Journalistic Bullshit In Science Reporting - And DNC Prevarication

A while back I mentioned my ongoing irritation with journalists in general, and “science” journalists in particular, for their ignorance and dishonesty in writing and reporting. Here is an example from Science Daily:

The headline says

Thinking Ahead: Bacteria Anticipate Coming Changes In Their Environment

Now so far as I am aware, bacteria don’t “think”. They don’t have a brain of any significance, and certainly don’t have a cerebrum or higher functions in there.

The article further says (my emphasis throughout):

“Microbes may be smarter than we think. A new study by Princeton University researchers shows for the first time that bacteria don’t just react to changes in their surroundings — they anticipate and prepare for them. The findings, reported in the June 6 issue of Science, challenge the prevailing notion that only organisms with complex nervous systems have this ability.”

Now if you read further you’ll find that the bacteria are NOT “anticipating and preparing”; their genes are simply switching on and off due to external stimuli - in a manner no different from - say - our breathing rate changing with the variation in oxygen level. There is no thinking, and there is no anticipation. Just a dumb, mindless autopilot. Do you understand that this is not thinking?

It may seem innocent, but inaccurate and self-serving phrasing like this article’s text does no one any good: it simply dresses up an otherwise mundane science result unnecessarily . And it gives people a false and misleading impression of bacteria capabilities.

You add up enough of these journalistic faux displays and you end up with mis-informed - and manipulated - people.

End of lecture: here is some porn, and the Daily Yabbadabbadoo from Last Of The Few.

Oh! Here is a crop circle - very nicely done. The folks who did it encoded the first ten digits of Pi into the pattern. Neat.

I forgot where I found it, though.

I Got Those Old-Time Internet-Withdrawal Blues.

Pravda finally comes through!

Yep - Our favorite propaganda rag Pravda - which once conveyed unadorned fact by mistake, much to their chagrin an humiliation - has found some more interesting photos to amuse and titillate you.

That is a snail.

There are more sea critter photos here. BTW: it appears that those deep-sea critter photos I posted the other day came from Pravda, too. Now you can stop worrying.

And in NASA news, seems the first scoop full of Mars dirt had no water in it. Rats.

It may have evaporated while it sat on the sifter for an overly-long time. That white shit in the photo may be salt.

Don’t worry. There’ll be a shitload of water soon. I would reference the article I read but it was in *spit* the NY or LA Times, and I don’t link to them as a rule.

Here is some porn, and the Last Of The few daily something-or-the-other.

Smectic Discontinuities And DNC Chiral Disingenuity - The Current State Of The Art

Yes, boys and girls - things are going to hell in a handcart. Look at this:

The reference article is right here - at Nature - where it’s artificially flavored, but vitamin-fortified.

Truth be told - I spotted that first phrase over at Pirate Ballerina - where they take no academic prisoners. I liked it ’cause I thought it might be naughty, and then discovered it’s just techno-speak for liquid-crystal material behavior. How dull.

Also - this post allowed me to use that photo, which I’ve had in my meat locker for god-knows how long. Obviously I got it at break.com - where they often poke - , well, go see for yourself.

Besides, I’ve been playing fair for a week and it sucks. I’m gonna have an asshole reversion. I’m not just turning the other cheek - I’m pointing them both squarely at my adversary!

I got nothin’ today. I checked out Pravda and the same ol’ crap was up. There was one or two items on the science front, though - this, for instance:

Looks like a zit map on a teen-agers face, eh? Well it will no-doubt stun and embarrass you to know that that is a gravity map of the Moon. Yep. Those red blotches are where you do not want to weigh yourself when you are dieting.

The pair of machines show below - from NASA, where lots of money is spent wisely by techno-geeks - promise to map the gravitational variations on the Moon with unprecedented accuracy and detail.

Kinda gets the ol’ hormones flowin’ - yes?

This is a deep-sea fish:

If it bites you, it’ll really fuck you over big-time. I found a bunch of fish photos a while back. Here:

And another:

I have more, but too many of ‘em are boring in a post. But I do have one question: Why are all the deep-sea fish so fucking ugly? Is because there are no lights or mirrors down there? Jeez! Skanky!

So check this out:

Love them teeth!

Meanwhile, here is some smut.

And here is the Daily Whatever over at The Last Of The Few.

Probe To Visit Sun: “We’ll Go At Night!”, Says Scientist.

Yes, boys and girls, NASA is planning a Sun probe to check out the inner workings of that hot ball out there that causes what little global warming we’ve experienced in recent decades.

The whole story is here - at Science daily - from where the sun is believed to occasionally shine!

This next article really chaps my ass!

Seems the shrinking Ozone Hole - yes, I said shrinking! - is putting the Antarctic in danger of more melting. Read the whole thing here - at Science Now (AAAS) - where everything is ducky!

So let me see if I understand this: We stopped using a cheap and extremely efficient freon (freon-12) and a bunch of really handy CFCs because they’re punching a bigger hole in the Ozone Layer and letting all the nasty UV rays in - and because DuPont’s patent on said freon-12 was set to expire (bye-bye cash cow). The research scientists who published the original O-Hole work (2 of 3 who worked for DuPont) cried panic (although the 1 who didn’t work for DuPont later recanted) and pushed for banning CFCs and freon-12.

Now we find out that shrinking the O-Hole (back to its original size, presumably) will speed up global warming. I smell horseshit. It might be old horseshit - but its still horseshit.

Meanwhile, I wonder what a Dobson Unit is? Is that the measure of how much tit won’t fit in ones’ mouth comfortably? You know - the excess?

Here is some porn.

…And Last Of The Few.

NASA Finally Gets Dirty.

Well, looks like the Phoenix Mars Lander finally got some of that damned dirt to go into an oven for processing.

Geez. Ya never know what’s gonna jump out at you and bite your balls…

Meanwhile - those white blotches have just got to be water-ice! They will eventually melt some and get it under a microscope and scan it.

Will they see signs of life?

Um…I didn’t go get some smut. Go look at some nice photos at Last Of The Few.

So…Here We Go Again.

So this is the latest potential McGoo Manor:

That itty bitty box is about 3.77 acres. Pretty dinky compared to all that endless Missouri Conservation land to the north, east, and west of the place. I have only two neighbors; one to the southeast and one directly west. No biggy.

That’s the house and driveway at the southwest corner of the square. That big building in the lower east corner is the barn:

My uncle thinks we should just tear down the barn next Spring, rebuild a half-size one from the seasoned material, and sell the rest for a tidy profit. Barn-wood goes for big bucks around there because no one wants to put new unsightly wood on their barns. And it’s gotta be that old (50-100 year old) cypress(?) stuff - the stuff that that lasts forever and termites won’t mess with.

This is the an interesting photo:

The house is unremarkable 1550 sq ft brick in excellent condition thats totally updated inside and has an equal-size basement thats partially finished. It’s not sexy but it’s immaculately clean and it’ll do fine.

But ….see that itty bitty building just to the right of the telephone pole - waaaaay back in the background??

This li’l building:

That is my Spring House - that covers the natural spring that flows out from the hills to the northwest - and supplies all the household water!

So my possible future home shall officially be called SPRING HOUSE.

Status: They accepted my first offer right off - no bargaining. Paperwork is all signed and inspections start tomorrow. General/structural integrity, termites, well (spring!!!) septic, etc. We should close first week in July - second week latest.

I should be packing. unpacking, moving, loading unloading and traveling right when it’s getting to be as hot as it gets.

Then I need to start on a 3-4 car garage/shop and target range immediately.

That’s the plan, anyway. As long as things work out. God, am I tired of looking at property.

Here is some smut.

And here is The Last Of The Few’s Daily Whatever.

Sixty-Spazillion-Dollar Mars Mission - And No Flour Sifter?

Look at this! Yes, boys and girls - just look at it!

I can’t believe it. We spend god-knows how much money and precious brain cells putting the Phoenix Mars Lander down on Ol’ Red (perfectly, I might mention!) - millions of man-hours of effort! - and what happens?

They dump their first scoop-full of dirt down onto the sample orifice and get it all over the place!

The fucking slobs!

Look at that! Jeez!

Hey? Weenies! Ya know we have (ahem!) other folks watching us! They’re looking at everything we do and are expecting us to set an exemplary example (is that a double-redundancy? Who cares.)!

Not only that - none of the dirt got into the actual sampler ’cause its too clumpy!

Too clumpy? Didn’t they send one of these?

It’s called a……wait for it……a flour sifter!

It’s for flour. Like for baking, y’know? But I remember I used Mom’s in the dirt when I was a kid, and it musta worked ’cause I got the bejesus smacked outa me when she found out.

I woulda sent one to Mars. Probably. If I wasn’t too busy.

Here’s a cat:

I figure the cat is sitting there in anticipatory delight at my approach - no doubt with a li’l cat treat.

Here is another:

He’s … thinking.

And some more.

Don’t be alarmed: they really are only resting. Be assured: They are not pining for the Fjords !

I think I found the cat photos over at Break.com but I’m not sure.

I got the next one over at engrish.com of course.

And this one, too:

Here is some porn.

…and the usual The Last Of The Few Daily Chassis or Totty or whatever.

Shuttle Mission Going Good - Not A Crap Shoot As Feared!

Truth be told, I just wanted to post this nifty photo of the Canadarm in action. Because now I can observe that “I bet that arm could throw a real eh!-maker, if it wanted to!

Now that was funny. You have to secretly admit that that was humorous, even if you will not acknowledge it publicly.

There are a shitload of photos of the space station and affiliated activities here - courtesy of the Yahoo Space “journalists”, who (unlike NASA) almost never get it right.

What I want to know is how the fiddly-fuck Canookistan got to be The Top Dog - the Big Cheese, The Grand Poobah, Numero Uno, Dique De Bologna Grande! - of space robotics? Not that they don’t deserve it - they do. But still … The Backbacon Boys?

Here is some smut, and Last Of The Fews Daily Whatever.

…And Kickin’ And Screamin’ has some really good stuff posted already this mornin’.

Had To Pass This On!

Vilmar - over at Kickin’ And Screamin’ - has found this most wonderful Live TV link site.

…And Duh. Be patient - its worth it.

…And here is some smut.

…And the Last Of The Few Daily Chassis.

Space Toilet Open For Business Again! Astronauts Relieved!

Yes, boys and girls, you heard it here first! The rest station on the space station is open for bidness again, according to News Daily - where the reporters work for their salt.

The International Space Throne - sometimes known as Ol’ Butt Sucker - is fully functional again after astronauts installed the new pull-chain and floaty thing in the Russian-designed piece of - ahem - crap. Renewing the depleted blue Sani-flush sanitizer bulb will have to wait until next mission, but astronauts are thrilled that that they no longer have to store their end product in their shirt- and pants-pockets. Chief astronaut Festus Coypu simply remarked, “I’m relieved.”

The sole female astronaut was heard to exclaim, “@#$%^& - you son’s o’ bitches! I’ll shove &*()^@*%^ and give it a good ^&% up your %#$# !! You fucking numbnut dipshits!”

I have to admit, she has a point.

Here is some smut.

And here is Last Of The Few’s … Um, … whatever!