Linkee-poo is before its time

I'm going to post this linkee-poo early, I was saving it for Monday. This is for several reasons. Because of clinicals I've been punting on the Friday posts and because it's getting very long. This coming week is Finals, so I'm going to be a little distracted this week. Also I'm trying to figure out how to make Spring Semester and 16 hours of clinicals work with classes and putting in a 40 hours week at the day thing. Which is giving me freakouts over the future of 32 hours in the Summer and 24 hours of clinicals next Fall and Spring. When I started this I thought I had the effort in me. Right now I'm not so sure.

As the negative reviews of the Hobbit start coming in, Peter Jackson releases more footage and materials from the movies to counter act them (there's a video on that guardian page that collect 6 clips from the movie, somewhat long clips). (Grokked from Mrs. Tad)

Sea silk. More proof that the world we live in is stranger than we think. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Have you ever tried to have an idea. Any idea at all, with a gun to your head? This is the daily reality for the creative drone. And when he’s done, sometime in the wee small hours, he then has to face his two harshest critics. Himself, and everyone else." A post called "A short/overdue lesson in perspective." That perspective is of a lifetime in the advertising profession (of which I work in a very closely related field) from someone now facing cancer and forced to drop from the race. Their career started before mine, I came in in those crazy 90s, so I didn't have that time of "the creative process", although that's what I studied in school. Now nearing if not the end of that career, at least the twilight edge of it, oh yes this. Including the saddest statement of all in that essay, that even now there is no lack for bright-young-things coming in who have no clue what they're really signing up for. I've had two "dream" jobs in this business, and both were built on that premise of, "but we allow you to be so creative, why do you want to be paid money for it?" and that concept of "competition." I've also missed a lot in life, many times I should have been home but instead was working on something that just doesn't matter, trading my health (physical and mental) for baubles. This, or something like it, should be required reading in design school. (Grokked from Xeni)

On a slightly related note to the above, some creatives do get it, do know their value, and aren't willing to be guilted or manipulated in a passive-aggressive manner to do excellent work for peanuts. In this case attempting to get John Scalzi to write for you for free. And for anyone that cares, yeah, we designers get those types of requests all the time.

The Keep Calm-o-matic. It seems amazing to me how much this WWII Blitz poster has become a meme in the past year. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The CNBC Holiday Tipping Guide. You know what would be better than tipping for, say, your garbage collectors? Paying them a decent salary to begin with. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

The sworn virgins of the Blakans. Some more fodder for your world building experiences. To say nothing of the intense social commentary on the positions of women in the patriarchal Western Culture. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Know why there's all that regulation that is "stifling business innovation"? Because the industries that are being innovated have existing players that want it that way. And they're willing to donate big to make sure it stays that way. It's a legal form of corruption. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)

You know all the talk here in Ohio about fracking not affecting groundwater and how it's all safe and everything? Well in Colorado they're starting to think a little differently because of their longer experience with drilling. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

A story on NPR about the increasing acidification of the worlds oceans as they continue to act as a buffer for our pumping out CO2. The canaries are starting to keel over in more noticeable numbers and places. In this case the oyster trade is being put in peril. See, acidic waters dissolve shellfish calcium based shells and exoskeletons. But now the pH has dropped enough that it's killing oysters outright. Most humans don't think about things like this, but we're also susceptible to these problems. We miss it because our bodies are normally pretty good at keeping homeostasis. But once we tip over (for pH and temperature, not to mention some other chemicals balances like where you have salt accumulations), death quickly follows (look at the tables of how long you can last in near freezing water without a survival suit). And here is the problem with buffers, they continue to absorb whatever they buffer at a good rate, until they become saturated. And then the absorption drops precipitously. So the ocean is taking in CO2, which is keeping it from increasing the greenhouse effect. Now it's pH is dropping, which means it's approaching saturation.

"It isn’t just the Conservative entertainment complex that is driving the GOP to ever more ridiculous and preposterous positions, the Conservative scam-PACs are demanding the same… To get eyeballs glued to the screen, and to liberate cash from wallets, Fox News and the GOP PACs need a continuous state of political crisis… GOP politicians must know that they are going to lose this game, but if you can lose and get an $8m payout, then is it really losing at all?" Well, all that money has got to go somewhere. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"At heart Fox News remains a business where the bottom line is just as important, if not more so, than the political line. And in a second Obama term, there is still a rich vein of conservative anger to be mined among core viewers." A leopard can't change it's spots, but it can wear a coat for a while. (Grokked from Mrs. Tad)

Bryan Fischer with Barack the Destroyer. Wasn't that the Conan movie people don't remember going to see? Okay, I'm just wondering when this fruit-loop will find his "one step to far" moment. Either that or we should take up a collection for tag and release of the wackaloons. Or maybe use the tranquilizer darts for remote administration of Prozac. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

One Million Moms again shows that what conservatives are really upset with concerning gay spokespeople and marriage is that it doesn't allow them to deny that gay people exist. In this case the AFA's overly optimistically named One Million Moms Movement is upset that JC Penny had the audacity to use Ellen DeGeneres on a holiday ad. I guess all five of those families' kids will be getting Chick-fil-A gift certificates in their stockings this year. (Grokked from Vince)

"Boehner is a man riding a proverbial tiger in the tax issue; it could consume his speakership if he gets it wrong for the country and/or his party. But Obama’s got his own problems with left-wing irreconcilables in his own party." An article supposedly on how GOP politics are unravelling, but it pretty clearly states out some of the political issues over the financial cliff. And I agree that preogressives maybe gleeful a bit prematurely. The GOP has a lot of experience of nearly unraveling and then refocusing on the hard right and reforming. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart: @johnjbarry: @neilhimself Why are people talking about 'the' meaning of a story? As if stories have only one. Every person gets their own one...

Weekend Linkee-poo saw the Buddha open up his eyes one Sunday morning

Because, when you're in to hockey, you're into hockey. A DYI Zamboni for those DIY backyard rinks. (Pointed to by Dan)

Pantone announces the color of the year for 2013. It's emerald in case you don't want to click through. Start your plans to pain your house now.

The Santa Lie. Maybe it's his relationship to Zwarte Piet?

"In a stomach turning display, Republican senators, each in turn, stopped to pay their respects to Dole before the vote as he sat there weak and shrunken in his wheelchair on the Senate floor, and the malignant disgusting hypocrisy of it all just completely escaped them." Jim Wright on the the conservatives disgracing our country this past week by voting down the international treaty written by one of their own. Seriously, what kind of fucktards did conservatives send to the Senate anyway. Just when I think they can't get any lower, they go spelunking to find whole new depths of sociopathy.

And then there's the plethora of ideas for how the GOP can move forward. I say at this point, set it on fire and leave it on the Heritage Foundation's doorstep. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Sucks when you point out the logical inconsistencies that exist in the conservative world. In this case, if you write a memo that shows how the free market jargon doesn't quite jive with strengthening and lengthening copyright you'll be shown the door. (Pointed to by Dan)

Getting my geek on

Who is Benedict Cumberpatch in Start Trek Into Darkness?

From the press release with the trailer:

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.

And here's a link to the trailer with screen grabs for giggles.

Well, money had been on Gary Mitchell or Khan. I have a feeling it's neither.

First off, we're told the character is canon (that is, he's in the original Star Trek Universe). But, in the new time line, Gary Mitchell has already been killed in the comic (and the comic has been declared canon, unlike the Original Animated Series). Although, without seeing how they did it in the comic, I don't know if it's possible for a demigod to return. Gary certainly would be "a one man weapon of mass destruction" and might be back to settle however he was killed. Gary would be able to bring down the fleet.

But, that would mean that the movies would rely pretty heavily on external material. Unless there's a flash back scene, but I have to admit even among fans of a certain age, not everyone remembers Gary Mitchell. So that would have to be one hell of a long flash back to bring everyone who hasn't read the comics (raises hand - hey, I have a life, okay, it's kinda busy right now) up to speed.

It could be Khan, which would fit the teaser about the homage to ST II in the Japanese version, which is slightly longer. It would also fit the spider jumpiness and the personalness of the violence. But then, Khan hasn't been discovered yet (although in the alternate timeline that part may be taking place with another ship, which Khan might have been able to take over). So he hasn't been stranded on Ceti Alpha V, it hasn't been blown into Ceti Alpha VI's orbit, so Khan's personal vengeance against Kirk hasn't developed (although he certainly carries a grudge against humanity which defeated him in the Eugenic Wars). But Khan is not "from within their own organization."

Trelane (the nascent Q)? Probably not. Again, not from within, and he would want play things.

Lazarus, Charley-X? The same thing. They're not from within. Captain Garth (Whom Gods Destroy)? Although certainly from within, and crazy, but not in that manner.

So, who could it possibly be? Well, I could see a path where it could be Khan, but I have a better answer, especially with the line in the Japanese extended trailer,"Is there anything you would not do to protect your family?"

It's Sybock, Spock's brother. The emotional Vulcan from the oft forgotten Star Trek V, Silliness at the Core. In the original timeline, Sybock takes the path of peace. As that's one path Vulcans can take. However, remember, Vulcan's nearly destroyed themselves in continuous wars until Surak taught them to revere logic and bury their emotions. With the destruction of Vulcan, Sybock may choose a different path from the history of Vulcan.

Although I'll put a side bet on Khan.

Some people forget it's a party

One of the favorites of my Xmas playlist.



Let's not be such strangers.

Linkee-poo, gunpowder, treason and plot

Now, you know I like Chuck Wendig's "25 things" posts. But I really like his 25 things he'd like to say to his 18-year-old self. A good list not just for writers, but for a lot of people. And when I was 18 I would have heard those words and thought I understood them. And I might need to read these a few more times.

Speaking of letters to young writers, you did see last Sunday's Doonesbury, right?

"Since there are eighty of you, and since I do not wish to go blind or kill somebody, about twenty pages from each of you should do neatly. Do not bubble. Do not spin your wheels. Use words I know." Kurt Vonnegut assigns a term paper for the Iowa Writers Workshop. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Some more on Snorri inventing Norse Mythology. This time with the birth of poetry. There's another about how the gods got their treasure and Loki's lips were sewn shut.

The Star Trek Into Darkness teaser trailer surfaces.

Using Leap Motion (motion capture device and software) to make an Air Harp. Okay, not great music, buy an interesting concept. I wonder how this will change the Air Guitar Championships? And where's my air theremin? (Pointed to by Dan)

Somewhat related to Jim Hine's pose-off for charity, this photographer takes self portraits in awkward positions and surreal settings. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Think Steampunk is so retro? There's a new dirigible in town. (Pointed to by Dan)

Animation of the night side of Earth rotating. Okay, what if I tell you it uses actual images of Earth and not CGI? Now your psyched.

Want to know just how weird and adaptable life is? How about catfish that temporarily beach themselves to catch pigeons? The two other species listed in the article with similar behavior I will just remind everyone are not fish, but mammals. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

The dog muzzle for people who really wanted a duck.

Apple plans to bring some of their iMac production back to the US. (Pointed to by Dan)

"People just like John Boehner created such a fantastical bogeyman that there is now no way, no way, for them compromise with that same bogeyman without admitting that they were wrong, that they just made it all up, that they were just using the stupid and the ignorant and the fearful to bolster their own power." Jim Wright is wise, as is his wont.

Gee, all those GOP Senators frothing at the mouth denouncing Ambassador Rice we're cosponsors of a Senate resolution denouncing the Benghazi attack using the exact same language they're criticizing the ambassador of using. Funny that. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"… earlier analysis by the IMF staff suggests that… fiscal multipliers (for austerity measures) were near 0.5… during the three decades leading up to 2009. If the multipliers underlying the growth forecasts were about 0.5, as this informal evidence suggests, our results indicate that multipliers have actually been in the 0.9 to 1.7 range since the Great Recession." Bugger. Actually the IMF report is basically saying, "we based that 0.5 on several other things, all of which didn't happen." Who would have thought? You know, like everyone that lives in the reality economy. (Grokked from Charlie Stross)

Here's an interesting little thing, Anonymous quashes attempt by Karl Rove and others from stealing the President Election. I remember the controversy around the 2004 election and how the results came in (and the reports of the server crash at 11:14pm). Also King Lincoln v. Blackwell and the plane crash and death of Michael Connell. After that reporting on the story went underground. And the pre-election video of Anonymous warning Karl Rove does exist, as do all the players and the setup. So there are kernels of truth in there and it fits a narrative, but does that make the whole story true? The only way to be sure would be forensic network analysis, a criminal investigation, or Anonymous releasing its information (hopefully to prosecutors as well as wiki leaks, and that they have the ability to verify the authenticity and admissibility of that information). But Karl Rove isn't the only conservative not dealing well with the election results. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Time sensitive linkee-poo

Continuing with the Jim Hines pose-off for charity, John Scalzi is soliciting your vote for his pose. I went for Taste of Night, but mostly because John has the legs to pull it off.

Holiday Thoughts

Every time Fox News says "War on Christmas" an elf gets capped. Just saying. Although, every time I hear it, this runs through my head.

Merry Xmas, ya all.

Linkee-poo has done no less, and sometimes pulled it off

Wow, it's really that late? One of these days I'll get closer to a schedule.

Chuck Sambuchino with some tips about how to start a novel as gleaned from comparing a novel to the movie "True Lies." What he doesn't say there is that this is a good POV setup (going inside out), but that you also don't want to fall into the "white room" trap either (that is, your character starts off in a place with no description). It's also a good way for a reader to get to know your world. Also, this explains the difference between visual and oral story telling (movies, TV, and radio/spoken word) versus textual story telling. It's how you get a reader into the story. With movies and TV you can get a quick world view and then give the view something interesting to hook them as the visuals will keep their interest. With reading you better get to the hook quickly and then you can widen your circle.

Chuck Wendig on how he writes a novel. As with all writing advice, pillage liberally. What doesn't work, throw over board.

Steve Gould's writing process as revealed in an interview with Cather Schaff-Stump.

Mochizuki Chiyome, the master of an all female ninja clan. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Dr. Doyle wants you to know your fire. There's a reason why it's called "making/building a fire." And while she doesn't talk about it, cooking over a fire is not like cooking on a gas stove or grill. There are some big differences between a cooking fire, a heating fire, and a fire for light.

New research on Stonehenge postulates that the larger sandstone horseshoe was constructed first, then the bluestones were brought in. Although the article misses a lot of related research on Stonehenge or realize it was a part of a whole complex of sites in the local area, or that before the stones were erected it was very possible Stonehenge was actually a woodhenge (of which Stonehenge is connected to a different woodhenge which may be part of the total complex of ritual sites). (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

A British company claims to have a new jet/rocket engine hybrid technology. Slightly dry article until you get to the "What the company has right now is a remarkable heat exchanger that is able to cool air sucked into the engine at high speed from 1,000 degrees Celsius to minus 150 degrees in one hundredth of a second." Bwa? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Just four years after the worst shock to the economy since the Great Depression, U.S. corporate profits are stronger than ever… But the record profits come at the same time that workers' wages have fallen to their lowest-ever share of GDP." Not to mention how real wages have continued to fall. Also note the absurdity near the end of the article about how "'It's not because bad capitalists are keeping all the money,' said (Robert Brusca, economist with FAO Research). He said that businesses with high labor costs have either gone under or moved offshore." You know, if the article wasn't discussing these numbers as a percentage of GDP he might be able to make a point. Let's see, so if corporate profits are up, but employment and wages are down, who is getting all that money? (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

"It’s really amazing to see political reporters dutifully passing along Republican complaints that President Obama’s opening offer in the fiscal cliff talks is just a recycled version of his old plan, when those same reporters spent the last year dutifully passing along Republican complaints that Obama had no plan. It’s even more amazing to see them pass along Republican outrage that Obama isn’t cutting Medicare enough, in the same matter-of-fact tone they used during the campaign to pass along Republican outrage that Obama was cutting Medicare." The article's title is "Let's pretend the GOP isn't full of it", which pretty much cuts to the chase. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Psychopaths. Fox News co-host laughs while discussing the deaths of kids. Sure, okay, he's laughing because he thinks he's making a point. It's the detachment from the subject that is disturbing. Also, an appalling lack of knowledge of both statistics and social context. What should be a question is why idiots like this are given a microphone in the first place (to go back to the Bob Costas point). I'd like to say this is unusual behavior, but having watched Fox News on and off (I have to admit, I usually can't stomach their BS for more than 10 minutes at a stretch), it's not. Oh, and Rush, you may want to check the statistics regarding spousal killings, not to mention the pandemic of spousal abuse. Fucker. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Say, like this dope who shot his girlfriend because she "refused to believe that it was realistic to worry about zombie attacks like those depicted on " the Walking Dead.

"During the first few years of the George W. Bush era, when there was still a surplus, they cut these taxes a few percentage points. These marginal tax rate cuts were never meant to be permanent; none of us who got them expected them to be. We always knew they’d one day return to the levels they were during the Clinton era." Unfortunately not everyone (::cough:: conservatives ::cough::) are as much of a mensch as George Takei. Nor do they have that good of a memory. (Grokked from Janiece)

Yep, we're boned. That's Juan Cole reporting on the Climate Conference in Qatar. Two things to take away from this, 1) thousand-year-long storms, just say that to yourself a few times and 2) things are still going bad even though with the Great Recession and the shale gas boom the USA actually met the Kyoto Accords by reducing emission of CO2 levels to 1990 status only 1 year after we would have had to by signing the accords. Climate deniers please note how the conversation has shifted from "if" to "yes, it's our fault" to "just how far pass 2 degrees C will we go". You're two arguments behind, again. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Turns out that not only do elections have consequences, so does being a dick to your employees. Papa Johns, Applebees, and the other companies that all went "Obamacare, boo hoo hoo, I'll stick it to my employees for not voting 'correctly'" are seeing their "Buzz", their market perception, drop. A lot. Now it remains to see if this affects their corporate profits or not (same question I have for Chik-fil-a, although as a private company, they don't have to divulge or be honest about their profits).

Tweet of my heart: @joe_hill: Here's a heart-warming video that captures the GOP's response to the UN disability rights treaty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oesSyvh76g

Alligator Quotient: Now they're hiding the clocks.

On a Tuesday Instead of a Thursday

Today was a pretty good day. Sure, the craziness of work took on a whole new flavor, there's a personal issue bugging the crap out of me, and I was playing Crabby Carl for most of it.

But then I also got 450 pretty damn good words on the ActualWIP. Turns out I had a prologue (which I'm calling a prelude because I'm musical). I didn't expect it and wasn't really looking for it at all. Then BAM there it was. It's pretty funny too. Throws you into not only the story but the tone of the work pretty quickly. Think Revelations meets "Life of Bryan" Sermon on the Mount scene with a side nod to both the Peanuts and Douglas Adams. I actually worked in the line, "This is not their story" which, you know, had me giggling through my clenched teeth all day. "Worked in" isn't exactly right. It was more like "wow, okay, here's all this going on and I'm at the end of the scene, how do I set this up for the start of the story? Oh, yeah. That's good. That works fantastically." Giggle, giggle, smirk.

While most of the words are golden, there's still enough holes in there. Things like "said (First Angel) to (Second Angel)," although not that clunky.

So over all, a good day.

Linkee-poo knows some who wander are lost

A Short Packed cartoon that somewhat explains what Jim Hines (and John Scalzi) is doing with with his "pose for fundraising" thing.

Just so you know the "ebook vs dead-tree book" debate isn't just being waged in writer/publisher circles. It's also something us designers discuss (with a slightly different focus).

Seven strange evolutionary experiments in prehistoric versions of modern day animals. Intelligent creator my Aunt Fanny. One of the things the Cracked writers miss is that evolution is not a "forward" process. And for those appearances to grow to the point they did they must have either provided an advantage or at least have not been disadvantageous. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Some people don't quite understand the trade off of "gated" communities. In the wake of Sandy, some private communities realize that they can't "do it all themselves." Strange that. Here's the thing, if you have private streets, private police, private sewers, then really, no you shouldn't get government rebuilding funds. That was the decision you made when you went into the gated community and made all those things private. That's the price of not allowing community access. Sucks sometimes, doesn't it. Understand my disdain is only for those "private" gated communities and not for those area associations. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

What happens when you keep cutting and cutting? Your infrastructure collapses from neglect. And the the bill to repair it is much, much higher than maintenance would have been. Trust me. It is far cheaper to resurface a road than to replace collapsing base because of water infiltration from a damaged road surface.

The Fore, Laughing Death, and mortuary practices. Obsetenly about the retirement of Dr. Michael Alpers, but a lot on his research in Papua New Guinea. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

A bus that uses the Tesla effect to charge as it goes. Well, actually, while it makes a stop. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Alligator Quotient: Are they on meth?

Linkee-poo is no place for a street fighting man

A quick set of links today for my woefully inadequate performance Friday and the weekend. BTW, my "to read" list is approaching a new high. Woohoo! Also, lab practical in 2 hours. Wish me luck.

Jim Hines is doing it again. In this case, he's mimicking cover poses of illustrated female characters to show just how ridiculous and non-sensical these things are. But this time, you have to give to get more poses. Don't worry, Jim's doing this as a fund raiser for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation (you can read about it on Jim's post). As an extra bonus, when Jim's fund raiser hits $1000 and $2500 John Scalzi will be joining him. You know, sometimes it's a wonder that I've come to know such mensches in my life.

Think scientists really aren't like those characters in the Big Bang Theory, and instead are especially dry and all logical? Here's a list of silly molecule names. Now, there's some explanations of how these are named for perfectly reasonable reasons, but if you think those are the only reasons you're fooling yourself. Do you really think the scientist who named Fucitol didn't giggle every time they wrote that or gave a presentation on it I don't think you're hanging out with the right scientists. (and, yeah, I'm sure they pronounced it "fook-it-ol", at least in polite company). (Pointed to by Dan)

One of the reasons gun sales soared after the re-election of Obama? Zombies. Don't forget to check out the the post hoc ergo propter hoc logic error in the last paragraph (violent crimes are declining everywhere, and have been since 1991, you know, before we allowed most every gun sale ban expire). As for "'intelligent' criminals know(ing) more people are packing", it's called escalation. Criminals may begin shooting first instead. (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)

Five tips for surviving the 'unrecognizable Earth' of the future. Some of them are just BS (IMHO) and doesn't count in the prospect of less potable water and crop collapse. Those will mitigate some of his predictions. (Grokked form Matt Staggs)

The Natural History of the European Werewolf. Long video. Will need to watch it later (but thought you might like the link before then). (Grokked from Chia Lynn)

Alligator Quotient: They're exceptionally bite-y today.

Linkee-poo will probably be late to its own funeral

It's been a very bisy few days. Not to mention taking all of Saturday off to go to Christmas in Zoar. Needless to say my "to read" list has grown extensively long. With a lab final tomorrow, lecture finals next week, clinicals beginning to get difficult, and a catalog that is way, way overdue, it's probably not going to change much in the enar future. Expect sporadic updates until… well, I don't really know when.

Ah, those wacky Iranian Army guys and their photoshop. So, besides adding extra missiles to their launches (um, guys, really? why?) now they're caught out for photoshoping someone else's VTOL drone and claiming it as their own. "According to the (Iranian) news agency, the drone… is scheduled to be unveiled for real in the coming weeks when, presumably, Iran upgrades to CS6." (Pointed to by Dan)

While there's more Android phones in the world, it's pretty telling on who is using their devices for internet shopping. (Pointe to by Dan)

Janiece makes good points on the current internet bruhahah over white, male privilege.

We all know that making laws is an ugly process, but did you know that some municipalities had laws about being ugly in public? Okay, well, it's just if you have an ugly deformity or handicap. Sure, they've all be repealed, but only as lately as the 70s. Our compassionate and enlightened past. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

A quick pie chart showing just how credible climate deniers really are. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Also, if you're a listener to NPR, last week they had several stories about the low water levels on the Mississippi River and how the drought that's only affected a few people is about to hit our economy hard. The Army Corps of Engineers has a difficult choice to make. Either they need to maintain their current management strategy or help out navigation on the Mississippi. And the problem of low water levels isn't contained to the rivers. Our Great Lakes are also suffering. As this ongoing drought continues to intensify, it might do us all good to read up on water wars.

Tweet of my heart: @beeandcat: I propose that we just have a week of federal holidays around Christmas/the Solstice and call it "it's dark, sort things out yourself."