press conference!

We have to maintain our humor, no matter how pathetic and horrible this president is.

what about Norway?

Our "president" continues to demonstrate what a childish, racist asshole he really is. Our homegrown racists are soooooo proud of this piece of crap. (click the toon)

need a kidney

Every now and then you come across a story that (somewhat) restores your faith in humanity, like this one.

Disney Magic: Dying Man Finds Kidney Donor When Plea Goes Viral

A combination of Disney magic, the power of social media, and the kindness of strangers has changed the life of one single father from New Jersey forever.

Robert Leibowitz, 60 years old, has suffered from a chronic kidney disease for decades.

His condition steadily worsened to the point that Robert now requires lengthy dialysis treatment several times a week. He managed to get on a wait list for a kidney transplant, but these things move at an agonizingly slow pace. Prospects were dim.

With his health deteriorating, Leibowitz and his 5 children decided to take a trip to Disney World in the hopes of creating some lasting memories.

This is when the Leibowitz kids had a genius idea: appeal to the Disney crowds to help their dad. They made a T-shirt for Robert to wear as they walked around park. It read:

“In Need Of Kidney, O Positive, Call 917-597-2651” 

Facebook Famous

While wading through the crowds at Disney World, Robert and his children were approached by a woman named Rocio Sandoval. Struck by the message on his shirt, Rocio asked if she could take a picture and post it on her Facebook page.

Before long, Leibowitz’s plea for help started to gain traction. A handful of shares turned into hundreds, then thousands. The post had gone viral.

“Her picture just blew up! When we were boarding the plane, it was at, like, 40,000 shares. That’s when the calls started coming in,” recounts Leibowitz’s son, Max. From all over the country, social media users began dialing the number to offer their kidneys to Leibowitz. However, kidney donations require a perfect match, so finding the right donor can be tricky.

Finding a Match

With the Facebook photo of Leibowitz’s fateful shirt nearing 90,000 total shares, it finally reached an ICU technician in Indiana. The technician remembered that a friend, a man named Richie Sully, had just found out his blood type a day before — O Positive.

Upon hearing of Leibowitz’s plight, Sully wasted no time calling the number on the shirt. He informed Leibowitz that he was a match.

But here’s the incredible part. In order to follow through, Sully took a 15-hour bus ride from his home in Fort Wayne, Indiana to New York City in order to undergo the final compatibility tests and meet the man he would be donating his kidney to for the first time.

With all the tests completed, the transplant operation has been set for January 18th.

Asked about this selfless act of good will toward a complete stranger, Sully replied: “the way I was raised, if someone needs help you give it to them”.

The Kind Stranger

The beauty of this triumph is not merely that Robert Leibowitz can now receive a new lease on life. Thanks to the generosity and sacrifice of someone who had never even met Leibowitz, the story takes on a much deeper meaning. The willingness to travel all that way and undergo surgery to save a stranger’s life – that is compassion personified.

And to think, it was all sparked by a T-shirt and a visit to Disney World. Fittingly, the park’s slogan is “Where Dreams Come True”. While this story probably speaks more to the power of social media than Disney’s dream-making abilities, it’s a wonderful coincidence nonetheless.

Everyone says they want to make a difference in the world, but few people know how to put those words into action. Heading into 2018, we are encouraged to know that people like Richie Sully are out there — ready and willing to help in any way they can.

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Year of the Bird

2018 is the one hundredth anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Painted bunting

from Audubon

Year of the Bird

What does that mean? It means Audubon, National Geographic, Cornell, BirdLife International, and most importantly, bird lovers everywhere are teaming up for a year of action for birds! 2018 is the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and what better way to honor our most important bird-protection law than with our own small ways of protecting birds.

Sign the pledge to build a better world for birds and each month, we will send you one simple action you can take to make a difference for birds and for the planet.

from Wiki

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA), codified at 16 U.S.C. §§ 703–712 (although §709 is omitted), is a United States federal law, first enacted in 1916 to implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain (acting on behalf of Canada).^[1] The statute makes it unlawful without a waiver to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell birds listed therein as migratory birds. The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs, and nests. Over 800 species are currently on the list.^[2]

Some exceptions to the act, including the eagle feather law, are enacted in federal regulations (50 C.F.R. 22), which regulate the taking, possession, and transportation of bald eagles, golden eagles, and their "parts, nests, and eggs" for "scientific, educational, and depredation control purposes; for the religious purposes of American Indian tribes; and to protect other interests in a particular locality." Enrolled members of federally recognized tribes may apply for an eagle permit for use in "bona fide tribal religious ceremonies."^[3]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits for otherwise prohibited activities under the act. These include permits for taxidermy, falconry, propagation, scientific and educational use, and depredation, an example of the latter being the killing of geese near an airport, where they pose a danger to aircraft.

The Act was enacted in an era when many bird species were threatened by the commercial trade in birds and bird feathers. The Act was one of the first federal environmental laws (the Lacey Act had been enacted in 1900). The Act replaced the earlier Weeks-McLean Act (1913). Since 1918, similar conventions between the United States and four other nations have been made and incorporated into the MBTA: Mexico (1936), Japan (1972) and the Soviet Union (1976, now its successor state Russia). Some of the conventions stipulate protections not only for the birds themselves, but also for habitats and environs necessary for the birds’ survival.

Constitutionally this law is of interest as it is a use of the federal treaty-making power to override the provisions of state law. The principle that the federal government may do this was upheld in the case Missouri v. Holland.

penis whitening

Well, we've been hearing about vaginal rejuvenation for a while now. I guess it's only logical to assume some people are doing cosmetic surgery on their penis. Sure enough. World is getting crazier by the day.

PENIS-WHITENING LASER PROCEDURE GOES VIRAL IN THAILAND

from Newsweek

While in some parts of the world beauty standards push people to seek a tanned look, in other countries such as Thailand the trend is to make one’s skin look whiter, either via laser procedures or skin products. Several of these have caused controversy, including stirring accusations of promoting racism, such as a January 2016 commercial featuring a slogan “Whiteness makes you win,” as The Guardian reported at the time.

The Lelux Hospital in Bangkok began offering the penis-whitening procedure six months ago after one of its clients complained about dark pigmentation on his groin, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported. It has since performed the procedure on dozens of patients.

“These days a lot of people are asking about it. We get around 100 clients a month, three to four clients a day,” Bunthita Wattanasiri, a manager for the Skin and Laser department at Lelux Hospital told AFP, adding that most clients are between 22 and 55 years old.

The procedure is performed over several sessions, each costing about $155, according to German news agency dpa, or $650 for five sessions.

“We use the same pigmentation laser equipment employed in other skin treatments. All of the equipment received certification [by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health],” Popol Tansakul, Lelux’s marketing manager, told dpa. According to him, the procedure is so popular, clients need to book at least a week in advance. He said so far no one reported issues.

However, authorities in Thailand have expressed concern about the procedure's health risk. “The skin of the private parts is sensitive. Such laser services may cause irritation, allergies and inflammation,” Dr. Thongchai Keeratihuttayakorn, deputy director-general of the Health Service Support Department said in a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Health. Warning that the procedure may also impact the reproductive system, the doctor summarized: "It's not worth the money."

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winter Texans

Every winter, a large number of "snowbirds" or "Winter Texans" appear down here in the Rio Grande Valley. By late December, more cars sport out-of-state license plates on the island than Texas plates. They are all pretty nice people. Mostly older, and not hell-raisers. Quite a number of them are Canadians, and they are notoriously nice people. 

South Padre Island wins hot spot title

By NADIA TAMEZ-ROBLEDO Staff Writer

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Canadians love South Texas Island life, and they’re spreading the word.

South Padre Island was named a top 2018 beach vacation destination by magazine Canadian Traveller. It earned the prestigious title thanks to its affordability, eateries, entertainment and nature attractions.

Keith Arnold, director of South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Canada along with the Midwest are the Island’s biggest source of visitors. His office works hard to attract visitors from the United States’ neighbor to the north.

“Canadians are a very important part of Winter Texans and visitors all year round,” he said.

The number of Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge crossings leapt to 605,351 in January 2017, an increase of more than 26,000 from January 2016, according to visitors bureau data. Hotel occupancy tax revenue increased by nearly $251,000 from 2016 and 2017.

Dan and Alexandra Petr have traveled from their home in Frankford, Ontario, to spend winters on South Padre Island for about 10 years. They enjoy the beach, fishing, golfing, restaurants and view of the ocean from their RV in Isla Blanca Park

“We like the people here. They’re very friendly,” Dan said.

"And we love the seafood,” Alexandra added.

On the beach, Leslie Lynch wore flip-flops as she walked her dog in the chilly, drizzling weather. It was still a nicer day than in her native Keewatin, Minn., where the temperature was -6 degrees.

She first visited South Padre Island on what was supposed to be a cross-county trip four years ago and has made it her winter vacation spot in the years since.

“We loved it so much we didn’t move on,” Lynch said.

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January stargazing

Geez, another year with this clown Trump in the White House? This shit has to stop.

SkyTips: January 2018

Planet Discovery Reveals Distant Solar System to Rival Ours

The discovery of an eighth planet circling the distant star Kepler-90 by University of Texas at Austin astronomer Andrew Vanderburg and Google's Christopher Shallue overturns our solar system's status as having the highest number of known planets. We're now in a tie.

Read more »

Stargazing Summary

The year's first month ends with perhaps the best skywatching show of the year, as the Moon passes through Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse. The nights leading up to the eclipse provide plenty of beautiful sights, though. Mars and Jupiter are climbing higher into the morning sky, and snuggle close together for several days. Orion climbs high across the south during the evening hours, with its belt pointing toward Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

More stargazing information »

Radio Program Highlights

If you want to start hearing the StarDate program in your area, you can request a station to carry our program by emailing the request to stations@stardate.org.

January 1-7: Exploded star. If our eyes could see radio waves, an exploded star in Cassiopeia would be one of the brightest objects in the night sky. We'll tell you about the star, and about a possible little explosion before the big one.

January 8-14: "Speedy" gravity. The discovery of two merging stellar corpses is helping scientists define the speed of gravity, and we'll have details. We'll also talk about the last Surveyor, the six "pips," and much more.

January 15-21: Water worlds. Water covers most of Earth's surface, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the water found on some other worlds — in our own solar system, and beyond. Join us for water worlds and much more.

January 22-28: Hot giants. Some of the planets in other star systems are thousands of degrees hotter than Earth, and we'll talk about a couple of them, including one that's being blasted away by its nearby star. Join us for hot Jupiters and more.

January 29-31: Colorful Moon. The full Moon will experience a whole spectrum of colors this week. As the second full Moon of the month, it's a Blue Moon. And it'll be eclipsed by Earth, turning it orange or red. Join us for the colorful Moon and much more.

Program schedule »

Hear StarDate every day on about 400 radio stations in the United States. Find an affiliate »

This Month in StarDate Magazine

We explain many of the beautiful lights that sometimes adorn the sky, from the blue of a daytime sky to the shimmering green of an aurora to the multiple colors of a rainbow in our Sky Almanac issue. The almanac also offers skywatching tips for every month of the year, details on meteor showers and the planets, and much more.

Subscribe today

Your Retirement: A Cosmic Legacy

One way to ensure that what you've built over a lifetime lives on is to support a cause you believe in. McDonald Observatory has a rich public outreach and education program that includes star parties, tours, school programs, StarDate radio, and more. If you are 70 ½ or older, you can support this important work and avoid paying income tax on your mandatory distribution by making an IRA charitable transfer. 

To learn how, email Keary Kinch: kinch@astro.as.utexas.edu

Teacher Workshops

McDonald Observatory offers a unique setting for teacher workshops: the Observatory and Visitors Center in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. Tours of the telescopes, discussions with the research astrophysicists in residence, and nighttime observations are an integral part of every workshop experience. Not only will you do inquiry-based activities aligned with science and mathematics TEKS and STAAR, you will practice your new astronomy skills under the Observatory's dark skies, weather permitting, and partner with trained and nationally recognized astronomy educators. And, McDonald Observatory offers the international Galileo Teacher Training Program as part of each workshop. The deadline to apply for 2018 Workshops is February 9, 2018.

Learn more and apply »