[links] Link salad celebrates its moms
You don’t have to read my books — Justine Larbalestier explains this very well. I take a nearly identical position. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)
Absolutely worth the drive — John Booth on Friday night’s open dinner in Columbus, OH.
Langweil’s model of Prague — This is cool. Of course, as a writer, I know nothing whatsoever about obsessive creative behavior.
Searching for meaning in distant solar systems — Is it better for a science writer to be technically correct or understood? These questions apply to SF writers as well, albeit with a slightly different slant.
Weird deep sea creatures — Art guru James Gurney with some bizarre images. In case you needed to write about aliens today.
New Study On Manta Rays Reveals Their Hidden Life
We’re all mutants now — There are a lot of us now, and most of us are a little bit off The headline is hilarious if slightly misleading.
Off the Charts: Shrinking Government — As Andrew Wheeler says, “[G]overnment spending has dropped substantially under Obama, while the private sector has surged. But you know what they say about facts’ obvious liberal bias.”
Many blacks shrug off Obama’s new view on gays — I have always been baffled by this intersection of racial issues and gay issues.
Sen. Rand Paul: Didn’t think Obama’s view ‘could get any gayer’ — Stay classy, conservative America. It’s what you do best.
An open letter to the right wing in the wake of the passage of Amendment One in North Carolina — As usual, the people who most need to read this never will, and if somehow they do, they will reject it out of hand. (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Bullying and Business — Scrivener’s Error with more on Romney and bullying from a business analysis perspective. Dovetails nicely with my post of yesterday [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] on Romney and bullying.
Mean Boys — While I have real reservations about holding senior citizens to account for what they did as seniors in high school, I have no reservations about expecting presidential candidates to know how to properly address the mistakes they once made. More on Romney in the New York Times.
In address at Christian university, Romney to urge graduates to honor commitments to family — It’s not like I was going to vote for Romney anyway, but lending his name to the educational and intellectual fraud that is an Evangelical institution like Liberty University does not improve my opinion of the man one whit.
Romney’s Anachronism Problem — Conservative commentator Daniel Larison remarks on how Mittens is running against a now-distant past.
?otd: How’s your mother?
5/13/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.75 hours (Kalimpura copy edits)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.5 (solid, plus 4.0 hours of fitful airplane napping)
Weight: 244.6 (!!!)
Currently reading: Light Breaker by Mark Teppo
Tags: Art, Books, business, Christianism, Cool, Food, Funny, gay, Language, Links, nature, Ohio, Personal, Politics, Process, race, Religion, Science, Travel, Videos, Writing
Posted: 6:15 am Sun May 13 2012 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad ties another one to the racks, baby
Aussie Delicacy Vegemite Loses Some of Its Savory Appeal
Path Dependence and the Stupidity of LED Light Bulbs — Why are we cramming 21st century technology into a socket designed by Edison? I found this pretty interesting.
The making of modern humans — If some of our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals, are we really modern?
Vesta asteroid is ancient protoplanet
Unprecedented Maya Mural Found, Contradicts 2012 “Doomsday” Myth — Yeah, because the course of the planet was otherwise going to be controlled by the myths of a long-decayed Mesoamerican civilization.
USB tampon flash drive — For when you never, ever want anyone else to touch your business. (Via David Goldman.)
Can I Trust Those Evil Pharmamancers With My Life? — ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1)
cathshaffer (who knows whereof she speaks) on Big Pharma. Interesting read.
Someone has hacked Google News. Check out this screen shot I took this morning. Look carefully at the cutline beneath the headline, then check out the story. (Or, as Charlie Stross has pointed out, more likely someone has hacked the Seattle Times.)
Missing words from 9-11 tribunal: CIA and “big-boy pants” — Because, um, yeah. I got nothing. Feel safer? (Via danjite.)
Romney Apologizes For Bullying In Prep School, Says He Didn’t Know Victim Was Gay — I can and do say a lot of negative things about Romney, but I’m not sure very many of us could stand up to being accountable as mature adults for what we did in high school. (Via my Aunt M.)
?otd: Hey kids, where are you?
5/11/2012
Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (WRPA, mostly galley edits)
Body movement: 60 minute urban walk
Hours slept: 6.25 (solid)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Light Breaker by Mark Teppo
Tags: Australia, Cool, Culture, Food, Funny, healthcare, Language, Links, media, Personal, Politics, Science, Tech
Posted: 3:42 am Fri May 11 2012 | Comments(7) |
[photos] Ah, flamingo, we hardly knew ye
This past Sunday, I posted this photo of a plastic lawn flamingo floating in the creek near my house.
It was taken on a phone cam, and almost impossible to parse. the_child and I went back later that day with the 300 mm lens and tried again.
Clearly, what we have here is a tragedy of epic proportions. I am desolated to see a flamingo in such a terrible plight. We can only speculate about the bad company he fell into, and how he was led into dissolute ways.
Photos © 2012, Joseph E. Lake, Jr. and B. Lake
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. and B. Lake is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: Child, Funny, nature, Photos, Portland
Posted: 5:50 am Wed May 09 2012 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad has never been more ready in its entire life
One in six cancers worldwide are caused by infection
Bandersnatch Cummerbund: not a typo, not a cupertino — Hahahah.
An Economic Lifeline of Barley and Hops — An interesting story about beer and small town economics in rural Oregon.
Abraham Lincoln Filed a Patent for Facebook in 1845 — As it were. Weird. (Via danjite.)
Space weather expert has ominous forecast — Mike Hapgood, who studies solar events, says the world isn’t prepared for a truly damaging storm. And one could happen soon.
Pacific ‘garbage patch’ changing insect mating habits
Physicists Store Short Movie In A Cloud of Gas — Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. (Though this is in fact a cool science story.)
Shuttle Enterprise Over New York — Very nice photo from APOD.
NC pastor created lies about gay sex because of his ‘religious views’ — This is why ‘real Americans’ vote Republican – for the moral leadership provided by conservatives. What are a few bald-faced lies so long as they validate your worldview, right? That bit about bearing false witness in the Ten Commandments isn’t nearly as important as God’s hatred of gay people, right?
North Carolina voters approve amendment defining marriage as union between a man and woman — Another victory in the conservative march toward a closed and intolerant society. I really don’t want to live in their America. Do you?
Moving the economic goalposts — But the other concern here is historical — over the last three decades, the unemployment rate has dipped below 4% just four times out of 496 months. Each of those four months was during Bill Clinton’s presidency. In other words, Romney’s goal was achieved, but only after a Democratic president raised taxes in 1993. Ah, conservatives and their cherished ignorance of history.
The Opportunity Society — Does Tagg Romney actually believe that his dad had nothing to do with his successful entry into the private equity game, and the millions he has made and will continue to make are the result only of his own merit? That his life is radically different from those of the millions of people struggling to get by only because they don’t work as hard as he does, or have his gumption and entrepreneurial spirit? (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Romney: I Take Credit for the Auto Rescue — Wow. He’s not even pretending to consistency any more. This would be the same Mitt Romney who wanted to let the automakers fail, right? Good thing for him that likely Republican voters are largely divorced from reality and will fall for the Etch-a-Sketch routine every time. It must be nice to have a low-information, ideologically blinkered base like the GOP does. Helps avoid those pesky requirements for accountability and consistency.
?otd: Could it be nice to be alive?
5/9/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (brain break)
Body movement: 1.0 hour urban walk
Hours slept: 6.25 (solid)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton
Tags: business, Cancer, Cool, Culture, Food, Funny, gay, healthcare, Language, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Science, sex, Tech, weird
Posted: 5:47 am Wed May 09 2012 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad hangs out in Seattle
Non Sequitur on the glamor that is publishing
Terminally Illin’: A Graphic Novel About a 20-Something Battling Cancer — Yeah, this. (Via mikigarrison.)
Something in the prehistoric air that helped keep it warm – methane from dinosaur digestion
Google gets a license for self-driving cars in Nevada
Radio-Controlled Genes — Radio waves can be used to activate calcium-sensitive genes by heating injected nanoparticles.
So you’re a cyborg — now what? — The brain and information technology.
Do as I Do, Not as I Say — An interesting essay on the differences in thinking between conservative Evangelicals and secular liberals. Unfortunately, the author doesn’t at all address the pervasive intellectual dishonesty, shrieking bigotry and gospel of hatred that are so deeply entwined in the Evangelical movement, but rather seems to idealize the movement.
Advocates of same-sex marriage in Maryland hope to break losing streak — Speaking of shrieking bigotry and the gospel of hatred.
Don’t blame the Bible — Many in North Carolina — many around the country — are swimming against the tide of human freedom and blaming God for it. Again, this is not a new thing. We saw it back when God was for segregation and against women’s suffrage.
The most, and least, safe states in America — Amazingly enough, those law-and-order Red states full of gun toting’ “real Americans” are the least safe. All us unarmed coastal liberals live in better, safer conditions. I’m sure Rush Limbaugh can explain this.
Mitt Romney Was Arrested For Disorderly Conduct In 1981 — The charges were dropped after Romney threatened to sue. Yeah, that works so well for most of us. Can you say ‘entitlement’?
Treason? — At live event, Romney doesn’t dispute questioners suggestion that President Obama should be tried for treason. A bit later, in response to reporters’ questions, he said “of course” he doesn’t believe the president should be tried for treason. Wow, the Romeny Etch-a-Sketch is operating in near realtime. Wonder what Your Liberal Media is saying about this?
Obama’s Afghan war unhindered by partisan fights — “Should Mitt Romney win the election,” he observed, he doubts many on the left “who have refrained from criticizing President Obama for such things as the use of drones will extend the same courtesy” to Romney. Sigh.
?otd: Been to University Books lately?
5/8/2012
Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (0.75 hours and 1,400 words on Their Currents Turn Awry to first draft completion at 149,100 words; 1.25 hours of WRPA)
Body movement: 1.0 hour urban walk
Hours slept: 7.0 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton
Tags: Cancer, cars, Cool, Culture, Funny, gay, healthcare, Iraq, Links, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Religion, Science, Tech
Posted: 5:31 am Tue May 08 2012 | Comments(0) |
[photos] Things spotted near my house this weekend
In the parking lot of the local burger joint
A Mini, two MGs, a Jaguar, another MG, and a Morris pickup all in a row — someone’s a glutton for punishment, or has a thing for Lucas electrics
It is hard to see in this phone cam photo, but there’s a plastic flamingo floating in the reeds by that log — I may go back later with the 300mm lens on the SLR and see if it’s still there
Photos © 2012, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: cars, Funny, nature, Photos, Portland
Posted: 9:46 am Sun May 06 2012 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad’s man MCA’s got a beard like a billy goat
Making Progress Against Clutter — This has nothing to do with me. Nothing whatsoever. Nosirree, Bob.
The Surprising Shortcut to Better Health — A discussion of body movement which happens to dovetail well with my own exercise strategy.
Grief in the Time of Facebook
Map’s Hidden Marks Illuminate and Deepen Mystery of Lost Colony — Virginia Dare, where are you?
11 Rivers Forced Underground — A cool piece from National Geographic. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)
‘Supermoon’: Large Full Moon Tonight — For all you skywatchers.
Full Moonrise — Speaking of the moon…
Heartland Institute compares belief in global warming to mass murder — US thinktank launches poster campaign comparing Unabomber and Osama Bin Laden to those concerned about global warming. I don’t even know where to begin with this. Heartland Institute’s logic for this is identical to saying Hitler was a Christian, therefore to believe in Jesus is equivalent to Nazism. As is so often the case with conservative causes, they fail on the merits and so resort to sensationalism. Also, I disagree with the headline. It misleads in implying that climate change is an article of faith rather than objective reality overwhelmingly supported by both data and theory and a nearly-universal scientific consensus. “Believing” in global warming is like “believing” in gravity. (Thanks to gummitch.)
Never forget — Never forget…Dorothy Counts being mocked by an entirely white audience on enrollment day at Harding High School. September 4th, 1957. It’s moments like this that make me ashamed to be white.
Tagg Romney has twin boys through surrogate — Good for them. But, um, isn’t this pretty unconservative?
Missouri Republican Rep After Coming Out As Gay: “It’s A Moment Of Peace” — Man, do I feel sorry for this guy. To be a gay Republican these days must be an intolerable tension.
Love the people, hate the plumbing — Hahaha. As tipster Gabrielle Harbowy points out, “This is what happens when aggregator bots repost any mentions of their keywords, without human audit. You get a plumbing news site accidentally promoting a queer sf book when the author’s “love the people, not the plumbing” post is retweeted.”
North Carolina Pastor Sean Harris: Parents Should ‘Punch’ Their Gay-Acting Children — Ah, conservative Christians. You shall know them by their love.
American lifespan by county — Tobias Buckell talks about the gaps in American life. I’d be very interested in a map overlaying this data with political affiliation. I’m pretty sure I know what it would show.
No Separation of Church and State, Say Conservatives (Except on Health Care, Food, and Other Jesusy Things Like Peace) — Conservatives respond to the culture war by asserting that we’re a Christian nation with the can’t-miss implication that our government (when not highjacked by liberals) is godly, founded by Christian men, with laws and freedoms based on Judeo-Christian principle. I know these positions well, having grown up in conservative circles. But when it comes time for the government to act in ways congruent with Christianity, like feeding the hungry (food stamps) or caring for the sick (health care), conservatives grimace, play the small government and personal responsibility card, and argue that we can’t have government in the role of the church. So which is it? (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Do Nothings and Know Nothings — More on Republicans in Congress.
?otd: What’s up with your bad breath? Onion rings?
5/5/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.75 hours (3,900 words on Their Currents Turn Awry)
Body movement: 2.0 hour suburban walk
Hours slept: 8.5 (fitful)
Weight: n/a (forgot)
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie
Tags: climate, Cool, Culture, Funny, gay, health, history, Links, Personal, Photos, race, Religion, Science, sex
Posted: 8:25 am Sat May 05 2012 | Comments(1) |
[funny] Conversations in Omaha
On the way out of my hotel yesterday morning to head for work, I stopped to chat with the day manager, who was taking over from the night clerk. (I stay there so often we’ve all been on a first name basis for years.) We were discussing my burgeoning head of hair, and I mentioned that I’d managed to save the chest port from the recent surgery to remove it. We also talked about the fact that I had samples of my liver and my colon at home. She said, “Only a man would do that.” I said, “I carried this stuff around in my body for months and years. Don’t women keep their children?”
Later that same day, talking to a woman at the Day Jobbe office about the pronounciation of her unusual surname, she said to, “Yes, sometimes I look in the phone book for dates. I like to pick men with easy last names.” This cracked me up.
Ah, Omaha. Comedy gold.
Tags: Cancer, Funny, health, Omaha, Personal, work
Posted: 4:41 am Thu May 03 2012 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad beholds the Underminer
Ruling: Jesus doesn’t heal cancer — Also, this just in: Water is wet. Not offensive so much as offensively stupid, and life-threateningly dangerous to ailing people foolish or desperate enough to place their hope in this. Spiritual seeking can be an important part of healing, but confusing it with actual medical intervention is tragic. As I’ve said time and again, just because you believe it doesn’t mean it’s true.
Are sugar substitutes worse than the real thing?
Ancient fleas plagued ancient dinosaurs — And modern fleas plague modern dinosaurs! Or something.
New Device Automatically Slices and Scans Brains, Then Puts Them Into A Google Map — The latest in zombie chic? (Via danjite.)
Draisine, ca. 1818 — A forerunner of the modern bicycle. (Via my brother.)
Do Kids Care If Their Robot Friend Gets Stuffed Into a Closet? — Headline of the day.
Physicists Crack Fusion Mystery — A new theory might help researchers double the power of fusion reactors.
‘Even Jimmy Carter’ — In which the usual Republican ignorance of reality is exposed for the Nth time.
Eight “Scathing” Passages From The News Corp. Report — Maybe the UK’s Parliament could have a go at Fox News next? There’s certainly no accountability whatsoever to be had on this side of the pond.
Conservatives’ Deep-Set Fear of Women’s Rights — Very interesting piece. To me this gets at the heart of the difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives by definition want to foster a narrow, smaller worldview. Liberals by definition want to foster a wider, more diverse worldview. The liberal worldview almost always leaves plenty of room for conservative ideals. Don’t want an abortion? Don’t have one. Hate and fear homosexuality? Be straight, with my blessing. Want to deny evolution? Party on with the flat Earthers. The conservative worldview very rarely leaves room for liberal ideals, seeking to deny all of society anything conservatives themselves don’t agree with. On the basis of sheer, simple fairness, I could never be a conservative.
Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake! — The iconic writer scolds the superrich (including himself—and Mitt Romney) for not giving back, and warns of a Kingsian apocalyptic scenario if inequality is not addressed in America. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)
Richard Grenell hounded from Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives — Well, at least the GOP is being intellectually consistent for once.
[Michigan] EM referendum off November ballot, opponents vow appeal — Republicans cited the wrong font size on the title of the petitions circulated by Stand Up For Democracy, a coalition of groups that launched the petition campaign, as the reason for not approving the initiative for the ballot. Opponents gathered 203,238 signatures, roughly 40,000 more than needed to get a repeal question on the ballot. Yep, I can see that as a compelling political argument. Ah, the principled consistency of the GOP, who always believe the voice of the people should be heard, except when they disagree with it. (Via corwynofamber.)
?otd: Is nothing beneath you?
5/3/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (3,500 words on Their Currents Turn Awry)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 7.25 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie
Tags: Cancer, Cool, Food, Funny, gay, gender, healthcare, Links, media, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, sex, Tech
Posted: 4:42 am Wed May 02 2012 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad chows down on good, corn-fed Midwestern beef
For sale – but Who would buy 22 Tardises? — Heh. (Via Gene S.)
Business English: Useful, yes. But mandatory? — (Snurched from Scrivener’s Error.)
Marilyn Beaver — Art project cum fundraiser (and generalize weirdness) courtesy of my aunt, who is a ringleader.
Insights From the Youngest Minds — Cognitive psychology and infants.
Supercomputing Power Could Pave the Way to Energy-Efficient Engines
100 Days and Counting to NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Landing
The Downfall of IBM — Ah, business. The wisdom of markets. (Via danjite.)
Running against a party, not an opponent — [T]he president is “discovering the one benefit of a Republican Congress dominated by true believers,” by “making the crazy work for him.”
Politicizing Bin Laden’s death — Some members of the GOP say Bin Laden’s death shouldn’t be used for politics, but it’s part of a new 7-minute Obama campaign video. Right. I can really respect the GOP’s moral and intellectual leadership on this issue because no Republican ever used Osama bin Laden, or terrorism in general, for political purposes.
The Republicans Are Burning Down the House of Democracy — It’s helpful when Your Liberal Media occasionally takes note of political reality.
?otd: What’s the best thing you ate last week?
5/1/2012
Writing time yesterday: 3.5 hours (2.0 hours and 4,600 words on Their Currents Turn Awry, 1.5 hours on WRPA)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 6.25 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie
Tags: Art, business, Cool, Funny, Language, Links, Mars, Personal, Politics, Science
Posted: 4:45 am Tue May 01 2012 | Comments(3) |
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