Roundup: Solar-Powered Wi-Fi Turtle Edition
- Nicole at Crooks and Liars puts it well: It’s ironic to be celebrating Independence Day during a time when we have a virtual King who defies the law with impunity, and is not held accountable to the people he governs. Revolution? What revolution?
- Also at C&L, what a TV newscast looked like on July 4, 1972. One striking irony: In ’72, Nixon was busy laying plans for the Bicentennial celebrations, and fully expected to be presiding over them when 1976 rolled around.
- Racism in the 21st century: black high school students in Jena, Louisiana threatened with lynching for asking to sit under a “whites only” shade tree.
- THE PINK SECTION: OMG! Bill Gates helps bail out PlanetOut and Gay.com.
- Via RubberNun, Egypt has finally banned all female circumcision.
- After a weeklong boycott organized by the local LGBT community, Kroger reverses its previous decision to stop allowing a free gay newspaper to be distributed in its Nashville area stores.
- The Guardian says that according to Polish gay organizations, “thousands” of gay people have fled to the UK from Poland in order to escape state persecution.
- THE GREEN SECTION: An essay in The Independent addresses the elephant in the living room of global climate change: overpopulation. With between 8 and 10 billion humans expected by 2050, it’s time to start talking about it.
- TurtleNet: Computer engineers and biologists at the University of Massachusetts have come together to create a wireless network just for turtles. By attaching postcard-sized, waterproof, solar-powered computers to the shells of snapping turtles, the biologists will track the turtles’ travels to learn more about them and their habitat, while the engineers get to try out some innovative new gadgetry.
- I should have guessed this: It’s actually easier for Americans to get a drink of clean water from Fiji than it is for the people who live there. Here’s a fascinating and sobering look at some of the dirty secrets behind the bottled water industry. Via BoingBoing.
- Big ol’ spongey moon: So if you’re at a party and someone asks you what Saturn’s moon Hyperion is like, you can say, “Porous. Like a sponge.” And then reach for the veggie tray.
- HEALTH: Scientists discover a new “glimmer of hope” for curing HIV infection: an enzyme that attacks HIV’s DNA and removes it from infected cells. It’s a long way from being usable as a treatment, but still a very heartening development. Via Towleroad.
- For those who are still trying to cling to the idea that secondhand smoke isn’t dangerous, give it up. A new study shows that after a single shift at a bar or restaurant that allowed smoking, nonsmoking workers had measurable levels of deadly smoking-related toxins in their bodies.
- Like a surgeon … operating for the very first time: Authorities in India arrest 15-year-old boy who performed a Caesarian section in order to set a record as the world’s youngest surgeon.
- MUSIC: A new Web site called slicethepie.com helps bands bypass major labels and fund their records by using fans as investors. One British band raised 15,000 pounds (US $30,000) for their debut album within 10 days of the site going live.
- TECH: I’ve resisted adding to the iPhone frenzy, but this is something I was wondering about. Just for giggles, PC World beats up an iPhone; iPhone turns out to be tougher than I would have expected from looking at it, passing both scratch and drop tests. You can actually watch a video of the abuse taking place. (It’s like porn for tech-haters.) I’m still no-how, no-way going to switch to AT&T in order to use an iPhone, but if the day ever comes that you can use it with Working Assets or T-Mobile, I’ll be interested.
- THE COMICS SECTION: This Modern World looks at standard conservative responses to health care reform. Mike Luckovich discovers which branch of the government Cheney really belongs to. And Tom Toles discovers burning ears at the White House.
- Digital Turnip Twaddling: Opus gets an iPhone. And here’s Bob Geiger’s most recent Saturday Cartoon roundup.
- THE SOCK DRAWER: From the NY Times, the six stages of email. I’ve been stuck in Stage Four for the last seven years.
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Lynching in the 21st century? It must be fun for these people still living about 5 decades behind everyone else. I wonder if they still listen to “Rebel Rouser” in their pickup trucks and think Elvis is alive…
Boy, I don’t think one commenter on the Cheney cartoon in AJC had anything nice to say about Dick! (Of course, what nice is there to say, other than with that many heart attacks under his belt, he’s gotta kick off eventually?)
Hey, hey, hey! Careful about using the Vice President’s first name. Remember, that’s what gets this blog an R rating!
Good point…from now on, we should refer to him as The Veepster (I just can’t bring myself to say “Vice President”–the words stick in my throat like–brussels sprouts–yeah, that’s it! Brussels sprouts. :-)).
Veepster! Oh, if I had the energy, I’d re-write the lyrics of “Jeepster” by T. Rex to apply to D*ck Cheney. (“America, I’m just a Veepster for your love …” )
re – the bottled water story. Funny enough I was listening to an OnPoint with Tom Ashbrook podcast on this very subject on the way to work this morning. It which includes an interview with the Fast Company writer who penned the above mentioned article.
Here’s the link http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/07/20070703_b_main.asp