Interesting News
Well, let's start off with some good news, shall we?
Feds Move Ahead With Plans To Kill Barred Owls — To Save Spotted Owls
Finally! After years of bureaucratic red tape as the barred owls' lawyers fought in federal court to have them un-barred from polite society everywhere, a verdict has been reached and the appropriate death sentences will now be meted out. These barred animals simply have to learn their place!
So, along with curing athlete's foot, gout, lumbago, cancer, dandruff, diabetes, brain damage and other assorted ills, we can now add to the list...
Study: Marijuana Smokers Are Thinner And Healthier Than Non-Users
According to the study, the potent plant usually known for causing the munchies might actually help people be thinner. Researchers looked at the effect of the drug on metabolic processes and discovered a correlation between smaller waist circumference and marijuana use.
The results showed that, in addition to being thinner, marijuana users appeared to be more healthy overall than those who have never used marijuana.
Studies are like statistics; always there when you need 'em!
And catch the misleading 'potent' part. Weed is the beer of the drug world.
"Smoke one bottle and call me in the morning."
And those kooky Brits are at it again. What will they think of next? You can almost hear the discussion over at Whitehall:
Sir Edmond Fitzbottom, 84-year-old Minister of Cultural & Moral Laws:
"Hey, I got a great idea! Let's ban pornography!!"
Collected septua-, octo- and nonagenarians:
"OKAY!!!"
Probably another one of those "Gosh, it looked so good on paper!" stories.
UK's Anti-Pornography Plan Is Scary, Pointless Grandstanding
I'm not big on linking to left-leaning (delicate cough) "science" sites, but he nailed that one. If there was ever — and I mean ever — a case of 'learning from history', a blanket ban on porn would have to be near the top of the list.
If you're much into computers, the name 'John Dvorak' might ring a bell. I remember posting an article on him back in the late 80's on my BBS, so he's been around the block a few times. Being old and wizened, he obviously has had the time to thoroughly grasp life and whittle it down to its basic elements.
From his Wikipedia page:
Economic laws and predictions
Dvorak's Law states: "The worse the economy, not only do the hookers get better looking, but they get cheaper."
So it's good to know he's keeping an eye on the important things.
He also begs... BEGS us not to buy or upgrade to Windows 8.1:
My advice? Stay far, far away.
And I heartily agree. I did a review on Win8 back when it was in beta and what few additions have come with 8.1 are more confusing than helpful. If you've heard they brought the Start Menu back, far from it. You can still use additional programs to iron most things out, but hunting down, installing and setting up 3rd-party programs is beyond the average user's grasp.
Stick with Vista or Win7, that's my best and only advice. When Microsoft discovers that there are still people out here using real, live desktop and laptop computers and brings back all of the standard stuff in Windows 9, we'll be more than happy to consider it.
And, hey, you have to admire ingenuity. You say you live way up north and your quaint little town is shrouded in darkness for almost half a year?
No problem!
Every year, from September to March, this town is cast in perpetual darkness. Now, engineers will place three enormous heliostatic mirrors -- each measuring 538 square feet wide -- on the faces of the mountains surrounding the town. Commonly used on solar farms, the mirrors will adjust to the position of the winter sun and redirect its light onto the darkened town square.
Those mirrors will bring around 2,000 square feet of concentrated light to the area.
You got a problem, you solve it. That's just the way life works. And I guess the question that arises now is, so what's your town done for its residents lately?
Unfortunately, there's some sad news afoot. While it will come as good news to gluttons, food hogs and the American Society of Obese People, normal people who believe in the old adage 'moderation in all things' will find this particularly disturbing:
Appeals Court Strikes Down NYC's Big-Soda Ban
It was apparently struck down on a technicality:
"I admit, I was surprised," said Judge Felding at the post-verdict news conference. "But when attorney Mark Dickerson pulled out that original handwritten copy of the Bill of Rights and pointed out that Ben Franklin had scribbled 'gluttony' in the margin next to all of those other rights, with a little arrow pointing out where it should be inserted in the text, well, there wasn't any more doubt that New Yorkers have the Constitutional right to be as fat as they want to be."
"We're excited by this ruling," said Marcia Blankenship, president of the American Society of Obese People. "We expect our dues-paying membership to triple in the next year!"
In other news, bulimia is still legal, but I suppose it's next.
Finally, on an upbeat, comedic note, we have this laff riot:
Future Global Temperature Forecasts Trending Downward?
As you'd expect, these AGC people are firmly in the bag:
For the record, current carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations are just shy of 400 parts per million. This table is related to the important issue of climate sensitivity which is generally defined as how much warming would eventually occur as a result of doubling carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.
These guys are just hysterical, aren't they? Still stuck in the old CO2 = Deadly Toxic Gas mindset with the only two variables being that the temp either goes up or down because of it.
Like I said, a laff riot.
Luckily, the sophisticated, urbane readers of Maggie's Farm (assuming that's not an oxymoron) are aware that good hard science now supports four vastly different climate models, giving each and every one of us the opportunity to choose for ourselves on this most critical of issues.
Options. That's what science is all about.
Political News
What a cutie!
Michelle Obama Debuts New Hair For Prince Harry’s U.S. Visit
As if her hairdo wasn't hot enough in the 'Before' pic, the new 'do' is positively gorgeous! Look at that sheen!
So there is some good news coming out of Washington these days.
