On the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour

One of the things I like about the day job is that I get to do cool things like this. Occasionally. This is one of a series of similar graphics intended for use on our large screen TVs around the company.

I share it here as a way to honor all my friends who have served. Thank you.

Scenes from a Morning Commute

Linkee-poo has got nothing

Okay, I'm running out of quick content (because of schedules). So a shorty for today. Expect the scales to balance sometime soon. I am so far behind in my reading.

Ken McConnell talks about his self-publishing track. This is offered in contrast to yesterday's link. I've know Ken for, what, several years now. It was actually his experience and attitude that turned me around on self-publishing. It's not my path for now, but I do consider it a legitimate path, thanks to Ken.

If you're NaNoWriMo-ing, you're probably right at the point that Chuck Wendig is talking about (note, NSFW titles). It's natural. Everybody gets there. Hell, even Neil Gaiman has that point. Work through it. When in doubt, just say, "fuck 'em."

The conservatives sure don't like it when the CBO and other non-partisan organizations demonstrate how their theories just won't work in reality. Like, how repealing Obamacare would cost us much more in the long run. So, what's a conservative to do? Well, shoot the messenger of course. That's what they've been doing for years. I don't expect them to change. (Pointed to by Dan)

About the JoePa thing? Other than ranting and getting rabid spittle all over these here internets, John Scalzi nails it. With one other comment, I don't' know about the laws of PA, but if this happened in Ohio, Paterno, as an educator (and school coaches are "educators"), he would have been required by penalty of law to notify Child Protective Services at the very least. Hey, great, he told his boss. Who did nothing. WTF, why didn't he then go to the police? Okay, I better stop now before I start with the spittling thing.

The story of broke. Deconstructing the myth of the country being "broke." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

What seems to be the developing political strategy

After listening to the break down of the Republican debate last night, including Perry's de rigor foot in mouth (seriously, if you are as precise as "3 departments", then you have the convictions that would immediately call to mind those 3, you only forget when it's a dog whistle comment), there's some serious knownothingness going on, but…



Oh, Groucho, how did you know way back then?

Edited 11-10-11 12:40pm So, there's seems to be a little misinformation happening as people jump on Perry for not remembering the 3rd of the departments he would cut. Let's be clear here, he only remembered the Department of Commerce because he was helped by what sounded like Mitt Romney. So Perry on his own wasn't batting .666 (2 out of 3) on his strongly held positions of his conservative credentials, he was batting .333 (1 out of 3).

More fun with biochemistry

Tobias brings up a good point in the comments of today's linkee-poo about drinking "throw-back" pops (which use cane sugar) versus their high fructose cousins. To explain why he's seeing the effect he is, I basically explain the other part of how your body responds differently to fructose. So I thought I'd bring my comment up to the top level.

Hey Tobias, that (feeling sated faster with sugar based pops than with corn syrup based pops) is because of how you digest the different sugars (liver process), and how your hypothalamus monitors the bloodstream and the resulting reactions. First up, you have to know that the preferred form of sugar for your body is glucose. It's what insulin is geared to help facilitate. So when your liver has a choice of either processing glucose (or glycogen, which is the polysaccharid of glucose) and fructose or galactose, it will process the glucose first (it has to process the other two, which requires more energy, so it "decides"1 to hold off on the other two to prefer the form of sugar your body can use right away). You liver will actually store fructose in glycogen before processing it through to your blood stream (leading to fatty liver).

So, when you drink that "throw-back" pop, more glucose gets into your blood faster. (Just a note here, processed sugar contains both glucose and fructose with a little galactose). Whereas when you drink the high fructose corn syrup you liver first processes the fructose to glycogen, stores it as fat, and then cuts up the glycogen to release the new formed glucose.

Now, why that makes you feel sated faster has to do with your hypothalamus which rides shotgun over (many functions including) your levels of suspended glucose in your blood. More glucose sets off a cascade of events including increased insulin release (as well as other hormones and proteins). Part of that cascade includes "telling" you (through chemical markers) that "too much glucose = you're full." Again, satiation is a whole cascade of events.

Your hypothalamus doesn't check for fructose. So even the bits that spill over the first past of the liver won't trigger your brain to say, "Whoa, I'm full." It's only after your liver 1) runs out of glucose to process that it will 2) look to your glycogen stores to make and send out glucose.

That explains the delay to feel sated. It also explains why if you drink fast enough, after you feel sated and stop ingesting pop, you will then feel as if you over ate (because your glucose levels are spiking before your insulin can crash your blood glucose levels, which is the "sugar crash")

1 If this is through competitive inhibition or other functions like blocking RNA transcription, I don't know.

Linkee-poo says hey, ho, way to go Ohio

Linkee-poo doffs its hat and bows its head in recognition of the passing of UCF Member in good standing, Wendy_B09, aka Wendy Braxton.

Five ways to recenter your life. I'll need to read that fully, once I have a second. (Grokked from Ticia42, I think)

Worldometers. Data for us data junkies. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tobias Buckell on not being a self-publishing asshat.

Sometimes the people who proclaim the love of the flag are the ones who desecrate it most often. The Cross Spangled Banner? Okay, well, first up the Patrick Henry quote is wrong and is not attributable to him. As is the John Quincy Adams quote. Also, just a quick note, JQ Adams was 8 when the shooting part of the American Revolution started. (Pointed to by Dan)

I think I only mentioned on my twitter feed about the Corn Sugar Council lying depending on your science ignorance stretching the minimal truth in their ads. Well, here it is from their FAQ page, "High fructose corn syrup is simply a kind of corn sugar that is metabolized by your body the same as sugar or honey." That, my friends, is pure PR BS in its unadulterated form (it's all "sugar" - but not in the way the public uses "sugar", and your body most certainly doesn't metabolize it the same way). One, fructose (especially high-fructose corn syrup) tastes "sweeter" than table sugar (which is a mix of glucose and fructose).Then there is the actual structural differences between the two. See, monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, and galactose) are all C6H12O2 (or 6 carbons and 6 waters). However, they're different shapes (hexoses and pentoses). Shape is very important when it comes to enzymes, which is how you digest (and use within the cell). Now, in glycolysis (where glucose is converted to 2 pyruvates, or 3 carbon forms, very important for the next steps you may have heard of, the Krebs cycle), there is a step that changes glucose to fructose (and then back again). So, you'd think the fructose from high-fructose syrup would fit right there in that intermediary step, but it won't because you've already added phosphorus to the glucose, and you convert it to the fructose to add another one. You first have to convert the fructose to glucose before you can start down the glycolysis Demon Drop™ (it's a metaphor for the process). Still with me? Okay, so you're thinking I'm full of bunk. Maybe this article on the problems some people have digesting food might convince you otherwise. See, not everybody who has problems digesting wheat sugars has celiac disease. That's the short answer. The longer answer includes what your liver does. (That last link grokked from Jay Lake)

"The new figures (on greenhouse gas emissions) mean that levels of greenhouse gases are higher than the worst case scenario outlined by climate experts just four years ago." But I'm sure it's no need to panic. I hope Tobias gets his novel, Arctic Rising out the door before it's future predictions come true. (Pointed to by Dan)

While "we shouldn't make the victim the murderer" (in cases of rape or incest that result in a pregnancy), apparently it's okay to continue to victimize the victim. Yes, there are lots of unintended consequences of a "Personhood" bill. The loss of in vitro and other reproductive services are just the tip of the iceberg. See, only about 20% of fertilized eggs actually implant. Which means there's an 80% loss rate, which under "Personhood" would be "murder." Then there are those eggs that do implant and begin growing a placenta. Not all of them last the month. Another form of "murder." Then there are the fetuses that don't make it to term or are still born. Still other "murders". Then there are troubled pregnancies where the choice is between the life of the mother, the child, sometimes, if nothing is done, you lose both. Don't think this will happen? Well, before the courts ruled that there was safe access to abortion providers, that the woman had a right to privacy (what Roe v Wade was really about), some women would ingest poisons to abort the fetus. Most spontaneous miscarriages don't make it to the hospital. Can you say which ones were crimes and which weren't when there isn't a body? The more we're learning, the more we can see that what a woman does during pregnancy has a direct bearing on her offspring. Are we going to prosecute mothers who birth children with defects, because sometimes those are a result of what the mother was exposed to or did during pregnancy? Welcome to a real slippery slope. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

With 2012 right around the corner, it's time to gin-up the anti-"teh gayz" hysteria.

Dangerous Minds with an infographic on the demographics of OWS and the TP. (Warning, one ad on Dangerous Minds at this point is NSFW, if you're coworkers look closely). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Elizabeth Warren, traitor to the cause (of rich people, like her). Makes me almost want to move to MA so I could vote for her. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

With the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the individual mandate is within the Constitutionality of the Commerce Clause, that makes it, what, 9 to 2 (and those are the ones that made it to trial) against overturning the law? I can't find a quick compilation of all the lawsuits at the moment, so I might be off with those numbers.

Results

Well, it looks like in Ohio Issue 1 (judges electable until age 75) and Issue 2 (people's repeal of SB5, our anti-union law) are going down to defeat at around 60% to 40%. So that's good news. Unfortunately Issue 3 looks to be winning by the same margin. Fortunately it looks like they drastically altered their language and made it very specific about health care. That language is very different from the petition I saw being circulated (it was 3 pages long). So my bad for not double checking.

On the local issues the school tried adding a levy at 3.1mils, which came to $0.39/per $100 valuation. That was defeated 59% to 41%. I'm not usually against school issues, but our local school district sold a big tax increase (7.5 mils if memory serves) to build a new school about 6 years ago. When they were selling that levy (21 years, if memory serves) they promised to not ask to renew or replace another levy (a permanent improvement levy). Well, last year that levy expired and they tried to replace it (which would up the revenue). Since that levy expired, this levy was a new one, which was slightly higher.

Linkee-poo in the morning

I thought I'd post these before some of them become the past.

Look, this kind of stuff (shooting someone photographing you), is never justified. Yes, sure, see the graffiti on the statue, hear the taunts, and I expect we'll have a press release about how the police officer was being taunted individually, but you couldn't see it on camera… but without a charge to "clear" the premises, you just don't do those sorts of things. (Pointed to by Dan)

New study links depression in fathers to behavior problems in children. Lots of stuff in there about how big D causes more problems than just affecting the person experiencing it. There's some things about insurance coverage (the insurance industry is dragging it's feet on recognizing mental health as an issue they should cover). But I also point to this as a symptom of our cultural attitudes, '"'There are countless articles on the effect of depression and other mental health problems in mothers on children, but this is… the first paper that… has looked at similar effects in fathers," said study author Dr. Michael Weitzman…'. Should I find an article on just how often women are prescribed anti-depressants when doctors can't rationalize the symptoms they are feeling? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

We don't need any silly regulations from the EPA (pointed to by Dan). And I'm sure all this "end regulation" talk has nothing to do with the prevalence of polluters who haven't cleaned up their act. Nah. Couldn't be connected.

Because, you know, nothing we do actually harms the environment. At least in the first study. A year or so later and the environment starts showing the signs of damage. (Grokked from Morgan Locke)

A satirical poll on renaming the Department of Homeland Security. (Pointed to by Dan)

Well, Gov. Kasich has pretty much lied his way around SB 5 since the beginning, did you expect him to speak the truth now? Okay, well, I can forgive him a little, because in Ohio, football is a religion. Most fans believe things that never actually happened.

The pee-cup industry must be proud of their lobbyists.

"You keep using that word (socialist). I donna think it means what you think it means." But in other positive news, as basically everybody gets that Mitt Romney will be the GOP candidate, many top conservatives are making declarations that they won't endorse any nominee. Stay classy, conservatives. It's what we like about you.

Thanks for concerning yourself with all the people out of a job, Herman Cain, but I think the world will continue to spin while you try to figure out how to counter the sexual harassment charges. And then there's the Rush ranting which really shows just how depraved his mentality is. I expect to start to hear about how "Rush is just this guy, you know" instead of a power broker within the conservative movement in 3… 2… 1… Boy, I'm glad we don't blame and villify the victim in crimes involving sex in this country. Because that would be bad. (That's irony, in case you missed it).

The morning exercise

I was number 19 at my polling station. Although I was the 18th vote counted, and nobody else was left at the polling stations. I have a feeling the Ohio turn out will be big considering on the last off year election I didn't make it to the polls until 6:30pm and I was number 17.

A slightly bittersweet ballot as this is the first time in 9 years that my name wasn't on this ballot cycle. For those new readers, I've been a Village Councilman for all that time. My term is about to expire and that would normally put me in the position of getting my name on the ballot (typically I would need to gather 25 signatures on my petition for the elections board, not exactly a high hurdle to cross). But this year only one seat is open. We're changing our form of government to include a Village Manager/Administrator, eliminating the position of Mayor, the Board of Public Affairs (our Water and Sewer Board, that's 3 seats), and two council positions (going from 7 to 5). Because of the timing of the new Charter this election we go from 3 seats to 1. I wasn't the highest vote getter, and on my cycle was the person who always received the highest vote totals of any councilman. He was running again. So I took the opportunity to get out.

Today was the first time that decision felt a little strange.

But I want my life back. I want my brain back. And I really don't want to have to care about a lot of people's insecurities and paranoias. I also am tired of the struggle against people who don't think the law should apply to them. So as of January 1, I'll be free. Like I said, it's bittersweet at the moment. I accomplished most of what I set out to do. And I feel I've given good service to the people of the Village. And frankly, my only real motivation to run again was the $400 a month, which isn't enough and isn't a good enough reason to give another 4 years of my life. I've done my bit for King and Country. In fact, I've done it twice.

Go Vote

Tomorrow is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the month of November which can only mean one thing.

The robocalls are about to stop. For now.

Polls in Ohio open at 6:30am and are open until 7:30pm. There are three important statewide initiatives that could use you're help in deciding their fate.

Issue 1 is all about extending the cut off age for being elected to a judgeship from 70 to 75. This may not sound like it is controversial, but it is. See, I remember the many years ago that the age limit was enacted. See, we had a number of judges on the bench that, well, just weren't all there anymore. But, because being a judge is a pretty lucrative gig, interests would make sure that certain judges would run again and again. So we, the electorate of Ohio, said, "you know, once you're over 70, you probably shouldn't run for a judgeship again. Typical length of service term, 6 years. So if you're elected at 70, you'll still be on the bench until you're 76.

Why is this on the ballot? The main argument is that we'll be losing some of our best, most experienced judges for no good reason except the age limit. But, if that is the case, why not just remove the age limit. After all, won't the judge have even more experience on the court at 76? What this is really on there for is that the conservative majority on the Ohio Supreme Court are about to age out. Given that once a judge is elected, they're most often re-elected (the judge elections tend to have the lowest number of people actually voting). So this is a stalling action to get conservative judges in place to keep control of the Supreme Court.

Issue 2 is the repeal of SB5, Ohio's anti-collective bargaining law. The pro-SB5 side has been touting that it'll save money, that public union employees make too much (and, like the crabs in the bucket, don't you want to tear them down), and unions have too much power. They're mostly talking about the 2 provisions that have the most support in Ohio, making union members contribute to their health care (15%) and pensions (10%). The thing is, some unions would love it if those were the caps, because they pay more. In fact, nearly 90% of public unions pay that amount or more.

So what's it really all about? It's about removing the rights of workers. See, back in the 80s after several disastrous public union strikes, the law was rewritten to force union and management into binding arbitration to settle their disputes. At the time, management thought that with arbitration they would win more of their fights (they would often lose in the courts, which would lead to the strikes). So they rigged the selection of the arbiters to force decisions to go their way. Thing is, it didn't work out that. The unions continued to win 80%+ of their cases, even with the system rigged against them. For the pay comparison, when you adjust for the education levels required, public employees make less (even with the outrageous adjustments the American Enterprise Institute gave to the "intangibles", which put the union employees ahead of even the general working populace instead of behind them when you just look at pay). SB5 says that if there is a dispute, it is settled by management. There is no appeal, and the right to strike is abolished. This is what's known as, "you'll take what we want to give you, and you'll like it." And don't believe for a second that once the public unions are broken, the conservatives won't come for you (that's how general worker "pay" is lower than public union "pay" - ie. adjusted with a extra 10% because of job stability). This is the war on the middle class.

Issue 3 is about stopping Obamacare. Only, it has no chance. We'll get back to that. Issue 3 is very broadly written and would essentially halt any new regulations (and potentially laws) that would come into enforcement after May, 2010. That would include the new exotic animal regulations the governor is looking at putting into place. It would also ban any new Ohio EPA enforcement, changes to law enforcement, and several other things. I was asked to sign a petition for Issue 3, and so read the full amendment. It's a "sovereign citizen" amendment. See, there are several ultra-conservative movements in Ohio that would love to throw off the shackles of any government (no licenses, no law enforcement, no regulations, no taxes, blah blah blah). They've killed several law enforcement officers in the past decade.

So why won't it work? Okay, well, there are 3 potential outcomes. One, the issue doesn't pass. In that case, we're at square one. The other two invovle the issue passing. If the issue passes, all that other stuff comes along. It'll be hell in Ohio. I won't say anarchy, but it will severely hobble any government control or law enforcement. It'll be open season to violate the law, pollute the water, earth, and atmosphere, and allow unbridled exploitation of our natural resources. Since the main thrust of this issue is to stop the government from mandating you purchase health insurance. It would stop the state from enacting a similar law, like in Massachusetts. The only difference will be in how the Supreme Court rules on Obamacare. If they rule it unconstitutional, well, you won't be forced to by health insurance. But you'll also get all those other bad effects as well. Now, if the Supremes uphold Obamacare, well, you're going to have to buy health insurance. Why? It's called the Supremacy Clause. See, a State can't nullify a Federal Law. Take California for example. They passed a medical marijuana law. So state authorities have their hands tied in enforcing criminal marijuana violations. However, the Feds still can. For years they looked the other way, as long as people obeyed the rules. Now that California marijuana is showing up in other states the Feds have taken a renewed interest in shutting down commercial growers. Because a State law can't override or nullify a Federal law.

You would think since the proponents of Issue 3 claim they love the Constitution they would know that.

So, tomorrow, you need to go out and vote. And that way we can get on to the Presidential 2012 elections.

Linkee-poo says "get out and vote"

John Joseph Adams levels up by buying Fantasy and Lightspeed magazines (of which he was the editor). Congrats, John. We expect good things. (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

Ken McConnell release his latest novel, Starforgers. It's a steal at $2.99 (and then it will be $4.99).

Well, given that the coverup conspiracy theorists who started the "tell us all you know about ET's on Earth, Obama" petition already think there is a coverup, this probably won't mollify them at all. (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)

"Thompson notes that several studies point to the issue that high school and college digital natives are really wretched at searching. They are not in the habit of thinking critically about information. The do not assess the credibility of their sources." Yes, that. I can't tell you how many discussions I've had surrounding this. My wife teaches this in some of her classes. She often used the Dihydrogen Monoxide warning site as an example. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Dear conservative activist groups, including the Family Research Council, you look like idiots when you not only support, but honor deadbeat dads by giving them your "100%" certification. I think you don't understand your actual values. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Eugenics programs surviving until the 70s? You want to be afraid of the government, there you go. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Linkee-poo wants to shout, "It's not even Thanksgiving, yet"

"The move to an ownership to a 'rentership society' has been proceeding apace, and nowhere more rapidly than in media. Books have been a holdout, but that's just changed." A little squib on Amazon's ebook "rental." Not sure that's true, just because a company announces a service doesn't mean it ever works out how they planned. Just ask BoA about the $5 a month debt card fee. Look, libraries didn't kill book ownership. Radio (even satellite radio) didn't kill music sales. eBook rental works for the business niche the Kindle fits. I see some sales going away, but I don't see it as a game changer at all. I see it as addressing the "impermanence" factor that ebooks have. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

You know, if only government would just get out of the way, reduce (read: eliminate) regulations and let the market decide all would be right with the world and we could hire more workers. You know, to replace the ones that we killed because they ate the food. And if they couldn't afford insurance, well, that's just their fault. (Grokked from Morgan J. Locke)

A webmd article on sitting too long being an adverse health (in this case cancer) risk. That's one of the problems with my current job, and the classes. I spend way too much time butt-in-chair (but not for writing). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Eric with his take on Jim Wright's post about OWS. Eric is very right about his explanation of the Civil Rights movement. And Dr. King only looks like a moderate voice of reason in comparison to Malcom X and the Black Panthers (and organization with enough cultural resonance that in the last election the appearance of two operatives at an election station sent the conservatives into an apoplectic fit that lasted three years). Ghandi, too, had the foil of more violent operatives seeking independence for India.

Dangerous minds with a long rant on how Blue states subsidize Red states and how that's contrary to the views of the people in those states (lumping states into ideology camps based on majority political party registration and voting). There's a lot of truth in there. Like how the major economic engines of Europe are also the most unionized and have the least amount of income disparity (note our greatest economic expansion in the last century also matched to this set of values). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart: @jeremiahtolbert: I just learned the latin equivalent of "ownzored" is "Vos facta mea bona." Shouting that on x-box live next time I shoot someone.