Today's Mighty Oak


Alright, let’s see what we have today. First up, with Mardi Gras parades cancelled, residents instead decorated their porches as floats, and they are amazing!

Pigments are fascinating and so complex. And to prove that, we have the first new shade of blue…in 200 years.

And speaking of things that are blue, a gemologist opened a rock and found a geode that looks like Cookie Monster!

We have a ton of work to do (pandemic, dismantling ICE, climate change, employment, racial inequity, the list goes on), but in some good news, President Biden signed the most substantive LGBT protections order ever. We still need to pass the Equality Act, but this is a great stop-gap.

Great news for the county, and sad news for those of us in PA, Dr. Rachel Levine has been tapped to join the administration as the Assistant Health Secretary!

Fun news: The USPS is partnering with Lucasfilm to do a set of stamps commemorating the droids of Star Wars!

Frightening news: Microsoft has patented a chatbot specifically used to recreate personalities, such as those of people who have died. I can see the therapeutic uses of this. But also, this could easily be exploited in so many bad ways.

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Let’s see what we have today:

Maddow Blog has a follow up to a story about the lack of parades for vets coming home.  Aside from St. Louis (which was entirely citizen-funded), there has not been a parade for any returning troops.  But they can put together a parade in two days for Super Bowl champs.  Sad.

And speaking of the troops, an artist has done a project entitled “The impact of war on a young person’s face.”  Interesting stuff.

Virginia Senator Howell is amazing.  When faced with a bill that now (I believe it passed) makes it mandatory for women seeking abortions to get ultrasounds, she proposed an amendment (which barely lost) requiring men to get a rectal exam and cardiac screening if they wanted to get a prescription for ED medication.

I’ve been meaning to post this before, looks pretty awesome:

Here’s an update to the wall outlet I posted about last week.  These are more flush with the wall, and this time, diagrams on how to wire it!

Interested in SOPA/PIPA and what kicked it all off?  Information is Beautiful took a look at the actual numbers, and they are a bit surprising, check it out.

I know some people are excited about this, but honestly, I don’t think they will end up being very good.  Hopefully I’m proved wrong, but either way, DC is moving forward with the Watchmen prequel series.

Scientists are working towards making your internal monologue being able to be broadcast.  While this will of course help medical technology a lot (think of those in comas, the deaf and those with developmental disabilities), but holy crap, that would be awful if my inner monologue was public.  Then again, maybe the people who annoyed me would leave me alone finally.

JCPenny is redesigning all their stores.  Interesting to see, especially since my local store is moving from one of the mall to the other, so it’s good timing for them at least.

Remember how Republicans love to campaign against voter fraud, the boogeyman that is not really a problem according to all studies, but it’s a good way to push through legislation that disenfranchises those who tend to vote democratic.  But as it turns out, the latest verified case of voter fraud was by a Republican Secretary of State (of Indiana).  Oh the irony.

That’s it for now, have a great one!

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