Coffee and Provocation

Revolution In a Coffee Cup
February 1 marks the anniversary of the day in 1960 when four black students from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College entered a Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro, South Carolina and sat at the counter to order a cup of coffee. Staff refused them service, noting it was a “Whites Only” counter, and the store manager asked them to leave. Instead, the four men – Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair, Jr. – stayed at the counter until the store closed. The next morning, the Greensboro Four were joined by 20 more students from North Carolina A & T College who were again refused service, and who again stayed all day. On February 3, over 60 people came to the Woolworth’s, and by the fifth day the number had reached over 300. Faced with a public relations nightmare, Woolworth’s said it would "discuss" changes to the store's  segregation policies, but no substantive revisions were made. Instead, the city passed new and more stringent segregation laws that allowed the police to arrest the protesters as trespassers. Within a week, however, similar lunch counter protests were going on all over the south. Facing an over 33% drop in sales, Woolworth’s dropped it’s segregation policies and, six months after the first sit-in, the Greensboro Four returned to the same Woolworth lunch counter to be served.

A Gift For the Ages
Kristine Tompkins and her late husband Doug, CEO of the clothing company Patagonia and founders of The North Face and Esprit clothing companies, completed the world’s largest private land donation when they handed over more than one million acres to the government of Chile, which added nine million acres of their own in order create five new, and three expanded, national parks. In total, the new park lands are more than three times the size of Yosemite and Yellowstone combined.

Time's Up at HSUS?

The Washington Post reports that three women alleged that Humane Society of the U.S.'s CEO Wayne Pacelle made unwanted sexual advances and hinted that dating him would be a career booster. One woman alleged that he asked to masturbate in front of her after a work event and then warned her she’d lose her job if she told anyone about the incident. An HSUS initiated investigation reportedly uncovered settlements to three other workers who said they were demoted or dismissed after reporting Pacelle’s alleged misconduct.

Damn Foreigners are Everywhere!
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) provides the first country-wide checklists of introduced and invasive species. "Over 11,000 species records are currently in the 20 country exemplars alone, with environmental impact evidence for just over 20% of these."

The Wells Run Dry in Capetown
Cape Town, South Africa will become the first major city in the world to run out of water in its reservoirs and turn off most of its taps. On Day Zero, April 12, 2018, the city will only deliver water for essential services. Most of the metropolitan area’s nearly 4 million residents will have to collect allotments of water from 200 distribution points — a situation the mayor fears could lead to anarchy.

A Cool $24 Million
Air Force One needs new refrigerators, an upgrade that will cost taxpayers nearly $24,000,000, Defense One reports.

Everyone Wants an Elon Musk Flame Thrower
Elon Musk of Tesla and Space-X fame, also has The Boring Company, which is boring through rock and dirt to create a potentially new low-energy transportation system. The Boring Company is also making a limited number (7,000) of flame throwers which can be had for just $500 apiece.

A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1788)

I put cackling farts in my bone box this morning. Sounds dicked in the knob, I know, but I am a true Knight of the trenches.

Terrierman Is One of the Top Dog Blogs?
There are others?

The Richest 42 People in the World 
Oxfam says 42 billionaires hold as much wealth as the world’s poorest 3.7 billion people.

The Politics of Population Density
When population density exceeds 640 persons per square mile in the U.S. (aka one person per acre), a regions starts to vote Democratic. Bottom line:  the future is liberal.

Delta's New Rules for In-Cabin Animals
As of March 1st, Delta airlines will require passengers traveling with service and "comfort" animals to provide written documentation, 48 hours in advance, that the in-cabin animal has been vaccinated, is trained to behave without a kennel, and that a doctor or licensed mental-health professional has said the passenger needs the animal to be with him or her. “This new policy is our first step in better protecting those who fly with Delta with a more thoughtful screening process,” said John Laughter, Delta’s senior vice president for corporate safety, security and compliance.