Weekend Linkee-poo is studying for yet another test

One trick to becoming a better writer, copy the works of writers you admire. Nothing can get you closer to the words than to copy them out.

Competitions and fellowships for screenwriters.

Twenty-one horribly inappropriate children's books. Um, yea… (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Why I write. Twenty-three authors share their reasons. Why do I write? Because if I didn't, the words would choke my soul and kill me.

The digital sandbox. Wow. Now this is a cool application of virtual/augmented reality that I can get behind. (Grokked from @thc1972)

Killer Whales wake ridding behind a speed boat. Quite amazing, until you remember these are wild killer whales, not the ones in Sea World. And these whales are probably not too much smaller than the boat these people are ridding in. So while I would think that would be an amazing experience (yea, I would be geekgasming more so that they were), a part of my brain would also be thinking about why those whales were there in a sea-lion colony and relative sizes of the whales, sea-lions, and myself. We're gonna need a bigger boat. (Grokked from Janiece Murphy)

How we won the war on D&D. For a little historical perspective. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Remember that obnoxious Cadillac "pool" ad? Well Ford does a pretty good parody. Good on you, Ford. If you read my twitter feed, you'll know I love this stuff. (Grokked from Morgan J. Locke, I think)

"The reach of so-called 'astroturf' campaigns—where lobbyists manufacture fake grassroots support—is also magnified thanks to the web." An article on how corporate PR is altering the way we get information on the internet. Also of note, I've been targeted by one of their campaigns before (in a mild sense, they haven't yet tried to do character assassination). Fortunately, I argue better than the PR firm the company hired and they realized that attempting to "correct" me only allowed me to expose their lies to a greater degree. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

The burial site that is possibly Attila the Hun. What sometimes gets lost in popular history is that while we focus on some of the big people, there were lots of big people lost in the records of that time. (Grokked from AbsoluteWrite)

Using facial recognition software to detect people's emotions and if they're experiencing pain. What could possibly go wrong here? Also, yes, those of us in healthcare have also been able to detect that (yes, we can tell when you're faking). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

The return of Nemesis. More data showing the possible presence of a large rocky planet outside the orbit of Pluto.

"So, in trying to address one problem — heart disease — by cutting way back on fat, many experts we talked to agreed that the original dietary goals may have helped fuel other problems, like diabetes and obesity." A little on the long term politics of food and the ramifications that we are all dealing with now.

"… Jef Mindrup — who identifies as Buddhist — is suing Goodman Networks in federal court on the grounds that he was asked to violate his 'sincerely held religious beliefs' by printing the verses and was then fired for refusing to do so." I wonder if all those Christian Defense Fund fellows will rush to defend this person on his stand for his religious beliefs? Yea, I'm not holding my breath either. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

The end of public funding for elections. This next election brought to you by Coal and Big Pharma. What I don't understand is why there isn't more outcry about this. This isn't tax money that is being redirected, you had to intentionally check a box to give to this fund. And Congress and the President are just going to "redirect" those funds. "The new legislation says the convention cash will finance research on cancer, autism, fragile X syndrome and other childhood diseases… Defenders of public financing note that the bill doesn't actually appropriate the money for NIH… the transfer wouldn't come close to making up congressional cuts in pediatric research, and would collide with NIH's congressionally imposed spending cap." Who is zooming who here.

That whole "Freedom of Speech and Religion" thing? You're doing it wrong. Some people just don't understand when they're told directly not to do this shit. Seriously, this isn't rocket science. So, instead of listening to the court this county commissioner says they're willing to go to jail for their right to open their meeting with a Christian prayer. Well, you're in luck buckaroo. It's called "contempt of court." (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

"The ironies in this story are endless… We have Rand Paul who believes freedom means businesses denying services to black people, denying women the right to make their own healthcare decisions and denying non-Republicans the right to vote as a great civil libertarian fighting for privacy rights that were violated by the NSA solely on orders by fellow Republican, George W. Bush. We have Ken Cuccinelli who tried to regulate sex when he was Virginia’s Attorney General as the lead attorney in a suit on privacy rights. We have Larry Klayman, who tried nullify Barack Obama’s presidency with a birthed suit… (y)Yet, he filed his suit because he is concerned about privacy rights… It took these lawsuits against the Obama Administration to see court documents that reveal what a Republican Administration did to our privacy rights solely on the orders of then President George. W. Bush." Oh, what wicked webs we weave. Also pointed out that while conservatives love to shout about how "won't liberals ever stop blaming Bush", for a good many things he was responsible. And now we have the paperwork to prove it. (Grokked from Morgan J. Locke)

I think I posted an earlier link about how our culture has changes in significant ways to channel our kids into behaving and not acting out or questioning authority. In case you thought that was being hyperbolic, take this case of a 3rd grader being expelled for shaving her head in support of a friend with cancer. Still think we aren't choking our kids sense of empathy and desire to be their own persons? Okay, how about a young girls being tossed out of a Christian school for dressing like a tomboy? (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Tweet of my heart: @TheBaxterBean
GOP 2009-2013:
124 Religion Bills
56 Abortion Bills
76 Family Relationship Bills
149 Gun Bills
36 Marriage Bills
0 JOBS Bills
#GoodbyeGOP