Daily Archives: December 21, 2011

Transgender child throws scouts into tail spin, ruins everyting

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From Huffington Post:

A Colorado-based Girl Scouts troop’s decision to admit a 7-year-old transgender child this fall has prompted three leaders to resign and dissolve their troops.

As The Christian Post is reporting, all three of the troop leaders were affiliated with the Northlake Christian School in Covington, Louisiana.

Susan Bryant-Snure, one of the leaders who resigned, told The Baptist Press that the Girl Scouts’ action is “extremely confusing” and an “almost dangerous situation” for children. “This goes against what we [Northlake Christian School] believe,”

Holy crap people, get a grip.

Dawn Obtains First Low Altitude Images of Vesta

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This image, one of the first obtained by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft in its low altitude mapping orbit, shows an area within the Rheasilvia basin in the south polar area of the giant asteroid Vesta. Image credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has sent back the first images of the giant asteroid Vesta from its low-altitude mapping orbit. The images, obtained by the framing camera, show the stippled and lumpy surface in detail never seen before, piquing the curiosity of scientists who are studying Vesta for clues about the solar system’s early history.

At this detailed resolution, the surface shows abundant small craters, and textures such as small grooves and lineaments that are reminiscent of the structures seen in low-resolution data from the higher-altitude orbits. Also, this fine scale highlights small outcrops of bright and dark material.

Those ripples almost look like the result of conchoidal fracturing, but can’t be. Compression? Early melting?

Read all about it here.

Back When I Was a Kid, We Had Real Winters!

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March is the snowiest month. We get lots of snow in December. Sometimes it is too cold to snow. When I was a kid (whenever that was) there were more snow storms, the total snow cover was much, much deeper, and when it snowed…it snowed, by golly!

Such are a few of the things people say about the weather. Of special interest to me is the idea that “these days” have less snow than “those days”…according to every one of every age of every region that gets snow.

Have you ever thought this? Have you ever heard this said? If you live in a region that gets snow in a regular basis, and this does not remind you of several conversations you’ve had, then you must be really focused on something because you have not been paying attention.

But is it true? Were winters “those days” more snowy than winters “these days”?
Continue reading Back When I Was a Kid, We Had Real Winters! →

Flying Spaghetti Monster Strikes Again!

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This time, at the lawn in front of the Leesburg County Court House in Virginia:

Beside a Christmas tree and creche sits a large banner with a nativity scene in which baby Jesus has been replaced by a plate of spaghetti with googly eyes. A crowd that includes pirates and gnomes surrounds Jesus. At the bottom its message reads “Touched by an Angelhair.” The scene is the work of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monsters.

Near the courthouse fence is another display whose sign reads ”Greetings From Your Friendly Local Atheists.” It’s message is about celebrating the Constitution and honoring the separation of church and state.

Elsewhere on the lawn, a skeleton in a Santa suit hangs on a cross.

abc

They killed Santa? Continue reading Flying Spaghetti Monster Strikes Again! →

The Brown Cube

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Sometimes, I can solve the brown cube. Other times, I cannot.

Often times, when I show the brown cube to others, they say “Ooh, I know who can solve that…. cuz he can solve a Rubik’s cube like whoa”.

And so they give it to the dude(s) who can solve a Rubik’s cube, and the dude’s (along with me) know that these two cubes are totally different in color/strategy/maneuverability. So they fuck with em for a minute, set them down, and go back to their Rubik’s cube….

This is not new, but you should still visit.

How to swaddle a baby

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Turn the blanket 45 degrees and fold down the farthest corner. Place baby with neck over the fold. Bring one side of the blanket across baby and tuck firmly in behind. Bring lower extension of blanket up over the baby, and tuck one side into the same side you tucked the other side into, firmly. Bring the opposite, remaining side of the blanket across the baby and tuck that in behind.

The result should look like this:

It helps to have water running in the background.

Danny Chen’s Death: The Ultimate Hate Crime?

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Nineteen year old Private Danny Chen killed himself with a firearm in a combat station in Kandahar, Afghanistan after being taunted and verbally and physically abused in a decidedly racist manner by several of his fellow soldiers. Eight such soldiers, of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, are now facing charges related to Danny’s death. The details of the charges have not been released.

Officials said …

… 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas, Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Spc. Thomas P. Curtis, Spc. Ryan J. Offutt and Sgt. Travis F. Carden were all charged Friday with counts ranging from dereliction of duty to making a false statement to assault, negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

It was not clear from the information provided whether the military believes the soldiers actually killed Chen, or whether officials are alleging that their mistreatment of Chen led him to take his own life.

More at the Washington Post

“The girls of Egypt are here”

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Egyptian Women Protesting
Women protesting in Cairo. (Phtoto:http://goo.gl/RneKl)

Thousands of Egyptian women marched in Cairo last night in protest of treatment of female demonstrators in Tahrir Square.

Their chant was: “Drag me, strip me, my brothers’ blood will cover me! Where is the field marshal? The girls of Egypt are here.”

(The reference to “Field Marshal” ist ot FM Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.)

This is the lasrgest and most significant demonstration by women in Egypt in modern times, by a large margin. Continue reading “The girls of Egypt are here” →