Thursday, September 30, 2010
First Potentially Habitable Exoplanet Found! So What's the Big Deal?
Read enough astronomy press releases, and you'll know that "habitable" is better than "earth-like," which means a certain distance from a star, which is better than "earth-sized," which could mean Venus which looks like pizza right out of the oven. So "Potentially Habitable," this is good. The planet's name is Gliese 581g, it's around three earths, it's probably not made of gas, it could conceivably hold on to an atmosphere, and it's at the right distance from its star, Gliese 581, to have liquid water on the surface. Gliese 581g for some physics reason always faces Gliese 581, so half of it may or may not be always a 70°C degree daytime and the other half, a -35°C degree night (I'm not converting these to Farenheit, life is already short). READ MORE
America’s Korean Adoptees, Part 3: Dating Inside and Out
"Most white men either see me as the ‘me so horny' girl or I'm ‘cute.' My white girlfriends think, ‘He thinks you're cute!' And I think, ‘No, he wants me in a school girl outfit,'' said my adopted Korean-American friend Rachel, who grew up in my small hometown.
Well, this isn't new. Most Asian-American girls could probably tell you a similar story. Rebecca, a 23-year-old adoptee from Wisconsin, once had a guy tell her that it's "every guy's dream to have sex with an Asian girl." Rachel knows that "when I go to a bar and there are 80 white girls, 19 black girls, and me, I'm not surprised that I'm a... novelty, I guess."
But this old story comes in some new flavors for the 100,000 or so Koreans adopted into the U.S. since 1953. READ MORE
Fast food may not be heroin (oy!) but working in fast food sure will screw you up if you ever require basic medical treatment. Now McDonald's says it "won't" drop its meager health insurance for 30,000 hourly workers but it also then said that probably "we're going to have to look for alternatives." | September 30, 2010
We Don't Need A Lame Jewish Equivalent To Every Popular Thing
We Jews are an enterprising people. Tell us we have to be moneylenders because the Bible forbids Christians from the practice, and we'll make a ton of money at it. Tell us we aren't allowed to keep our last names and we'll make up pretty new ones like Rosenberg and Goldfarb. And if something in pop culture becomes a big phenomenon, you can guarantee we'll find a way to make it our own. Sometimes, it's easy: we get dibs on "Sex and the City" because SJP is one of the tribe. But if there's not a Jewish angle on the next big thing, we'll make our own kosher version of it. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it will be any good. After all, a knockoff of a knockoff is still a knockoff. If you copy a copy of a key, it might not work well enough to open the door. And these terrible Jewish knockoffs of things that are often already terrible themselves force pop culture to turn in on itself, like one of those worms with a head at each end. I offer you the following examples. READ MORE
Bartender sought in Chicago: Preferences include "established networker both in person and through social media." | September 30, 2010
Baby, Now 10, Still Big In Japan
"Ten years ago Florida-resident Allen Rout posted a picture of his newborn son, Stephen, on the Internet. Then just two month ago, while googling his own name, he was shocked to discover that his son's picture had become a sensation in Japan. It was on dolls, in game shows, and even in video games. It was essentially being used as an 'open-source stock image.'"
"Ever wonder why White people can date the friends of exes and so on? It's because they don't let the past hinder the present."
-8 Reasons To Date A White Man. (Also known as "8 Reasons to–WHAT? NO SHE DID NOT.") (via)
| September 30, 2010
Superb! There's a new trailer for Burlesque! It's as empty as the day is long! I sure hope this movie ends with the lead showgirl leaving Las Vegas after beating up a rapey Michael Bolton look-a-like! | September 30, 2010
The continuing saga of the Commonwealth Games: "BRITISH athletes set to compete at the blighted Commonwealth Games have been struck down by a contagious vomiting bug.... Worried team bosses have quarantined up to 14 athletes from Team Wales – fearing the bug could spread to the whole party, including Team England and Team Scotland, and ruin British medal prospects. The setback comes just days before athletes from all three nations were due to fly to New Delhi for the start of the Games in India this weekend." On the bright side, maybe the vomiting will scare away the monkeys.
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"Incidentally, being from England, I had never heard of the ADL until today, but I have googled them and I see from their mission statement of 1913 that their brief is not only to defend the Jewish people from defamation, but also, 'to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens'. Why don't we all focus on that lofty ideal and stop throwing stones at one another."
-Roger Waters rejects ADL head Abe Foxman's accusations of anti-Semitism in the former Pink Floyd frontman's stage show. Foxman is probably trying how to figure out a way to turn "throwing stones" into some kind of pro-intifada message from Waters as we speak.
Proenza Schouler At Work
This is a really cool photo series from backstage and the fitting rooms from the Spring/Summer '11 Proenza Schouler show. (And I'm even like the only person in the world who doesn't like this collection!)
Is your waitperson still working on that cold? "More than 60 percent of restaurant employees choose to show up for work instead of staying home when they're sick because they have no insurance and no paid sick time, according to a report issued today by a restaurant workers' advocacy group." | September 30, 2010
The Flintstones At 50
It is the 50th anniversary of "The Flintstones," which actually seems kind of low, since it feels like it has always been around. Anyway, celebrate with this list of the show's ten craziest inventions or skip to the 1:23 mark on this video to watch Branford Marsalis force Sting to sing the theme song. Either way, have a gay old time. READ MORE
