So, for the arbitrary turning of the date, we are in a new year. I made a number of New Year promises last year, none of which came true. So I'm out of that game. I am 10lbs heavier than last year (and about 18lbs heavier than in November, so something is fucking up). I can't seem to get enough sleep and am tired and in pain most of the time. While I have 4 stories in submission, and there is good news on some (nothing I can really brag about yet), I didn't get many new words out last year. Also, there are only 4 in submission because I'm lazy (there's at least another 4 I could be submitting). I don't think I did too many other posts than linkee-poo's and scenes from a commute last year. And I never did take that time off social media. On the positive side I'm ahead of my CEUs and I read twice as many books for enjoyment in the past year than the previous year (and in this case I mean reading hard copy books, not listening to audiobooks which I've listened to fewer new audio books). However those books can still be counted using two hands. I'm walking more often (I get 30 minutes for lunch so I take 15 minutes and walk). I made about $45 selling t-shirts (without marketing, and without keeping the pace of new designs steady). I have a new design job that pays slightly better and mostly makes me feel better about my day thing, but I lost a lot of vacation. The night things still goes well (I wish it payed better and had decent insurance so I could accept one of the full-time openings I've been offered). But I haven't won the lottery. Yet. Damn it. So no resolutions this year other than to survive until next year.
Okay, maybe one resolution. I want to post more non-political links. My guess is most of you would support that as well.
"Questions to ask yourself before giving up" - a poem by Kaitlyn Boulding.
The Luke or Han writing advice. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
"Located across the Hagia Sophia Museum, Yerebatan Sarayi is also known as the Basilica Cistern because of a basilica that was once located nearby as a cultural centre. It is the largest surviving underground cistern of Istanbul. Fatih Cistern, St. Sophia Cistern and Theodosius Cistern is some of the 80 cisterns that supplied water in Constantinople." One day I hope to visit Turkey. So now besides seeing Gobekli Tepe, the Hagia Sophia, and viewing the bridges over the Bosphorus, I need to add the cisterns. (Grokked from Dr Caitlin Green)
"For more than a century, archaeologists and historians have assumed that the remains of a person found buried along with arms and horses in one of the most spectacular graves discovered in the Viking Age town of Birka, in Sweden, belonged to a man. Turns out they were wrong. Osteology- and DNA tests now show that that he has always been a she, and she was most likely a powerful military leader." Do no fuck with shieldmaidens, because they will jack you up. They have always fought. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
In my own book, the number two security person in the organization is a woman. She is incredibly badass, although looking back at it, she doesn't show it too often. If I rewrite the book, or write it's sequels, I'm promise to do better.
How does North Korea make money in the world market while under sanctions?
"Over the past year, ProPublica has documented how chicken plants and other low-wage industries rely heavily on unauthorized immigrants and refugees, often mistreating them, and in some cases, using their immigration status to get rid of workers who are injured or fight for better conditions." Good thing we gave these companies tax breaks to keep their jobs in the US. "But even now, House Republicans are pushing a bill that could help the meat and poultry industry bring in more than 10 times as many foreign workers a year with few of the protections provided by the green card program… The bill would expand another visa program for agricultural guest workers to meat and dairy processors, which usually can’t obtain guest workers because their jobs aren’t seasonal. Instead, it would let them hire the workers year-round. The pay would be below the prevailing wage in many areas. And workers’ legal status would be tied to their employers, preventing them from quitting to seek higher wages or better conditions." (Grokked from Laura J Mixon, I think)
Swatting. "On Thursday, Deputy Wichita Police Chief Troy Livingston said a substation received a call that there was a hostage situation in a house in the 1000 block of West McCormick — and that someone had been shot in the head… 'A male came to the front door,' Livingston said Thursday night. 'As he came to the front door, one of our officers discharged his weapon.'…Livingston didn’t say if the man had a weapon when he came to the door, or what caused the officer to shoot the man." So many wrongs in this story including the practice of swatting and police officers too ready to use deadly force. The officer who pulled the trigger should be removed from the force and charged with murder, as well as the gamers involved in the dispute. This is a crime (misused of official resources, falsely reporting a crime, intimidation and manslaughter). And yes, both gamers should be sent to jail.
When hand gestures go wrong. "The intern, Jack Breuer, stands in the back of his intern class photo shoot with the president, posing with the symbol while all his peers give a thumbs-up instead, according to the Daily Mail." These are the things that happen when you play with fire.
"The justification for building a monument to black Confederate soldiers is crumbling as historians point out there’s no evidence such combatants ever existed." Shocked, shocked they are… "If the monument is built, it would be the first on Statehouse grounds to honor an individual African-American." I think I see the problem. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"A Florida man has been accused of trying to electrocute his pregnant estranged wife by rigging the front door of his home with an electrical device."
Trump's interview and what he meant or didn't mean. Again, Trump is not playing 3D chess. He's playing Chutes and Ladders.
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