Tag: news

Science is awesome!

I read a story on Salon recently about a new mineral that was discovered in Western Australia: putnisite.  Although it will never be a gemstone that Kelly can make into jewelry (it’s beautiful – purple with a pink streak – but its Mohs hardness is only 1.5-2), putnisite is amazing because while most minerals fall into a “family” of common minerals, this is one is truly unique.  In addition to calcium, sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, it also contains both strontium and chromium, and the chemical combination of all these in putnisite make it unlike any of the other 4,000 or so known minerals in the world.  It is “completely unique and unrelated to anything.”

How cool is that?

-Geoff

 

A couple of clarifications

1) Yes, the bomb squad has had a busy day today in Boston.  Yes, they did just blow up two things in controlled detonations (as in, within the last two minutes) at the Marathon Finish Line.  Geoff and I are both fine and were nowhere near any of the controlled detonations today.  Yes, there were more than just those two detonations, no, we were never in any danger.

2) To all the crazies/”patriots”/martyrs/whatever who think that today is a day for demonstrations of their ideologies by throwing backpacks full of stuff into random places: Go back under whatever rock you came from.  We don’t want you, you will get caught and possibly killed, and your “message” just gets lost in the kerfuffle.  Stop already, enough.  April 15th is for paying taxes.

3) To the people heading up the security theater that now invades so much of our lives: I want my rights back.  Catching the guy who tossed those backpacks into the middle of a heavily guarded street was no biggie.  Stopping the guy who shot up KS yesterday?  Not a whole lot of warning on that one despite his obvious history of hatred.  Oh, and that was terrorism too, in case you missed the memo.  Just because a white guy did it doesn’t mean it isn’t terrorism.

And finally, to leave the serious topics for a minute:

4) Geoffrey and Joffrey aren’t the same person, thank all the Gods.  If you’re looking for information about the character on Game of Thrones who died, his name is Joffrey and that post is here.  Geoffrey is my husband and he is a) not a psychopathic murdering boy king and b) very much alive.

~Kelly

ETA by Geoff:  And c) I am very much loyal to the Starks and hate the Lannisters very very much.  I am a true man of the North.  Nyah.

Boston Strong all over again

Yesterday there was another tragedy in our fair city.  A fire broke out in the Back Bay, one of the more tightly packed areas of the city, both architecturally and in terms of traffic.  It quickly went to 9 alarms, sent 18 people to the hospital, destroyed the 4 story building where it started, and killed 2 firefighters.

9 city blocks were closed through this morning as 40+ mph winds whipped the fire into a frenzy.  Backdraft type conditions made the fire merciless and the brave men and women kept fighting even when they knew that one of their comrades lay dead at the bottom of the building.  Even when the fire leapt through the roof and reached for the sky, when floors collapsed and sprayed the surrounding houses with showers of embers, and when the smoke was so thick we could see it from Cambridge, they fought on for hours.

Continue reading “Boston Strong all over again”

Interim Organist needed ASAP

I just received this today.  Please crosspost or forward to interested parties.  Contact info is below.

~Kelly

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Southborough, MA is in immediate need of an interim Organist.  This person will be responsible for playing in the 10:45am Sunday service and for working with the choir.  This is an interim position that will serve until a new permanent Organist & Choirmaster is appointed.

For more information on St. Mark’s and this position please contact Rev. Phil LaBelle.

Today in Equality

With the opening of the Sochi Olympic games on Friday there are all sorts of things going on right now to remind us that the world is full of both hateful bigots (I’m looking at you, Putin) and wonderful people (Canada, Scotland, that would be you.)

This is what has popped up in the latter category in my various news feeds today.  Enjoy.

Continue reading “Today in Equality”

Recent news roundup- Political cartoon edition

These are mostly what has been popping up on my Google+ feed lately.  Some of them are doozies.  Enjoy.

Continue reading “Recent news roundup- Political cartoon edition”

Poverty and the polar vortex

Today I read two very different but still related stories about things that happened in Hammond, Indiana due to the polar vortex.  Both stories emphasize the plight of the working poor in the United States, and how extreme cold affects them in ways that many people may not have even considered.

The first was about a house fire that claimed the lives of three small children and put two others and their father in the hospital.  The second was about a warehouse where workers were forced to continue working – without heat – even after the state had declared an emergency.

Continue reading “Poverty and the polar vortex”

VICTORY!

There’s been a lot of victory going around in the last few days, not the least of which was a few minutes ago when Geoff and I finally conquered the Massachusetts version of the ACA website.  In the spirit of the season, it’s time to share some good news.

Continue reading “VICTORY!”

A few more stores decide to keep Thanksgiving

Both Apple and Radio Shack have decided to not open on Thanksgiving.  Good for them.

Like Kelly had mentioned earlier, too many stores are trying to maximize their profits by extending hours as much as possible on Thanksgiving weekend.  And they are doing it at the expense of their lowest-paid employees.  It’s not like the CEOs are going to pull a late shift themselves that day.  But the CEO class really can’t relate to their employees most of the time anyway.

And the supreme irony of this is that being open longer this Thanksgiving weekend is not likely to make the weekend more profitable.  Things sold on Thanksgiving are generally done at the expense of Black Friday sales, rather than generating new sales.  It’s not like people who avoid shopping that weekend or on Black Friday will suddenly decide to go shopping on Thanksgiving Day itself.

Of course, I don’t see a lot of people asking the question “what would happen if ordinary people had more money to spend?” either.  In fact, there’s no shortage of people who complain about the lack of consumer spending without asking “how are regular people supposed to increase their spending when they are broke?” These same people trash talk the idea of raising the minimum wage while talking about how tough a time the very wealthy have with their taxes.  Actually, not so much – especially when you look at the historical patterns.

As one of the broke people, I can definitely say that yeah, if I had a better paying job (or jobs), I would be able to spend more.  And we’re trying to get that better job or jobs.

-Geoff

 

Tacloban, Samar Island, and two very different storms

After more than a week, many survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines are still struggling to get basics like food, water and shelter.  And places like Samar, Leyte, and Tacloban are now getting mentioned in the news all over the world.  Samar and Leyte seem to have been hit the worst from the typhoon.

I know these place names.  Not because I have ever been there (I haven’t), but because of their famous place in history – specifically, in the fall of 1944, when the Allied invasion of the Japanese-occupied Philippines led to what was the largest naval battle in all of World War Two, and possibly the largest in recorded human history.

Continue reading “Tacloban, Samar Island, and two very different storms”