When Chemists Attack

The big news on the Internet this week seems to be the War on Crack that’s currently going on in Flint, Michigan.

No, not that kind of crack.  This kind of crack:

From the linked article:

Flint residents now have to watch their butts because Police Chief David Dicks is on the lookout.

Dicks, who took over the department last month on an interim basis, announced that his officers would start arresting people wearing saggy pants that expose skivvies, boxer shorts or bare bottoms.

Absurdly high crime rates can make people do strange things, but is harassing teens who haven’t yet learned how to pull up their pants going to solve Flint’s problems?

Rev. BigDumbChimp points out a little trivia about Friday the 13th:

There is an estimated $800 to $900 million lost on Friday the 13th due to people not flying, not going to work and not doing business as they normally do.

I’m sitting in class right now, watching my freshman chemistry students take their fourth exam.  Most of them are here today, so I suppose Friday the 13th hasn’t taken a huge toll on the test.

It simply hadn’t occurred to me that people might want to skip out on the test because it was Friday the 13th.  Friday itself is reason enough for some students to skip class!

But if any of my students are reading this … I wouldn’t advise skipping the Friday tests – whether or not it’s Friday the 13th.  The final exam will count in the place of the missed test, and taking that risk just to get yourself a long weekend is a lot like inviting this guy over for a hockey game.

Silly human! You thought the Hypnotoad was merely a fictional character from Futurama? You were wrong!

All hail the Hypnotoad! All glory to the Hypnotoad!

As a chemist, I’m obliged to love chemistry humor.  From The Onion,

 Vice President Dick Cheney and his staff were briefed on the atomic situation in Iran Tuesday with the aid of colorful interlocking plastic models and a short film.

“The United States will not stand idly by while Iran gains the protons, neutrons, and whatever else they need to threaten the free world,” Cheney said at a press conference that afternoon. “Iran has demonstrated time and time again its ability to combine atoms of hydrogen and oxygen right out in the open, and we cannot allow that to go on any longer.”

Classic.  Reminds me of the dihydrogen monoxide scare…

After the carnage in college football yesterday evening, I thought I would check CBS Sports to see what they had to say about it all

Cute headline up at the top, considering the #1 and #2 teams both lost. But that’s not what this post is really about. Take a closer look at the headline circled in green.

That’s, ahh, not how I would have phrased that!

We’ve been on vacation to Myrtle Beach this week – specifically North Myrtle Beach – home of “family atmosphere, fishing piers reaching into the Atlantic, wide sandy beaches, and championship golf courses as well as being centrally located to a very wide range of neighboring attractions and entertainment.”

Here’s a view of North Myrtle Beach – taken at noon on July 4^th.

About the only thing you can’t see in this picture is … sand! This looks more like a scene from a Where’s Waldo book than a scene from our family vacation. In the spirit of the Where’s Waldo books, I’ve provided a high-resolution version of the above image. Just click the link – but you might have to wait a while if you’re on dial-up.

[Noon, July 4, North Myrtle Beach – 3449px – 1.2 MB]

See if you can:

• Find the red, white, and blue volleyball.
• Find the NC State logo.
• Find the American flag.
• Count the number of South Carolina state emblems.
• Find the black and white striped towel.
• Find a boy in an orange shirt.
• Find a wake board without a rider.
• Find a purple and orange umbrella.

Enjoy!