Representative democracy.
Rep. Paul Broun (R – GA), member of House Science Committee, says that evolution, embryology, big bang theory are “lies straight from the pit of hell.”
Posts tagged stupid.
Why doesn’t Apple buck-up and work with Google for mapping? What a shameful and plainly stupid waste of resources and brain power.
Berlin, Antarctica
aaah… Apple…
(via fuckyeahcartography)
Let me fix that headline for you: “Americans uniformed by news media”
Nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t name a single Supreme Court justice; can you?
(Photo: Larry Downing / Reuters file)
The Supreme Court has been making big headlines this summer, both with its split decision to upheld one part of a tough Arizona immigration law while striking down three other parts, and its decision to upheld the 2010 health care law, thus preserving President Obama’s landmark legislative achievement.
(via nbcnews)
I follow this batshiat-crazy tumblr called “Republican National Committee Research.” I have an interest in cities, architecture, and infrastructure and can’t help but notice how hilarioterrible this ad is. I should say first that, in my observations, RNC Research:
- Does not actually produce research. Nor do they produce information about the Republican party, and
- They primarily exist to create high-school level Obama attack ads.
This particular ad caught my eye. It shows Obama laughing, a quote “you didn’t build that” above him, and the 1929 Empire State Building in the background.
Everyone can agree, Obama did not build the Empire State Building - foreign trained architects designed it and (mostly) illegal immigrants built it. So, what’s the deal with this ad?
- Built in Manhattan, New York in 1929 the Empire State Building was co-designed with a Canadian and a New Yorker who studied in France
- Contracted to a Chicago construction firm, Starrett Brothers & Eken, Inc. (now NYC based)
- And most workers were undocumented illegal immigrants
- Interestingly, this included non-U.S. citizen Mohawk Indian ironworkers. The Mohawks were openly and legally discriminated against, were actively denied U.S. citizenship by the 71st Republican run Congress and Senate, were screwed over many times as Republican run congress and senate violated Indian treaties and federal acts (the UN scolded the US for continued violations as recently as 2006, also under a Republican administration), and were continuously denied human rights, which were collectively known back then as ‘freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’
Great “research” guys…
Update: A few have pointed out that the quote, “you didn’t build that” is in reference to a speech Obama gave this week at Historic Fire Station No. 1, in Roanoke Virginia. He basically stated that no business could exist with out the help of family, friends, government, and other community support. The right scraped the above quote, called it a gaff, and turned it into a meme. Ironically, the subject matter used in the memes only prove Obama’s point - that nothing gets built without other people (sometimes legitimately, other times shadily) - as I showed above.
Meh, looks cringingly forced, dull, repetitive, and uninformative. Note that Martin Scorsese’s next film is called “Silver Ghost,” a documentary on making the luxury brand, Rolls Royce.
Thinking Sustainability: ‘Surviving Progress’ (Trailer)
From The National Film Board of Canada:
Surviving Progress is a stunning new feature documentary that connects the financial collapse, growing inequity, and the Wall Street oligarchy, with future technology, sustainability, and the fate of civilization. Inspired by Ronald Wright’s bestseller A Short History of Progress, filmmakers Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks dig deep into human nature and patterns of history to challenge and redefine the very idea of progress.
(Poster source: First Run Features)
“The intensity of stupidity that is looking back at you <herzopause> is just amazing.”
Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is.
-Rick Santorum calling climate science bogus. (via officialssay)
aka, Rick Santorum demonstrates that an American JD, masters, and a bachelors ain’t worth a shit… U.S. science education system is failing, hard.
(via thecallus-deactivated20130520)
Republicans Propose Uranium Mining in Grand Canyon (again) ›
Apparently the only way Republicans know how to create jobs is to help their friends drill their big rods into sacred holes. Immoral “alternative lifestyle” indeed…
![Update: Charges were dropped! See here. BUT, she is now charged with not licensing her dogs, faces 90+ days in jail.
The city planner in me says she’ll lose. Her garden probably falls under the category of agriculture, which have very different land specs and location requirements. If I’m not mistaken, that white pipe cap sticking out near the side walk is her septic tank vent, which is underneath her garden. Either way, it’s a fine example of terrible city planning and horrible local governance.
thedailywhat:
This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: A woman in Oak Park, Michigan is being threatened with substantial jail time for having the audacity to grow vegetables in her front yard.
“The price of organic food is kind of through the roof,” says Julie Bass, who decided instead to grow her own after the city ripped out her grass to replace a sewer line. But the Oak Park officials think Bass’s new garden is unseemly, and have twice ordered her to remove it before slapping her with a misdemeanor.
According to Oak Park City Planner Kevin Rulkowski the city’s code states that “a front yard has to have suitable, live, plant material.” Says Bass, “[i]t’s definitely live. It’s definitely plant. It’s definitely material. We think it’s suitable.” But to Rulkowski “suitable” means “common.” “So,” he told FOX 2 News, “if you look around and you look in any other community, what’s common to a front yard is a nice, grass yard with beautiful trees and bushes and flowers.”
But in Bass’s community, a far more common front-yard sight is neighbors admiring her garden. “I have a bunch of little children and we take walks to come by and see everything growing,” says neighbor Devorah Gold. “I think it’s a very wonderful thing for our neighborhood.” “They don’t have (anything) else to do (if) they’re going to take her to court for a garden,” adds neighbor Ora Goodwin. In fact, every single neighbor approached by FOX 2 thought Bass should be allowed to keep her garden.
For her part, Bass says she intends to fight the city’s charge. “I could sell out and save my own self and just not have them bother me anymore,” she says, “but then there’s no telling what they’re going to harass the next person about.”
Her next pre-trail hearing has been set for July 26.
Watch FOX 2 News’s report below:
[myfoxdetroit / theagitator / thanks christopher!]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo16kseqSs1qzpwi0o1_500.png)
Update: Charges were dropped! See here. BUT, she is now charged with not licensing her dogs, faces 90+ days in jail.
The city planner in me says she’ll lose. Her garden probably falls under the category of agriculture, which have very different land specs and location requirements. If I’m not mistaken, that white pipe cap sticking out near the side walk is her septic tank vent, which is underneath her garden. Either way, it’s a fine example of terrible city planning and horrible local governance.
This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: A woman in Oak Park, Michigan is being threatened with substantial jail time for having the audacity to grow vegetables in her front yard.
“The price of organic food is kind of through the roof,” says Julie Bass, who decided instead to grow her own after the city ripped out her grass to replace a sewer line. But the Oak Park officials think Bass’s new garden is unseemly, and have twice ordered her to remove it before slapping her with a misdemeanor.
According to Oak Park City Planner Kevin Rulkowski the city’s code states that “a front yard has to have suitable, live, plant material.” Says Bass, “[i]t’s definitely live. It’s definitely plant. It’s definitely material. We think it’s suitable.” But to Rulkowski “suitable” means “common.” “So,” he told FOX 2 News, “if you look around and you look in any other community, what’s common to a front yard is a nice, grass yard with beautiful trees and bushes and flowers.”
But in Bass’s community, a far more common front-yard sight is neighbors admiring her garden. “I have a bunch of little children and we take walks to come by and see everything growing,” says neighbor Devorah Gold. “I think it’s a very wonderful thing for our neighborhood.” “They don’t have (anything) else to do (if) they’re going to take her to court for a garden,” adds neighbor Ora Goodwin. In fact, every single neighbor approached by FOX 2 thought Bass should be allowed to keep her garden.
For her part, Bass says she intends to fight the city’s charge. “I could sell out and save my own self and just not have them bother me anymore,” she says, “but then there’s no telling what they’re going to harass the next person about.”
Her next pre-trail hearing has been set for July 26.
Watch FOX 2 News’s report below:
[myfoxdetroit / theagitator / thanks christopher!]
Breaking: “#1” Climate denier lied about college degree, Minnesota State Senator Michael Jungbauer
Looks like another politician got caught lying today. This time a climate denying state senator from Minnesota got busted for lying to the public about his resume, his “college degree,” and for taking science classes. He used these “facts” in a manner to shape policy in Minnesota. But, really, who cares? I highly doubt that he’ll be forced to resign for lying about his credentials. After all, it’s not a scandal that rises to such incredible national significance as tweeting your dong.
Jungbauer, who sits on the state’s Senate Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, proudly calls himself the “No. 1 global warming denier in Minnesota.” He also claims to have a bachelor’s degree from the Moody Bible Institute with a “background in biochemistry.” The first claim is easy enough to believe, but as for the second, MinnPost reported yesterday that Jungbauer never graduated, and that the closest thing he has to a bachelor’s of science is a ministerial ordainment from Christian Motorsports International, which provides “chapel services” at “races, car shows, cruise-ins, and tractor pulls.”
Source: MJ
Standford Law posts free papers on Geoengineering. Download while they’re still live.
Geoengineering is, to my mind, an evil way to adapt to climate change. Geoengineering is a set of methods to artificially alter the earth’s climate. These include seeding the upper atmosphere with sulfer particles, creating artificial clouds to reflect the sun’s rays back into space, deploying sun shields in space, etc. It’s all very 1950s. Yet, researchers are taking it very seriously.
In fact, geoengineering programs at universities are on the rise around the globe. I read the geoengineering google group daily, and the technology and debates surrounding its uses have significantly advanced since the cloud seeding story from just a couple of years ago.
There are two core problems with geoengineering:
- We don’t know if the technology works. The only way to know is to try it out. In other words, geoengineers would have to attempt to alter the earth’s climate by experimenting with it. NOT COOL MAN!
- Who will hold the keys? It is unclear which country or block of countries would “control the weather,” so to speak. Should China do the geoengineering? The US? Should there be an international treaty? What if some nations object? What if a nation uses it as a weapon? See, here.
The Standford Journal of Law, Science & Policy has just published an issue dedicated to geoengineering. They’re online, free to download. And they’re pretty easy reads. I suspect these won’t be online for very long. Get em while they last!
Climate Adaptation
by Michael Cote
I want to punch climate change in the face.
A blog about the interactions between the built environment, people, and nature.
I'm a climate change consultant specializing in climate adaptation, environmental law, and urban planning based in the U.S. In addition to traveling and hiking, I research, publish, and lecture on how cities can adapt to climate change.
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