January 26, 2015

Oklahoma fights gay marriage, LGBT in general

"State Rep. Sally Kern (R) is leading that charge. She infamously insists that homosexuality is “more dangerous” than terrorism.... Last week, she filed three separate bills designed to circumvent equality for the LGBT community by either licensing discrimination or outright promoting harm."

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/01/26/3615283/oklahoma-discrimination-ex-gay-kern/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=tptop3&utm_campaign=tptop3

January 26, 2015

Spacecraft's Double-Take Reveals Changes on Mars

A bright layer of frost lining a crater wall is vanquished by the springtime sun -- and seen by a NASA Mars satellite.


http://mail.discovery.com/T/v10000014b272b0a1db48576e2ba3a7934/9045d3d8f10d42ee0000021ef3a0bcd3

January 26, 2015

5 incredible insect superpowers

Hawk moths have sonar-blocking genitals; bees are electrically charged! Those aren't the only superpowers insects possess.

http://mail.discovery.com/T/v10000014b272b0a1db48576e2ba3a7934/9045d3d8f10d42ee0000021ef3a0bcd1

January 26, 2015

Repubs push f/ Atlantic offshore drilling

"U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr introduced an amendment Thursday to the Senate Keystone pipeline proposal that would allow drilling up the coast from Florida to Delaware in search of oil and gas resources … Obama already has approved seismic exploration for oil and gas in the Atlantic, which many environmentalists see as a precursor to eventual drilling … Environmental advocacy groups see it as an attack on the country’s national and state treasures, including North Carolina’s fragile barrier islands.”

http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fTXxKzbE%2BbuUvwqXGK%2FqCB23ndgk1zqb

January 26, 2015

Is rewarding tax avoidance the way to fund infrastructure needs?

...Sen. Rand Paul (R-Texas) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) are close to agreeing on a plan that would give multinationals a deep tax reduction on money they currently have stashed overseas if they bring the money back into the United States, also known as repatriation. Money collected would be deposited into the Highway Trust Fund, which is dedicated to paying for federal transportation projects ... is rewarding tax avoidance really the way to fund our public infrastructure needs? ...

http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8ce1ngRJHkXqk4lpLSyAWB23ndgk1zqb

(Personally, I like it better than gas tax, esp w/ volitile oil market...)

January 26, 2015

Shrunken middle class

The middle class has literally shrunk. NYT: "In the late 1960s, more than half of the households in the United States were squarely in the middle, earning, in today's dollars, $35,000 to $100,000 a year. Few people noticed or cared as the size of that group began to fall, because the shift was primarily caused by more Americans climbing the economic ladder into upper-income brackets. But since 2000, the middle-class share of households has continued to narrow, the main reason being that more people have fallen to the bottom. At the same time, fewer of those in this group fit the traditional image of a married couple with children at home, a gap increasingly filled by the elderly."

http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=MvYxVmwDuXIffnznJqdzXx23ndgk1zqb

January 26, 2015

Bad news f/ Idaho amphibians...& school kids

Yet again, Idaho Repubs use fear of the federal gov't to deny school children's request f/ a state amphibian.

"It is a mistake to ever overestimate the ignorance of the Idaho legislature" - herpetologist Frank Lundberg

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/tough-luck-salamanders-idaho?cid=eml_mra_20150125

@maddow at MSNBC

January 25, 2015

Pro-union band Dropkick Murphy's msg to Gov Walker

Gov Walker, stop using our music. "We literally hate you."

Wonder if they can sue...

January 25, 2015

Physics of "deflategate"

Several articles from a science site:

Mark Lee Rollins for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Even though it seems like it, this isn't the first time football pressure or football contents have been called into question. In 2012, USC was actually fined for intentionally deflating footballs. This year, even, the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings were warned about modifying footballs. Then go back to the 1976 Pro Bowl, there was a theory (since debunked) that the Oakland Raiders put Helium in their footballs for better hang time! Regarding the recent allegations against the New England Patriots, according to ESPN, 11 of the 12 game balls were found to be underinflated by about 2 pounds each. The NFL specifications say a football must be inflated to 12-1/2 to 13-/12 pounds per square inch. However, the NFL does say the "Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until...

More articles from PhysicsNews:

http://www.physnews.com/materials-news/cluster1123337331/

January 25, 2015

OK. I give up. What's "DU Rec"?