My, what big feet you have!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3189717/worlds-largest-dinosaur-footprint-discovered-in-australias-jurassic-park/

Great, Linkhausen by proxy...

Do you think they were relatives?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bunyan

Maybe we ought to investigate Russian influence in the recent election?

John Podesta, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 national campaign chairman, may have violated federal law by failing to disclose the receipt of 75,000 shares of stock from a Kremlin-financed company when he joined the Obama White House in 2014, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/26/exclusive-john-podesta-may-have-violated-federal-law-by-not-disclosing-75000-stock-shares/#ixzz4cdLt3PIh

Charles Murray acting as an editor on his SPLC bio page.

What follows is an edited and expanded version of the SPLC page that I can live with. My self-imposed ground rules are that I can’t delete accurate quotes from my work that I wish I had worded more felicitously, but I am permitted to extend quotes with material that immediately adjoins the quoted text, to correct factual mistakes, and to make suggestions to the author, as copy editors routinely do.

The copy-edited version contains all of the original text of the SPLC page about me. Replacement text and additional text are shown in green. My remarks as copy editor are in green italics. Additional quotes from my work are in red. “AU” is the standard copy-editing abbreviation for “author.” As copy editor, I refer to my work in the third person.

http://www.aei.org/publication/charles-murrays-splc-page-as-edited-by-charles-murray/

Thanks IRA. That's a keeper for reading later.

Cat person:

https://mobile.twitter.com/bcatcomic/status/846714701652353024

Benny the Bull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtIVDb4hwwg

He had a better year dan da Bulls, but the cheerleaders are cute

There’s also a second Trump angle to this story, and it, too, contradicts the accepted narrative. The Israeli police sources told Haaretz that even though the bomb threats had gone on for two years and several different countries were involved in the investigation, until recently, capturing the perpetrator wasn’t considered high priority. What changed that, they said, was Donald Trump.

A few weeks ago, he ordered the FBI to make nailing the suspect high priority. The FBI consequently sent 12 cyber crime experts to Israel, and with their help, the Israeli police managed to track down and collect evidence against the teen (Start-Up Nation has bypassed Israel’s police force; the country’s top geeks go into either business, the army, or the intelligence agencies).

In short, for all the criticism he justly earned for his belated and reluctant condemnations of anti-Semitism, Trump took action to stop it in a way his predecessor never did–a point to remember for anyone who believes that actions speak louder than words.

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/anti-semitism/real-trump-link-threats-jews/

Bratfree on new Muppet with autism (warning: foul language follows, as usual)

http://www.refugees.bratfree.com/read.php?2,415710

Excerpts:

paragon schnitzophonic:

"You've hit on a salient point and it shows that autism is basically a fad disability. They're not choosing to present a mentally disabled Muppet that suffers from one of many other common causes of said mental disability like Down Syndrome, FAS, or cerebral palsy. They don't even have a deaf or blind Muppet. How inclusive is it when they're only going to present the "popular" intellectual disability? I guess Down Syndrome is out of style.

"This Muppet is basically going to be presented as merely shy, introverted, and socially awkward because nowadays if a child isn't an extroverted screaming howler monkey, they're labeled as autistic. The Muppet isn't going to be nonverbal, still wearing a diaper because it doesn't possess the intelligence to be potty-trained, having constant meltdowns, making aggressive gestures towards the other kids, etc. And that'll be problematic because it's only going to reinforce the idea that introversion and shyness is an aberration and will only cause the shy and introverted to withdraw further."

Cambion:

"...Creating diverse characters in any kids' show is a great idea because it can help kids not feel so different for whatever reason they might feel that way (disability, race, etc.), but if you're going to go that route, represent those characters accurately or don't include them. The introverted viewers will be able to relate to this new character, but then it'll lead them and their idiot parents to believe that they have something wrong with them for being shy and quiet. Show a genuinely autistic character: one who is destructive, violent, displays bizarre ritualistic behaviors, can't eat/drink/touch a lot of things for reasons that only make sense to them and, at best, perhaps show them excelling in a random area since some autistic people are like that. Can't go a day without shitting their pants, but they can recite pi to the 107th decimal. Stuff like that..."

paragon schnitzophonic:

"I agree with everything you've said. I'm down with them being more inclusive with their characters because as an educational show geared towards young children, they have an obligation to do so. But as you said, present the whole truth or don't do it at all. Don't present the mildest form of autism to the point where nothing is actually wrong, the character is just shy and introverted. You don't even have to go the extreme route. They could present an autistic character like the one from a Babysitters' Club book a long time ago (Kristy and the Secret of Susan, if you're curious): mute, doesn't acknowledge the people around her, flaps her hands, rocks back and forth, displays ritualistic behaviors, but is extremely gifted in one area...

"...It's disingenuous to create an inclusive character in order to cash in on a fad disease. If they were going to bring in a mentally disabled character, a Down Syndrome character would've been better because 1.) since there are distinctive physical attributes that are characteristic of Down Syndrome, it could drive home the message of "Don't judge a book by its cover", 2.) the mental deficiencies of somebody who is even on the high-functioning end will be distinct from mere personality quirks, and 3.) because Down Syndrome is frequently accompanied by other physical ailments like congenital heart defects, they could always touch upon a child having to deal with hospital stays and surgery."

Schmucky Schumer, master of civility . . .

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/schumer-looses-it-screams-trump-supporter-ny-restaurant

(Tap tap) Is this thing still on?

I never know what Lenona's abstracts from other blogs are talking about, but that's my fault, and I admire the tidiness and enthusiasm of her cites.

They're not "abstracts," they're direct quotations.

I just thought the Bratfree thread was interesting, since it's pretty rare for ANYONE to criticize Sesame Street for any changes it makes (offhand, the only complaints I remember were when they tried to talk about divorce in 1992 - it never happened, on the show itself, that is - and when they introduced a stereotypical female Muppet in 2006 - Abby Cadabby).

Not to mention that they managed to praise the show's intentions at the same time. Given that the people at Bratfree can be pretty hard on people with severe autism when they behave badly and their caretakers aren't really doing their jobs, that makes the thread even more noteworthy.