SpinnyNuNu

Heartbreaking.

The judge noted the boy's "good family," role as an Eagle Scout and "very high" college entry scores.

Halle Bailey will be belting out tunes under the sea very soon.

This was totally new to me.  You learn something every day.

Pesäpallo (Finnish pronunciation: [pesæpɑlːo]; Swedish: boboll, both names literally meaning "nest ball", colloquially known as Pesis, also referred to as "Finnish baseball") is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other countries including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada's northern Ontario (the latter two countries have significant Nordic populations). The game is similar to brännboll, rounders, and lapta, as well as baseball.

The basic idea of pesäpallo is similar to that of baseball: the offense tries to score by hitting the ball successfully and running through the bases, while the defense tries to put the batter and runners out. One of the most important difference between pesäpallo and baseball is that the ball is pitched vertically, which makes hitting the ball, as well as controlling the power and direction of the hit, much easier. This gives the offensive game more variety, speed, and tactical aspects compared to baseball. The fielding team is forced to counter the batter’s choices with defensive schemes and anticipation; Pesäpallo becomes a mental exercise. 

A more detailed video presentation without the snide comments is here.

However, they will not parade down Pennsylvania Avenue due to the need to protect roads and bridges.

California's nation-leading gas prices are set to climb even higher Monday, when the state gas tax increases 5.6 cents a gallon.

Most people will interpret this image as perhaps a door panel; it may take a while to realize that there are actually 16 circles in this pattern.

Deputies need help identifying a little girl who was brought to a Sacramento County fire station, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said.

California's new budget has some big incentives for college students. The budget includes two years of free tuition at community colleges across the Golden State.

Found at the "Awful Taste and Awfully Executed" subreddit.

The illustration depicted Trump asking the two dead migrants, "Do you mind if I play through?"

A woman who was prosecuted in Montana for attempting to drown her 10-month-old son in 2008 has been arrested in California charged with killing the now 12-year-old boy and seriously injuring his 7-year-old brother.

"...a Lone Star longhorn has broken the Guinness World Record for having the longest horn spread on a steer. The record-breaking horns -- they have a 10-foot-7 span -- belong to Poncho Via, a 7-year-old specimen who actually lives in Alabama."

I seem to remember that when I lived in Texas, some people referred to a boring lecture as a "longhorn lecture" (two points separated by a lot of bull).

And this seems to be as good a place as any to post a photo of calf earmuffs:


Apparently they are fairly common.

A retired New York Police Department detective who suffered from cancer linked to his heroic efforts during the Sept. 11th attacks has died.

President Donald Trump jokingly said to Russian President Vladimir Putin, "Don't meddle in the election."

That's not what "break me off a piece" means.

Sometimes we come across things that make you sit up and go WTF? Well this is one of those moments. Sit up and take a ride into weird, outrageous and just plain old cray cray Crochet Patterns.

Seriously give me one valid reason (other than a Halloween party) that a fetus is a jar is a good idea?

The full list of Crochet Gone (terribly) Wrong.

One type of bad science reporting that is very common is reporting the speculation at the end of a study as if it were the finding of the study. For example, the Washington Post headline was, “Horns are growing on young people’s skulls. Phone use is to blame, research suggests.” The research, you may be surprised to learn, had nothing to do with phone use. “Horns” is also a stretch.

When I see headlines like that my first questions is always – what did the research actually show? What was the data? In this case the researchers were looking at X-rays of the skull, and particularly at the occipital protuberances. This is a pair of bumps at the back of the head where the posterior neck muscles insert. They found that the risk of having bony spurs or calcifications in the ligaments attaching to the skull (not horns) increased in men, with forward tilt of the head, and in younger subjects. That’s the data. Everything else is the authors speculation about what these results mean.

They argue that the bone spurs are partly a result of the mechanical load on the back of the skull, largely from tilting the head forward. This is reasonable and backed up by some prior research. But the study did not measure phone use. That is pure speculation. It belongs nowhere in the bottom-line headline reporting on the study. Further, a recent systematic review found no clear evidence for increased neck symptoms in mobile phone use. There are many possible factors at work here. Saying that men has slightly more risk than women because men use mobile phones more is a really weak argument. There are many differences that could account for the disparity.

It’s not even clear that mobile phone use has really changed how much we tilt our heads forward. Reading and working can also involve looking down.

I also have to point out that the study itself has come under question for quality. As The Guardian reports:

The study also had some worrying problems. As a number of people on Twitter pointed out, the data in the study directly contradicted itself, showing in a graph that men had fewer enlarged EOPs than women but saying in the text that they had more. There were also a number of minor numerical errors – calling the young group 18-29s in one place and 18-30s in another – and a somewhat problematic method of sampling. In fact, the top comment on the paper in the online journal asks how it got through peer-review in the first place, implying that it probably shouldn’t have been published at all. While all of these errors may not be the fault of the authors – the journal editors might be to blame – it makes it much harder to trust the results as reported.

These may just be sloppy errors, but I agree that warrants at least a second look at the rigor of the study. But as I said – even if the data are essentially correct, they tell us nothing about phone use. But of course, the clickbait headline triggers off the reaction – “These kids today, with their phones.” Fear of how modern technology is changing us or causing problems will fuel many such headlines.

At least this news item has had a rapid cycle. The backlash against the clickbait, like that from The Guardian, or this one from Gizmodo, came out pretty quickly. Hopefully that will trigger some warranted skepticism.

The anti-LGBTQ hate never ends with these preachers.

Policing is problematic enough as it is. Bringing religion into it won't help.

The case was featured on the second season of the podcast, "In The Dark."

Her estranged husband allegedly ran her off the road after a divorce hearing the day before.

The self-avowed white supremacist who plowed his car into counterdemonstrators opposing a white nationalist rally in Virginia two years ago, killing one person and injuring dozens, has asked a judge for mercy.

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has been banned by the ownership of Santa Anita after a fourth horse from his stable has died — and the 30th overall — at the Southern California track.

And the Lord said, “Oh you gigantic morons”

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Petitions have been around for as long as human beings have found stuff to be upset about (probably) and thanks to social media and sites like change.org, it’s way easier for advocates of different causes to be heard and it’s also way more likely that people will actually sign their petition. Because nobody likes solicitors or being approached in a grocery store parking lot by someone with a clipboard, but we all love feeling like we helped make a difference without getting off our couch or actually doing anything substantial.

Go figure.

The other side to the power of the internet and increased visibility, however, is that if you slip up in any way — spelling mistakes, accidentally setting the petition photo to a picture of you on a fishing trip, any of that stuff — you can be sure that people are going to jump on it like starving piranhas. So before you champion a cause or stir things up, make sure you proofread and double check everything.

Oh — and uh, make sure you’re petitioning the correct people.

A group of conservative (like, Victorian level thou-shalt-not-expose-thine-ankle conservative) Christians decided that the problem America is facing that requires their immediate attention is not gun violence, or the fact that migrant kids are literally being kept in cages, or even that the bozo running this whole country thinks that windmills cause cancer. No, no no. The greatest threat to these United States is a British comedy series.

Good Omens is a show about a demon, an angel, and a witch as they try to bungle their way through stopping Armageddon. It stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen, whom, as we all know, are unholy vessels sent from the depths of hell to do Satan’s bidding. Via acting in comedies. How diabolical. So in an attempt to quash this affront to God on par with The Golden Compass, these modern day crusaders created a petition and actually managed to get 20,000 signatures.

One small thing though.

The petition demanded that Netflix cancel Good Omens.

Good Omens is on Amazon Prime.

THEY PETITIONED THE WRONG COMPANY.

Since literally everyone with an internet connection was quick to point out that, uhhh, they were asking Netflix to cancel a show it doesn’t even own, the petition was taken down. Which is kind of a bummer, because there were some good tidbits in there, like “This series presents devils and Satanists as normal and even good,” and “We will not stand silent as they destroy the barriers of horror we still have for evil.” The worst of all these transgressions? God is voiced by Frances McDormand, a — GASP — woman. Listen, let’s be real here. Frances McDormand probably is God so her role in Good Omens is just a really good cameo.

Anyway, like I said, the petition has been taken down. The series is still on Amazon Prime. The wicked have prevailed once again. Hail Satan.

Looks pretty accurate to me.

A family-run, Sacramento-area record store is closing its doors.

Federal authorities seized about 16½ tons of cocaine Tuesday from a large ship at the Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, prosecutors said.

Absolutely incredible!

Sweet Logan and his family came in to the Cedartown Home Depot with a mission. They were worried their insurance wouldn’t pay for the walker Logan needed, and had read about how to make one out of PVC piping online. Well, as soon as The Home Depot associates heard that, they told Logan’s family not to worry, they were on it! Those workers built the walker in no time and had Logan wheeling around the store with a HUGE smile on his face. It’s acts of kindness like this that make our world worth living in, and I am so thankful for those workers who took time out of their own day to make this family’s dream a reality!

There are lots of stories like this.  Acts of kindness to provide medical care.  Crowdfunding to pay for a hospital visit.  These stories shouldn't have to exist.

Let's go back a bit.  The child has hypotonia (a muscle disorder).  But the family "were worried their insurance wouldn’t pay for the walker."  Another version from Good Morning America: "Moore said the insurance process to get Logan a walker is a long one, and he has not yet been approved. While waiting, the Moores watched YouTube instruction videos on how to make one for Logan."

Why do Americans put up with this bullshit??   Why do we allow ourselves to be bullied and robbed by a gargantuan, soulless, complex medical insurance system?  This boy didn't need a bone marrow transplant or tailored gene therapy.  All he needed was a simple device made of aluminum or plastic with some old tennis balls on the bottom, for fuck's sake.

Go ahead and praise the Home Depot employees, but after searching for a long time this morning, I didn't find a single news source that cited the name of the godforsaken medical insurance company that created this dystopian nightmare.  Report about them, interview their president, call this travesty what it is, and remind the American people that they can change this system at the ballot box.

Addendum:  For a superb compilation of similar stories, see this article at FAIR.  With a hat tip to reader escapefromwisconsin.

Fresh off nearly a decade in prison, O.J. Simpson launched a new Twitter account Friday night with a selfie video in which he says he's "got a little getting even to do."