Little bits

A woman travels across Antarctica alone.

Oh you Brits. Humor on the Underground. And you can tell a lot about the Brits (and everybody else) by the way they like their eggs cooked.

The world's angriest cat.

Made with a small multirotor helicopter, a video of Hammershus.

The attempt to silence a brave voice.  Malala Yousafzai seems to have survived the attack, but I don't know in what condition.  An update 10/10.

They've found something.... something weird and small... on Mars.  Update10/10:  benign plastic?  Update 10/11: Rats, benign plastic.

This way and that way....

Americans v Brits.

Any discussion of Richard III needs this photo:



Speaking of evil villains:  Karl Rove.

WWII as seen today.  (a long gif.)

Romney v truth.

It's MAN talkin' time!  ... about rape.

Electronic voting machines ... have 'sleepovers' at poll-workers' houses.

Public education isn't being helped by all the testing... but the testing companies sure are making money!  And if you aren't in it for the money... you obviously are a loser.

Not an oxymoron:  a gay Christian, Matthew Vines.

Alzheimer's could be the most catastrophic impact of junk food

There is evidence that poor diet is one cause of Alzheimer's. If ever there was a case for the precautionary principle, this is it

And of course, cats

.

This would make me dig up my back yard

Front yard, the neighbor's yard, the street....About 50,000 silver and bronze coins uncovered by men who spent decades exploring one field

A source of innocent merriment!

For those whose lives are too busy... A Book A Minute.

A town that plans to grow all its own veggies.

Exploring England.

Panda cub.

32,000-Year-Old Plant Reborn From Ancient Fruit Found In Siberian Ice

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

An educated citizenry

Understands science and the meaning of climate change.

Public belief in climate change weathers storm, poll shows
Events of past 18 months have little effect on Britons' opinion, as 83% view climate change as a current or imminent threat

When governments actually use science

And not hysteria to function:

Roads built to the same standards as the scorching south of France; fish moved from the overheated Lake District to cooler waters in Scotland; lighthouses threatened by rising seas.

From measures in use already to seemingly far-fetched scenarios for the future, these are some of the findings in the first batch of climate adaptation plans submitted to the environment ministry Defra.

Under the Climate Change Act, 91 major organisations responsible for key aspects of national infrastructure have to explain how they will cope if the climate alters as forecast.

The latest projections suggest the potential for major change - for example that it is "very likely" that southern England will on average be 2.2-6.8C warmer by the 2080s.

That range of possible warming reveals the huge uncertainties inherent in climate forecasting. Nevertheless the aim of the studies is to ensure that long-term planning takes account of the possible risks.

They even are planning ahead, isn't that novel?

Have a very merry ... minuet.

There are days in my life when everything is dreary

I grow pessimistic, sad and world weary.

But when I'm tearful and fearfully upset

I always sing this merry little minuet:

They're rioting in Africa

They're starving in Spain

There's hurricanes in Florida

And Texas needs rain.

The whole world is festering

With unhappy souls

The French hate the Germans,

The Germans hate the Poles

Italians hate Yugoslavs

South Africans hate the Dutch

And I don't like anybody very much

But we can be grateful

And thankful and proud

That man's been endowed

With a mushroom shaped cloud

And we know for certain

That some happy day

Someone will set the spark off

And we will all be blown away

They're rioting in Africa

There's strife in Iran

What nature doesn't do to us

Will be done by our fellow man.

Or Tom Lehrer might do:

When you attend a funeral

It is sad to think that sooner 'r l-

ater those you love will do the same for you.

And you may have thought it tragic,

Not to mention other adjec-

Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do - but don't you worry -

No more ashes, no more sackcloth,

And an armband made of black cloth

Will someday never more adorn a sleeve.

For if the bomb that drops on you

Gets your friends and neighbours too,

There'll be nobody left behind to grieve......

And who is going up in smoke?

The US housing market.

Italy.

And Britain.

And Russia.

Blog sprinkles

The Brits are being droned?

Two official safety inquiries took place into the military use of drones over southern England after near-collisions with helicopters, the Guardian can reveal.

The investigations are the first of their kind involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are increasingly being flown in British civilian airspace after extensive use in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obviously the drone operators were distracted by eating cheetos or something. Gotta get real gamers to operate the things, they would know how to avoid collisions!

How many accents can you do?



The GOP will not.. no they won't! ... WON'T eat their evil nasty green ugly vegetables. So there!

Was Christine O'Donnell going from A to Z with her religious quest to see which one would offer the best way to make money?

Two hope blogs for the price of one!!

We could have predicted that all the gay bashing that has gone on would lead to youthful gays killing themselves in despair. Hate speech leads to hate crimes.

And GOPs will claim when caught that they were only joking!

Maybe we should all buy farmland in Britain

Not to grow stuff... to dig up!

For 1,800 years the story of the 'lost British emperor' who defied ancient Rome has been merely a footnote in history books.

Carausius's audacious seizure of power and seven-year reign over Britain and much of Gaul have largely been forgotten.

But thanks to the astonishing discovery of 52,000 Roman coins, new light is being shed on one of the most turbulent periods of our island story.

Hundreds of the coins - buried in a gigantic clay jar and weighing as much as two men - bear the image of Carausius.

The discovery was made by hospital chef Dave Crisp using a metal detector.

The 63-year-old unearthed 21 of the coins on a farm near Frome in Somerset before realising the find was so significant expert help was needed. He called in archaeologists who set about the delicate task of excavating the site.

Good.

Have at it.

In a move that will put Britain's relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies under intense and possibly damaging scrutiny, British Prime Minister David Cameron has launched an unprecedented inquiry into whether security services were involved in the torture of terrorism suspects.

Americans don't 'torture', remember? (Nudge nudge wink wink) We just do necessary enhanced interrogations!



Renaming a war crime doesn't change the fact it's a crime, Georgie. Semantics won't save your prezidenting legacy.

Blog sprinkles

I always KNEW they were trashy rodents!

• Amazon explorers uncover signs of a real El Dorado

• Phila of Bouphonia's Friday Hope Blog.

• Great Britain in winter!

• Sunk Australia WWII hospital ship Centaur: first images

It's what you scream as you see it sail past? PHAaaaa!!! There are currently 1091 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids.

• Power Your Cellphone Off Coca-Cola

• You say El Nino, I say La Nina, let's call the whole thing off ... El Nino, La Nina

Brrrrrr....

Gulf Stream shifts to Greenland... London freezes.

And no, cold weather in winter does not mean rapid climate change is not happening: Experts: Cold snap doesn't disprove global warming

RIP Mrs. Slocombe

Mollie Sugden, the actress who died on July 1 aged 86, endeared herself to television viewers as Mrs Slocombe of the Ladies Separates and Underwear department in Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft's long-running sitcom Are You Being Served?

Britian has a swine flu epidemic

Yesterday there were more than 7,400 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK. If the number of cases continues to grow at the current pace, the UK could have 100,000 new cases every day by the end of August.

So far, most swine flu patients have suffered only mild symptoms. However, they are still be urged to stay away from GP surgeries or hospitals if they suspect they have the flu.

[snip]

Under the Government's pandemic action plan, there are three levels of alert for a serious flu outbreak. Earlier this week the Health Secretary announced the UK would now enter the third, most serious, phase.

The first stage is Containment, which Britain entered when the first cases, a honeymoon couple, were confirmed in Scotland on April 27.

The priority is to stop the disease spreading as much as possible. Everyone with suspected swine flu has their diagnosis confirmed by a lab report, and is given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. All recent contacts of infected people are traced and also given Tamiflu. Schools are closed if teachers or pupils contract the disease.

The second stage is Outbreak Management, which the country entered on June 25.

Action against swine flu was stepped up in three 'hot spot' areas - London, Glasgow and the West Midlands - where it was no longer possible to contain its spread.

In the hot spots, suspected cases were no longer sent for lab testing, with GPs doing the diagnosis, and people with swine flu got Tamiflu, but contacts did not as a matter of course. Schools in the hotspots were no longer automatically closed.

The third stage, which the whole country has now entered, is called Treatment.

GPs will be given the discretion to hold back Tamiflu to those with minor symptoms - and in a few weeks it may be rationed to at-risk groups. Vaccines will begin to be delivered once the first batches arrive in August.

And the weirdest thing... this flu could have been caused by a leak from a lab. Really nice.

What could possibly go wrong?

Britain has asked the United Nations to give it territorial rights to a large area of the South Atlantic Ocean.

The submission - before the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea - is for territory around the Falkland Islands, which is also claimed by Argentina.

The area in question is beyond the 200 miles of territorial rights that states almost automatically get around their coastal waters.

It covers an area around the south Sandwich Islands, south Georgia and the Falkland Islands.

And the western limits of the claim are about 300 miles or so from the Argentine coast - about the same distance as the Falklands.

Now they tell us...

British intel is complaining they were dragged into Bush's war:

Britain was "dragged into a war in Iraq which was always against out better judgment" the former deputy head of MI6 has claimed, in a remark that will reignite the debate over political interference in the war.

Sad to admit it, but thank God Edwards did not become president. We'd be neck deep in the meaning of 'is':

RALEIGH, N.C. – Failed presidential candidate John Edwards, whose political action committee paid more than $100,000 to his mistress' company, acknowledged Sunday that federal investigators were looking into how he handled his campaign funds.

But the former North Carolina senator said he was confident no money was used improperly.

The Hummer is a shitty car? Who knew?:

We also found huge differences between the best and worst values. The Hummer H2, for example, is a terrible deal, with a bucks-per-bang figure of $3,620 because of a high five-year owner cost of about $82,250 and a low test score of only 23.

Pakistan is still building more nuclear weapon sites?:

WASHINGTON — Pakistan is expanding its nuclear weapons program even as Islamic extremists in northwest Pakistan advance in the direction of several highly sensitive nuclear-related sites, U.S. officials and other experts said this week.

The Obamas get a queenly stamp of approval

Even though the wingnuts are flipping over the iPod gift, the Queen is amused:

The loons were out in full force on Wednesday, attacking President Obama for giving the Queen of England an iPod containing video of her 2007 state visit to the U.S. because — get this — she already owns a 2005 edition iPod Mini. You know, the kind without video.

That they were offended over this triviliality was enough comedy to warrant a mid-week Loon Watch, but the fact that the Queen requested the iPod and that her former spokesman said the Obamas "scored a hit" sealed the deal: a Loon Watch was called for.

And the Queen *gasp* actually broke protocol interacting with Michelle Obama!

LONDON – Michelle Obama has done what few others have managed — getting Queen Elizabeth II to break protocol.

The first lady arrived Wednesday with President Barack Obama. After separate meetings on the eve of the G-20 summit, the couple attended an evening reception for world leaders hosted by the queen.

Mrs. Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch — so much that the smiling queen strayed from protocol and put her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection.

It was the first time Mrs. Obama — who is nearly a foot taller — had met the queen. The first lady also embraced her.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman who asked not to be identified because of palace policy said he could not remember the last time that the queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary.

"It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection," he said. "We don't issue instructions on not touching the queen."

Clearly the Queen is a dirtyeffinghippielovinglattedrinkingcommiefascistsocialist.

Keeping track of events

At the G-20 summit.

I always said you can't declare war on a noun

It was one of the most idiotic phrases to come out of the Bush administration.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, today argues that the use of the "war on terror" as a western rallying cry since the September 11 attacks has been a mistake that may have caused "more harm than good".

In an article in today's Guardian, five days before the Bush administration leaves the White House, Miliband delivers a comprehensive critique of its defining mission, saying the war on terror was misconceived and that the west cannot "kill its way" out of the threats it faces.

British officials quietly stopped using the phrase "war on terror" in 2006, but this is the first time it has been comprehensively discarded in the most outspoken remarks on US counterterrorism strategy to date by a British minister.

In remarks that will also be made in a speech today in Mumbai, in one of the hotels that was a target of terrorist attacks in November, the foreign secretary says the concept of a war on terror is "misleading and mistaken".

"Historians will judge whether it has done more harm than good," Miliband says, adding that, in his opinion, the whole strategy has been dangerously counterproductive, helping otherwise disparate groups find common cause against the west.

"The more we lump terrorist groups together and draw the battle lines as a simple binary struggle between moderates and extremists or good and evil, the more we play into the hands of those seeking to unify groups with little in common," Miliband argues, in a clear reference to the signature rhetoric of the Bush era. "We should expose their claim to a compelling and overarching explanation and narrative as the lie that it is."

"Terrorism is a deadly tactic, not an institution or an ideology," he says.

Bush's 'You're either for us or against us'; 'Bring it on'; and 'Wanted, dead or alive' quotes all reflect the bizarre simpleton thinking of the neocons. Sweeping up everybody who doesn't like us into a big pile and treating everyone the same loses the ability for using diplomacy, nuance, tolerance, and the capability of addressing wrongs. Wanting the world to be black or white, good or evil, wrong or right will not make it so. Acting like it is is even worse.

New recipes for the Second Great Depression

And the way to take care of rampaging terrorists in my garden:

RARE roast beef splashed with meaty jus, pork enrobed in luscious crackling fat, perhaps a juicy, plump chicken ... these are feasts that come to mind when one thinks of quintessential British food. Lately, however, a new meat is gracing the British table: squirrel.

[snip]

The situation is more than simply a matter of having too many squirrels. In fact, there is a war raging in Squirreltown: invading interlopers (gray squirrels introduced from North America over the past century or more) are crowding out a British icon, the indigenous red squirrel immortalized by Beatrix Potter and cherished by generations since. The grays take over the reds’ habitat, eat voraciously and harbor a virus named squirrel parapox (harmless to humans) that does not harm grays but can devastate reds. (Reports indicate, though, that the reds are developing resistance.)

“When the grays show up, it puts the reds out of business,” said Rufus Carter, managing director of the Patchwork Traditional Food Company, a company based in Wales that plans to offer squirrel and hazelnut pâté on its British Web site, patchwork-pate.co.uk.