Hey, you! » Educational

I dunno, what do YOU think about on the weekend?

Ben — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:42:24 +0000

(thank you to Regina Lynn for the link)

It’s fun to do it the healthy way

Ben — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:00:09 +0000

It’s stuck in my head, so I thought I’d pass it along.

You’re welcome.

If it swims like a duck

Ben — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:15:25 +0000

More hand wringing, perhaps, but this is one of those things that constantly bugs me and I can do absolutely nothing about it. So in order to let you glimpse another bit of my neurosis, I give you:

Our Arctic ice is melting.

There, I said it. I’m surrounded by people that insist there is no such thing as global warming, that it was all invented by “lefties” to push forward their tax-and-spend agenda, why did it snow so much if the earth is getting warmer, blah blah blah.

I’d love to tell them all to fuck off, but since I’m related to some of them, that isn’t very nice. So I try and needle them with pesky little “facts” once in a while, but they always have an answer.

How about this little bit?

But this winter’s unexpected developments in the Beaufort Sea suggest that all bets are off. Waters that used to lose 10,000 square kilometres a year in ice cover, according to scientists, currently lose at least eight times that amount. Now, some scientists are speculating that the Arctic could be seasonally ice-free in less than a decade.

“The ice is no longer growing or getting old,” says John Falkingham, chief forecaster for the Canadian Ice Service, the Environment Canada agency that helps ships find a way through the Northwest Passage and other parts of the Arctic.

WTF? You mean, after always having ice year round for say, the last million years or so, we’re looking at being ice free in the summer, and this is just normal? If I were to take a poll, right now in the room I am sitting in, out of the 100 people I bet the majority would insist it is normal, and there’s nothing we could do about it anyway. They probably have that last part right. The question is, what will this mean to everything else. The earth being like a giant rubik’s cube, where even if you get all the colors right on one side, chances are you’ll fuck up three or four other sides in the process.

Finally, this is not about being right. I hope to hell that my fears are unfounded, that the planet isn’t stricken with something akin to a cancer that we puny humans are powerless to treat. I really hope that ten years from now somebody will find this entry on google and come back and be able to honestly comment “see? Nothing to worry about, we’re all fine.” I really do.

do one thing every day that scares you

Ben — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:47:46 +0000

This is sooo true:

Can’t touch this

Ben — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:51:47 +0000

Birds. Bees. How about giant squid?

I cannot beat their headline, either.

Weird sex: Giant squid do it deeper

“But males get round their inferior size by being endowed with a particularly long penis, which means they can inject the female without having to get too close to her chomping beak. The male’s sexual organ is actually a bit like a high-pressure fire hose and is normally nearly as long as his body - excluding legs and head.

“But having such a big penis does have one drawback: it seems that co-ordinating eight legs, two feeding tentacles and a huge penis, whilst fending off an irate female, is a bit too much to ask, and one of the two males stranded on the Spanish coast had accidentally injected himself with sperm packages in the legs and body. And this does not seem to have been an isolated incident…

Hey, watch where you point that thing!

found via Boing, Boing.

holy spit

Ben — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:00:15 +0000

Found at Boing, Boing.

Already there are saliva-based antibody tests to detect human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, and hepatitis infections, (University of Rochester Medical Center researcher Fred Hagan said). He said this protein map will provide new targets.

“Monitoring disease as well as drug use could be more easily done with saliva as opposed to blood or urine,” he said.

Other groups are working on a saliva-based test for breast cancer that would detect a protein fragment from the HER2 protein. Hagan said such tests could eventually replace uncomfortable and costly mammograms.

“We envision in the future spitting in a tube and looking for a marker like this breast cancer marker. It would be much easier to do, potentially at home,” he said.

link, link

biology

Ben — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:32:41 +0000

Idiot newscaster on CNN questioning whether texting causes STD’s in teen girls.

Never thought to question how actively discouraging condom use (”just say no”) might be playing into this.

No! If we tell kids to wrap that rascal, they’ll have more sex! It’ll be like we are encouraging them!

Instead, we’ll just bury our heads in the sand. Surely they won’t be dumb enough to actually (gasp) have sex if they don’t have a condom….

too funny

Ben — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:24:53 +0000

Well, you know ol’ Spitzer?

The company he used to launder his money? (oh, wait, “allegedly.”) Their web site is still up as of right now.

Dig this (and no, I’m not making it up)

Business Connections USA
QAT Consulting Group
1- 866 - 459 - 5698

We will provide you with the right business connections.

Our services are comprehensive and hands on. Our attorney, investment bankers and bank managers are ready to help you with any legal or financial matters and assist in developing new projects and markets.

As our client, you will be protected with “attorney-client privilege of information”, as defined and secured by the Law of the United States—your privacy is strictl and your business/tax affairs will always remain yours private matters.

The price ranges from $600-$3000 depending on complicity of the project.

To make a payment , please go to Contact Us page and click on the Buy Now button using your
Visa or Master Card

We need a “priceless” parody, stat.

So wrong

Ben — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:49:18 +0000

I’m heading out in a few minutes to accept my award for Father of the Year, but first I wanted to post this…

(thanks, Sherry!)

Neenex battle of the sexes

Ben — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:21:28 +0000

Me: examine all of the facial tissue offerings for several minutes, comparing price per each with such features as aloe or antibacteria crap; eventually picking one that is not too expensive but not too scratchy looking.

Two days later the dog eats the entire box.

She: Grabs a box with Ratatouille on it. Instant hit with the kids.