Kameron Hurley

Yes, Ohio Drivers Really Do Suck

Every time I come back to the PNW, I’m struck by just how well everyone drives.

Yes, yes, I know we have a hatred for drivers in every state (everyone’s a bad driver who isn’t us!), but after living in Ohio and Illinois and driving around Indiana a lot, I learned a new appreciation for PNW drivers. But how much of this was just my own bias? So I decided to look up the states with the top 10 worst driving records. AND LO AND BEHOLD….

Here are the states with the worst rate of traffic accidents, in order:

1.) Pennsylvania
2.) Michigan
3.) Illinois
4.) Ohio
5.) Georgia
6.) Minnesota
7.) Virginia
8.) Indiana
9.) Texas
10.) Wisconsin

See, I am not just biased! Ohio and Indiana really *are* full of bad drivers! 

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"How many real adult times have you been in love?"

Inquiring minds want to know.

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Drinking the Kool-Aid

I’m watching Obama’s Denver speech about the stimulus bill. I’ve read the pros and cons. I’ve listened to the GOP arguments (largely summed up by, “Soooooooooociiiaaaaaaaaliiiiiiiiiissssssssm!”). I understand everybody’s fears.

Yet we happily invested trillions of dollars into foreign wars over the last eight years while our own country failed. Wars that killed tens of thousands of innocent people.

And we’re not willing to invest in our own infrastructure? Our own country? Our own people? We’ll spend billions to rebuild Iraq… but not our own country?

There’s a great TED talk by Bill Gates where he points out that there are huge, important initiatives that will never be addressed by the free market. His example was malaria. Hundreds of thousands die of malaria in poor countries. There’s no free market drive to prevent these deaths… because there’s no money in it.

I was reminded of what Lyndon B. Johnson said when he desegregated schools. To paraphrase, “Sometimes we don’t do things because they’re popular. We do them because they’re right.”

(Also, why does the president have to sign the bill ten times? That was a neat bit of trivia)

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5 Scariest Insects in the World

No shit, man.

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Four Suns

Definately the star system I’ll use for The Burning Fields.

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"Funky Things You Discover While Living in Africa"

Yup.

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Real Age Calculator

Even with diabetes, this odd little hippie test insists I shall live until 90.

This is mainly because all of my grandparents and great grandparents are in their 80s and 90s.

Diabetes genes + Logevity genes = me.

I have no idea what the “real age” part of this test means. Apparently, I have the body of a 10 year old. No idea.

(via jlundberg)

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A Little Something for the Space Pirates

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has announced the discovery of a mass of crystallized carbon formerly known as star BPM 37093, now known as the biggest diamond in the galaxy, fifty light years away from Earth in the constellation Centaurus. The diamond is estimated to be 2,500 miles across and weighs approximately 10 billion-trillion-trillion-carats – a one, followed by 34 zeros.

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Occupation: First Lady

Little-known fact: most presidents since the 70s release some form of their tax returns to the public.

Here’s George W. Bush’s tax return for last year. I’m not terribly surprised that he somehow managed to get a refund of over $19,000 while I owed over $500 this year, but whatever.

The part that amused me, however, is that Laura Bush’s occupation is listed as “First Lady.”

It is, indeed, a position that requires a shitload of work. It’s also an unpaid position, however. Do stay-at-home moms list their occupation as “homemaker”? I’m honestly curious.

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But I Have 15K in Credit Card Debt!

$5700.00The Cadaver Calculator – Find out how much your body is worth

Man, I’m never going to break even!

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