From brilliance to unraveling, the human condition.

The Mysterious Antikythera Mechanism Is More Ancient Than We Thought

Why cats don't give a shit about you.

Coats into sleeping bags, and homeless into workers at the same time.

9 clueless things white people say when confronted with racism

When Australians label the states in the USA.  Or Brits.

Neil deGrasse Tyson proving why he's a cool dude.

Didn't they read The Secret of NIMH?

The ending of the world.

An excellent creche.

Fascinating and sad view of the Iraqi army.

From Cats to Jellyfish to Chickens

Friday cat blogging on Sunday.

A wonderful perspective on religion and God from a religious man.

Sexy avatars in games affect players in the real world.

I may not want to eat anything ever again.... besides... we're all gonna die anyway.

Invasion by jellyfish the world over... could it possibly be because the oceans are warming?  If not death by jellyfish, how about being choked to death by weeds?

Can you spell hypocrite?

A sensible horror film.

Elizabeth Smart is just that.  Googling women and a verb.

Republicans went crazy in stages.  Tea party logic.  Lies told in Texan charter schools.

Changing oceans.

How historically correct is 12 Years a Slave?

One way to deal with the homeless.

Infected chickens sold by Foster Farms were not recalled.

Dabs and dollops

How not to be a creepy harasser.  What a GOP controlled government would be like for women.  Besides... there is no war on women by the Republicans. Nope, nope, no way.

Eat less meat and save the world.

Emergency responder  cyber cockroach... which will inevitably be used to spy on humans....

Romney's religion will control him more than he acknowledges.

Hungary tosses out Monsanto and the IMF.  And speaking of Monsanto: Roundup Herbicide Linked To Parkinson’s-Related Brain Damage

Ralph Reed:  Hypocrite

Selling out the public education system.

 How to cope with suddenly being homeless.

Coming around full circle

A homeless tent city by Sacramento, growing by 50 people a week. Then compare to the same area photos of a 1936 depression tent city.

Reduce your carbon footprint by losing your socks!

Give them to the Sierra Club:

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Changing your socks can change the world, by reducing carbon pollution and helping the homeless, Sierra Club officials say.

In an effort to protect the environment while helping the homeless, the Sierra Club is launching a national sock-a-thon to persuade people to switch from socks made with virgin polyester and nylon that contribute to pollution to socks made from natural fabrics that lessen the carbon footprint people leave. As an added benefit, the group will donate a pair of socks to the National Coalition for the Homeless for every pair that is purchases.

The campaign begins Nov. 1 with an ambitious goal of raising $1 million for the group.

Virgin polyester and nylon pollute the environment by adding carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Both fabrics are made from oil. Carbon emissions are one of the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming and climate change.

One small step for man...

Bush's Legacy

The destruction of the middle class:

A former loan processor, the 67-year-old mother of three grown children said she never thought she'd spend her golden years sleeping in her car in a parking lot.

"This is my bed, my dogs," she said. "This is my life in this car right now."

Harvey was forced into homelessness earlier this year after being laid off. She said that three-quarters of her income went to paying rent in Santa Barbara, where the median house in the scenic, oceanfront city costs more than $1 million. She lost her condo two months ago and had little savings as backup.

"It went to hell in a handbasket," she said. "I didn't think this would happen to me. It's just something that I don't think that people think is going to happen to them is what it amounts to. It happens very quickly, too."

Harvey now works part time for $8 an hour, and she draws Social Security to help make ends meet. But she still cannot afford an apartment, and so every night she pulls into a gated parking lot to sleep in her car, along with other women who find themselves in a similar predicament.

That's ok. She was probably just lazy, right, Georgie?

Support our troops

By giving them access to cheaper housing and better veterans' health care:

• In 2006, approximately 195,827 veterans were homeless on a given night—an increase of 0.8 percent from 194,254 in 2005. More veterans experience homeless over the course of the year. We estimate that 336,627 were homeless in 2006.
• Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people. They represent roughly 26 percent of homeless people, but only 11 percent of the civilian population 18 years and older. This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed, and have a lower poverty rate than the general population.
• A number of states, including Louisiana and California, had high rates of homeless veterans. In addition, the District of Columbia had a high rate of homelessness among veterans with approximately 7.5 percent of veterans experiencing homelessness.
• We estimate that in 2005 approximately 44,000 to 64,000 veterans were chronically homeless (i.e., homeless for long periods or repeatedly and with a disability).

Continuing the Bush administration's process of using them up and throwing them out. Supporting our troops, my ass.

Killing the messenger

Pentagon punishes soldiers for complaining about care in Walter Reed:

Soldiers say their sergeant major gathered troops at 6 p.m. Monday to tell them they must follow their chain of command when asking for help with their medical evaluation paperwork, or when they spot mold, mice or other problems in their quarters.

They were also told they would be moving out of Building 18 to Building 14 within the next couple of weeks. Building 14 is a barracks that houses the administrative offices for the Medical Hold Unit and was renovated in 2006. It’s also located on the Walter Reed Campus, where reporters must be escorted by public affairs personnel. Building 18 is located just off campus and is easy to access.

The soldiers said they were also told their first sergeant has been relieved of duty, and that all of their platoon sergeants have been moved to other positions at Walter Reed. And 120 permanent-duty soldiers are expected to arrive by mid-March to take control of the Medical Hold Unit, the soldiers said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Army public affairs did not respond to a request sent Sunday evening to verify the personnel changes.

The Pentagon also clamped down on media coverage of any and all Defense Department medical facilities, to include suspending planned projects by CNN and the Discovery Channel, saying in an e-mail to spokespeople: “It will be in most cases not appropriate to engage the media while this review takes place,” referring to an investigation of the problems at Walter Reed.

As Mustang Bobby asks: It will all go away if you don't talk about it, right?

Update: Think Progress shows us where the wounded soldiers live and where the Walter Reed commander lives.

Update: Crooks and Liars notes that military families are sinking into debt and some vets are homeless.

Update:

Last October, Joyce Rumsfeld, the wife of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, was taken to Walter Reed by a friend concerned about outpatient treatment. She attended a weekly meeting, called Girls Time Out, at which wives, girlfriends and mothers of soldiers exchange stories and offer support.

According to three people who attended the gathering, Rumsfeld listened quietly. Some of the women did not know who she was. At the end of the meeting, Rumsfeld asked one of the staff members whether she thought that the soldiers her husband was meeting on his visits had been handpicked to paint a rosy picture of their time there. The answer was yes.

When Walter Reed officials found out that Rumsfeld had visited, they told the friend who brought her -- a woman who had volunteered there many times -- that she was no longer welcome on the grounds.