Jay Lake: Writer

[politics|culture] Romney, bullying, and me

Yesterday, in Link Salad, I posted this:

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.)

That stirred some passionate comments on both instances of my blog:

twilight2000: Sorry – but Bullshit. You can argue the average teen shit maybe, but he’s being described as a bully and a terror by more than one school mate. You get to be guilty for assaulting kids and terrorizing them.

jere7my: He was also eighteen at the time, and a legal adult. There are a lot of people sitting in jail for things they did at eighteen that weren’t half as bad. (Of course, most of them aren’t wealthy and white.)

chessdev: Agreed. Additionally, it only took 40 years AND a Presidential campaign for him to see the light… and we should commend his coming forward (when this was going to surface anyway most likely?)

jimvanpelt: Like your other commentors here, I’m less likely to give Romney a pass on this one. As Frank Wu said in his blog today, “Would you want the bully of your sixth grade class elected President?” I’m a firm believer in character change and redemption, so it’s entirely possible that he’s moved a long way from those days, but, since I already don’t like or trust him, I’ll keep this story as another data point.

elfs: [Excerpted from a long, thoughtful comment] When people his own staff called to cover for him instead described him as “evil” and prone to “Lord of the Flies moments,” no, really, you’re looking at a man’s character.

Stephen A. Watkins: [Excerpted from a long, thoughtful comment] As someone who was bullied for being wrongly perceived as gay when I was younger… I disagree with the idea that adults oughtn’t be held accountable for the nasty things they do when they are in high school. And his “apology” was a total non-apology.

Cora Buhlert: [Excerpted from a long, thoughtful comment] Pinning a fellow student to the ground to forcibly cut his hair goes way beyond a simply prank – that qualifies as assault IMO. Besides, Romney was 18 at the time, i.e. of an age where he should have known better, and not 12 or 14.

For whatever it’s worth, let me establish my own scrap of cultural authority on this question by saying that from a very early age through about age 14, I was the target of some pretty intense and difficult bullying. I was the new kid in school almost every year, exceptionally socially awkward even by the standards of my peer group, had a big mouth, and was almost always literally the slowest, clumsiest kid in the class. I’m not talking about name calling, either. Among many other things, I was forced to drink urine, stripped and stuffed in a trash barrel, battered with school desks and then buried in a mound of them, routinely threatened and robbed of my lunch (or lunch money), and so forth.

This being the 1970s, the most common response from my parents and teachers was, “What did you do to antagonize him?” I cannot remember a single instance of accountability for any of the boys who tortured me, even when their actions were witnessed by adults. At times, I was punished at school as an instigator. Often the bullies were star athletes picking on the slow weak kid, safely cloaked in the athletic privilege that begins to pervade even in upper grade school. There was an attitude that boys will be boys, and I just needed to toughen up and build my character. And besides, I had a big mouth, so I probably had it coming.

So, yeah, bullying is an intensely emotional issue for me, with a lot of triggers.

And quite frankly, I’d be amazed of any of the kids who did that stuff to me even remember it today. The experience of the bully is very different from the experience of the victim. The intense, emotional humiliation of being on the receiving end of that treatment can scar for life. For most of the bullies, it was an amusing way to pass a lunch break or a playground recess. Their actions had no great significance to them. In the battlefields of childhood, bullying is asymmetrical warfare.

What does this story mean? That Mitt Romney is arrogant, entitled and self-involved? That he unthinkingly uses his social power for his own amusement and benefit? I can’t believe anyone in America is surprised by this. And for a conservative electorate that values heteronormative masculinity above almost all other traits (c.f. George W. Bush’s “flight suit” moment), I suspect this story is validating and comforting. After all, here was candidate Romney in his youth fighting for what’s right and putting the wrong people in their place.

All that being said, I still hold to my original comment. How many of us could stand up to being accountable as mature adults for what we did in high school? I have many reasons to oppose Romney’s candidacy, rooted in common sense, in patriotism, in my understanding and experience of what Republican governance means to this country. That he was a childhood bully is a feature of Candidate Romney, not a bug. I don’t endorse or agree with that, but in the end, how different is his behavior at 18 from his behavior at Bain Capital, or even today? How different is the behavior of the GOP as measured by its platforms and legislation?

This is who he is. This is who the Republican party is, bullying the poor and the gay and women and little brown people the world over. And millions of my fellow Americans approve.

That’s the depressing aspect of this story to my way of thinking.

Tags: Culture, Personal, Politics

Posted: 2:54 am Sat May 12 2012 | Comments(10) |

[links] Link salad flies home

Special Needs in Strange Worlds | Jay Lake – Cancer and Writing — In which I guest blog at Bookworm Blues.

Avengers Enthuse Post — cathshaffer pins down a lot of what was so very good about The Avengers from a story critique perspective.

Why fiction is good for you — (Via daveraines.)

Evil Clown hired for stalking, threats and a pie in the face — An ‘evil’ clown who stalks and threatens kids is being hired by parents as a birthday treat. (Via Mike Brotherton.)

Chinese Physicists Smash Distance Record For Teleportation — The ability to teleport photons through 100 kilometres of free space opens the way for satellite-based quantum communications, say researchers. Consider the implications of that headline. Until quite recently, it would have been SFnal on several levels. Today it’s just ordinary news. I love living in the future.

Mighty Moth Man — An evolutionary biologist’s posthumous publication restores the peppered moth to its iconic status as a textbook example of evolution.

Baby, 18 months old, ordered off plane at Fort Lauderdale airport — Apparently the child’s name was on the TSA’s no-fly list. Feel safer?

Game Over for the Climate — Global warming isn’t a prediction. It is happening. Unless, of course, you live in the facts-optional universe of the Republican party.

Top ten reasons given to ban same-sex marriages — Hahahah.

In the battle between morality and faith, morality is winning — When asked by The Barna Group what words or phrases best describe Christianity, the top response among Americans ages 16-29 was “antihomosexual.” “Intolerant” comes to mind as well.

U.S. Military Taught Officers: Use ‘Hiroshima’ Tactics for ‘Total War’ on Islam — Feel safer now? (Via danjite.)

Fox News guest laments ‘mistake’ of letting women vote — Conservatives, classing up the joint since, well, never. And determined to remain on the wrong side of history no matter what it takes. (Via shsilver.)

Top Romney aide gleefully outed transgender woman, ending her political career — Yep.

Romney backs away from gay adoptions — Keep pandering, Mitt. The more Americans realize that the Republican party stands for an intolerant and closed society, the better chance we have of avoiding your presidency. I still remember what happened the last time we has a Republican president.

The Big Flip — Everyone agrees American politics have become completely polarized. Perhaps more remarkable is another change: over the past half-century, the two parties completely switched roles, with the G.O.P. turning into rebels and the Democrats defending the status quo.

?otd: How many time zones in the Soviet Union?

5/12/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.25 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: n/a (airport walking to come)
Hours slept: 6.25 (solid)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Light Breaker by Mark Teppo

Tags: Cancer, climate, Cool, gay, gender, health, interviews, Iraq, Links, Movies, Personal, Politics, Religion, reviews, Science, Travel, weird, Writing

Posted: 2:24 am Sat May 12 2012 | Comments(1) |

[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? — 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) |

[links] Link salad drives that hot rod Lincoln

The frequent fliers who flew too much — Many years after selling lifetime passes for unlimited first-class travel, American Airlines began scrutinizing the costs — and the customers.

Eating Well Without the Flavor of Shame — Diet and flavor. Interesting.

The Quantum Biology Conundrum — If quantum mechanics plays an important role in biology, we’ll want to copy it. If it doesn’t, we’ll want to know why not.

Jewel Caterpillar — Weirdly beautiful. (Via willyumtx.)

Light from Alien Super-Earth Seen for 1st Time — This is so damned cool.

Unmanned vessel could soon be working for Navy — What could possibly go wrong!? (Via David Goldman.)

Methane Leaking through the Cracks — The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. As Earth’s climate warms, that methane is vulnerable to possible release into the atmosphere, where it can add to global warming. Once again, the natural world joins in the liberal conspiracy that is global warming.

Jon Stewart, Religion Teacher Extraordinaire — (Snurched from Scrivener’s Error.)

The Myth About Marriage — Those who do not want to let gay partners have the sacredness of sacramental marriage are relying on a Scholastic fiction of the thirteenth century to play with people’s lives. Walking through Seatac Airport this morning, I caught thirty seconds of some Christianist talking head desperately clinging to the notion that marriage was between one man and one woman, and had been so for five thousand years of human history. (My slight paraphrase.) Taking that statement in purely religious terms, I’m an atheist, and even I know King Solomon had more than a few wives, and that modern religious traditions from Islam to Mormonism support polygamy. In other words, his statement was blatant, knowing lie. What the Bible likes to call false witness, right there in the Ten Commandments. Why do the Liars for Jesus get to on television and spread this counterfactual crap in support of their personal bigotry?

Obama says same-sex couples should be able to marry — This is what being a liberal-progressive means. Standing up for what is right regardless of the bigotry and intolerance of others. Conservatives were wrong about slavery. They were wrong about women’s suffrage. They were wrong about child labor. They were wrong about segregation. They were wrong about interracial marriage. They were wrong about birth control. And just as they’ve been on the wrong side of every major social issue of the past two centuries, conservatives are wrong, dead wrong, about gay marriage. I’m glad to see our leader leading from the front. Slacktivist Fred Clark with a good link roundup on this.

White House Tours Do Not Require Fetuses To Be Counted As Full Humans — The fact that this is even a story is further evidence that conservatives are basically nuts.

Bipartisanship Is a Lost Cause — I still remember Barney Frank’s comment about “unilateral bipartisanship“.

?otd: Gonna drive your daddy to drink in’?

5/10/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (brain break)
Body movement: n/a (airport walking to come)
Hours slept: 4.25 (fitful, and yes, that is not a typo)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton

Tags: climate, Cool, Food, gay, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Religion, Science, Tech, Travel, weird

Posted: 4:44 am Thu May 10 2012 | Comments(0) |

[process] Do we need Sauron and Voldemort?

A day or two ago, I asked the question on this blog, “Do we need Sauron and Voldemort”? By which I meant, do we as writers need strong antagonists to make a story compelling?

Obviously, that’s a storytelling modality that works very well. One can hardly argue with the commercial success of either Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Either of those series probably moves more books in any given month than I’ll sell in my entire publishing life.

Humans, or at least humans living in the storytelling and cultural traditions of the West, have a strong affinity for dualism. Perhaps we’re all birthright Manichaeans. The simplicity of moral contrast, of a binary choice, appeals strongly to us. Many people distrust nuance in ethics, in morality, in politics, in law. There’s something very comforting about a simplistic good-vs-evil dynamic. You know who the “us” are, and you know who the “them” are. And certainly in both Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, that is unambiguous on the page.

Yet there’s a gentleman down in New Mexico who’s shifted more than a few million books writing about a world where the good guys aren’t very good, and most of the bad guys have mixed or even noble motives. Kind of like real life, where everyone is a protagonist, a hero of their own story. George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire has proven in a big, big way that you don’t need stark moral dualism to sell well. Damned near everything in those books is ambiguous. There is still a decidedly strong moral dimension. It’s just ambiguous and complex to the point of being non-Euclidean.

So I think about my own work in this context. Most of my books don’t have clear-cut, central antagonists. (Well, maybe none of them do.) My plots tend toward one of two models — the hero(es) opposed by a shifting collage of shadowy forces; or a set of interlocking protagonists with conflicting goals. I like what I write. Bluntly, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t write it. But I don’t write like Tolkien or Rowling. Or Martin, for that matter.

I write like Jay Lake. And Jay Lake is a guy who sees the world as complex and nuanced, and largely filled with people who think they’re trying to do the right thing, even if too many of us cannot see the consequences of our own actions and beliefs for what they really are. (Yes, that’s a not-very-veiled reference to contemporary American politics, but it also really is how I see the world in general.) So I write fiction where the world is complex and nuanced. I don’t think I could write a Sauron or a Voldemort. I just don’t believe in pure evil for evil’s sake, any more than I believe in pure good for good’s sake.

So, no towering antagonists for me. Which makes me wonder about Sunspin, which is decidedly in the vein of interlocking protagonists. Much as the precursor novel Death of a Starship was. It also makes me wonder about my sales figures. Am I really writing stories people want to read? Or am I doing it wrong?

What do you think? Do we need Sauron and Voldemort? Or does George R.R. Martin have the right of it? Where do you fall as a reader? Where do you fall as a writer?

Tags: Books, Culture, Politics, Process, Starship, Sunspin, Writing

Posted: 5:54 am Wed May 09 2012 | Comments(11) |

[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) |

[links] Link salad changes color like the sea

Steampunk weapons in real life — Or possibly dieselpunk. From Russia, with weird. (Via danjite.)

A Word Heard Often, Except at the Supreme Court — Fuck no! (Snurched from Scrivener’s Error.)

Organic Soda ‘Made in Germany’ Takes on the World — German reader Cora Buhlert passes on this story of localization and globalization in a comment response to my recent mentions of non-USAnian snack foods. And I do agree with her assessment of USAnian snack foods.

Gesture Control System Uses Sound Alone — SoundWave lets an ordinary laptop function like a Kinect sensor. Though I do wonder why this story about an experimental project from Microsoft shows an Apple MacBook in the accompanying photo.

NASA uses moon as mirror to watch Venus transit sun

Ouarkziz Impact Crater, Algeria — A spiffy skiffy photo from NASA’s Earth Observatory.

Sarkozy’s Loss in Part due to his Islamophobia — Interesting how his rhetoric so closely parallels American conservative rhetoric on immigration and crime.

Howard Dean: Women, Latinos “terrified” of GOP — “Women are terrified of what the Republicans are talking about. They’re talking about basically stripping away their ability to have insurance pay for their birth control pills,” Dean said on “Face the Nation.” “Latinos are terrified of the Republicans, because they seem to have a total tin ear when it comes to the basic needs of treating people with dignity.” Gee, I can’t imagine why this would be so.

Heartland Justice — Iowa, gay marriage, and the casually cruel intolerance of conservatives.

Biden endorses same-sex marriage, White House tries to take it back — And the open, tolerant society gets a walk back from the Democratic White House. Way to stand up for progressive principles, guys. One of the reasons I’m a liberal-progressive is that we’re morally better than the haters. Don’t play to them.

?otd: Does the sea not change?

5/7/2012
Writing time yesterday: 2.5 hours (5,700 words on Their Currents Turn Awry)
Body movement: 0.5 hour stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.0 (solid)
Weight: 240.2 (!)
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie

Tags: Cool, Food, gay, gender, Language, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, race, Religion, Science, steampunk, Tech, weird

Posted: 4:54 am Mon May 07 2012 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad’s flag boy and your flag boy, sittin’ by the fire

Angelesen: Die Räder der Welt (Jay Lake) — What appears to be a positive review of the German language edition of Mainspring.

A natural history — Roger Ebert with a moving essay on growing up, and lost friends.

“Crab” chips, fruity Oreos? They’re big overseas — More on on-USAnian flavors. Snack food crack for me is Maui onion flavored Hawaiian kettle chips in creamy French onion dip.

Tornado near Tokyo kills 1, injures dozens — I’m always a bit surprised when I read about tornadoes outside the North American Great Plains.

Reminders of Secular Authority Reduce Believers’ Distrust of Atheists — Many of my Christian friends seem to have grown fond of the self-valorizing myth that they are being oppressed or persecuted in modern America, but it is still true that atheists poll at the bottom of trustworthiness. Amazing, the power we secular types have as a small and least-trusted percentage of the population.

The ‘Big Four’ markers of the evangelical tribe — Slacktivist Fred Clark with some fascinating social history of the Evangelical movement.

Family Battle Offers Look Inside Lavish TV Ministry — This is precisely what our country needs more of, not those godless, immoral liberals.

Biden on gay marriage: ‘Absolutely comfortable with men marrying men, women marrying women’ — Good. As it should be, assuming you value an open, tolerant society. Which conservatives explicitly do not. Another of the many, many reasons I can never be a conservative.

Republicans! Get in my vagina! — Very sarcastic video, funny as hell decidedly not worksafe. (Via willyumtx.)

The Right-Wing’s 20 Biggest Sex Hypocrites — The ones who scream the loudest about how godly they are often turn out to be the exact opposite. Only twenty? But, but, but, Clinton had a blow job! (Via danjite.)

How to End This Depression — Paul Krugman is, as usual, sensible.

Republicans on ‘Politicizing’ Terrorism, Then and Now — Well, it was fine when Bush did it, just not when Obama does it. Like so many other things. Just ask any Tea Partier about deficit spending, foreign wars or corporate bailouts. Those only became a problem for conservatives after an African-American progressive was elected to the Oval Office. The GOP: setting the standards for intellectual consistency in political discourse since, well, never.

Schwarzenegger: GOP, take down that small tent — You didn’t mind that ‘small tent’ when it got you elected, Arnie. I despise so-called moderate Republicans almost more than I despise the whackaloon conservatives that dominate the GOP these days, simply because while in a lot of cases the whackaloons really can’t seem to help being who they are, the Republican moderates are people who know better and went along with the nuts anyway for electoral advantage.

Historic campaign collision of race and religion likely to arouse both pride and prejudice — Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney, an African-American and a white Mormon, representatives of two groups and that have endured oppression to carve out a place in the United States. How much progress has America made against bigotry? By November, we should have some idea. Hint: which man is running from a party that has built and sustains its political fortunes foursquare on bigotry and intolerance?

?otd: Jockamo fee na nay?

5/6/2012
Writing time yesterday: 3.5 hours (2.5 hours and 5,600 words on Their Currents Turn Awry, 1.0 hours of WRPA)
Body movement: 1.5 hour suburban walk
Hours slept: 9.25 (solid)
Weight: 240.0 (!)
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie

Tags: Books, business, Christianism, Culture, Food, gay, gender, Japan, Links, Mainspring, Personal, Politics, race, Religion, reviews, sex, Videos, weird

Posted: 9:38 am Sun May 06 2012 | Comments(4) |

[links] Link salad has been hauled away by Mr. Peabody’s coal train

More Bad Book Covers — A blogger takes umbrage with book covers on one my Tor books, and one of Seanan McGuire’s books.

Fine-tuning Nanotech to Target Cancer — Programmable nanoparticles have shown promise in early cancer trials, and may finally fulfill the promise of nanomedicine.

Freezing Time — Targeting the briefest moment in chemistry may lead to an exceptionally strong new class of drugs. Wow, does that headline sound like a story title.

Oldest human blood cells found in well-preserved ‘iceman,’ say scientists — Oldest human blood cells: Discovered in 1991, the body of a man who was felled by an arrow in the Alps some 5,300 years ago still has intact red blood cells, scientists have discovered.

10 strange fast food items abroad — Strange from a USAnian perspective, of course.

Finally, a Shark With a Laser — Because sometimes life just has to imitate art.

1859′s “Great Auroral Storm”—the week the Sun touched the earth

A Mélange of Ice — What a beautiful photo.

Student left in cell 4 days recalls hallucinations — The War on Drugs, keeping you safer since, well, never.

The Self-Made Myth: Debunking Conservatives’ Favorite — And Most Dangerous — Fiction

Wife Of NC Amendment One Supporter: Husband Wrote Bill To Preserve ‘Caucasian Race’ — Ah, conservatives. Your racism and homophobia are just part of what makes us all love you so much. There is simply no liberal equivalent to this kind of institutionalized Republican lunacy, not outside the far fringes of the progressive movement.

Chris Christie’s Liabilities as GOP Running Mate — Heh.

‘Hyperpartisan discussion’ ends gay spokesman’s stint with Romney — I continue to be fascinated by this story, mostly in wondering about the psychological train wreck that is any gay American working for the Republican party as it is constituted today.

?otd: Daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River where Paradise lay?

5/3/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (2,600 words on Their Currents Turn Awry)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 8.0 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie

Tags: Art, Books, Cancer, Cool, Food, gay, health, Links, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, race, Science, weird

Posted: 4:37 am Thu May 03 2012 | Comments(4) |