Today was health record day in the 2016 US presidential campaign news cycle. After an embarrassing round of press involving Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis, the Democratic nominee’s team released some medical reports. Dr. Lisa Bardack says “she is in excellent mental condition,” and is “healthy and fit to serve as president.”
After having promised to reveal his medical state, then reportedly deciding not to, millionaire presidential candidate Donald Trump finally offered a handful of details via TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz. He takes statins and weighs 267 pounds, which Oz describes as “slightly overweight” but which the New York Times eagerly informs us is, in fact, medical obesity for a man of Trump’s height.
Over many months, Mr. Trump has sought to raise questions about the health of Mrs. Clinton, 68, and his supporters have asserted that she is hiding something about her health (her aides have denied this). But Mr. Trump has answered almost no questions about his own health over the last 15 months of his campaign, except for issuing a highly unusual doctor’s note.
So the appearance on Dr. Oz’s show, announced on Friday, had been anticipated as a potential breakthrough, as Mr. Trump’s aides had said that over the next few days he would release results from the physical examination, which was conducted last week.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, told Fox News that she did not think the candidate should release medical information on a television show.
This paragraph at the end of the Maggie Halberman’s story caught my attention:
He has also been criticized for questionable assertions over the course of his television career, and sometimes speaks in the same type of hyperbole as Mr. Trump, which the medical profession has been known to reject.
What you are to know from these words: that Oz is paid to pitch weight-loss pills on his show, that he describes them as “magic,” and that his colleagues think he’s a quack.
That 36-word sentence exemplifies the euphemistic trash-talk that the New York Times indulges in like a literary crack addict. Once you start noticing these smug little passages, they’re impossible to miss: another one today comes from “Public Editor” Liz Spayd, who writes in passing that journalist Suki Kim “considers herself a journalist“. I’ve met NYT journos who think tabloid Britishisms such as “tired and emotional” are erudite and worthy of emulation. If you love words, it should make your skin crawl as surely as if you were facing an enhanced conversational repartee with occupying authorities.
Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures recovers the lost history of the young African American women who did the heavy computational work of the Apollo missions, given the job title of “computer” — her compelling book has been made into a new motion picture.
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See sample pages from this book at Wink.
My Dad Used to Be So Cool
by Keith Negley
Flying Eye Books
2016, 48 pages, 9.1 x 10.7 x 0.4 inches
To believe that your own parents are “boring” or “typical” is a pretty common thought amongst children. Unless your parent is a spy or superhero, you aren’t going to refer to them as “cool.” And why would you?
Keith Negley’s book, My Dad Used to Be so Cool, illustrates the dynamic between a son and his father. The story is told from the son’s point of view as we journey through his fantasies of what his father used to be like when he was younger. Through descriptive illustrations and minimal word usage, a world that we are all too familiar with is created. The son sees his father doing laundry and vacuuming just like every other child has seen their parent do. Nothing particularly “cool” about those daily tasks, right? The son begs the question, “What happened?” A life event changed the father from a tattooed rock and roll super star to a laundry-folding dad. What was it? The answer – his son.
Negley perfectly demonstrates the sacrifices a parent makes for their child, but how beautiful those sacrifices really are. This story opened my eyes to how “cool” my own parents actually are. At 18 years old, I am not a parent but I can honestly say that the daily struggles and chores that any parent deals with are nothing short of remarkable.
This is a truly heart-warming tale and I would strongly recommend that not only children read this book but adults as well. The story is a solid reminder to appreciate our parents and if you are a parent, congratulate yourself because you are awesome. I look forward to my child asking me, “Did you use to be cool?” I’ll laugh and smile. “You know, I was never that cool anyway.”
– Madeline Shapiro
Upcycler extraordinaire Rodney Allen Trice turned salvage toilet bowls into designer lighting! From Refitting the Planet:
To contribute my ideas and vision and energies in the arena of creative repurposing or applied deconstruction was an honor.
here are some off the initial sketches and the build of THE TOILET CHANDELIER. My latest, largest and first piece built in my studios new home base of PITTSBURGH, yinz!!!
Very Exciting! Now I am making tweaks and changes to this design. There are still things to work out as it was a race to complete it at this event on Saturday, but the piece will be on permanent display at Construction Junction forevermore once completed! WOO HOO!!
Nick Nerbonne captured “A rare and very unique ‘roll cloud’ along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.”
The forthcoming big screen epic King Arthur: Legend of the Sword has nothing on the Pythons. (Cinefix)
It’s true that summer is almost over—but that doesn’t mean that you’re all out of chances to take the vacation of your dreams. And because we think that everyone deserves to kick back and relax as much as possible, we’re pumped to announce this Virgin America $1000 flight credit giveaway.
All you have to do is sign up through this link and very soon it could be you taking that long-awaited trip.
And while you’re on any Virgin America flight, be sure to check out our very own Boing Boing TV channel, #10 on the in-flight satellite TV dial.
Good luck, we’re rooting for you!
Oh and by the way, while you’re zipping through the air on your Virgin America flight be sure to check out the A-Audio Legacy Noise Canceling Headphones. These are Boing Boing’s best-selling headphones of the summer and you can get them for $79 in the store.
Nicole from EFF writes, “The Electronic Frontier Foundation is excited to host the 2016 Pioneer Awards in San Francisco next Wednesday, September 21 at Delancey Street’s Town Hall Room.”
Lucy Walinchus’s How to Raise a Smartass is a great, funny, irreverent memoir/guidebook about Walinchus’s own experiences, proudly raising a passel of smartass kids. Speaking as the father of a self-declared “sassy” eight year old, I could certainly relate — I laughed, I winced, I laughed again.
Lucy Walinchus’s How to Raise a Smartass is a great, funny, irreverent memoir/guidebook about Walinchus’s own experiences, proudly raising a passel of smartass kids. Speaking as the father of a self-declared “sassy” eight year old, I could certainly relate — I laughed, I winced, I laughed again.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden, exiled in Moscow, has asked the outgoing US president Barack Obama to give him an official pardon before leaving office.
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In a 1958 interview, author, philosopher, and futurist Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, The Doors of Perception) shares his grim predictions that are unfortunately quite relevant today. From Blank on Blank:
“This is Aldous Huxley, a man haunted by a vision of hell on earth. Mr. Huxley wrote a Brave New World, a novel that predicted that some day the entire world would live under a frightful dictatorship. Today Mr. Huxley says that his fictional world of horror is probably just around the corner for all of us.” – Mike Wallace
In this remarkable interview, Huxley foretells a future when telegenic presidential hopefuls use television to rise to power, technology takes over, drugs grab hold, and frightful dictatorships rule us all.
Responding to the bombshell Kurt Eichenwald cover story in Newsweek on Donald Trump’s tangled web of foreign business matters and the national security risks they’d pose if Trump were elected, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has questions. Twenty of them.
2002’s feel good Lilo & Stitch, a movie about humans getting along with aliens was originally intended to end with a madcap 747 hijacking and chase scene through a hi-rise filled city. This video shows both versions.
Via HuffPo:
The animated hit features Hawaii’s beautiful scenery and explores themes of loss and unity ― which particularly resonated after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
But Disney made one major change to the film between the 9/11 attacks and the film’s release date.
“Lilo & Stitch” originally was supposed to end with an action-packed scene featuring Stitch and Jumba hijacking a commercial airplane to rescue Lilo from evil Gantu ― something that’s visible in a side-by-side video produced by Vox. The protagonists take over a passenger-filled Boeing 747 and go on a high-speed chase through a dense city, brushing the sides of skyscrapers and coming close to pedestrians on the ground.
From Tesla’s release notes for its upgraded Autopilot technology based on radar as its primary control sensor:
The net effect of this, combined with the fact that radar sees through most visual obscuration, is that the car should almost always hit the brakes correctly even if a UFO were to land on the freeway in zero visibility conditions.
Taking this one step further, a Tesla will also be able to bounce the radar signal under a vehicle in front – using the radar pulse signature and photon time of flight to distinguish the signal – and still brake even when trailing a car that is opaque to both vision and radar. The car in front might hit the UFO in dense fog, but the Tesla will not.
Of course they’re kidding. Or so they’d like us to believe.
Video clip from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
The Grey Fox is a beautiful animal. Foxes also shit all over everything. They dared to touch my cars. What was I to do? A friend recommended coyote pee.
First time I saw the foxes, I was sitting on a bench on my deck, playing guitar and having a good old time. Suddenly, out from under the deck beneath me, burst four grey foxes! I marveled at their rich and beautiful coats for a moment, and then screeched in fear and surprise! The foxes paused, stared at me, and then proceeded to head down the hill towards my driveway. Foxes do not like my cover of the Ventures’ Walk Don’t Run.
After a few weeks I was really tired of finding fox crap every where. My Great Pyrenees, Nemo, was absolutely not tired of barking at and chasing foxes around all night long. Lack of sleep and muddy paw prints all over my convertible led me to try all sorts of humane deterrents. None worked. A friend kept telling me to try coyote urine, but for some reason I refused to listen. Finally exhaustion won out. Guess what, coyote pee worked!
I took a sponge and cut it into 1″ squares. I then soaked them with coyote pee and dropped them in strategic locations around the areas where I was having the most fox activity. I also poured small amounts in a few locations. Over night the foxes disappeared.
Then they reappeared in my woodshed. So I treated the woodshed area. I’ll keep at it until they go visit my neighbors, and my dog lets me sleep again.
This urine comes from coyotes who are 100% meat fed! Coyotes here prefer mushrooms.
Just Scentsational RS-16 Coyote Urine Small Pest Repellent, 16 oz via Amazon
Manning’s hunger strike began on September 10, as Manning faced potential years in solitary following her suicide attempt, which an expert psychologist with years of treating gender dysphoria attributed to the government’s refusal to treat Manning, who is transgender.
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Even though both parties’ presidential candidates say they oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership — the secretly negotiated “trade” deal that lets corporations sue governments to repeal their environmental, labor and safety laws if they hurt profits — Obama’s plan to ram through a vote before the election is alive and well.
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An anonymous woman has filed a class action suit against Standard Innovation, a company that makes We-Vibe “smart” sex toys that record exactly how their owners masturbate and transmit detailed dossiers, along with personally identifying information, back to the company.
In this video essay by Kristian Williams, the story of the biomechanical beasts from the mad mind of H.R. Giger, surrealist painter and designer best known for his work on the special effects team behind the film Alien (1979).
The European Commission’s “Copyright Modernisation” effort has wrapped up, and it’s terrible.
Samantha Bee has grown tired of the current trend wherein interviewers just smile and nod as Trump and his surrogates create fantastic lies. Bee reminds them, and us, that “Calling a liar a liar isn’t an opinion if you can prove it.”
Stephen Mader, a former police officer in Weirton, W.Va, was fired without severance because he decided not to shoot Ronald D. “R.J.” Williams Jr, who had threatened to kill himself and was holding a gun that turned out to be unloaded.
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Again and again, Wisconsin government Scott Walker flouted election laws to raise millions from some of the richest executives and biggest corporations in America, illegally laundering the money through the nominally independent, nonprofit Wisconsin Club for Growth — and now we have all the details, thanks to an enormous leak of documents that a Wisconsin judge ordered destroyed.
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Starting a siphon sometimes meant a mouthful of some liquid I’d prefer not to sample. This siphon has a hand pump to get things started! Huzzah!
I’d try as hard as I could to start a siphon up without having to suck fluid into the tube with my mouth. Every now and then I’d find I had no choice but to give up and start sucking. A face full of bright blue, phosphate-free coolant got me looking for better solutions.
This siphon is great. Simply squeeze the hand pump and things get started! You can keep pumping if you are moving fluid against gravity, but I wouldn’t want to move gallons that way. There is 6′ of fuel-safe hose and fittings, which are fantastic for moving gas from motorcycle fuel tank to fuel tank, when I’m working on the bikes.
Also, if memory serves today’s clear gasoline also tastes a lot different than the good old red stuff.
G.T Power Equipment Fluid Extractor Pump for Gas, Oil, Water, Anti-freeze via Amazon
Rick Prelinger writes, “Today I’ve released my 2013 feature film NO MORE ROAD TRIPS? to the world for viewing, public screening and remixing.”
Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell presented a proclamation to U.S. Navy Capt. Maria Aguayo and Capt. Rich Delgado during a ceremony held at the Natchez City Council Chambers, Sept. 13. …read more
Two Navy nurses from Navy Medicine Training Support Center (NMTSC) and the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) in San Antonio were guest speakers at a gathering of the local chapter of Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) Sept. 12. …read more
Using up bits of stale bread in dishes both sweet and savory is a frugal cook’s trick as old as bread itself. Though less well known than, say, Thanksgiving stuffing or bread pudding, bread salads fall in this category.
These satisfying salads are made by tossing together leftover bread, colorful vegetables, and a tangy dressing. Fattoush is a version of this salad made throughout the Middle East using leftover pita bread.
Damage Controlman 1st Class Melissa A. Mayer, who serves at Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar Detachment Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was recently selected by the American Correctional Association as the 2016 Military Corrections Professional of the Year for the Navy. …read more
In an effort to bring stronger awareness to suicide prevention, Training Support Center (TSC), Great Lakes, promoted the Navy’s message of “1SmallAct” during special training sessions for staff and students Sept. 7-8 and 12. …read more
It’s true that summer is almost over—but that doesn’t mean that you’re all out of chances to take the vacation of your dreams. And because we think that everyone deserves to kick back and relax as much as possible, we’re pumped to announce this . These are Boing Boing’s best-selling headphones of the summer and you can get them for $79 in the store.
Amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17) provided medical assistance to a crew member of a motor vessel after receiving a distress call Sept. 12. …read more
There is literally nothing in the world that isn’t made cooler by being displayed in a bell-jar, and the addition of a diffused white LED base to the traditional jar in the Suck UK jar is a genius move that is obvious in retrospect.
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Someone — possibly the government of China — has launched a series of probing attacks on the internet’s most critical infrastructure, using carefully titrated doses of denial-of-service to precisely calibrate a tool for shutting down the whole net.
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It is Navy Week in Albuquerque, and dozens gathered at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial to formally kick off the weeklong series of community engagements that will take place through September 18. …read more
Adblock Plus, an adblocking plugin recently unveiled as a trojan horse for a new ad network, claimed Google and AppNexus were among its partners. This is not so, according to Google and AppNexus. (more…)
Live fire from ships and aircraft participating in Valiant Shield 2016 sank the decommissioned USS Rentz (FFG 46) in waters 30,000 feet deep and 117 nautical miles northeast of Guam Sept. 13. …read more
The upcoming Rule 41 modifications to US Criminal Justice procedure underway at the Department of Justice will let the FBI hack computers in secret, with impunity, using dangerous tools that are off-limits to independent scrutiny — all without Congressional approval and all at a moment at which America needs its law-enforcement community to be strengthening the nation’s computers, not hoarding and weaponizing defects that put us all at risk.
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If you’re a longtime reader, you’ll know that I love me some impractical timepieces; the LED Word Clock qualifies, with a set of stencil-text cutouts of words that are selectively lit by LEDs to tell you the time(ish); it measures 8″ square and costs $74 and the major complaint from reviewers is that it is too bright, which strikes me as a feature, not a bug.
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Kritian Williams: “He wasn’t bound by the common design tropes of the ’70s. He was able to create something genuinely Alien, a distorted biomechanical reflection of man. Everything we feared about ourselves, taken to the point of surrealism.” (more…)
A 69-year-old woman was cold-cocked outside a Trump event by one of the Republican millionaire’s supporters, reports ABC News—an attack so deplorable that cops plan to charge one of his violent rallygoers with a crime. (more…)
What happens when a socially anxious Edgar Allan Poe and his sarcastic ghost companion Lenore invite their favorite authors over for a murder mystery dinner party? Real murder, of course! At least that’s the premise of Shipwrecked Comedy‘s new web series Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party.
The White House released a video of Barack Obama making history as the first U.S. president to visit Laos. Reflecting on his visit, Obama explains:
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