In my despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on Earth, I said

Linkee-poo woke to the sound of drums, the music played, the morning sun streamed in

Need that refill of piss and vinegar? I recommend listening to Animals by Pink Floyd. It does wonders. "The Lord is my shepherd…"

Random Michelle K has a good example of how the cover makes the book. MY guess is the publisher went with the other cover to try and trick the bodice-ripper contingent (and they are mighty, if I haven't said that before) to pick up the book.

Ever wanted to play Zork again? Well, now you can on an Altair 8800 clone you can access from the internet. You're in a forest where all the trees look the same. (Grokked from Dan)

Janiece pretty well sums up my feelings about looking at my Facebook page. Add in the "being majorly disappointed in both the political leanings and inability to logically parse the news from people I once respected" and that about wraps it up.

So, the American who helped write the Ugandan "Kill All the Gays" law now faces being tried for crimes against humanity. So, 1) obviously, in this country we do know what constitutes "crimes against humanity", 2) we can pursue charges and 3) but we still think drowning and recovering someone multiple times in a row isn't torture. (Grokked from Dan)

The GOP to Acorn, "We just can't quit you." You know what the good thing about slaying the monsters under the bed is? You win every time. 'Cause they were never there to begin with. Or, as the old joke goes, "You don't see any elephants here, do you?" (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Fred Clark puts the icing on the cake, as it were, on this social discussion on white privilege and institutionalized racism when it comes to police in enforcement.

Hosed for the holidays

Well, a little down time here at the hospital (working, not a patient), and I tried reading some s for a linked-poo post but with e latest iOS I'm kinda hosed for copy/pasting things in blogger. I'm sure it works fabulous with the blogger app, but I don't want to hog bandwidth on the public wifi to download it, and I shouldn't have to use it.

But I wanted to give you all a heads up that with the holiday coming up, I'm massively over scheduled. So things may get light again until after the new year. Yea for extra work. Boo for not having any free time.

Yea, chalk up one more thing that is a hassle to do on a tablet.

I'm not sure how this will layout because I'm having a lot of problems behind the scenes so am trying a different scheme.

Hope your holidays are a little less hectic.

Linkee-poo dreamed you had left my side, no warmth, not even pride remained

Kameron Hurley talks about being a corporate copywriter and being a novelist. Note to new writers, all the writers I know who make their living writing do corporate copyright as their main source of income. Just food for thought. Also, she has great advice on how being a copywriter changes how she views the various travails and garment rending that goes on in "literary circles."

Why you can't catch your own typos. Brain science. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)

What if Earth had a ring system like Saturn's? For your interest and world building conundrums. Imaging how fast we would have invented ocean navigation if we had those? (Grokked from John)

For your world building enjoyment, Peruvian skulls intentionally deformed because of "beauty". (Grokked from Steven Gould)

The graves of Polish vampires show evidence they were residents of the towns that buried them with special accommodations. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Wanna use non-approved k-cups on Keurig 2 coffee makers? Well, there is a way. Note, using these techniques will make Keurig mad at you and may violate warrantee and licensing agreements you made when you purchased the Keurig 2. We take no responsibility for how you use this information and it is only provided on a "this is hilarious that you have to hack your personal small-appliances these days" basis. (Grokked from John)

Fred Clark schools Rick Perry for the Gospel quote he used recently, "the poor you will always have with you." Just like many other quotes thrown out by supposed "Biblically Living" people, Ricky gets it wrong. I'll note here that Mr. Clark is performing that grievous sin against the Church that my grandfather taught me, "you have to read the whole thing", not just the verse they reference in the program. You should read at least the whole chapter that verse appears in so you can understand the context of the verse.

And Ben Franklin said, "Fart proudly." Also, you should know, your sphincters (anal, pyloric, and the pseudo cardiac sphincter) aren't air tight. You're leaking gas all the time. And it's a good thing. If you didn't, your intestines would inflate like twisted balloon animals. No. Really. I've seen it in x-rays. (Grokked from Rae Carson)

Jim Wright goes and does it again by saying was I was going to say about the Torture Report. Although I will add that the goal of terrorists is to make the targeted government respond by breaking its own laws and violating its own moral code in a way to show the citizens how corrupt it really is and to sever the social contract, sparking revolution. Glad the Bush Administration let the bastards win. Good for us that we are a nation of barbarism, hatred, and intolerance of the other or this report could really be damaging (on top of the realization that our police force has become militarized and still has institutional racism at its root). Keep rooting for it Fox News.

So, why does the control for the 30 kW laser aboard the USS Ponce look like a game controller? You have view the video to see it.

Dear conservatives, want to know why liberals think you're insane? Because this defense of torture, and "it's all political", and the refrain of "Democrats just hate this country" isn't either new or convincing. But apparently your media source believes these lies to their core. This is the example of "America, Fuck Yea!" that makes us wonder just what the hell traumatized you early in your life. And I know the psychologists who "consulted" the CIA on torture got $40M a piece for selling out their souls. How much did the people on Fox get for theirs? This is the country they love and want, not the one the rest of us love and want.

Dear Rep. Petey King, prove it to me by volunteering to go through "stress positions" and take the CIA's counter-interrogation training where they are water boarded as a part of that training. Do it and prove to me what you're saying that "it's not torture." After all, if it isn't, surely you could survive 4 hours of stress positioning and being water boarded twice. Do it, coward. I dare you. I triple-dog dare you.

Linkee-poo contemplates the things done in our name

When I was but a young lad, Pink Floyd was one of those groups that I loved the hell out of. The musicality, message and structure of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were amazing. In my college years I seriously dug Wish You Were Here and Animals. But as I grow older, I've fallen in love with their earlier works, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn to Obscured by Clouds. But I mostly love Meddle. Just checking my iTunes list and I've listened to the various songs on that album (yes, album, get off my lawn!) more that all their other albums.

Justine Larbalestier on some common "writing facts." Everybody's career is different. The 2-3 novels thing is averages, it doesn't mean you'll sell your second or third novel.

The Apple eMate. I always wanted one of those. When people were going all agog over network appliances (Chromebook and the others), I kept on thinking of this little machine. To bad nobody designs computers like this anymore. (Grokked from Dan)

While we have electronics that will dissolve in the body, they dissolve too quickly for any real use. But, if you encase those devices in manufactured silk, the crystalline nature of the silk can make those devices last longer. (Grokked from John)

Because the "No Social Security for Nazis Act" has been getting a lot of press lately, it might be time to remember when we actively recruited dedicated Nazis to help our Cold War efforts. Space program, anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

"Whether or not you ever break the law, you should be prepared to protect yourself and your property just in case police become suspicious of you. Let’s take a look at one of the most commonly misunderstood legal situations a citizen can encounter: a police officer asking to search your belongings." Just say, "No." Ask them for cause. And if they say they have a warrant, ask them to show it to you. If there isn't a judge's signature, it's not legal. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Fred Clark with some interesting points on the crossroads between Pre-Millenialism and politics.

Linkee-poo throws the windows wide and calls to you across the sky

Well, I think I just found almost a whole hour of music to add to the writing playlist. I loves me some Floyd, and they're hitting all the thematic highlights of their career. (h/t to John Scalzi who tweeted about listening to it)

Jason Sanford wants you to know he's made every (I'd say most) mistakes you can while trying to launch a writing career. And he's still here to talk about it. So, young writers, if you think you've screwed the pooch over something, know that there is very little that can not be corrected for.

Neil Gaiman talks about the meanings of fairy tales. Add in a little history, and some musing on writing (not all from Mr. Gaiman) and pretty good. (Grokked from Tor.com)

The Diane Rehm who on the history and modern relevance of fairy tales.

Someone attacks a Furry convention with chlorine gas. (Can't remember whom I grokked this from, sorry)

What to do your senior year in design? Well, you can produce and illuminated text of the Silmarillion. You know, as you do.

Krampusfest? Between the "War on Xmas", keeping it "real", and white American Evangelical freakout over anything "fantasy" and especially anything with horns, there's just too much here. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Hey, remember when Mitch McConnell was striking a tone of cooperation during the election and saying while they may try to change Obamacare, that repeal was right out? Yea, so much for that.

Sure, there's no white privilege. Except there is.

There are no words. A Fox New host agrees with a commentator that "Enough is enough… (t)he general public needs to be trained to be more sensitive to the police and show them the respect they deserve." Respect is earned, not given. Most police are excellent, they try their best and sometimes die for what they believe. But then there are the others, the ones who abuse their office. Just as pyromaniacs are drawn to fire fighting, there is a group of bullies and reprobates who are drawn to law enforcement. And then there is the century of institutionalized racism that pervades the thinking of "the law and order" crowd. The Thin Blue Line has protected them. It shouldn't any longer.

Think it's not there? The Strange Fruit PR controversy. Seriously, how mind fucked do you need to be to think that would be a good name for a PR firm?

And every song we played was for the Late, Great Johnny Ace

Miss you, John.

Happy Xmas, War Is Over, If You Want It.


I thought hard about linking to another video, like this one. But sometimes we need a reminder that the cost of war isn't just borne by the soldier and their orphan and widow.

Weekend Linkee-poo surveys it's last fully free weekend until the middle of January

Well, it's not whole free, I have a final on Tuesday.

The Pantone color of 2015? Meh. Okay, the official name is "Marsala." But it's "Meh" all the way down. BTW, the Pantone color of the year is a very distinct marketing maneuver for Pantone. It bears no resemblance to what anyone will actually use or desire. Those colors are predicted about three years out, and are closely held trade secrets (and sold for big bucks). Don't believe me? Here's one for Spring/Summer 2016. It'll only cost you $700. Pretty damn cheap if you ask me (but then, that's only 2 years from now, so this is already a year or two out of date).

The Yota phone2. With a screen on the front and back. Okay, it sounds damn stupid, but I actually feel a little drawn to it. A nice solution for a few problems smartphones have. Still way, way too expensive. (Grokked from John)

OMG, the Obama re-election team used social media to reframe and shape the coverage and public perception of the election issues. Shocked, shocked I am… Actually I'm pointing to this just in case anybody doesn't get how controlled and managed public persona social media feeds are. This is all marketing, folks. Also pointed to because most marketing advice for writers on how to use social media is "don't just plug your book." Well, there are whole levels of marketing that you could be doing that would sell your book other than tweeting "Buy My Book". Also pointed to because this is going to be very, very relevant for the next two years (and, yes, it's already started). Finally pointed to to help dispel that myth of "oh, some staffer posted that horribly (racist, homophobic, insensitive, ignorant, pissy, just plain wrong) comment/tweet and we've fired them." Sorry. Nobody in the public eye runs their social media that way. And if they do, they don't deserve your time anyway.

And last point about that article, I've been in meetings where the suggestion to run a social media section of a corporation has been "consulted" to "hire some high school kid, 'cause they know about these things." Absolutely, positively not. Do not do these things.

It costs money to save money. And not in that "buy more, save more" marketing statement. This is why poor people tend to stay poor, it costs too much to get ahead. I was lucky, still am in some ways. But those fears and lessons still haunt my steps. I live in a (small) house that's almost paid off, we own two cars that are paid off, and at least once a week I have a small panic attack about how I could lose it all. I'm still fighting the insurance company to cover hail damage over the summer. If necessary I could scrape together enough to replace the shingles (again, it's a small house), but then I worry that might be the domino that starts the Rube-Goldberg device of the downhill slide. So even if you're lucky enough to climb your way out, the trauma still lives in your head. (Grokked from Morgan J Lock)

When white people go bad. There's two links to share with any of your coworkers who wonder outlaid, "How come whenever I see a riot on TV, it's always black people?" We won't mention the times white people rioted, hauled black people from jails to lynch them or burned whole "black towns" to the ground. Nice people don't discuss those things. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

"The lesson here is that public shaming works. Especially among rich white people, especially in California. But it took a hellalotta work to do it. (Grokked from the Slactivist, who has this post with lists of links just like this one just in case someone you know believes we live in a society based on merit or equality)

"The federal government estimates that, every year, 1.6 percent of American women are raped… That number can feel small; it is, after all, a tiny fraction of the population. But when you put it human terms, as we do in the graphic below, it is astonishingly, overwhelming large." My, that's a lotta scrolling going on there. (Grokked form John Scalzi)

Linkee-poo welcomes Orion home

Not too much. Trying to balance time and deal with having twitter blocked at the day thing.

Wow, almost missed it this year. Patrick Rothfuss's annual fundraiser for Heifer International (and a chance to win great prizes) is now only open until December 15th. So if you've given to Worldbuilders before, or have thought about it, or give to Heifer International and maybe would like to win some prizes for being such a good person, there you are. And, yes, the Stardust ARC is back in the lottery.

The unfortunate part of finally charging CEO Blankenship with crimes for the safety violations in his mines (which you may remember the Big Bend explosion) is that the prosecution will need to be carried through to the next administration. Depending on whom is elected, and how, it might end up going nowhere. See Microsoft monopoly (about IE) case that the Bush Administration inherited, and then dropped the ball.

Jim Wright lets us know of the latest with Glenn "Shakes" Beck. The libel and slander suit is allowed to go forward.

When asked questions framed to condemn Muslims, Pope Francis gives an answer people weren't expecting. Yes, he went there and equated Radial Islamist with Christian Fundamentalists. (Grokked from Dan)

Linkee-poo paints her eyes as black as night, now, pulls those shades down tight

Things I've learned and need to internalize, more calories will not give you more spoons. In fact, eating a whole footlong sub for lunch may actually subtract from your spoon reserve.

The NPR Book Concierge best books of 2014.

Catherine Schaffer with some advice on handling trolls.

On writing evil. People in their own minds hardly ever consider themselves evil, and Shakespeare's only villain without a cause stands out in his cannon (Don John).

Ready for a world building tip? Strap in. There are stars in the universe that travel at a third the speed of light. And there's a lot of them. Your welcome. Hope you didn't get any brain cells on your shoes. (Grokked from Dan)

Orion. It's the next thing in space.

Life in the time of Ebola. A portrait of a village struck with the disease and how they, and the treatment unit that supports the village, responded and have learned to live with (and deal with the dead by) Ebola.

Killing the goose that laid the Golden Egg. A report on the death of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

And because sometimes it's claimed otherwise, no, rape is never "okayed" no matter who does it. "A former Democratic congressional aide has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two women who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol." This is exactly why we have sexual predator laws (which these, and the laws on rape, are too often ignored or routed around).

Fred Clark on the lies of State Lotteries. Some of you may be too young to remember this, but the argument he is making is exactly the same arguments made when the various states envisioned setting up those lotteries (yes, Virginia, there was a time when it was illegal for states to run lotteries). I know I joke about the lotteries often, but he's not wrong here. And, for truth in advertising, I do occasionally buy lottery tickets. And for exactly the same reason Mr. Clark outlines, sometimes no hope is better than absolutely no hope.

"… Republicans may be on the brink of avoiding a government shutdown fight, at least until March, and effectively permitting the executive actions by Emperor Obama,' as Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) office has dubbed him, with no pushback other than a symbolic vote of disapproval… How did things change so much?" That's the question. Where did all the piss and vinegar, the garment rending and teeth gnashing, and the "woe be us, we gotta impeach the SOB" grandstanding the GOP did before the election go after the election? It's a question that answers itself. We won't have another election for 2 years. It's called, "being played" and the American electorate (at least the very few who actually went out and voted) soaked it up. Oh, don't worry. I'm sure when the re-election and fundraising season restarts (sometime in January) it'll be back.

The Local Girls Have a Way About Them

Ah, it's the holiday re-listening to:


A heartwarming tale of Christmas terror. Best money I've ever spent.

Linkee-poo ain't holding nothing back

It's been a long few weeks. Hope someone enjoyed a long holiday weekend.

Jennifer Crusie's editorial on writing being more than typing. What is shown in the movies, for pretty much everything, is never how it works in real life.

Online threats as performance art. Um, no. Note 2nd Amendment people, the Supreme Court is about to limit your First Amendment. Again. Tell me about the inviolable nature of the Bill of Rights.

A little more on that "how does Ebola spread" question. Just for clarity, yes, I've had to explain this very concept to some people who work in the health field who wondered why the N95 mask (and face shield depending on your procedures) was necessary.

Why we can't have nice things. "Janay Rice revealed Monday that the Baltimore Ravens suggested she apologize for her 'role' in the assault that later got her husband booted from the team and temporarily suspended from the NFL." I'm sorry I stood in the way of my fiancé's fist? Wow. I think for the first time I'm happy the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens.

Boom over, man. Yes, OPEC is driving the world market, and they're going to try and drive our domestic production out of the market. As the price of oil falls, many US wells (and almost all of the new fracked wells) start to lose money. Canadian Oil Sand production requires oil to be somewhere north of $75 a barrel to remain profitable. Now, the problem will be as oil prices fall, and those wells go offline, supply drops. So in basic market philosophy, supply falls below demand, price will rise. Which can then bring those wells back online (it's not that easy, but let's say it is). More supply than demand, prices fall. Wells go offline again. Wash, rinse, repeat. However, markets don't actually behave that way. If OPEC is successful in keeping the cost of oil low and driving much of the new US domestic (and Canadian Oil Sands) production out of the market, the costs for restarting those wells becomes a much higher barrier than the current production costs (there's a whole supply chain issue here, as well as people might begin to rethink the value of fracking compared to the costs). There's a good chance that production may never come back online until prices rise dramatically. Basically it will take the price of oil to be so high, people's greed outweighs their logic. Sort of how it all began.

"As I said, maybe Wilson was just checking every box to convince the jury that he reasonably felt he was in danger and acted accordingly." Josh Marshall on Darren Wilson's testimony. Yea, I had the same thoughts reading it. Plus, the blocking of the fight doesn't add up. Also, his choice to not grab the flashlight sitting on the passenger seat, but going for his firearm, which was holstered at his waist, from a sitting position. And then the description of Michael Brown's final "charge". Nobody runs at full speed with one hand down and another jammed into his waistband. But, Officer Wilson needed to explain about how he "felt" he was in immediate mortal danger. So Brown needed to be going for a weapon. Also, as I remember, Officer Wilson was at the scene for several hours, but in the emergency room photos his "wounds" look pretty red, not purple (as they should be after a few hours). Also, it's clear he didn't have a blow-out fracture (one of the original stories floated).