Ocelopotamus

News, culture, and politics. Not necessarily in that order.

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Entries Tagged as 'Science'

Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition

July 9th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition · Activism, Blogs, Comics, Culture, Education, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Pets, Politics, Restaurants, Roundup, Science, Tech, Vegetarian & Vegan

John Conyers tells it like it T-I-Is: Conyers says Bush spared Libby from jail to keep him from singing. This is patently obvious to just about everyone, but of course the White House immediately called the charge “ridiculous and baseless.” Which allows it to join the distinguished list of other ideas the administration considers “ridiculous […]

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Notes on Sicko: A Prescription for Change

July 6th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Science

I saw Sicko Tuesday night, and it did not disappoint. The main impact for me is this: Watching this film makes it unavoidably clear that we as a nation have been completely duped, conned, and as the kids say, “pwned,” by those who’ve spent millions to convince us that universal healthcare is too expensive, can’t […]

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Roundup: Solar-Powered Wi-Fi Turtle Edition

July 5th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Apple, Business, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, HIV/AIDS, Internet, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech

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, […]

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Ceci N’est Pas Une Vice President

July 2nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Internet, Politics, Science

The award for the best Cheney post of the past week goes to Bob Harris, hands down. It starts out good: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the last six and a half years would make a lot more sense if the GOP were actually performing a sophisticated Dada art exhibition. This […]

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Sicko Mini-Roundup: “We Can Do It.”

June 30th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Activism, Culture, Education, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, Media, Politics, TV, Video

In case you haven’t seen it yet, Crooks and Liars has the video of Michael Moore’s appearance on Leno from earlier this week, with some great interview and a clip from the film. Meanwhile, Daily Kos had a diary a few days ago about the more than 15,000 nurses from across the country who have […]

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Roundup: Still Life with Salmon Edition

June 28th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Apple, Comics, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, iTunes, LGBT, Macintosh, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech

POLITICS: The Washington Post brings us the fascinating story of how Cheney’s quest to undermine environmental science for political purposes led to a humongous pile of rotting dead fish. “… Because of Cheney’s intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was […]

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A Cat Like Fine Wine

June 24th, 2007 · Comments Off on A Cat Like Fine Wine · Books, Cats, Culture, Media, Nature, News, Pets, Science

Oh, my heavens. How old do you think the world’s oldest cat might be? Try thirty-seven years. That’s right, a black cat named (ironically) Baby was born in 1970, according to his owners, and he will be recognized by Cat Fancy magazine in its August issue. You heard me. For those feeling as skeptical as […]

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Roundup: Irish Sea Eagle Edition

June 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogs, Climate Change, Culture, Feminism, Film, Internet, Law, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV

POLITICS: The Senate Judiciary committee has voted 13-3 to authorize subpoenas for documents related to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. That includes three Republicans on the committee voting in favor of the subpeonas: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Poland “stuns” other members of the European Union by demanding that […]

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“Do Not Go To Work on an Egg”

June 20th, 2007 · Comments Off on “Do Not Go To Work on an Egg” · Advertising, Business, Comedy, Culture, Food, Health, Language, News, TV, Vegetarian & Vegan, Video

A British advertising watchdog has slapped down the British Egg Information Service’s attempt to bring back the famous “Go To Work on an Egg” ads from the 50s, on the grounds that they don’t promote a properly balanced breakfast. Something like the dawning American realization that the egg is indeed edible, but maybe not so […]

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Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient

June 20th, 2007 · Comments Off on Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Internet, Media, News, Politics

So there’s lots of news buzz this week about how Michael Moore’s health care industry documentary Sicko has already been pirated to YouTube and other places, two weeks before the film’s original June 29 release date. And as a result the movie will be opening early, with sneak previews in 27 selected markets. I think […]

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Introducing the New Meerkat-Enabled T. Rex, or Tiny Arms No More!

June 19th, 2007 · Comments Off on Introducing the New Meerkat-Enabled T. Rex, or Tiny Arms No More! · Advertising, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Nature, Pets

Go look at what Eli made. Just go look. When you get there, be sure to click on the thumbnail to look at the large version of the image. The wonderfulness of it is hardly to be fathomed.   Illustration: Detail from “Tyrannosaurus M.E.” by Hob, aka my pal Eli. I also highly recommend his […]

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Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition

June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition · Activism, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Education, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, Labor, Law, LGBT, Music, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Science, Tech

POLITICS: In “Hillary’s Labor Problem,” Joe Conason points out that Hillary Clinton’s top political strategist, Mark Penn, is the CEO of a union-busting law firm. “Having started in a tiny, two-man polling operation in a New York City mayoral campaign, he is now the CEO of Burson-Marsteller Inc., one of the planet’s largest P.R. shops, […]

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The Disappearing Bird Act

June 17th, 2007 · Comments Off on The Disappearing Bird Act · Climate Change, Illinois, Nature, News, Science

The populations of 20 common US birds — including a range of familiar “backyard birds” such as sparrows, chickadees, whippoorwills, and larks — are in decline, according to a new report from The National Audobon Society. The 20 species in question have less than half the populations they did in 1967. A variety of factors […]

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Roundup: Return of the Mouse Edition

June 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Apple, Books, Comics, Culture, Fiction, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, HIV/AIDS, iTunes, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Music, News, Organic Food, Politics, Roundup, Tech, Theater

BOOKS: This week marked the release of Armistead Maupin’s new book Michael Tolliver Lives, which picks up the story of Michael “Mouse” Tolliver, the iconic character from Maupin’s Tales of the City series. Mouse is now in his mid-50s, living with HIV but happily married. Maupin says, “I wanted to tell the story of a […]

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