Epilogue

Back home at 11. Said hi to my family. I've eaten, watched some Planet of the Apes, played some Halo 3 online.

Perfect.

Insult to Injury

I leave the office at 9:15. I just miss a train and the next one is 15 minutes away. And then the damn hockey game let's out and now me and hundreds of others (all wearing jerseys) will be fighting to get onto the train.

Perfect.

Friday Night Blah

As I sit here at my desk at 8:37PM on a Friday night, waiting for my 16 minute film to render on the computer, I reflect on my long career as a filmmaker and – hey, wait a minute.  I’m an attorney.

 

Oy.

Huge Relief

Things have been stressful lately.

A few weeks ago I volunteered to create an orientation video for a new-employee retreat. I have some screenwriting experience and by necessity had produced a couple of "funny" videos for work events over the last few years. It's always enjoyable and beats regular work. So when I was asked to repeat the performance, I of course accepted.

As of Sunday night, that seemed like a big mistake.

To do this right, I bought a new camcorder (which I was planning on anyway) and new video editing software, Adobe Premiere Elements 8. I ended up getting a new video card and various other accessories.

The shoot itself has gone well. I've filmed people and places around work and gotten a lot of good footage. The narration, which I've never done before, was successfully recorded and everything looked on track. Then came the reality of our computer, our ancient computer.

The software was slow to load and easy to crash. I put together the first minute of the video and hit a wall. The software became so sluggish that over last weekend I made no progress. The Task Manager showed that I was running the CPU constantly at 100%. And my deadline is this coming Monday.

At work yesterday I was resigned to failure. I just couldn't figure out how to make the project work. By coincidence, while filming on Friday I had discovered that someone in another Bureau used the same software to produce work videos. I remembered this on Monday and realized I had one chance; to get myself a much faster work computer on which I could install my software.

After some pushing, a new machine was brought into my office today, I successfully installed the software and I'm back in business. I can't do the work at home now and I may have to go into the office this weekend, but the project will get done. Hopefully.

It is a huge relief. A huge, unbelievable relief.

Balloon boy's Father is a loon? Shocking!

Robert Thomas, who worked with Heene, has been talking to sheriff's investigators about what he observed between the Heene parents - both amateur storm-chasers - when he helped record Richard's ideas earlier this year.

Thomas's lawyer Linda Lee said Richard Heene was "obsessed" with trying to land a TV show and become famous.

"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," she said.

"Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding." Link

I hope someone tells him that the bunker will have to be at least 12 feet below ground. Any less than that won't be completely protected when the sun explodes. Those last couple of feet make a BIG difference.

A ghost took a shot at me

A few minutes ago, I was sitting here at my computer at work, just typing away.  Suddenly, to my right came a HUGE popping noise - like a light bulb breaking at EXTREME volume.  I noticed a tiny bit of movement out of the corner of my eye but no other disturbance.  I have searched around my office and found nothing that would generate such a sound.  No broken bulb, nothing fallen off the wall, no cracked furniture, no fried electronics.  The person in the office next to mine came running in when it happened and asked what the pop was, so it wasn’t my imagination.

After such an event, some people would assume that there was some supernatural cause.  It was a poltergeist, or a demon, or a ghost, or a whatever.  That it was a warning from god or a message from satan.  That the all-encompassing spirit of Gaia was trying to tell me something.  That assumption wouldn’t be their considered opinion after eliminating all other possibilities; it would be their “go to” idea.  For my part, I know it was a natural occurrence, and hopefully I’ll figure out what it was.  It’s possible I won’t ever know.  But that would be no justification to make up some ghostly BS just so I feel like I figured it out.

That’s the difference between a skeptic and a woo woo.

Dear Atheists, please shut up

USA Today features a terrible article about the "new" "new" atheists and how they're so much better than the "new" atheists. Yeah, the article makes about that much sense. It's purportedly about Bruce Shieman's new book, An Atheist Defends Religion: Why Humanity is Better Off With Religion than Without It.

The old atheists said there was no God. The so-called "New Atheists" said there was no God, and they were vocally vicious about it. Now, the new "New Atheists" — call it Atheism 3.0 — say there's still no God, but maybe religion isn't all that bad.

Right off the bat there are the typical swipes at the "New Atheists", by which they mean the most well-known modern proponents of Atheism, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. They're vocally vicious! Oh no!

Faith provides meaning and purpose for millions of believers, inspires people to tend to each other and build communities, gives them a sense of union with a transcendent force, and provides numerous health benefits, Sheiman says. Moreover, the galvanizing force behind many achievements in Western civilization has been faith, Sheiman argues, while conceding that he limits his analysis, for the most part, to modern Western religion.

He neglects to mention the significant downsides in Western religion, of course, and apparently also excludes everyone not involved in "modern Western religion" -- aka the majority of religious people on the planet. And since there is no such thing as a "transcendent force" some of what he says is just nonsense. He also fails to note the very real possibility that without religion, many achievements in Western civilization would still have occurred. Why? Because people are still smart and industrious even without superstition.

"More than any other institution, religion deserves our appreciation and respect because it has persistently encouraged people to care deeply — for the self, for neighbors, for humanity, and for the natural world — and to strive for the highest ideals humans are able to envision," Sheiman writes.

Yeah. Tell that to the victims of fundamentalism the world over. Tell that to women in the Middle East. Christians in Muslim countries. Young boys in the Catholic Church. Atheists in America. Jews almost anywhere.

Having thus praised religion, now it's time for some old-fashioned atheist bashing!

In recent years, the skeptical scene has been dominated by the New Atheists —Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and others — who argue in best-selling books that religious faith is a mental illness, or worse.

Yes, mental illness. We'll just lump them all together, take the worst quote we can find and then pretend that's their entire position! See how easy it is to demonize someone!

"The work that we need to do, we atheists, humanists and non-believers, is to build a better world and not try to tear down those with whom we disagree," said Greg M. Epstein, the Humanist chaplain at Harvard University.

"When our goal is erasing religion, rather than embracing human beings, we all lose."

Epstein argues in his forthcoming book, Good without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, that morality does not depend on a judgmental deity and that nonbelievers can lead meaningful, even purpose-driven, lives. But they can also learn from people of faith, such as California megachurch pastor and Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren, Epstein says.

First of all, NONE of the atheists are trying to ERASE religion. That's a strawman. What they are arguing is that irrational belief should not be the basis of public policy. That's because you can't come to rational compromise with such beliefs because they are absolute and based on nothing tangible. Also, Rick Warren is a huge dumbass.

The stupidity ends with this:

"There was a moment when atheist books were selling," Dacey said. "But people like objectivity, they like the feeling of balance. So after this wave of atheist books and the criticism that they are extremist, people are trying to find a happy medium."

Ah yes, the "happy medium" where atheists, who have been a fairly quiet voice until recently, should sit down and shut up because they're upsetting the believers by disagreeing with them. If only they could have applied this logic to other minority groups throughout American history!

Here's the thing that none of these "New new Atheists" seem to get. You don't tell the minority to sit down and shut up when you're standing on their neck.

Glenn Beck hates points of light

More proof that Glenn Beck has gone off the reservation.

Celebrities are coming together to make it cool to volunteer. Disney gives you a free day at the park. This is all fine, but doesn't it seem a little bit convenient that all of this comes out now at the same time the Obama administration is calling for it? Obama controls the message through the media he holds in his pocket. Or in his little hand. And soon if you disobey, he'll just go [Beck slaps his hand]. Now the message will be embedded in television shows. Isn't this great? Aren't you proud of what we're doing? Oh, this certainly is change.

Yes, it IS a bit convenient. Let's review: the President issues a call to volunteer and people respond. Hmm. How sinister. This is clearly a conspiracy to somehow screw over Americans.

Is it wrong to hope that those sinister "volunteer" firemen don't show up if Beck's house catches on fire?

I guess he's forgetting this: 1000 Points of Light.

Huffington Post: You suck

More stupid alt-med nonsense from the Huffington Post.


Yes, that's another article in favor of homeopathy, a ridiculous idea with no basis in science invented by a guy in the 18th century that, if it actually worked, would have to be because of MAGIC.

Without going into the whole nonsense, Homeopathy uses dilutions of "medicines" which are diluted so much that there isn't a single molecule of the "medicine" in the final "remedy". They get around this by claiming that water has "memory", a ludicrous claim that would mean that not only would water remember the "medicine" in question but every other material it had ever touched, making every drop of water on Earth a deadly pharmacopoeia or a universal healing potion. Homeopathic "remedies" are just water and rely solely on the placebo effect.

In short, homeopathy is a dangerous pseudo-science that kills people who rely on it rather than actual, effective, safe medication. Shame on the Huffington Post for their continued support of this crap.

Keep your primitive superstitions to yourself

Evangelical Christians. This is YOUR responsibility.

The idea of witchcraft is hardly new, but it has taken on new life recently partly because of a rapid growth in evangelical Christianity. Campaigners against the practice say around 15,000 children have been accused in two of Nigeria’s 36 states over the past decade and around 1,000 have been murdered. In the past month alone, three Nigerian children accused of witchcraft were killed and another three were set on fire.

Nigeria is one of the heartlands of abuse, but hardly the only one: the United Nations Children’s Fund says tens of thousands of children have been targeted throughout Africa.

Children are dying because evangelical missionaries are taking their primitive superstitions and spreading them around extremely poor societies which don't have the social structure to prevent these outrages. While there is the occasional incident of this sort in the U.S., such an event inflames the public and results in criminal charges. But in impoverished Africa, there are no such protections for children.

Don't believe it's your fault? Am I being unfair?

Do you believe in the existence of witches as it says in the Bible? Does the Bible not say that you should not suffer a witch to live? Do you export your religion and your belief in a literal, infallible Bible? If yes, then it's your fault. BECAUSE YOU ARE ACTUALLY GOOFY ENOUGH TO BELIEVE IN WITCHES!

For shame.

Media Criticism over Balloon Boy

In the wake of the whole "Balloon Boy" story, several pundits/editors/opiners have been criticizing the media for their live crisis coverage. I don't blame the media at all. After all . . .

A 6-year old boy flying around in an out-of-control balloon is a HUGE FRAKKING STORY.

They had no way to figure out it was a hoax at the time and really, if you were running a news network, would you choose not to run the live story?

A little light reading material

Over the past year, I've almost exclusively read books about World War II. Last fall I started Winston Churchill's six book epic, The Second World War. Then I read the over 1000 page The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer. And I finished with Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich. That's a full 6700 pages of a fascinating, violent, horrific and tragic story.

Now that I'm done, I'm moving on to something a little softer. Two nights ago I started Dave Cullen's Columbine.

Oy. I think I need some counseling.

Busy

I can't believe how busy I am. Busy at work. Busy at home. A half dozen projects are all moving forward at the same time. I am very stressed. I am very tired and there's weeks of work ahead. Aaaaugh.

Sweet

I'm on the bus and the guy sitting across from me just said on his cell phone that his daughter has Swine Flu. Awesome.

Hey, Glenn Beck. Overreact much?

The White House has been having a war of words over Fox's not actually being a news organization but rather a mouthpiece for the Republican party. Seems the White House was impolite enough to point this out. To Glenn Beck, this is obviously the beginning of the new Final Solution.

When they're done with Fox, and you decide to speak out on something. The old, "first they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish." When you have a question, and you believe that something should be asked, they're a -- totally fine with you right now; they have no problem with you.

Yes, Glenn. Criticism of Fox News is exactly like the Holocaust and you are the Jews. Maybe you should flee the country. Really.

Bill Maher is an alt-med dumbass

When you get pwned by former Senator Bill Frist of "I can diagnose Terri Schiavo from the Senate Floor" fame, you're seriously hurting. Maher doesn't believe in ANY vaccines, though how we eradicated polio and smallpox doesn't seem to occur to him. He completely wrongly believes that vaccines contain live disease which can cause the very disease they're trying to prevent. He seems to believe odd conspiracy theories about how the gubmint is involved in the vaccine business but states no reasons for his belief. And he quote mines crap that's either inaccurate or VERY old.

Frist does a decent job here but really needed to come out stronger against Maher's inexplicable smugness. At least Frist is right and telling it to Maher's face. Maher is spouting death here. People who listen to his advice could die.

Hey NOW. Overreact Much?

This was an easy one. In response to David Letterman's revelation of office affairs with some of his staff, the National Organization of Women ("NOW") decided to rush to judgment.

Recent developments in the David Letterman extortion controversy have raised serious issues about the abuse of power leading to an inappropriate, if not hostile, workplace environment for women and employees. In the case of Letterman, he is a multi-million dollar host of one of the most popular late-night shows; in that role, he wields the ultimate authority as to who gets hired, who gets fired, who gets raises, who advances, and who does entry-level tasks among the Late Show employees. As "the boss," he is responsible for setting the tone for his entire workplace -- and he did that with sex. In any work environment, this places all employees -- including employees who happen to be women -- in an awkward, confusing and demoralizing situation.
...
Every woman -- and every man -- deserves to work in a place where all employees are respected for their talents and skills. The National Organization for Women calls on CBS to recognize that Letterman's behavior creates a toxic environment and to take action immediately to rectify this situation. With just two women on CBS' Board of Directors, we're not holding our breath.

There's no evidence that Letterman created a "toxic environment" at his office. There's no evidence that he "abused" his position.

Let's be realistic here. There are certainly lots of workplaces where scumbag bosses harass and abuse their employees. They are contemptible and should be penalized. But there are also lots of workplace romances where both parties are willing, consensual adults. In Letterman's case, there is so far NO EVIDENCE that any of his affairs were anything but consensual. Why don't we wait to hear from the women involved before we hang Letterman in effigy?

If such evidence comes to light, then Letterman will deserve the scorn. If not, maybe NOW should be a little less knee-jerk. It doesn't endear people to their cause when they overreact.

Thoughts on Atheist Identity

I wear a Scarlet A on my collar identifying myself as an atheist. The reasons why at least some of us do this have been excellently summarized by VJACK in a post on Atheist Revolution.

What many Christians and more than a few atheists seem to have difficulty understanding is that atheism remains a pretty big deal in the U.S. It is widely perceived as a rejection of anything positive and as an embrace of pure evil. We are despised as arrogant, immoral, and treasonous by a vast segment of the populace. We are the ultimate scapegoats. One implication of this widespread anti-atheist bias is that publicly disclosing one's lack of god belief is far more significant than expressing one's lack of belief in monsters or fairies.

By declaring that I do not believe in unicorns, I am saying nothing of significance to anyone. However, by explaining that I think the existence of gods is no more likely than the existence of unicorns, I am making a statement with vast cultural implications. I am identifying myself as a member of a tiny and thoroughly hated minority.

Check out the whole post here: Thoughts on Atheist Identity

Unfortunately, no smell.

How awesome is this? It started with a Thinkgeek April's Fool's Day joke but people wanted it and Lucas approved. Now you can buy your own Tauntaun sleeping bag with lightsaber pull to simulate cutting it open. Thanks to Gizmodo.

Flu and other senseless deaths

The number of Swine Flu deaths in the United States is rising alarmingly.

The number of children who have died from swine flu has jumped sharply as the virus continues to spread widely around the United States, striking youngsters, teenagers, young adults and pregnant women unusually often, federal officials said Friday. . . . At least 37 states are reporting widespread flu activity, up from 27 a week ago.

Fortunately, we have a good vaccine that's just become available that will handle this. Unless people start acting like morons. Oh, too late.

Yes, the anti-vaxxers are endangering lives again. Now, not only are the anti-vaxxers endangering children from typical childhood diseases, they're endangering children from flu pandemics.

Mary Peterson of Des Moines, Washington, doesn't believe the vaccine for the novel H1N1 flu has been studied enough to get it for herself and her daughters, who are 1 and 3 years old.

"I wrestled with it," she said. "I think the side of caution in this case is just waiting until we have more information."
...
Peterson isn't against all vaccines -- she and her daughters have already gotten the seasonal flu vaccine, for example. But she is concerned about mercury in some of the new vaccine varieties. Thimerosal, a mercury preservative found in the multi-dose vial H1N1 vaccines, has been controversially linked to autism, though no studies have proved that theory. Peterson said she is also concerned about the toxicity of mercury.

I don't blame Ms. Peterson. She's just reacting to all the bullshit floated around the Internet. I blame the anti-vax morons like Jenny McCarthy and Generation Rescue whose lies kill children.

Listen up people: We know a GREAT DEAL about how to produce effective and safe flu vaccines. We've been doing it for decades. This is NO DIFFERENT.

Take this to heart: Vaccinations have saved more lives than any other medical procedure in history.

So get out, get vaccinated, get your kids vaccinated, and be safe.

A Nobel Retrospective

The announcement that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize obviously took almost everyone by surprise, generating tons of discussion. As far as I'm concerned, it was premature, a bit politically problematic, but not undeserved. We're always a little myopic in the United States and I don't think we realize what a sea change there's been in our image around the world. Nevertheless, this honor would have been much more satisfying later, rather than sooner.

But this should be kept firmly in mind: Obama had nothing to do with his getting the award. He didn't nominate himself, he didn't campaign for it. It was bestowed on him.

Keeping in mind the above, and that Obama is the American President and represents our country, there is a classy way to express some disapproval with the choice and a douchebaggy way. The classy way would have been something like this:

“Oh, I’m sure that the president is very honored to receive this award. And Nobel Committee, I can’t divine all their intentions, but I think part of their decision-making was expectations. And I’m sure the president understands that he now has even more to live up to. But as Americans, we’re proud when our president receives an award of that prestigious category.” John McCain.

Very straightforward and simple, expressing disapproval without being a huge douchebaggy baby about it. Excellent.

Let's see how some other prominent Republicans did!

"Something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award." Rush Limbaugh.

- Explicitly siding with America's enemies! While I personally believe that it's not treasonous to express agreement on an issue with an enemy, I think we all know how Rush would react had such a thing been said about someone agreeing with Iran about President Bush.

"The Nobel peace prize should be turned down by Barack Obama and should be given to the tea party goers and the 9/12 project. Because of the tea party goers and the 912 project people that stood in his way and stopped him from accomplishing from the things that he thought, 'Please I'm the messiah, I'll be able to accomplish that." Glenn Beck.

- If screaming at Congressmen, carrying assault rifles to Presidential speeches, and embracing every wacky conspiracy theory qualifies you for a Peace Prize, then I guess I can't argue with that. Notice how Beck seems jealous of his delusional idea that Obama thinks he's the Messiah.

"I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for it, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news. There is no way Barack Obama earned it in the nominations period." Erick Erickson (Red State)

- Well that was resfreshingly straightforward! He immediately went racist. Well done!

"I'm looking at the charter, and we're just getting this now, but this guy Alfred Nobel stipulated the Peace Prize should go to the person who will have done the most or the best work of the fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses. I'm wondering, does that have anything to do with the delay of the deployment of 40,000 troops in Afghanistan, because that was his big postulization [sic] over the last week or so. Should I put more troops in?" Brian Kilmeade

- Suggesting that Obama somehow knew that he was in contention for the prize and cynically manipulated American foreign policy to win it. Sweet.

This, coming just a week after their jubilation at America losing out on the Olympics, means I have to agree with John Stewart. Conservatives have finally proven that they hate Obama more than they love America.

Stay classy, GOP!

No joy

Clarksburg 28  Quince Orchard 34

Well that sucked.

Quince Orchard scored with 4 minutes to go. Clarksburg fumbled the kickoff and Quince Orchard tied the game with 50 seconds left in the game.
Overtime!

Are you ready for some . . .

Rachel's undefeated high school football team, the Clarksburg Coyotes, are playing the also undefeated, first ranked in the county, Quince Orchard Cougars.  At the half, Clarksburg was up 7 to 0. Quince Orchard scored early in the 3rd quarter to tie it up.
Then, after a strong drive, the Clarksburg QB ran in a touchdown. After a Quince Orchard turnover, the Clarksburg QB ran in another touchdown.  Quince Orchard scored again, making the score 21 to 14.
On the next possession, the Clarksburg QB ran in from the 40 yard line for his third consecutive touchdown!  Unbelievable. 
5 minutes left. Clarksburg up 28 to 14.

Melting

Gack!  I hate it when it's 85 degrees in October!  WTH?

Another humiliation for the U.S.

In a huge surprise this morning in Norway, President B. Hussein Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Obviously his corrupt cronies in "Big Prize" swung the vote to pave the way for socialism in America. How typical.
Seriously, what an awesome honor. The committee vote was unanimous.  It will be fun to see how far the right-wing will go to crap on this.

Halloween Madness

Ben started Middle School this year so we no longer have a kid in the local elementary school.  Carol still keeps in touch with parents that do, however, and last night heard an earful about a new school policy.

It turns out that the school has decided to cancel the annual Halloween party in which the kids dress up in their Halloween costume and parade through the school.  It’s a big annual event and, if our kids are any indication, loved by the students.  We did the same thing when I was in grade school (back in the stone age) and I know I loved it.  The school administrators want to instead hold a “Fall festival” or something and when asked specifically, said that costumes will be strictly verboten.  

So why would they do this?  I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.  

Yes, they’re doing it because some Christians are “opting out” of the dress-up due to concerns with the “morality” of Halloween and the Satanic implications of children dressed up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jedi.  While I think it’s a Dark Ages mentality to be afraid of kids wearing costumes, to be fair, as far as I know these Christians weren’t calling for abolition of the parade and it’s certainly their right to opt out, however ridiculous I might think that is.  And most Christians have no problem with Halloween.  In this case, the administrators seem to be acting preemptively.  So what percentage of kids “opt out”, creating this problem?  12%.  Yes, a mere 12% of kids are opting out so the school has decided to trash the entire event.

There was a lot of on-line discussion and Carol read some of it to me.  I am a little uncomfortable with the arguments by some in favor of the parade that “The 12% minority shouldn’t dictate what the rest of us can do.”  I agree with that but it’s a little too close to the common argument you hear from Christians who want to erect a 10 commandments monument on public ground or teach creationism in school.  They say that the minority of non-Christians (Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, etc.) should just “shut up and get out of the majority’s way.”  The difference, though, is that holding a Halloween party isn’t an unconstitutional violation of other’s rights, while the monument and teaching creationism are.  In this case, the school shouldn’t cancel a fun, healthy activity for 88% of the students because 12% of the students have parents who are afraid of witches.

There seems to be a lot of outrage so I hope the administration will feel some heat.  The community needs to rise up to protest this loss of a beloved tradition and keep a little bit of sanity in the school.   

 

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga, a "newish" pop artist has been in the news a lot lately since she has a hot album out and was touring with the infamous Kanye West until he canceled his part of the tour. I like her first single, "Poker Face," even though I HATE stuttering alliteration in music, especially stuttering that involves the "P' sound.

She appeared on Saturday Night Live last weekend and took part in a couple of skits, one of which played her off Madonna, suggesting that maybe she's Madonna's successor. She certainly has the same confidence and ability to market herself as Madonna.

But one thing her two musical performances on SNL proved, she has talent. You might not like her style of music, her bizarre costuming or her flamboyance, but she can really sing.

Here's a link to her second performance which was a medley of her songs. And here's her first.

I don't usually watch much of the musical performances on SNL but I watched both of these all the way through.

Facebook Status

Ipecac is really annoyed that his wife woke him up to talk about something five minutes before his alarm was going to go off.

Apples

In the spring of this year, Carol brought home a bag of apples from the grocery. I have never been a big fan of uncooked apples and rarely ate one. But for some reason (there probably wasn't anything else to eat in the house) I did this time and was instantly hooked. I don't know what kind it was, but it was crisp and sweet and started me on an apple kick.

Since then, I've become something of an apple connoisseur. I've tried pretty much everything at the local supermarkets and whenever I have a chance to try a new variety, I do. I've had Fuji, Gala, Royal Gala, McIntosh, Red Delicious, Braeburn, Golden Crisp, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and certainly a few more I'm forgetting. My favorite is the Braeburn which is very crisp and sweet. I eat about an apple a day (though I've continued seeing the doctor).

I was reading an excellent post at EXUrbanPedestrian the other day wherein she mentions her discovery of an awesome apple, the Honeycrisp. I've had Honeycrisps and they are quite good. They are also quite huge. We're talking grapefruit sized.

I've been meaning to post these pics and XUP's post served as a reminder and a perfect excuse. I bought this monster at the weekly Farmer's Market near my work a couple of weeks ago. The apples were $2.69 a pound and this thing cost more than $2.69. It was so big it was hard for me to get my teeth into it. It is truly the king of the apples.

That's a big apple. (And the one on the left is big too.)

We really could have used this for Ben

This new gyroscope wheel makes learning to ride a bike easy, without training wheels!



Awesome. Aside from all the crap going on politically, militarily and socially, it's a cool time to be alive.

Another week in WTF

Yesterday on an Air India flight, two pilots got into a punching fight with the cabin crew. By some reports, the four were actually fighting in the galley while NO ONE WAS FLYING THE PLANE!

Endangering the lives of 106 passengers and grossly violating safety norms, the airline staffers came to blows in the cockpit and galley of the Indian Airlines Airbus A-320 as the aircraft cruised over Pakistan en route to Delhi via Lucknow from Sharjah.

The cabin-vs-cockpit tiff originated on the ground in Sharjah itself and then turned into a full-blown fight once IC 884 took off soon after midnight.

The cabin crew is saying that the pilots sexually harassed the female hostess. The pilots are saying that the belligerent male steward burst into the cockpit in anger and had to be forcibly ejected. One additionally bizarre event, when the plane landed at its second destination, 70 of the passengers deplaned (many presumably out of concern with the behavior of the crew) and no one reported the incident! The plane took off again with the same crew and the remaining 36 passengers to its eventual destination of Delhi.

Hey Olympic-haters. Overreact Much?

Welcome to my new recurring feature, "Overreact Much?"

Over the past few months we've seen opponents of the President go absolutely nuts over the silliest things; things that never raised a peep when other Presidents did them. Like talking to American schoolchildren. And, of course, it's not just conservatives who overreact, finding material for this should be a cakewalk.

In my inaugural post, let's look at the huge overreaction to the President's trip to Denmark to try to sway the IOC to bring the Olympics to Chicago!

President Obama's failure to grab gold in his personal quest to send the 2016 Olympics to Chicago was a stunning setback for a president who has enjoyed a pop star reception abroad.

But Obama's stumble may cost him more than the $1.2 million of taxpayer money to make the overnight dash from Washington to Copenhagen.

Obama and first lady Michelle Obama risked their political capital and the prestige of the presidency on an enormous Olympic campaign that resulted in an early exit for Chicago and the top prize going to Rio de Janeiro. Fox News

Ah, yes. A stunning setback that risked the prestige of the Presidency. Overreact much?

"It demeans the office," said GOP consultant Brad Blakeman, a former Bush administration official. "For the president to be reduced to the effect of the Billy Mays pitchman for the United States to get the Olympics for his home city of Chicago is just not something that presidents do."

Let's see, the last I heard, hosting the Olympics was a coveted, prestigious prize which creates billions of dollars of investment in the host country, something we could use right now. Had Bush tried to secure the Olympics would FOX News be whining?

"Other than people who like to cheer, 'We're No. 4! We're No. 4!' I don't know how this is anything but really embarrassing," Republican strategist Rich Galen said, adding that Obama's failed pitch will probably be the joke on Capitol Hill for weeks to come. CNN

Stop it! You're killing me! The President spent less than four hours in Copenhagen in an attempt to capture this huge prize and was unsuccessful. Yes, that is hilarious.

Dumbasses.

EDITED TO ADD: Got to give credit to one conservative who put things into perspective. Nice job, Joe S.

A Terrible Crime

This story has been all over the Internet, but for simplicity's sake I'll link to PZ's post as I agree completely with it. It's a story of a horrible injustice.

The story of Cameron Todd Willingham (via Digby) ought to be read by everyone. Willingham seems to have been a kind of Texan dumbass, an uneducated, wife-beating piece of work, but he was also the father of three children, who he, by all accounts, loved. Those kids died in a house fire. Forensic 'experts' declared the fire an arson, Willingham was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder, and was executed.

Only problem: he didn't do it. The fire experts were good ol' boys who were operating on folklore and fairy tales about how fires propagated; real experts have looked at the scene and since declared that it was an accidental fire. Nobody killed those little girls, but their father was killed for their deaths.

That's not the most disturbing part of the story to me. You have to watch these videos of Judge John Jackson (he was prosecutor in the case, and is now a judge). He openly admits that the evidence for arson was weak, and that he looked at the circumstances to determine Willingham's guilt. Those circumstances? Willingham was a low-class ruffian with tattoos of skulls who like heavy metal music. Therefore, he was probably a satanist. Therefore, he probably killed his children.

I recommend you watch Part two of the video here. It's pretty short. If it doesn't make you want to pound in the face of this smug, arrogant, ignorant judge who sent a grieving guy to his death for nothing, you're either colder or stronger than I am.