Donald Rumsfeld, “America’s worst secretary of defense,” died Tuesday, June 29, 2021, days shy of his 89th birthday. I remember when he was a rising star in the Republican Party and some people even believed he’d be president someday. He didn’t come close. But the one-t[...]
Archive for June, 2021
June 30th, 2021 - 7:54 pm § in Science
How to measure distances to stars
This takes a bigger tape measure than you have. (Don’t ask me how I know.) To find out how it’s done, read this article. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
How to be an idiot and look like one at the same time
State Rep. Jim Walsh (photo, left), a Republican who represents the Aberdeen area in Washington’s legislature, sported a Yellow Star of David at a political rally in Lacey on Saturday, June 26, 2021. He was likening “the government’s efforts to protect people from a highly contagio[...]
June 30th, 2021 - 11:42 am § in Misc.
Town loses fight to evict the Flintstones
The Flintstones are there to stay. A woman who bought a Flintstones-themed house in a San Francisco suburb several years ago carried things further by adding a plethora of lawn ornaments and sculptures to complete the effect. Some of the neighbors didn’t like the tourist traffic it brought to [...]
Historians rank Trump as 4th worst president
It’s a real challenge to out-worst the 3 presidents who dragged America into the Civil War and then bungled Reconstruction — that’s a very tough act to follow — and Trump didn’t quite make the cut, but he came close. In updated rankings, 142 academic historians surveyed[...]
June 29th, 2021 - 6:59 pm § in Science
A scream from space
It was a Pac-Man thing. A neutron star got eaten by a black hole, and let out a howl. Or so an imaginative science journalist named Corey S. Powell (c.v. here) called it: “Black hole devouring neutron star sends gravitational ‘scream’ all the way to Earth.” The dinner date in[...]
June 29th, 2021 - 6:35 pm § in Misc.
What sex is Miss Nevada USA?
The answer depends on whether you ask “is” or “was.” “Kataluna Enriquez, who was crowned Miss Nevada USA on Sunday, will become the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Miss USA pageant,” NBC News reported on Tuesday, June 29, 2021. Her platform? Trans[...]
June 29th, 2021 - 4:28 pm § in Misc.
Have you seen this snake?
If you do, stay the hell away from it. A zebra cobra is on the lam in Raleigh, North Carolina. The fugitive is described as “black to brown with light cross bars,” and may be up to 4 feet in length. “The Raleigh Police Department sent out a notice … urging anyone who sees the[...]
June 29th, 2021 - 2:12 pm § in Economics
What’s behind rabid housing prices?
Two things, primarily. First, the 2007-2008 housing crash and subsequent recession shut down homebuilding for several years, but the U.S. population kept growing, which created a long-term housing shortage. It will take years for new construction to catch up. Second, the Federal Reserve flooded the [...]
Another agitator gets tossed off social media
“Andy Ngo is the latest conservative voice to be CANCELED by Big Tech: SoundCloud bans his podcast,” the headline reads. “Journalist Andy Ngo became the most recent voice to be banned from a Big Tech platform after SoundCloud has permanently banned him from its platform,” the[...]