The Frustrated Bunny

Technology. Science. Politics. Geek. Etc.

Author: Hillary

Politics / Random

Governor Perry to organize “day of prayer and fasting” in conjunction with hate group

It’s rare that I title posts as sensationally as I have this one, but this particular story has been pushing my buttons since I woke up this morning. So consider this one of the times where I live up to the “frustrated” part of my blog title. Rick Perry, governor of Texas, has invited the governors of each state to join him at a “day of prayer and fasting” event called “The Response” that is being held in Houston, in partnership with the American Family Association, an organization that describes itself as “a Christian organization promoting the biblical ethic of...

Food / Random

How to eat your veggies and cut your grocery bill

This week, the USDA released “MyPlate,” the improved successor to the ubiquitous but oft-criticized food pyramid, that visualizes thee proportions of each food group a person should consume at meals. Among the things that this new visualization reveals (but that actually hasn’t changed) is that half of the volume of each meal should be made up of fruits and vegetables. Even though this is not technically a new recommendation, MyPlate makes this more obvious, and some people are treating this information with a certain amount of surprise. In particular, the reactions I’ve seen to this have revolved mainly around “how...

Personal / Random

Diablo 3 beta slated for Q3 2011, release in Q4

Several sources are reporting that Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaim announced on Blizzard-Activision’s quarterly financial conference call that the external beta for Diablo 3 will open in Q3 of this year. That’s calendar quarter, not fiscal quarter, by the way, meaning that the external beta could begin as early as July 1 (but as late as September 30). Internal “friends and family” beta testing has also reportedly already begun. Morhaim also announced that they’re targeting the launch for Q4 of this year (between October 1 and December 31), but Blizzard is currently not making any promises about that. If you’ve been...

Food / Politics

Do you live in a “food desert”?

The USDA defines a “food desert” as a census block or tract where 500 people and/or 33% of the population is more than a mile from a large/full-sized grocery store (10 miles for non-urban areas). This phenomenon is considered by the USDA as a leading cause of malnourishment and obesity among poor and/or rural populations, as the only regularly accessible food is often in the form of preprocessed items from small convenience stores. Earlier this week, the USDA released an online tool that allows people to visualize what parts of the country are considered food deserts. The tool isn’t perfect–some...

Politics

Bin Laden confirmed killed: Questions and commentary

Not long after my Twitter and Facebook feeds exploded with exclamations about the rumors and then confirmation of the news that Osama bin Laden has been killed by American forces in Pakistan, a series of questions and concerns started rolling in. Some were directed toward me specifically–I’m the go-to “expert” on all things policy and politics for many of my friends and acquaintances (and for once I can honestly say that I do have a piece of paper that confirms that I am in fact more of an expert than most people)–others were questions asked of the internet in general,...