Hard Rain
The Observation Deck Ark Constitution is now in effect.
Independent Candidate Filing Deadlines by State
This article looks at the filing deadlines (mostly) and signature requirements for getting a third-party candidate onto each state’s November ballot for president. There is already talk of the #NeverTrump crowd launching a bid and there are whispers of a Sanders run as well. But for the moment, I’m just going to look…
Which Dem Candidate Did Better in States with Higher Minority Populations?
Okay, I just did a lot more research on this than I ever thought I would and the results are below. I sorted the states shown by total minority population (by percent, column 2) with data obtained from the US census website, 2014 data. The far right column shows which candidate won the primary or caucus. If that cell…
Using Your Cell Phone as an Earthquake Seismometer
This article is posted on Gizmodo, written by Ria Misra, but it’s getting pretty low views and no constructive comments at all (except mine). It has yet to be shared to IO9. I’m linking it here because I think it deserves some attention from people who love science. I posted Ria’s story to a Facebook group hosted by…
I Am Livid - Spoilers for Force Awakens (Maybe)
First, I ask you, if this is not a spoiler, just some stupid joke, don’t tell me! It’s bad enough I’ve seen it, since I haven’t seen The Force Awakens yet. I’ll spend the whole movie wondering if it’s accurate, and I shouldn’t have to, because it never would have occured to me. Got it?
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
I like to think of myself as a liberal person — very liberal at that. I support LGBTQ rights, minority rights, women’s rights, abortion rights, children’s rights, animal rights, and environmental rights. Have I left out a big category? I bet I support that too. I consider myself a feminist ally and an LGBTQ ally. On…
The Real Message of Trump's "I Can Shoot Someone" Comment
The real message behind Trump’s “I could shoot someone” statement. Listen up, Trump supporters, because he’s talking to you:
It's Impossible
This isn’t a very long post, so I apologize in advance. I’ll put in enough that I don’t think it’s just a stub. (Edit: Actually, it ended up being pretty long. Go figure.)
Did a Nazi Bomb Fall on Your House?
If you live in the USA, or, really, anywhere else but Europe or North Africa, the answer is “no,” but via random internet link clicking I found this page today:
Proud of My Relative
I’ve known most of my life that Benjamin Spock (1903-1998), the famous baby book author and doctor, was my third cousin first cousin, twice removed (in other words, my grandmother’s first cousin).* I don’t know a lot about his life, but had read somewhere that he once ran for president of the U.S. I looked it up just…
Thank You... (And, Open Thread, Why Not?)
I just created this. I wanted to personally thank everyone on the Observation Deck (and the writers on IO9) for keeping spoilers out of their headlines and opening paragraphs. There’s no way I will see the movie until later this week. I also know that after Christmas weekend, there will be no avoiding them.
An Open Letter to Bernie Sanders
Dear Mr. Sanders,
The Great Unfollowing
I finally did it.
Geez, Mom!
Tonight, while I was not watching the GOP debate, I saw that a Facebook friend had liked one of those typically horrible right-wing memes, the kind designed to inflame the uneducated. Taken alone, it doesn’t seem like much. It just makes a statement, “ONLY U.S. CITIZENS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO VOTE IN ELECTIONS!” Then it…
Supporting io9
I know the merger is a done deal, and while we can complain, nothing will bring back the old days (you know, yesterday, before the official merge). But I’m doing one thing so people will know where I come from. I changed my avatar. All I did was capture the bug IO9 uses for bookmarks and swapped that in for my avatar.…
Adulthood Takes a Nap
This is a poster just put out by Berkley Breathed, the artist behind Bloom County and Opus. While it’s kind of making fun of Star Wars enthusiasts, at the same time, it’s celebrating the unabashed enthusiam everyone is feeling as the release date for the movie gets closer and closer.
A Perfect Example of Why IO9 and Gizmodo Should Not Be Merged
The reason is that, historically, IO9 readers and commenters are open to the idea that “gender” is not synonymous with “sex parts”. We are welcoming of science fiction that pushes the boundaries of what it means to be a man or a woman, or even other expressions of gender. We applaud the creative output (books, movies,…
Oh Dear, What Have I Done?
So last night on IO9, they posted the new trailer for the upcoming Captain America movie, “Civil War.” While I really have seen all the Marvel movies at least once, sometimes I don’t pay as close attention as I should. And this new trailer just confused me. But my comment was put carefully in terms of how these were…
Late Night Open Thread - Just Trying to Forget About the Ugliness of Humanity
This is my first posting to Groupthink after getting author privileges. I hope I don’t screw it up or break the rules. Everytime I look at the news, either online or on TV, it’s all about the Paris bombings/shootings (and nothing about the bombing in Beirut). Worse, ‘Murica has kicked into high-gear xenophobia about…