I have previously expressed surprise that the Republican party had chosen Obamacare, of all things, as the issue that the were going to fight to the death, even though the dry details of a health care policy that actually is quite business-friendly are not the kind of things that press emotional hot buttons to arouse strong passions. That is usually the domain of GRAGGS (guns, race, abortion, gays, god, sex) issues. [Read more…]
The state of Kentucky is solidly in the Bible Belt. When it was finalizing the revision of its science standards in a document called the Next Generation Science Standards, there was the usual push from some quarters that the teaching of evolution and climate change should be removed or that at least criticisms of both and alternative theories (such as creationism and intelligent design) be included. [Read more…]
Stephen Walt amusingly suggests that since the NSA has now been caught illegally spying on Americans in America, why not turn its massive powers for good and not evil by using it to track down, identify, and put out of business all those robocallers that annoy the hell out of people? [Read more…]
What the NSA revelations have shown is the extent of the national security state that we live in. In order to achieve this stealthily, the government has developed the technique of having secret meanings for ordinary words, so that they can claim legality and transparency and due process when in reality they have none of those things. [Read more…]
Trusting in god is almost always a sure recipe for disaster. Faith healing and snake handling are two examples where people decide that prayer and faith will cause their god to overturn the laws of nature and of course they don’t and people die needlessly.
We now have another case of near tragedy. A San Diego couple and their two children (one 3 years and the other 8 months) decided that the US was too sinful for their tastes, especially when it came to homosexuality and abortion and “the state-controlled church” (???) and they decided to take a “leap of faith” and set sail in a small boat for the tiny island of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. [Read more…]
When you come home from a hard day’s work, do you simply take some ice from the freezer for your drink? You poor sap, that immediately marks you as a real loser, a nobody. If you were anybody at all, you would buy Gläce Luxury Ice from Dean & Deluca and have it shipped to you, because mere ordinary ice would not be good enough to put into your vintage Scotch.
Here is a description of what you get for just $75:
Gläce Luxury Ice is a meticulously designed and differentiated ice brand specifically designed for use in premium drinks and cocktails. The Gläce Mariko Sphere is a perfectly spherical 2.5″ piece with a melting rate of 20-30 minutes. The Gläce G-Cubed, a symmetrical 2.5″ cube has a dilution rate of 20-40 minutes. Gläce Ice pieces are individually carved from a 300lb block to ensure flawless quality and a zero-taste profile, never contaminating the essence of premium liquors and drinks.
You get two packages of five cubes each, which means that each cube costs a mere $7.50 (excluding shipping and handling).
The company warns that this product requires Next Day Shipping to ensure freshness. This is very important because putting stale ice in your premium drink absolutely destroys the flavor.
One might quibble with the ad wording since a melting ‘rate’ would require different units than minutes, but those who would point such things out are clearly not in the league of people who use such ice, and can be ignored.
(Via Rebecca Schoenkopf.)
New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen writes about what he calls the ‘Snowden effect’ and lists all the things that has resulted from the revelations that Edward Snowden has made about the NSA.
It is highly telling that the highly secretive president Obama has been put on the defensive and forced to discuss these things as a result of the revelations and amusing to see him act as if he always wanted to discuss these issues, when in reality he has moved heaven and Earth to increase secrecy and prosecute whistleblowers. [Read more…]
