In advance to and in honor of DU's annual Columbus Day Freak Out: Here's The Oatmeal on Columbus

Well worth the short read:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day

Flags at Pentagon were at half-mast this morning. Anyone know why?

I know they were at half-mast on 10/6/13 for the firefighter, but why today?

The Shutdown from Derf

Kevin Straub in response to Fox News' Giant News Tablets

Ask Yourself: What would Boehner Do? (Then don't do that)

From Brian McFadden:

US Capitol Police: Capitol in Lockdown; Reports of Gunshots and Injured Capitol Police Officer

Source: ABC News

US Capitol Police: Capitol in lockdown; reports of gunshots and injured Capitol police officer.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/white-house-meeting-boehner-obama-negotiate-20451526

"NIST closed, all measurements invalid"

From a blog post by Martin Rowe of Engineer Design News

"The current deadlock in Washington over the Federal budget has shut down most of the U.S. Government. That includes NIST, which houses the national standards for many physical quantities–voltage and current–and provides calibration services. With top if the measurement chain closed, all measurement made in the U.S. are hereby invalid. If you take measurements or perform calibrations, then you might as well take the rest of the day off."

Whole article here:
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4422114/NIST-closed--all-measurements-invalid

Brian McFadden's "Shutdown Survival Tips"

Government shutdown winters tend to be cold and snowy in D.C.

""It’s a common utterance that “hot air inside the Beltway” does everything from causing local heat spikes in summer to producing the D.C. snow hole in winter.

Joke tellers love it, while most locals roll their eyes.

However, the saying may hold a grain of truth. Let’s at least momentarily assume that hot air is cast away from the city in a shutdown, causing a ripple effect that ultimately impacts winter.

Example? The last time the federal government shut down in 1995-96, 46 inches of snow paralyzed D.C.! It was one of the snowiest winters on record.""

Whole article from Ian Livingstone at WAPO here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/10/02/government-shutdown-winters-tend-to-be-cold-and-snowy-in-d-c/

Semi-Naked and Afraid? Check Out This Nude Haunted House!

"Halloween is just a month away, which means it's that time of year again for haunted houses!

But how does one proceed to spice up such an age-old tradition? By asking all the participants to take their clothes off, natch.

This year, Pennsylvania's "premier haunted scream park" Shocktoberfest debuted "The Naked and Scared Challenge," inspired by Discovery Channel's hit show Naked and Afraid. In the challenge, guests are invited to run through a dark haunted house completely naked with fellow naked strangers and "to test your fears and phobias on a whole new level. For the first time ever you can now experience the Unknown Haunted House totally naked! See if you have Gymnophobia- the fear of being nude," a description on the official website reads."

Whole article including a video of nude couples going thru the Haunted House here:
http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/tv/tvguide/article/VIDEO-Semi-Naked-and-Afraid-Check-Out-This-Nude-4857718.php