Nick Sagan Speaks About His Father Carl, Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, March 17, 2014

Dad was a difference maker. He reached out to people. He took them by the awe and wonder we feel over the most important questions we can think to imagine. He pulled them away from blind faith, away from pseudoscience, toward a deeper, richer understanding of the universe.

Russian Aggression Deserves a Response, But U.S. Lacks Credibility to Lead It, Stephen Zunes, Yes! Magazine, March 17, 2014

As someone who has spent his entire academic career analyzing and critiquing the U.S. role in the world, I have some news: While the United States has had significant impact (mostly negative in my view) in a lot of places, we are not omnipotent. There are real limits to American power, whether for good or for ill. Not everything is our responsibility.

This is certainly the case with Ukraine.

My lies are different from your lies. So your lies are banned. Taslima Nasreen, No Country for Women, March 17, 2014

Noah story is the most cruel, stupid and hilarious story written in the so called holy books. Like all the other holy lies Noah story also a lie. Arab countries banned the movie Noah because it is based on the Biblical lies, not based on the Quranic lies. They are probably thinking the Quranic lies are better than the Biblical lies. But lies are lies, man!

Here Is a Boycott We Can All Support, John Cole, Balloon Juice, March 17, 2014

From here on out, when you see a commercial with a doorbell or someone knocking on the door, please note the product in this thread. If I have one more peaceful moment in the recliner interrupted by a commercial with a doorbell, causing both dogs to jump off my lap and bag me in the process, I’m going to go all Mad Men on someone.

Every Plane That’s Disappeared Since 1948, Jason English, Mental Floss, March 17, 2014

With the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in its second week, the Bloomberg Visual Data team created this map of the 80+ large aircraft declared missing since 1948. “Large aircraft” is defined as “planes capable of carrying more than 14 people.” There are more yellow dots on here than I expected, and that includes 11 lost planes since 2005.

Photo credit: By JPL [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.