might wind up on Team Barbie.  So, I've been thinking of possible derby names for that bout.  Any opinions or suggestions?  (My number will remain 2020.)

 

Ideas so far:

 

BOB

Eye-Roll Ken

Mod-Hair Ken

Plastic Boyfriend

Polyvinyl

 

Watcha think?  B)

--

"This is America. I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American. Then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."
-- Stephen Colbert

The Walking Dead

This looks so cool... I love the graphic novels, and it looks like the
series will capture what's great about them.

http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/video?bcpid=86227333001&bclid=88963904001&bctid=593569611001
--

"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I
started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the
day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me,
that's on the worst day of my life."
-- Peter Gibbons, Office Space

question of the day: What would a new Bill & Ted movie look like?

Link from MaryAnn @ http://www.flickfilosopher.com --

 

MaryAnn writes:

"Keanu Reeves tells MTV News that he'd love to do another Bill & Ted movie. There's nothing definite happening, just desire on the part of Reeves and -- he says -- Alex Winter. Check out what Reeves has to say about such a project... if for nothing else, you must see his impersonation of Werner Herzog explaining what he'd see in the boys:"

 

http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/573900/keanu-reeves-down-for-bill-and-ted-reunion-if-story-is-right.jhtml

--

"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."
-- Peter Gibbons, Office Space 

brianj.kelly@gmail.com has shared: Too rich for the Tea Party?

*snerk*
Too rich for the Tea Party? Source: salon.com
brianj.kelly@gmail.com sent this using ShareThis.

Minimolecule may explain how antidepressants work

Neat!  My counselor was just talking about this discovery...

 

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/63457/title/Minimolecule_may_explain_how_antidepressants_work

--

"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."
-- Peter Gibbons, Office Space 

MUX Night – 2010.09.09

Last night after work I stopped at Noodles & Co. to pick up food for
Ke and Mira.  When I got to Ke's she was asleep, so I put her food in
the kitchen while Mira and I ate.  Ke was recovering from a medical
procedure earlier in the day, so we let her sleep and I logged onto
the MUX while Mira watched Project Runway.

Several players were on, so I got to run a small scene with Buster,
Daniel, Sparkplug and Spike Witwicky, as well as a battle between
Deathsarus and Mal-Feasance on the Nemesis in the Shattered Glass
universe, during which Jetfire and Trailbreaker managed to escape.
Fun night!

Stsm came over to bring Ke get-well balloons and elephant-ear-flavored
marshmallows (Ke like cinnamon), and Nivagi came home soon after.  We
hung out in Ke's living room and watched bad fashion reality TV until
it was time for Stsm to head home and the rest of us to go to bed
(except Nivagi, who had homework).

I'm not sure how much help I was looking after Ke after her procedure,
but she took care of me after I was fixed, so I wanted to be there for
her in case she needed me.  It was very nice to have a pleasant quiet
evening with my girlfriends and even get some MUXing in.  Tonight I'm
going to see Ke again, and I'm sure it will be another lovely, low-key
affair.  It sounds perfect.

color photos of a black-and-white world, part 1

MaryAnn @ flickfilosopher.com has a series of links to articles about color photos or images of eras usually only seen in black and white.  Neat!

 

Start here:

http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2010/09/090610color_photos_of_a_black-and-wh.html

--

"One by one, the bedrock conservative convictions of the national Republican Party are giving way... yielding to the demands of a raucous religious right that has become the Republicans' most reliable electoral base." (Trenton Times)

It's Better Over There | The Nation

It's Better Over There | The Nation

the word - control-self-delete

From http://mashable.com/2010/08/25/stephen-colbert-takes-on-google-ceos-change-your-name-comments-video/ -

 

Are you a "young person," fresh outta college and looking for a job? Great! Now all you have to do to score your dream gig is perform a full digital cleanse, and assume a new identity while you're at it. Well, not really, but that's the premise of a recent "The Word" segment on The Colbert Report.

 

Video here:

 

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/351570/august-24-2010/the-word---control-self-delete

--

"This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy.  My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing. This couldn't be a more classic case of a state responsibility." 
-- Connecticut Rep. Christopher Shays, Republican, during the Schiavo fiasco.  (Source: New York Times)

Voters Can Shed Daylight on Corporate Spending

From The Nation:

 

"This has been a tough year for those who care about protecting our democracy from the influence of corporate money. In January the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United gave companies the power to spend freely from their corporate treasuries in our elections. Last month Senate Republicans halted Congressional efforts to mitigate the negative impact of the decision by blocking passage of the DISCLOSE Act, which would have required corporations to show how they  spend money in elections. With Election Day less than 90 days away, we cannot afford to stand on the sidelines -- we need to fight back and take on corporations directly."

 

More: http://www.thenation.com/article/154069/voters-can-shed-daylight-corporate-spending

--

"Blind optimism and impulsivity often cause me to ignore logic and instead make decisions based on a hopeful projection of what's going to happen next."
- Hyperbole and a Half

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope

It makes so much sense now!

 

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope
Reconsidering Star Wars IV in the light of I-III

 

http://www.morningstar.nildram.co.uk/A_New_Sith.html

--

"Love doesn't subtract. It multiplies." - R.A. Heinlein