Linkee-poo girds for the Great Troll Wars of 2012

N. K. Jemisin with an important public service announcement regarding Wheaton's Law. A post filled with serious "You all look alike" and privilege arguments from the recipient side. And then there is also this post from Shawna James Ahern. It's two similar sides of the same damn coin. The first is, "You all look alike, can I interrupt you for my magical negro moment of the week?" The second is, "Women should know their place, and, by God, we'll make sure you keep in that little box." As a white male, I like John Scalzi, don't get inundated with these mental games. It's an example of privilege. Growing up the son of a single mother (divorced in the 70s, before it was cool) and my wife earning her PhD in a hard science, I've had to deal with the backwash crap of it. Another reason I'm a liberal. Seriously, people, just stop this crap. Okay? (Yes, I know you all aren't doing it, it was a general cry to the universe) (Grokked from John Scalzi)

The agenda page for DARPA's 100 Year Starship Study. Lot's of good story bones in there from just the titles. (Pointed to by Dan)

On the value of vacations/breaks improve over all productivity. From the opposite end (in the past year, I've taken exactly 3 of my 10 days off, 2 of those days broken into 2 hour "go to the doctor" moments), I can say, "Yes, that." I need to remember to take vacations. In case you haven't noticed, it's not currently in my make-up to do so. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Hey look, Gov. Walker might be right that the new Wisconsin law will reduce costs. You know, with all those teachers retiring, if they hire any replacements they'll come in at the lower end of the scale. You know, we saw this when our Police Chief gauged the winds and decided that he wouldn't have a better time to retire than right away. If we did the math right, because we promoted from within, and then hired a rookie officer to replace the patrol officer we made chief, we're saving about $400 a month. You know, until you factor in the retirement costs (his accumulated vacation and sick leave, some of which is due right away, some to be paid out over 4 years). The wages of the sin of SB5. So, retirements are up in Wisconsin, which should help them save money on salaries. Until you get to the "… $10.9 billion short (fall) in meeting its obligations (retirement funding) just to teachers," part. D'oh! We shall not talk about the value of all those years of service that are now going to the side-lines. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)