Muttley.

Readers of fantasy probably already know, but author Sir Terry Pratchett has died at age 66.

I'm not a big reader of the genre myself, but computer gamers might be interested to know that in addition to scores of books, he wrote some of the dialog for one of Skyrim's more noted mods.

Well, it's not hard to see why Michael Brown turned out to be the thug that he was, now is it?

Patrick, I noted that in NBC's coverage this morning, they repeately said "All Ferguson community leaders have condemmed the shootings and are calling for peace". Yet, they didn't have a single person on camera actually saying that, nor did they have a quote from anybody. One might suspect, if one were so inclined, that the media is trying to give the radicals cover unitl this falls out of the news cycle.

(Oh, and a bad-journalism-of-the-day rant: NBC referred twice in their report to the Ferguson police conducting an "intense manhunt". But both times, in the next sentence, they stated that the police have no suspects yet. Last I checked, the word "hunt" implies that you are seeking someone or something. In order to do that, you have to have some idea what it is that you are looking for. So if there are no suspects, what man is the manhunt hunting?)

Remember that net neutrality thing? the FCC has essentially placed itself in charge of US consumer networks.

That's not what I had in mind when they said "net neutrality".

Penis transplant in South Africa!

"There is a greater need in South Africa for this type of procedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men lose their penises every year due to complications from traditional circumcision."

Experts estimate as many as 250 penis amputations take place every year across South Africa.

http://news.sky.com/story/1444513/docs-perform-first-successful-penis-transplant

"Cheese."

"There is a greater need in South Africa for this type of procedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men lose their penises every year due to complications from traditional circumcision."

So, South Africans are especially bad at performing circumcisions compared to the rest of the world?

BunnyGirl - I think when the professor in the article referenced "traditional circumcision" he meant not in a hospital setting (I'm taking a guess--I wish the article was better). Traditional circumcisions obviously occur in many places around the world, but I have no idea how many result in complications, if those complications occur more or less frequently than those in South Africa or even if its tracked.

I did a quick search and found a news link from last year that adds a bit more context to the male traditional circumcision issues that are currently impacting people in South Africa.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-south-africa-circumcision-ritual-becomes-health-crisis/

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/09/full/

Warm water on Jupiter's moon.

No word on whether Rose Eveleth approved of the scientists clothing.

Cousin Dave: "Patrick, I noted that in NBC's coverage this morning, they repeately said "All Ferguson community leaders have condemmed the shootings and are calling for peace". Yet, they didn't have a single person on camera actually saying that, nor did they have a quote from anybody. One might suspect, if one were so inclined, that the media is trying to give the radicals cover unitl this falls out of the news cycle."

If that's what the media's doing (and they probably are), it's deplorable.

Thanks mel. That makes more sense now.