Yellowstone National Park's supervolcano just took a deep "breath," causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report.

The information about Yellowstone in National Geographic is extremely interesting. In particular:

(See "When Yellowstone Explodes" in National Geographic magazine.)

Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells

Last October, former Bush NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden gushed with praise for Obama: "there's been a powerful continuity between the 43rd and the 44th president."

James Jay Carafano, a homeland-security expert at the Heritage Foundation, told The New York Times' Peter Baker last January: "I don’t think it's even fair to call it Bush Lite. It's Bush. It's really, really hard to find a difference that's meaningful and not atmospheric."

In an interview last night with NBC News, Cheney praised Obama for continuing his and Bush's core approach to Terrorism.

Glenn Greenwald has had some moments of considerable clarity lately.

Right wing figures lavishing praise on Obama

Friday, December 17, 2010 at 5:00 PM EST, the... CN Tower [was] illuminated in a custom shade of TRON Blue[.]

Saw this tonight - visually stunning - go see it in IMAX while you still can - its really pretty.

A certain light heartedness of the original was missing. For example, the bit, a sort of comical side kick which could only say yes or no, was eliminated from this version but for two metal ornaments, their coldness a symbol of the overall feel of this sequel. This is definitely entertainment for adult fans of the original film and not a children's movie.

THE CN TOWER PAYS TRIBUTE TO DISNEY'S TRON:LEGACY

A very pleasing flash game.

Windosill

Picture in your mind the most insane possible story that could be contained in a book named Steampunk Palin. Go ahead, take ten seconds or so to imagine it perfectly in your mind's eye. Use this cover image for help.

Got it? Good.

You're wrong. You're absolutely wrong. It's at least ten times more insane than that.

I haven't seen the comic book but this review is excellent. Don't miss the 2D chart at the end which is very informative.

'Steampunk Palin' Comic More Insane Than You Imagined - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

janelane wrote:

AT&T can no longer feel his hands and feet.

AT&T is people! AT&T is people!

-janelane, post-apocalyptic fan

I don't really agree with the left's campaign against the concept of corporate personhood. The idea, unless I don't understand it, is that corporations don't have rights, only people do. For example, the thinking goes that corporations don't have the right to freedom of speech. Nike doesn't have the right to freedom of speech, for example, so its OK to regulate anything Nike publishes.

But every newspaper in the United States is a corporation. Do newspapers not have a right to freedom of the press? In 10 years of arguments over corporate personhood I have not heard any articulate explanation of how the left's view can be reconciled with freedom of the press in the context of newspapers.

What about freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures? Is it OK for the government to raid the offices of Nike without a warrant? What about non-profit political organizations? Every non-profit political organization is a corporation. Can their offices be raided without warrants?

What if their offices were raided, and their trade secrets, client lists, internal email discussions, and other confidential information were collected by the police. Would it be reasonable for the police to publish all of that information on the open internet based on an FOIA request?

That seems to be what is an issue in this case, and it seems to be that AT&T has a right to privacy regarding this sort of information regardless of whether or not they are a "person."

RE: FCC v. AT&T reveals the limits of corporate personhood at the Supreme Court. - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine

I wrote this in the thread:

The problem is not with Scanlan's answer to the question. Her job is to win over peoples hearts and minds. She did exactly the right thing under the circumstances. The problem is with the circumstances.

America wants to see it's sweetheart put security before democracy. This question was asked because the people who run this pagent know that the spectacle with make their audience feel good by reinforcing their prejudices. Its a litmus of the present state of mind of the general populace.

That state of mind is troubling if you realize that a people who want their sweetheart to tell them how much she prefers safety to democracy are a people who would be willing to allow their leaders to take that democracy away from them if it was necessary to keep them safe.

That is the great danger of the present moment, front and center in one of our most characteristic national spectacles.

BoingBoing's community consists of people along the intellectual fringes of society, and those kinds of people know from history that they are vulnerable to nationalist purges. So to see this sort of thing happen - its scary. If American embraces the dark mistress it is flirting with we're all in a lot of trouble around here.

Miss America 2011: "Wikileaks was actually based on espionage." - Boing Boing

The not-so-smart members of the public need to be shielded from references that smarter people can put into context.

Congratulations Canada. You have simultaneously demonstrated that:
1. You have no sense of humor.
2. Everything conservatives say about "politically correct" censorship is absolutely true.
3. You're not really a free country.

(Don't be fooled by the subterfuge that the entity enacting this ban is a "private organization." The last station that seriously defied them saw the government sell their broadcast license out from under them to another company while the case was still being tried.)

Dire Straits song banned in Canada

...

YouTube - Minnesota Death Star

Members of Tennessee tea parties presented state legislators with five priorities for action Wednesday... “educating students the truth about America.”

The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”

Wheeeeee......

Tennessee Tea parties issue demands to cook history books