putative.com

Is Seattle due for an earthquake?

YES. If you live in WA, please set aside 15 minutes to read this minute-by-minute fictionalized (but well-researched, and popcorn-worthy) account of a hypothetical Cascadia Subduction Zone mega earthquake and tsunami.

Our first Full Circle Farm order

Mostly for Jill's reference, for $34, delivered to Elliott Bay Cafe down the street (it would have been $3 more for home delivery), with a last-minute note of apology for including a Californian rather than a Washingtonian cantaloupe (no apology for the corn, weirdly). Heidi and I are arguing over whether kale needs to go on our "permanent exlcusion" list, and the carrot "bunch" is pretty stingy, but overall I feel pretty good about this:

Obamacare is already saving people money

According to the GAO:

"A controversial piece of the healthcare reform law is beginning to save consumers money but could also give them fewer plans to choose from, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Monday. The GAO interviewed insurance companies and regulators about the early impact of a provision that governs how insurance companies spend their money. It requires plans to spend 80 or 85 percent of their premiums on medical costs -- a calculation known as the medical loss ratio (MLR). Companies that miss the minimum MLR will have to pay rebates to their customers. According to GAO, some insurers are decreasing premiums or leaving their rates unchanged in order to comply with the MLR requirements. Three companies told GAO that premiums will either fall next year or increase by a smaller amount than they would have without the MLR."

What a treasonous idea, to require 80 to 85 percent of premiums to go to actual medical costs! That's socialism right there!

NSFW Levi's ad

That is if vomiting is not safe at your work:

(seen on NYT.com)

On the GOP becoming the anti-science party

Yikes:

According to Public Policy Polling, only 21 percent of Republican voters in Iowa believe in global warming (and only 35 percent believe in evolution).

Hatebeak

A metal band with a parrot for a lead singer:

The problem with your giant space opera

And other stories, from Blue Delliquanti, whence linking to Madeline Rupert:

President Bachmann will get gas under $2 per gallon

Yes, she somehow controls global oil markets. WTF, GOP, could you please stop spawning terrifying insane morans?

“The day that the president became president gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. Look at what it is today,” she said at an event in Greenville, S.C.. “Under President Bachmann, you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen.”

The average price for a gallon of gasoline is currently $3.58 per gallon, according to AAA.

Bachmann didn’t detail how she would cut the price of gasoline, which is tied to the global price of oil.

People hate atheists

And "Muslims." But they hate the Tea Party even more:

The Tea Party ranks lower than any of the 23 other groups we asked about — lower than both Republicans and Democrats. It is even less popular than much maligned groups like “atheists” and “Muslims.” Interestingly, one group that approaches it in unpopularity is the Christian Right.

5secondfilms

How did I not know about 5secondfilms? E.g.: