And the survey says: Vacation sex is better!
I have to admit that the first thing I thought of when I read this was: how much did this survey cost and how can I get a job like that? My second thought was: they could have just asked any guy they met and come to that conclusion.
You see, men are genetically programmed for variety in their sex life. It’s the old “sperm is cheap and eggs are expensive” bit. (Sex for a woman can turn into a twenty-year investment, while for a man it can be an investment of a few minutes.) And if society doesn’t encourage you to have variety in your partners (long-term relationships being good for society’s stability), at least you can have some variety in your surroundings. It’s not a difficult answer to figure out. [I suppose the same can be said for women, but, not being a woman, I'm not going to step into that bear trap today.]
In any case, the survey did find exactly what you’d think the survey would find, so I guess the travel industry is glad the survey happened. Hmmmm — I wonder how detailed the survey was, and if there were scientific controls? It’d be just my luck to be in the control group; you know, the ones who stayed home…
BTW: It turns out that the survey was commissioned by a romance network site (so they had a vested interest in the outcome), and performed by VeraQuest Incorporated, a survey firm that just does the job they’re hired to do. Considering what the surveyors have to do on a daily basis, I guess I’m not too jealous of their job.
Sources: Baton Rouge Post, Discovery, UPI
Hope the toliet paper wasn’t on that ship…
When the space shuttle retired, SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) was the California company that won the $1.6 billion contract to service the International Space Station. Saturday was the first chance they had to prove the company had the “right stuff.”
Unfortunately, Saturday didn’t go so well. Just as the rocket was set to launch, an engine problem automatically stopped the blast-off. They plan to try again today.
I wish them luck with that. After all, nothing ever goes wrong with out-sourcing to the lowest bidder, right?
UPDATE: The rocket did indeed take off as (re)scheduled. Looks like ‘all systems are go’ for the first commercial flight to the space station!
Source: UPI
Supreme Court says States can rule on federal programs
I had a hard time deciding on a headline to cover today’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling. There is simply too much fallout from it for a story to say: this is the most important thing. In a nutshell, here’s what happened:
A couple wanted children, but discovered that the man had cancer. They decided to freeze some of his sperm in case his cancer (or the treatment for it) made it impossible for him to make her pregnant. Shortly after he died in Florida, she moved to New Jersey and, through in vitro fertilization, bore a set of twins. There is no doubt whatsoever that the twins are the children of the couple.
Survivors of a person who has paid into Social Security can, under certain circumstances, draw on that person’s benefits. Most notably, underage children are eligible. But when the widow applied for benefits for the twins, the Social Security Agency said no. It seems that under a narrow definition of an SSA rule, the kids didn’t qualify based on a weird Florida law. The case was appealed and re-appealed, and the verdict changed back and forth. Finally SCOTUS decided that state law trumps the needs of the children. In doing so it has set the precedence for states to overrule federal agencies at will.
What does this mean for you? For one thing, your children may not qualify as “children” in some states — especially where “benefits” are concerned. For another, remember those states that didn’t like Universal Healthcare? Well, I guess they don’t have to obey it now. I wonder what they can find to opt out of next?
Sources: Chicago Tribune, Legal Information Institute, News 10
A good virus for your iPhone…
We’ve long used bugs to help us out. We use yeast to make our bread rise. Another type of yeast eats sugar and secrets alcohol for our wine and beer. The cowpox virus provides us with immunization from smallpox, and bacteria makes insulin for diabetics. Now scientists have come up with a virus that makes electricity.
Of course, the amount the virus makes is microscopic so far, but eventually they believe it’ll be enough to power watches, smart phones, etc. And don’t worry — the virus strain they’re using is benign to people. And we all know that viruses never mutate, right?
Source: Mother Jones
Vermont to Big Oil: take your fracking business elsewhere…
In a surprise move this week, Vermont officials decided to listen to their citizens. Governor Peter Shumlin signed a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) ban into law on Wednesday. This makes Vermont the first state to ban the popular (with oil companies) method of obtaining natural gas. Hopefully, it won’t be the last.
Fracking, for those who don’t know, is a method used to gain access to gas deposits that are difficult to reach otherwise. By shattering rock layers that surround the gas, it is set free and becomes easier to tap. The gas also tends to move, along with the hazardous chemicals used in the process, into ground water tables, which is the biggest problem. There is some evidence that fracking is linked to small earthquakes that occur in areas where the process occurs.
Oil companies deny that hydraulic fracturing is anything but helpful to the world. I believe that next they’ll be claiming it creates puppies and cartoons…
Conservative voter takes his case to the street…
William Diederich was charged Friday in federal court for repeatedly threatening to blow up the offices of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and shoot people on the streets. During one call Diederich sang a song advocating that “Bama” be shot to death. He also threatened in other calls to shoot any candidates who ran against Walker, and that he would be taking “head shots” at Democrats on the streets around the Capitol.
It turns out he was upset that Republican Governor Scott Walker was being recalled. This is what you can expect when you don’t give in to Tea Party nut-jobs…
Sources: Raw Story, Wisconsin State Journal
D.C. delegate to congress ignored on district issues
The national seat of our government, Washington D. C., is special in many ways. But the biggest way the District of Columbia is special is in the fact that people who live there have no representation in our “Representative Democracy.” I believe this came about originally because D. C. was intended to be nothing but government offices (i.e., no one was going to live there) — which also might explain why it was built in a swamp.
As the population of this non-city grew, D. C. eventually got a “non-voting” membership. Although they can’t vote on issues, traditionally, their delegates are able to have input into laws that affect their citizens. Not anymore. The “new” congress, the Tea-Party-bullied one, ain’t gonna listen to nobody that represents a population that ain’t white (over 60% of the people who live in Washington belong to a minority group). Especially when it’s the non-white folks whose rights are being railroaded.
Recently, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton was barred from speaking during a House hearing on a bill to ban late term abortions in the district. Arizona’s Republican Representative Trent Franks not only wrote a bill to limit abortion rights in D. C., he is head of the panel that will review it.
On Thursday, Republicans and Democrats argued over procedure after Norton’s request to testify was rejected, the Post said. Franks offered to have her sit on the dais with other House members but she couldn’t speak or ask questions.
Ms. Norton declined Frank’s generous compromise. Well, what can you expect from a modern black woman? Next she’ll be wanting to use the front door when she attends congressional meetings…
Source: UPI
Dear Class of 2012…
I like me some Robert Reich. I think he’s smart, outspoken, and usually correct when he makes a guess at what is or will be happening. His latest blog, a pretend commencement address to a graduating class, starts like this:
Members of the Class of 2012,
As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment you’re picking up today.
You’re f*cked.
and ends with:
…we’re all f*cked.
You can imagine what happens in the middle. No, wait, you don’t have to imagine — you can go there and read it for yourself! Do that; it’s worth the effort.
George W. Bush is writing a book
No, it’s not going to be a sequel to “My Pet Goat.” Nor is it going to be about clearing brush in Texas. It will be…..wait for it….a book about economic growth. Yes, the president under whose watch
growth in investment, GDP, and employment all posted their worst performance of any post-war expansion,” while “overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945, and household income growth was negative for the first cycle since tracking began in 1967.” As the Economic Policy Institute found, “between the end of the 2001 recession (2001Q4) and the peak of that expansion (2007Q4), the U.S. economy experienced the worst economic expansion of the post-war era.
And I am going to write a book about astrophysics or higher-order mathematics. Or maybe brain surgery. All of which I know as much about as G. W. Bush knows about economic growth.
Texas courts want to medicate crazy guy so they can kill him…
Believe it or not, Texas has decided to hold off on executing someone. That someone is mentally ill Steven Staley, who has been on Death Row since 1991 for killing a Fort Worth restaurant manager during a robbery.
Typically, people in this country aren’t killed for their crimes if they’re not mentally capable of (a) understanding the charges against them, and (b) assisting in their own defense. So, although the state claimed Staley was sane when he was tried, they apparently believe that he is insane at this time. Because killing crazy people is frowned upon, they want to give him medication to make him “not crazy” so they can kill him, according to UPI.
Louisiana and South Carolina courts ruled that forcibly medicating patients just to be executed violates those states’ constitutions. I doubt you’ll find that covered anywhere in the Texas constitution, however…
