This is interesting. Its about why they called it “The Manhattan Project.” It was not a randomly generated code name. And, it’s a little scary:

In “The Manhattan Project” (Black Dog & Leventhal), published last month, Dr. [obert S. Norris] writes about the Manhattan Project’s Manhattan locations. He says the borough had at least 10 sites, all but one still standing. They include warehouses that held uranium, laboratories that split the atom, and the project’s first headquarters — a skyscraper hidden in plain sight right across from City Hall.

“It was supersecret,” Dr. Norris said in an interview. “At least 5,000 people were coming and going to work, knowing only enough to get the job done.”

[source]

Heterocephalus glaber

From Blog Around the Clock, we have words of wisdom:

Do you agree that Naked Mole Rats are beautiful? Does it irk you to no end when you hear someone state that they are ugly? Does it make you mad when the MSM, oblivious, ignorant and insensitive, repeats that standard denialists’ trope? Are you sick-and-tired of the “he-said-she-said” journalism that just HAS to, every time, quote some anti-naked-mole-rat bigot whenever these lovely animals are mentioned? Are you aware that a Heterocephalus glaber is not allowed to run for office in 27 states of the USA? These days, you cannot even slander atheists in a political speech any more without paying the price at the polls, yet it is deemed perfectly normal to crack jokes at the poor defenseless rodent! Why? Just because it is hairless, i.e., DIFFERENT than most of us!

Coturnix points us to a Facebook community in support of Heterocephalus glaber. I’m not a facebook member, so I’ll forgo that visit for now.

I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring regarding naked mole rats. Richard Wrangham and I wrote a paper in which we argued that many of the key derived evolutionary features of this amazing rodent are similar to, and derived for the same reasons, as key features in our ancestors, the Australopiths. You might think we were talking about their nakedness (which we share) or their complex society (which we share) or their African origins (which we share). But actually, we were talking about their jaws and teeth, and related to that, their diet. You see, human ancestors, we argue, underwent key evolutionary changes because they started to eat roots. Same with Naked Mole rats. Roots, it turns out, are at the root of it all. See this for more details.

For the first time in more than 40 years, the majority of children in public schools in the South are poor, according to a report released Tuesday.

The study is described here.

The only known photograph of Dog Rebel Leader Che Chiwawa Muffinhead (from a KGB file)

First, this:

A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver’s trigger.
[source]

A Tama man was injured when hunting dogs stepped on his gun.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said James Harris, 37, was pheasant hunting with a group about three miles north of Grinnell when the accident happened.

Officials said the group had shot a bird and when Harris went to retrieve it, he put his gun on the ground and crossed a fence. As he crossed the fence, hunting dogs stepped on his gun causing it to fire.
[source]

and now, it spreads across the globe:

A German dog has shot and killed its owner, police said Wednesday.

The 51-year-old man, who had been out hunting with his shotgun, was found dead beside his car near the southwestern town of Bad Urach Monday.
[source]

What next?

[Hat tip: CMF]

I just read a very disturbing post on Pharyngula that will be of general interest to those concerned with guns and violence, and of particular interest to those in the Twin Cities.

It all starts with a letter written by a Hamline University student in response to an email sent around to the student body regarding security. The outcome of this letter was that the student was suspended, which on the face of it, seems absurd. Students should be allowed to, even encouraged to, express their opinions, and if those opinions differ from those of the school administration, so be it.

So it seems wrong that the student was suspended. However, it is not such a simple situation. The student was suspended and encouraged or required to seek psychiatric help, with the implication that he can return to school at a later time. If you read the letter, you may agree with that response, and even if you don’t agree with it, you will likely see it as being at least one reasonable option if not the best.

(I particularly like PZ’s alternative solution, given near the end of his post.)

Check it out.

From Slashdot:

“The Linux device driver project has hit something of a snag: they have lots of developers, but few devices to work on, so they’re looking for input concerning which devices aren’t well-supported in Linux. If any of you know of devices that could use better support, you can help out by listing them on the project’s wiki.”