An oral history of Mork and Mindy.
In doing too much reading on the tragic mass shooting in San Bernadino, I happened to come across this New Yorker story about Amy Bishop, a microbiologist at the University of Alabama who shot six of her colleagues, killing three of them, after being denied tenure. It’s absolutely riveting. Go read it now.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a bill like this introduced in the 2017 Legislative session.
“Nearly two dozen beer drinkers in Oregon, California and Washington state have banded together in a lawsuit seeking to block the planned merger of the two biggest beer-makers in the world on antitrust grounds.”
One hundred years of general relativity, though of course it would be less than that if you were traveling close to the speed of light.
What tougher than diamonds means in real life.
“New York City is being sued over a new rule requiring chain restaurants to put salt-shaker icons on menu items that contain high levels of salt.”
I don’t have anything intelligent to say about this, I just like saying the word “starquake”.
A “where are they now?” feature on nine one-time YouTube sensations.
“There are aspects of gun violence that are predictable. Everyday violence is linked to alcohol use, it’s linked to past histories of violence. It’s linked to social networks of violence.”
“The wide availability of dangerous, non-native snakes in the United States comes courtesy of the reptile lobby, a group of snake dealers, hobbyists, and trade groups that has fought for years against government efforts to restrict the trade in Burmese pythons, spitting cobras, and other scary snakes.” Yes, we are in the thrall of Big Snake.
“I mean, say what you will about our 17th century ancestors, but at least they didn’t have a second tulip bubble in 1657.”
What Scalzi says.
Our national Milgram experiment, and the background chorus behind it.
“An online class is enough training to qualify for a concealed-carry permit in some states, while soldiers and police officers are trained for months or years. Even this training has not been sufficient to keep some police officers from fatally shooting unarmed black men and boys. Do we really think an online certification is enough to enable average Americans to take the law into their own hands?”
“Why should “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” be more authoritatively canonical than, say, “Here Comes Santa Claus”?”
“There’s another equally valid way of seeing Trump: that he is the (perhaps unintended) consequence of religious conservatives’ quest for a politician-savior.”
“Trump is the logical end result of an endless series of assaults on not just American liberalism, but on democratic institutions themselves, by the American right for many years. It is the long-term creep of radicalization of the right come home to roost.”
“This is just some girl throwing a hissy fit, as far as I’m concerned.”
“It is the height of journalistic cowardice to attack the president behind your children. If your kids are shaken by what they see on cable news, then don’t let them watch cable news. In fact, that’s a very good notion of child-raising all on its own.”
“The whole point of dog-whistle politics is subtlety and coded language. Trump’s racism, however, is explicit and overt.”
Three words: Test tube puppies. You’re welcome.
RIP, John “Hot Rod” Williams, former NBA player.
#StayMadAbby. Indeed.
“With the sudden stroke of a gavel on Saturday night, representatives of 195 countries reached a landmark climate accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change.”
RIP, Audrey Lawson, civic leader and advocate for children.