How hot is it?

With temperatures slated to shoot up again next week, how hot has it been?

According to federal climate scientists, the first half of this year has been Pittsburgh's warmest on record. Moreover, the National Climatic Data Center announced in their "State of the Climate” report:

The last 12-month period on the mainland United States, it notes, were the warmest on record. What’s notable, however, is that every single one of the last 13 months were in the top third for their historical distribution–i.e., April 2012 was in the top third for warmest Aprils, etc.

The odds of this being a random fluke -- and not due to climate change -- is about 1 in 100,000. Or as Jerry Meehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research put it, “This is what global warming is like. And we’ll see more of this as we go into the future.”

Swell!

Freeh Report Shocker: Powerful Men Will Cover-up Rape & Abuse for Own Selfish Interests!

The Freeh Report on the Penn State rape scandal came out today. Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

A special investigator today condemned Penn State University leadership for what he called "the total disregard for the safety and welfare" of children who were sexually abused by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.  

"The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized," investigator Louis Freeh said in remarks prepared for a 10 a.m. news conference.  

[snip] 

"Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University -- President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President-Finance Gary C. Schultz, Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley and Head Football Coach Joseph V. Paterno -- failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade," according to the report. "These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities. They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001.  

"Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child's identity, of what (graduate assistant Mike) McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February, 9, 2001," according to the report.

I am completely shocked by the revelations!

Never before in the history of mankind have we seen powerful men from any company, religion, institution, industry, system (such as slavery), prison, government, military or family unit turn a blind eye to or actively cover-up -- let alone participate in -- the rape/abuse/exploitation of children and women (and other men) for their own selfish interests (nor would any women be their allies in this so their own little worlds would not be disturbed one tiny bit).

In the case of Penn State, the leadership actually did this so that their own careers -- and the moving of a ball up and down a field -- would be protected.

Shocking! Shocking, I tell you!

We can now all go back to our lives and forget that this exact same thing happens daily.

Fuck Joe Paterno. Fuck Penn State. Fuck the Patriarchy.