Oh, you may have thought your clever pumpkin carving was all dabomb on your street, but can the trick or treaters play tetras on your jack-o-latern? Yeah. Didn't think so. Seriously, some people have just way too much time on their hands. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Think we made it passed Halloween without the dead rising? Think again. A tree overturned in Sandy's winds brings up a skeleton, and the flood waters raise caskets. As to the skeleton in the tree, "Headstones from the burial ground on the New Haven Green were moved to the Grove Street cemetery, but the bodies were never relocated." Yeah, it's the East Coast's version of Poltergeist, where the dead rise up during the torrential rains near the end of the movie. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Miranda Suri on running out of excuses. I still have a full supply, thanks. (Yes, it's part of the little death I die everyday that I'm not writing fiction).
John Hartness on how to write good dialog. Reading (successful) plays is an excellent idea, and part of why ol' Billy Shake-a-spear is still selling so well. John has more contemporary examples. But I agree, the best way to learn something is to study the masters (for certain values of "master"). Read them, rekey their words, perform them as one-person plays on street corners, whatever you need to do to get the patter and rhythm.
Elizabeth Shack with her experience of some online writing courses. Hey, she liked them. Also, I really can't endorse the RWA enough for all they do to support new authors.
Kristan Hoffman with her three keys to storytelling; object, conflict, and ticking clock.
Jim Zub talks about writing comics. There's a lot in their for the writer of any fiction. (Grokked from Writing Excuses)
Old video games never die, they just get rewritten into new platforms. That's Descent being thrown into the Unreal Tournament engine. (Pointed to by John)
Predicting the Presidency and the rise of computers. That's an interesting NPR story about how the networks began to rely on computer models to predict the winners of elections. But, as they learned, garbage in, garbage out. You still have to know what data you should feed into the computer and how you should crunch the numbers.
And on the flip side of that story about computers helping us, Orange and Redding Connecticut are reporting 103% and 110% power outages from the United Illuminating Company. Hey guys, there's a difference between business hyperbole and actual statistics. Might want to see to that. (Grokked from Random Michelle K)
Think unmanned vehicles are just for flying drones and Google cars? How about unmanned small craft that can launch missiles to defend other surface ships from the threat of other small crafts? Yes, this is an actual threat (one that springs from both the USS Cole, the war-gaming of the Iraq invasion, and looking at how Iran might attack our ships in the Gulf if it comes to a military option. And it's a big threat. You really don't need a large craft to launch a missile.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The final argument why I could never vote for Mitt Romney
It's because of the Romney "Jeep/Chrysler/Fiat is taking jobs to China" ad (and now it's two ads from what I understand). Here is an NPR story about the ad with it's history and progress.
It started a comment in a campaign stop where Mitt Romney said he read an article in Bloomberg saying Fiat, who owns a controlling stake in Chrysler, was moving the Jeep jobs in Ohio (Toledo) to China. Okay, I can accept that in the rush of the campaign he read, or was told about, the article and how Jeep was going to add jobs to their production in China and it got all twisted around. It's a fast passed campaign.
But then Chrysler came out and clarified what they were doing. No, in fact they're expanding production in Toledo. The China jobs were always China jobs and the Chinese production is for sale only in China.
The Romney Campaign persisted in saying, "ZOMG, jobs to China. Your bailout money!"
Then Bloomberg issued a clarification saying, that's not what our article said.
And then the Romney Campaign released the ads (this is the TV ad).
Then the fact checkers weighed in. Another pants on fire rating. Last I checked, not only was the Romney Campaign leading in false claims, their ratings for those ads skew to the worse end of the rating scales.
And then the Romney Campaign doubled down with more ads. They've adjusted how they say it but while grammatically not saying the same thing, the difference isn't noticeable by more than grammatical enthusiasts. The ad reads the same to everybody else.
Like I said, I can understand misreading an article. I've seen that a lot. "That word you're using. I dunna think it means what you think it means." Oh yeah, I've had that conversation a lot. It's even happened to me enough times that I try to double read things, verify with other sources (when I have time), etc. So, at the campaign stop, okay, it was wrong but understandable. Fair cop.
But to continue to use the line that has been proven wrong, been proven wrong to your campaign, been proven wrong to your face, been proven wrong in the public sphere, to continue that argument is either a sign of complete incompetence, being whipped by the process, or a complete, sneering contempt of the American public. This ad is aimed at the low-information voter, which typically tends to fall into the same demographic as the 47% Romney doesn't care about (in the Veen diagram of both of those, there is significant overlap, for some very obvious reasons that when your at the lower end of the economy, your attention is being spent living, it's basic Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs).
It's because of that (the contempt, the inability to admit mistakes, and the shameless ability to lie) that I could never vote for Mitt Romney. I wouldn't even trust him (as the saying goes) as dog catcher. How he is polling as high as he is points to a moral failing as a nation.
As I've said before, I was really looking forward to this election as one based on ideals and vision. A challenge of ideas of how to make a stronger country. Instead we got this shit. Mitt isn't the first conservative (or liberal) I've come to this conclusion about. When John McCain started his presidential bid by speaking at Jones University, he lost my vote (in 2000, McCain's bid was based on getting the GOP out from under the yoke of the religious right). Mitt Romney's campaign hasn't gone twice as bad, they've described a hyperbolic curve in how far they've veered away. What's worse is that either way the election goes, the GOP won't learn the lessons they should. If Mitt Romney is elected, his strategy will be vindicated. If Mitt Romney loses, the GOP will rationalize the loss by claiming voter fraud, and that they hadn't chosen a candidate that was sufficiently conservative.
It started a comment in a campaign stop where Mitt Romney said he read an article in Bloomberg saying Fiat, who owns a controlling stake in Chrysler, was moving the Jeep jobs in Ohio (Toledo) to China. Okay, I can accept that in the rush of the campaign he read, or was told about, the article and how Jeep was going to add jobs to their production in China and it got all twisted around. It's a fast passed campaign.
But then Chrysler came out and clarified what they were doing. No, in fact they're expanding production in Toledo. The China jobs were always China jobs and the Chinese production is for sale only in China.
The Romney Campaign persisted in saying, "ZOMG, jobs to China. Your bailout money!"
Then Bloomberg issued a clarification saying, that's not what our article said.
And then the Romney Campaign released the ads (this is the TV ad).
Then the fact checkers weighed in. Another pants on fire rating. Last I checked, not only was the Romney Campaign leading in false claims, their ratings for those ads skew to the worse end of the rating scales.
And then the Romney Campaign doubled down with more ads. They've adjusted how they say it but while grammatically not saying the same thing, the difference isn't noticeable by more than grammatical enthusiasts. The ad reads the same to everybody else.
Like I said, I can understand misreading an article. I've seen that a lot. "That word you're using. I dunna think it means what you think it means." Oh yeah, I've had that conversation a lot. It's even happened to me enough times that I try to double read things, verify with other sources (when I have time), etc. So, at the campaign stop, okay, it was wrong but understandable. Fair cop.
But to continue to use the line that has been proven wrong, been proven wrong to your campaign, been proven wrong to your face, been proven wrong in the public sphere, to continue that argument is either a sign of complete incompetence, being whipped by the process, or a complete, sneering contempt of the American public. This ad is aimed at the low-information voter, which typically tends to fall into the same demographic as the 47% Romney doesn't care about (in the Veen diagram of both of those, there is significant overlap, for some very obvious reasons that when your at the lower end of the economy, your attention is being spent living, it's basic Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs).
It's because of that (the contempt, the inability to admit mistakes, and the shameless ability to lie) that I could never vote for Mitt Romney. I wouldn't even trust him (as the saying goes) as dog catcher. How he is polling as high as he is points to a moral failing as a nation.
As I've said before, I was really looking forward to this election as one based on ideals and vision. A challenge of ideas of how to make a stronger country. Instead we got this shit. Mitt isn't the first conservative (or liberal) I've come to this conclusion about. When John McCain started his presidential bid by speaking at Jones University, he lost my vote (in 2000, McCain's bid was based on getting the GOP out from under the yoke of the religious right). Mitt Romney's campaign hasn't gone twice as bad, they've described a hyperbolic curve in how far they've veered away. What's worse is that either way the election goes, the GOP won't learn the lessons they should. If Mitt Romney is elected, his strategy will be vindicated. If Mitt Romney loses, the GOP will rationalize the loss by claiming voter fraud, and that they hadn't chosen a candidate that was sufficiently conservative.
Linkee-poo, BOO!
There's lots of polling news, but do you really want to hear about it? Yeah. I didn't thinks so. Although the polls at this point probably do have a closer correlation to the final vote, there's too much of the "we're up/down 1 hurrah/zomg!" going on. In Florida, conservatives are worried that the liberals are getting the majority of early voting done. Doesn't really matter except for the "it looks a lot like 2008" (which all those voter ID laws were supposed to stop) worries.
One interesting application of an ebook, Horrible Hauntings. That's a video trailer for the book which has a companion augmented reality app that "brings the book alive" as they used to say. Very cool implementation. Heard about this on NPR the other day.
Jim Hines wants to pump you up. For NaNoWriMo that is. I'll just point to two of his points, "Give yourself permission to write crap" and "Watch out for scams". As it should surprise none of you, when I write the crap is about 50% these days. That's down from 80% crap when I started. And money flows toward the writer (Yog's Law).
Penguin and Random House set up joint venture. I still vote that they should have named it House Penguin. So besides the various teeth gnashing going on, now that Pearson and Bertelsmann have shaken hands, I bet the conspiracy theory people are apoplectic. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Maybe this dates me, but (other than the Windows OS) this MYST linking book hack is totally cool. (Pointed to by Dan)
"According to two separate studies, recent laws that limit smoking in public places are contributing to fewer tobacco-related hospital visits and deaths… Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF…, has argued previously that smoke-free laws work to improve health… because they protect non-smokers from harmful health effects of secondhand smoke, but they also protect smokers, by discouraging them from smoking as much, or even encouraging them to quit." I'm sure it was all that market-based initiatives and freedom loving Americans that helped bring about this result and not some evil government regulations. And before anybody talks about "freedom" etc, the "freedom to smoke" is the same as religious groups complaining about how Obamacare is restricting their religious freedoms. Sorry, your rights don't get to trump mine. And if you want to argue about how government shouldn't be involved in this, I've got two words for you. Medicare and Medicaid. Guess when people start having major health problems, where those younger people who have problems end up and who is paying for it. Want to lower government spending, support the anti-smoking laws. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Wind power surpasses hydro power generation (for a few hours) in the Northwest. You know that whole, "wind can't supply hardly any power" meme? Turns out with a critical mass of turbines and a good windy morning (where other electrical generation is down), you can now see wind surpassing other forms of generation. Not exactly a hoop-de-doo, but still a milestone. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"During the storm last night, user @comfortablysmug was the source of a load of frightening but false information about conditions in New York City that spread wildly on Twitter and onto news broadcasts before ConEd, the MTA, and Wall Street sources had to take time out of the crisis situation to refute them." Turns out @comfortablysmug is a conservative political consultant. Ain't that happy news. I guess spreading disinformation gets this guy off. (Grokked from Phiala)
Fred Clark with a little history on the antiabortion movement. Yeah, the religious right has pretty well rewritten history to claim they had always been at war with Eastasia. "Have white evangelicals in their 50s and 60s really completely forgotten the 1970s already? I don’t think so. But they are willing to pretend they have — en masse. Not for religious reasons, and not for ethical reasons. For political reasons." In case you ever wondered what Jefferson and the Methodist and Baptist preachers of his time meant about making sure religion and politics never mixing because bad things could happen, this is what they were talking about.
Good thing global climate change isn't happening or we'd get cyclones the size of the US. Sandy from space, at night. Those lights at the bottom left, that Florida. That light blog up at the top in the middle, I believe that's Toronto. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Steve King, the representative form Iowa, doesn't want any Sandy' Relief Money to go for Gucci Bags or massage parlors. Does this happen? I don't know how they do it in Iowa, but the rest of the country isn't so hung up on those things when homes and infrastructure need rebuilding. Why is this idiot still in a position of power?
"Before he became a fiscal conservative hero in the last two years, Ryan was a typical Bush-era Republican with all of the considerable baggage that goes with it. The idea that we can trust a Romney administration to be better fiscal stewards than most of their Republican predecessors is to ignore everything we know about how Republicans typically act once in power." And that is from The American Conservative. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
One interesting application of an ebook, Horrible Hauntings. That's a video trailer for the book which has a companion augmented reality app that "brings the book alive" as they used to say. Very cool implementation. Heard about this on NPR the other day.
Jim Hines wants to pump you up. For NaNoWriMo that is. I'll just point to two of his points, "Give yourself permission to write crap" and "Watch out for scams". As it should surprise none of you, when I write the crap is about 50% these days. That's down from 80% crap when I started. And money flows toward the writer (Yog's Law).
Penguin and Random House set up joint venture. I still vote that they should have named it House Penguin. So besides the various teeth gnashing going on, now that Pearson and Bertelsmann have shaken hands, I bet the conspiracy theory people are apoplectic. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Maybe this dates me, but (other than the Windows OS) this MYST linking book hack is totally cool. (Pointed to by Dan)
"According to two separate studies, recent laws that limit smoking in public places are contributing to fewer tobacco-related hospital visits and deaths… Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF…, has argued previously that smoke-free laws work to improve health… because they protect non-smokers from harmful health effects of secondhand smoke, but they also protect smokers, by discouraging them from smoking as much, or even encouraging them to quit." I'm sure it was all that market-based initiatives and freedom loving Americans that helped bring about this result and not some evil government regulations. And before anybody talks about "freedom" etc, the "freedom to smoke" is the same as religious groups complaining about how Obamacare is restricting their religious freedoms. Sorry, your rights don't get to trump mine. And if you want to argue about how government shouldn't be involved in this, I've got two words for you. Medicare and Medicaid. Guess when people start having major health problems, where those younger people who have problems end up and who is paying for it. Want to lower government spending, support the anti-smoking laws. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Wind power surpasses hydro power generation (for a few hours) in the Northwest. You know that whole, "wind can't supply hardly any power" meme? Turns out with a critical mass of turbines and a good windy morning (where other electrical generation is down), you can now see wind surpassing other forms of generation. Not exactly a hoop-de-doo, but still a milestone. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"During the storm last night, user @comfortablysmug was the source of a load of frightening but false information about conditions in New York City that spread wildly on Twitter and onto news broadcasts before ConEd, the MTA, and Wall Street sources had to take time out of the crisis situation to refute them." Turns out @comfortablysmug is a conservative political consultant. Ain't that happy news. I guess spreading disinformation gets this guy off. (Grokked from Phiala)
Fred Clark with a little history on the antiabortion movement. Yeah, the religious right has pretty well rewritten history to claim they had always been at war with Eastasia. "Have white evangelicals in their 50s and 60s really completely forgotten the 1970s already? I don’t think so. But they are willing to pretend they have — en masse. Not for religious reasons, and not for ethical reasons. For political reasons." In case you ever wondered what Jefferson and the Methodist and Baptist preachers of his time meant about making sure religion and politics never mixing because bad things could happen, this is what they were talking about.
Good thing global climate change isn't happening or we'd get cyclones the size of the US. Sandy from space, at night. Those lights at the bottom left, that Florida. That light blog up at the top in the middle, I believe that's Toronto. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Steve King, the representative form Iowa, doesn't want any Sandy' Relief Money to go for Gucci Bags or massage parlors. Does this happen? I don't know how they do it in Iowa, but the rest of the country isn't so hung up on those things when homes and infrastructure need rebuilding. Why is this idiot still in a position of power?
"Before he became a fiscal conservative hero in the last two years, Ryan was a typical Bush-era Republican with all of the considerable baggage that goes with it. The idea that we can trust a Romney administration to be better fiscal stewards than most of their Republican predecessors is to ignore everything we know about how Republicans typically act once in power." And that is from The American Conservative. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Linkee-poo is not sure you're a boy or a girl
Hope you're all safe, dry, and warm. Unless you don't want to be. My own personal schedule is still all a flutter, so disjointed is my surfing as Yoda might say.
The wind map. A real time info graphic about wind speeds in the US. (Grokked from Jennifer Crusie)
Look what Sandy did. (Grokked from Miranda Suri)
So now that you've upgrade to CFL or LED lights and are realizing that it's really not that bad and you're using less electricity you think you're the bee's knees, eh? Not unless you're controlling those lights via an app you aren't. Okay, I love technology (for the most part), but at $60 a bulb, uh, no. (Pointed to by Dan)
"Since being elevated to second-in-command of the nation by his father in September 2010, Kim has reportedly been behind the dismissal of at least 31 senior officials." That's a nice way of saying Kim Jong-un had them offed. In this case, firing squad using mortars. (Pointed to by John)
You know, most states have varying laws about elections (who can and can't vote, what ID is required, same day registration, etc), but a campaign should have enough savvy to put together correct poll watcher education materials. Yep, the Romney campaign's poll watcher materials contain falsehoods. Considering their candidate, it's not so much of a surprise. Although the one of not identifying oneself properly could lead to a falsification charge. And those documents poll watchers sign in on? Yeah, those are official forms. (Grokked from Joe Hill)
And speaking of liars, Romney surrogate Norm Coleman said that if Romney were to be elected, Roe v Wade wouldn't be in jeopardy. Uh, yeah, Bob. Look, Ginsberg and Kennedy will probably retire in the next 4 years. If a conservative is appointed to their seats, that will tip the total balance of the court (right now, Kennedy is a moderate conservative, so the court is only "mostly" conservative). Yeah, you can expect a challenge to Roe v Wade to come up quickly, and then good bye safe access to abortion and privacy (Roe v Wade was actually a privacy case). So either Sen. Coleman is a blithering idiot, or he thinks we are. (Pointed to by Dan, who says "BULL SHIT")
I'm just astonished at the amount of blatant lying coming form the Right these days. Sure, there has always been stretches and pandering, but this year we've gone beyond the Obi Wan's admonition, that "It was true… from a certain point of view." It is just dumbfounding.
And, because it's being pointed out everywhere, remember Mitt Romney believes FEMA and government disaster relief is "immoral." I know he meant "unethical", but still. (this link grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
Well, that didn't take long. Whackaloon preacher says hurricane Sandy is God's wrath for teh gay. Of course this preacher also thinks Romney is in the gays' pocket as well, because if it's one thing they're known for, the Mormons love teh gayz. I am seriously starting to blame the push in the 80s to close state psychiatric hospitals. Wait, I know what it is. See, with all the Gayz it's getting hot in here (or is it just me?), and that's driving global climate change. I get it now. (Pointed to by John)
Alligator Quotient: With frickin' lasers, man.
The wind map. A real time info graphic about wind speeds in the US. (Grokked from Jennifer Crusie)
Look what Sandy did. (Grokked from Miranda Suri)
So now that you've upgrade to CFL or LED lights and are realizing that it's really not that bad and you're using less electricity you think you're the bee's knees, eh? Not unless you're controlling those lights via an app you aren't. Okay, I love technology (for the most part), but at $60 a bulb, uh, no. (Pointed to by Dan)
"Since being elevated to second-in-command of the nation by his father in September 2010, Kim has reportedly been behind the dismissal of at least 31 senior officials." That's a nice way of saying Kim Jong-un had them offed. In this case, firing squad using mortars. (Pointed to by John)
You know, most states have varying laws about elections (who can and can't vote, what ID is required, same day registration, etc), but a campaign should have enough savvy to put together correct poll watcher education materials. Yep, the Romney campaign's poll watcher materials contain falsehoods. Considering their candidate, it's not so much of a surprise. Although the one of not identifying oneself properly could lead to a falsification charge. And those documents poll watchers sign in on? Yeah, those are official forms. (Grokked from Joe Hill)
And speaking of liars, Romney surrogate Norm Coleman said that if Romney were to be elected, Roe v Wade wouldn't be in jeopardy. Uh, yeah, Bob. Look, Ginsberg and Kennedy will probably retire in the next 4 years. If a conservative is appointed to their seats, that will tip the total balance of the court (right now, Kennedy is a moderate conservative, so the court is only "mostly" conservative). Yeah, you can expect a challenge to Roe v Wade to come up quickly, and then good bye safe access to abortion and privacy (Roe v Wade was actually a privacy case). So either Sen. Coleman is a blithering idiot, or he thinks we are. (Pointed to by Dan, who says "BULL SHIT")
I'm just astonished at the amount of blatant lying coming form the Right these days. Sure, there has always been stretches and pandering, but this year we've gone beyond the Obi Wan's admonition, that "It was true… from a certain point of view." It is just dumbfounding.
And, because it's being pointed out everywhere, remember Mitt Romney believes FEMA and government disaster relief is "immoral." I know he meant "unethical", but still. (this link grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
Well, that didn't take long. Whackaloon preacher says hurricane Sandy is God's wrath for teh gay. Of course this preacher also thinks Romney is in the gays' pocket as well, because if it's one thing they're known for, the Mormons love teh gayz. I am seriously starting to blame the push in the 80s to close state psychiatric hospitals. Wait, I know what it is. See, with all the Gayz it's getting hot in here (or is it just me?), and that's driving global climate change. I get it now. (Pointed to by John)
Alligator Quotient: With frickin' lasers, man.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Monday Linkee-poo
Something happened to the blog, and I lost some posts. Sorry about that.
I had linked to the photo going around about the Sentinels guarding the tomb of the unknowns, Phiala corrected me on it, then I had a link to a current photo. But all that seems to have gone away.
Eric gives his reasons for why he voted straight democratic ticket this year. I can't argue with his logic, even if you come at it from the opposite proposition. And yeah, I agree, not all Democrats are sparkling examples of humanity. The thing is, I think they other side would be worse. Now I do think that the Democratic Party should stop allowing idiots to run, but I know how hard it is to get anybody to do anything, let alone trying to get 200+ people to volunteer to get trounced in elections (and that's just at the national level). And yes, I've already considered running for congress myself. Hell, if I was still a councilman and not rebooting by career, I might have this year after Steve LaTourette announced his retirement (full disclosure, I've voted for Steve in every election since I moved to Orwell). But that wasn't meant to be.
"This, at least, is what we hear every time it appears that the right's historical racist element is bubbling back up to the surface of American conservatism thanks to the race-baiting dog-whistle campaigns being conducted by mainstream Republicans…" Yes, I'm sure it's all those evil liberal's doing (let us not talk about just what a "Southern Strategy" really means). Because, after all, conservatives aren't extremists. It's called "projection" and your doctor can help you with that. Although there's some light left in the Republican PArty. Too bad they're busy snuffing it out like Scrooge snuffed out the Ghost of Christmas Past. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Let's all embrace the future. Stop pretending we care about each other. And start hoarding canned goods." The Whedon On Romney endorsement video all the kids are a twitter about. Hahahahahaha.
"When Duniho applied a mathematical model to actual voting results in the largest voting precincts, he saw that only the large precincts suddenly trended towards Mitt Romny… Since sifting through and decoding massive amounts of data was his work for decades on behalf of the National Security Agency, he wanted to understand why this was ONLY happening in large precincts." I'm sure it's just all an unfounded conspiracy theory that Republicans are using electronic voting machines to steal elections. And all those public pronouncements by those involved in making or programming those machines about their particular political leanings and how they'll "deliver" elections for their candidates are just misunderstands and hopeful yearnings. Nothing to see here citizen, move along. (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)
Tweet of my heart: @xeni: Don't worry, if it's a legitimate hurricane, you won't be damaged. Just sit back & relax, because this is something God intended to happen.
I had linked to the photo going around about the Sentinels guarding the tomb of the unknowns, Phiala corrected me on it, then I had a link to a current photo. But all that seems to have gone away.
Eric gives his reasons for why he voted straight democratic ticket this year. I can't argue with his logic, even if you come at it from the opposite proposition. And yeah, I agree, not all Democrats are sparkling examples of humanity. The thing is, I think they other side would be worse. Now I do think that the Democratic Party should stop allowing idiots to run, but I know how hard it is to get anybody to do anything, let alone trying to get 200+ people to volunteer to get trounced in elections (and that's just at the national level). And yes, I've already considered running for congress myself. Hell, if I was still a councilman and not rebooting by career, I might have this year after Steve LaTourette announced his retirement (full disclosure, I've voted for Steve in every election since I moved to Orwell). But that wasn't meant to be.
"This, at least, is what we hear every time it appears that the right's historical racist element is bubbling back up to the surface of American conservatism thanks to the race-baiting dog-whistle campaigns being conducted by mainstream Republicans…" Yes, I'm sure it's all those evil liberal's doing (let us not talk about just what a "Southern Strategy" really means). Because, after all, conservatives aren't extremists. It's called "projection" and your doctor can help you with that. Although there's some light left in the Republican PArty. Too bad they're busy snuffing it out like Scrooge snuffed out the Ghost of Christmas Past. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Let's all embrace the future. Stop pretending we care about each other. And start hoarding canned goods." The Whedon On Romney endorsement video all the kids are a twitter about. Hahahahahaha.
"When Duniho applied a mathematical model to actual voting results in the largest voting precincts, he saw that only the large precincts suddenly trended towards Mitt Romny… Since sifting through and decoding massive amounts of data was his work for decades on behalf of the National Security Agency, he wanted to understand why this was ONLY happening in large precincts." I'm sure it's just all an unfounded conspiracy theory that Republicans are using electronic voting machines to steal elections. And all those public pronouncements by those involved in making or programming those machines about their particular political leanings and how they'll "deliver" elections for their candidates are just misunderstands and hopeful yearnings. Nothing to see here citizen, move along. (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)
Tweet of my heart: @xeni: Don't worry, if it's a legitimate hurricane, you won't be damaged. Just sit back & relax, because this is something God intended to happen.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sandy's the Girl from Ipanema
I know a lot of people are concerned about Sandy, and she is a pretty big ass storm. But the storm of the century warnings aren't just because of Sandy. It's because of Sandy meeting up with the storm that just passed over Ohio and a third storm from (mostly energy and humidity, not so much the raining part) from the South. Although Sandy has become a monster storm, let's not forget that part.
The last time this happened, at this time of year, it snowed 2 feet along the Apalachin Trail catching thousands of people off guard during a late season camping and hiking binge. It also rained a buttload and flooded the east coast. So, to all my friends on the coast, stay dry and safe. And just remember this tweet: @@OldHossRadbourn: For those in the storm's path, a handy and topical cannibalism guide: rump, thigh, belly, back. Bon appetit. (shared by Paolo Bacigalupi)
The last time this happened, at this time of year, it snowed 2 feet along the Apalachin Trail catching thousands of people off guard during a late season camping and hiking binge. It also rained a buttload and flooded the east coast. So, to all my friends on the coast, stay dry and safe. And just remember this tweet: @@OldHossRadbourn: For those in the storm's path, a handy and topical cannibalism guide: rump, thigh, belly, back. Bon appetit. (shared by Paolo Bacigalupi)
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Weekend Linkee-poo isn't a 'fraidy cat
The busy-ness that ended the week has carried over to the weekend. Add in trick or treaters (we had about 450 kids and others begging for candy,and I went through about 100 pieces, because I like to give more than one, turn out was depressed because of the rain) and general house stuff, continuing work, et al and so I didn't have much time to study or write.
David B Coe withsix non-writerly things that can help your writing. Or, in other words, all work and no play makes the writer very dreary and dull.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Except they shove genre in a corner, so we can all jam together looking for some new fix and not sully their perfectly empty aisles of mainstream fiction. I just wish they'd clean the carpet more often. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
An artificial leaf that's really a fuel cell and water hydrolizer. If it proves out, could alter the energy equation. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
How the Chinese and Greeks saw the same sky. A little on the astrological differences. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Well, at least one elected Republican admits that their election observers can influence the polls. And now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants to make sure no foreign election observers will be in his state for election day.
You know how Mitt Romney is talking up his 12 million jobs in 4 years? Turns out, that's what economists are predicting as well. Unfortunately for Romney, they're predicting that growth if he wins or loses.
"For all those reasons, conservative legal activists anticipate that a Romney win would be the culmination of their decades-long project to remake the country’s legal architecture."And now you know the reasons for much of the vitriol. Conservatives are very close to grabbing victory. And they know if they miss this chance, they might not have it again for another generation.
John Scalzi's exceptionally triggery post on a fan letter to certain conservative politicians. In this case, an exercise in satire and irony about a rapist loving the cover he's given by some conservative politicians. It seems this year the GOP is getting their frequent flyer miles by inserting their feet in their collective mouths regarding women's issues. But some people just don't get it.
A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote to deny health care for the sick. There's a number of people I could add to that list. Of course that isn't the only thing you'll be helping to usher in.
David B Coe withsix non-writerly things that can help your writing. Or, in other words, all work and no play makes the writer very dreary and dull.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Except they shove genre in a corner, so we can all jam together looking for some new fix and not sully their perfectly empty aisles of mainstream fiction. I just wish they'd clean the carpet more often. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
An artificial leaf that's really a fuel cell and water hydrolizer. If it proves out, could alter the energy equation. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
How the Chinese and Greeks saw the same sky. A little on the astrological differences. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Well, at least one elected Republican admits that their election observers can influence the polls. And now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants to make sure no foreign election observers will be in his state for election day.
You know how Mitt Romney is talking up his 12 million jobs in 4 years? Turns out, that's what economists are predicting as well. Unfortunately for Romney, they're predicting that growth if he wins or loses.
"For all those reasons, conservative legal activists anticipate that a Romney win would be the culmination of their decades-long project to remake the country’s legal architecture."And now you know the reasons for much of the vitriol. Conservatives are very close to grabbing victory. And they know if they miss this chance, they might not have it again for another generation.
John Scalzi's exceptionally triggery post on a fan letter to certain conservative politicians. In this case, an exercise in satire and irony about a rapist loving the cover he's given by some conservative politicians. It seems this year the GOP is getting their frequent flyer miles by inserting their feet in their collective mouths regarding women's issues. But some people just don't get it.
A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote to deny health care for the sick. There's a number of people I could add to that list. Of course that isn't the only thing you'll be helping to usher in.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Linkee-poo meet in the summer, Indian Summer, I love you the best, better than all the rest
Live in fear of the baby care bear costume.
Dave talks about Ferrett talking about the concept of the writing career. Wise friends have I. Says the Ferrett, "All it ever does is make me feel like shit for not hitting arbitrary goals." Oh my yes.
And then there's the five ways for writers to overcome self-doubts. So, you know, there's a different point. (Grokked from Catherine Schaff-Stump)
Or, to paraphrase Nike and channel a little Chuck Wendig, "Just fucking do it."
The power of color. Although I will note that many in science have removed "indigo" from the rainbow spectrum. I don't know why. Probably because ROYGBIV was too easy and was driving up test scores or something.
"A siege… was reportedly broken when the Megarians poured oil on a herd of pigs, set them alight, and drove them towards the enemy’s massed war elephants. The elephants bolted in terror from the flaming squealing pigs often killing great numbers of the army the elephant was part of" Oh yes, that's going in a story somewhere. Kinda makes "cracklins" a little more interesting now, doesn't it. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Where people live longer. There is something about people living in their place. The Cherokee for instance. In the Carolinas they live quite long. On the OK reservation, not so much.
"'So yes, we're going to have to… get used to the fact that people can have three genetic parents…" Dartmouth bioethicist (Ronald) Green says.… "Socially… this would mean… we would be moving toward a world in which some people… would have either real or perceived genetic advantage,' (Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society) says." Scientists develop genetic techniques for humans that can be inherited. And so begin the blurring of another ethical boundary in the search for profits. (Pointed to by John)
Making electronics that can dissolved. And brother, when it disintegrates, it disintegrates. Could be interesting to create implantable electronics that would then dissolve after they're no longer needed. Although I now see people going down to use their washers only to find a blob of quivering jelly in the new planned obsolescence. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The Ministry of Silly Walks Wallclock. Hmm, I might have to make one of those (yes, I've make my own clock faces before, you can buy kits for the actual clock itself). (Pointed to by John)
"'Many people hear my name in connection with the Christian Right and start to assume we are somehow aligned in some capacity, and I’m here to say, for the record, that we are not,' God continued. 'So let me just be clear: I don’t want women to get raped; not ever. I don’t think their resulting pregnancies are my divine will. And if a woman is raped, then she has the right to get an abortion, period. I do not agree with Mourdock. I do not agree with the Christian Right. End of story.'" Yahweh weighs in to disavow the wackaloon right. At least according to the Onion. (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
And speaking of gods weighing in, Mr. Wednesday throws his hat in. He's got a great platform. Especially if you like that sort of stuff. Now if he could just move on from leaving damsels in forests with giant flame walls. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
While we can all point to countries (that many people have just heard about) that have horrendous practices when it comes to gender equality, let us not forget we haven't been that much farther ahead. That's a newspaper clipping from 1911 where a Providence, RI judge hearing a divorce petition advised the couple to reconcile and admonished the woman for going through her husband's pockets saying, "don't go through your husband's pockets again. A man is justified in slapping his wife for this." The beam in our own eye. (Grokked from Weird History)
Tweet of my heart: @Mozi_N: If ANYONE suspicious confronts you @ a voting location asking 2C your ID, pull out your camera phone,video them&interrogate them instead
Alligator Quotient: My alligators are all electronic the past two days. I'm slaying them as fast as I can.
Dave talks about Ferrett talking about the concept of the writing career. Wise friends have I. Says the Ferrett, "All it ever does is make me feel like shit for not hitting arbitrary goals." Oh my yes.
And then there's the five ways for writers to overcome self-doubts. So, you know, there's a different point. (Grokked from Catherine Schaff-Stump)
Or, to paraphrase Nike and channel a little Chuck Wendig, "Just fucking do it."
The power of color. Although I will note that many in science have removed "indigo" from the rainbow spectrum. I don't know why. Probably because ROYGBIV was too easy and was driving up test scores or something.
"A siege… was reportedly broken when the Megarians poured oil on a herd of pigs, set them alight, and drove them towards the enemy’s massed war elephants. The elephants bolted in terror from the flaming squealing pigs often killing great numbers of the army the elephant was part of" Oh yes, that's going in a story somewhere. Kinda makes "cracklins" a little more interesting now, doesn't it. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Where people live longer. There is something about people living in their place. The Cherokee for instance. In the Carolinas they live quite long. On the OK reservation, not so much.
"'So yes, we're going to have to… get used to the fact that people can have three genetic parents…" Dartmouth bioethicist (Ronald) Green says.… "Socially… this would mean… we would be moving toward a world in which some people… would have either real or perceived genetic advantage,' (Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society) says." Scientists develop genetic techniques for humans that can be inherited. And so begin the blurring of another ethical boundary in the search for profits. (Pointed to by John)
Making electronics that can dissolved. And brother, when it disintegrates, it disintegrates. Could be interesting to create implantable electronics that would then dissolve after they're no longer needed. Although I now see people going down to use their washers only to find a blob of quivering jelly in the new planned obsolescence. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The Ministry of Silly Walks Wallclock. Hmm, I might have to make one of those (yes, I've make my own clock faces before, you can buy kits for the actual clock itself). (Pointed to by John)
"'Many people hear my name in connection with the Christian Right and start to assume we are somehow aligned in some capacity, and I’m here to say, for the record, that we are not,' God continued. 'So let me just be clear: I don’t want women to get raped; not ever. I don’t think their resulting pregnancies are my divine will. And if a woman is raped, then she has the right to get an abortion, period. I do not agree with Mourdock. I do not agree with the Christian Right. End of story.'" Yahweh weighs in to disavow the wackaloon right. At least according to the Onion. (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
And speaking of gods weighing in, Mr. Wednesday throws his hat in. He's got a great platform. Especially if you like that sort of stuff. Now if he could just move on from leaving damsels in forests with giant flame walls. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
While we can all point to countries (that many people have just heard about) that have horrendous practices when it comes to gender equality, let us not forget we haven't been that much farther ahead. That's a newspaper clipping from 1911 where a Providence, RI judge hearing a divorce petition advised the couple to reconcile and admonished the woman for going through her husband's pockets saying, "don't go through your husband's pockets again. A man is justified in slapping his wife for this." The beam in our own eye. (Grokked from Weird History)
Tweet of my heart: @Mozi_N: If ANYONE suspicious confronts you @ a voting location asking 2C your ID, pull out your camera phone,video them&interrogate them instead
Alligator Quotient: My alligators are all electronic the past two days. I'm slaying them as fast as I can.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Linkee-poo, it's just a shot away
"(Yvonne Reed of) the Maricopa County Elections Department admits they once again gave voters the wrong date of next month's election… (she) confirms… that bookmarks distributed by the elections department incorrectly listed the date of the general election in Spanish as November 8." But at least they got the English side correct. Sigh. Say, who else lives in Maricopa County? You know all those protests from conservatives that they're not trying to suppress the vote? Yeah, looking more and more like complete bullshit and if not a grand conspiracy, then a conspiracy of like minded individuals. (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)
Conservative media ignore GOP voter registration fraud. Quelle surprise. "Republicans claim that the voter registration fraud was committed by a few bad apples and pales in comparison to the fraud committed by ACORN in 2008. But ACORN was never funded by the DNC. And the abuses committed by Sproul and Small were far worse than those attached to ACORN. Unlike Strategic Allied Consulting, ACORN never changed the party affiliations on fraudulent voter registration forms and self-reported suspicious materials to election officials. Nor did ACORN ever destroy valid voter registration forms, as Small is accused of doing."
An, no, it's not cool even when the suppression attempts look like they're targeted at Republicans.
So, do you need a roundup of some of the Romney position flips in the third debate? Yeah, probably don't need them listed. Practically all of his positions were reversals of earlier statements. Then there is more fact checking on Romney's political ads. Yep, gotta get one of my 401k funds invested in fact checkers if he's elected. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Dogs" seems to be a recurring meme in the GOP, comparing everyone they can to them. Of course, they only mean it in the most positive sense. Just like Steve King saying we should sort immigrants to get the "good bird dog(s)." Well, Steve, you're a dog. I mean that as a compliment. But not to dogs. They're pretty upset at that. And you know, you'd think the GOP would say, "Oh, no, they really didn't mean that." No. They come back saying it was exactly what they meant. I mean, it's so mind boggling. It's like watching alcoholics having an intervention, being shown all that's been going wrong with their lives, being asked to change for the good of all those who care about them, only to choose the bottle over humanity. (most grokked from Jay Lake)
Not that it means much, but there's a wave of large newspapers giving their endorsement to President Obama. Not so much for his own agenda (although they often give nods for that), but because they feel they can't trust Romney. On anything.
Tweet of my heart: @chuckwendig: Remember: that story ain't gonna unfuck itself. COMMENCE DEEP UNFUCKING.
Conservative media ignore GOP voter registration fraud. Quelle surprise. "Republicans claim that the voter registration fraud was committed by a few bad apples and pales in comparison to the fraud committed by ACORN in 2008. But ACORN was never funded by the DNC. And the abuses committed by Sproul and Small were far worse than those attached to ACORN. Unlike Strategic Allied Consulting, ACORN never changed the party affiliations on fraudulent voter registration forms and self-reported suspicious materials to election officials. Nor did ACORN ever destroy valid voter registration forms, as Small is accused of doing."
An, no, it's not cool even when the suppression attempts look like they're targeted at Republicans.
So, do you need a roundup of some of the Romney position flips in the third debate? Yeah, probably don't need them listed. Practically all of his positions were reversals of earlier statements. Then there is more fact checking on Romney's political ads. Yep, gotta get one of my 401k funds invested in fact checkers if he's elected. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Dogs" seems to be a recurring meme in the GOP, comparing everyone they can to them. Of course, they only mean it in the most positive sense. Just like Steve King saying we should sort immigrants to get the "good bird dog(s)." Well, Steve, you're a dog. I mean that as a compliment. But not to dogs. They're pretty upset at that. And you know, you'd think the GOP would say, "Oh, no, they really didn't mean that." No. They come back saying it was exactly what they meant. I mean, it's so mind boggling. It's like watching alcoholics having an intervention, being shown all that's been going wrong with their lives, being asked to change for the good of all those who care about them, only to choose the bottle over humanity. (most grokked from Jay Lake)
Not that it means much, but there's a wave of large newspapers giving their endorsement to President Obama. Not so much for his own agenda (although they often give nods for that), but because they feel they can't trust Romney. On anything.
Tweet of my heart: @chuckwendig: Remember: that story ain't gonna unfuck itself. COMMENCE DEEP UNFUCKING.
Story Bone
The Hashishin, started under Hassan-i Sabbah in the mountain fastness of Alamut, are typically used as bad guys in stories. But for much of his life, Hassan-i Sabbah was considered a hero of great renown. His "assassins" were the ninja of the Middle East when the Crusades came rolling in to town. There was actually once talk of the Hashinshin converting to Christianity and forming an alliance with those same Crusaders, but then something or other happened and they went back to being an independent force in the area (actually making two attempts against Saladin as well as the crusaders and other important rulers in the area). I don't know if anyone has written the story from inside the Hashishin? Not that I'd personally like to live on Alamut (or in the general area for that matter, the Hashishin we're cold blooded murders after all and by all accounts ruled their territory with an iron fist), but that must be a fascinating history and study for a character driven novel.
Steve's crazy life
Hey, sorry things are getting off schedule. I am very far behind in my internets reading because of, you know, real life getting all uppity and demanding my time and everything. We're starting clinicals this week. Was supposed to have orientation yesterday, but that didn't happen. We go in for the real all day thing on Friday (don't expect a linkee-poo on Fridays for the rest of the semester, I doubt I will have any time at all as my clinical site is a busy hospital, not the busiest, but still damn busy - hopefully I can make it up to you with a longer Weekend Edition).
Anyway, I'm severely discombobulated right at the moment. If it weren't for the fact I labeled them with a sharpie this past weekend, I wouldn't know my ass from a hole in the ground. Just saying. Or, if you like, I'm busier than a man trapped in a phone booth with a cougar. The furry kind. Wait, no, I mean the animal. Yeah. Didn't want you all to think I was writing the 51st shade of grey right then.
Did I also mention that next week is cumulative mid-term exams? And we've just finished both chest, abdomen, KUB (kidneys, ureter, bladder) and upper extremities? All of that is going to be on the test, including being able to visually identify the carpals (your wrist bones)… individually (i.e. "here's a bone, which on is this?").
So now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to studying. Let's see, the hand bone is connected to the arm bone… but really that's the distal phalanges are connected to the middle phalanges by the distal interphalangeal joint (or dip), except for phalanges one (which is your thumb). Oh, doesn't that sound fun? Just wait until I get to talking about subacromial bone spurs and knowing which projection shows them better (Neer, if you're curious, I think, although it may be a Lawrence, but I'm pretty sure it's not a West Point, nobody does West Point projections anymore… they tell us).
Anyway, I'm severely discombobulated right at the moment. If it weren't for the fact I labeled them with a sharpie this past weekend, I wouldn't know my ass from a hole in the ground. Just saying. Or, if you like, I'm busier than a man trapped in a phone booth with a cougar. The furry kind. Wait, no, I mean the animal. Yeah. Didn't want you all to think I was writing the 51st shade of grey right then.
Did I also mention that next week is cumulative mid-term exams? And we've just finished both chest, abdomen, KUB (kidneys, ureter, bladder) and upper extremities? All of that is going to be on the test, including being able to visually identify the carpals (your wrist bones)… individually (i.e. "here's a bone, which on is this?").
So now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to studying. Let's see, the hand bone is connected to the arm bone… but really that's the distal phalanges are connected to the middle phalanges by the distal interphalangeal joint (or dip), except for phalanges one (which is your thumb). Oh, doesn't that sound fun? Just wait until I get to talking about subacromial bone spurs and knowing which projection shows them better (Neer, if you're curious, I think, although it may be a Lawrence, but I'm pretty sure it's not a West Point, nobody does West Point projections anymore… they tell us).
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