Dec 30, 2016

More Bad News

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková will NOT destroy the earth this time around, so our long global nightmare will continue for (probably) another 5.25 years - until it comes back around.


Of course, with "President" Chaos in the White House, the odds improve greatly for the end to come a little sooner.

Sleep well.

Commerce Marches On

From WaPo today:
A new law in Michigan will prohibit local governments from banning, regulating or imposing fees on the use of plastic bags and other containers. You read that correctly: It’s not a ban on plastic bags — it’s a ban on banning plastic bags.
--and--
Bans and restrictions on the use of plastic bags are widespread in other parts of the country and around the world. The rationale is simple: Plastic bags are infamous non-biodegradable sources of pollution — although they will eventually break down into tiny pieces, scientists believe this process can take hundreds of years, or even up to a century, in landfills.
--and--
The new Michigan law was met with praise from the Michigan Restaurant Association for this reason.
“With many of our members owning and operating locations across the state, preventing a patchwork approach of additional regulations is imperative to avoid added complexities as it related to day-to-day business operations,” said Robert O’Meara, the association’s vice president of government affairs, in a statement.
Threaten the Cookie Cutter Cost-vs-Profit Structure, and the Rent Collectors will punish you.


And what was that about a powerful remote Central Government imposing its will on the noble local folk?

2016 In Review

So, looking back -
Death
Death
Death
Death
Brexit
Death
Death
Death
Death
Trump
Death
Death
Death
Christm...nope, wait - Death

Serious, fuck off already

hat tip = @Bristol52

Today's Quote


Arendt also coined "the banality of evil" - referring to how great atrocities can be traced back to the small seemingly unimportant steps taken by ordinary people who believed that were doing nothing wrong. Kinda like when the Trump transition team (eg) asks for the names of people at the Dept of Energy who attended Climate Change seminars.

We have to maintain an awareness of the Logical Fallacy of The Slippery Slope, but we must also remember that slopes do exist; and they can get pretty fucking slippery in a big fucking hurry.

Let's try to watch what we're doin'.

Dec 29, 2016

Once More From The Top

Test for truth:
The presence of Confirming Evidence
--and--
The absence of Conflicting Evidence

Test for bullshit:
The absence of Confirming Evidence
--or--
The presence of Conflicting Evidence

Today's Meme

Be the reason someone smiles today

Or the reason they drink

Whatever works the best for the most

Today's Quote

Not being loved is a simple misfortune. The true fatality is to not know how to love.
--Albert Camus (from a Spanish translation)

Obama's Farewell

Organism

Dec 28, 2016

Today's GIF

And here we have a great look at what we laughingly refer to as The Press here in USAmerica Inc, during the Trump Era.