Friday night, Jimmy Fallon did a great parody of Lost on his show. I thought the Losties who hadn't seen it would enjoy—and, quite honestly, it'll probably be pretty amusing for anyone who knows the basic outlines of Lost and enjoys seeking the piss taken out of it!
Curling is going on right now in Vancouver.
A researcher studying the science of curling for Canada's Olympic team has found that sweeping doesn't melt the pebbly ice as many believe, but softens it and subtly changes its physical characteristics.
"What we discovered is that it never melts. It only slightly warms up due to the friction of the sweeping," said Tom Jenkyn of the University of Western Ontario.
Sweeping can warm the ice by about 1.5 degrees, Jenkyn said, and reduces friction for the curling rock.
Jenkyn is studying the physics of curling using an infrared camera as part of the Canada's $22-million Own the Podium research program into sports of the Winter Olympics.
Jenkyn's full results are being kept secret until June 2010, revealed only to Canada's Olympic athletes, coaches and officials.
"We're sworn to secrecy," he said.
Say you have a former vice-president who goes on the air and says stuff like this:
"I was a big supporter of waterboarding," Cheney said in an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday. He went on to explain that Justice Department lawyers had been instructed to write legal opinions to cover the use of this and other torture techniques after the White House had settled on them.Is a signed confession the only thing missing at this point?
[...]
Cheney told Jonathan Karl that he used his position within the National Security Council to advocate for the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques. Former CIA agent John Kiriakou and others have confirmed that when waterboarding was administered, it was only after receiving NSC clearance.
Well! This is, one hopes, good news insomuch as it has the possibility of bringing nearer the end of the war in Afghanistan:
The Taliban's top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.According to American officials, the raid was carried out by the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, which is Pakistan's military spy agency, and the ISI was accompanied by CIA operatives. The ISI is also leading the interrogation of Baradar, with CIA operatives' involvement.
The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials.
It was unclear whether he was talking, but the officials said his capture had provided a window into the Taliban and could lead to other senior officials.
Suggested by Shaker picaflor: What mystery would you like to see finally solved?
About 20 different historical mysteries come immediately to mind, but I'm going go with who helped Lee Harvey Oswald kill JFK.
"I don't owe him shit. He really screwed my life up, is how I look at it."—Joe the Plumber, so totally over John McCain.
There is just one announcer comment at 0:38: "Button electrified the crowd with his phenomenal jumps. Just watch this!"Button, who won the gold for that routine and will turn 81 in July, can still be found during the Winter Olympics providing figure skating commentary for NBC.
Saturday night, KBlogz was over and we had Chinese take-out for dinner. And he got another great fortune (he always gets them, because he's the only one of the three of us who eats fortune cookies, lol):
Hiya, Shakers, time for another Discussion Thread for the Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report!
This is the thread in which you may offer congratulations or admiration for a teaspoon or teaspooner. If you're posting with just congrats or admiration, though, do take a moment and check the thread to see whether other people have said so a number of times already. Remember that no one is required to read here just because they posted over there, so there's no guarantee you'll get a response to a given comment.
Time for another Teaspoon Report, brought to you by Shaxco, providers of only the finest hand-picked, mountain-grown Belgian pixels, harvested during the Winter Monsoons of the Bruxelles Mountains by Trappist monks riding mules.
Leave comments here that describe an act of teaspooning you encountered or committed. They don't have to be big, world-shaking acts; by definition, a teaspoon is a small thing, but enough of them together can empty the ocean.
If you would like to discuss the teaspoons here reported, or even offer congratulations or your admiration to a fellow Shaker, we ask that you do so over here in the Discussion Thread for today's NQDTR.
Shaker bgk has been kind enough to get a Twitter-pated version out there for you young twittersnappers (and by the way, get off my lawn, you meddling kids! *shakes cane*). You can find the details about the Tweetspoons project right here. That runs all the time, as far as I'm aware (*grumblenewtechnologygrumble*), and we encourage you to let other people know that there's at least one tweetstream talking about just going out and doing good things for the human species.
Teaspoons up, let's hear 'em, Shakers!
ô,ôP
Emo Prince Robert Pattertoningson is doing the media rounds promoting his new film, and evidently decided to use his interview with Details to apply for the hotly-coveted apprentice douche position at John Mayer Industries.
There's a lot of whatthefuckery in the article, but perhaps none quite so eye-squinching as this, on the accompanying NSFW photo shoot in which naked women were used as props (again): "I really hate vaginas. I'm allergic to vagina. But I can't say I had no idea, because it was a 12-hour shoot, so you kind of get the picture that these women are going to stay naked after, like, five or six hours. But I wasn't exactly prepared. I had no idea what to say to these girls. Thank God I was hungover."
So...he had no idea what to say to the women who were being sexually objectified and exploited in his presence, but, after the fact, "I really hate vaginas. I'm allergic to vagina." seemed about right, because the best way to deal with the discomfort of women's bodies being used as props is to slut-shame the women involved. Okay.
Fail.
One of my senators, Democrat Evan Bayh, has announced he will be retiring from the Senate at the end of his term: "The incumbent Hoosier had already raised $13 million for his re-election campaign, and while Republicans thought Bayh might be vulnerable this year, recent polls showed him with seemingly insurmountable leads over his GOP challengers. Indeed, less than a year ago, the National Republican Senatorial Committee conceded that it fully expected Bayh to run and win a third term."
Because he was expected to win reelection, his retirement is rather a surprise. Iain commented, "I wonder what pharmaceutical company board he's going to be a part of." Totes.
On the one hand, I'm cross, because it means that Indiana, which just went blue by the skin of its corn niblets last election, is likely to end up with two Republican senators. On the other hand, I agree with LeMew that "it's hard to be that upset about a quintessential centrist wanker leaving the World's Worst Deliberative Body."
[Shakesville Rewind: Oy, my ass hurts! Oh, and I met Senator Bayh.]
This blogaround is brought to you by Shaxco, makers of HEXFAT hex wrenches, for all your hex-wrenching needs.
Mothers For Women's Lib: Ninth Carnival of Feminist Parenting
Janet D. Stemwedel of Adventures in Ethics and Science: Good riddance to a pair of academic pretenses.
smitten kitchen: spaghetti with cheese + black pepper
meloukhia at FWD/Forward: What Is ’splainin’? And Why Should I Care?
Annalee Newitz at io9: First Video To Reveal Growth Of Stem Cells That Manufacture Blood
Science: Special Online Collection: Food Security
In the 12 February 2010 issue, Science examines the obstacles to achieving global food security and some promising solutions. News articles introduce farmers and researchers who are finding ways to boost harvests, especially in the developing world. Reviews, Perspectives, and an audio interview provide a broader context for the causes and effects of food insecurity and point to paths to ending hunger. A special podcast includes interviews about measuring food insecurity, rethinking agriculture, and reducing meat consumption. And Science Careers looks at interdisciplinary careers associated with food security. Science is making access to this special section FREE (non-subscribers require a simple registration).
[Trigger warning.]
Shaker Maria sent along this article from the BBC about a small-scale online survey in Britain which found that "a majority of women believe some rape victims should take responsibility for what happened."
Almost three quarters of the women who believed this said if a victim got into bed with the assailant before an attack they should accept some responsibility.Although this was hardly a scientific survey, an Amnesty International report completed five years ago on British attitudes toward rape reported similar conclusions.
One-third blamed victims who had dressed provocatively or gone back to the attacker's house for a drink.
The survey of more than 1,000 people in London marked the 10th anniversary of the Haven service for rape victims.
More than half of those of both sexes questioned said there were some circumstances when a rape victim should accept responsibility for an attack.
The study found that women were less forgiving of the victim than men.
Of the women who believed some victims should take responsibility, 71% thought a person should accept responsibility when getting into bed with someone, compared with 57% of men.
Yesterday afternoon, my inbox started lighting up wildly with emails about writer, director, and actor Kevin Smith being kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for being too fat. Smith, who's got 1.6 million followers on Twitter, began tweeting furiously about the incident (right fucking on):
The Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back director said he was booted by the captain after he was seated because he was considered a "safety risk."Kate Harding says, quite rightly, "I am so sorry that Kevin Smith, human being, had to go through that. But quite frankly, a part of me is really happy that Kevin Smith, Famous Person With 1.6 Million Twitter Followers, is holding an airline's feet to the fire over this bullshit." And Smith is keenly aware of his dual role, too:
"I know I'm fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?" he wrote, maintaining, "I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?).
"Thank God I don't embarrass easily (bless you, Jersey Girl training)," he continued. "But I don't sulk off either ..." So he promised more tweets zinging the airline in the coming days for telling him "I'm too wide for the sky."
Smith said he refused a $100 voucher offered by Southwest and eventually got on another Southwest flight. He then tweeted a photo of himself on the plane with his cheeks puffed out, writing, "Look how fat I am on your plane! Quick! Throw me off!"
(1/2) Hey @SouthwestAir? Fuck making it right for me just 'cause I have a platform. I sat next to a big girl who was chastised for not buy-Smith bought two seats, but flew home in one, "with the armrests down," just to prove a point.
(2/2) ing an extra ticket because "all passengers deserve their space." Fucking flight wasn't even full! Fuck your size-ist policy.
