I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Linkee-poo, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Good thing this election is almost over. Because people have been waiting to start the 2014 and 2016 election and they're tired of this on soaking up all the press coverage.

Here's hoping after tomorrow there will be less politics in the linkee-poo. (I wouldn't bet that way, but I'm hopeful.)

"What's rare is honesty. A willingness to look past all the fancy things we want to believe, peering instead at what may actually be true. And while every civilization had subjective arts, in copious supply, only one culture ever had the guts to seek objective truth through science." David Brin on Writing and Science with a lot of writing advice near the end. "Beware the dangers of ego!" Oh sure, now he tells me. (Grokked from Sarah Goslee)

"It's less like 'high-stakes plane jockeying' and more like 'filing a request for death' that another department, miles away, might or might not grant." Cracked on the 5 weapon myths you'll believe because you saw them in the movies.

Neil deGrasse Tyson get his geek card stamped for the next decade by 1) identifying the location of Krypton and 2) appearing in Action Comics #14. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Ever wonder how designers do the voodoo that they do so well? A lot of it is from years of hard work and honing a skill set that doesn't mean squat outside the design world. Or they buy books like this. Not so much for the book, you know, as access to the talking rabbit. That rabbit, design gold I'm telling you. I kid, actually being a designer you get books like this (and "Best of…" Annuals) to kickstart the brain and to see what the best in our business are doing. But seriously, get to know that rabbit, kiddos.

And interesting explanation for ghosts. Infrasound. Sure, I can see that. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Why is all this "dark money" a bad thing for Democracy? Because of shit like this. No, seriously, try and follow the money without rereading some of those sentences. Byzantium is scratching its collective head to untangle that money laundering mess. And, in case you don't want to read it, yes, the California’s Fair Political Practices Commission finally won their case to get the donation records behind Americans for Responsible Leadership, and Arizona 501©4 that gave money to the Small Business Action Committee PAC which is running ads in California for and against some propositions. Turns out the Arizonian Americans for Responsible Leadership was just the front to funnel money to the Californian Small Business Action Committee PAC. Or in other words, they money laundered the donations so no one would ever know who was really behind the "political speech." (Pointed to by Dan)

Proof that some people (cough rich people cough) still don't get it. So if Romney loses it's all those in the moocher class that are to blame. "'We don’t understand this "fair share,"' Wild said. 'But nearly 50 percent pay nothing. Isn’t there a fair share for people who have modest incomes?'" Um, those who don't pay income tax still mostly pay payroll and sales taxes on a higher percentage of their income and their incomes can't really be called "modest." I make a "modest" income. And trust me, I pay my share. Between the two of us, Colonel Allen Wild, you're the one mooching off the tax payer (who pays your retirement and veterans benefits? sure, you earned them, but that's the rest of ours tax dollars) and I also think you're probably in a better position to give a little more.

Want to know what it looks like to try and buy and election? Try this. Setting up a corporation in the past month and then also, as you're getting your Staples supplies sorted out, manage to become "biggest corporate contributor in the 2012 election" in a year that has seen outsized corporate contributions. That's a mighty fine feat. And I'm sure there's nothing untoward about all of it. Nothing at all.

John Scalzi answers the question, what if Romney wins? As a fellow white, heterosexual, reasonably well off dude (not as much as John), in the short run I would also benefit from a Romney Presidency. It's the long run, the world my nieces and nephews need to live in that has me worried (not to mention my own much hoped for retirement, some day).

Although, here are the (potential) 10 disasters waiting for us if Romney wins and is able to enact his policies. With a nice pie charts showing income disparity. Just for the record, I'm in that red pie. More than likely you are too. The good news is Democrats are likely to retain a majority in the Senate. Even if they don't, they still have the filibuster role… if they can all stick together (Democrats are notorious for not). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Alligator Quotient: Alligators everywhere.

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