Linkee-poo is late for Saturday, but early for Sunday

Spent the day studying. And it's as boring as it sounds.

Kickstarter seems to be all the rage these days in the realms of writing projects. And now Rick Ferrel Moore is trying his hand at one.

In regards to the earlier linked Oatmeal comic about piracy, Jim Hines has posted a response. Essentially his arguments are to the pirates, that they shouldn't feel entitled to the work, no matter how hard it may be to find. After all, it is property, and it's not yours. Also Jim exposes some of the latent sexism in society (uncool, people). On the other hand, Marco Arment directs his thoughts toward the content holders that if your customers are clamoring for a product, maybe you should consider selling it to them.

While I avoided writing my previous post because of the possibility of heading into mansplaining territory, I'll take an extra risk and point to Jim Wright's take on similar issues.

Regarding the transvaginal ultrasound law in Virginia, one Republican congressman's wife goes Lysistrata on him. Not to mention it's well deserved, but also what an asshat the congressperson is for how they related the tale on the floor of the house and asked for an apology from the Democratic congressperson who opposed the bill. (Grokked from Sheila - through comment on Jim's post above)

You're getting your religious freedom in my personal freedom

Well it seems even after an accomodation with the insurance companies, the loony-right has found what they believe will be their issue for the election (or at least for this month). Religious freedom in the form of being in full-on dick mode to women and teh gays not accepting that if a religious organization owns a business outside that of tending to the flocks (as it were), that if they buy insurance (instead of being self-insured), they must cover contraceptives, and that they get a pass when it comes to bullying laws.

Can I just say this is unmitigated bullshit of the highest order and end the argument there? No, I guess not.

First off, and lets be clear about this, this issue has already been litigated to the highest court and the Churches have lost. See, many states already require insurance to cover contraceptives (and here we're talking about that scourge of modern society, the pill, not something like free condoms if you show your insurance card). And the Churches (well, some of the more loony-right winged churches) cried foul and said, "We'll sue!" And they all lost. Every single one of them.

Why? Because the law doesn't mandate that they use birth control, they're not being singled out for special provisions, and not everyone who works for those organizations is actually a member of the said religion. Also (and we'll get back to this), they accept government money (your tax dollars) to run their charities (thank you G. W. Bush), fix and repair their buildings (again, since GW), and Medicare, Medicaid, and both direct payments to hospitals and partial block grants (state distributed federal money). And, again, for the church offices, employees, etc, you have an exemption. It's only when you run an outside business that you need to comply with the law.

So first, a little thing about the compromise. President Obama basically went to the insurance companies and said, "Hey, what I want you to do is cover the birth control prescriptions for free, and not include that in whatever you bill these church affiliated (and sometimes not much more affiliated than with a name or address) business." And the insurance companies went, "Wait, you want us to cover the pill, the thing that lowers out costs (and price), that essentially costs us less than $10 a month, AND we get to bill them like we weren't including that (which is a higher amount)? Fuck yeah!" See, health insurance companies cover the pill, vasectomies, tubal ligation, hysterectomies, etc, because they are much cheaper than even a non-complicated pregnancy (also, see notes about how we're waiting much longer to have babies, which adds to the complexity of the pregnancy, which adds to the costs). So they see it as both reducing their costs for those pregnancies and then the added costs of the pediatrics (which are normally discounted to the end user). When you specifically request to not have those services covered, your potential use and cost goes up, and then so does your premiums (insurance is all about covering the spread).

But now that compromise isn't enough. It's a classic case of moving the goal posts. Also, I'll note here, that while the Catholic Church is against all forms of birth control (except the rhythm method or abstinence), 85% of Catholic women have used the pill (I couldn't find a stat on condom use). Now it's "we don't want anybody using the pill, and because it's our 'religious freedom' we want to make sure the rest of you don't have the choice either." Or, "You can have your religious freedom all you want, as long as it conforms to the most conservative Catholic or Evangelical faiths, and you must belong to one of them."

That's right, what the Churches want is the freedom to enforce their religious precepts on everybody else. Protestant? Agnostic/Atheist? Buddhist, Hindi, Vodun, whatever… domani, domani, domani, you're all Catholics now. That's what this is about.

See, if it was about "religious freedom" those very same people would say, "We don't want your government money." What's that? You don't hear them talking about how they'll leave all that juicy, juicy tax money behind so that they can remain pure to their faith?

And here I will point out the the very same people who cry that religions can separate their mission money from their church funds and that the two aren't related are also the ones who talk about how even with Planned Parenthood having separate bank accounts and business structures (and in some countries, having completely separate corporate identities sharing facilities) that you can't really separate out those funds because any money that goes to the good will and health services also free up funds/help pay the rent of the abortion side of businesses.

So, that's fine. You want to keep your "religious freedom" to enforce your will on people who aren't of your faith? Stop taking government money.

Also notice they're not decrying coverage for those other medical procedures (vasectomy, etc), or coverage for viagra, or really any of the other things that also violate their "religious freedoms" (well, they don't see it that way, because they benefit men), just abortion and the pill. Because they want a government that gets out of your personal business, doesn't get between you and your doctor (and God), and is a government that's smaller. Just small enough to fit inside women's uteruses (see also Personhood Bills)

So, that this is about "religious freedom" is a bunch of bull. This is about keeping power over women by regulating their reproduction. This is about not wanting to live in modern society because it's all icky and people have to share. It's about convincing you that some people are more equal than others.

Linkee-poo wondered what that fishy smell was all about

The new "Brave" trailer. Which is cool on several levels, not the least of which is the attention to detail on the final, slow-mo, arrow release. That's exactly how an arrow behaves as it leaves the bow (it actually curves around the bow toward the direction of the release hand). That jigs up the computer animation geek in me (I used to do this stuff back when we computed wearing bear skins and wielded flint knives). And since I'm touting the realism, yes, how far in the arrow strikes violates the law of thermodynamics (energy of release is the same for all the arrows, it appears, but the arrow that would lose energy by the friction of splitting the last arrow wouldn't embed farther into the target than the other arrows she shot).

Kameron Hurley on gender equality in SF/F. She makes a lot of very good points about "okay, you may have an 'equality' of m/f characters, but have you thought about the consequences of a fully equitable society." Worldbuilding, it ain't for the faint of heart. For some reason I'm queueing into the Big Bang Theory in-story-game "Counterfactuals."

The Night Witches, the Soviet women pilots of WWII, and why women in combat can be scarier than men. Also, more ammo against the "women can't be in combat" moronic statements. (Grokked from Rae Carson)

Because sometimes winning is more that what the final numbers turn out to be. (Grokked from Random Michelle)

Aging eyes and how they affect the circadian rhythms. Just in case anyone is still beset by the notion of "intelligent design" or "man apart from nature." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Colonoscopies save lives. Have them early and often. Or something like that. (Making light of a serious issue, sorry) And yeah, I'm getting to that point in my life. (Grokked from Jay Lake… whose connection to both issues shouldn't require any more explanation)

Tweet of my heart:
@dysolution Ask your doctor if conservative religious dogma-based social policy is right for you.

Linkee-poo has got three passports, a couple of visas, and doesn't even know its real name

Yes, I saw JK Rowling is coming out with another book. No, I haven't looked at the stories enough to have an opinion. At first blush I'm struck with, "Well, yeah, she's a writer. Of course she's publishing another book with another publisher (sounds like her choice in this case)." And the alternate thought of "Those who obtain great fame sometimes wonder if they're a one trick pony. Note the number of superb rock bands who reform only to have mediocre second careers (wither Van Halen?)."

Amazon abuses its market position in ebooks? Shocked, shocked I am to find out… No, not really. Remember, it's Google's motto to "Do No Evil." Amazon's has always been, "To crush your enemies. See them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." (Grokked from Jay Lake) Also, here's a Authors Guild article on Amazon. I haven't fully read it (it's kinda long and I'm still bustin' a groove at work), but they don't seem too kindly to Amazon bringing out the 800lb gorilla tactics. (Grokked from Jim Hines)

If you're scratching your head about why the commerce department is releasing new online privacy guidelines, you need to listen to last night's Terry Gross' interview with Joseph Turow. I have a lot to say about it, but for the sake of brevity I'll just say I sometimes like to screw with companies following me. Heck, after the Patriot Act was passed I spent a year selecting what items to check out the library in an order to embed coded message to anybody who may check. Also, lots of stuff I surf to online, I do for research (yeah, that's what the kids call it these days) and because I'm looking up info for other people. What I love is that because I buy gifts for my wife, but don't request "gift wrapping" or anything like that, I get very strange recommendations and targeted ads. I'd really hate to see how they silo me. (Noted on some mailing lists I'm "Mrs. Stephen Buchheit", yeah, not so much in real life)

For your world building pleasure, the Tibetan treat of sha momos. "Though most Tibetans are Buddhists… they are also great lovers of meat, and sha momos are the unofficial national dish." That's because Tibetan Buddhism is not only considered the "parent" branch (adopted from neighboring India), but it is also a practical branch of Buddhism. And there are several stories in Tibetan tradition where the Buddha ate meat (mostly because it was already prepared, and to refuse would dishonor the sacrifice of the animal). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Remember when I said that the difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives never give up until they have it all their way? Yeah, I wasn't kidding. That the Mississippi legislature saying, "Okay, if we specifically address all those issues the opposition pointed out that sunk our personhood bill last year, will you pass it this year?"

Stochastic computing? Why am I thinking, "OMG, we have the Finite Improbability Engine." I kept waiting to see where you plugged the hot tea in. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

In case you didn't see Jon Stewart's take down of the Virginia Vaginal Ultra-Sound before Abortion Bill, there's a link to it. Why do conservatives worry that Obamacare will get between you and your doctor, because that's how they would do things. And let us not forget, the conservatives are the party of Chicken Little.

Hey, here's a NYTimes article on that comment I made the other day about conservatives being all against government handouts, but always make sure they're first in line to get theirs. Much of which wouldn't be necessary if we had actual income parity for the past 3 decades, or say a real minimum wage, instead of seeing incomes for all but the top 15% stagnate and a minimum wage that is guaranteed to keep you in poverty. "Many people say they are angry because the government is wasting money and giving money to people who do not deserve it. But more than that, they say they want to reduce the role of government in their own lives. They are frustrated that they need help, feel guilty for taking it and resent the government for providing it. They say they want less help for themselves; less help in caring for relatives; less assistance when they reach old age." Hey, here's the thing, you have to apply for government aid (even Social Security). If you don't want it, don't apply for it. Of course, it much more about "those undeserving people" getting it than it is about the "good people" getting help. The word they're having problems with is "hypocrisy" and the major conflict is reality banging hard against their preconceived notions. To correct for this problem requires a reality test and a world view adjustment. And that is much more than most people can bear.

Linkee-poo would never give you up for Lent

With the overdose of politics yesterday, I'm on the wagon today.

Noted with a birthday coming up in a few months, the trebuchet toaster. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)

One of the old writers' tricks to find awkward sentences is to read the manuscript out loud. I'll admit I'm a little shy about doing this (although I know I shouldn't be). When I read and write, I do hear the words in my head, but I know that I'm hearing the words I meant to type, not what I actually typed. Jay Lake is trying out something interesting by having the computer read his text back to him. Hmmm, I might have to try that.

One of the reasons why people who pirate (who actually use what they pirated) pirate. I probably would have fit the word "pirate" in there one more time, but I had to go to the bathroom. (Grokked from Absolute Write)

Jim Hines talks about one of those problems with epublishing. I read the screed from the mentioned author about how wonderful Amazon is to authors and had the same thought. Which is why I didn't link to it, even to make fun of it. There was just no point to try and correct people who are so far up in the kool-aid they don't know what color it is. But the all the arguments are about the same thing, if you publish though Amazon, Amazon is your publisher. And they can do whatever they want with your book and you can't say squat. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me. This is like marrying those Terms of Service Agreements with contractual law. Somewhat good when you're using a service, somewhat bad when that service uses you.

Well, of course I'd think about it for charity's sake. The 5K Run for Your Life, Zombie Obstacle Course. Some people will do anything for a good zombie tie-in. And the chance to get muddy. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Jurassic Park meets Day of the Triffids. A 32,000 year old seed cache gets germinated. What could go wrong?

Tobias Buckell links to an article about how brainstorming doesn't work. I've seen it work both ways, but here's the difference for what we're talking about. Brainstorming doesn't work for everything. In this case, what the research shows isn't that brainstorming doesn't work, but that it doesn't work for problem solving. Brainstorming (when done well) does work in a creative atmosphere where the concept is to generate open-ended ideas (the opposite of solving problems). For problem solving, there's multiple variables that are dependent on each other. In that case, yes, brainstorming is the wrong approach. The main issue here is that "brainstorming works for this, it must be great for everything." And here you can substitute "brainstorming" with any popular business fad (teams, cross-pollination, etc). At my last job one of the final business trends we tried was "Lean Manufacturing." If you've worked in the past decade, you're probably familiar with that term. It's the hot thing. But it doesn't work everywhere. In fact, where it does work is a pretty small segment of business. But that doesn't mean that everybody and their kid sister isn't trying to incorporate it's philosophies into all their businesses, including the one sector that it absolutely doesn't work at all - the service sector. I have either issues with some of the further statements, that what we're seeing here is the pendulum changing its arch, but that would require a full article. However, I do recommend you read the article because there actually is a lot of good stuff in there.

A new study shows that kids who don't conform to society's gender roles are at higher risk of abuse. (Grokked from Jay Lake) And that "The abuse is most often perpetrated by parents or other adults in the household…". Quelle surprise. Even though "… children are likely to display a wide variety of behaviors that have no connection to their future sexual orientation: 85% of gender-non-conforming children in the study were heterosexual in adulthood." Again, quelle surprise. Then there is this NPR Story (hopefully they will fix the transcript soon) on the rise in Gender Identity Disorder. The diagnosis of which is escalating (mostly because of media attention and over-worried parents). Look, even in my decades old intro to psychology class we learned that before puberty, kids try on different identities, including those of the opposite sex. But because society is now hyper-vigilant of "zomg, they have teh gay" parents are freaking the fuck out, IMHO. Hell, when I was young, it was a major thing that I was left handed, because it "wasn't normal." Sometimes I wonder if it's not better to go back to the times of "mother's little helper." If we create a society that is accepting and tolerant, and teach our children to respond that way, these things wouldn't be an issue.

The end of Moore's Law. (Pointed to by John)

On eating a gluten free diet when you don't have celiac disease. This article is nominally about, "it's all in your head." But here it shows some of the limits of science. "…many of these patients may be told by their doctors that they have 'gluten sensitivity' or 'nonceliac gluten intolerance', newish disorders that are frequently made after celiac has been ruled out. The trouble is, according to the authors of the paper, experts don’t agree on a standard definition for this sort of condition, and there’s no reliable way to test for it… Gluten is a component of the more complex protein mixture… As a consequence, it cannot be considered the sole agent responsible for functional symptoms in persons who eat bread and pasta, and other [starchy] proteins…" What the paper's authors are saying is, "We don't have the tests to show this is a disease. And since we haven't tested it, it could be any one of those other components of the gluten containing foods that's causing your problems (if you really have those problems to begin with). There's the blind spot, which more than likely won't be resolved. Because who is going to pay for the double-blind research to show that there are people who have problems with gluten, but don't have celiac disease? That's a lot of money (because you'll have to isolate the problems to the gluten, not just removing the complex proteins that include gluten). The gluten-free food industry won't (even though they would benefit), because they only have to hint at it's possibility to increase sales. There's no drug being tested to help, so pharma won't test it. And finally, nobody is dying, and we have other problems that are causing people to die and that's where the national institutes will spend their (ever decreasing) money. This is the same thing as "vitamins don't help", or "Omega-3s are snake oil" and "herbals can't possibly do anything (unless they interfere with other pharmaceuticals)." From a scientific standpoint, you need to take those positions, because all there are (in accepted literature to the US Health System) is anecdotal evidence. The last paragraph of the article is basically, "even if your patients 'say' they 'feel better' with a gluten free diet, unless there's observable evidence (diarrhea, emesis, and rashes), it's all in their head." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo, it's a celebration

You know, when Eric is bored, he finds some neat stuff to keep the rest of us entertained. I say we should mount an expedition to keep Eric's life boring.

Remember when Iceland was imploding into the sea? Yeah, not so much anymore. Look, it's another real world example of how austerity measures aren't the appropriate response to recession. Not like anybody will really ever believe it, though. (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)

How money changes us. And not in the way I described yesterday, but research showing that having money (or thinking about it) makes us less generous, less empathetic, and less likely to help or seek help from others. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

On privilege. Or, "privilege is not a synonym for douchebag." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

You know, when I was young we used to lock up nutbags like this. But now that most of the state hospitals/asylums are closed, they run for office on the GOP ticket. Dear Bob Morris, Um, you're comment about "after talking to some well-informed constituents, I did a small amount of web-based research…" can be pretty well summed up and demised with "echo chamber" and "any crackpot can create a website". You, sir, are a tool. Might want to see to that. I'll have to research if someone is running against you in the next election. I may need to make a donation. On the plus side, my Girl Scout Cookie order just arrived today. I many need to buy a few more boxes of Do-si-dos.

And to the point above, is it becoming clearer that the conservative movement is anti-female (let alone antifeminist)? You know; abortion, birth control, pre-natal screening and amniocenteses, and finally, the Girl Scouts. What's next, requiring women wear skirts? Oo, maybe hoop-skirts. Yeah, that's the ticket.

'Rhut 'rho 'raggy. You know all that bullshit debatable crap worldview things I've been talking about with the GOP primary? You know, wondering just what place these people have been living for the past 4 years to come up with some of the shit comments they say? Yeah, more proof the world isn't how conservatives see it.

Whiy is the right-wing so concerned about "left-wing agendas" and "Sharia law supplanting the Constitution"? Because that's what they want (only with the right-wing agenda and Biblical law supplanting the Constitution). That's an article on Rick Santorum promoting the belief that because of "Creation" God wants us to pillage the Earth, and he'll make it all right. I'm reminded of the Robin Williams routine where Jesus comes back to earth, "I gave you a nice planet and you fucked it up."

I don't know, Senator Lugar, why don't you pull your license out of your wallet and check which address is on it? Hint to soon to be former Senator Lugar, state DMV records are public. How long do you think it will take for someone to realize you falsified your application? I know, you can say that you just haven't thought about it every time you've updated the license for the past 3 decades. Yeah, that should work.

"'I’m against very wealthy ­people attempting to or influencing elections,' Adelson says, 'but as long as it's doable I’m going to do it.'" And that, my friends, is pretty much the conservative mind set. Against earmarks but they're the most egregious perpetrators. Against social program spending but always first in line to get theirs. Against the stimulus, but worked hard to get as much of that dough to their constituencies. All for cutting wasteful spending, until that means the military base in their back yard.

Look, the GOP sees things that aren't there, believes things that have been disproved, can't let go of a damaging belief, believe in wacky mythologies, and and postponing the hard decisions. If this were therapy, it would mean a long, intensive course of intervention.

Tweet of my heart:
@shunn: Graffito at Foster & Winthrop: "I'll believe that corporations are people when Texas executes one."

The State of Steve

Sorry for not posting today. I actually have the day off, one of the benefits of working for a government contractor (actually, the long story is that it was our Good Friday off, but then that was broken out to be a floating holiday, which became cumbersome to manage, so they just choose Presidents Day). And I though I was going to get a lot done. There were some household chores that needed to be done. I did get those done. Then there was some homework. Which I didn't think would take too long, but ended up soaking up the rest of the day. So I didn't get to the writing parts I had wanted.

One of the things that was also supposed to happen today was to close on a refinance of the house. The papers they sent on Friday, however, were dated for Friday. And banks are also closed today, so we couldn't do that. We're refinancing to get a lower rate. While the rate we are getting isn't the lowest out there, it is actually a second mortgage which means the cost is zero. So while we're paying a full percentage point higher than what we could get, because there are no costs we stand to save an extra $2500. As you know, Bob, we're paying off our loan faster than our schedule (if you can afford to do it early, it really is a great deal). Right now we're looking at another 5 years of payments (if we can keep to our same monthly rate of paying). Now, with the lower rate we would have shaved off almost a full year and saved around $4000, but it was going to cost us $3000 to do that. So final savings would have been around $1000 (if we could keep to payments). One of the goals was to get lower minimum payment as we head into the reboot where I will be going to school full time (in a year or two). So having a lower monthly minimum would be a big help if it comes down to it. So with the higher percentage, we only gain a month and a half of possible payments, and we're only saving around $3500. But because there's no costs involved, all that is ours. And the minimum monthly payment is only $20 more.

On the health side of things, I gained around 12 lbs over the holidays. So far it's been rough getting it off, but I think I'm on a good curve downward now. Although when I did my weigh in last week I was still 4 lbs heavier than my last one. Whoops. I've had a cold for the past week, and that's been knocking me down as well. I eventually had to go and beg for the Sudefed behind the counter to help dry up the head (H1 blockers, yeah!). The calf muscle continues to get better. I think I'm going to try going without the brace this week. I'm still using a cane when I'm out, but not in the house (yes, I should, but it's a pain in the ass, and I don't walk around all that much at home). The worse thing, however, is my pinched nerve is acting up. More than likely it's flared up from being twisted around at work by trying to elevate the leg and having been moved to an office to work on uber Top Secret project. Plus being on the phone with the boss for a few hours before saying, "Hell, I'm in an office, I'll put this on speaker." It's still strange to feel pain in my shoulder and arm, but know the actual problem is in my vertebra.

I really hate that pain, btw. It's difficult to get into a comfortable position. Also, the therapy I'm using is a cervical tension devise which isn't much fun (especially with a stuffed up nose, and the chin strap pretty much keeps the mouth closed).

And then there's that project at work. I can't talk about it too much, but let's just say that the stress is driving me crazy. Not to mention that it's not like I don't already have a metric ton of work to do, most of which is already late. Sigh. This being the only designer in a half billion dollar company (which means there should be 3 of us, at least) is starting to drag a little.

And finally we come to the writing, of which there has been a paltry amount of words since the beginning of the year. Between work, commute, classes, chores, etc there has been little time left for me. I could probably scrap out a few hours in the week, but I find myself just mindlessly watching TV. Only when it's time to go to bed do I think, "Damn, I should have been writing just then." And then I forget the next time. Sigh. Must. Get. Back. In. Groove. So, I've moved the laptop to the table. Hopefully this will be a reminder to work on the writing. I wrote a lot of Bladesman at the table. And that's where I am now (having finally finished the homework).

Sorry for the typos (of which I'm sure there's more than a few). I was also using this entry as a test bed. One, it's been about 10 minutes to type all this. And I typed it directly into the blogger interface (which I haven't done for ages). So the good news is that I can get words out. Now I just need to directed them toward the WIP.

So that's me. Hope you all have been faring better.

Linkee-poo after taxes

M.K. Hobson on publishing and permission and outlining the fear that assails me all the time. I'm very money focused. Right now I consider the writing an expensive hobby. And as such, I know there are times I could dedicate to writing, but because I haven't actually been published, yet, my brain equates "no money = not important". So that's an extra hurdle I need to get over. I know once I see money coming in, that barrier will drop (the same thing happened with design freelance - which is why i have two "free" design projects that I haven't even started on). However I do know that not writing will never get me to the point of making money with it. And, yes, I know the money in publishing isn't great (especially in genre), but even a little makes a big difference (in my head). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Nic Alderton on how to write a novel. And how to write a great novel. Yep, that's pretty much it. (Grokked from Joe Hill)

Jennifer Cruise on the writer's trick of changing POV from first to third and back again. I've only done that for small bits of text to figure out how they're not working (or could work better). If I had to do that with a whole novel, I think I'd go insane. For me, the choice of POV is very intimate with the story. Trying to write the story in the wrong POV would be excruciating.

Shelf-Conscious. On the history of shelves, publishing, and our personal relationship with books. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

There's so many things I could say about this. It seem strange that even at this late date there are still people who believe the this Protocol of the Elders crap. Or that more people really ought to learn Wheaton's Law. Or the fact that Neil Gaiman is a class act (and one of the reasons why we love his stuff). (Grokked from so many people I felt I needed to link to it myself)

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab gets life in prison. And that sound you hear from the GOP is crickets. Look, it's another proof that our civilian courts are very capable to handle terrorism cases. You know, like everyone who isn't trying to keep you scared to get your vote has already said. Terrorism is a war of perception. Treat them specially with military courts and trials and you give them legitimacy and power. Try them in civilian courts and you send the message that 1) our democracy is strong and 2) you're just common criminals, nothing special. Oh, and did I forget to mention that his case pretty much shows that Anwar al-Aulaqi was a legitimate target.

Another proof that social conservatives aren't really conservatives at all. An AF procurement program had the motto (in latin) of "Doing God's Work With Other People's Money." Well, it sounds better in latin. Apparently someone pointed out this Constitutionally questionable motto and the department changed it to "Doing Miracles With Other People's Money." A "conservative" representative is incredibly upset about this removal of God from the public sphere, but not so upset about the "spending other people's money" part. You will know the true measure of people by their actions, not their words. (Grokked from Sheila)

Why patriarchal men are utterly petrified of birth control. While I disagree with some of the history and sexual politics in the article, yeah, pretty much that. As I've said before, the anti-abortion movement isn't about abortion, it's about feminism. (Grokked from Rae Carson)

Just when you though that after the GW Bush administrations assault on science was ended, here rise the anti-science lobbyists. This is one of the things that worries me the most about another conservative presidency (and all the candidates of the GOP have bought on to the anti-science movement), that within my lifetime we will have gone from landing on the moon to rejecting overwhelming scientific evidence and pillorying those who try to tell us the truth. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

Santorum's gospel of inequality. And people sometimes wonder when I say that listening to the GOP primary debates and speeches, I am left wondering what reality these people live in. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo Saturday

A way to navigate e-books that's more like how we do regular books. Not completely convinced of its effectiveness, there's a lot of clues that come in from flipping pages on a real book that I'm not sure you'd get with this. Now if they could only simulate browsing in a bookstore. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Rachel Aaron on pacing, the three act structure, and keeping tension.

What price freedom. Chuck Wendig on giving away free ebooks. Ken McConnell also shares his experience.

On being a panster or not. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Dan sends some cool iPhone candy. (there's 3 links in there)

Vertical chicken farms. Um, yeah, I don't think they understand the problem correctly. I originally thought the article was going into the "and this is the absurd conclusion of current practices," but I think they're being serious in this proposal. Which leads me to ask, "WTF is wrong with these people?" Look, I'm an omnivore, although lately I'll admit I haven't wanted steak (mostly because the fat levels have gotten to high). And I understand the need to slaughter animals for their food. But that proposal (besides having a few biological hurdles that probably won't be over come) is just down-right sickening and unethical. I'd rather eat vat grown meat (which is meat cancer, if I haven't explained that before). (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)

In case you wanted to know what real child indoctrination looks like.

Ah, the do as we say not as we did conservative stance.

Linkee-poo get ready for the Nyquill

Rick Santorum is practically the definition of "google bomb." And now you know why. It's a wonder that it hasn't happened to the whole damn GOP presidential field. (Grokked from Vince)

Yeah, the Tea Party's grass roots millionairs.

The top 10 low point of Darrell Issa's contraception panel. "6. Having to watch a mostly male group of religious zealots try to impose 19th-century views on contraception on American women and girls." that pretty much says it all, doesn't it. Here's the thing that most progressive miss, when conservatives are soundly defeated and shown to be on the wrong side of history we think the issue is settled. For conservatives (especially social conservatives) issues are never settled. They just hold a grudge and wait for everybody to go home to hold their votes in the dark. (Grokked from AbsoluteWrite)

For those youngsters out there, want to know just how fucked up the Cold War was? We tested launching an ICBM from a C5 Galaxy. If you don't know what those acronyms mean, we proved we could launch a an over the pole, low orbit, nuclear missile out the back of a flying truck. Just because we could. Not like we didn't already have land fixed, mobile, and submarine based launch systems. And in the 70s we were looking at tactical nukes in Germany, England, and Turkey.

John Scalzi fairly well makes the point about the 1%. Yes, they do have a wide variance in that 1%, but even the bottom 1% of the top 1% is doing better than 99% of all of us. So bitching that you can't get beluga caviar on alternate Wednesdays, or that the "keeping up with the Joneses" is killing your $1000 a month wine budget, yeah, not going to get a lot of sympathy. And really, I don't mind that your rich. I don't envy your money (or the social cliche you move in, I have enough exposure to that that I don't think a thousand washings could take care of). But if I have to "pay my share" and "tighten my belt" to get by, maybe you should also suck it up, Buttercup.

Jim Wright does a much better job summing up the current GOP primary than I could. Frankly I think you'll get drunk faster and longer using Jim's game than by taking a shot every time Patrick Stewart does the Picard Maneuver in a STNG rewatch.

Proof that Irony is alive and well in Ohio

"(Ohio Governor) Kasich said (to Ohio Small Bankers), 'we need you to start raising hell with people who say they want the economy to grow at the same time they're choking off the capital'… The Republican governor encouraged the room to descend upon Washington with signs, the march around the Capitol… 'I'm not asking you to go sleep in some park somewhere,'… The 'sleep' remark drew laughter. 'But we laugh,' Kasich said. 'People sleeping in a park have gotten more attention from more elements in America than you ever would've imagined.'" And "Kasich tells bankers to start carrying signs that say 'let our people go' and march around the capital."

Okay, one, how to miss the argument completely. And two, okay, I'd pay to see that circus. If only to gather them in one place to throw tomatoes. Our governor, proud sponsor of the Million Millionaires March. And oh those silly OWS people, camping out in the parks. Why, they got more attention than the little people deserve!

Let have our chauffeurs drive us to the capital and we'll have them honk the horns as we shout out of electric, shaded windows to get the people out of our way of fleecing helping the little people. And then we can wave our empty champaign glasses at them like some seriously overhung New Year's Eve revelers.

Okay, I understand that most small bankers aren't like that. And while they may not be the 1%, they are mostly in the top 10%. I just can't wait to see them all camping out, singing "Kumbaya" while they have au pairs making smores for the kids, and having meal delivered from the better restaurants.

There I go again.

Most people agree that the banking reforms the government put into place some two and a half years after the self-inflicted banking meltdown are pretty toothless. There's only one exception, the CFPB. And you'll remember who tried to stop that from coming about until the President agreed to water it down too. Fortunately the President decided to do a recess appointment to get the ball rolling.

Dear Gov. Kasich, Reality is calling on line 2. Might want to pick up.

Where's Steve

Sorry. Sick. Noon doctor's appointment. Rush jobs at work. Alligator quotient is "drowning." Hopefully more later today, tonight, and maybe over the weekend. Hope all your weeks are going better than mine.