Channeling FDR: The Moral Case Against Unemployment — Unfortunately, our politics has become downright punitively Calvinistic about the unemployed. Even more unfortunately, nearly half the electorate seems to be fine with this.
Asymmetrical War — Ta-Nehisi Coates on Republican obstructionism. As he says of Obama’s view of Boehner and McConnell, And we wonder what portion of “Government is the problem” he failed to understand.
Pass, Fail and Politics — Call me crazy, but I actually want someone smarter than I am in the Oval Office. Unfortunately, millions of my fellow Americans demonstrably would rather have someone they’re comfortable having a beer with. A valedictorian president or a frat boy president? Is that really our political divide?
?otD: Where would you go if you could?
9/8/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (fitful)
Weight: 226.0
Currently reading: Antiphon by Ken Scholes
Long hospital wait times can be deadly — Tackling treatment delays is vital as health-system pressures mount. I’ve never had significant delays for scheduled treatments, but bizarre ER triage rules brought me within a minute or two of dying after a five hour wait to be seen.
Solar Interior May Reveal Modifications to Gravity — We know lots about gravity in a vacuum but very little about gravity inside extremely massive objects. But astrophysicists say the Sun could reveal all.
China’s spilled secrets — A remarkable YouTube video shows how hard it is to maintain control in a wired world.
?otD: What did you finish yesterday?
9/7/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.75 hours (3,300 words on Sunspin)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (fitful)
Weight: 226.4
Currently reading: Excession by Iain M. Banks
A nano-sized electric motor — Scientists have downsized the electric motor to the molecular level. That is, they’ve created an electrical motor that’s the size of a nanometer. About 60,000 of them equal the width of a human hair.
Why state surveys asked about bras and haddock — From bra ownership to television interference, the government has wanted to know some strange stuff about people in the UK. Now a history of social surveys reveals why.
A Year of Biblical Womanhood — An evangelical blogger is spending 12 months following the Bible’s instructions for women—and she’s doing it for egalitarian reasons. Ok, I think this is nuts for a whole bunch of reasons, but I also respect what this woman is doing. At the least she’s striving for the consistency so profoundly absent from Christianist politics and culture.
Obama asks if GOP will ‘put country before party’ — Given that Senate Minority Leader McConnell’s stated top legislative priority is to ensure that Obama is a one-term president, I think this question answers itself.
?otD: Are you Luke’s father?
9/6/2011
Writing time yesterday: 2.5 hours (5,200 words on Sunspin)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.0 hours (fitful)
Weight: 224.2
Currently reading: Excession by Iain M. Banks
Michael Moore, Triumphant? — In a new memoir, the controversial filmmaker opens up about his life. He talks about the vitriol he faced after 9/11, and why he thinks the last decade has proved him right.
Why Do Conservatives Get a Pass? — Perry’s views are getting denounced by all the usual lefty suspects but not much by anyone else. And the reason for this is something very odd: In modern America, conservatives are largely given a pass for saying crazy things. They’re just not taken seriously, in a boys-will-be-boys kind of way.
Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult — I left because I was appalled at the headlong rush of Republicans, like Gadarene swine, to embrace policies that are deeply damaging to this country’s future; and contemptuous of the feckless, craven incompetence of Democrats in their half-hearted attempts to stop them. Long, but definitely worth the read. Especially if you’re a conservative. (Thanks to goulo.)
?otD: What are you doing with your Monday off? Or do you even have this Monday off?
9/5/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (2,500 words on Sunspin, including some editorial work)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.25 hours (solid)
Weight: 223.4
Currently reading: Endurance by Alfred Lansing
As mentioned elsewhere this morning, the next Green novel, Endurance, has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. That being the case, it seems time for another Endurance ARC contest.
Leave a paragraph or two in comments about Green — who she is, why she is the way she is, some adventure or misadventure of hers. You can frame it a fanfic snippet, as criticism, or blank verse. Just tell me something about my character.
I’ll leave this open a few days, then sort out how to judge. Might not be practical to do a poll, so I may have to rely on celebrity judging. But lay it on me!
With 15% of the vote, Gerry Huntman takes the honors: Neil Gaiman getting possessive with his BBC-gift replica of the Tardis
Second place goes to goldfishsara with 13% of the vote: The family always locked Fluffy up when company was expected.
Special judge’s mention to saveswhat: Lockpunk
All three winners will receive inscribed copies of the Green trade paperback and the Endurance ARC. Please contact me with your shipping information, guys!
A reviewer talks about swords and sorcery in sub-Sahara Africa — Holds up Mainspring as a negative example of 19th century attitudes. Except Mainspring is in large part about 19th century attitudes, so from my perspective, it’s an odd critique. And though it’s not germane to either reading or critiquing the book, I did in fact spend some years of my life living in sub-Saharan Africa. As always, the story belongs to the reader.
St. Jude Postdoc Faked Images — A former postdoctoral researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fudged images published in two papers, one of which has since been retracted. Faking cancer research results… I have no words.
As arctic ice shrinks, so does a denier claim — You know, reality wouldn’t have a liberal bias in the first place if conservatives didn’t insist on ideological counterfactuals over actual data.
Quench Not the Spirit — Slacktivist Fred Clark on the doctrine of Hell. This is inside baseball for a part of the culture that isn’t my game, but I still find it pretty interesting.
Christian Faith Requires Accepting Evolution — I have no objection to people denying evolution if that’s their interpretation of their faith. What I have enormous objection to is people projecting the deliberate irrationalities and counterfactuals of their faith onto the political and social landscape, as if a personal opinion could substitute for reality.
Michele Bachmann’s Holy War — The Tea Party contender may seem like a goofball, but be warned: Her presidential campaign is no laughing matter Yes, Virginia, the GOP’s deliberate fostering of the crazy in their base to drive votes does have consequences.
6/23/2011
Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (Kalimpura revisions, plus a little WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.75 hours (solid)
Weight: 230.2
Currently (re)reading: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
David Mamet’s Right-Wing Conversion — [Mamet is] Quoting Deepak Chopra, of all people, as saying, “Our thinking and our behavior are always in anticipation of a response. It [sic] is therefore fear-based,: he seizes the chance to ask, “Is it too much to suggest that this quote contains the most basic prescription of liberalism, ‘Stop Thinking’?” Like so many conservative critiques of liberalism, this is pure projection. The Big Lie from another angle. My most basic working definition of contemporary American conservativism is that it is founded on the morbid fear that someone, somewhere might be enjoying an undeserved benefit at one’s own expense. That, in a nutshell is fear.
The Thirty Years’ War … — Ta-Nehisi Coates comparing the American Civil War with the Thirty Years’ War. Plus a money quote from the Vice-President of the Confederacy which pretty much puts paid to the whole ‘Civil War wasn’t about slavery’ apologia so beloved of modern conservatives.
?otD: Will you praise the not-so-distant sister sun?
6/21/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.25 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.5 hours (solid)
Weight: 228.8
Currently (re)reading: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Time for another caption contest voting poll, to celebrate the availability of the Endurance ARCs. I declared a caption contest on the following photo:
I have now embedded the comments into a voting poll. Unfortunately, some of the longer witticisms are truncated by the poll code. Usual rules apply. Prize after the voting poll will be an inscribed copy of the Green trade paperback and the Endurance ARC. Additional prizes may be awarded at the judge’s discretion.
Which caption best suits this photo?
Gerry Huntman: Neil Gaiman getting possessive with his BBC-gift replica of the Tardis (15%, 8 Votes)
goldfishsara: The family always locked Fluffy up when company was expected. (13%, 7 Votes)
magentamn: Every member of the family wanted their own set of keys, not their own lock, dammit. (6%, 3 Votes)
deckard7: Safe sex begins at home. (6%, 3 Votes)
saveswhat: Lockpunk. (6%, 3 Votes)
lt260: Recognizing the cut-the-minimum-wage-in-half politician, obviously in serious discomfort, the 7-11 cashier handed him the keys to the bathroom with a wide smile. (6%, 3 Votes)
lt260: Herein lies the only copy of "The Last Dangerous Visions." (4%, 2 Votes)
shsilver: 1...2...3... It's supposed to be 7 seals, dammit! (4%, 2 Votes)
madrobins: Weirdest slot machine I've ever seen, but if you get the right combination you win a million tiny rattan chairs. (4%, 2 Votes)
klwilliams: That Pandorica isn't opening *this* time, no matter what The Doctor does. (4%, 2 Votes)
danjite: 'Round these parts we just call it "the cheese shop". (4%, 2 Votes)
kproche: One of these days we'll get around to nailing the doorframe to the building. (2%, 1 Votes)
saveswhat: Too bad it's a hollow core door... (2%, 1 Votes)
jhetley: Pandora had learned her lesson. (2%, 1 Votes)
Jaws: Yet another futile attempt to keep New York politicians from sexual misconduct... it doesn't block Twitter. (2%, 1 Votes)
jakobdrud: When the Angry Birds moved to town, the Three Little Pigs built their infamouse house of locks. (2%, 1 Votes)
danjite: No, not his ego. That he keeps in a locket 'round his neck. (2%, 1 Votes)
biomekanic: Jessica finally deemed the door sufficiently strong to contain all the Mormon and Jehova's Witnesses she had been collecting over the years. (2%, 1 Votes)
gvdub: Joey, the Domino's delivery boy, came to dread orders from the Wilsons. (2%, 1 Votes)
cjmarsicano: Final test: You have to detect which of the five locks is actually boobytrapped by 220 volts of ACME Intrud-O-Fry technology. (2%, 1 Votes)
vixyish: "No, you idiot, I said go out for a WALK every day!" (2%, 1 Votes)
two_star: Actually ... are you sure you wouldn't rather just keep the goat? (2%, 1 Votes)
horace_hamster: "And this, class, is where Republican politicians keep their brains. Only one person has the keys to all five locks, but no-one has seen him for nearly a decade. Now, let's move alon (2%, 1 Votes)
Dratz: After they found happiness, they feared she’d go away. They built a room around her and hoped that there she’d stay. Then they feared each other– feared one may see her more. They each agreed t (2%, 1 Votes)
Tony Liese: My "precious" is behind that door. (2%, 1 Votes)
Trey: So that’s what the back room of the idea store looks like. (2%, 1 Votes)
Steve Buchheit: Now where did I leave those door keys? (0%, 0 Votes)
suzan_h: One day, the old lady decided the thing to do was lock all the children in the shoe. (0%, 0 Votes)
tsarina: He sometimes forgot which lock opened the Summer Lands and opened Hades by mistake. (0%, 0 Votes)
rarelylynne: Necronomicon vault. (0%, 0 Votes)
pmrabble: The door to Jay's idea room. (0%, 0 Votes)
Michael Redbendad: This is the door to the government’s new transparent government policy. (0%, 0 Votes)
Michael Redbendad: Apparently, she left her chastity belt at the cleaners. (0%, 0 Votes)
cjmarsicano: ACME's new Steampunk Security System. (0%, 0 Votes)
danjite: This is where jaylake keeps his super ego. (0%, 0 Votes)
daveraines: Moderate Republicans. Sarah Palin has the only set of keys. (0%, 0 Votes)
adelheid_p: Let's see how Alice gets through this one! (0%, 0 Votes)
garyomaha: Beyond lie the bagels and cream cheese. (0%, 0 Votes)
gvdub: Door to the Land of New Ideas - Conservative version. (0%, 0 Votes)
jakobdrud Years later, the ghost of locksmith Johnny Jones came back to haunt his favorite workplace, often entering through the wall. (0%, 0 Votes)
controuble: If you think this is overkill, you should see the one with the tiger behind it. (0%, 0 Votes)
Mark Siegal: Next time you lose the deadbolt key, we're just getting a new door. (0%, 0 Votes)
maurinestarkey: Sarah Palin's intelligence and integrity. (0%, 0 Votes)
The Tom and Jerry Problem — This use-hate relationship, in which Palin manipulates us and we torture her, reminds me a little of Princess Diana, whose relationship with the press Tina Brown described as “a cycle of dependency and combat.”
?otD: Is Monday the start of your workweek?
6/20/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.5 hours (solid)
Weight: 229.8
Currently (re)reading: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1){kind=small}
Loading ...