You can’t show them doing their real job. This is a pretty good simulation, though–especially that last test.

I need one. Often my use of a toilet for its ordinary purposes leaves it all choked up. I’m just special that way. For me it would have been good to see it handle some longer … hot dogs.

H/T Hip and Thigh who rightly points out that the plumbing behind this flushing marvel will matter a lot.

Watch the clip below.

This week’s poem of the week is Locksley Hall.

A rant bashing feminists who don’t like infrastructure projects is this week’s rant of the week.

An explanation of why writing novels is an old man’s game is this week’s essay of the week.

This study reported on Discovery.com says that pigeons can be trained to pick out art their handlers think is good.

I think this is excellent news. Now we can put pigeons in school and let the kids run around in the park, and everyone will be better off. The kids can learn better things than mimickery and the pigeons can do as they are told.

Citi has stopped accepting mortgage applications from mortgage bankers. Among the issues is appraisals which is supposedly the issue that is stooping the sale of a house near us.

A bunch of free home planning tools.

Cool pictures of volcano punching a whole in the sky.

One week until IOU’s.

You have to be careful of people who think that history cycles. A circle comes back to where it started. A swirl, on the other hand, has a beginning and an end. But a circle and a swirl are very similar so a description of one can greatly resemble the other.

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Robinson-Jeffers/3011

This week’s poem of the week is Waiting for the Barbarians. One would imagine that it loses something being translated into English, but there are only so many good English poets.

This week’s rant of the week is Thanks, Google.