little did he know

thoughts and links from a character(s) unaware
Fri-dog

Fri-dog

bostonreview: Apropos of nothing, except greatness perhaps. (via Yoshito Hinton)

bostonreview:

Apropos of nothing, except greatness perhaps. (via Yoshito Hinton)

copy/pasted ramblings

There is a spectrum of issues that need to be addressed by our political system. But we can’t count on any of them to be addressed meaningfully in any one lifetime. Some issues are addressed meaningfully, but not always the ones you’d expect, not usually when you’d expect, and not always the most important.

Change in our system is excruciatingly incremental — generational, even — except when it’s not (e.g. gay marriage landslide over the last 2 weeks).

Punctuated generational incrementalism. Pick an issue and it could move in the next 3 months or remain stagnant for 30 years. There’s no way to predict it.

And, except for the weird moments of punctuated progress, issues move SO SLOWLY, if at all, because our system is designed to slow shit down.

Question is, then, is our system too slow? Is it unable to react to the modern interconnected world? And if it is, what then?

colchrishadfield: These Great Barrier Reef islands make me want to draw in the second eye. that’s coo

colchrishadfield:

These Great Barrier Reef islands make me want to draw in the second eye.

that’s coo

Well, that’s a weight off my mind (PHOTOS)

moonbehindclouds:

huffpostpolitics:

truth-has-a-liberal-bias:

govtoversight:

newshour:

Almost one million veterans are waiting for their benefit claims to be processed, according to an investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting. One regional office in North Carolina was so overrun with claims folders that the sheer weight of their content exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the building itself.

These photos were included in a 2012 report from the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. To see more photos and learn more about the backlog, go here.

These photos are insane. 1) Because there are so many files and 2) because they are PAPER. Click the link above for even more.

Congress needs to start a WPA-type program to give people jobs sorting through this paperwork and helping the veterans get their health benefits. Hire as many people as it takes to get the job done. Set aside “X” dollars for “X” employees and get the job done.

Gives jobs to people & helps the veterans get the health care/benefits that they have earned. It’s a shame that there are too many Republicans in the House for a program like this to even be considered.

uh, government doesn’t create jobs

You have to realize how ridiculous some of the these claims are though. There are veterans that claim that the STDs they picked up from hookers in Vietnam are service connected. And you know what? We pay them for it! So many veterans abuse this system that it clogs everything up and makes it difficult to get the proper services to those with genuine issues. 

You have a good point, but I’d have to see some data from the VA showing how many applications are for that sort of thing (waste/abuse/fraud) as compared to legitimate claims.

Honestly, I’d be very surprised if the sort of waste/abuse/fraud you mention makes up more than 5% of claims. Surely there is official data on this subject, but I’m not able to search for it at the moment.

Ex-CNN Reporter: I Received Orders to Manipulate News to Demonize Syria and Iran

progressivefriends:

PRAGUE, (SANA)- Ex-CNN reporter Amber Lyon revealed that during her work for the channel she received orders to send false news and exclude some others which the US administration did not favor with the aim to create a public opinion in favor of launching an aggression on Iran and Syria.

FYI, that “news organization” you’re quoting is the Syrian Department of Information. Not exactly reliable.

(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)

we-are-star-stuff: What Would Happen if Oxygen Were to Disappear for Five Seconds? A few things: Everyone at the beach would get sunburns. Ozone is molecular oxygen and blocks the majority of UV light. Without it, we are toast. The daytime sky would get darker. With fewer particles in the atmosphere to scatter blue light, the sky would get a bit less blue and a bit more black. Every internal combustion engine would stall. This means that every airplane taking off from a runway would likely crash to the ground, while planes in flight could glide for some time. All pieces of untreated metal would instantly spot-weld to one another. This is one of the more interesting side effects. The reason metals don’t weld on contact is they are coated in a layer of oxidation. In vacuum conditions, metal welds without any intermediate liquid phase (Cold welding). Everyone’s inner ear would explode. As mentioned, we would lose about 21 percent of the air pressure in an instant, equivalent to being teleported to the top of the high Andes (elevation, about 2,000 meters). Every building made out of concrete would turn to dust. Oxygen is an important binder in concrete structures (really, the CO2 is), and without it, the compounds do not hold their rigidity. Every living cell would explode in a haze of hydrogen gas. Water is one third oxygen; without it, the hydrogen turns into gaseous state and expands in volume. The oceans would evaporate and bleed into space. As oxygen disappears from the oceans’ water, the hydrogen component becomes an unbound free gas. Hydrogen gas, being the lightest, will rise to the upper troposphere and slowly bleed into space through Atmospheric escape. Everything above ground would immediately go into free fall. As oxygen makes up about 45 percent of the Earth’s crust and mantle, there is suddenly a lot less “stuff” beneath your feet to hold everything up. To sum, it wouldn’t be pretty. QUESTION: Would the volume of hydrogren released into the atmosphere as gas balance out the loss of oxygen? What would the overall pressure change be?

we-are-star-stuff:

What Would Happen if Oxygen Were to Disappear for Five Seconds?

A few things:

  • Everyone at the beach would get sunburns. Ozone is molecular oxygen and blocks the majority of UV light. Without it, we are toast.
  • The daytime sky would get darker. With fewer particles in the atmosphere to scatter blue light, the sky would get a bit less blue and a bit more black.
  • Every internal combustion engine would stall. This means that every airplane taking off from a runway would likely crash to the ground, while planes in flight could glide for some time.
  • All pieces of untreated metal would instantly spot-weld to one another. This is one of the more interesting side effects. The reason metals don’t weld on contact is they are coated in a layer of oxidation. In vacuum conditions, metal welds without any intermediate liquid phase (Cold welding).
  • Everyone’s inner ear would explode. As mentioned, we would lose about 21 percent of the air pressure in an instant, equivalent to being teleported to the top of the high Andes (elevation, about 2,000 meters).
  • Every building made out of concrete would turn to dust. Oxygen is an important binder in concrete structures (really, the CO2 is), and without it, the compounds do not hold their rigidity.
  • Every living cell would explode in a haze of hydrogen gas. Water is one third oxygen; without it, the hydrogen turns into gaseous state and expands in volume.
  • The oceans would evaporate and bleed into space. As oxygen disappears from the oceans’ water, the hydrogen component becomes an unbound free gas. Hydrogen gas, being the lightest, will rise to the upper troposphere and slowly bleed into space through Atmospheric escape.
  • Everything above ground would immediately go into free fall. As oxygen makes up about 45 percent of the Earth’s crust and mantle, there is suddenly a lot less “stuff” beneath your feet to hold everything up.

To sum, it wouldn’t be pretty.

QUESTION: Would the volume of hydrogren released into the atmosphere as gas balance out the loss of oxygen? What would the overall pressure change be?

(via thepoliticalfreakshow)

jamesadomian:

heatherannecampbell:

Why people are leaving Facebook, in two pictures.
Also, I have Adblock already installed. All that shit is there by design.

Facebook sucks. And you don’t need it. You’re already alive.

(via laughterkey)

mattlehrer: Photo of a person taking a photo of a person taking a photo of a standpipe outside Tumblr HQ. I don’t think there’s anything unusual about the standpipe. INTERNET ASPODE

mattlehrer:

Photo of a person taking a photo of a person taking a photo of a standpipe outside Tumblr HQ. I don’t think there’s anything unusual about the standpipe.

INTERNET ASPODE