Bush surveys damage of disastrous presidency

Nearly eight years into his seige of the nation, W. appears to be realizing the extent of the damage that he has wrought.

from The Onion (via TYWKIFDBI)

Wonderful political ad

Not only is this a great political ad, I love the beautiful way that it helps to quantify just how much $9 billion is.

posted with vodpod

Get Your War On – animated series

When I read that the funny and acerbic Get Your War On web-comic I wasn’t optimistic about the result.  I couldn’t visualize how the comic’s clipart style — which is a major component of its appeal — could be translated into animation.

Now that the animated promo has arrived, though, I can say that my fears were misplaced.  This is brilliant!

Link (via Fimoculous)

Welcome to Energyville

The Economist newspaper (magazine) and Chevron have put together an interesting interactive game that allows you play policymaker to determine the energy policy for a fictional large city.

My ranking was something like #32,000 (out of 200,000+) — see if you can beat me.

Link

Could you pass this test?

Ever get the feeling that America is falling behind the world when it comes to our ability to educate our children?

If you’re convinced that is not the case, you might want to take a look at this online test.  The questions come from a test which 10th grade students in India must pass before progressing to the 11th grade, according to the makers of the excellent (and scary) documentary “Two Million Minutes”.

The questions cover seven subjects: math, physics, biology, English grammar, history, chemistry and geography.  At least three of those subjects were not even required classes when I was in high school a few years back (okay, maybe more than a few).

Link (via Seattle P-I’s School Zone blog)

Death and Taxes poster

Check out this amazing poster which visually details how our Federal tax dollars are spent.

Link (via Boing Boing)

The RIGHT way to hang toilet paper

When it comes time to install a new roll of moon floss, I’ve always been an “over the top” guy.  In the past I’ve lived with under-hung devotees and others who apparently couldn’t be bothered to distinguish.  I’ve always “known” that my way was superior, but I’ve never really tried to elucidate why that is so.

Well someone has finally presented the reasoning.  Over at the Current Configuration blog, they’ve taken on this vital topic and (I hope) laid the debate to rest.  Now if only we can get everyone on board — I’m envisioning a multi-media Public Service Announcement campaign.

Link (via Presurfer).

NOW you tell me!

I love the incredible understatement in the last line of this article on a recent grizzly mauling incident in Alaska during a 24-hour mountain bike race:

“A midnight race along a salmon stream is probably a pretty bad idea…”

Is there some sort of term for this kind of after-the-fact I-woulda-told-ya-so-but-you-didn’t-ask statement?  If not, there should be.

Link

du

Are you numerate (mathematically literate)?

Here is an interesting recent quiz from the Dear Science blog:

Assuming you drive the same distance, which change will save more gas in a given year:

• Switching from a Dodge Ram at 13 MPG to a Toyota Tundra at 15 MPG
• Switching from a Honda Fit at 32 MPG to a Toyota Prius at 44 MPG

The answer will probably surprise you…click the link below to find out.

Link