damn nature

from nscience

the fire in greenpoint

i saw smoke rising over the navy yard when i was leaving work yesterday evening. then kylie sent me this pic of what she thought was a fire at the disaster eggs. turns out it was a recycling facility across the street at 860 humboldt street. the firefighters finally stamped out all the embers this morning.

the more you know

Trick-or-treaters better appreciate their treats this season: The price of Halloween's finest flavor is up 3 percent this year, according to data from the Dining Alliance reported in the Wall Street Journal. The upping of the price of these rot-your-teeth delights (candy corn, in particular) is because of more costly corn oil. The drought is to blame, Timothy Aeppel of the Journal explains. Processed candy isn't the only seasonal goodie affected: apples (and, relatedly, apple cider) are up 20 to 30 percent in cost. And the drought still isn't over. Despite reports today of it receding, Deborah Zabarenko and Ayesha Rascoe of Reuters write that it may instead spread in the coming months, and 2012 could become "the hottest year since modern record-keeping began." (via)

normally i wouldn't

According to this nyt article, Newt Gingrich is worried about and electromagnetic pulse terrorist attack that would fry our power grid and give rise to roving bands ala Mad Max. Normally i wouldn't give credence to this sort of kookery, but the article happens to coincide with the fact that last night I had my first nightmare in close to a decade. It was all about how there was an attack on the US and what I had to do to save myself and the people around me.

Incredibly telling and depressing spoiler alert: Eventually, I just gave up and got killed.



UPDATE: this jem was in the comments:

"Given that the Republican base doesn't believe in or study science, his scaremongering is one more cynical play on American hysteria born of ignorance."

Dumb comment. FYI I am part of the "Republican Base" and I have a degree in engineering and have done graduate work in Physics. What are your credentials???? A major in art? It's the Democrats that don't believe in science or if they do they believe in bogus science like the idea that "Green" energy is going to solve all our energy problems. I find most liberals are math challenged.
Why?
one reason is that studies show that liberals tend to gravitate to degrees in the liberal arts areas and other "soft" fields like teaching and journalism. They are also always experts in economics yet I see few that have actually studied it.


oof. Burn. I was an art major and i'm a teacher. does that "soft" comment extend to my dependability in  nightmares too? 

cubist cat

Frank and Louie was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses, and three eyes. He can see out of only two of his three eyes. The middle eye can't even blink, which makes Frank and Louie appear to be staring even when his other eyes are closed.
"It's funny because people walk up to him thinking it's a nice, fluffy white cat and they're walking up with a big smile on their face to pat him, like, 'Oh, what a beautiful cat' and I see a look of horror come over their faces when they actually see his face," the cat's owner, Marty Stevens, said. Read more:

If you can handle them, pictures after the jump:

That ish Bray!

Japanese Tsunami Viewed From A Car

This video is a first hand look at the Japanese earthquake and tsunami as seen through the dashboard cam of a delivery truck.


It's a nightmare.