Science is Cool: Darwin Fish, for Real

This fish, a transitionary form between an ordinary fish and a land animal, was actually discovered several years ago, and is in the news because of new book. But I missed it, and so it's new to me! And it's cool. Ugly, but cool. A fish with a neck? And armlike fins? It also shows a minor advantage to climate change: the Arctic was melted enough for them to find the thing.

Image from source, Mother Jones

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This Fish Crawled Out of the Water…and Into Creationists' Nightmares

We all know the Darwin fish, the car-bumper send-up of the Christian "ichthys" symbol, or Jesus fish. Unlike the Christian symbol, the Darwin fish has, you know, legs. Har har. But the Darwin fish isn't merely a clever joke; in effect, it contains a testable scientific prediction. If evolution is true, and if life on Earth originated in water, then there must have once been fish species possessing primitive limbs, which enabled them to spend some part of their lives on land. And these species, in turn, must be the ancestors of four-limbed, land-living vertebrates like us. . .

Read more at: Mother Jones

Mitt Romney's Transition Team Website!

After Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College in 2000, there has been a cottage industry of alternate reality fiction, wherein Gore became president. Think of the potential storylines there. What would have happened differently? Would 9/11 have happened? Would he have gotten two terms? Where would that have left Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? Would we still have a war on terror, and a Great Recession? Yeah, well, I'm guessing there will not be a lot of Mitt Romney alternate reality fiction.  There is however, an alternate reality transition team! And an alternate reality motto! It's all very pretty, and official looking. And it makes me think that Romney really, really thought he was going to win.

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Mitt Romney Transition Website Draft Uncovered

Mitt Romney really was all ready to go if he'd won the election on Tuesday.  For a while on Wednesday, a draft version of his transition website was visible to the public on a server belonging to the company that designed it, a Utah software shop called SolutionStream. The site, located at romney.solutionstreamcreative.com, was titled: "Mitt Romney Elected the 45th President of The United States of America. . ."

Read more at: Huffington Post

Stop Adjusting Your Rabbit Ears; It Won't Work After Friday

Image from source, Washington Post

The date is finally almost here when analog television bites the dust. At first, this confused me a bit. I was convinced that I'd need converter boxes for my old TVs, since they only received analog cable. But this stuff isn't rocket science to figure out, and I quickly ascertained that the analog cable would do the trick.

The first supposed date for the transfer to digital signals was postponed, after weeks and weeks of announcements, commercials and sales at electronic stores for converter boxes. Which it turns out was probably a good idea, because some people still seemed as confused as I was when it was first announced. Now, the second date is almost here. Do you think the average American knows what it means, and are prepared for it? Doubt it.

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Your Antenna's Big Day

You've been bombarded with TV commercials about it for the past two years. Consumer advocates have fretted about it, broadcasters spent billions of dollars to get ready for it, and Congress got so riled up about it that they voted to delay it. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

New York Times Reports on Bush's Departure

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for this great New York Times parody of George W. Bush's reign of error swan-song. Monkey, if you have an attribution (or if any readers do), I'd be happy to supply the link. Brilliant.

OK, Obama's President. Now Where's That Change He Promised?

Image from Barack-Obama.tv

My friend and occasional contributor Stupid Monkey Planet sent me the link to the excerpted article below, and I thought it was worth sharing here. Already, blow-holes like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin are blasting every single step Barack Obama makes, and mocking his theme of "change." This article takes that tack--with a heavy dose of sarcasm and snark (always welcome here)--and demonstrates what has already changed.

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So? Where's the change?

Geez, Louise.

Where do we send our complaints? He's been president for 23 hours, (and dancing for 6 hours of the time, by my count) and what has he accomplished?

NOTHING! NADA. NOT ONE THING. Well, OK, he stopped the Gitmo horror show. He stopped all environmental law changes Bush tried to shove through at the last minute. . .

Read more at: Capitol Hill Blue

Barack Obama Finally in the Oval Office

No, you didn't have a very long nap. . .Barack Obama met with (still) President George W. Bush at the White House today, that's all. But it's a great image.