Rosie O’Donnell has a blog. It’s much worse than you might imagine.
The Ultimate Whodunnit
Iowahawk has a tribute to Dan Rather–the final chapter of the career of Inspector Dan:
Luckily, the tubby guard at Hinderaker’s bank was asleep, and I was able to quietly duckwalk past him to the elevator bank. When I arrived at his penthouse offices, Hinderaker and Johnson were sharing a nasty chuckle, as they added another cup into their birdseye maple trophy case.
“I thought I smelled some fried MSM bacon,” laughed Johnson. “Why don’t you move along to to the Old Discredited Anchorman’s Home, Rather? We’ve got a testimonial dinner tonight.”
“Yeah, Danno, it’s a little invite-only shindig called Blog of the Year,” sneered Hinderaker. “Black tie, class all the way. Now scram, because we’re due at Gingiss for a tux fitting.”
“Why you filthy, non-journalism degreed…”
Something snapped, and I ran headlong across Hinderaker’s sumptuous oriental rug, ready to unleash my fury on the two laughing blog thugs. I soon found out that the carpet was not fixed to the polished parquet underneath, and I went sliding across the room and slammed into a bookcase. I heard birds as a 16-pound volume of the U.S. Banking Code beaned me hard on the head. Momentarily dazed, I stumbled backward, flipping over Hinderaker’s desk and lodging my head in his deadly trashcan.
“Ha ha! The funny man is funny.”
I was blinded by the trashcan, but I knew that pipsqueak voice anywhere. It was Gnat, Fargo Jimmy’s pintsized gun moll.
Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind
Alab Boyle reports that researchers are learning more about where earworms live, and how they work. Not enough yet to get rid of them, though.
Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind
Alab Boyle reports that researchers are learning more about where earworms live, and how they work. Not enough yet to get rid of them, though.
Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind
Alab Boyle reports that researchers are learning more about where earworms live, and how they work. Not enough yet to get rid of them, though.
A Modern Wonder
Michael Jennings has a nice photo essay about the new viaduct in France:
The materials from which this bridge has been built are vastly stronger than anything that existed even 20 years ago. I have said this before, but this is in my mind the defining characteristic of modern post materials revolution structural engineering. Structures are then, flimsy. They almost look like spider webs. The defining characteristic of industrial age engineering was bulk. But now we are in this virtuous circle of stronger and lighter materials allowing a much thinner deck, allowing the other parts of the bridge to be lighter and less substantial too, allowing still more economies elsewhere, and a rapidly dropping cost of projects like this.
That will be a characteristic of a space elevator as well, if it’s built.
There Must Be Something Else On
I didn’t watch Dan’s last broadcast (following my pattern for the past twenty-plus years).
I thought that low ratings would be the fittest ending to his ignoble career.
Visualization
Jack Benny used to say about a fellow comedian that “nobody knew what a cramp looked like until Fred Allen was born.” Well, along those lines, Jeff Foust can now point at a physical instantiation of a budgetary earmark.
Heap Big Wampum
Apparently, copyright violation, academic fraud, resume padding, and vile mindless leftist rants calling for the overthrow of the US government are healthy activities for one’s bank account, at least if you’re employed by the University of Colorado:
CU’s buyout offer will be in the “$3-$5 million range – possibly higher”
Hmmmm…not a bad payoff for Chief Pants-On-Fire.
If CU is seeing their out-of-state admissions fall now, just wait until the news of this gets out. Not to mention what may happen to alumni donations.
The link also links to a story about a professor who they have managed to release, with no buyout. But that was different–it was apparently because he’s a (presumably untenured) Christian. Can’t have that.
[Update about 12:45 PM EST]
The Pirate Ballerina site seems to be down, for those wondering why the link was dead. But it was a link to a story at the Rockey Mountain News.