Open Thread – Eel-Powered Christmas!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oS9YuGIWMU?rel=0] This was taken at a Christmas display in the ‘Journey To South America’ gallery at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, Utah. The blinking is caused by using the energy generated by an electric eel in a nearby tank. “We took the voltage produced by the eel via stainless steel electrodes and used it to power a sequencer,” said Terry Smith, Project Manager at Cache Valley Electric. “The sequencer takes the voltage the eel produces and operates circuitry that flashes the lights, fast or slow, based on the level of voltage he puts out, ” said Smith. Each…
Don Young Will Break You
Guess what, boys and girls? The Food and Drug Administration just announced that a genetically modified, farmed Atlantic-Pacific salmon-eel hybrid (also known as the Frankenfish) is perfectly safe for human consumption! Mmmmmm. Anyone want some Farmed-genetically-modified-Atlantic-Pacific-salmon-eel-hybrid dip on a cracker? Come on, don’t be shy. It’s perrrrfectly fine. The government says so. Ah, the gubmint. Alaska conservatives’ entity of choice when it comes to a target for hurling bile is the Environmental Protection Agency. But with the FDA, Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation comes together in a big bile-hurling kumbaya. “The notion that consuming Frankenfish is safe for the public and…
He’s Coming For Your Inbox
In addition to making all profiles now searchable by the general public, Faceberg (above) is now selling the right to spam your inbox for a rumored $1 per message. In their words, “someone you’re not connected to on Facebook may pay to ensure their message is routed to your inbox instead of your Other folder.” Combined, this means a stranger can not only find you but be guaranteed the ability to reach your inbox. You can still block a message or mark it as spam, but only after the fact. Those with stalkers and/or a homicidal ex should also be…
NRA Compendium of Crazy
Yesterday, Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association delivered the organization’s first words since the tragic shooting spree that left 20 schoolchildren and 6 adults dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The NRA promised “meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.” After the NRA went completely dark on social media, and in the press for almost a week, they made their first public statement, striking a tone that was so completely out of touch with mainstream America, and most gun owners, it was necessary for the BBC who covered the event to tell its audience…
Open Thread – Speaker
After what amounted to a vote of no confidence from his own caucus yesterday, it’s unclear for whom the House Speaker speaks. In case you missed Rachel’s show this evening, she had an interesting discussion with Chris Hayes about Mr. Boehner’s difficulties. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The Earth at Night
Here in Anchorage, as we celebrate the Winter Solstice, we’re noticing less and less difference between “day” and “night.” The concepts tend to blur when the sun sets before 4pm and peeks above the mountains around 11:30 in the morning. You wake up in the dark, commute in the dark, eat dinner when it’s dark, and fall asleep when it’s dark. To see the sun, you have to be intentional sometimes, and make an appointment. Further north, it’s even worse, with the community of Barrow and areas on the North Slope plunged into complete darkness for 67 days, from November…
Open Thread – 11am Sunrise
On this, the shortest day of the year, folks in Anchorage saw the sun rise at 11am and missed the sunset if they took a late lunch. Thanks to Peggy Wilcox, friend of The Mudflats and one of our state’s finest union thugs, for contributing the above shot from her office window.
Going Jersey On ‘Em
One of the most popular parlor games in the state of my birth this year has been the will-he-or-won’t-he surrounding Newark Mayor Cory Booker. A rising Democratic star, Booker has been confronting two different paths to statewide office and it appears he has made his decision, according to the NBC affiliate in New York City. The charismatic young mayor, credited with turning around an ailing Newark by reducing crime and increasing economic development, prefers his odds as Frank Lautenberg’s Senate replacement instead of taking on incumbent Governor Chris Christie. It’s hard to fault his reading of the tea leaves—Christie’s numbers…
It’s Not A “Game”
Only 15 to 20 percent of soldiers in World War II fired at the enemy. That is to say one in five actually shot at a Nazi when he saw one, and in most combat situations troops were reluctant to kill each other. Man, to his credit, mostly defaults to an unwillingness to kill his fellow man. “If you truly dwell on the magnitude of what you are doing when you kill another human being; if you truly dwell on the reality of another living, vital person, who is loved, and thinks and feels; that’s a very difficult thing to…
Leg Office Space for Hate Group?
It’s not every day that an experienced legislative staffer gets ousted, and banned for life from rehire by the legislature. What could cause such a response from the Committee on Legislative Ethics in the Alaska State House? How about literally giving legislative office space and the keys to the Legislative Offices to some guy from an anti-muslim hate group? Oh, you Mat-Su Republicans can still surprise me after all these years. Before the start of the new legislative session, Rep. Shelley Hughes (R-Palmer) has announced the “resignation” of her Chief of Staff Karen Sawyer after the ruling came down. Hughes…