Mark Bult Design: San Francisco, CA, Established 1988

top 5 quotes for the Independence Day holiday weekend

"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials. One's right to life, liberty and property, to free speech, free press, freedom of worship and assembly and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote. They depend on the outcomes of no elections."
– Justice Robert Jackson, 1943

"In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary, patriotism is defined as the last refuge of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer, I beg to submit that it is the first."
– Ambrose Bierce

"I love my country. If Dick Cheney loved his country, he wouldn't be voting for himself."
– Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Patricia LaMarche explaining why she was going to vote for John Kerry instead of her running mate, Ralph Nader

"I don't understand how poor people think."
– George W. Bush

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
– Douglas Adams


and a big -1 for...

"God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"
– Ann Coulter

Labels: Douglas Adams, holidays, notable quotes, politics

Posted by espd at 5:02 PM | 
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The toilet plume

I’ve been telling people about this for over ten years, but nobody listens to me. When you flush the toilet, a plume/flume of about 750,000 germs get sprayed into the air in an invisible, aerosolized spray, and they land on every surface in the bathroom.

“One hundred years ago, infectious disease was the leading cause of death. By 1980, it had fallen to number 5, but about 10 years ago, it managed to climb its way up to number 3. And, according to Professor Charles P. Gerba of the University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, it’ll most likely find its way back to the number 1 spot...”

Put the seat down. Cover your toothbrush or put it in the cabinet (or both). Don’t leave your drinking cup on the bathroom counter. Wipe down all surfaces in your bathroom regularly with disinfectant.

“Gerba has made quite a name for himself by studying public toilets and other places where germs lurk. In 1975, Gerba published a scientific article describing the phenomenon of bacterial and viral aerosols due to toilet flushing. When this aerosol of contaminated water is ejected into the air, it lands on everything in the bathroom, including your toothbrush. According to Gerba, this isn’t just another scare tactic to get men to put the top down...”

Read this article [Edit: Old link went 404. Read this Straight Dope column]. It might make you feel a little ill, but it also might prevent you from getting sick.

Labels: health, rant, science

Posted by espd at 12:10 PM | 
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