Daily Blend: Thursday, July 08, 2010

BP board game box art

• When does “slave trade” become “Atlantic triangular trade”? When the Texas Board of Education says so, is when. For fuck’s sake.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• A happy story of a woman who gained a new face after 7/7 London terror attacks.
  (via The Agitator)

• Single mother of two with leukemia had her medical insurance coverage terminated (briefly) when insurer claimed she had underpaid her premium – by ¢1. Literally. A fucking penny. But, noo, the system’s just fiiine as it is, isn’t it, Rethuglicans?
  (via @todayspolitics)

• The Chicago public library commissioner, Mary A Dempsey, smacks down a previous idiotic Fox News report that claimed how public libraries are a “waste of tax money” and ought to be “on the way out”. Taking particular issue with the Fox report claiming that the clientele were focused on the free computers, not the bookshelves: “Your 'undercover cameras' shots were taken in a series of stacks devoted to bound periodicals used for reference. Next time, try looking at the circulating collections throughout the building.”

• Uninformed Creationist claims that “Darwinists” never criticize the sophistication and efficiency of the human brain. Allow PZ Myers to explain just how, despite its abilities that still defy human understanding in their awesomeness, the brain also has a multitude of harsh limitations that we could really do without, imperfections that arose as a result, not of intelligent design, but of a biological imperative for long-term survival.

• The BP Board Game. … No, seriously. BP made a board game ^[pictured]. About oil rigs. With “hazard cards” that resulted in spills. “Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1million.” Oh, if only. If only.

• Lolwut?
  (via Diaphanitas)

• Food for thought about money for power: The average Japanese CEO has less than one-sixth the salary of the average American CEO. Not exactly surprising, given how some cultures still have a sense of shame.
  (via @todayspolitics)

As always, if you have any story suggestions, feel free to send them in.

Tags: Texas Board of Education • slavery • slave trade • history revisionism • wingnuts • Davinia Turrell • facial reconstruction • London bombings • health insurance • douchebaggery • libraries • anti-intellectualism • Mary A Dempsey • Evolution • Creationists • PZ Myers • neurology • brain • BP • board games • irony • lolwut • humor • Japan • United States • CEO salaries