It’s been horribly cold in the United States the past several days. Here in North Carolina temperatures overnight fell to about 10 Fahrenheit (-12 Celsius), which is quite cold enough for me if you were about to ask, though a … Continue reading
[Updated to correct some typographical errors and to add more information.] Major news today is that terrorist gunmen shot at least 12 people dead at the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly), which had come under … Continue reading
(Update: See also Steve Benen’s post on this subject (link) in which he points out that Senator McConnell spent most of last year claiming the economy was terrible.) New Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) — and thanks to all … Continue reading
This goes nicely with the clip from John Cleese I posted this morning: An article by Tim McDonnell (link) from just before Christmas summarizes some of last year’s worst new developments and continuing annoyances in the realm of people who, … Continue reading
Here’s another video clip you might already have seen. I’m posting it because it’s both funny and disturbing, though fortunately no one gets seriously hurt. It seems that Ellen DeGeneres recently challenged her viewers to shoot video of themselves dancing … Continue reading
This BBC News report was originally aired December 22. It recounts how the self-styled “Islamic State” (which is in fact neither) has abused several thousand women and girls kidnapped four months ago. The captives are members of the Yazidi religion, … Continue reading
Here’s the BBC’s summary of good news reported in 2014. Don’t be too worried that it runs only 90 seconds; these are rapid clips with links to longer reports. Link: http://youtu.be/TjyTldaQz3c There’s a lot of good news not mentioned here, … Continue reading
Police in the city of Lowell Michigan surprise people pulled over for traffic offenses with something unexpected: What they want for Christmas. Link: http://youtu.be/mlnxajQrL8w by … Continue reading
Over at the Bad Astronomy blog, astronomer and writer Phil Plait has a good post on the subject of climate change that’s worth reading. He particularly recommends this short (6 minutes and 30 seconds) video from PBS Digital Studios’ It’s … Continue reading
I don’t always agree with Arizona Senator John McCain, but I certainly agree with what he has to say here. McCain was himself on the receiving end of torture, and he’s aware of something that the naive tend to overlook: … Continue reading