Today's Pix

Maybe Good - Maybe Not

Here's the headline:  "Physicists Bummed That Physics Is Pretty Much What They Expected" (The Atlantic)

The Large Hadron Collider discovered the Higgs boson. Hooray! Success for the big machine!

But not really.

The discovery of the Higgs means that an entire era of physics -- in which the so-called Standard Model of particles was theorized and then proven -- has come to an end. And the LHC is not creating any new mysteries to investigate. Physics is following the predictions too closely.

I think I realize that a lot of people were anticipating some surprises when they cranked up the LHC, and I think I understand the disappointment when "all you get" is confirmation of things you expected to happen all along.  Not to mention the difficulties you'll have now that the very large piles of money spent on the very large project might disappear if you can't come up with some new shit to theorize about.

I'm just really hoping the reaction to the results coming out of Lucerne isn't something like, "Well, we know it all now.  It's not possible for us to learn anything else because there's nothing more to learn."  No matter what, guys, ya gotta keep working at it.

Prof Parenti

Here's something that isn't new.




And here's why it isn't new:
(John Kenneth Galbraith's series from the 70s)

Mr Madison Speaks

hat tip = Charles Pierce

Notwithstanding the general progress made within the two last centuries in favour of this branch of liberty, & the full establishment of it, in some parts of our Country, there remains in others a strong bias towards the old error, that without some sort of alliance or coalition between [government] & Religion, neither can be duly supported. Such indeed is the tendency to such a coalition, and such its corrupting influence on both the parties, that the danger cannot be too carefully guarded [against].  -- James Madison to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822.

While you're at it, read Charlie's bit on Simpson-Bowles:

So, comes the end of the day, and just when you least expect it, Eric Cantor lets John Boehner out of the leg irons long enough to present a "reply" to the president's plan to avoid sliding us all down the Gentle Fiscal Incline. Whether it is lighter on specifics, or on political reality is a question best left to philosophers at this point, but it is in no sense a "plan" any more than is the average food riot. Among its happy provisions, it seeks to raise the age for Medicare eligibility and cut Social Security benefits. If this seems familiar to you, it should, because it's pretty much what Erskine Bowles suggested a year ago, when the president's prospects were not very bright and neither, it should be said, was Bowles. Anyway, I'm sure Boehner accounts himself clever for throwing Bowles's discreet granny-starving back at the president. Cantor may let him have a whole cookie tonight.

Quick tho't:  let's not burn up any more mental ergs than we have to trying to understand and/or explain why the Repubs don't seem to groc that they lost the election and they should be making nice with Harry and The Prez.  The guys running this show don't fucking care what anybody thinks because they know they can make some of us think almost anything. They're playing the long game (with some very long green) and they'll just keep pushing their shit until they drop.

But remember that even dictators have to have some popular support (that's why they spend so much time and money on advertising).  The one thing we can do is to make sure our Congress Critters hear a message that's a little contrary to what they're dishing out to us.

So call 'em - every day or every week, or whatever - it has to become a habit.  If he's "on your side", then he needs to hear you're with him.  If she's not, she needs to know there's a bunch of people out here who don't think she's doing the people's business by just going along with the crowd.

Happy Zappadan, Everybody

Today is Bummer Nacht (aka: the last day Frank Zappa refused to die), and marks the beginning of Zappadan, the festival celebrating the life and works of one of the best (and sometimes weirdest) people in all of artdom.

Expect miracles.



(hat tip = BlueGal)

Bill Burr

Two guys working in stand up right - Bill Burr and Louis CK - I think may be the voices of American men in the 21st century.

They go all the way out there to some places that're pretty weird and a little scary, and then bring it all the way back.  Phenomenal.

No More Mr Nice-Guy

"They call me Mr President".

That’s what you’re really seeing in this “proposal.” Previously, Obama’s pattern had been to offer plans that roughly tracked where he thought the compromise should end up. The White House’s belief was that by being solicitous in their policy proposals, they would win goodwill on the other side, and even if they didn’t, the media would side with them, realizing they’d sought compromise and been rebuffed. They don’t believe that anymore.

So The Prez is all fired up and scowl-y and the Repubs just don't know how to deal with it.

Let's hope this signals the time when we can stop calling Obama "President Lawnchair", and that he fully intends to stick his hat in their gizzle.

(hat tip = Democratic Underground)

Once Upon A Time

Huh?

I don't even know what to say.





...Except that there's just no way for this to be anything but parody.  The problem - I guess one of the problems - is that some percentage of people out there will take it to heart.

Another problem is that I haven't found anything yet to debunk it.  The internet can be a very weird place.

Start The Clock

I get pretty sick of these mush-brained jagoffs and their predictions of dire horribleness.



So let's see if there's anything true about any of this crap 5 years from now.  Oh, gosh.  I forgot.  Beck and others of his stripe always put these things far enough out so we're sure  not to recall what they actually said way back 5 years ago.

I don't know how to chronicle all of the doofery, but let's see what happens a few years down the road (assuming I'm still here), when somebody comes back to my little blog and clicks on the "predictions" tag.

About Susan Rice

If you wanna bitch about something, at least bitch about something real.

From TruthDig:

It turns out that Susan Rice, President Obama’s apparent favorite for the next secretary of state, has financial investments in more than a dozen Canadian oil companies and banks that stand to profit from the growth of the North American tar sands industry and the operation of the proposed multibillion-dollar Keystone XL pipeline.

If Rice gets the job, Scott Dodd at OnEarth writes, one of her “first duties likely would be consideration, and potentially approval, of the controversial mega-project.”

Mike's First Rule - it's never about what they tell you it's about.

So while McCain and Graham and Ayotte stomp around yelling "Benghazi cover-up", the real shit slides on by without anybody noticing.

And they wonder why Congress has an approval rating in the low zeroes.

Professional Left Podcast

More smart people talking about important stuff:

The Professional Left

d r i f t g l a s s

BlueGal

Instant Gratificationist

Have You Ever Seen Bird Balls?

Watching The Science Channel the other night, I learned where hiccups come from (a "theory" about it anyway), and as I was looking around for evolution stuff, I stumbled on this.



Here's the teaser for Mankind Rising:

It's Simple, Really

Ramps Levers and Wheels.  That's all it is.

But y'know - they never had Legos like this when I was a kid.



(hat tip = Fail Blog)