Hundreds of Egyptian anti-government demonstrators crowd a bridge as they walk toward Cairo's Tahrir Square on February 8, 2011 to join evening protests demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. [Getty Images]
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators crowd Tahrir Square on February 8, 2011 on the 15th consecutive day of protests. [Getty Images]
"Get real."—Republican Senator Dick Lugar, who's facing a primary challenge by the Tea Party, who believe he's not conservative enough.
Lugar is one of Indiana's two senators, and trust me when I say that he is certainly conservative enough, and should be even by Tea Party standards.
The thing about Lugar is that, despite being conservative, he is also rather reasonable and not a total jackass. Ergo, the Tea Partiers don't like him.
In fact, they don't like him for the very same reasons that I prefer him to most of his reprehensible colleagues. As long as I've got to be stuck with a Republican senator, Lugar's pretty much the cream of the crap crop.
One of the Tea Party's big complaints about him, for example, is that he supports treaties to reduce the number of nukes. CHRIST HE'S PRACTICALLY A HIPPIE!
Rediscovering WWII's female 'computers':
Jean Jennings Bartik was one of the women computers. In 1945, she was a recent graduate of Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, the school's one math major. She lived on her parents' farm, refusing the teaching jobs her father suggested, avoiding talk of marrying a farmer and having babies. Bartik was waiting on a job with the military.You can find out more about Top Secret Rosies, the documentary made about Bartik and her compatriots, here.
When a telegram arrived asking her to come right away, she took a late-night train and began new career in Philadelphia.
She learned the hand calculations, and saw the clunky old analyzer used to speed up the process. Its accuracy depended on the work of her colleagues, and a mechanic who serviced its belts and gears.
The war ended in 1945, but within a couple months of arriving in Philadelphia, Bartik was hired to work on a related project -- an electronic computer that could do calculations faster than any man or woman. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, created by Penn scientists John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr., weighed more than 30 tons and contained about 18,000 vacuum tubes. It recognized numbers, added, subtracted, multiplied, divided and a few other basic functions.
Men had built the machine, but Bartik and her colleagues debugged every vacuum tube and learned how to make it work, she said. Early on, they demonstrated to the military brass how the computer worked, with the programmers setting the process into motion and showing how it produced an answer. They handed out its punch cards as souvenirs. They'd taught the massive machine do math that would've taken hours by hand.
But none of the women programmers was invited to the celebratory dinner that followed. Later, the heard they were thought of as models, placed there to show off the machine.
Other than a shared certificate of commendation from the military, the programmers and their hand-calculating counterparts got no recognition.
"We thought that was terrible," said Bartik, now 86.
[Trigger warning for tacit fat hatred and body policing.]
Pepsi to release new 'skinny can':
Can a soda can be sassy? Pepsi thinks so.Just LOL.
Diet Pepsi will soon be available in a "taller, sassier new Skinny Can" that the company says is a "celebration of beautiful, confident women."
The new can -- which stands just more than six inches in height -- will make its debut at New York's Fall 2011 fashion week later this month, but it won't hit stores until March.
"Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today's most stylish looks," said Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer at Pepsi (PEP, Fortune 500). "We're excited to throw its coming-out party, during the biggest celebration of innovative design in the world."
...For consumers who prefer their soda cans to be the traditional short and fat product -- no need to worry. A Pepsi spokeswoman confirmed the old model will remain on shelves.
Matilda and I have another conversation about her rumor-mongering and conspiracy theories. I've warned her about reading the Drudge Report and listening to Fox News, but does she listen to me? No. Then she goes around talking nonsense all day.
Liss: What is it, Matilda? What is it?
Matilda: Mew.
Liss: Really? Are you sure?
Matilda: Mah!
Liss: Okay. [edit] What, Matilda?
Matilda: Mrraw!
Liss: Seriously?
Matilda: Mrow!
Liss: I'm not sure if that's right. Are you, are you positive? Do you have a, a source for that material?
Matilda: Mrowah. Mah.
Liss: Well, I dunno. I think you're gonna need to back that up. That's a pretty outrageous claim.
Matilda: Mah!
Liss: If you say so.
Matilda: Mrow!
Liss: I dunno.
Matilda: Rrow! Oww!
Liss: I mean, I've heard that before, but I'm not sure that it's accurate. It might just be a rumor, is what I'm saying. You need to Snopes that shit!
Matilda: Mah!
Technically, it's a Ratio of the Day, and it's...
4.7 to 1: The ratio of unemployed workers to job openings in December, per a Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
Despite month-to-month fluctuations, the job seeker's ratio has been generally improving since its peak of 6.3-to-1 in July 2009. However, at 4.7-to-1, the ratio is more than three times as high as its average ratio of 1.5-to-1 in 2007. The current 4.7-to-1 ratio means that for more than 3 out of 4 unemployed workers, there simply are no jobs.Emphasis original. B-b-b-but BOOTSTRAPS! The unemployed are just LAZY! And other COMPLETELY STUPID THINGS that Republicans say!
The millions of unemployed workers in this country continue to face a staggering scarcity of job openings. In light of this ongoing crisis in the labor market, the government should be doing much more on all three job creation fronts – fiscal policy, monetary policy, and exchange-rate policy.None of which include trickle-down economics.
More scenes from the Snowpocalypse. At this point, I'm pretty much just posting these so Shakers who live in warm climes can either/and: A) Marvel at the weather; B) Point and laugh.
Ugh! More snow. Look at this—our garbage bags are sitting on a pile of snow. Ugh. And now we're getting more. [edit] Look at the size of these flakes! It's like the sky is having a snowball fight with the earth. [edit] Sisyphean snow, this. It's just never-ending. Lookit, just since this morning, our step is completely buried again. [edit] Ugh! It's even worse now. And we're back to, like, white-out conditions. [laughs] And basically, in the last hour, we've had probably about three inches of snow. Uh, this is the worst, really. [edit] I know, Dudley. It's the worst, isn't it?!
Earlier today, during the course of one of our many fine conversations about total nonsense, I related the following story to Deeky:
Liss: That reminds me of when I was four or five, and, at Sunday School, the preacher told us that when you go to heaven, your whole body becomes clean forever, which was obviously supposed to be a metaphor, but, hello, children that age don't understand metaphors, so I asked him if that means you don't poop in heaven.
Deeky: LOLOLOL! What was his reply?
Liss: I don't even remember, lol.
I also recall that, around the same age (and owing to the same literal-mindedness), I told my mom that God's arms and legs are attached to his head. When she asked me who had told me that, I told her my Sunday School teacher (or the minister) had. Gently, she expressed doubt that anyone told me God's arms and legs were attached to his head, but I was insistent. "Yes huh! [Whoever] told me God doesn't have a body, so that must mean his arms and legs are attached to his head!" Oy.
I could probably think of a million things like that, things I misunderstood when I was a kid, and I figured lots of you could think of a million things you misunderstood when you were kids, too.
So! Here's a thread! Fun!
As of last weekend, Syracuse official has had over 2 Biebers (131 in / 2.02 bbrz) of snowfall this season.
In case you don't know what that looks like, here's a helpful graphic:
Ben Smith is reporting: "The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week, a person familiar with the plans said Monday."
Sad trombone for the Triangulators.
Turns out the reedy woman was nobody. She's not mentioned again this chapter. In fact, I probably shouldn't have written about her at all. And fuck, now I've dragged her into two of my posts. She's not even named and I've given her more ink than Beck et al did.
So, yeah, about Beverly. She's dying. Been poisoned. That's the big reveal here. Well, one of them. The other is that Molly pulled the Mata Hari routine on Mom's orders.
"I don't expect you to understand why Molly did what I asked her to do. You should blame me, and not her."Oh, well, I guess that's the old Conservative mantra of personally responsibility: Blame someone else! Huh? No, that's not right.
Flowers were arranged all around the room, in baskets and vases and water pitchers, on extra rolling tables that seemed to have been brought in just to accommodate the overflow of gifts from well-wishers.In case you didn't know, Everyone Loves Beverly (Mondays on the UPN!). Because she is such a Good Woman. And despite being beaten and poisoned, "the only thing that remained undimmed was that unforgettable spark in her light green eyes."
My daughter is in danger. I need for you to promise me you'll see her to safety."Wouldn't she be better off with Hollis looking after her? I mean, he's a legendary survivalist. Noah, the manicured dildobrain so easily duped my Molly and Co. just two days ago, is Beverly's first choice as her daughter's protector? Whatever.
There were so many conflicting things hammering at his mind, but despite all that mental noise and everything that had happened, for once in his life he could see it all arranged in its true order of significance, and so he knew for certain there was only one thing to be said.
"I will."
I sent Molly away, but she isn't safe yet," she said. "She's waiting now, near the airport. Look in the top drawer of the nightstand. She called and told one of the nurses where she'd be and they wrote it down for me."Oh, that's not clunky or anything. No, definitely a very normal bit of dialogue. Speaking of things totally not clunky:
"I knew of your mother many years ago, and the good she wanted to do. That's what Molly saw in you: she told me. Not your father, but what your mother's given you. And I see it, too."I don't really know what "I knew of your mother many years ago" means. Like, what, she'd read about her in a magazine? Like how I know of Justin Bieber now? Or something else? Like they were acquainted? I dunno.
There was that tiny glint of a smile again. "Noah, from the Bible, you know?"Heavy. (Or not.)
He nodded, and despite everything, he smiled a bit himself. "Old Testament."
The weak hold on his hand tightened once again.
"He wasn't chosen because he was the best man who ever lived," she said softly. "He was chosen because he was the best man available."
"I don't know how you're involved in all this," Ellen said, "but you'd better know something, Noah. There are a million kinds of murder, but anyone who would do to a person what they did to her? It only means there's nothing at all they wouldn't do."Because, no doy, the New World Order ain't all unicorn farts and ice cream cones. Was anyone thinking it was? I thought we'd established back in the prologue that these were mean motorscooters, what with the assassination of the janitor and whatnot. They're planning to nuke Vegas, for fuck's sake. Why is the author trying to shock us with the notion that this PR firm is very, very bad?
The Conservative Political Action Conference, aka CPAC, which is the annual conference of the American Conservative Union, is happening this week, and, as per usual, they're doing a straw poll to see who the leading contenders are for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Here are the 15 names on listed on CPAC's presidential straw poll: Michele Bachmann, Haley Barbour, Herman Cain, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and John Thune.
What a pitiful collection of dinguses.
In order: Barf, barf, who?, yawn, hell to the no, megabarf, eyeroll, barf, barf, good luck with that, lol, barf, barf, wow, and fart.
I do love that John McCain doesn't even make the list anymore lulz.
83. The percentage of Kentuckians who believe gays should not be discriminated against, according to a survey released today by the state's Fairness Coalition. That's Kentucky, mind you, not one of those heathen states like California.
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, proud distributors of the blog Shakesville. Which is about a raft. That we're all on together.
Recommended Reading:
Lisa: Injustice at Every Turn [TW for transphobia and other intersectional bigotries]
Kai: One Question on Black AIDS Day: Do We Care Enough to End It? [TW for racism]
crunkashell: Living Single
Andy: Indiana GOP Begin Renewed Push for Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment
Fannie: Internet
Deeky: The Worst Action Figure Ever
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Liss,
I know you're not a big fan of people telling you how to run your life, but I'm pretty sure you need to go to this.
I totes can't wait to get into a girlfight about who gets to make out with Donny Danny Herbarium Wahlberg.
A couple days ago I came to a stop at a light behind a truck that had this bumper sticker:
