Linkee-poo, a bottle white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rosé instead

Jim Hines is giving away two more copies of Libriomancer. I heard him read from this at Penguicon, and it sounds like an excellent romp, mashing the all out fun of his Goblin books with the background fantastical knowledge and deep plotting present in his "Princess" books.

Elizabeth Bear shares what she learned from a rejection letter. That rejection was from Algis Budrys who earned a reputation for knowing exactly what form and shape of koan was needed for the student. But it's refreshing to hear about how a rejection helped form a better writer (and Elizabeth Bear, if you haven't discovered her, is an excellent writer) instead of the normal soul crushing or rejectomany result.

"They pay brisk money for this crap?" Ooo, ouch. Raymond Chandler on what passed for pulp SF in the 50s. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Jeff VanderMeer is very wise on the destructive nature of the internet as it relates to engendering a healthy attitude and keeping one's well from being poisoned. Oh, if it were only so easy, Jeff.

In regards to Nisi Shawl's post on postcolonial fiction linked to yesterday, Ardha explains what what cultural appropriation is. And Aliette de Bodard shares a cultural imperialism bingo card so you too can play at home. (Grokked from Catherine Schaff-Stump)

If you remember a while ago, I linked to a few articles on white-male privilege and a few on how people respond to women differently; often violently, sexually, and demeaningly. If you thought we were making it up, here's an example. Yes, there are people out there so threatened in their privileged status that when a women announces that she'll be doing an article on how women are portrayed in gaming that they feel they have the right to assault her verbally, smear her reputation, and threaten physical violence. Also note how this relates to some other recent news, say the Sandra Fluke testimony. So I disagree with the title of the article, because this action isn't limited to the internet. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

As I finished writing that last line, this came across my twitter feed. Yes, a women is called a cunt because she disagrees with your political position and refuses to stop mowing her lawn. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

A little contrarian thinking of the impending SCOTUS decision on Obamacare. Robert Reich thinks that striking down the individual mandate might actually lead to a defacto public option. Wouldn't that be a hoot.

Ah, tapping into the fear of the Mayan Apocalypse. Get your magical amulets while they're hot. (Shared by Dan)

Did you catch the Jamie Dimon hearing where most of the Senators fell over themselves to kiss his ass while he failed to fall on his sword (but was really good at thrusting it into others)? Wanna know why? What nobody asked was, "So, Mr. Dimon, what I hear you saying is that you were completely absent from running your business, or just want to sit in the big chair without any responsibility for lying to shareholders who own your business, or people you hired lied to you, and/or that you weren't smart enough to figure out exactly what your people were doing and how you were conducting business? You can pick any or several of those as your explanation, BTW." But, instead, our bought and paid for elected officials decided it was better to ask what regulations Mr. Dimon thought were getting in his way of losing more money. Dear Senators, it wasn't regulation that forced his hand (although he did try and blame regulators for not bringing to his attention just how badly his employees were fucking up and losing money - the losses of which are still adding up, BTW). (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

"And lastly, I would say take that $1,100 a year, that American's spend on average on clothes (and then have to trow away before they fall apart quickly), and buy less but just invest your money in things that are a little bit better made." Oh look, the devil's bargain with outsourcing is starting to show its edges.

A little on the rise of wage-theft. Oh, those wacky job creators. And not only is it illegal, it's also very immoral. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

And, I knew there was a reason I don't eat calamari. And now you know how Cthulhu Spawn are created. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)

You just can't reason with unreasonable people. You also can't fix stupid.

And, again, in case you thought I was being hyperbolic in yesterdays complaint against modern conservatism, here's an article about the Bryan Fischer I was talking about. (Grokked from Jim Wright) Now, if you think everybody is making a mountain out of a butt pimple, here's the man himself. That's right, he's saying if we don't discriminate against the gays, the we'll discriminate against the Christians. That's beyond zero-sum gaming, it's outright sociopathy. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

And the black art of healthcare pricing.