Jay Lake: Writer

[links] Link salad for another hump day

Biology, Chemistry and Science Pick-up Lines! — Hahahaha! (Via Gabrielle Harbowy.)

It’s Time to Talk about the Burgeoning Robot Middle Class — How will a mass influx of robots affect human employment?

Synthetic Biology Could Speed Flu Vaccine Production — Advanced genetic engineering is already changing vaccine development and could make inroads into other branches of medicine.

The Extinction Orchestra — Designer Marguerite Humeau reconstructs the voices of extinct animals based on speculative extrapolations from their skull structure.

Parents sue South Carolina for surgically turning child into a female — This is about state intervention in an intersexed child’s medical care.

How climate change denial works — Fox’s broadcast was really quite ingenious. They can claim they presented “both sides,” when in fact there were never two sides to the question. That’s the typical conservative response. Their ideas are intellectually bankrupt, so they lie.

RNC Hispanic Outreach Director Becomes A Democrat — What did he expect? He was a Republican. Good for him for finally waking up when his own ox was gored. Like I keep saying, no one likes conservative policies when applied to them personally. (Via shsilver.)

National Security Brief: Poll Finds Americans Aren’t Buying GOP Benghazi Witch-Hunt — A whopping 41 percent of Republicans polled think the Obama administration’s handling of Benghazi is the greatest scandal in U.S. history. “One interesting thing about the voters who think Benghazi is the biggest political scandal in American history,” PPP adds, “is that 39% of them don’t actually know where it is.” Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. Also, Jim Wright with a lot more on the conservative “position” on Benghazi.

When the IRS targeted liberals — Under George W. Bush, it went after the NAACP, Greenpeace and even a liberal church. Yeah, remember all the Republican outrage back then? Nah, neither do I. Not that this makes what’s going on now right, but it certainly underscores yet again the profound hypocrisy of conservatism in general.

QotD?: What’s your favorite day of the week?

5/15/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (Revision on my novella for METAtropolis: Green Space)
Hours slept: 5.75 hours (fitful)
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: climate, Cool, Funny, gender, healthcare, Links, music, Personal, Politics, race, Science, sex, Tech, weird

Posted: 5:03 am Wed May 15 2013 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad wonders what’s the fuss

Save Trent’s Teeth, Save His Life — Trent Zelazny needs help with a medical fundraiser of his own.

The Algorithm That Automatically Detects Polyps in Images from Camera Pills — Analysing the footage from camera pills is a time-consuming task for medical professionals. Now computer scientists are attempting to automate the process.

The British ‘Atlantis’ is mapped in detail — Using dual frequency identification sonar, the ruins of Dunwich rise again.

8BBC News – Close-up on Japan’s amazing lunchboxes — Mmm, bento. (Via willyumtx.)

Watch 32 discordant metronomes achieve synchrony in a matter of minutes — Huh. (Via David Goldman.)

‘Junk’ DNA Mystery Solved: It’s Not Needed — I am dubious of this story. National Geographic with more.

Happy whatever — Blogess Jenny Lawson says some very important things about women in general and mothers in specific.

Transgender woman wins right to marry in Hong Kong — Not exactly a noted hotbed of progressivism, that.

Dalai Lama Calls For Care For Our ‘Only Home’ Earth

‘Dramatic decline’ warning for plants and animals — More of that liberal conspiracy to keep the climate change hoax going.

Researchers Create “Hate Map” of the U.S. With Twitter Data — The same researchers previously mapped racist Tweets about President Obama. In both cases there’s reason to be a little skeptical.

Pediatricians take on gun lobby – carefully — Well, the NRA is better armed, and unlike doctors, some NRA members have a habit of publicly threatening people.

QotD?: Tell me what’s a-happening?

5/13/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (1.0 hours of revision, plus WRPA, editing METAtropolis: Green Space)
Hours slept: 7.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 249.4
Number of FEMA troops on my block digging for fossils in the yards of God-fearing Republicans: 0
Currently reading: The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Cancer, China, climate, Cool, Culture, Food, gender, guns, health, Japan, Links, nature, Personal, Politics, Science, sex, Tech, UK, Videos, weird

Posted: 4:36 am Mon May 13 2013 | Comments(3) |

[links] Link salad listens to the children of the night

fledgist reviews Kalimpura

Why Aren’t There More Woman Sci-Fi Writers? — (Thanks to Marta Murvosh.)

#Womentoread — Kari Sperring wants you to recommend SF by women.

The Prejudices We Permit — I’ve certainly been on the sharp of this stick. The point still stands.

What Kind of D&D Character Would You Be? — I scored out as Neutral Good Human Druid/Wizard (4th/3rd Level). (Snurched from james_nicoll.)

Giant floating head found in Hudson River — Headline of the week.

Scientists in Antarctica Find Invading Neutrinos from Another Galaxy!

Remains of a supernova fall to Earth — Tiny pieces of silica in meteorites predate the Solar System.

What Happened When One Man Pinged the Whole Internet — A home science experiment that probed billions of Internet devices reveals that thousands of industrial and business systems offer remote access to anyone.

20 Pounds? Not Too Bad, for an Extinct Fish

Elephant Bird Egg Fetches Over $100,000 At Christie’s Auction In London

Placentas provide clues about autism risk at birth, study says

Antibody triggers bone marrow stem cells to become brain cells — Wow… strange. (Via seventorches.)

Conservative evangelicals’ persecution complex and same-sex marriage — Despite being one of the largest voting blocs in the most powerful and wealthy nation in the world, American evangelical Christians often have a penchant for framing themselves as a persecuted minority. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)

30 Of The Most Offensive, Idiotic, And Bizarre Conservative Arguments Against Marriage Equality — It’s pretty clear from these kinds of statements that conservatives have no concept of “consent”. But then, this isn’t exactly a surprise. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)

Liberty Counsel redefining ‘Christian’ just as Falwell did — Now, as then, the word “Christianity” is being used as a synonym for unvarnished bigotry. Yet another of the myriad reasons I am an atheist. I have no use for a God whose followers can do this in his name and still consider themselves good and moral people.

Oregon same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, federal judge says in employee discrimination case — Another bigotry domino falls. As usual, conservatives are on the wrong side of history with this one, too.

Bobby Jindal: I’m fine with teaching creationism in public schools — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says that he wouldn’t mind if public school students were taught creationism and intelligent design in addition to evolution, as long as it’s “the best science.” Conservative willful ignorance is so hermetically sealed. And an entire state elected this fool to be their governor…

House GOP Freshmen Feel Left Out Of Failed Obamacare Repeal Rituals — This story is just sad. It encapsulates everything that’s wrong with Republican party politics today. The saddest part is that the people involved don’t see anything wrong with it at all.

Bush and the American Right Wing: Top Ten Ways they are Like the Children of an Alcoholic — This piece is sort of Poe’s Law in reverse. Satire that is also way too close to the truth.

Truman, Bush, and Rehabilitating Presidential Reputations — The core Bush loyalist assumption is that a more dispassionate interpretation of his presidency will redound to his benefit, but that’s probably wrong. The less that people have at stake in defending Bush, the less eager they will be to bother. In another forty or fifty years, there will hardly be anyone interested in salvaging Bush’s reputation, and the truth is that he leaves behind no significant positive domestic legacy that later Republicans will feel obliged to defend and mythologize. Wow, how deluded do you have to be to imagine that anything of the Bush administration will be vindicated by history? Thanks to the Bush administration, we have stark, objective evidence about what happens when Republicans are allowed to govern: political, military and economic disaster.

QotD?: What beautiful music do they make?

4/26/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (400 words on Original Destiny, Manifest Sin plus quite a bit of background reading)
Hours slept: 6.25 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (foot hurt all night)
Weight: 248.2
Number of FEMA troops on my block helping welfare recipients buy cell phones and big screen tvs: 0
Currently reading: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Books, Christianists, Culture, Funny, gender, healthcare, Kalimpura, Links, nature, Oregon, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Religion, reviews, Science, sex, space, Tech, weird

Posted: 5:22 am Fri April 26 2013 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad ate some damned good pork yesterday

The Game Of Thrones Is A Game Of Coins

Steven Greer ‘Sirius’ Documentary To Unveil Pictures Of Alleged Tiny Space Alien — Uh, yeah.

Sperm quality study a breath of fresh air for kilt-wearing Scotsmen — Men who wear kilts have better quality sperm and are therefore more fertile, Scottish researchers claim.

Sex and the Pursuit of Happiness: How Other People’s Sex Lives are Related to our Sense of Well-Being — I know nothing, I say nothing…

Hilary Koprowski, Who Developed First Live-Virus Polio Vaccine, Dies at 96 — Ah, the Sturm und Drang of science. (Via David Goldman.)

Senators clarify the terms of the disagreement — “Do we agree with Sen. Inhofe that global warming is a hoax and that we do not want the federal government, the EPA, the Department of Energy to address that issue? Because it is a — quote — unquote — hoax, according to Sen. Inhofe and others? Or do we believe and agree with the overwhelming majority of scientists who tell us that global warming is the most serious planetary crisis that we face, and that we must act boldly and aggressively to protect the future of this planet?” Being conservative means never having to listen to the evidence because in your heart, you know you’re right.

Boston Bombing Suspects Raise New Terrorism Questions —

Shots fired at 4/20 Denver marijuana holiday rally — Yep. Guns definitely make us all safer. Think what might have happened if the Denver shooter hadn’t been in a position to exercise their theoretical defense of essential liberties? Some pot heads might have been left in peace, that’s what. We can’t have that! Everyone knows your Second Amendment right to bear arms trumps any rights I might have to live in safety and without fear.

QotD?: What did you have to eat?

4/21/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (2,200 words on Original Destiny, Manifest Sin)
Hours slept: 8.5 hours (fitful)
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: Boston, climate, guns, healthcare, Links, Personal, Politics, Science, sex, weird

Posted: 6:58 am Sun April 21 2013 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad recovers from chemo grogginess

The Slow Death of the American Author — Scott Turow on the changes in revenue for authors.

Rembrandt’s Night Watch reenacted by flash mob

How not to say the wrong thing — It works in all kinds of crises – medical, legal, even existential. It’s the ‘Ring Theory’ of kvetching. The first rule is comfort in, dump out. (Via Dave Raines.)

Brinicles and the Origin of Life — Extraordinary tubes of ice that grow down into the ocean from ice sheets could be as significant for the origin of life as hydrothermal vents, say chemists.

Monkey chatter smacks of human speech, researcher says

Study: Women prefer tall men, large penis — Man, what will science come up with next?

Ferrets on steroids sold as poodles — Because… uh… I got nothing. (Via @HalloranElder.)

Electromagnetic Chiaroscuro — Some very weird ideas about passive imaging from BLDG BLOG.

US navy laser cannon shoots down planes — ‘Future of warfare’ arrives in form of weapon that has destroyed drones in testing and will be fitted to active warship. Has the blaster arrived? Not man-portable yet, I see.

Bax’abola: Maya Baseball Takes off in the US — (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)

Gallup finds growing public concern over global warming — Unfortunately, this is Gallup, who lost their credibility as a polling organization in the last presidential election. Still, if true, an encouraging sign.

Wine Production Seen Shifting From Bordeaux to N.Z. on Climate — I continue to be astonished at the lengths Al Gore’s minions will go to in order to perpetrate their climate change hoax. Thank God there’s Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party to remind us all that this is just a liberal lie.

Animal Abuse, Oil Leaks, and the Freedom of the Press

Insurance and Freedom — Paul Krugman on conservative opposition to healthcare reform.

Rewriting the Times: Videoing the Police Edition — On police wearing video cameras. (Snurched from chris_gerrib.)

Police: 6-Year-Old Accidentally Shot by 4-Year-Old — Yep. Those kids were definitely safer than they would have been without a gun in the home. A wounded child is a small price to pay for theoretical defense of essential liberties.

How horrified CHER fans thought their idol was dead after Thatcher critics started #nowthatcherisdead hashtag on Twitter — Um…

Who is Margaret Thatcher? Confusion reigns online — Have young people actually heard of Margaret Thatcher? Fans’ reaction to Harry Styles’s tweet honouring the ex-PM suggests not. But at least they didn’t start the Cher rumour. I remember her well enough. Thatcher was from the same malignant vein of destructive evil as Ronald Reagan, but rather more competent at it than the Gipper, who at least had the excuse of dementia to explain his behavior while in office. (Via David Goldman.)

An American view of Margaret Thatcher’s passing

Margaret Thatcher left a dark legacy that has still not disappeared — Days before he died in 2003, Guardian columnist and Thatcher biographer Hugo Young wrote an epitaph for the prime minister who changed Britain forever. (Snurched from Charlie Stross.)

QotD?: Did you do hard drugs yesterday?

4/8/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (Chemo day)
Hours slept: 8.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 242.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block enforcing Agenda 21 by closing down golf courses: 0
Currently reading: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Art, climate, Cool, guns, healthcare, Language, Links, media, nature, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Science, sex, sports, Tech, UK, weird

Posted: 5:25 am Tue April 09 2013 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad heads for Seattle and Norwescon

Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Great Library of Alexandria Reborn? — This is rather a wow. (Via threeoutside.)

Lower your IQ permanently! — Hahaha! Ok, this is tacky. But hahah! (Via willyumtx.)

A Tireless Connoisseur of Texas Barbecue Gets Ready for the Main Course — Full time barbecue editor? (Thanks to Dad.)

French students launch anti-dog poo mobile app — Hah! (Via threeoutside.)

First Love Child of Human, Neanderthal Found — So to speak.

Globetrotting Giant Squid Are All One Species

Dinosaur-killing impact set the world on fire — Researchers argue forcefully that the ensuing heat set off global forest fires.

Saturn Rings have been Around for about 4 Billion Years: NASA

Opinion: Life as a Target — Attacks on my work aimed at undermining climate change science have turned me into a public figure. I have come to embrace that role. Michael Mann talks about death threats etc. As I’ve observed for years, angry liberals write letters to the editor. Angry conservatives bomb clinics, shoot doctors and make death threats against scientists.

Go Gay — Girls are discovered first. Ah, classic advertising, how we love your unintentional recontextualizations.

Bill O’Reilly: Gay Rights Advocates Have ‘Compelling Argument’ — Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Boston College professors group backs students who may face discipline for distributing condoms — Because STIs and unwanted pregnancies are much more in keeping with Catholic tradition than contraception.

‘Rude’ lawmaker Louie Gohmert pulls rank on cops over parking ticket — Conservative class showing itself once again.

Local Airport Closures Cause GOPers Sequestration Anxiety — Once again, nobody likes conservative policies when applied to them personally. Especially not conservatives.

Elena Kagan’s DOMA ‘gotcha’ moment — Chief Justice Roberts can pretend to principle all he wants, but anti-gay bigotry is still anti-gay bigotry, however high minded Republicans like to believe themselves to be. Justice Kagan quoted GOPers in their own words. There simply is no objective, reality-based stance against gay marriage.

Politicians Overestimate their Constituents’ Conservatism — This is thanks to the Republican stranglehold on Your Liberal Media these past few decades. And yes, there’s a typo in the headline. Preserved from the original.

Republicans not liked, even by 25% of . . . Republicans — He’s being far too nice when he says GOPers “look unfair” and “look narrow-minded and selfish”. The correct phrasing is “demonstrably are unfair” and “demonstrably are narrow-minded and selfish”.

QotD?: Where will you be this weekend?

3/28/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (taught online course instead)
Hours slept: 7.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 242.8
Number of FEMA troops on my block building solar arrays to undermine the American fossil fuel industry: 0
Currently reading: Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Books, Christianists, climate, Cool, Culture, Egypt, Food, France, Funny, gay, gender, Links, media, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, sex, Texas, Videos, weird

Posted: 5:10 am Thu March 28 2013 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad gives an online course today

‘Ungoogleable’ removed from list of Swedish words after row over definition with Google — I see Sergei and Larry and the boys are staying classy. Whatever happened to “Don’t be evil?”

Victoria’s OTHER Secret: Designer creates world’s first lingerie colostomy bags as they often put partners off — Yes. This. (Thanks to danjite.)

Continued DNA synthesis in replication checkpoint mutants leads to fork collapse — I love this headline. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)

Why IBM Made a Liquid Transistor

Into the Oort Cloud: A Cometary Civilization?

Astrophysicists Test Cosmological Defect Detector — Astrophysicists have built and tested the building blocks of a global detector capable of spotting topological defects in the cosmos as the Earth passes through them. I think I left mine behind the couch.

Amid Tsunami Debris, Something Sacred Washes Ashore In Oregon — [T]he arch from a Japanese Shinto shrine’s sacred gate has washed ashore in Oceanside, Oregon.

USPS Discrimination Against Atheism? — Appears to be a marketing troll, but pretty funny nonetheless. (Thanks to houseboatonstyx.)

China Bans Reincarnation Without Government Permission — Ah, the intersection of politics and religion. (Via Lisa Costello.)

Cold Dead Hand — Jim Carrey with some seriously funny mockery of gun culture. Hahahaha. As the bug said in Men in Black, “Your proposal is acceptable.” (Via Scott Frey.)

Suspect in custody after neighborhood sprayed with bullets — Yep. Definitely safer with more guns. Uh huh. Ask any of this man’s neighbors.

Birth certificates and bathrooms in Arizona — Conservatives just can’t keep themselves from discriminating. Slacktivist Fred Clark explains why this can be tough to accomplish.

QotD?: How good are your first ten pages?

3/27/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (genomics lecture)
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 242.4
Number of FEMA troops on my block building solar arrays to undermine the American fossil fuel industry: 0
Currently reading: Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

Tags: China, Cool, Funny, gender, guns, healthcare, Language, Links, Oregon, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, sex, Tech, Videos

Posted: 5:15 am Wed March 27 2013 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad gives a lecture today

The First 10 Pages: Science Fiction & Fantasy Boot Camp: 3/26/13 – 3/28/13 — Starting today, I’m co-teaching an online course from Writers Digest University on novel beginnings. This will led by writer (and friend) Phil Athans, with assistance from agent Carlie Webber and myself.

Nerd Nite #1: Sex, Dying, and the FUTURE! — A reminder, I’ll be talking about cancer and genomics this evening in Portland.

An 110-Year-Old Rejection Letter — Old school. (Snurched Steve Buchheit.)

Munsell, the man who colored America — How a Boston argument over better crayons ended up repainting the world. (Via Daily idioms, Annoated —

Scientists Castrate Iberian Lynx to Prevent them from Extinction

Humans blamed for ancient bird species extinctions

Cool dam — Speculative landscape?

Windfarm Sickness — (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)

Photographer Joe McNally Takes Photo From Top Of Burj Khalifa, World’s Tallest Skyscraper, In Dubai — Gah!

How best to clean out satellites before they become space garbage — Looking at options for quick and safe de-orbiting.

Marketing Deal Gives a Small Town an Identity Crisis — Dish, baby. (Thanks to Dad.)

Gender and Bathroom Graffiti

Unfit for Work — The startling rise of disability in America. Speaking as someone who will have to go on disability for a while as I near end-of-life with my cancer, this piece misses a lot of the point. (Via Steve Buchheit.)

The Day I Taught How Not to Rape — Sigh. (Via wild_irises.)

What If There Had Been Weapons Programs in Iraq? — Not that there were. (Facts not valid for FOX News viewers and other willful idiots.) Of course, as any Republican can tell you, presidential lies about trillion dollar wars of choice are much less important that presidential lies about blow jobs.

QotD?: What are you going to learn today?

3/26/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.25 hours (WRPA)
Hours slept: 8.5 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 242.4
Number of FEMA troops on my block building solar arrays to undermine the American fossil fuel industry: 0
Currently reading: Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Cancer, Cool, Culture, events, gender, health, healthcare, Iraq, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Publishing, sex, space, Tech, weird

Posted: 5:24 am Tue March 26 2013 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad refuses to freeze its soup and nuts

A review of Endurance — A review with a very curious approach.

The First 10 Pages: Science Fiction & Fantasy Boot Camp: 3/26/13 – 3/28/13 — An online course I am etching with writer (and friend) Phil Athans and agent Carlie Webber. Phil comments at length.

Widespread Flaws Found in Ovarian Cancer Treatment — Sigh.

French Toilet Paper Ad: ‘Emma’ By Le Trefle Proves Both French Husbands & Technology Wrong — Hahahaha! (Thanks to Lisa Costello.)

“W T Warren Testing Helmet 1912” — Um, ok.

Seagulls — Drones in love. (Via goulo.)

Ukrainian Killer Dolphins Deserted to Seek Mates – Expert — Um, wow.

Neanderthal large eyes ‘made them extinct’ — No one knows what it’s like/To be the bad man/To be the sad man/Behind blue eyes

Mars rock yields building blocks of life — NASA says the Curiosity rover detected six elements in a rock that indicated Mars once had a habitable environment with plenty of water.

Google Concedes That Drive-by Prying Violated Privacy — This has been percolating for a while.

Raging on the Web May Not Really Make Us Feel Better — Huh. Who knew? I guess we’ll all have to back to yelling at the teepee.

No burden, no regret in ‘fair, respectful, equal’ — I have never seen anyone who described their former support for marriage equality as an oppressive weight or burden that they were later joyously relieved to be rid of. I have never seen anyone weep with remorse and regret for the votes they cast or the words they once spoke in support of equal rights. I don’t recall seeing anyone moving in that direction at all.

Illinois Republican: Gun control ‘exactly’ like castration — Ah, the cool logic of the gun culture once again expresses itself. Saving 30,000 lives a year can’t possibly be worth this much trouble, eh? (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)

Richard Nixon Wished for Total Handgun Ban — And he presided over the founding of the EPA. I sometimes wonder how we’d view Nixon now if he hadn’t left office under a criminal cloud. (Via ericjamesstone.)

Falsity of Nuclear Accusation against Iraq Was Known before Bush’s Invasion — Well, duh. They knew they were lying about it. But evidence-based reality was never a high priority for the Bush administration, being as how they were Republicans and all. The kindest interpretation I’ve ever come up with is that they were certain Saddam had nukes, and were doing the political equivalent of kiting a check, figuring once they found the goods, no one would care later that the initial evidence was false.

QotD?: What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?

3/13/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (revisions and 900 additional words to “King of the Kingless”, to 4,000 words)
Hours slept: 7.0 hours (fitful)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (19 degrees and snowing outside, what do you think?)
Weight: n/a (away from home)
Number of FEMA troops on my block escorting ACORN thugs to steal the votes of “Real Americans”: 0
Currently reading: Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Books, Cancer, Cool, Endurance, events, France, Funny, gay, gender, guns, healthcare, Iraq, Links, Mars, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, Process, reviews, sex, Tech, Videos, weird, Writing

Posted: 3:57 am Wed March 13 2013 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad is lost in time like tears in the rain

Asimov’s for April/May 2013 (3 of 3) — In which my novella “The Stars Do Not Lie” is held up as an example of bad fiction. (Honor is restored, however.) Proving once again that the story truly does belong to the reader.

The Telegraph on Sex — Cora Buhlert with a roundup on British commentary on literary sex scenes. Mmm, literature.

A Photo Service That Understands the Contents of Your Images — Everpix organizes photos after analyzing them with software that can detect things such as animals, outdoor scenes, and people. Is this really a good idea?

SETI: The Artificial Transit Scenario

Massive flood scarred the surface of Mars less than 500 million years ago — Water carved channels at least 70 meters deep and 40 kilometers wide. Mmm, Missoula Flood on Mars.

Sinkhole Science: A Primer — An expert weighs in on causes—and which areas are most vulnerable.

2 Civil War sailors from the Monitor to be buried at Arlington

The Law of the Tongue — Humans have trouble honoring treaties with each other, what are the chances they’d respect a contract signed with another species? Pretty good … at least in one case. (Snurched from Daily Idioms, Annotated.)

NOTE: Do Not Kill Yeti Except in Self-Defense

Earth at its warmest since last ice age – and temperatures are still rising — More of those liberal “facts” and “data”, which of course being part of reality, good conservatives can safely ignore.

Antiscience “Academic Freedom” Bill Dies in Kansas — I have no doubt these same state governments will continue to try to pass bills that curb our children from learning and blind them to the real world. And while they do so, that very same world is still warming up. And species are still evolving. And the Universe adds another few years to its already considerable 13.73 billion year age. That’s the way things are. Ah, conservatives. Stunting the minds of children everywhere in America.

What China’s hackers get wrong about Washington — No one can carry out complicated plans. All parties and groups are fractious and bumbling. But everyone always thinks everyone else is efficiently and ruthlessly implementing long-term schemes. Um, maybe. (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)

What happened to Orson Scott Card? — Now there’s a furor from the right, that this is a left wing witch hunt against people who disagree with their agenda, to economically punish those who don’t toe some political line. I disagree quite strongly. This is not some freedom of speech thing, not some despicable and childish refusal to engage with those who disagree politically. I would defend to the death Card’s right to speak his beliefs, but the hell if I have to stock it on my shelves if I’m the owner of a comic book store. And the hell if I have to draw the panels into which those words are written if I’m an artist. Card has the right to speak, but so do all these other people. To my view, Card’s depth of bigotry crosses the line from the usual conservative irrationality into something much akin to mental illness. He would literally condemn people I love to death: this isn’t reasonable disagreement over an objectively debatable point, this is vile poison that gains undue traction and attention due to Card’s prominence. I feel very, very sorry for the misery Card lives with inside his own head that makes him think this way.

Honey, I shrunk the bigots — A new study released today, and summarized by the Washington Post, shows that opposition gay marriage is shrinking, and now generally resides in only three pockets of Americans: white evangelicals; old people; and uneducated whites. The rest are basically on our side. It’s nice to be on the right side of both morality and history. Maybe someday the GOP will catch up.

Medicaid program helped Will Weatherford’s family after all, he admits — Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford reversed course on Wednesday and said that health care provided for his brother was covered under Florida’s Medically Needy program, which is financed by Medicaid. So ends a mystery that developed a day earlier when Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, voiced opposition to expanding Medicaid in his opening day speech of the 2013 legislative session. I am reminded of Craig T. Nelson’s angry, moronic remark that “I’ve been on food stamps and welfare, did anybody help me out? No.” Ah, once again we bathe in the light of the justly famed intellectual consistency of conservatives.

New York NRA Official Barred From Having Guns After Altercation With Wife — Yep. Guns definitely make us all safer, especially with the NRA safeguarding our right to threaten our spouses in the privacy of our own homes.

QotD?: Can you ever really go home?

3/8/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.75 hours (a little WRPA, 1,000 words of first draft on a requested short)
Hours slept: 7.5 hours (fitful, including two hours on the plane)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike, yay hotel gym!)
Weight: 241.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block escorting ACORN thugs to steal the votes of “Real Americans”: 0
Currently reading: Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Tags: Australia, China, climate, Fiction, Funny, guns, healthcare, history, Links, Mars, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, reviews, Science, sex, space, stories, Tech, weird

Posted: 5:48 am Fri March 08 2013 | Comments(3) |