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

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Weekend Linkee-poo is just trying to relax

Read to win the war. Propaganda posters from the American Library Association during WWI, WWII, and the campaign for the "People's University." (Grokked from Mrs. Tadd)

If we use Moore's Law and extrapolate the complexity of life back along the curve we find that life first occurred before the Earth was formed. While not noted in the article, the first major problem with this is that there is no evidence that life follows Moore's Law (in fact, one of the new ideas gaining a lot of traction is the concept that evolution occurs in spurts, not as a continual function). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Saw this on my trip to the Rock Hall of Fame this past week. Purchase a "Legacy Brick" that will be installed on the circle in front of the hall. Would probably use two lines for "Really don't mind if you sit this one out/My words but a whisper your deafness a shout". Just because I'm that way (yes, I looked, 15 characters per line, sucks). Also would be more apt to do it if it came with a lifetime membership.

What does a million flamingos look like? Well, now you know. (Grokked from Jim Hines)

Table held up by the weight of objects resting on the table. You know, just in case someone asks you to solve the puzzle. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

It's not just about the size, it's the thickness that counts too. In this case we're talking about Arctic Sea Ice.

The Queen pardons Alan Turing. Well that only took 60 years. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The 4-year slump. An excellent summation of labor and management relations and the intersections of politics and economics. Must read. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

"After yet another PR headache, McDonald's has taken down its employee resources website following what it deemed 'unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary.'" In other words, "People were mean to us for not actually managing the site properly to keep from being embarrassed." It could have been a wonderful resource, except for the fact that McDs doesn't pay their employees enough to actually live so giving them "financial" advice that isn't focused at their economic level was kinda dumb and out of touch (on the corporate level). McDs, you reaped exactly what you sowed. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

What happens when you cut unemployment? You increase the burden on social services. No data in the article on how many people have applied for medicaid, food stamps, and the various forms of welfare. Not to mention the shrinking of the workforce. In other words, not exactly an improvement in the situation. But there are other studies which link the rise of minimum wage jobs replacing middle-class jobs to the increase in other forms of welfare. "Annual cost of public assistance to families of fast-food workers: nearly $7 billion." That's all those "makers" paying their taxes to support low wages. How's that working out? Then there's the increasing perverse mentality of some people to think, "There is a reason why people are poor and it’s not systemic, it’s the fault of the person." This is also known as the "… if they would prefer to die, let them do so and decrease the surplus population" mentality. Where did that get Scrooge? (Grokked from the Slactivist)

The new manufacturing. "As the U.S. economy continues to recover, it has been getting some help from an unexpected place. After decades of massive job losses, manufacturing firms have been steadily creating jobs — many of them well-paying. One particularly bright spot is a new generation of high-tech manufacturers." But fewer jobs than had been lost, also requiring a higher degree of training pre-hiring and only paying slightly higher than before.

"As it is, however, working a 40 hour week at minimum wage won’t bring in enough money to afford a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country… (It's) below the federal poverty line for a family of two or more. But bringing the wage in line with inflation by increasing it to $10.10 an hour would lift nearly 6 million people out of poverty, many of them women and people of color." Which then means that according to Republicans it should be eliminated. Wrong side of history, wrong side of justice. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

On why gold would be useless in an economic apocalypse. Yes, that. You know why gold is being hyped? For the same reason you get emails about penny stocks. Same con game. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

"On one hand, it means that you are so clueless that you need to be pitied. And on the other, it means that you are such a brazen liar that perhaps the Old Testament plagues of frogs, locusts, boils, and gnats should all bombard you at the same time." On Mike Huckabee claiming his history of tolerance towards the LGBT community, This is about the new narrative that complains about people fighting against intolerance of being guilty of intolerance themselves. Look, A&E pulling Duck Dynasty (which they only really said that they didn't want Phil in the show, the rest of the cast said "then we're all out", and it wasn't a permanent ban) isn't a violation of your 1st Amendment Rights. Why? Because A&E is the market, they aren't the government. They made an economic decision. For all the conservatives who like to talk about "market solutions" then to come out and whine and moan when the market doesn't go their way, they're hypocrites. For Mike, I think you may need to revisit your seminary training, because I think you've forgotten a lot of it. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

"In 2005, Utah did a study that found the average annual cost for emergency services and jail time for each chronically homeless person was $16,670. The cost to house them and provide case management services was only $11,000 per person." Damn socialism, saving us money while providing a better quality of life for everyone. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart: @RobDenBleyker Don't feel bad about not reaching your 2013 goals. Earth spent the year travelling 585 million miles and ended up in the same fucking place.

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