- Introduction
- Harvey: Fun Facts About Maryland Part 1
- Laurence Simon on the Danish cartoons
- Harvey: Fun Facts About Maryland Part 2
- Sarah K’s song
- World of Knowledge with Frank J: Cindy Sheehan (part 1)
- This week on “24”
- World of Knowledge with Frank J: Cindy Sheehan (part 2) [reference link]
- Right Wing Duck: Conversion to Islam
- Laurence Simon’s Crappy Bedtime Story: The Boy Who Didn’t Cry Wolf
- FrankJ: Beware of left-wing web sites
- Sarah K reviews: “Underworld Evolution”
- Liberals on the Superbowl
- Sage advice: garbage disposal
- Conclusion
Archive of entries posted on 14th March 2020
“20 to 70 Percent” Is a Pretty Humorous Range, Even for Experts
And the last two words also struck me as kind of odd.
Recycling in the US Is Broken. How Do We Fix It?
Renee Cho, Earth Institute, Columbia University / March 13, 2020/ Phys.orgFor decades, China handled the recycling of almost half of the world’s discarded materials, because its manufacturing sector was booming and needed these materials to feed it. In 2016, the U.S. exported 16 million tons of plastic, paper and metals to China. In actuality, 30 percent of these mixed recyclables were ultimately contaminated by non-recyclable material, were never recycled, and ended up polluting China’s countryside and oceans. An estimated 1.3 to 1.5 million metric tons of plastic found its way into the ocean off China’s coast each year.
In 2018, China’s National Sword policy banned the import of most plastics and other materials that were not up to new, more stringent purity standards. The U.S. then sent its plastic waste to other countries, shipping 68,000 containers to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand in 2018. When these countries later instituted bans on imported plastic waste, the U.S. diverted its waste to Cambodia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Laos, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal—countries with cheap labor and lax environmental rules. The U.S. still ships over 1 million metric tons a year of plastic waste abroad, often to countries already overwhelmed by it. Experts estimate that 20 to 70 percent of plastic intended for recycling overseas is unusable and is ultimately discarded. One study found that the plastic waste exported to Southeast Asia resulted in contaminated water, crop death, respiratory illnesses due to toxic fumes from incineration, and organized crime.
I’ve Heard “Google Is Your Friend.” It’s Also Your Enemy.
Here’s why I hate to click on science stories that look like they’re going to have amazingly interesting information: I end up feeling like I’m on Double Jeopardy in my bathrobe:
Second of Its Kind ‘Sharpshooter’ Leafhopper From Brazil ‘Strikes’ With Its Colouration
All right! Tell me about this ‘Sharpshooter,’ British-spelling guy!! Also tell me about these strikes. They sound cool.
When, in 2014, Brazilian researchers stumbled across a never-before-seen red-eyed leafhopper
What’s a leafhopper?
feeding inside the rosettes of bromeliads,
What are bromeliads?
growing in the restingas
What are restingas?
of southeastern Brazil, they were certain it was a one-of-a-kind discovery. Described as new-to-science species, as well as genus (Cavichiana bromelicola) and added to the sharpshooter tribe Cicadellini,
C’mon! What are sharpshooters?
it became the first known case of a leafhopper feeding on otherwise nutrition-poor bromeliads in their natural habitat.
Well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
— Phys.org / Jan. 28, 2020 / Pensoft Publishers
“Pensoft”?
Now I have to Google Sigmund Freud.
Guest Post: Our Own Version of Barbara Billingsley Translating Leftist-Speak
Deciphering Leftist-Speak
Deciphering Leftist-speak may seem like a daunting task sometimes. However, once you know the key to translating their forked-tongue double-speak, it becomes surprisingly easy.
And that key is simply this: Leftists lie about everything. Everything. No matter what seemingly pleasant or reasonable sounding words may be pouring forth from their filthy sewers, you may always rest assured that whatever they’re saying is NOT what they really mean. And why might that be, you ask? Because, if The Left was open and honest about their true intentions and ultimate goals, the vast majority of right-thinking, freedom-loving Americans would have told them where to stick it decades ago. The Left is well aware of that fact; therefore, the constant lies.
So, to help the uninitiated, here is a handy guide to many of the Left’s favorite words and phrases and their translation.
Love, Hugs and Kisses,
Comrade Chairman Obama
AK-47 or AR-15: Any scary-looking rifle
Arsenal: Plural of “firearm”; arsenals can be found in compounds
Assault Weapon: Any firearm, especially those scary-looking black rifle thingies that are clearly machine guns
Bi-Partisan: Our way or the highway
Civil discourse: We can say anything we want, but you need to shut the f*** up, you conservative piece of s***
Climate change: You need to give up yet more money and freedom so we can pretend to fix something that isn’t broken and over which we have no control
Common Good: Socialism, aka, what’s good for us (see “We”)
Common Sense Reform: We need you to give up more of your freedom and money
Compassion: Our deep, warm, heartfelt desire to use government intervention against our opponents
Compound: Home of anyone who owns at least one firearm; where arsenals are found
Conservative: A piece of human garbage unworthy of respect or the protections of the rule of law
Divisive: You need to stop speaking ill of our Glorious Socialist Agenda, peasant
Fair Share: We’re going to rob “the rich” blind and give it to our favorite charity – us! (see “The Rich”)
Fairness: Socialism
Fascist: Anyone who disagrees with us
Fear Monger: Stop pointing out our lies and misinformation
First Amendment/Freedom of Speech: We are free to say whatever the heck we want; anyone who disagrees with us, on the other hand, needs to shut the f*** up
Fiscal Responsibility: We need more of your money
Glock: Any handgun
Great Society: Socialist Society
Greedy: Anyone providing valuable goods and services and expects people to pay for them
Hate/Hate Crime: How dare you point out our complete and utter moral turpitude!
High-Capacity Magazine: Any magazine over five rounds
High-Capacity Semi-Automatic Handgun: Any handgun
I’m Sorry: I’m so very, very, truly and sincerely sorry I got caught, and I’m only apologizing because there’s absolutely no possible way to spin this
It’s Trump’s Fault: It’s Trump’s fault
Loophole: Some oversight in the law that facilitates freedom and liberty
Misspoke: Yeah, that’s exactly what I said, and meant, except you’re not allowed to point it out, so shut yer piehole
Moderate Conservative: Someone who claims to be conservative but rolls over and always agrees with us
Multi-cultural: Anything but American culture
New Deal: Socialist Revolution
Open Minded: Those enlightened people who unquestioningly embrace Socialism as the answer to all things
Patriotic: ?? (that one’s a melon-scratcher)
The People: We, The Leftist Elite
Proof: Anything we say or believe
Racist/White Supremist: I’ll teach you to disagree with me!
Resource: That which is available for confiscation and redistribution
The Rich: All those people who are doing so much better than we are financially and we’re insanely jealous of so we’ll make them pay their fair share!
Rule of Law: We’re going to twist and mangle the law in any way necessary to destroy you
The Science Is Settled: How DARE you question our legions of Democrat-funded “scientists” whose “studies” support our political agenda! You shall pay for your heresy!
Selfishness: The disdainful quality of those who wish to keep most of the fruits of their own labor and decide for themselves how it should be spent [related: “Greed”]
Sniper: Any person who owns or has access to a firearm
Sniper Rifle: Any firearm that’s not a handgun
Social Justice: Socialism
Social Security: Socialist’s security
Special Interest: Any political entity that disagrees with us
Spread the Wealth: I don’t wanna work
Sustainable: To be under perpetual, never-ending government control
That’s Offensive: I’ll teach you to point out my: 1) stupidity; 2) separation from reality; 3) over-all suckage; 4) illegal activity
Tolerance: a) tolerance for any behavior except anything remotely Judeo-Christian in nature; b) our unfettered and unopposed reign of Socialist glory
Uncle Tom: This uppity American of African descent wandered off our Leftist Plantation
We: The Socialists; the collective; the elitist government hive
We Don’t Want To Take ANYONE’S Guns Away: Of course we want to totally ban all guns – we can’t take control while all you peasants are still armed!
That’s Not What We Said or Meant: You hit the nail on the head! Shut up before people start believing you! (see Misspoke)
Straight Line of the Day: Three Things Are Certain: Death, Taxes, and…
QOTW: The Temperature of the nation.
Well is there anything else that anyone is talking about?
The “Flu”, the “Racist if you mention where it started” flu.
I hope you have your toilet paper needs well met. Evidently it magically prevents you from getting the flu “from the place that shall not be named”, or so I hear from the media. They also tell me I am going to die and it is all Trump’s fault. Orange Man is really, really bad and this time they really, really mean it and we should really, really panic to help them get rid of the really, really bad Orange Man.
Maybe they are right. Oh, not about the bad Orange man but about panicking. That leads us to the question of the week. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is serene contentment and bliss and 10 is dogs and cats living together mass hysteria, how panicked are you?
I’m about a 3.67 at them moment, but then again I haven’t been tested yet.
So let us know how you feel. Figuratively and literally.
The Correct Order to Watch MST3K
Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been on my mind recently. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my progress in completing my collection of MST3K movies, the unriffed versions. And I’ve made a little progress, but that’s not what I’m wanting to talk about today. It’s about watching the actual MST3K episodes, particularly, the order in which to watch them.
That doesn’t seem like it would be an issue, but there were some peculiarities in the way the shows were recorded, and other things that make it not so cut and dry.
KTMA Episodes
First, do we include the KTMA shows? That is the original season, consisting of 21 episodes that were done for the local station KTMA TV-23 in Minneapolis-St. Paul (now WUCW) before the show went national.
Reasons to include
- The episodes exist (20 of 21 at least), so they are part of the show.
- 12 of the movies were not re-done during the national run and are unique.
Reasons to not include
- It was a local show, and not actually part of the continuity of the national show.
- Nine were re-done, and done better, in Season 3.
- The local show, while good, pales in comparison to the national show. It’s great for show buffs to see the origins, but not for regular watching. It’s like a pre-season game.
I say do not include KTMA episodes, but if you do, they were broadcast in the order produced, and that’s the way to watch them.
The Movie
After Season 6 and right before the first cancellation, the crew did Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. The crew riffed “This Island Earth” for the big screen. But do we count it?
Reasons to include
- It’s MST3K, just in a little different format. It’s as simple as that.
Reasons to not include
- It wasn’t part of the show. Sure, all the parts are there, but it’s not the show. It’s something different.
- A hard-to-resolve continuity issue arises depending on where you place the film.
I say do include the movie. That does bring up some complications as we’ll see.
The 1995 Turkey Day Special
In 1995 Comedy Central wasn’t as sold on MST3K as they used to be. They only ordered six episodes for the upcoming Season 7. I’ve never seen an explanation for this, and I assume it was a budget thing. The riffing during the movie was separate from the host segments, with no references to what was going on outside the theater. This allowed the movie riffing to be wrapped in Thanksgiving themed segments for the Turkey Day special and for the regular season (and subsequent rebroadcasts).
Reasons to include
- It was part of the show.
- While the movie is the same, the host segments are hilarious and should be part of regular viewing.
Reasons to not include
- It’s not really part of the show. It was a special.
- You end up watching the same movie back-to-back.
I include it, but don’t feel nearly as strongly about including it. On another day, I might say leave it out.
Production Order vs Broadcast Order vs Production Code
The order in which the shows were produced doesn’t always line up with the production number. Those don’t always line up with the order in which they aired.
Season 1 had a major production code vs production order issue with “Women of the Prehistoric Planet.” It was the 13th produced and aired, but retained the production code 104 instead of, as would be expected, 113. Watching in production order creates a continuity issue as there is a reference to “Robot Holocaust” (Episode 110) in “Women of the Prehistoric Planet” (Episode 104). Air date order resolves this.
Season 1 also had some shows air out of order. The first two aired in reverse order, although there is no continuity issue with those two being watched in either order.
Season 3 also had air date order not matching production order. “Teenage Cave Man” (Episode 315) aired after “The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent” (Episode 317), but again, no continuity error if watched in either order.
Season 5, like Season 1, had the first two episodes air in reverse production order. And, again, no continuity issue if watched either way.
Season 6 is the real problem child. It’s a mess, with the production order, production code, and air date in order at the very beginning and at the end, but all jumbled in the middle. It’s hard to describe, but I’ll try.
- The episode “Zombie Nightmare” (604) was held from airing so it could be part of a college tour by the cast. It finally aired after “Kitten with a Whip” (615).
- “The Skydivers” (609) aired after “Colossus and the Headhunters” (605).
- “The Creeping Terror” (606) and “Bloodlust!” (607) aired in reverse order.
Those three changes really jumbled the order things aired. However, no continuity issues arise in watching any of them in either production/code or air date order.
Season 7 has the issue of “Night of the Blood Beast” (701) existing twice. And, if you include the movie, that was released during Season 7 between “Escape 2000” (705) and “Laserblast” (706). However, the Mads differ. Pearl is a regular in Season 7, but doesn’t appear in the movie. And, since Dr. Forrester is “reborn” at the end of the season, the movie can’t move in that direction.
Season 10 aired “Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders” (1003) six weeks after the series finale, “Diabolik” (1013). Watching in production/code order resolves the continuity issue.
My Method
So, production order? Production Code order? Air date order? The answer is … none of those.
I am a bit of a purist, so I prefer air date order, as that’s the order they were originally presented. And, that generally works, except for Season 10, and for the Movie (if you include it).
I use air date order, moving “Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders” (1003) to just before “Diabolik” (1013), and The Movie between Season 6 and Season 7. With those two adjustments, everything works.
On the other hand, watching in Production Code order almost works. You have to move “Women of the Prehistoric Planet” (104) to the last episode of Season 1. You still have to put The Movie between Season 6 and Season 7.
So, pick either order, put the movie between Season 6 and Season 7, then shift one episode (in Season 1 for Production Code order; in Season 10 for air date order) and everything works.
As I said, I prefer air date order.
Of course, it was just a show. I should really just relax.