[Links]
[links] Link salad searches for its birth certificate
Black Blade Blues, by J.A. Pitts – An interview with the man behind the woman
Andrew Wheeler on How to Train Your Dragon — My second favorite movie review ever, when he says: “In short, if there had been any doubt that animated movies today are made entirely by geeks who still haven’t gotten over being picked last for kickball, How to Train Your Dragon provides yet another object lesson.”
Thieves have taste for fine cheeses — Bwuh? (Via Freakonomic.)
Scientists find water-ice and organic material on asteroid — I told you guys to clean up after that party.
Death & taxes: 2011 — (Via Dark Roasted Blend.)
Steele’s ‘biggest gaffe so far’ — I hadn’t realized the GOP had been in denial about the arrant racism of the Southern Strategy. Insofar as I can tell, that’s been one of the cornerstones of modern conservative electorical success.
The Politics of Contempt — Daniel Larison, normally a reliable independent thinker, joins the chorus of disingenuous conservative voices pretending the new Arizona immigration law is reasonable and just. No racism here, move along, nothing to see. That’s mighty white of him.
?otD: How would you prove your citizenship if stopped by the Arizona law?
4/29/2010
Writing time yesterday: none (chemo brain)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.5 (interrupted)
This morning’s weigh-in: 231.2
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 4/10 (fatigue)
Currently (re)reading: Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
Posted: 5:15 am Thu April 29 2010 |
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You are reading the blog of Jay Lake, speculative fiction writer and author of hundreds of short stories, many novels, and winner of the John W. Campbell Award.
Learn more here.
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Summer
April 29th, 2010 at 8:52 amSince I’m not about to start carrying my birth certificate around with me, if I were ever stopped by AZ cops (hypothetical since I don’t plan on ever going there) and asked to prove my citizenship, I guess they’d just have to figure out my ethnicity and ship me back to the land of my great-grandparents. Hey, free trip to Sweden! Woo-hoo!
Stephen Watkins
April 29th, 2010 at 1:53 pmWhile I agree with the general assessment of the makers of fantasy animated movies, as one such “geek”, I find that my reaction to the movie in question was quite the opposite. I found it quite delightful, and am equally delighted that the story of the geek has become such a powerful draw in our pop culture. It tastes like vindication.
So, was the story “original”? No, perhaps not. Was the movie hella fun to see? Yes, absolutely.
Cora
April 29th, 2010 at 3:35 pmI wonder what would happen to a non-American who is legally in the country. Would they have to carry their passport and visa around with them? Whenever I’m outside my home country, I always carry around my passport anyway, because I don’t know the local identification laws. Should I decide to visit the US in general and Arizona in particular (not bloody likely), I would have to carry not just my current passport but also the passport I had as a child (with a photo of me aged 8), cause that’s where my permanent US residential visa is. The reaction of some Arizona roadside cop would be interesting.
That said, Germany has had an identification law for ages and no one minds. There also are so-called spot checks near the borders. A friend from university grew up near the German-Swiss border, which is not really a hotbed of illegal immigration (too many other countries to pass through first), and the local border cops would just happen conduct the spot searches near local youth hang-outs to catch stoners and small time drug users. My friend had dual citizenship (British and German) and she would sometimes show her British passport, which mightily confused the border cops.
Regarding Gordon Brown, he should’ve been more careful, but he was absolutely right. That woman is bigotted.
Stephen Watkins
April 30th, 2010 at 6:22 amThe problem is that bigotted people don’t take well to be called out on their bigotry, and tend to react rather violently to the suggestion… which basically means that Brown’s political career is likely soon to come to an end, and he’ll give some of his outgoing votes to his conservative opponents in the process.