Daily Blend: Saturday, August 28, 2010

“Dry water” [source: Telegraph]

I cannot begin to describe how sad, depressed, exasperated, outraged and horrified I will feel if I learn that Glenn Beck’s wretched rally ended up attracting more participants than MLK’s 1963 March on Washington. Come on, people.

• The first PZ Myers post I disagree with in a long time, it seems. He argues that “being a dick saved [his] life”, but it was his knowledge of physiology/biology and a sense of caution that made him choose to go to the hospital, not an abrasive attitude. Either I’m missing the point or his post just a very stretched defense of “dickishness” that doesn’t make sense.

• Daily Caller article on how numerous conservative bloggers secretly take money from Republican candidates in exchange for promoting them. In all fairness, I’d reckon there’s probably a similar problem amongst certain left-wing bloggers as well.
  (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

• Islamic nation Egypt prosecutes an Islamic publisher for criticizing Christianity in a Bible published by his company. … Wait, what?
  (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

• “Conservatives Across The U.S. Plan Parties To Read The Constitution Out Loud” No, it’s not your fault if you thought that was the title of an Onion piece. (Though it totally should be.)
  (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

• Scientists create “dry water” ^[pictured]! … Except it isn’t anything like water. Just water droplets encased in silica shells.
  (via The Agitator)

• Celebrate Year-Long Dog Day with a 31-piece photo gallery.
  (via The Agitator)

• Paraphrasing Phil Plait: You can’t sue to stop the Large Hadron Collider from going online if A) it’s not in the US, B) there’s no threat, and C) you’re a freaking idjit.

• You never think it’s quite that bad. Then you see the results of a newly completed government study concluding that just up to one-in-five (19%) of male jail inmates are raped on their very first day of incarceration and you realize that yes, it really fucking is that bad.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Inside Top Secret America: A detailed summary of the Washington Post’s thorough, shocking yet sadly (if not expectedly) widely ignored investigative piece into the vast, secretive and undefinable intelligence network.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Absolutely scathing op-ed by Bob Herbert in the New York Times on Glenn Beck and his unbelievable gall to try and claim MLK’s civil rights momentum as his own.
  (via @ebertchicago)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: PZ Myers • weird • conservatives • Republicans • Egypt • Islam • Christianity • Bible • US Constitution • scientists • water • dry water • dogs • Phil Plait • Large Hadron Collider • LHC • prison • jail • rape • Top Secret America • The Washington Post • AlterNet • Bob Herbert • Glenn Beck • civil rights movement