"Literally, if we took away the minimum wage -- if conceivably it was gone -- we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level."

First, watch this: Mention of crosshairs at 2:20. Then, Gabby got her head shot through with a bullet. Then (blood libel phrase is at ca 3:20) : Notice how she forgets to use the term "alleged" ... so much for the fifth amendment. Notice the very intense attempt circumscribe responsibility and rip the event from context. She is obviously FOS when she disavows her own responsibility, but at least she is repeatedly saying that debate should be peaceful. That does in fact knock the legs out of her overall rhetoric and will be used against her in the future by other teabaggers. It may…

The Internet (or at least the network of tubes it runs through) has eventually gotta give as our collective demands grow, and there are signs of this happening. There is a limited amount of bandwith and until that problem is relieved we are heading steadily towards a point where our stuff just won't fit. A while back Comcast said it would stop allowing users to use Roku or similar devices. Now, in England, T-Mobile has slashed the amount of bandwith its customers can use to levels that would allow normal broadband use down to something more like email with the occasional attachment levels…

No, these things are not related. It was not that many years ago when observations were made, incidentally as I recall, of radioactivity in the upper atmosphere above large thunderstorms. I remember this being sneered at like it was a claim of cold fusion or something. Within a couple of years, however, this phenomenon was better observed and better understood, and we now know that thunderstorms sometimes produce gamma rays in the upper atmosphere. Most recently, however, something even more astonishing and amazing has been observed: These upper atmosphere high energy loci actually…

Gun nuts in the Arizona State Legislature have introduced what they insensitively and stupidly call the Gifford-Zimmerman act, named after the wounded Congresswoman Gifford and her slain aid, requiring the state to train politicians and their staff as part of the process of arming them. Read about that stupid idea as well as a very close call by one Joe Zamudio, who was the armed citizen at the scene of the Tucson Massacre who almost shot the guy who was holding the gun just taken away from the Teabagger who had killed and wounded all those people. Zamudio's brave intervention as proof of…

It is very hard to see cold, small, rocky planets like Earth when they are running around stars that are light years away, but Kepler found one. S, it turns out, we are not alone, at least in relation to geology. NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system. The discovery of this planet, called an exoplanet, is based on more than eight months of data collected by the spacecraft from May 2009 to early January 2010. "All of Kepler's best…

On January 10, 2011, the Mount Vernon City Schools Board of Education voted 4-1 to terminate the employment of John Freshwater. A middle school science teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Freshwater was accused of inappropriate religious activity in the classroom -- including displaying posters with the Ten Commandments and Bible verses, branding crosses on the arms of his students with a high-voltage electrical device, and teaching creationism. After a local family sued Freshwater and the district in 2008, the board voted to begin proceedings to terminate his employment in the district. Finally,…

" I don't think I give as much credence to my own mind, because I see myself as being very limited and very flawed, and lacking in knowledge, and wisdom and understanding. So, I just take the Bible for what it is, I guess, and recognize that I am not a scientist, not trained to be a scientist. I'm not a deep thinker on all of this. "

There really aren't that many computer ads. Lately, they suck. Annoying Computer Ad I: Apple iPad. Not as annoying as other pad ads (maxiPads, etc) and Huxley likes to dance to the music (the tune that goes like this: da da da da da da da da da, you know the one), but... This ad shows a hand using the iPad to do all sorts of cool and amazing things. As with all Apple ads, it does not show the stopping, slowness, or hesitation that inevitable happens in real life. It does not show the dialog box popping up to tell you that you have to re-read a 92 page End User License Agreement document…

UPDATE: The wine-based linux Kindle Cloud Reader file that I used to have is now no longer current, and I don't have the newer file. However, if you want to read Kindle material on your Linux computer, the browser-based Kindle Cloud Reader is better. Use that! And it is time. The Kindle Reader now works in Linux, under wine (which stands for "wine is not emulator"). Details follow. You need to install the 1.3.xx version of wine, the development release, which may involve going to the wine site and following instructions to add the development repository. Who wants the stable version of a…

A few new bits of information mainly from CNN: Giffords is able to respond to "simple commands" which causes "cautious optimism" among the Neurosurgeons. Giffords is the only person remaining of the wounded to remain in critical condition. Three are in serious condition, six fair, one released. The "Suspected Suspect of Suspicion" ... the second person of interest ... has been identified and ruled out. He was just some guy. Conspiracy theories in three ... two ... one .... Official charges have been made against Loughner. PDF Papers or an envelopewith the words "I planned ahead," "My…

Given the clear connection between Michele Bachmann's call to arms, Sarah Palin's hit list, Sharon Angle's suggestion that it is a good idea to shoot your opponent to death if you lose an election, and so on, with the Tucson Massacre, it might be a good idea to make that kind of hate-mongering activity illegal. Robert Brady is moving on that: Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pennsylvania, said he will introduce legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.…

I wish this was a joke, but Fred Phelps is only one notch to the right of the next guy, and that guy is only one notch to the right of the next guy, and so on. And, by "to the right" I do mean more insane. As Miss Jean Brodie would say, "That does signify, bitches." Well, she never said it exactly like that, but you get the point. Here's Fred: While we're on the topic, here's another view, from before the shooting: And then, there's this: Glen Beck making an utter ass of himself, way back. He's got some stuff to answer to. I love Ed's laugh at the end of the crying sequence.…

She can be heard screaming "Not Obama, Not Obama, Help us Jesus." ... or at least it is so reported.

The racist tirade, which shockingly invokes the words of Margaret Meade, starts around six minutes into this violence inciting speech by a talk show host I'd never heard of before.

... and live next to Michele "armed and dangerious" Bachmann's district ... Ostracize Josh A man from Rogers, Minnesota...a small town in the Sixth Congressional District represented by Michele Bachmann...went through the trouble of strapping on his Glock .40 caliber handgun and dropping his Kel Tec 380 in his pocket before visiting the site of President Obama's talk last Saturday in Minneapolis. His name is Josh Hendrickson and both handguns were loaded. He went to the speech to stand outside and show off his cammo and his guns. The press took note and had a chat with him. Hendrickson told…

I recommend that instead, Sarah Palin shuts the fuck up. See also this post.

UPDATE (7:50pm Central): There has been a lot of confusion in details, partly because of the usual blinding incompetence of anyone major news networks deem worthy of putting in front of a camera, partly because the press conference at a hospital will not cover information about those transported to other hospitals or directly to a morgue, and partly because of the high tolerance of those delivering and watching the news to inaccuracy. There is really no other reason for the basic facts to be so incorrect for so long at a highly secured crime scene. Anyway, the following appears to be…