[links] Link salad knows there’s no love inside the icehouse
Rick Novy interviews me
The Canadian Who Won’t be Returning From the Stars — ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1)
specficrider on a joint project of ours.
Will insurance cover genetic testing, preventive surgery? — Women who discover they carry a hereditary gene mutation that dramatically increases their risk of breast and ovarian cancers face big decisions and the possibility of tens of thousands of dollars in medical costs. This story is a version of what I went through.
12 Tips from 12 Years Sick — Yep. I’m only barely into year six, but, yep. (Thanks to Lisa Costello.)
Star Trek: The Search for Science — The Bad Astronmer is much with the hilarity.
The secret laser-toting Soviet satellite that almost was — Here’s a little Cold War alt.hist for you.
Billion-Year-Old Water Found in Canada Holds Clues About Ancient Life — You really need to read the expiration dates on those gas station water bottles.
Hunting Pesky Pigs in Paradise — Ham sandwiches on the hoof, where they don’t belong.
Terahertz Image Reveals Goya’s Hidden Signature in Old Master Painting — Darkened varnish obscures Goya’s signature in a 1771 masterpiece, according to a new analysis using terahertz waves
The Spies Who Blundered — Alleged undercover CIA agent Ryan Fogle is one of many spies to bungle the job.
My Despair — Another of those sad, strange posts on Feminist Mormon Housewives where someone of apparent intelligence and progressive sensibilities finds their common sense and observations of the real world in profound conflict with their faith. If I were a faith-holder, I don’t think I could tolerate that much cognitive dissonance.
When did you choose to be straight? — Heh.
Christian denominations and marriage equality: A simple quiz — Slacktivist Fred Clark makes a point that many anti-gay bigots in pietist clothing would prefer to ignore. Christianists find it so much more comfortable to hate inconvenient people than to actually pay attention to their own morality.
What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’ — In a world where Kevin Garnett, Harold Ford, and Halle Berry all check “black” on the census, even the argument that racial labels refer to natural differences in physical traits doesn’t hold up. Ta-Nehisi Coates is far more elegant than I ever could be on this topic.
Tullahoma father being reckless when baby daughter shot, police say — Because guns make us all safer. Without the smiling protection of the NRA and the GOP, this dad wouldn’t have been able to exercise his theoretical defense of essentially liberties by blowing away his own child.
QotD?: Can you remember getting any older?
5/16/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (0.5 revisions on my novella for METAtropolis: Green Space, plus WRPA)
Hours slept: 8.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 248.2
Number of FEMA troops on my block covering up evidence about Benghazi: 0
Currently reading: The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Art, Books, Cancer, Christianists, climate, Funny, gay, guns, health, healthcare, interviews, Links, Movies, nature, Personal, Politics, race, Religion, Science, stories, Tech, Videos, weird
Posted: 5:20 am Thu May 16 2013 | Comments(3) |
[links] Link salad wasn’t fuzzy, was he?
Reviewing the Nebulas: The Novellas — I’m not a fan of Lake’s writing. Generally, I find it hard to parse his stories, it’s something about my brain stumbling over his word choices. I’m also no fan of steampunk. So the fact that I enjoyed this story, that it’s the best thing of Lake’s I’ve ever read, is some sort of minor miracle. Heh.
My Reddit Fantasy AMA — Essentially an open source interview with me by several dozen questioners.
For Whom the Bell Tolls — The inexorable decline of America’s least favorite pronoun.
Interactive map plots locations of more than 100 million species — This strikes me as being awfully useful for writers as well as scientists.
What Happens When You Wring Out a Washcloth in Space — Mmm, science. (Via shelly_rae.)
Exploring the Grand Canyon — The view from space.
Dinosaur ‘fills fossil record gap’
Poor, cute bunnies likely to get eaten when the snow melts early — Hares change coat color for winter based on the calendar, not the conditions. Nothing to do with climate change, of course. Just ask any Republican.
Barcodes let scientists track every ant in a colony — A team of Swiss scientists glued barcodes to hundreds of ants living in six laboratory colonies and recorded all of their movements for more than a month. Now, there’s a job description.
Brain Research, as Only Vegas Can — Weird doings.
Psychedelic Portuguese Man-of-War Photos Prove God Is a Stoner — (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
When tragedy turns to joy — People doing good. (Via threeoutside.)
The Chosen Few: A New Explanation of Jewish Success — Congregationalism and individual literacy?
Fathers and Sons and Chechnya — Juan Cole on the heritage and family dynamics of the Boston bombing suspects.
Chechens, Czechs, whatever — This kind of ignorance drives me batty. This is basic knowledge about the world.
Building a Picture of the Bomb Suspects through Social Network Analysis — Police can obtain huge quantities of social network data, but must sort out the junk to glean useful information. Hmmm.
Pre-Viking Tunic Found In Thawing Glacier Shows How Climate Change Aids Archaeology — Ah, a benefit of climate change. (Via corwynofamber.)
How did Jesus come to love guns and hate sex? — One of many, many reasons I am an atheist is issues like this. Because matters of faith are heavily privileged in our society, religion has a vast power to make people very stupid without ever being challenged on it. Mind you, that’s not an inherent property of religion, and likewise people make themselves stupid in myriad other ways, but the confluence of faith and stupidity is toxic. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
LePage Spins Windmill Conspiracy Theory — It’s hard to trust any policy stance of someone who is either so incredibly gullible or is willing to cynically and habitually lie in such a transparent way in order to advance his own agenda. Um, that would be every single conservative politician in the United States. At least every conservative who won’t condemn evolution denial, doesn’t stand up to climate change denial, won’t condemn Birtherism as arrant racist nonsense, believes in supply side economics, or supported the Iraq War. Like I said, every single one.
NH GOP back in news – for the wrong reason — Once more, conservatives in the gun culture exhibit their justly famed calm rationality in the face of perceived adversity. Are you proud of your Republican party?
Architecture review: Bush presidential library is fittingly blunt — Really, they could have installed it in a restaurant booth. How much room do you need to store My Pet Goat? That’s about all they have left after shredding the incriminating evidence.
QotD?: Did your bear have no hair?
4/20/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.25 hours (1.25 hours and 2,300 words on Original Destiny, Manifest Sin)
Hours slept: 10.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (injured foot)
Weight: n/a (couldn’t stand on scale due to injured foot)
Number of FEMA troops on my block checking the magazine sizes of gun owners: 0
Currently reading: The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Awards, Boston, Christianists, climate, Cool, Culture, guns, history, interviews, Language, Links, nature, Personal, Politics, Religion, reviews, Science, space, stories, weird
Posted: 9:25 am Sat April 20 2013 | Comments(4) |
[links] Link salad knows all about the crime of the century
Reddit Fantasy AMA — On Thursday, April 18th, I’ll be participating in the Reddit Fantasy Ask Me Anything.
Man unveils 1,150-page Bible — written by hand — The St. John’s Bible, commissioned in 1998, is the first handmade version in 500 years. Wow… (Via threeoutside.)
Ghost sign — These are all over Portland. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
Bitcoin Isn’t the Only Cryptocurrency in Town — Currencies designed to fix perceived flaws in Bitcoin could lead to competition that makes the idea of digital “cryptocurrency” stick.
Nanosponges To Suck Up Toxins
Lab-made rat kidneys raise hopes for dialysis patients — No livers yet, sadly.
Will the Supreme Court end human gene patents after three decades? — Court considers invalidating breast cancer gene patents—and thousands of others. Yes, this.
Moore’s Law and the Origin of Life — As life has evolved, its complexity has increased exponentially, just like Moore’s law. Now geneticists have extrapolated this trend backwards and found that by this measure, life is older than the Earth itself. This is exactly the kind of thing that reinforces to me how sadly limited the imaginations of creationists and Intelligent Design proponents must be.
Justin Bieber doesn’t get to second-guess Anne Frank. Nobody does. — Wow, is this a deep and clueless arrogance on Beiber’s part.
Orthodox Jew Flies In Plane Covered In Huge Plastic Bag, Possibly To Avoid Cemetery Flyover — First of all, the headline is hilariously misleading. Second of all, the story is the umpteenth example of why public decision making should not be based on religious principles, because religious principles lead to deeply irrational behavior over and over and over. While not all religious principles cause people to wrap themselves in plastic, it becomes very hard to draw the line, especially in a country like this one where irrational religious principles such as evolution denial influence education policy nationwide.
Antarctic warming a tale of two ice cores — Ice cores taken from two regions of the Antarctic give a mixed story on the impact of human-induced climate change on the icy continent. Summer ice melting on the Antarctic Peninsula is at its highest in 1000 years, report scientists in today’s Nature Geoscience journal. But an analysis of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet stretching back 2000 years indicates “rapid ice loss may not be all that unusual” in that area of the continent, report another group of scientists in the same journal. That’s what science does. Incorporate contradictory evidence and revise the theory. Unlike dogmatic denialism.
‘Fraidy Cat — Jim Wright is very eloquent on the existential terror that dominates conservative rhetoric and policy thinking.
QotD?: Supertramp?
4/15/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.25 hours (60 minutes and 2,000 words on Original Destiny, Manifest Sin plus some WRPA)
Hours slept: 6.25 hours (interrupted by a two hour break)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (overslept)
Weight: 248.2
Number of FEMA troops on my block checking the magazine sizes of gun owners: 0
Currently reading: Jingo by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Art, climate, Culture, economy, events, healthcare, interviews, law, Links, nature, Personal, Politics, Portland, Religion, Science, Tech
Posted: 6:24 am Mon April 15 2013 | Comments(4) |
[links] Link salad has the staples
The Acts of Whimsy cancer fundraiser is still live. It has made goal, but additional support is always welcome, especially given my new complications. Please check it out if you have not done so yet.
The Lakeside Kickstarter has expanded its stretch goals to include documenting the science around my genomic testing by traveling to the testing lab and interviewing the scientists there. They’v also posted a new trailer for the movie, which is very striking. So give a little to support SCIENCE!
The Drink Tank talks about me, cancer and fandom — Thank you, Chris.
RNA Fragments May Yield Rapid, Accurate Cancer Diagnosis — A new method to noninvasively diagnose cancer and monitor its progression could eliminate the need for painful and sometimes life-threatening biopsies. (Thanks to Barb M.)
Chemotherapy Can Inadvertently Encourage Cancer Growth — This may be what has happened to me. (Via @dratz.)
Meyer the Mormon — Sherwood Smith with an interesting bit about Twilight, as well as a link to a much longer article.
Men who help with housework get less sex — This story seems both counterintuitive, and filled with dodgy assumptions.
Disco Scallops Know How to Boogie Even if They Aren’t Scallops — (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
How owls swivel their heads
The Old Bus: 1937 — Old school bus. Williams County, North Dakota. Wow…
How Drought on Mississippi River Impacts You — The drought-plagued Mississippi is holding up barge traffic, sending global ripples.
Will Deep-sea Mining Yield an Underwater Gold Rush? — Some environmentalists say the lure of precious minerals threatens ocean life and local cultures.
Fire and Ice: The Frozen Aftermath of a Chicago Warehouse Fire — Wow. (Via Lisa Costello.)
What Gun Owners Really Want I’ve owned six guns. I’ve drawn them on bad guys. I want to be understood. — Firearms exist to manage situations where rationality has failed, so thinking rationally about them can be hard.
Milan court convicts 3 Americans in CIA kidnapping — Good. Apparently the American justice system is never going to hold anyone accountable for the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush administration. It’s nice to know the rule of law applies somewhere.
Chuck Hagel Mauled in Bizarro World of US Senate — Yep. This.
QotD?: Ever had 32 staples pulled from your belly?
2/1/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (still in post-operative recovery)
Hours slept: 9.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (still in post-operative recovery)
Weight: 224.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block protecting women from violence: 0
Currently reading: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Books, Cancer, climate, Cool, documentary, fundraiser, guns, health, interviews, Iraq, Links, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, Science, sex, Videos, weird
Posted: 8:27 am Fri February 01 2013 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad knows there will be peace when it is done
The Acts of Whimsy cancer fundraiser is still live. It has made goal, but additional support is always welcome, especially given my new complications. Please check it out if you have not done so yet.
The Lakeside Kickstarter has expanded its stretch goals to include documenting the science around my genomic testing by traveling to the testing lab and interviewing the scientists there. They’v also posted a new trailer for the movie, which is very striking. So give a little to support SCIENCE!
An Act of Whimsy video from @ eustaciavye77 — She sings a silly SJ Tucker song.
Lorem Ipsum Transition Fundraiser — Our doors will close forever. Eviction day is coming. The story doesn’t have to end this way. Here’s what you can do right now to save the bookstore.
A review of Dark Faith: Invocations which includes a special focus on my story, “The Cancer Catechism” — I’m not often moved by reviews of my own work, but this one… Wow.
GIVEAWAY: Win a Complete Set of Jay Lake’s “GREEN” Trilogy! — My friends at SF Signal celebrate the release of Kalimpura [ Powell's | BN ].
Carry on My Wayward Son (Trombone Quartet) — My teen years suddenly seem so different.
The material that’s like an octopus — When pressure is applied all around them most materials shrink. But materials exhibiting a rare property known as negative linear compressibility (NLC) are different. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
Tapeworm eggs found in fossilized poop — Man, I want a coprolith to go with my trilobites!
Carrots for Doctors — A New York Times piece on medical incentives that touches on but then sidesteps the real issue in healthcare costs: profit-taking throughout our healthcare finance system. Countries with single-payer systems take less profit and pay lower costs, a double win.
Climate change may be hitting migratory species harder than we thought — Current methods don’t consider the whole picture when calculating risk. Actually, it’s just Al Gore out hunting them to help keep the hoax going. Ask any Republican, they’ll tell you those liberal “facts” and “data” about climate change can’t possibly be true.
Idaho gun-nut lawmakers freak out over man with gun in state Capitol (irony alert) — But guns make us safer! Just ask the 80 people killed every day by them!
1 dead in Phoenix office shooting; shooter at large — See how much safer those people are because of widespread private gun ownership. The NRA and the GOP, still protecting the Second Amendment rights of angry, impulsive people everywhere to kill at a whim, as should always be in the case in a just, safe and moral society.
Gabby Giffords made me cry. America? And you? — Roger Ebert on gun control.
Moral Perversity In David Mamet — Andrew Sullivan on David Mamet’s recent bizarre and counterfactual piece on gun violence. I read the Mamet piece when it came out, and couldn’t even begin to frame a response to its ghastly amoral stance.
African-American Travel and Jim Crow Segregation — I’ve heard of the Green Book before. A sobering reminder of white privilege and racism.
Can Republicans “Disengage” from Obama? — Because many Republicans and conservatives assumed the worst about what would follow Obama’s re-election (this was the “Obama unleashed” idea), they are going to be more inclined to try “winning a series of confrontations with the president” rather than less. The other problem is that many Republicans are likely to continue reacting to Obama’s re-election as they did to Clinton’s, which was a combination of disbelief that he had won and an increased obsession with “getting” him by way of investigations and scandals.
QotD?: Do you cry no more?
1/31/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (still in post-operative recovery)
Hours slept: 8.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (still in post-operative recovery)
Weight: 224.4
Number of FEMA troops on my block protecting women from violence: 0
Currently reading: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Books, Cancer, climate, Cool, documentary, Endurance, fundraiser, Funny, Green, guns, health, healthcare, interviews, Kalimpura, Links, music, Personal, Politics, race, reviews, Science, stories, Videos
Posted: 7:07 am Thu January 31 2013 | Comments(3) |
[links] Link salad thanks you for those items that you sent it
Featured Author Interview with Jay Lake — In which I am interviewed at LitStack.
The Acts of Whimsy cancer fundraiser and the Lakeside Kickstarter for the documentary about me, the_child, and cancer are still live. Both have made goal, but additional support is always welcome. Please check them out if you have not done so yet.
Haciendo el gamberro por una buena causa — The Acts of Whimsy fundraiser goes global…
The alternate history of my cancer — Hahahah. Speaking of whimsy.
Time to Refill Your Prescription For Zxygjfb — An amusing squib on the naming of drugs, especially cancer drugs. The comments are worth a browse as well. (Via David Goldman.)
Mass cancer mapping centre opens — (Via gummitch.)
Peptide depots and DNA tattoos could deliver drugs in the future — New methods boost the efficiency of biologically-inspired treatments. Interesting story with an annoyingly sexist photo illustration.
The World SF Travel Fund — In 2011, a combination of genre professionals and fans from the international scene and the United States gathered together to create the World SF Travel Fund. The fund was set up to enable one or two international persons involved in science fiction, fantasy or horror to travel to a major genre event. This strikes me as a worthy cause. Have a look.
Index of maps — Links to maps of fantasy worlds. You weren’t doing anything else for the next week or so, were you? (Via Andrew Wheeler.)
50 Collective Nouns to Bolster Your Vocabulary — “Terms of venery”? Really? That phrase ought to mean something else. (Snurched from Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being ‘It’ — Group of Men Have Played Game of Tag for 23 Years; Hiding in Bushes, Cars. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Surfer Garrett McNamara Conquers His 100-Foot Wave — Wow.
At 43, Navy vet becomes freshman forward — I am normally indifferent to sports stories, but this is cool as heck. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Bridge of Sighs: 1903 — A striking Shorpy image of Pittsburgh.
Detecting lost rooms with architectural antennae
Requiem for a Dreamliner? — (Snurched from Scrivener’s Error.)
Simulation reveals evolutionary origins of modularity — In case you were wondering.
More Evidence That Mars Once Had Flowing Water
Are you a humanist? — Some fairly silly assumptions embedded in these questions, but I still like it. I scored 96%. (Via @pzmyers.)
The Marketing Tactics of Firearm Manufacturers — (Via goulo.)
Bus driver shot dead; child held hostage in bunker — Another of Sarah Palin’s “Real Americans” exercising his Second Amendment rights to theoretical defense of essential liberties. Aren’t we all made safer by guns?
Are Conservatives Happier than Liberals? — Interesting piece about transitions.
Immigration and the Future of America — Not looking good for those angry white men.
QotD?: Was it the monkey or the plywood violin?
1/30/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (still in post-operative recovery)
Hours slept: 9.25 hours (fitful)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (post-operative recovery)
Weight: n/a (forgot)
Number of FEMA troops on my block protecting women from violence: 0
Currently reading: The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Cancer, Cool, Culture, fundraiser, guns, health, healthcare, interviews, Language, Links, Mars, Personal, Photos, Politics, Religion, Science, sports, Tech, Travel, Videos, weird
Posted: 8:37 am Wed January 30 2013 | Comments(3) |
[links] Link salad comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain
The Acts of Whimsy cancer fundraiser and the Lakeside Kickstarter for the documentary about me, the_child, and cancer are still live. Both have made goal, but additional support is always welcome. Please check them out if you have not done so yet. Note that the next unlock goal at $44,000 is the_child‘s video, “How to Write Like My Dad”.
Adding life saving science to the film — Waterloo Productions blogs on Kickstarter about their interactions with the lab which is going to do genetic testing on my tumor. We are communicating with the lab in southern California to schedule interviews with scientists and a tour of the facilities. They are eager to work with us. We believe that if this sequencing does in fact lead to a cure that saves Jay Lake’s life that we must include it in the film and also help raise awareness until this process is included as a part of standard care for cancer patients.
A Worthy Kickstarter Project: Lakeside with Jay Lake
Interview with Donnie Reynolds — Donnie Reynolds is the director of LAKESIDE, the documentary about a year in the life of author Jay Lake and his family as he continues to fight stage iv metastatic colon cancer.
AISFP 184 – The Bright Light of New Possibilities — Podcast Adventures in SCIFI Publishing discusses, among other things, the “Acts of Whimsy” fundraiser.
A context-free photo from my Act of Whimsy
A Softer World hits my button — Sigh. Fucking cancer.
Friday Fellow: Bleeding Tooth Fungus — Nature is weird. And no, this is not quite as icky as you might think. Not quite. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
White Veins of Mars: Curiosity Hits ‘A Jackpot’ in Quest for Wetter Past — “White Veins of Mars” sounds like a terrific story title.
The Last Pictures: Contemporary Pessimism and Hope for the Future — Leaving messages behind, as a species.
A Short Rise Out of Depression — The uses, and lack thereof, of ketamine as an anti-depressant. Persistence counts. (Via David Goldman.)
What Gay Guys Think About Vaginas — Hahahah. Note: most people find this amazingly funny, but a few people have been offended. Possibly by the use of the word “vagina”, I’m not sure why otherwise. Personally, I think this is both sweet and hilarious. (Via garyomaha.)
The Inevitability of Global Warming and the Need for Resilience — A good weather blog. (Via mmegaera.)
Gun restrictions have widespread public support: poll — Unfortunately, doing the entirely legal, Constitutional, moral and sane thing will never fly with the NRA, the GOP and America’s gun owners. They would far prefer to be the opposite of those things in the comforting arms of their deadly weapons.
Hannity, Shapiro, and the Politics of Situational Patriotism — Remember when conservatives used to say, “America, love it or leave it”? When just about any protest coming from somewhere else along the ideological spectrum was cause to question that person’s loyalty and love of country? Ah yes. Those were the days.
?otD: Is there time to ask her questions?
1/19/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (2,300 words on “The Hills Are Alive…” to 2,400 words)
Hours slept: 8.25 hours (fitful)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: n/a (forgot to weigh)
Number of FEMA troops on my block enforcing disability rights: 0
Currently reading: The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
Tags: Cancer, Child, climate, Cool, fundraiser, gay, gender, guns, health, healthcare, interviews, Links, Mars, nature, Personal, Photos, podcasts, Politics, Science, Videos
Posted: 6:07 am Sat January 19 2013 | Comments(3) |
[links] Link salad is here on a shore leave, though we are miles at sea.
Mountain Man — A very short film about me from Waterloo Productions. Which will make you laugh your ass off… (And yes, this really happened. It isn’t just clever editing.)
Jay Lake on “The Fathomless Abyss” — In which I am interviewed at SF Signal by Charles Tan.
Class, today’s word is irony — Banned books. Really, it’s not funny. (Via goulo.)
Incredible surreal volcanic riverscapes
ALT/1977: WE ARE NOT TIME TRAVELERS — But we damn well should be. This is hilarious. Retro gadgets.
Collier’s: Gorgeous Art, Breathtaking Ideas — Days of future past for the space program.
Do the Bacteria in Your Gut Also Influence Your Mind? — My world can certainly be all about the poop, but then I’m not a baseline case.
Scientists ask for legal safeguards to keep their work out of court — Oil spill researchers have their preliminary data subpoenaed by BP.
Great Barrier Reef has lost half its corals since 1985, new study says — Remember kids, climate change is a liberal hoax. The Republican party says so. Who are you going to believe? Conservatives, or the evidence? Really. Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along.
The Last Four Years in One Quote — Ah, the miracle of the conservative mind. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Food Stamp Ridicule Humiliates Woman At The Supermarket — This is a woman on dialysis, and public assistance, who says, “Most of the people that we have to choose from — Obama with his spending and his health care reform, and then Mitt Romney, he just wants to let poor people die, so either way we’re doomed. So I don’t see any point in voting.” That spending and that healthcare reform is what’s keeping her alive, but the conservative narrative so dutifully fostered in Your Liberal Media has convinced her it’s a bad thing for the government to work to keep her alive. I could weep for this country.
Feeding perceptions of the U.S. abroad — Wayne Swan has launched a blistering attack on US Republicans, declaring “cranks and crazies” have taken over the party and have come to represent the No 1 threat to the world’s biggest economy.
Arrested Man Snags Pics Of Cops Allegedly Searching His iPhone Without Subpoena — Huh, there’s an app for that?
Top Florida Republicans have no advice for election officials about voter fraud by … Republicans — But boy are they all over any potential fraud from likely Democratic voters. Because reasons. And ethics. Conservatives are made of ethics.
No, You’re the Racist, or Blogging About Obama Phones — Mmm, the gentle art of political suasion.
Telling Stories About Polls — What happens when conservative ideology conflicts with real world data, version 3,462. (Hint: reality never wins.)
Top Seven Errors President Obama has made on the Middle East — He’s not doing a hell of a lot better than R. Money threatens to.
?otD: Are you the mermaid who took King Neptune for a ride?
10/3/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (revisions to the novelette)
Body movement: 0.5 hour stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.5 (interrupted, with napping)
Weight: 226.4
Currently reading: Heartland by Mark Teppo
Tags: Australia, Books, climate, Cool, Culture, documentary, Funny, healthcare, interviews, Links, media, Personal, Photos, Politics, Science, Tech, Videos
Posted: 5:28 am Wed October 03 2012 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad has an aching shoulder
Srdce světa (Jay Lake) — A Czech review of Mainspring. They didn’t like it very much, insofar as I can tell via Google Translate.
Philip Athans on Shared Worlds and “The Fathomless Abyss” — SF Signal with an interesting interview.
Enormous Roman Mosaic Found Under Farmer’s Field — Cool. (Via threeoutside.)
The Dornier Flying Boat — More of my unreasonable love of flying boats.
Orbiter spots ‘dry ice’ snowflakes falling on Red Planet
Arctic Sea Ice Melt May Trigger Extreme European Winter — When we’re all hip deep in rising ocean levels, conservatives will still be making excuses for ignoring reality.
A Letter from a Scared Actress — Neil Gaiman with a letter from one of the people in that anti-Islam film which is causing so many problems. It’s weird, and terrifically unfortunate. (Via threeoutside.)
Why I Love Mormonism
GOP Civil War Is Coming as Mitt Romney Campaign Flails in Video’s Wake — The video carping about government moochers may well have sealed it. Mitt Romney is going down and the fight already is on for the future of the Republican Party. The battle will be bitter—and prolonged. America should be so lucky as to see our conservative movement self-destruct.
Obama missed chance to seal victory over Romney
The True Face of ‘Voter Fraud’ — Ta-Nehisi Coates on the conservative contempt for democracy as practiced by non-white people in America.
Also, Nazis! — Jim Wright on Rick Santorum’s statement that conservatives “will never have the elite, smart people on our side.” Which pretty much does say it all. Out of their own mouths, no less. Wow. Do you really want to live in a country governed by the Legion of Stupid? Irony really is dead, and staked out at the crossroads. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)
Tax Cuts For The Rich Do Not Spur Economic Growth: Study — Proven by a study. And the last three decades of experience. And common sense. None of which will trouble the beautiful minds of conservative America, of course, since this is merely evidence while they have ideology.
Paul Ryan, Ubermensch — Why does the vice-presidential candidate keep hyping his physical prowess? Especially when he keeps lying about it.
Romney Camp Won’t Offer Specifics On New Pledge To Provide Specifics — Because reasons. Shut up, you pinkos. The 47% can just mind their own damned business.
Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters — In case you were somehow unaware of what the GOP thinks of the little people like you and me.
The “Utter Disaster” for Romney — Conservative commentator Daniel Larison on Romney’s latest idiocy. My only question is why is anyone surprised?
Romney is off-message — What Romney said at a fundraiser last April makes him sound bitter and divisive. Um, that’s because he is bitter and divisive. That’s what conservatism is in modern America.
Tax Deadbeat Romney Calls other non-Taxpayers Leeches — Juan Cole with a devastating deconstruction of Romney’s inadvertent honesty about the conservative worldview.
?otD: Advil or Tylenol?
9/18/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (1,900 words on a Green novelette, plus 30 minutes of WRPA)
Body movement: 60 minute urban walk
Hours slept: 5.5 (solid)
Weight: 235.0
Currently reading: Heartland by Mark Teppo
Tags: Art, Books, climate, Cool, history, interviews, Links, Mainspring, Mars, Movies, Personal, Photos, Politics, race, Religion, reviews
Posted: 5:38 am Tue September 18 2012 | Comments(3) |
[links] Link salad sings “Hold me closer, Tony Danza”
SkiffyandFanty Episode 112 — An Interview w/ Jay Lake — A podcast interview with me, by Skiffy and Fanty. Covers the release of the Endurance trade paperback edition, as well as a fair amount of discussion of my cancer.
2012 Hugo voting analysis — Apparently I missed the Best Novelette ballot by one vote. Sigh.
How copyright enforcement robots killed the Hugo Awards — Sigh.
Beyond the Matrix — The Wachowskis travel to even more mind-bending realms.
Couple discover 33ft deep hole built in middle ages beneath their living room after spotting bump in the floor
Tracking a Subtle Scent, a Dog May Help Save the Whales — (Via Dad.)
Tigers change behavior to live near people — Tigers don’t necessarily need huge dedicated reserves, say scientists, but can accommodate themselves to patterns of human activity by becoming more nocturnal.
Researchers ponder what’s next in volcanic Yellowstone — Caldera isn’t ready to erupt, but we might have little warning when it is. If this doesn’t concern you, you’re not paying attention.
Spacecraft to starship? 35 years after launch, Voyager 1 is barreling toward the stars
Aliens at the Vatican! A History of the Vatican Meteorite Collection — Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J., the Vatican Astronomer, will be speaking at the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory fundraiser on Saturday, September 15th. Check it out and support an important Northwest science lab.
Smoke and mirrors — ‘Agnotology’, the art of spreading doubt (as pioneered by Big Tobacco), distorts the scepticism of research to obscure the truth. See also evolution denial, climate change denial, supply side economics, and very nearly every other core conservative belief. (Via Scrivner’s Error.)
Climate report: “Almost no chance” of less than 3½°F (2°C) rise; 50-50 chance of 5½°F (3°C); headed for 9°F — Darn that liberal bias in reality. Good thing conservatives aren’t part of the reality-based community.
Holder Announces Impunity for Torture-Homicides — (Thanks to danjite.)
QOTD: Gloria Borger — France? Really? This is what makes it so hard to respect so many of the most hardcore American conservatives — their endless self-serving hypocrisy.
As Republican convention emphasizes diversity, racial incidents intrude — Gee, the party that’s having trouble because they can’t generate enough angry white guys isn’t communicating well across racial lines? No one could have predicted this!
Romney & Bush Disappearance — Hahahahahah.
The Political Overconfidence of Republican Hard-liners
?otD: Who’s the boss?
9/4/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (running on Con time)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 6.0 (interrupted)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Heartland by Mark Teppo
Tags: audio, Awards, climate, Conventions, Cool, Funny, interviews, Iraq, Links, Movies, nature, Personal, podcasts, Politics, Portland, race, Science
Posted: 3:55 am Tue September 04 2012 | Comments(1) |
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