Astronaut training party | Bad Astronomy

Posted on by

I don’t think it matters how good a job your parents did raising you, no matter how great and supportive and wonderful they were, you will still get a twinge of jealousy when you read about the birthday party this mom threw for her son. You have to read the whole thing to appreciate it.

As a taste (haha!) here is a picture of the table setting:

Yes, that planet the astronaut is standing on is actually the birthday cake, suspended above the table!

Someone keep an eye on that kid. I suspect in 20 years or so NASA will want to recruit him. If he’s not running the joint by then.

Tip o’ the spacesuit visor to Steve deGroof.


Do you have a degree in mechanical engineering or EE and would like to see the world? Phlips UFS Engineer may be position for you

Posted on by


At Philips, we believe technology can be advanced and simple at the same time. Designed around the way you live and work. Technology that makes sense. This is how we touch people's lives all over the world. Whether it’s the lighting that guides people on their way home or the intelligent products people have come to love both in and outside the family. You can be part of that experience. At Philips, you'll touch lives every day.

 

UFS Engineer - Digital Pathology Maintenance (APAC) - Job ID: 77163
(Singapore)

Responsibilities:

 

The UFS Engineer is responsible for maintaining and repairing of the Digital Pathology Ultra Fast Scanner (UFS).
  • On-site support in solving customer problems on UFS
  • Execution of the action plans and together with the Customer Service Manager, chase the problems to closure
  • Repair of the UFS by replacing mechanical and electronic parts
  • Adjusting the UFS parts mechanically
  • Calibrating UFS  by using service software on a service PC
  • Reporting of actions back to the Customer Service Manager
  • Performing planned maintenance on the scanner
  • Continuously improves the customer service processes

 

Requirements:

  • Diploma or Degree in Mechanical Engineering or Electronics
  • 4+ years experience in Customer Service, preferably in Healthcare
  • Experience in contacts with customers
  • Experience in maintaining medical devices/equipments
  • Knowledge in mechanics, electronics and computers
  • Able to travel 40% – 60% across APAC
  • Languages: English and Mandarin in order to liaise with Mandarin speaking associates

 

 

Qualified candidates may submit their resumes outlining qualifications, experience, current and expected salaries online athttp://www.philips.com/careers

(Select 'Career Search' and enter relevant Job ID).

 

 

logo

 

 

Volunteers install new playground equipment at West Elementary School – Lancaster Eagle Gazette

Posted on by
Volunteers install new playground equipment at West Elementary School
Lancaster Eagle Gazette
... students at West Elementary School now have $8000 worth of new playground equipment to enjoy. About 20 volunteers from First United Methodist Church, the Parent Teacher Organization, Mount Carmel College Nursing at Fairfield Medical Center and ...

and more »

SD’s Kristi Noem says she’ll likely Vote for Budget Bill

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

One of the two freshman Republican House leaders Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, tells Cavuto that this may be the best we can get. She acknowledges that some hardline Tea Partyers back home in SD would rather she'd support a shutdown.

There is a portion of them who'd like to see us really hold our ground on this. And that's why you see us continue to press through...

Editor's note - This website was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Kristi Noem for Congress.

Tea Partyer Rep. Tim Scott signals he could be a No Vote on Budget Bill

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

One of two freshman class presidents Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina, known as a staunch Tea Party supporter, is now saying he's not sure he'll vote for the $39 billion in proposed spending cuts.

From TheHill:

"If you get two-thirds of what you want when you control just a third of the the three levers, I think you're not in bad shape," Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said of the long-term deal. "That doesn't mean that I'm gonna vote for it, though."

The Congressman told an audience in N. Charleston last week (via Live5News):

"We have to squeeze from the middle. We have to do more than simply tighten the belt. We have to cut things that are important to people. We simply cannot afford those things anymore. We have to cut there and we have to cut now."

Editor's note - This website was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Tim Scott for Congress.

Sarah Palin urges on Donald Trump over Obama Birth Certificate

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

Sarah Palin was a guest on Fox News Justice with Judge Jeanine last night (via Mediaite). She asked Palin to weigh in on Donald Trump's accusations about Obama's missing birth certificate. Palin gave her strongest answer to date in favor of a vigorous examination and investigation into the matter.

JEANINE: Alright Governor, Donald Trump who is planning a run for the presidency, says he's got investigators in Hawaii looking for President Obama's birth certificate. What do you make of that?

PALIN: Well, I appreciate The Donald spending his resources looking into something that so interests him and many Americans. You know more power to him... he's diggin in there. He's paying for researchers to find out why President Obama would've spent $2 million to uh, not show his birth certificate. So, ya know, more power to him.

...

Ya know, I think he was born in Hawaii, the two birth announcements. But obviously if there is something there the President doesn't want people to see on that birth certificate, ya know... he's going to great lengths to make sure it isn't shown. That's kind of perpexling... Donald Trump, he may get to the bottom of it.

Trump has said, that although he believes Obama was born in Hawaii, he also suspects there may be something else on the birth certificate that he does not want shown.

Call for 23andMe samples! | Gene Expression

Posted on by

From Genome Blogger Diogenes. Here’s the details:

I’m very interested in samples from Europe, like Ireland (particularly the Western part), UK (all, but more Cornwall, Wales, Scotland Highlands), Finland, Scandinavia (especially Norway), Iceland, Switzerland, Austria (especially Tirol), Slovakia, Carpathians in general (regions of Romania, Poland, etc), Germany, Ukraine, Iberia and France (especially Alps, Massif Central, Pyrenees) with regional identification. Plus people from the Americas with significant known Amerindian ancestry (tribe or regional-tagged please). Also any mountain or island region in the world not represented in my current sample. I know I’m naming several regions with few participants in other projects. So I’m not even mentioning Madagascar, Sami, Indonesia, or Australian samples with known or possible aboriginal origin.

I need to do a post rounding up a list of Genome Bloggers and also pointers to data sources soon. Also, in case you haven’t kept track of it, Zack Ajmal has been pruning problematic individuals from the various data sets he’s been collecting (e.g., duplicates, very close relatives, etc.).

The Sandawe: after the demographic flood | Gene Expression

Posted on by

Over the past few days I’ve been trying to read a bit on the Sandawe. Most of the stuff I’ve been able to find is in the domain of linguistics, and is basically unintelligible to me in any substantive manner. The crux of the curiosity here is that the Sandawe, like their Hadza neighbors, have clicks in their language, and so have been classified with the Khoisan. Here’s some background:

The most promising candidate as a relative of Sandawe are the Khoe languages of Botswana and Namibia. Most of the putative cognates Greenberg (1976) gives as evidence for Sandawe being a Khoesan language in fact tie Sandawe to Khoe. Recently Gueldemann and Elderkin have strengthened that connection, with several dozen likely cognates, while casting doubts on other Khoisan connections. Although there are not enough similarities to reconstruct a Proto-Khoe-Sandawe language, there are enough to suggest that the connection is real.

I can’t speak to the validity of this at all, obviously. Some scholars do argue that the clicks in the Sandawe language were only acquired through interaction with peoples such as the Hadza, making an analogy to Xhosa, a Bantu language which has been strongly influenced by Khoi dialects. ...

Liberal and Gay Media ignoring Horrific Video of Homosexuals burned alive by Jihadists

Posted on by

Where's Gawker?

From Eric Dondero:

An absolutely horrific video is making its rounds on some conservative blogs concerning the War against Islamic Jihad in Iraq. The video was released days ago on a Jihadist website. It shows three gay men, hands bound and kneeling. A Jihadi rebel holding the Quran, pronounces a death sentence upon them in accordance with Sharia Law. The other Jihadis then pour gasoline over them, and push them into a raging firepit.

Creeping Sharia, an American blog which chroincles Sharia Law and Jihadi activities is carrying the video.

EXTREME CAUTION: NOT SUITABLE FOR VIEWING BY MINORS OR OTHERS SENSITIVE TO VIOLENT IMAGES!

Ironically, no liberal or gay media has yet to pick up on the story. Liberal news sites such as CNN and MSNBC along with prominent gay gossip/celebrity sites such as Gawker or Queerty are quick to pick up on any news and videos which show Christians in a negative light. They are also quick to report on any perceived "discrimination" against gays in the US or UK by Christian groups. But they typically ignore stories when it involves Muslim violence against gays in Europe or the Middle East.

You Should Break Up with Your Boyfriend If He Hacks Into Your E-Mail and Uses Your Sexual History Against You [Creeps]

Posted on by

Over at Slate, Dear Prudence got a question from a reader involving her creepy and insecure boyfriend. Why creepy? Because the girl recently discovered that her boyfriend had hacked into her E-mail account and sifted through 5-years worth of messages. Even worse, the prick filtered searches to find emails with "date" and "sex" in the body and is now using the girl's sexual history against her in arguments. More »


Israeli TV Station caves to Political Correctness on Islamic Female Clothes restrictions

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

Israeli TV Station Channel 10, has had to pull back on ads showing British models Trinny & Susannah dressed in revealing clothing with a Mosque as a backdrop.

Ynet News has the story "Muslims offended by Trinny & Susannah":

The Islamic Movement's al-Aqsa institution association slammed Channel 10 for publishing a picture of the two women wearing strapless dresses against the backdrop of the mosque.

The association released a statement saying that "the publication of such abomination against the backdrop of an image of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in order to promote a television program on fashion and clothes, is a blatant violation and a desecration of Islam's holy mosque. This is an insult to more than one and a half billion Muslims in the world."

The association demanded that Channel 10 remove the ads immediately. "This is not the first time Israelis make use of pictures of the al-Aqsa Mosque, which violate the sanctity of Islam, whether with alcohol bottles or in order to promote tourism to occupied Jerusalem. We call for the immediate removal of the newspaper ads."

Boston Mayor pushes full ban of Sugary Soft Drinks, Tea, and even Coffee

Posted on by

NANNY-STATE WATCH!

From Eric Dondero:

If it's pre-sweetened coffee, it will be banned in all city buildings if Democrat Mayor Thomas Menino gets his way. Among his concerns, the Mayor is worried that city employees are getting too fat and running up health care costs for the municipal government.

From the BostonHerald.com "Mayor’s drink policy causes stir":

Menino’s executive order bans any non-diet soda, sweetened energy or sports drinks, pre-sweetened tea and coffee or sweetened water products. Milk must be skim or contain no more than 1 percent fat and juice must be 100 percent juice. The policy applies to cafeterias, vending machines and beverages served at meetings and city-run events where food is purchased with city money.

An industry spokesman uses a rather libertarian argument against the Mayor's ban. Continuing:

"It’s disturbing that the city is choosing to intrude into the lives of people by telling them what they can drink with regards to safe, non-alcoholic beverages,” said Chris Gindlesperger of the American Beverage Association, the soft drink industry’s lobbying arm. “The people of Boston are more than capable of deciding what to buy without government help.”

UK Transportation Secretary refuses to wear a Bicycle Helmet; Says it’s his "libertarian right"

Posted on by

London's "libertarian" Mayor avoids the helmets too

From SkyNews:

Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes and a transport minister, said it his "libertarian right" to ride without protective headgear.

"I don't wear a helmet when I cycle. The first reason is that I don't want to. I don't want to wear something on my head," he said.

"For me the joy of cycling is to have the wind in your hair, such as I have left. It's free, it's unencumbered; I don't want to be loaded down."

Continuing:

London Mayor Boris Johnson, a keen cyclist, has also admitted he stopped wearing one because it was "hot and scratchy".

New Allegations of Murder of Two Young Brit Girls in Paki Muslim case

Posted on by

Political Correctness may have halted Investigations

PM Cameron prosecute "without fear or favour"

From Eric Dondero:

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron is calling on investigators to use all their resources to track down all suspects and prosecute them to the fullest extent, for the rapes and murders of young British girls by Muslim Pakistani immigrant men. Most recently, new allegations have surfaced that some of the Pakistani men in custody may have killed two young girls.

From the Daily Mail "Police 'hid' abuse of 60 girls by Asian takeaway workers linked to murder of 14-year-old":

David Cameron called on police to follow criminal acts ‘without fear or favour’ wherever the evidence leads.

Background:

At least 60 schoolgirls were groomed for sex by workers at seedy takeaways linked to the murder of a 14-year-old girl.

Children as young as 11 were targeted by mainly Asian staff at fast food outlets in Blackpool. They were offered food, alcohol and cigarettes in return for sexual favours.

An unpublicised police report produced after 14-year-old Charlene Downes vanished in 2003 found the girls, most if not all white, had been victims of the ‘honey pot’ premises. There were claims last night that the report was suppressed for reasons of political correctness.

Following Charlene’s disappearance in 2003, police found more than 60 girls were being groomed for sex by non-white men centred around 11 Blackpool takeaways.

They were mainly aged between 13 and 15, but some were as young as 11. Yesterday former Detective Superintendent Mick Gradwell warned that research into the problem was being hampered by ‘political correctness and concerns about upsetting community cohesion’.

See earlier LR story from January, "UK: Young Brit Girl describes Paki Men trying to Rape her"