March 21, 2017

Physicist Lawrence Krauss on the greatest scientific story ever told

Lawrence Krauss wants you to see the poetry in the universe.

A theoretical physicist, Krauss proclaimed in a recent talk: "Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded, and the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust."

Krauss, who is the director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, has emerged in recent years as one of the leading advocates for science and reason in public life. As a scientist, he has produced groundbreaking work on early cosmology and the physics of exploding stars.

He's also a part-time columnist for the New Yorker and the author of several popular books, including The Physics of Star Trek and Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth. His lectures, many of which are posted on YouTube, are widely watched.

http://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/3/20/14947086/lawrence-krauss-donald-trump-science-religion-facts-god-education

March 21, 2017

GOP Rep. Scott Perry Says Chesapeake Bay Pollution Is Gods Fault

A Republican congressman from Pennsylvania claims that God is a polluter.

Rep. Scott Perry was asked at a town hall in Red Lion on Saturday if he supported President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency in light of Pennsylvania’s “history of environmental problems.”

“Don’t we need a stronger EPA to protect the environment?” the questioner asked.

Perry, who has worked to restrict and limit the EPA’s abilities, didn’t directly answer the question.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/god-polluter-scott-perry_us_58d0923ee4b0be71dcf773f5?

March 20, 2017

Al Franken could play a giant role in Gorsuch hearings

WASHINGTON — It was a half-hour before one of the sparsely attended committee hearings that take place almost every day on Capitol Hill — in this case, a session on energy infrastructure so dry it would not merit even the presence of a C-SPAN camera.

But in Al Franken's suite of offices in the Hart Senate Office Building, the man still known best as one of the early stars of Saturday Night Live was going through an intense rehearsal with four aides.

How much, Franken wanted to know, are the Chinese spending on clean technology research? Where do things stand on the University of Minnesota's study of torrefaction, a roasting process that produces better fuel for biomass energy production? And might there be a chance to ask a question about one of his favorite causes, loan guarantees for Native American reservations?

"I just want to keep bringing it up, so they keep hearing it," Franken said, with a trace of a sigh.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/Al-Franken-expected-to-bring-piercing-questions-to-Neil-Gorsuch-hearings.html

March 20, 2017

Jason Kander on New Day

https://twitter.com/NewDay/status/843793404316278784

March 20, 2017

Springtime in Tampa, backyard denizens

March 19, 2017

There was an Africa trade meeting with no Africans because all their visas got denied

Each year, delegations from Africa meet with officials and business leaders in the US for the African Global Economic and Development (AGED) Summit.

This year's event took place at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. But unfortunately, one crucial aspect was missing from the summit - any Africans. None of the invited delegates were able to attend, due to being denied a visa at the very last minute.

Mary Flowers, chair of the summit, told VOA that during the previous three summits around 40 per cent of attendees were denied visas.

This year, it was 100 per cent. Every delegation. And it was sad to see, because these people were so disheartened.

https://www.indy100.com/article/africa-trade-meeting-african-visa-denied-us-travel-ban-global-economic-development-summit-7637666

March 19, 2017

House Passes Bill Allowing Mentally Ill Veterans To Own Guns

The House passed a bill Thursday barring the Veterans Administration from putting veterans on a no-guns list if they were determined to have mental illnesses. Under current law, the Veterans Administration decides that a veteran is "mentally incompetent" if they need another person to help them with their finances, and reports those names to the FBI, which adds them to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System—the national database gun merchants have to check before they can legally sell a firearm.

The Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, which passed the House in a 240-175 vote, is now headed to the Senate, where Democratic Senators will surely reintroduce warnings made by both Congressional Democrats and retired military leaders regarding mentally ill people accessing firearms.

http://www.ibtimes.com/shootings-us-house-passes-bill-allowing-mentally-ill-veterans-own-guns-2510672

March 18, 2017

Trump backhands Appalachia

Appalachia voted for Donald Trump more enthusiastically than almost any other part of the country.

In the Super Tuesday primary, Trump’s best county was Virginia’s Buchanan County, where nearly 70 percent of the voters picked him over any other Republican. In November, Trump ran stronger in Appalachia than any other Republican ever. He won more than 90 percent of the localities in Appalachia, taking the entire region by a landslide margin of nearly 2-1.

Trump has an odd way of returning the favor.

Much of the attention about Trump’s proposed budget has focused on the classic fights — he wants to cut funding to the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent; he wants to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

http://www.roanoke.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-trump-backhands-appalachia/article_a46a6f8f-77b9-5b7c-9308-89e1aa270b94.html

March 18, 2017

The Rude Pundit sez

https://twitter.com/rudepundit/status/842847258458521600


The Rude Pundit‏ @rudepundit
The Rude Pundit Retweeted Erick Erickson
Weird that he left out Jews considering, you know, there weren't Christians until he was crucified.




Erick Erickson‏Verified account
@EWErickson
In Matt 25, when Jesus talks about caring for “the least of these,” he isn’t talking about the poor in general, but fellow Christians.

March 17, 2017

Trump is a blithering idiot

that is all

I feel much better now.