Intermittent internet all day so this ONT is about all I can burst out while the connection is still up.

Quote of the Day

Now the whole parable and purpose of these last pages, and indeed of all these pages, is this: to assert that we must instantly begin all over again, and begin at the other end. I begin with a little girl's hair. That I know is a good thing at any rate. Whatever else is evil, the pride of a good mother in the beauty of her daughter is good. It is one of those adamantine tendernesses which are the touchstones of every age and race. If other things are against it, other things must go down. If landlords and laws and sciences are against it, landlords and laws and sciences must go down. With the red hair of one she-urchin in the gutter I will set fire to all modern civilization.

  -- G. K. Chesterton, "What's Wrong with the World"

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:48 PM | Comments (490)
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For your non-astronomy needs, until the ONT comes online.

Posted by: CAC at 05:55 PM | Comments (85)
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First of all, before I link it, do yourself a favor and guess who said it.

It's not unguessable. You might not guess it, but when you see the answer, you'll say "Oh of course."

It's not Obama. I'll get you off that particular trail so you have a better chance.

I will also give you some other quotes to aid you in your Guessing Game:

Amplifying his remarks about not fighting the "Genius" label, this person reported that he was just as mesmerized by his brilliance as you are:

“But what it is is instinct and a set of skills that are working so fast you don’t know they’re working.”

He also has a verdant brain.

"I have a leafy brain, according to the theory of the leafy brain. I associate things that many people never put together."

The person opining on his genius leafy brain also believes he has a lot of self-mastery and rarely gives in to anger.

"Your anger will cool into hardened passionate insight if you wait a day. Most of the things that make me angry, I try to let them sit. The heat that remains will be sufficient. The stuff that evaporates is the stuff that would have simply offended or made it histrionic."

To avoid putting you on the wrong track, I will tell you this person is insane to believe that he avoids anger, but it's completely inevitable that he should believe this about himself.

Okay, that's plenty of information. Now guess this douchebag.

Via Hot Air, Newsbusters just made me smile.

Remember, the Football thread is still below.

Posted by: Ace at 01:16 PM | Comments (251)
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We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic.

I am in my annual Post-Holiday-Food-Rut, so I have even less interesting stuff to say about cooking and drinking than is usual. So here is a collection of food and drink links, in no particular order, and without approving of their content. Something attracted me to them, and what I saw was interesting enough to bookmark them.

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Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:00 PM | Comments (81)
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Sugarless treats are usually made with maltitol or other sugar alcohols, which are carbohydrate that the human body cannot digest and turn into energy.

Bacteria living in the lower intestinal tract can digest them, though. And that's a problem.

Because bacteria in the GI tract have barely ever seen an undigested carbohydrate before. And when suddenly there's a flood of all this wonderful sugar alcohol to metabolize, well, they have An Party.

And that party consists of constant, awful painful flatulence as well the medical syndrome called LCSS (Literally Can't Stop Shitting).

People began reviewing Haribo's Sugarless Gummy Bears noting their LCSS problems, and Buzzfeed collected them up.

From a review titled: “Fully weaponized Gummy Bears”

“The cramping started about an hour later, and soon enough I was as bloated as a balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. When the rumbling started I sprinted down the hallway and made it to the bathroom just in time for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to stampede from my backside, laying waste to my home’s septic system AND my will to live. After three hours of a pelvis-shaking Gummy Bear assault, I was spongy and weak, surprised that I had any bones left. I cursed Haribo with the little strength I could muster.”

From the Amazon reviews:

I felt violated when it was over, which I think might have been sometime in the early morning of the next day. There was stuff coming out of me that I ate at my wedding in 2005.

These reviews are exaggerated... I think. Whether exaggerated or not, the basic problem of LCSS due to maltitol is real enough.

Posted by: Ace at 10:06 AM | Comments (166)
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And the usual miasma of fevered conspiracy theories, masturbatory fantasies (any good ones please forward to: typicalpervertedmoron at AOSHQ dot com) and wild-assed optimism about the Cubs this year.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:59 AM | Comments (27)
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So Denver is goin to the show. Ok, next up, Seahawks and 49ers. I grew up hatin on San Francisco. Never had any feelings one way or the other about Seattle.

Oh wait. Yes I did.

Technically I suppose that's hatin on fumblefingers and not the Seahawks. ALSO I mentioned this yesterday, a pretty cool story about Seahawk fullback Derrick Coleman (h/t Slubs)

Bonus cheerleaders below the fold. more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 02:21 PM | Comments (948)
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First up, AFC Championship - New England and Denver. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Should be a pretty dang good game.

Here's a couple old favs.

Bonus playoff cheerleader below the fold.
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Posted by: Dave in Texas at 11:07 AM | Comments (496)
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Dick Cheney Discovers The Lame Side Of The Force

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to the award-winning AoSHQ's prestigious Sunday Morning Book Thread.

He's Baaaaaaaak...

OK, so Dick Cheney has a new book out, Heart, which he co-wrote with his longtime cardiologist, Jonathan Reiner. It describes how he tears the still-beating hearts out of hippies and devours them while they are forced to watch.

Har har.

Actually, Cheney was born in 1941, which means that he was only 37 when he had his first heart attack. Yow, that's gotta suck. But it's not like it there was no reason for it. According to the Weekly Standard review of his book, in his early years, Cheney smoked like a chimney, ate poorly, and got no sleep or exercise. When his doctor told him he was a prime candidate for a heart attack, he refused to believe him. Until he had one.

In 1978, when Cheney suffered his first heart attack, he received essentially the same treatment President Eisenhower had had in 1955. Since then, cardiac medicine has been revolutionized, and Cheney has benefited from nearly every medical breakthrough. At each juncture, when Cheney faced a new health challenge, the technology was one step ahead of his disease. CheneyÂ’s story is in many ways the story of the evolution of modern cardiac care.

So there you go. The Weekly Standard review concludes:

In writing a book like this, with his vulnerabilities and unhealthy habits acknowledged quite frankly, Dick Cheney reveals a new public side. Perhaps this Cheney 2.0 can help counter the unfair-but-prevalent Darth Vader image he has among ideological critics.

Heh. This image is also cultivated, with glee, by his ideological supporters, particularly here at the HQ, based on the philosophy that it's better to be feared than loved. Also, to demonstrate that Cheney's critics are a bunch of pussies.

I should email this Weekly Standard reviewer links to the several "True facts about Dick Cheney" threads we've had.

At a time when partisanship rides high, it would be interesting to see Dick Cheney and Michelle Obama team up to lend their voices and reputations to an event that supports healthy eating and living.

Yes, it would. That would be an interesting display of bi-partisanship. But, dude. This is the most partisan administration I have ever seen. Obama's idea of "bipartisanship" is both Democrats and Republicans agreeing with him.

That may not happen, but Heart will remind readers of Dick CheneyÂ’s humanity and his long service to the nation.

Considering all that's gone wrong with his heart, it's amazing that Cheney is alive at all. But you know that the orgy of hatred that will erupt from the left when his heart finally gives out for good is going to be epic.
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Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:00 AM | Comments (255)
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This morning's open thread for non-book related conversation is brought to you by old school Kinks:

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:57 AM | Comments (72)
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