Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Bits and Pieces - August 12, 2009

The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Atomic Radiation. There's some discussion at the link about the cover design. It's probably related to Op Art, which was popular when the book was published. The cover design is just a set of concentric circles overlaid with parallel lines, and every other space created by the intersection colored. Not too uncommon for those times. I used to do a lot of that kind of design-making, even before Op Art. (Thanks to Barba!)

Pirates in the Baltic Sea!

What US taxpayers are paying Goldman Sachs employees to participate in a gold-plated health plan.

The Brits, including Steven Hawking, strike back in favor of their health plan.

After that airplane-helicopter crash over the Hudson River, there are the usual sweaty palms about little airplanes and even big ones. I'm a pilot, and I'll just say that some pilots, usually the ones who say that everything is just fine, they can keep track of the traffic, fly like they drive. That is not a compliment. I don't fly any more, and sometimes when I'm driving I even make a series of right-hand turns around the block rather than try a difficult left-hand turn. You may make your own judgements about my viewpoint. And, oh yeah, how many people died in automobile accidents that day?

Alexandra Petri makes it sound like Smokey the Bear, whose sixty-fifth birthday is today, was strictly the product of an ad agency. Here's, as they say, the rest of the story.

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