And, as always, XKCD sums it up

http://m.xkcd.com/1379/

If you're like 44% (or perhaps 60%, sources are mixed) of the world, you live on the coastline. However you count it, it's an awful lot of people. So if you're one of them, you should get used to practicing your new mantra: Oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die.

Sorry, it's rainy out, I'm a bit gloomy.

Articles!

GOP Straight Up Bribes Democratic Senator In Effort To Block Obamacare

http://huff.to/1qgFyH3

Rats Regret Making the Wrong Decision

http://wrd.cm/1pVGd3h

Israel no longer a cause that unifies US Jews

http://bit.ly/1hztG2T

After Israel, African kids start afresh in Uganda

http://bit.ly/1oMQTgQ

Dressing up in uniforms from the past and re-enacting battles is a pastime in many parts of Europe and North America. But, until now, there had never been a world championship for medieval knights.

http://bbc.in/1kZWSuJ

When 60 women in Edamalakudi in India's southern state of Kerala recently carried about 100 solar panels on their heads across 18km (11 miles) of hill, forest and wild elephant territory, they made history of sorts.

http://bbc.in/1uK3HIo

Brazil Has Done More To Stop Climate Change Than Any Other Country, Study Finds

http://bit.ly/1n1LwsZ

Sierra rises, quakes erupt as Central Valley aquifer draine

http://bit.ly/1n1LBNf

Immigrating minors stay at crowded warehouse in Arizona

http://bit.ly/1o58XH6

In response to President Obama's greenhouse gas regulations, Republicans roll out their usual lies

http://bit.ly/1jf44nc

Ukraine crisis: Fighting in the east 'must end this week'

http://bbc.in/1puTUDP

Syria could become a "failed state" similar to Somalia, the former UN envoy to the country has predicted.

Veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, who stood down last week, also said that the conflict would "blow up" and spread beyond Syria's borders.

http://bbc.in/1ntYaCY

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a law he says makes Illinois the first state nationwide to ban products containing so-called microbeads.

http://on.ksdk.com/TzgyQC

Back when gasoline was 30 cents a gallon, a visit to the service station meant just that — service. Pull into the station, drive over the rubber hose that makes the bell ring, and wait for the attendant to come striding out. Regular or ethyl? Check the oil and tires? Washing the windshield didn't even require asking. But those quaint concepts suddenly took a turn toward oblivion 50 years ago at the Big Top convenience store in Westminster.

http://bit.ly/1oMSYt9

This Microscope Is Made Largely From Paper

http://read.bi/Tzm4Tm

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have designed a nanoparticle that has a couple of unique—and important—properties. Spherical in shape and silver in composition, it is encased in a shell coated with a peptide that enables it to target tumor cells. What's more, the shell is etchable so those nanoparticles that don't hit their target can be broken down and eliminated. The research findings appear today in the journal Nature Materials.

http://bit.ly/1o5dw4c

DNA Sequencing Diagnoses Boy's Mysterious Bacterial Disease

This is the first time doctors have used DNA sequencing for emergency diagnosis and treatment.

http://bit.ly/1kSC5z9

Thai junta to explain itself to international rights groups

http://reut.rs/1mwlv3y

Famed Syrian storyteller's life upended by war

http://bit.ly/1nu11Mb

President Obama to order help for student loan debtors

http://politi.co/1pVOSCR

The US space agency NASA has been warned that its mission to send humans to Mars will fail unless its revamps its methods and draws up a clear, well-planned strategy to conquer the red planet.

http://bit.ly/1uKiGlH

"Suspended animation" -- literally putting life on hold -- has long been a medical dream. (The preferred scientific term for the procedure is emergency preservation and resuscitation [EPR].) Dr. Sam Tisherman and a team of surgeons at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have recently started human trials for a practical application of EPR. This surgical technique replaces all of a patient's blood with a solution to cool the body down and buy time for doctors to fix injuries without losing patients to blood loss.

http://bit.ly/1nu1nCu

U.S. Official: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Has Declined to Speak to His Family
Doctors Moving Slowly on Treatment because of Swirling Controversy Over Prisoner Swap

http://on.wsj.com/1nu1oX8

Paper Planes Transform Into Tiny Drones
Technology Transforms Hobby Craft, Fueling Issues About Air Space

http://on.wsj.com/1ifZbtY

NC State team develops fruit-infused flour that could reduce deadly reactions to peanut allergies

http://bit.ly/1ig0wkg

The Disgusting Jail on “Orange Is the New Black”

http://nyr.kr/1oCYpwN

Next-generation condoms might feel like human skin

http://bit.ly/1oCZ7tV

A $335M Project to Save NYC From Climate Catastrophe

http://wrd.cm/Tzwgex

What happens when America is at war and no one is paying attention?

http://bit.ly/1n1RF8x

The other day I was walking home and I met a four year old

And I got talking to him and his father, who said they had been hoping for pre-k at Ana's school, but as that looked doubtful they had gone ahead and enrolled him in the Montessori school. And I knew how I felt, but I hadn't realized quite how vehement I was until the words dropped out of my mouth that I cannot stand the administration at Ana's school, he'd be better off with Eva's. (Of course, I used their names there.)

Apparently I'm not the first person to tell him the administration there sucks. So I'm tidying up today, and here is a perfect example.

Both schools have uniform policies. As the year goes on, both schools have increasing numbers of students showing up without uniform because, honestly, who can be bothered? It's June already! And so both schools sent home a notice about it, except in Eva's school we read the notice because they only send home a few things and their notes are edited.

Eva's notice said simply that this school is a uniform school, and that "if your family has trouble getting a uniform, please contact the office". That is, if you're dirt poor, they'll do their best to help you out, at least, I assume that's what they mean.

Now, I have Ana's notice in hand (from February, actually, but I didn't read it then), so I can quote it very accurately. Sigh....

It has been brought to my attention that students are not always adhering to the "school dress code". Effective September 2013, all students are required to wear dark blue sweaters only. Please make sure that their sweaters are plain dark blue, and that they do not have various colors, words, pictures, etc. on them. What is happening is that students are now wearing sweaters that contain only "some blue coloring" and that do not represent school clothing.

Rules are enforced to prevent disparity and confusion. Every child/family is treated equitably, and the rules apply to everyone. We may not always like and/or agree with the rules; however, learning to follow them is an important "lesson in life". It is not done to be punitive, but rather to teach "self-control" and "responsibility". When everyone is held to the SAME standard, then there is no room for confusion and feelings of inequity.

Thank you, in advance, for adhering to our full school dress code; i.e. "dark blue bottom", "light blue top", and "plain dark blue sweater". Each may or may not contain our "school's logo". Soon, the PTA is going to sell our "school logo" which may be affixed to the "school clothing".

Pompous twit. On top of the truly ludicrous use of quote marks, I just now noticed they also double space after periods, but HTML strips that so just imagine it.

Also, given that this note wasn't sent home in Spanish and I happen to know that not every parent there is a native English speaker, it seems to me that the entire note could have been more clearly and concisely written with simpler language. They urgently need an editor there to forcibly remove the quote button from their keyboards and pry their fingers away from the thesaurus.

Well, Callie's voice sounds better.

So I guess no vet for her! Better yet, Ana approached her today, and Callie didn't flee (though she was poised to) and, when Ana reached out to pet her, Callie changed to super friendly body language and reached in to the cuddling! So I told them both they were good girls, Callie because she's getting ever so slightly friendlier, and Ana because I didn't want her to feel left out (and also because she's learning how to approach a strange cat without them dashing off. Most cats just don't trust children, so kids have to work harder. But I would not have told her "You're a good girl!" if I hadn't been cooing over Callie-cat, because why patronize her?)

Eva is cooking dinner tonight. She wanted to make a "meat dish" for DIY.com, so we settled on roast chicken, which is simple but always looks good. I made a stuffing (I was going to have her stuff it with a lemon, but then decided I was sick of potatoes, so I felt unreasonable asking her to make the stuffing), and had Eva work out what time we have to shove the chicken in the oven to have it done by 6pm. And now she's free until 4-ish! Seriously, with a recipe in front of you you can't flub chicken, so this should be awesome.

(Hah, I say that now, but how often have I had to add an extra half hour to my cooking time because the chicken was pink?)

Also, I seem to have accumulated even more articles. I don't even know where they all came from!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rich Getting Richer as the Poor Crawl Slowly Out of Poverty

http://bit.ly/TANJ6n

Beating brain tumours with a scorpion sting paint

http://bbc.in/1hBiFOz

Will regulators really hold back self-driving cars?

http://bit.ly/1kelJe7

How insects could feed the food industry of tomorrow

Warning: Full of pictures of maggots

http://bbc.in/1pWTY1z

Does wearing glasses weaken your eyesight?

Short answer: No, but if you're a kid, NOT wearing glasses can make your nearsightedness worse.

http://bbc.in/1nutKk4

5 Doomed, Hilarious Efforts by the Religious Right to Disprove Science

http://bit.ly/1hKb1lg

Why Are Hospitals Aggressively Pushing Formula on Newborns?

http://bit.ly/1pww9vb

Mother of accused Brooklyn child-stabber Daniel St. Hubert says, 'If he’s sick, it’s not his fault'
Marie Bauzile — who saw St. Hubert locked up five years ago after he tried to strangle her — told the Daily News that her son needs mental care, not jail. The despondent mom said she could not visit her son due to an order of protection.

http://nydn.us/1kKWrcx

More than 57,000 veterans have been waiting 90 days or more for their first VA medical appointments, and an additional 64,000 appear to have fallen through the cracks, never getting appointments after enrolling and requesting them, the Veterans Affairs Department said Monday.

http://abcn.ws/1pdaSsI