The bad news is that the “city-killing” asteroid currently headed our way probably won’t hit us. Even if it does, it won’t be here until 2032 which gives Donald Trump, who probably thinks you destroy an asteroid with Preparation-H, and Elon plenty of time to destroy this world first. It looks like they’re going to reach Fort Knox (because they want to make sure it’s still there) before the asteroid does.
Asteroid Schmasteroid…we have MAGA.
The asteroid, 2024 YR4, is 180 feet wide which is about as close as you can get to Donald Trump before you get a whiff of his diaper. 180 feet is also plenty of room for Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck to land a space shuttle and drill a giant hole into which a nuclear device would be placed. The film Armageddon was based on sound science, right? I refuse to believe Billy Bob Thornton would allow himself to be cast in a junk science movie. Steve Buscemi, maybe, but not Billy Bob. And I’d trust Bad Santa over Bad Batman any day.
George Clooney was the George W. Bush of Batmans. We all hated Clooney but wanted him back after seeing Affleck do it…just like we wanted W back after Trump came along.
And what’s the deal with the name? Why do asteroids get shit like “YRV” and hurricanes get names like Laura (see what I did there?)? Even pets get more respect than asteroids. I knew a cat named Don Cheadle. Since asteroids can destroy our planet, which I’m assuming most of us will hate, let’s name them after actors we hate.
Asteroid Seth Rogan was given 1-32 odds of blasting into us and with the right amount of luck, it’d hit MAGA-Lardo. Then, Seth Rogen’s odds dropped to 1-67. It’s OK to use Seth Rogen here. If he gets lost in space, we’ll be just fine because we still have Jonah Hill who’s basically the same person but with an Oscar. We don’t need two Seth Rogens. Also, Michael Cera and Jesse Eisenberg, same person.
Now, the odds of city-killing Seth Rogen slamming into the planet are 1-360, which are a lot slimmer odds than Seth Rogen’s The Interview destroying the planet because it really pissed off nuke-loving Kim Jong Un. And if there is a city-killing asteroid headed this way, why couldn’t it have arrived before I saw Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet? Oh, the humanity! Say what you will about the Cats! movie but it didn’t nearly destroy the planet.
Asteroid Seth Rogen has a 0.28% chance of destroying us all. The next city-killer headed our way is Asteroid 1950 DA or as I like to call it, Asteroid Kevin Hart (and if you think he’s annoying now, go watch his Peacock talk show), which has a 0.039% chance of impacting Earth in 2880.
These asteroids can’t get here soon enough to wipe out Trump, Musk, Seth Rogen, Kevin Hart, Nickelback, or DJs. You know how DJs put new beats into songs, making them even worse than they started. Last night, a friend dragged me to a bar where a DJ was making a Nickelback song even more torturous, which I didn’t think was possible. I once broke up with a girl because she believed DJs were musicians. DJs are musicians about as much as Gary Varvel is a journalist.
Since these unreliable asteroids aren’t cooperating, it’s up to us to save our nation from MuskTrump.
I bet MAGA-Lardo has a DJ.
Creative note: I was planning to do this cartoon yesterday but decided Kash Patel should come first.
February 23, 1982 Wales declared itself a nuclear weapons-free zone. Its last nuclear power plant, Wylfa at Anglesey with two reactors, was shut down completely in 2015. Nuclear-free zones
February 23, 2011 Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, fell to rebels after three days of violent clashes with the forces of brutal dictator Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. “He is gone. A dragon has been slain,” cried Ahmed Al-Fatuuir outside the secret police headquarters. “Now he has to explain where all the bodies are.“ Graffiti showing a caricature of Gaddafi reading, ‘The Monkey of Monkeys of Africa’, a reference to his self-declared title ‘The King of Kings of Africa’.
And now that the rage of thy rapture is satiate with revel and ravin and spoil of the snow, And the branches it brightened are broken, and shattered the tree-tops that only thy wrath could lay low, Algernon Charles Swinburne – “March: An Ode”
I’ll be honest, I’m not really sure yet what that poem is trying to say – I just know that ”-satiate with revel and ravin and spoil of the snow,” is just a badass phrase. The kind of phrase I hope I’m smart enough to understand someday!
Today is going to be really good pictures of flowers and really good pictures of a mule and some donkeys. What can I say? It’s what I’m good at and I’m lucky to have found my calling.
It was cold when I took these pictures yesterday. 14° with a dozen mile an hour wind. The wind chill was somewhere around “cold as hell” verging on “What the F*#k?!” I couldn’t wear gloves and still work the camera so I took pictures until my fingers hurt.
I’m going to have to work until I die so I have an inexhaustible source of amaryllis.
That’s all I got room for – Thanks for dropping by! (snip)
Not the usual, true, but still a resource! I’m not trying to “recruit”; I’m not vegan myself, and only part-time am I vegetarian. Still, the email header was “44 Recipes That Don’t Use A Single Egg!” We can all use such knowledge, IMO. 😉
Load up on fruits, veggies and plant-based protein with these crave-worthy picks.
Scroll For More Photos (on the page)
Vegan Mac ‘n’ Cheese
This low-fat, dairy-free version of an American classic certainly has the right look, with its creamy orange sauce, thanks to pureed cauliflower, vegan Cheddar and turmeric. Use umami-packed miso paste and nutritional yeast to evoke the savory, nutty quality of cheese.
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Photo: Teri Lyn Fisher
2 / 44
Vegan Caesar Salad with Crispy Capers
Our plant-based Caesar salad covers all the flavor bases of the original, and then some. A classic Caesar gets savory umami from anchovies, Parmesan and Worcestershire and richness from egg yolks. We created an easy protein-packed dressing in the food processor of silken tofu, nutritional yeast and vegan Worcestershire sauce along with the traditional lemon and garlic. This velvety, super-flavorful dressing joins sourdough croutons and a unique garnish of crunchy fried capers for a satisfying salad that’s deliciously vegan.
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Photo: Matt
5 / 44
Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
Whether you are sticking to meatless Mondays or eat plant-based every day, this vegan version of shepherd’s pie will satisfy any cravings for that warming winter classic. It looks just like the meat version and tastes just as good. We streamlined the process (including using frozen peas and carrots and baking the pie in the same skillet used to cook the vegetables) to make the dish as accessible and weeknight-friendly as possible. Note that although a food processor chops the mushrooms really fast, you can use a knife, if you prefer.
So click through on the title, at top, or hereto see it all. There is truly something for everyone.
(I have AdBlock on my puter. If there’s an orange box on this post for you, just tell the box you’ll fix it next time. It’s the first option. This is a wonderful thing to read on its own, but it seems a good recommendation, as well. Enjoy! -A.)
This guest review is from Crystal Anne! Crystal Anne with An E comes to us from a sunny clime, but prefers to remain a pale indoor cat. She enjoys reading, cross-stitching something nerdy, going to see live music, and playing video games.
She works as an autism consultant by day, got a degree in information science for fun, and currently serves on her local library advisory board.
CW/TW
“I believe the children are our future….” Sometimes this is not just a line in a song.
My daughter learned much of her geekery from me. Fortunately for us both, that means we have noticeably similar taste in things we enjoy. I got her into Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hamilton. I procured her every single Percy Jackson book available when she decided she wanted to read them. She recently returned the favor, by introducing me to Epic: The Musical.
I am rather confident that I would not have discovered it without her. I am terminally online the way a 46 year old person is. She is terminally online the way that an 18 year old is, and these ways are pretty different. She also is deeply interested in art and animation in a way that I am not (I enjoy these things, but she’s interested in making a career of it), and much of her discovery of this musical came about as she watched animatics of it. I am a deeply lucky parent in that when my daughter loves something, she wants me to love it, too, so she insisted that I was going to listen to the entirety of Epic with her. Yes, all 2 and a half hours of it. (snip-MORE. Go read it! It’s delightful! -A.)
Ocean acidification now looms as a direct challenge to oysters. Experts warn that more acidic conditions can alter the sex balance in these shellfish. Some oysters start life as male, then switch to female later. Shifts in pH threaten to speed that switch.
These shifts could upend aquaculture and coastal ecosystems everywhere.
Researchers note that an oyster population with too many females might see future reproduction problems, since a balanced sex ratio helps keep populations stable.
Photo: Pexels
Oysters rely on environmental cues to decide their sex. (snip-MORE)
Proposal calls on company to prepare reports on ‘macroeconomic costs’ of health insurer’s practices
UnitedHealth Group is attempting to swat down a non-binding shareholder proposal that asked the company to prepare reports on the costs of delayed and denied healthcare.
The proposal, filed by members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), represents a new frontier in seeking to hold insurance companies accountable for the “macroeconomic costs” of denied care – arguing they eventually hurt the bottom line of large investors.
The proposal asks UnitedHealth Group to prepare reports on the “public health-related costs and macroeconomic risks created by the company’s practices that limit or delay access to healthcare”.
“The investors we work with are interested in long-term value creation,” said Meg Jones-Monteiro, senior director of health equity at ICCR. The coalition represents primarily institutional investors, such as pensions and foundations.
“When you think about the investment portfolios our members have, they are very diverse,” Jones-Monteiro. “What happens in one sector impacts another.”
The proposal is non-binding, but UnitedHealth Group is nevertheless fighting to stop it. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January, UnitedHealth Group attempted to exclude the proposal from proxy statements on technical grounds, arguing in part that the terms “public-health related costs” and “macroeconomic risks” are vague and subject to interpretation. (snip-MORE)
Last month I asked to hear from trans-friendly employers who sponsor visas, and provided a simple form for interested employers to reach out. In the process, I heard from many individuals: people who were hoping to find new employment in another country, and people who worked for companies that were aligned, who were encouraging their bosses to fill in the form.
A quick reminder before we dive in: I’m not providing formal legal or financial advice. I’m just trying to point people in the right direction and provide some ideas for relocation for people who want it.
The bad news
Here’s the bad news: today, that form sits empty. While the post was shared far and wide, not a single person has filled it in.
I think there are a few reasons for this. First and foremost, in the current environment, being listed in such a database presents a significant risk, particularly if you’re doing business with US entities. In an environment where the administration is firing employees and cutting contracts for even the barest mention of support for trans people, there’s every reason to believe that the current administration will penalize people and organizations who work with trans people.
So, that’s not great. I’m very sorry to everyone who got their hopes up that I would be able to make direct connections.
The good news
The good news: some countries actively sponsor visas, welcome trans people, and are hiring.
In my personal conversations with people, what jumped out again and again was that emigrating to the Netherlands was a viable route for many people — and particularly those with tech skills (engineering, IT, product management, design, research, and so on).
Reasons include:
Dutch tech companies tend to sponsor visas. (Look for job vacancies written in English and/or on boards like Tech Me Abroad and Relocate.me.)
You can relocate with a self-employment visa if you have a skilled background, can demonstrate at least one Dutch-based contract or that you’ll start a tech-based business, and can show that you’ll independently make €1,613 (~$1,700) per month.
The DAFT visa lowers the barrier to entry for US entrepreneurs who can commit to invest €4,500 (~$4,700).
The Netherlands is also kind of just a neat country: excellent social safety net, great support for culture and the arts, good connectivity to other European countries, and a strong grant support network for mission-driven tech. Amsterdam is a first-class cosmopolitan city, but other centers in the Netherlands are not to be sniffed at, and the country is so small that you can easily take public transit from one to another in less time than it might take you to commute to work by car in the US.
It is not, however, perfect. Much like the US, the Netherlands has had its own racial reckoning; unlike the US, the discourse has often centered on the idea that racism doesn’t happen there. That’s a rich claim from a society where racist tropes like Zwarte Piet are still commonplace, and where women of color are often marginalized. There’s work to be done — although it’s worth asking if this is truly any worse than the US.
Not everybody can relocate, and not everybody has these skills. I’m aware that this is a privileged route that not everybody can take advantage of. It would be better if there was a defined route for everybody who needed to find a safer place to live; it would be better still if a safe place to live was the place they already call home. This situation is sick and sad, and I truly wish that everything was different.
It also comes with an attendant cost. It’s estimated that moving to the Netherlands will set you back between $6-10K. That’s a lot less than one might expect, but it’s obviously a significant barrier for many people. Unfortunately, very little financial support exists for these moves. If you know of grants, mutual aid funds, or community resources that help trans people relocate, please share them. Funding and guidance from those who’ve navigated the process could make all the difference.
Please reach out
In the meantime, I’ll keep looking. If you are a company in a country that is safe for trans people, and you’re looking to hire people from the US who need visa sponsorship, please fill out this form or reach out to me via email. I’m not giving up.
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I once had a wonderful experience with tens of thousands of pansies. by Worriedman
Plant the green side up and give it a good drink of water a couple of times a week…
Pansies are Viola hybrids, Viola x wittrockiana. (“wittrockiana” sounds like a mountainous region in the south of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick) The common names, pansy, viola and violet are used interchangeably. “Pansies” are usually larger and taller than true violas, with large showy blooms. Violas are usually smaller plants, with smaller blooms, more plentiful than find on pansies. If you want to be a real nerd you can look at the petals. Both kinds of blooms have five petals . On the pansy, four petals point up, one points down. On the viola, two petals point up and three point down.
Leslie Margolin, the other girl in the first class, was not interviewed. A group photo was taken of other graduates for Vanity Fair. I am not in it. Tim Burton was Photoshopped in, but no one would do that for me even though I offered to go to New York for the photo shoot.
The so called Cal Arts Mafia only worked for the male students.
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Scottie's Playtime 