Category: Aggregated

The periodic table of elements is difficult to memorize, however knowledge of the elements is part of an important foundation in science. Do you think you know the periodic table well enough? Could you ace a quiz on it? Below you will find 18 “questions”–actually they are just element symbols. Your task is to match the symbol to the correct element as it corresponds on the periodic table. They aren’t too difficult in the beginning, however I’ve upped the challenge as you get further down. Do your best, take the test, and find out how much you really know about … Continue reading →

As many have said, were it not for the video, Michael Thomas Slager would have been quickly exonerated – and, most likely, received a commendation – for the killing of Walter Scott. The most remarkable aspect of that video, however, is not the unbearable spectacle of the shooting itself, but rather the composed, almost clinical way that Slager executes the victim, and the ease with which he makes the transition from the killing to the cover-up. Slager’s body language while drawing and firing his gun suggested annoyance, rather than urgency. He never bothered to render aid to Scott, choosing instead … Continue reading →

The April 7th, 2015 power outage in Washington DC is curious to say the least. Virtually instantaneously, the government declare it was not a terrorist attack. After all, how could that possibly be when the NSA guards the country. If there was an attack on the power-grid, then the NSA would have to answer for their failure. So clearly, if it was an attack, they would never admit it. Instead, this has been attributed to a piece of metal breaking loose from a power line 43 miles southeast of the District of Columbia, which knocked out electricity to the White House, … Continue reading →

Modern car engines are hard to fault… objectively. They start immediately – even when it’s 15 degrees out. They rarely stall out – leaving you dead in the water in the middle of a busy intersection. Most require not much more from you than gas and oil for the first 100,000-plus miles from new. But when was the last time you turned off the stereo and rolled the window down just to listen to their music? Or proudly popped the hood for your friends? Not much to see, is there? You don’t need to be a gearhead to understand. Ever been … Continue reading →

Editor’s Note: Late last year, The Chicago Tribune performed an independent safety analysis of the city’s extensive red-light camera network. The study concluded that “the cameras do not reduce injury-related crashes overall—undercutting Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s primary defense of a program beset by mismanagement, malfunction and a $2 million bribery scandal.” The study also found that the city’s claims of a 47 percent decrease in side-impact collisions was grossly overstated and that rear-end collisions actually increased. This news prompted NMA ally Jay Beeber, executive director of Safer Streets L.A., to provide the following analysis on why red-light cameras have no positive … Continue reading →

California Governor Jerry Brown has announced that private citizens and small businesses — among others — will have their water usage restricted, monitored, and subject to heavy fines if state agents determine that too much water has been used. Noticeably absent from the list of those subject to restrictions are the largest users of water, the farmers. Agriculture accounts for 80 percent of the state’s water consumption, but 2 percent of the state’s economy. To spell it out a little more clearly: Under Jerry’s Brown water plan, it’s fine to use a gallon of subsidized water to grow a single … Continue reading →

The deal reached in Lausanne, Switzerland by Iran and five powers, led by the US, appears to be about nuclear capability. In fact, the real issue was not nuclear weapons, which Iran does not now possess, but Iran’s potential geopolitical power. Iran, a nation of 80.8 million, has been bottled up like the proverbial genii by US-led sanctions ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution deposed Shah Pahlavi’s corrupt royalist regime. The Shah had been groomed to be the chief US enforcer in the Gulf. More than a dozen American efforts to overthrow the Islamic government in Tehran have failed. Washington … Continue reading →

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth (Genesis 26:12-15). I begin with a little-known passage in the Bible. The enemies of Abraham and his family resented … Continue reading →