Bill O'Reilly, still and idiot

Bill O'Reilly recently claimed that Canadian life expectancy is "to be expected" because the USA has 10x the population of Canada. (Reminder: this is one of the top-rated talking heads on the teevee.)

The best part: Paul Krugman's response to O'Reilly's logic? "I need a drink."



Paul Krugman's response to O'Reilly's logic? "I need a drink."

Shatner does Palin

What more is there to say?

Icons

After seeing this last night:



























...I found myself playing with this website last night. My masterpiece? This beauty:

TriNations and the history of the Springbock/AllBlacks rivalry

Really neat video on the history of the rugby rivalry between New Zealand and South Africa.

Here are parts 1-3.

The farm of the future?

Is this the farm of the future? A $50M Camarillo hothouse tomato farm that produces all it's own energy and treats and recycles it's own water.

Elizabeth Edwards on health care reform

"Let me say to the American public: if you hear somebody saying, we can't afford healthcare reform, because...if they use any of these words: "socialization," or "government control of your healthcare decisions," or if they mention "England," "France," or "Canada," you can be assured that they are not telling you the truth. They are trying to scare you away from a plan that can make a real difference, not just in American families, but in the American economy as a whole."

Excerpted from the Rachel Maddow Show, 7/23/09

The battle rages on...

Le cochon! Le cochon!

Oh, this is fantastic! Gotta try cheering for the pig imitation the next time the flight attendant is doing the pre-flight safety training.

Perseid meteor shower

The Perseids are coming! Time to head to Courtright....

The new Pacific Institute report Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future is an interesting read. Check it out here.

The SF Chronicle covers the story here.

From the article:

Comparison of Water Quantities

For an average water year, the water conservation and efficiency practices identified in this Pacific Institute report have the potential to save 5.6 million acre-feet of water, equivalent to:

• more than 16 times the amount of water that can be stored in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir;
• triple the water that can be stored in the far larger San Luis Reservoir;
• 4.5 times the water than could be stored in the proposed Temperance Flats Reservoir;
• 19 times the water restored to the environment in the recent Delta smelt ruling;
• more than double the 2.3 million acre-feet in urban efficiency improvements identified in the Pacific Institute’s earlier evaluation of the potential for residential, commercial, and industrial efficiency improvements (Waste Not, Want Not).

This savings represents around 17% of all of the water used by agriculture in California.

Farmer In Chief

For anyone interested in the local food movement, this is necessary reading: Farmer in Chief by Michael Pollan

Dan Tubagoo interview

An in-depth interview with Sarah Palin's now unemployed speechwriter, Dan Tubagoo.




Dan Tubagoo, Part II.

Bernie Sanders on health care reform

Bernie Sanders telling it like it is. Fuckin' a.

"I don't wanna shock anybody, have people dashing out of the room, but... the VA is a socialized health care system, isn't it Mr. McCain?"

SpaceX launch

Wow. SpaceX apparently launched a commercial satellite in orbit for the first time using a two-stage Falcon rocket which the company developed and built from scratch. A new day for aerospace tech.

Bastille Day!

Fireworks from ze Tour Eiffel. Oui.

Evolution

Your daily taste of poetry:

D is for Darwin
His theory is liable
To confuse the poor folks
Who depend on the Bible

Republicans block their own health care ammendments

Taking their obstructionism to an entirely new level today, Republicans blocked their own amendments to the Senate health care bill.

Your government in action (or inaction?).

More from Paul Thorn

Some really nice Paul Thorn lyrics here; a classic songwriting style, too. The music doesn't do the song justice, so I'll just post the words.

Where Was I?

On a black and white TV

Back in grammar school

I was watching Neal Armstrong

Walking on the moon

That same day I pretended

I was an astronaut

On the playground monkey bars

I flew above the stars

I was in a Dallas disco

The night John Lennon died

The D.J. played "Imagine"

And everybody cried

I remember a thousand lighters

Held up in our hands

All we were saying

Was "Let's give peace a chance"

But where was I when you stopped loving me?

When did I become history

There's not many things

That escape my memory

Tell me where was I when you stopped loving me?

Every twenty-thousand years

That comet lights up the night

On a blanket we watched

It sail across the sky

A moment like that

Comes just once in life

It felt like our first time

At eleven-thirty-five

But where was I when you stopped loving me?

When did I become history

There's not many things

That escape my memory

Tell me where was I when you stopped loving me?

I remember when I met you

The taste of our first kiss

I remember your goodbye

But could you tell me this:

Where was I when you stopped loving me?

When did I become history

There's not many things

That escape my memory

Tell me where was I when you stopped loving me?

Health Care Costs in America

Screenshot from Moyers Journal July 10, 2009; food for thought.

Paul Thorn

I just discovered Paul Thorn.

"I fell in love for the first time when I was ten years old. We're not together anymore -- I remember she had one of her friends call me and break up with me over the telephone. When I heard the sad news, I collapsed crying into my Planet of the Apes sheets, and my momma brought me some chocolate swirl ice cream to try to make me feel better. We all know that only time can heal your broken heart, and we've all got somebody from our past that we used to be so in love with, we thought we could never be over them, but today, if we saw them in WalMart, we would duck down the other aisle so we wouldn't have to talk to 'em. Glory to god."