A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

May 17 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Politics

Politics

Laurie Kellman writing for the Associated Press on some silly shit happening in Congress right now:

The House voted 222-205 to reauthorize the 1994 Violence Against Women Act for five years, as the Senate already had done. But big differences remain: Obama, other Democrats and a long list of advocacy groups say the House bill doesn’t go far enough to protect abused immigrants, Native Americans or gays. Republicans say their bill does more to protect taxpayers from fraud and maintains the constitutionality of law enforcement procedures on Indian land.

Democrats: “This bill does not do enough of these largely unrelated things.”

Republicans: “Yes, but it does do enough of these completely unrelated things.”

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May 16 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Roofer saves co-worker who fell through roof into nitric acid tank

Roofer saves co-worker who fell through roof into nitric acid tank

The AP and the Daily News of New York:

Rob Nuckols, 51, was working on the ground floor Monday morning at Swepco Tube LLC when his colleague Martin Davis plunged through a roof and into the vat of diluted acid and became fully submerged, officials said.

He jumped into the vat and was waist-high while he and three others pulled Davis out, Clifton Fire Chief Vince Colavitti told The Record of Woodland Park. The vat contained a 40 to 70 percent nitric acid solution used for cleaning metal tubing.

What a supremely awesome dude.

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May 15 2012
Mark Twain, probably

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9iiO-EVb-A

BBC News:

Bass guitarist Donald “Duck” Dunn, who played with Booker T and the MGs, has died in Tokyo aged 70.

The MGs were the house band for Stax Records, and Dunn can be heard on songs such as Otis Redding’s Respect and Sam and Dave’s Hold On, I’m Comin’.

Let’s all listen to “Hold On, I’m Comin’” in tribute.

Also, previously on Nullary Sources: “Green Onions.”

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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May 14 2012
Mark Twain, probably

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXCZVmQ74OA

Tom McCarthy for The Guardian:

After building a political campaign that was long on passion and grassroots support, if ultimately short of votes, Texas congressman Paul announced today that he is suspending his hunt for the presidency.

The candidate urged supporters to continue their efforts to amass delegates at state conventions, however, as part of a strategy to gain a voice at the Republican National Convention – and influence over the direction of the party.

“We will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted,” the Paul campaign said in a statement sent to reporters. “Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have.”

Ron Paul’s “BIG DOG” ad is pretty easily my favorite ad from this election season, and I’ve been waiting for something like this to post it. My tribute to Ron Paul now devoting all his time to his shadow campaign.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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May 14 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Claims of assassination plot hidden in crossword puzzle ridiculed by critics in Venezuela

Claims of assassination plot hidden in crossword puzzle ridiculed by critics in Venezuela

The Associated Press:

Government critics, and even some supporters, are ridiculing a state TV host’s allegation that a newspaper crossword puzzle may have had a hidden call for a plot to kill President Hugo Chavez’s elder brother.

Intelligence agents questioned the author of the puzzle after state TV presenter Miguel Perez Pirela pointed out that Wednesday’s crossword contained the word “ASESINEN,” or kill, intersecting with the name of Chavez’s brother, “ADAN.” He noted they were below the word “RAFAGAS,” meaning either gusts of wind or bursts of gunfire.

I’m assuming the people who believed this are the same people who believed “NYC” in Wingdings was anti-Semitic code.

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May 13 2012
Mark Twain, probably

The above photograph was taken by Horst Faas in Vietnam in 1965. The AP:

Faas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning combat photographer who carved out new standards for covering war with a camera and became one of the world’s legendary photojournalists in nearly half a century with the AP, died Thursday in Munich, said his daughter, Clare Faas. He was 79.

I’ve never heard of the man, but he took some damn good photos. MSNBC’s PhotoBlog has the AP article I quoted above and a selection of other photos.

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May 12 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Modern Mechanix: “SEX in Advertising”

Modern Mechanix: “SEX in Advertising”

Modern Mechanix is usually good for a lark. This week’s recommendation comes from the march 1964 issue of Sexology.

On the plus side, it makes me feel good that this was being acknowledged and discussed as early as the 1960s.

However:

“Today,” said Justice J. Erwin Shapiro in what may be a historic censorship case, “skirts are shorter and the outlined erogenous areas of women are taken matter-of-factly. The under-garment model has dropped the mask from her eyes and looks at you slyly as she displays the advantages of any-brand’s lira and girdle in advertisements published in ladies’ magazines and our most respected newspapers and in telecasts coming into the home… .”

(emph. added) WHY IS THIS SO CREEPY

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May 11 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Blond hair evolved separately in Europe and the South Pacific

Blond hair evolved separately in Europe and the South Pacific

Karen Kaplan for the Los Angeles Times’s Booster Shots blog:

Though the indigenous people of the Solomon Islands all have dark skin, about 5% to 10% also have naturally blond hair – and a new study finds that the genetic quirk responsible for this is different from the one that produces blond hair in people of European ancestry.

…

Many Westerners had assumed that encounters with European explorers and traders over the years had introduced a blond gene into the Melanesian gene pool.

Evolution is weird.

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May 10 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Ohio deputy fired for making inmates dance

Ohio deputy fired for making inmates dance

Kantele Franko, Associated Press:

A northeast Ohio sheriff fired a deputy for ordering five jail inmates to dance to a song by Usher in exchange for privileges such as using a phone or microwave, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.

AAAAAARGH

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May 09 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Court: No 1st Amendment protection for Facebook ‘like’

Court: No 1st Amendment protection for Facebook ‘like’

The AP:

Exactly what a “like” means — if anything — played a part in a case in Virginia involving six people who say Hampton Sheriff B.J. Roberts fired them for supporting an opponent in his 2009 re-election bid, which he won. The workers sued, saying their First Amendment rights were violated.

…

While public employees are allowed to speak as citizens on matters of public concern, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that clicking the “like” button does not amount to expressive speech. In other words, it’s not the same as writing out a message and posting it on the site.

I think I agree with Eugene Volokh’s disagreement with the ruling later in the article, but this is really quite new territory.

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