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

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Long Weekend Linkee-poo edition the II, electric boogaloo

Joss Whedon's top ten writing tips. (Grokked from ticia42)

Kelly McCullough on celebrating rejection. And on that note, two weeks ago I got another manuscript rejection. This time from an agent I hadn't submitted to, but at an agency I had submitted to a different agent there. So that means, someone thought my manuscript was good enough to pass on to someone else. It's the small victories.

Ah, the meritocracy. Yeah, I'm sure there's no sexism (or racism) anymore, no matter what the research and statistics show. It's all done on the basis on the quality of individuals and not on the perceived differences between things that just shouldn't matter (this said as a straight, white, male). (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

And while that link on prejudice and privilege (the lesser known Jane Austen novel) was mostly about sexism and writing (and I normally put the political stuff at the bottom) Jim Wright has a good post on the racism in politics. You just can make this shit up.

The popular myths of science explained (and debunked, for the most part). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

When recycling paper to make confetti, you really shouldn't use confidential documents. D'oh! (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Companies are looking at removing the Reply All function in email. What really needs to happen is a little email education. At my own day job, we don't seem to quite understand the difference between phone, email, and IM and the benefits and drawbacks of any of them. (Grokked from Dan)

A post election epiphany that could cause whiplash if you're not careful. I see the conservative grip on the delusional landscape remains firmly in their grip. Jumping from one delusion to another does not an epiphany make, just saying. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"But there’s important information in the fact that a senior reporter for a major network could dismiss climate change as essentially a special interest issue. It’s evidence, if more were needed, that 'all us climate people' got our butts kicked in the battle for the narrative in the 2012 election." The environmental movement is also learning lessons from their loss in the election. Instead of appealing to the top of the chain, they realize they need to re-convince the grassroots about the importance of their issues. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)

Bill O'Reilly's Leave It to Beaver nightmare. Yeah, that. Or, no, we have not always been at war with East Asia. History, she's a bitch when you don't believe in facts. Go and read if you think "traditional" America is imperiled. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"The actual work of government oversight is significantly impeded by endless pandering to nonsensical conspiracies theories or people who need clinical intervention." Actually I can't think of a Congressional Committee that hasn't suffered that exact problem for the past 20 years (actually, the only noteworthy exception I can remember is Al Franken, and when a comic shames you by doing a better job, something is wrong). Investigatory hearings aren't much more than constituent newsletter fodder, "Oh, I really gave it to that so and so…" And the Congressman and Senators don't really come up with most of their own statements, instead they are fed them by their assistants. If I'm ever investigated by Congress I may come to the room with a set of jacks or pickup-sticks and play while the blowhards make their statements which seem to consume most of their time (instead of asking questions and listening to answers, and then asking more pointed questions based on those answers). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart: @JSCarroll: Sometimes memory is like a bat suddenly flying into a room: Frantic, you do anything you can to get it out of there.

Double dip: @TheDailyEdge: 11 years ago the GOP persuaded the middle class to give $1T to the rich to create 8M jobs. $1 trillion later: ZERO jobs http://t.co/8C03z4Zn

The above link goes to a "deficit clock", oh, wait, no, that's how much money we've given to the top 5% (run by Citizens for Tax Justice). Strangely enough, I think that's a sizable chunk of the debt we've run up. Not like anyone would really admit that.

Alligator Quotient: Yeah, they were here yesterday.

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