Christmas Cheer from Hyperbole and a Half

 

Click HERE for another delightful post from my personal hero and comic blogger at Hyperbole and a half.

Census Widget FUN

Click HERE to go to the interactive widget.

Russia invests in high-speed rail before their World Cup

In advance of their hosting the 2018 World Cup, Russia has announced bold plans to update it's rail between key cities.  Said Putin,

“[The tournament] will be a powerful incentive for the development of high speed rail services in the European part of Russia.”

He's promised a line that would connect all of the country’s host cities – Moscow, Kazan, Samara, and Ulyanovsk – by 2018.

Glance at a globe and you'll realize that this is no small feat . . . Even the "Eupopean part" of Russia, like the US, is quite a bit bigger than our quaint European examples of successful high-speed rail.  So while we rely on California and Florida to push us into this century, we'll be eating Russia's dust along with China's dust and that of the majority of developed nations.   It's not like we didn't try!  BILLIONS of dollars for rail projects have been rejected or returned to the federal gov't this YEAR!  I'm lookin at you Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois . . . .

MUST WATCH VIDEO for ALL CHRISTIANS and ENVIRONMENTALISTS

D.A.D.T. to be repealed after 17 years

For anyone who somehow missed the news on the historic week in the push for equality . . . the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (which has been in effect for some seventeen years) has been overturned in both houses of Congress.   Once the repeal has been enacted into law, Gay and Lesbian service members will no longer be subject to discharge based on their sexual orientation.

The repeal is a major step forward for the LGBT community, for the military (who lost thousands of soldiers to the policy -- including nearly one hundred Arabic linguists) and the American people who have proven once again that progress will not be bound by the small-minded bigotry of a few.   I'm looking DIRECTLY at you, John McCain.

From the WSJ:

"Once the change becomes law with President Barack Obama's signature, the military will need to revise policies and regulations that govern everything from leadership training to standards of conduct. And before the policy officially ends, the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must sign a letter certifying that the changes wouldn't affect military readiness.  Full repeal would take effect 60 days after that certification letter is transmitted to the congressional armed-services committees.
Mr. Gates has appointed Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, a retired Marine Corps general, to lead the Pentagon's planning effort."

Solstice marked by lunar eclipse

Set your alarms and dash outside tonight at 3:17a.m. EST for the brightest red to bathe the moon during tonight's eclipse which should look something like this:

Then snuggle back in your bed with visions of me being a half-year older dancing in your heads.

Peg a point for the Pope!

 

Those of you who peruse these pages perennially know that I'm not the biggest pro-papacy-pundit, but I'm also not above passing out Pope props in a post when it's appropriate.

The Vatican has become the "greenest" nation-state in the world.  With the bringing on-line of it's massive photo-voltaic array, it has surpassed Germany (the leader in such awesomeness) with it's now 200 watts/capita at peak times (DL has 80/per, but WAY more capita)

From yahoo:

"As Vatican City is the smallest state in the world, it does not exactly require a large amount of renewable energy to achieve this title. However, the city’s solar installations, which include solar panels installed on the rooftop of Paul VI’s conference hall, mean that the city can now generate enough energy to power all of its 40,000 households."

So there you go, Pope.  For the next 15 minutes, I'll look the other way on homos, AIDS, greed, molestation, the Holocaust, the Crusades . . . am I rambling? . . . and thank you for leading the charge to charge with the sun.  Small "s" . . . and a "u".

Uganda: My last trip

This is Uganda, take a look:

Protesters banned from the Smithsonian for life

An update to my earlier post on the art that was censored by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery under pressure from the Catholic League.  Two brave protesters (one wearing the removed video art on an ipad around his neck) were forcibly removed from the institution, and banned for life.  The 1987 video -- a piece made by the artist while he was dying of AIDS, about the ostracized sufferers of the 1980's is hard to watch and intentionally so.  See it HERE.

Noah Knew, who knew? Well, Noah . . . and the Magi.

So just YESTERDAY, I was walking in SoHo and came face-to-face with a billboard on wheels that said exactly this: "Noah Knew" wecanknow.com.  The words were submerged in what looked like rising water.  I thought, "dang, that's interesting . . . appeal to the fundies' sense of dread about floods to educate them about rising sea levels, or fresh water depletion, or scarcity in general . . . great idea!"  But no.  no no no no NO.  It was just one of HUNDREDS of billboards (40 in Nashville alone) about the Apocalypse next May.  Yep, that one.  On the 21st?   You hadn't heard?  Pencil it in. 

So, as it turns out, this:

and my "Noah Knew" street level encounter are just part of a nationwide media push by our darling friends at Family Radio.  One look at their website, and a kindergartner would roll his eyes and go back to Facebook.  Try this nugget:

"Some scientists predict that Global Warming could wipe out life on Planet Earth within a certain number of years."

You. Are. Shitting me.  A "certain" number?  Oh my GOD, that does sound JUST LIKE NEXT MAY, doesn't it?  Like, around the 21st?  [shudder]

I can't even go on.  I, of course, "liked" their site on Facebook.  For giggles.  12,000 others have liked it too.  [faints]

National Portrait Gallery removes video as Christians threaten to fight funding

SHAME on Martin Sullivan, the director of the gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington for bowing to senseless empty threats from the Catholic League. 

To ask for censorship of a piece in the NATIONAL GALLERY based on personal religious preference is boring, but allowed.  TO FACILITATE that censorship from within the organization, based on a "choose our battles" methodology, is an offense deserving of termination.  Shame on you, dude.

From the NYTimes:

"Mr. Wojnarowicz (the artist), who died of AIDS in 1992, made the video in the 1980s. Among the imagery that he uses to depict the suffering of an AIDS patient is a scene of ants crawling on a crucifix. In a telephone interview, Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, said “A Fire in My Belly” was a form of hate speech."

Really, Donohue?  HATE SPEECH?  he also mentioned that if the ants were crawling on Mohammud, we would be having a very different conversation . . . or none at all.  Well, at least he recongizes the similarities between radical Islam and his own warped Christianity.

Out.

BMW introduces new greener rail cars . . . in Poland

Once again Europe gets there a decade or two ahead of the good 'ol USA.  While we're struggling to hold on to Obama's public transit works in several states (light rail plans dropping like flies, as Republicans scream and deny Fed monies) Poland is welcoming these beauties from BMW. 

"The handholds inside the car are lit from above and shaped like tree branches, which according to the designers are a symbol of the cars’ green ambitions. The carriage’s aluminum chassis has been designed to reduce weight and hence reduce the energy consumption. Moreover, the carriages, according to the designers, are 97.5 percent recyclable."

With spacious interiors, hidden mechanics, and wider doors these dreams of the future will be reality in Warsaw next year.  One more pic. . . .