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Washington Monthly | January-February 2014
Smokey and the Bandit - "There are sports franchise owners who, through civic-mindedness and steely pursuit of victory, win the admiration of their fans. Then there is Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington [team whose racist nickname I've vowed to never again mention, even when quoting someone else directly]. [...] Two recent events further highlight Snyder's imperiousness. The first is a renewed chorus of demands by everyone from Native American activists to the D.C. city council that the team change its inherently offensive name -- to which Snyder last year responded, 'NEVER--you can use caps.' The second is the settling last fall by the National Park Service (NPS) of a whistleblower complaint over a secret sweetheart deal Snyder extracted nine years ago to give his Maryland home an unobstructed view of the Potomac River."

Fascinating read about the corrosive results to be had from Beltway's zero-sum / quid pro quo culture, which in this case sideswiped and left for dead an honest man who was just doing his job, costing him his heretofore distinguished career as a national park ranger, and leading to his criminal indictment for theft on manufactured charges that could have easily landed him in federal prison.

People of European and Asian descent today retain Neanderthal DNA that may affect their hair, skin, fertility, predisposition to certain diseases and possibly other characteristics, a new study in the journal Nature suggests.

The study additionally found that genetic variants passed down from Neanderthals also affect an individual's disposition toward type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease, lupus, a liver condition known as biliary cirrhosis and even whether a person is likely to smoke.

Schell's searing cross examinations of both Judy Garland and (a nearly unrecognizable) Montgomery Clift are the stuff of which the Oscars are really all about, excellence in one's craft. Both Garland and Clift also received nominations in their respective supporting actress / actor categories for their work in Nuremberg.

Part of the reason she's tied is because she has the whole of the Democratic Party behind her, while the Republicans are still battling out before a primary - splitting their votes?

No idea why he would expect this time to be any more "fair and balanced" than 2011.

The hope is that with the ventilator doing the work of breathing she can rest, build up some strength, and her white blood cells, which were wiped out by her most recent round of chemo, will kick into high gear and reproduce and attack the infections.

I am still hopeful, but a little less so every day. We knew there would be tough times. I mean, the chemo regimen for her cancer, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, is an eight month long process that includes one week each month of in-patient chemo. We just did not expect it to happen so soon. She just finished round 4 of 8 rounds.We thought the big problems might start after round 5 or 6. We were wrong.

So, I spend my days watching my sister and peering at the monitors that register the important numbers and talking to her because the nurses say she can hear me even if she cannot respond.

Sverdlov had decided on Sunday to hike by himself to the summit of Mauna Loa (elev. 13,677 ft.), but had failed to note that there had been a winter advisory issued this past weekend for the island's mountains by the National Weather Service, effective for the week. He got caught in a whiteout on his descent Tuesday, and was soon unable to advance due to the very heavy snowfall, which proved too deep to traverse.

Stranded in place, he hunkered down as best he could. Fortunately he had registered for a permit and had signed in at the trailhead before starting up the slope, so the park rangers knew he was up there somewhere, and began searching for him. They finally found and rescued him this morning, after he'd been stuck for two days. He was lucky he didn't freeze to death.

Here's what a snow-capped Mauna Loa looks like from Kohala, some 50 miles to the north. By volume and bulk, it is the single biggest mountain on earth, and by surface area, it's nearly three times the size of Oahu. Its 13,677 ft. elevation is from sea level. If measured from its actual base on the ocean floor, Mauna Loa is over 30,000 feet tall.

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Anybody know a good ad/popup blocker? The last few days, I've had an avalanche of c*ap popping up, overlaying, etc..... ....on sites I've never had problems on before. I've looked at some stuff but am concerned that the "solution" might turn out to be a new problem.

I have Norton One and no matter how many scans, "cleanings", "restore to an earlier version" I do, the problem persists.

Canada's electronic spy agency snooped on travelers who used free airport Wi-Fi--and tracked them long after they left, according to newly released files provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

And while our northern neighbors squabble over the legality of Communications Security Establishment Canada's data-collection program, it could have bigger ramifications in the U.S. The Snowden document shows the tracking was launched with the help of the National Security Agency, part of a trial run for a new software program. CBC reports the technology has become fully operational since the 2012 test.

Experts say the spying is illegal under Canadian law, which prohibits spy agencies from targeting Canadian citizens--or anyone in Canada--without a warrant. CSEC denied it collected content from people's phones, but defended its tracing of metadata--which can be used to track location and see all incoming and outgoing calls.

Have a great Saturday, my good peeps. I shall be writing my ace off, as I will be for the next week or so as I finish a big project.