Rev Moon finally freaking dies

To which I say, Hallejuah! The guy who fleeced thousands and thousands of young people out of every last cent, out of  promising futures, in many cases stealing their very dignity using the religious protection racket, has finally passed away. Alas, the cause of death was not slow roasting in flames or lingering necrotizing genitalia, as would be appropriate for a social predator of this caliber: [Read more…]

A feint and a debacle

It was bad enough that the GOP was running around virtually in drag pretending to love women and minorities all week, while quietly or not so quietly nailing down planks on their platform that would more appropriate if read to the illiterate masses by a 14th century small-town crier. Plus Clint Eastwood was up there, a debacle that will be cruelly dissected elsewhere — just not here. Then there was touching witness to the generous side of Romney that We the People and billions dollars worth of media have somehow failed to perceive: [Read more…]

Hurricane Isaac

As of PM Eastern Time the National Weather Service shows Hurricane Isaac tracking true and steady for landfall smack dab on the Mississippi delta and passing right over New Orleans on Wednesday morning, seven years to the day Katrina hit that same spot. The landfall range at this juncture is not a lock, the storm could wobble and drift; if it does come close it matters a great deal exactly which side of the city the eye passes over. If Isaac’s center passes just to the east it means the traditionally weaker side of the storm hits NOLA proper. If Isaac jogs a bit to the west that would take the most powerful part of the eye wall right over the heavily populated, low-laying sections that were flooded in 2005.

The good news is, currently, Isaac is not likely to be a major hurricane, i.e. cat 3 or greater. Via Dr. Jeff Masters at the WeatherUnderground: [Read more…]

What pray tell is life?

On a hypothetical simmering ocean world, under an oversized blue-white star, the tendrils of one of sci-fi writer Steven Baxter’s “Qax” reach out to the limb of another in the distance.

It’s fair to think we know life when we see it. But is that really true? Scientists have worked on defining life for decades, and in most cases they’ve ended up with a pragmatic suite a characteristics that’s both useful and clearly incomplete. With the recent focus on Mars, the effort is rejoined. Here’s one stab at it: [Read more…]

It’s a healthcare scandal!

This ad appeared yesterday showing a man who was laid off from his job of many years after a Bain managed buy out and bankruptcy. He eventually found a job as a janitor at half his previous pay, but without health benefits. You know how this day story ends, those of us living from shitty paycheck to shitty paycheck see it all too often. His wife developed undetected cancer, it progressed, until the symptoms were so pronounced he had to take her to an ER. It was too late, she died 24 days later from stage 4 metastatic cancer. The Romney campaign was quick to point what would have saved her though! [Read more…]