Here is to hoping your 2014 is better than your 2013. Sincere hopes we all see 2015 relatively healthy and more prosperous. The year is already underway and is coming like rolling thunder across the ocean.
All those who wander are not lost.
Some scientific jokes. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Oh those stoner kids. In this case, dolphins are found to use puffer fish toxin to get high. Wonder if they got footage of the puffer fish saying, "Hey, first chew is free"?
What I don't want for Xmas, the the "Tikker, a wristwatch that counts down your life." For those people who want the ultimate deadline. This countdown watch counts back from your average life expectancy, so you can watch your mortality tick away. Although the effects of such a watch are not always positive. The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older…
Frozen bubbles. Neat. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"It's like a whale traffic jam right now off the coast of Long Beach, Calif. — the nation's busiest commercial port. That has scientists puzzled, and whale watchers thrilled." I expect they're gathering for the charge.
The techno-panic timeline. Although it's a bit simplistic (how many people do you know sing or play instruments for their family and friends, how many speeches or text do you know by heart, when was the last time you had a congenial conversation with a stranger face to face). All those things changed the world and how we interact, somethings for the better, somethings for the worse.
There's been a few article on Mayor Bloomberg leaving office, and there's a wealth of interesting information in there. Like this gem, which I offer for anyone who wants to talk about "sin-taxes" and "the nanny-state". "… 60-year-old Elizabeth Lane… said, 'Is this right? Can he really tell people what to do and how to do it?'… Lane had smoked for 40 years and couldn't quit… Lane says family pressure and a lot of prayer moved her to put on a nicotine patch. It worked. She quit, which has helped her indefinitely postpone surgery to open her blood vessels and reduced her risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease. It has also potentially saved taxpayers tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars." (Emphasis mine) This is the real case for those things. Not only has Mrs. Lane saved money, we as a community have saved lots of money. This is why cigarette taxes are so high, because they cost us, the community, so much. This is also why he started working on obesity and diabetes (his push for a maximum size for soft drinks). Yes, it sounds horrible and it can be seen limiting "freedom", but it's mostly about reducing your taxes.
While that article on Bloomberg is mostly positive, here's a more balanced perspective.
And noted as another "ZOMG, government is telling us what to do by outlawing light bulbs and making regulations for business", electrical use in the US has approached 2001 levels. I'm sure having an economy still in recovery has helped, but the fact that it's better this year and we still reduced electrical use year over year. While the electrical companies will tell you this is a bad thing (because they aren't making as much profit), this isn't a bad thing.
"We're either going to do that in some practical way when things get bad enough or we're going to keep going the way we're going, at which point there's going to be enough people standing on the outside of this mess that somebody's going to pick up a brick, because you know when people get to the end there's always the brick. I hope we go for the first option but I'm losing faith." I've felt that way for a while now. I know the Tea Party thought it was the brick, unfortunately they were just cheerleaders for the status quo (yea, I know they don't think so, but that's basically their major motivation, "this guy is changing everything we've taken to be True, and we won't stand for it"). At some point the revolution will come, IMHO, the big question is will it be a velvet revolution (I hope), or a bloody one. Because someone is going to pick up a brick. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Need an example of the above? Okay. "According to (the owner of Home Depot), an anonymous, 'potential seven-figure donor' for the Church’s restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral is concerned that the Pope’s criticism of capitalism are 'exclusionary,'" threatening to take his little red ball and go home. "'I’ve told the Cardinal… 'Your Eminence, this is one more hurdle I hope we don’t have to deal with."… Cardinal Dolan told CNBC that he had, in fact, spoken to Langone, and had told him that 'that would be a misunderstanding of the Holy Father’s message.'… He then thanked Langone for bringing this anonymous donor's concerns to him, and insisted that '[w]e’ve got to correct — to make sure this gentleman understands the Holy Father’s message properly.'" Dear Cardinal Dolan, just buy the donor a copy of The Bishop's Wife. I suggest the 19547 version with Cary Grant so there's a chance they'll watch it.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Linkee-poo is getting set for another week
Alex Haist on converting the fight or flight approach to writing to a sideways approach. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
A good primer on character descriptions.
"The new research, carried out at Emory University in the US, found that reading a good book may cause heightened connectivity in the brain and neurological changes that persist in a similar way to muscle memory." More fMRI studies. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
A reversal on the "Iron Maiden used bit-torrent data to plan convert venues" story I linked to earlier. Also note, this piece is also poorly done. There's a lot of post hoc going on and a lot of assumptions that Musicmetric is the only place people can get analysis of bit-torrent streams. (Grokked from Matt Staggs, I think)
Children's books and workplace segregation. You have to be carefully taught. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
American internal checkpoints where government agents can ask you, "Papers, please." Hey, Tea Party, you're always screaming about the Constitution and your rights being tamped, here's a really great cause for you. It's very libertarian. Yea, I don't think they will either. (Grokked from Will Wheaton)
Body language gender and power. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The reprinted six harsh truths that will make you a better person. Or not. I agree with the central premise, which is a harder restatement of "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Also, "People quit because it takes too long to see results, because they can't figure out that the process is the result." Pretty good writing advice if I ever heard it. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that is evolving…" Only this one is about time. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Nine important things that happened in 2013 that nobody is talking about. Well, some people are. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Tracking temporary worker safety. Think there's a reason for the heavy pushback? Probably the same reason for the shift to temporary workers.
An accidental map of the doldrums. Plotting the travels of all ships on the oceans. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The blog is dead. Long live the blog. Johns Scalzi on the recent declaration on the death of the blog.
They're more like guidelines. How the rash of "threatening clowns" in England goes against the code of clowning. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"As the old lawyer’s line says, if the facts are on your side, pound the facts; if the law is on your side, pound the law; if neither are on your side, pound the table." The humor test. Also offered as a pre-buttal, name calling isn't humor, it's peevishness. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
The soldier who asked the Republican Presidential candidates about Don't Ask Don't Tell. Let's see, it's been how long now, and it looks like the military is still holding together. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
You know that theory that solar activity has more influence over climate change than our recent man made interference? Yea, so much for that idea. See, that's the difference between science and ideology. Science actually tries to verify the scientist's ideas. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
A good primer on character descriptions.
"The new research, carried out at Emory University in the US, found that reading a good book may cause heightened connectivity in the brain and neurological changes that persist in a similar way to muscle memory." More fMRI studies. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
A reversal on the "Iron Maiden used bit-torrent data to plan convert venues" story I linked to earlier. Also note, this piece is also poorly done. There's a lot of post hoc going on and a lot of assumptions that Musicmetric is the only place people can get analysis of bit-torrent streams. (Grokked from Matt Staggs, I think)
Children's books and workplace segregation. You have to be carefully taught. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
American internal checkpoints where government agents can ask you, "Papers, please." Hey, Tea Party, you're always screaming about the Constitution and your rights being tamped, here's a really great cause for you. It's very libertarian. Yea, I don't think they will either. (Grokked from Will Wheaton)
Body language gender and power. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The reprinted six harsh truths that will make you a better person. Or not. I agree with the central premise, which is a harder restatement of "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Also, "People quit because it takes too long to see results, because they can't figure out that the process is the result." Pretty good writing advice if I ever heard it. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that is evolving…" Only this one is about time. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Nine important things that happened in 2013 that nobody is talking about. Well, some people are. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Tracking temporary worker safety. Think there's a reason for the heavy pushback? Probably the same reason for the shift to temporary workers.
An accidental map of the doldrums. Plotting the travels of all ships on the oceans. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The blog is dead. Long live the blog. Johns Scalzi on the recent declaration on the death of the blog.
They're more like guidelines. How the rash of "threatening clowns" in England goes against the code of clowning. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"As the old lawyer’s line says, if the facts are on your side, pound the facts; if the law is on your side, pound the law; if neither are on your side, pound the table." The humor test. Also offered as a pre-buttal, name calling isn't humor, it's peevishness. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
The soldier who asked the Republican Presidential candidates about Don't Ask Don't Tell. Let's see, it's been how long now, and it looks like the military is still holding together. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
You know that theory that solar activity has more influence over climate change than our recent man made interference? Yea, so much for that idea. See, that's the difference between science and ideology. Science actually tries to verify the scientist's ideas. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Weekend Linkee-poo is just trying to relax
Read to win the war. Propaganda posters from the American Library Association during WWI, WWII, and the campaign for the "People's University." (Grokked from Mrs. Tadd)
If we use Moore's Law and extrapolate the complexity of life back along the curve we find that life first occurred before the Earth was formed. While not noted in the article, the first major problem with this is that there is no evidence that life follows Moore's Law (in fact, one of the new ideas gaining a lot of traction is the concept that evolution occurs in spurts, not as a continual function). (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Saw this on my trip to the Rock Hall of Fame this past week. Purchase a "Legacy Brick" that will be installed on the circle in front of the hall. Would probably use two lines for "Really don't mind if you sit this one out/My words but a whisper your deafness a shout". Just because I'm that way (yes, I looked, 15 characters per line, sucks). Also would be more apt to do it if it came with a lifetime membership.
What does a million flamingos look like? Well, now you know. (Grokked from Jim Hines)
Table held up by the weight of objects resting on the table. You know, just in case someone asks you to solve the puzzle. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
It's not just about the size, it's the thickness that counts too. In this case we're talking about Arctic Sea Ice.
The Queen pardons Alan Turing. Well that only took 60 years. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The 4-year slump. An excellent summation of labor and management relations and the intersections of politics and economics. Must read. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"After yet another PR headache, McDonald's has taken down its employee resources website following what it deemed 'unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary.'" In other words, "People were mean to us for not actually managing the site properly to keep from being embarrassed." It could have been a wonderful resource, except for the fact that McDs doesn't pay their employees enough to actually live so giving them "financial" advice that isn't focused at their economic level was kinda dumb and out of touch (on the corporate level). McDs, you reaped exactly what you sowed. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
What happens when you cut unemployment? You increase the burden on social services. No data in the article on how many people have applied for medicaid, food stamps, and the various forms of welfare. Not to mention the shrinking of the workforce. In other words, not exactly an improvement in the situation. But there are other studies which link the rise of minimum wage jobs replacing middle-class jobs to the increase in other forms of welfare. "Annual cost of public assistance to families of fast-food workers: nearly $7 billion." That's all those "makers" paying their taxes to support low wages. How's that working out? Then there's the increasing perverse mentality of some people to think, "There is a reason why people are poor and it’s not systemic, it’s the fault of the person." This is also known as the "… if they would prefer to die, let them do so and decrease the surplus population" mentality. Where did that get Scrooge? (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The new manufacturing. "As the U.S. economy continues to recover, it has been getting some help from an unexpected place. After decades of massive job losses, manufacturing firms have been steadily creating jobs — many of them well-paying. One particularly bright spot is a new generation of high-tech manufacturers." But fewer jobs than had been lost, also requiring a higher degree of training pre-hiring and only paying slightly higher than before.
"As it is, however, working a 40 hour week at minimum wage won’t bring in enough money to afford a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country… (It's) below the federal poverty line for a family of two or more. But bringing the wage in line with inflation by increasing it to $10.10 an hour would lift nearly 6 million people out of poverty, many of them women and people of color." Which then means that according to Republicans it should be eliminated. Wrong side of history, wrong side of justice. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
On why gold would be useless in an economic apocalypse. Yes, that. You know why gold is being hyped? For the same reason you get emails about penny stocks. Same con game. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
"On one hand, it means that you are so clueless that you need to be pitied. And on the other, it means that you are such a brazen liar that perhaps the Old Testament plagues of frogs, locusts, boils, and gnats should all bombard you at the same time." On Mike Huckabee claiming his history of tolerance towards the LGBT community, This is about the new narrative that complains about people fighting against intolerance of being guilty of intolerance themselves. Look, A&E pulling Duck Dynasty (which they only really said that they didn't want Phil in the show, the rest of the cast said "then we're all out", and it wasn't a permanent ban) isn't a violation of your 1st Amendment Rights. Why? Because A&E is the market, they aren't the government. They made an economic decision. For all the conservatives who like to talk about "market solutions" then to come out and whine and moan when the market doesn't go their way, they're hypocrites. For Mike, I think you may need to revisit your seminary training, because I think you've forgotten a lot of it. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"In 2005, Utah did a study that found the average annual cost for emergency services and jail time for each chronically homeless person was $16,670. The cost to house them and provide case management services was only $11,000 per person." Damn socialism, saving us money while providing a better quality of life for everyone. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweet of my heart: @RobDenBleyker Don't feel bad about not reaching your 2013 goals. Earth spent the year travelling 585 million miles and ended up in the same fucking place.
If we use Moore's Law and extrapolate the complexity of life back along the curve we find that life first occurred before the Earth was formed. While not noted in the article, the first major problem with this is that there is no evidence that life follows Moore's Law (in fact, one of the new ideas gaining a lot of traction is the concept that evolution occurs in spurts, not as a continual function). (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Saw this on my trip to the Rock Hall of Fame this past week. Purchase a "Legacy Brick" that will be installed on the circle in front of the hall. Would probably use two lines for "Really don't mind if you sit this one out/My words but a whisper your deafness a shout". Just because I'm that way (yes, I looked, 15 characters per line, sucks). Also would be more apt to do it if it came with a lifetime membership.
What does a million flamingos look like? Well, now you know. (Grokked from Jim Hines)
Table held up by the weight of objects resting on the table. You know, just in case someone asks you to solve the puzzle. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
It's not just about the size, it's the thickness that counts too. In this case we're talking about Arctic Sea Ice.
The Queen pardons Alan Turing. Well that only took 60 years. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The 4-year slump. An excellent summation of labor and management relations and the intersections of politics and economics. Must read. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"After yet another PR headache, McDonald's has taken down its employee resources website following what it deemed 'unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary.'" In other words, "People were mean to us for not actually managing the site properly to keep from being embarrassed." It could have been a wonderful resource, except for the fact that McDs doesn't pay their employees enough to actually live so giving them "financial" advice that isn't focused at their economic level was kinda dumb and out of touch (on the corporate level). McDs, you reaped exactly what you sowed. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
What happens when you cut unemployment? You increase the burden on social services. No data in the article on how many people have applied for medicaid, food stamps, and the various forms of welfare. Not to mention the shrinking of the workforce. In other words, not exactly an improvement in the situation. But there are other studies which link the rise of minimum wage jobs replacing middle-class jobs to the increase in other forms of welfare. "Annual cost of public assistance to families of fast-food workers: nearly $7 billion." That's all those "makers" paying their taxes to support low wages. How's that working out? Then there's the increasing perverse mentality of some people to think, "There is a reason why people are poor and it’s not systemic, it’s the fault of the person." This is also known as the "… if they would prefer to die, let them do so and decrease the surplus population" mentality. Where did that get Scrooge? (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The new manufacturing. "As the U.S. economy continues to recover, it has been getting some help from an unexpected place. After decades of massive job losses, manufacturing firms have been steadily creating jobs — many of them well-paying. One particularly bright spot is a new generation of high-tech manufacturers." But fewer jobs than had been lost, also requiring a higher degree of training pre-hiring and only paying slightly higher than before.
"As it is, however, working a 40 hour week at minimum wage won’t bring in enough money to afford a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country… (It's) below the federal poverty line for a family of two or more. But bringing the wage in line with inflation by increasing it to $10.10 an hour would lift nearly 6 million people out of poverty, many of them women and people of color." Which then means that according to Republicans it should be eliminated. Wrong side of history, wrong side of justice. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
On why gold would be useless in an economic apocalypse. Yes, that. You know why gold is being hyped? For the same reason you get emails about penny stocks. Same con game. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
"On one hand, it means that you are so clueless that you need to be pitied. And on the other, it means that you are such a brazen liar that perhaps the Old Testament plagues of frogs, locusts, boils, and gnats should all bombard you at the same time." On Mike Huckabee claiming his history of tolerance towards the LGBT community, This is about the new narrative that complains about people fighting against intolerance of being guilty of intolerance themselves. Look, A&E pulling Duck Dynasty (which they only really said that they didn't want Phil in the show, the rest of the cast said "then we're all out", and it wasn't a permanent ban) isn't a violation of your 1st Amendment Rights. Why? Because A&E is the market, they aren't the government. They made an economic decision. For all the conservatives who like to talk about "market solutions" then to come out and whine and moan when the market doesn't go their way, they're hypocrites. For Mike, I think you may need to revisit your seminary training, because I think you've forgotten a lot of it. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"In 2005, Utah did a study that found the average annual cost for emergency services and jail time for each chronically homeless person was $16,670. The cost to house them and provide case management services was only $11,000 per person." Damn socialism, saving us money while providing a better quality of life for everyone. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweet of my heart: @RobDenBleyker Don't feel bad about not reaching your 2013 goals. Earth spent the year travelling 585 million miles and ended up in the same fucking place.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Linkee-poo is wondering why all the egg nog is gone
You may have to know my family to get that joke.
"We’re writing stories… And stories are for everyone." Kameron Hurley ostensibly talking about how we talk about SF/F books, but also making the point on how we should talk about books amongst ourselves. There's this thought out there that one of the reasons why SF is dying (it's always dying, BTW) is that the entry level is too high. You need to have read some previous works to understand the new ones. Complete elitist bullcrap. If I need to have read 15-20 books of canon before I can really read your book, you're doing it wrong. Now, if I have read those books, if it makes the experience of reading this new book richer, I'll buy that. I'll even buy that I need to read your series in order, although I think that's a market limiting move, myself. But if I need to have amassed previous knowledge of other works (or, say, have at least a masters level understanding of physics) to understand your story, I don't think you know how to tell a story.
It's somewhat of an open secret that genre writers have been involved in writing porn. In case you ever wanted to know why, "I was putting my daughter through college with the profits." From an article on how Amazon is cracking down on "cryptozoological erotica." "'The crackdown was meant to target the obvious offenders — ebooks… that fetishized incest and rape — but in their fervor to course-correct, the online bookstores started deleting… 'not just the questionable erotica but [also]… any e-books that might even hint at violating cultural norms.'" Want to make a quick million? Launch the Amazon of erotica (since Amazon seems bent on eliminating it from their shelves, but only the "bad" stuff they say, not the "literature" which sells. Also note, Amazon's not offering to give up any of the money they made from those earlier sales. There's a lot to this conversation that I'm going to skip over, though (such as, when all the participants are characters in a book, can we even talk about the concept on "consensual sex"? But over all I do support the impulse to ban incest and rape pornography/fantasy). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
The dialect quiz map. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The Cleveland Public Library just discovered it owns an original first edition of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. I might need to take another trip downtown. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"The Kids’ Right to Read Project… says attempts to remove books from classrooms and libraries went up 53% this year, based on 49 attempts in 29 states." (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)
The Krampus.
The five things photography has taught me. "When a graphic designer spends 15 minutes explaining the thinking behind a magazine spread and the hidden beauty that lies deep within—yep, you guess it: I don’t care. You won’t be there to explain your design to my readers, so you don’t get to explain it to me." You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to explain that philosophy when clients don't understand my presentation style. Can I do that dog and pony show? Sure. Are you going to hire me to do it for all your customers? Also, all these points are pretty good for writers as well.
Using Star Trek for evil. A man sells investors on tricorder technology, which doesn't exist. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Or you can use my phrase, sometimes the movie ain't about you. The ring theory when it comes to who one can dump their emotions on. "Comfort IN, dump OUT." (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
The eight ways jellyfish are awesome and terrifying. Not to mention, some of them are huge.
The Yellowstone magma reservoir is larger and fuller than initially thought. Just another thing to keep you up at night. Also note, with a 640,000 year cycle, being 1000 years off is an error of less than 0.2%. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"But Chief Judge Theodore McKee, writing for a three-judge 3rd Circuit panel, said that 'in a world where air passenger safety must contend with such nuanced threats as attempts to convert underwear into bombs and shoes into incendiary devices,' the decision to detain George was reasonable." Let me just say that form an actual security standpoint, this is complete and utter bullshit. While I'm first to admit most criminals (and, yes, I'm a bleeding heart liberal because I believe that terrorists should be tried as common criminals, but mostly for the political message it sends) aren't the brightest (and thank the gods for dumb criminals), I don't think many terrorists use flash cards to learn Arabic. Call me naive if you will, but I think I'm on pretty solid ground here. This is security theater at its worst. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
The Edward Snowden interview. After all this and the people involved still don't get it. "Led by Google and then Yahoo, one company after another announced expensive plans to encrypt its data traffic… It was a direct — in some cases, explicit — blow to NSA collection of user data in bulk. If the NSA wanted the information, it would have to request it or circumvent the encryption one target at a time." That's so cute they think that. I really hate to say this, but for those people who watch and are attentive, what Snowden "revealed" was not news (including the tapping of Chancellor Merkel's phone). One bad website launch and people call for the repeal of Obamacare, but the revelation of an organization gone crazy on authority and there are no calls to repeal the Patriot Act (the foundation cause which started us down this path, there's been other laws since then), but only "modifying" laws to counter-act some of the things that have been revealed. Priorities, Congress doesn't have them in correct order. For long-time readers of this blog know my position on this, that President Obama hasn't rolled back these programs is my greatest critique of his presidency. There was an implied promise to do so. Screw all the other crap, this is the most important thing he could do. This is also why some of us, right after 9-11, argued vociferously against giving the government this power. It's crack to governments and once they get hooked, it's a hard, cruel cold turkey program to quit. And the cure is dangerous, and we as the people need to accept the danger it requires. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
"Iron Maiden hired a(n)… analytics company… to determine where piracy of their music was highest, then scheduled tours of those countries. They made millions touring Central and South America." And that, friends, is how it's done.
"We’re writing stories… And stories are for everyone." Kameron Hurley ostensibly talking about how we talk about SF/F books, but also making the point on how we should talk about books amongst ourselves. There's this thought out there that one of the reasons why SF is dying (it's always dying, BTW) is that the entry level is too high. You need to have read some previous works to understand the new ones. Complete elitist bullcrap. If I need to have read 15-20 books of canon before I can really read your book, you're doing it wrong. Now, if I have read those books, if it makes the experience of reading this new book richer, I'll buy that. I'll even buy that I need to read your series in order, although I think that's a market limiting move, myself. But if I need to have amassed previous knowledge of other works (or, say, have at least a masters level understanding of physics) to understand your story, I don't think you know how to tell a story.
It's somewhat of an open secret that genre writers have been involved in writing porn. In case you ever wanted to know why, "I was putting my daughter through college with the profits." From an article on how Amazon is cracking down on "cryptozoological erotica." "'The crackdown was meant to target the obvious offenders — ebooks… that fetishized incest and rape — but in their fervor to course-correct, the online bookstores started deleting… 'not just the questionable erotica but [also]… any e-books that might even hint at violating cultural norms.'" Want to make a quick million? Launch the Amazon of erotica (since Amazon seems bent on eliminating it from their shelves, but only the "bad" stuff they say, not the "literature" which sells. Also note, Amazon's not offering to give up any of the money they made from those earlier sales. There's a lot to this conversation that I'm going to skip over, though (such as, when all the participants are characters in a book, can we even talk about the concept on "consensual sex"? But over all I do support the impulse to ban incest and rape pornography/fantasy). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
The dialect quiz map. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The Cleveland Public Library just discovered it owns an original first edition of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. I might need to take another trip downtown. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"The Kids’ Right to Read Project… says attempts to remove books from classrooms and libraries went up 53% this year, based on 49 attempts in 29 states." (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)
The Krampus.
The five things photography has taught me. "When a graphic designer spends 15 minutes explaining the thinking behind a magazine spread and the hidden beauty that lies deep within—yep, you guess it: I don’t care. You won’t be there to explain your design to my readers, so you don’t get to explain it to me." You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to explain that philosophy when clients don't understand my presentation style. Can I do that dog and pony show? Sure. Are you going to hire me to do it for all your customers? Also, all these points are pretty good for writers as well.
Using Star Trek for evil. A man sells investors on tricorder technology, which doesn't exist. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Or you can use my phrase, sometimes the movie ain't about you. The ring theory when it comes to who one can dump their emotions on. "Comfort IN, dump OUT." (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
The eight ways jellyfish are awesome and terrifying. Not to mention, some of them are huge.
The Yellowstone magma reservoir is larger and fuller than initially thought. Just another thing to keep you up at night. Also note, with a 640,000 year cycle, being 1000 years off is an error of less than 0.2%. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"But Chief Judge Theodore McKee, writing for a three-judge 3rd Circuit panel, said that 'in a world where air passenger safety must contend with such nuanced threats as attempts to convert underwear into bombs and shoes into incendiary devices,' the decision to detain George was reasonable." Let me just say that form an actual security standpoint, this is complete and utter bullshit. While I'm first to admit most criminals (and, yes, I'm a bleeding heart liberal because I believe that terrorists should be tried as common criminals, but mostly for the political message it sends) aren't the brightest (and thank the gods for dumb criminals), I don't think many terrorists use flash cards to learn Arabic. Call me naive if you will, but I think I'm on pretty solid ground here. This is security theater at its worst. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
The Edward Snowden interview. After all this and the people involved still don't get it. "Led by Google and then Yahoo, one company after another announced expensive plans to encrypt its data traffic… It was a direct — in some cases, explicit — blow to NSA collection of user data in bulk. If the NSA wanted the information, it would have to request it or circumvent the encryption one target at a time." That's so cute they think that. I really hate to say this, but for those people who watch and are attentive, what Snowden "revealed" was not news (including the tapping of Chancellor Merkel's phone). One bad website launch and people call for the repeal of Obamacare, but the revelation of an organization gone crazy on authority and there are no calls to repeal the Patriot Act (the foundation cause which started us down this path, there's been other laws since then), but only "modifying" laws to counter-act some of the things that have been revealed. Priorities, Congress doesn't have them in correct order. For long-time readers of this blog know my position on this, that President Obama hasn't rolled back these programs is my greatest critique of his presidency. There was an implied promise to do so. Screw all the other crap, this is the most important thing he could do. This is also why some of us, right after 9-11, argued vociferously against giving the government this power. It's crack to governments and once they get hooked, it's a hard, cruel cold turkey program to quit. And the cure is dangerous, and we as the people need to accept the danger it requires. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
"Iron Maiden hired a(n)… analytics company… to determine where piracy of their music was highest, then scheduled tours of those countries. They made millions touring Central and South America." And that, friends, is how it's done.
Holiday Playlist - Raise the Dead of Wintertime
Not my favorite rendition, but I can't find the Voices of Winter on that youtubie. But still a good song.
As we work, we'll sing a rhyme and raise the dead of wintertime.
As we work, we'll sing a rhyme and raise the dead of wintertime.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Holiday Playlist - Christmas Morning
Happy Christmas. Here's Loudon Wainwright's Christmas Morning for you to unwrap. Hope your day is fantastic, if you celebrate or not.
A week from today we begin a brand new year
Let us all be hopeful, men & women of good cheer
And resolve to fight against stupidity and fear
It's Christmas morning
Holiday Playlist - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Arrangement by the fabulous Leo Kottke.
If I started playing guitar again, this is the style I want to learn. I'm somewhat good with finger picking (and the other techniques he uses), but this is style (house) is very particular and difficult. Sort of like how there's banjo finger-picking, and claw-hammer style. Also, note, that's not layered tracks. That's how he sounds in concert.
If I started playing guitar again, this is the style I want to learn. I'm somewhat good with finger picking (and the other techniques he uses), but this is style (house) is very particular and difficult. Sort of like how there's banjo finger-picking, and claw-hammer style. Also, note, that's not layered tracks. That's how he sounds in concert.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Holiday Playlist - Hallelujah Chorus
Happy Christmas. Now, have the Roaches singing the Hallelujah Chorus.
Linkee-poo ain't gettin' nuthin' for Xmas, 'cause it ain't been nuthin' but bad
Hope you have a marvelous Xmas, if you're so included to celebrate and observe it.
Santa shot in the back with a pellet gun. Why we can't have nice things. (Grokked from Tania)
Fifty of the worst and weirdest nativity sets. Included mostly for the cement duck set. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Want to boost your understanding of Old English? This has been a banner year for you, then, with the digitization of many ancient texts. The latest is The Vercelli Book. (Grokked from Dr. Doyle)
Irene Gallo and picturing the Solstice. It seems strange, but I've seen a number of these in person. Also, more polar bears than you can shake a stick at.
"Generation X is used to disappointments. Generation X knows you didn't even read the whole thing. It doesn't want or expect your reblogs; it picked the wrong platform." Generation X is sick of your bullshit. (Grokked from AbsoluteWrite)
It's not pretty when a web server cries. Hahahaha (Grokked from the Slactivist)
First they lift the dinosaur tails from the dust and make them move fast, and now Neanderthals have hyoid bones. The hyoid is a free floating bone in your neck which enables human-like speech. It also is (for those people writing mysteries) the tell-tale sign of strangulation when it is broken. It's very delicate, so it's no wonder for all this time we thought they didn't have it. Sigh. Next you're going to tell me the world ain't flat. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The people of Iceland want you to know it was environmentalists who saved the lava fields, not the elf-lobby. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
Curing the common cold. Or not. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Hmm, this Duck Dynasty Disaster is beginning to look interesting. First, it's exposing both the crafted lies and manipulation that is reality programming. If you want the quick primer, see the comparison photo midway down of the boys before the TV show, and the boys after the TV show. Very telling. And the fight doesn't seem to be going down. And it's exposing the cancer that is eating America from the inside out. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
And speaking of racism as the continuing root of many social problems, the Republican Party and Conservatives continue to back the wrong horse. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Hiring a hit man. In case you ever wondered where all those people being arrested for hiring hit men come from.
About that Target data theft, "'The most infuriating thing about this massive carelessness with customers' data, he says, is that the technology to prevent such data theft already exists and is being used in most other countries." Which we could all use here, if it weren't for the Satan lurking in the technology. No, really. I wish I could make that up.
"I grew up in a middle-class America where we pretty much knew life was an escalator. You got on the bottom step and if you behaved yourself, paid your dues, went to work, worked hard, you'd end up at the top of the escalator. And I think that escalator's broken now. It's a tougher scramble." The NPR series on the decline of the middle class.
"Behold, an anti-Obama smear so silly, even the NRSC’s Brad Dayspring and his team couldn’t muster the will to defend it." My guess is that dog didn't hunt, and so didn't pull in enough outraged contributions. So in a business move, they just forgot all about it. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Hey look, there actually is a climate change conspiracy. Unfortunately for the conservatives it's on their end. Yea, lots of money helping to skew the debate on the side of "oh, no, nothing to worry about." (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Also, last November was the hottest in 134 years. And before you ask, "There were no parts of the world with record cold temperatures last month, but parts of Australia and North America were cooler than average." (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Santa shot in the back with a pellet gun. Why we can't have nice things. (Grokked from Tania)
Fifty of the worst and weirdest nativity sets. Included mostly for the cement duck set. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Want to boost your understanding of Old English? This has been a banner year for you, then, with the digitization of many ancient texts. The latest is The Vercelli Book. (Grokked from Dr. Doyle)
Irene Gallo and picturing the Solstice. It seems strange, but I've seen a number of these in person. Also, more polar bears than you can shake a stick at.
"Generation X is used to disappointments. Generation X knows you didn't even read the whole thing. It doesn't want or expect your reblogs; it picked the wrong platform." Generation X is sick of your bullshit. (Grokked from AbsoluteWrite)
It's not pretty when a web server cries. Hahahaha (Grokked from the Slactivist)
First they lift the dinosaur tails from the dust and make them move fast, and now Neanderthals have hyoid bones. The hyoid is a free floating bone in your neck which enables human-like speech. It also is (for those people writing mysteries) the tell-tale sign of strangulation when it is broken. It's very delicate, so it's no wonder for all this time we thought they didn't have it. Sigh. Next you're going to tell me the world ain't flat. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The people of Iceland want you to know it was environmentalists who saved the lava fields, not the elf-lobby. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
Curing the common cold. Or not. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Hmm, this Duck Dynasty Disaster is beginning to look interesting. First, it's exposing both the crafted lies and manipulation that is reality programming. If you want the quick primer, see the comparison photo midway down of the boys before the TV show, and the boys after the TV show. Very telling. And the fight doesn't seem to be going down. And it's exposing the cancer that is eating America from the inside out. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
And speaking of racism as the continuing root of many social problems, the Republican Party and Conservatives continue to back the wrong horse. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Hiring a hit man. In case you ever wondered where all those people being arrested for hiring hit men come from.
About that Target data theft, "'The most infuriating thing about this massive carelessness with customers' data, he says, is that the technology to prevent such data theft already exists and is being used in most other countries." Which we could all use here, if it weren't for the Satan lurking in the technology. No, really. I wish I could make that up.
"I grew up in a middle-class America where we pretty much knew life was an escalator. You got on the bottom step and if you behaved yourself, paid your dues, went to work, worked hard, you'd end up at the top of the escalator. And I think that escalator's broken now. It's a tougher scramble." The NPR series on the decline of the middle class.
"Behold, an anti-Obama smear so silly, even the NRSC’s Brad Dayspring and his team couldn’t muster the will to defend it." My guess is that dog didn't hunt, and so didn't pull in enough outraged contributions. So in a business move, they just forgot all about it. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Hey look, there actually is a climate change conspiracy. Unfortunately for the conservatives it's on their end. Yea, lots of money helping to skew the debate on the side of "oh, no, nothing to worry about." (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Also, last November was the hottest in 134 years. And before you ask, "There were no parts of the world with record cold temperatures last month, but parts of Australia and North America were cooler than average." (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Monday, December 23, 2013
Linkee-poo of Orient are, bearing gifts we've traveled this far
John Joseph Adams is running a contest to name his Military Fantasy anthology. You have until the end of January.
An interview with Saladin Ahmed regarding food in his stories. Actually it's about culture and how details of culture can make a story real and relevant.
Five lies you were told about grief. "You are a character in a story that is over, and since this never happens in the fairy tales you were fed in your most formative years, you are lost. You no longer fit in the world, and there is no star that can grant your truest wish." Also, talk about death, before it's too late. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Ten extreme weather events from 2013 in photos. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The origin of the "welfare queen." Cited here because of the return of the myth. The woman was a serial criminal, not an example of how people on welfare actually behave.
"'Christian organization cancels Duck Dynasty event because Robertsons have wine deal'… Cries of faux lamentation over 'censorship': Zero." That famed conservative moral constancy.
Some amazing shadow sculptures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Sex (as in gender) is not as nearly binary as everyone thinks it is. This is but one of the problems I have with conservative moral stances on sexuality. Sex isn't a this or that situation, it's often a long and wide spectrum of grays. And that's only when we talk about the physicality of it. If we add in the cultural, sociological, and personal preferences, the diversity is definitely mind-boggling. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The Cubli. A cube that can roll, jump, and balance on a corner. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"In fact we went back a few weeks ago to see if this was a phenomenon that was confined only to the women, and we actually found a few virgin fathers as well — which is a little harder to get your head around." That's the zinger to an article that starts with "One in every 200 young American women says she became pregnant while still a virgin." And people say miracles don't happen anymore. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Once they turn 62, veterans would receive a cost-of-living correction that would restore retirement payouts to the amount they would have been without the cuts. Still, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said those cuts show how insensitive the nation has become." Let me call bullshit on this. Yes, it's wrong to cut the retirement benefits of those who have already retired (or who are close, like less than 15 years). But notice that conservatives have been leading the charge to cut teacher, public employee, and everybody else's pensions (note, Wisconsin, Ohio SB-5, Detroit, etc, etc). So for them to make this claim about insensitivity is complete and utter horse-shit. Not to mention, it's part of the deal that came from Rep. Paul Ryan. Kinda sucks when you're own policies and ideologies are given solid form and brought before everyone. Also note how these articles focus on the Senate and absolved the House of their overwhelming vote.
Hey look, real voter fraud (fraudulent statement while applying, registered in two states). Oh, wait, it's another conservative. "Liz Cheney’s husband has been registered to vote in both Virginia and Wyoming for the past nine months, even though he signed a document in Wyoming saying he was not registered elsewhere." Never mind. And I'm sure all those new voter laws will help. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
G"Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens is no friend of the Affordable Care Act…" Apparently he's also no friend of learning how insurance works or what the terms of insurance, such as "pre-existing condition", mean. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Of course, using data to drive hiring decisions has its problems. Employers guided by data could wind up skipping over promising candidates. But Barbara Marder of the consulting firm Mercer points out that the way companies hire now has its own flaws. We like to hire people who are like us. People who went to schools we know. People who were referred to us by our friends." Actually this is a little behind the times. Back in 2010, we had to design/write our resumes to be machine read. Welcome to your new hiring manager, the computer.
The dismal salary of $140,000 a year. Yes, it sure sucks to make six-figures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
An interview with Saladin Ahmed regarding food in his stories. Actually it's about culture and how details of culture can make a story real and relevant.
Five lies you were told about grief. "You are a character in a story that is over, and since this never happens in the fairy tales you were fed in your most formative years, you are lost. You no longer fit in the world, and there is no star that can grant your truest wish." Also, talk about death, before it's too late. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Ten extreme weather events from 2013 in photos. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The origin of the "welfare queen." Cited here because of the return of the myth. The woman was a serial criminal, not an example of how people on welfare actually behave.
"'Christian organization cancels Duck Dynasty event because Robertsons have wine deal'… Cries of faux lamentation over 'censorship': Zero." That famed conservative moral constancy.
Some amazing shadow sculptures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Sex (as in gender) is not as nearly binary as everyone thinks it is. This is but one of the problems I have with conservative moral stances on sexuality. Sex isn't a this or that situation, it's often a long and wide spectrum of grays. And that's only when we talk about the physicality of it. If we add in the cultural, sociological, and personal preferences, the diversity is definitely mind-boggling. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The Cubli. A cube that can roll, jump, and balance on a corner. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"In fact we went back a few weeks ago to see if this was a phenomenon that was confined only to the women, and we actually found a few virgin fathers as well — which is a little harder to get your head around." That's the zinger to an article that starts with "One in every 200 young American women says she became pregnant while still a virgin." And people say miracles don't happen anymore. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Once they turn 62, veterans would receive a cost-of-living correction that would restore retirement payouts to the amount they would have been without the cuts. Still, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said those cuts show how insensitive the nation has become." Let me call bullshit on this. Yes, it's wrong to cut the retirement benefits of those who have already retired (or who are close, like less than 15 years). But notice that conservatives have been leading the charge to cut teacher, public employee, and everybody else's pensions (note, Wisconsin, Ohio SB-5, Detroit, etc, etc). So for them to make this claim about insensitivity is complete and utter horse-shit. Not to mention, it's part of the deal that came from Rep. Paul Ryan. Kinda sucks when you're own policies and ideologies are given solid form and brought before everyone. Also note how these articles focus on the Senate and absolved the House of their overwhelming vote.
Hey look, real voter fraud (fraudulent statement while applying, registered in two states). Oh, wait, it's another conservative. "Liz Cheney’s husband has been registered to vote in both Virginia and Wyoming for the past nine months, even though he signed a document in Wyoming saying he was not registered elsewhere." Never mind. And I'm sure all those new voter laws will help. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
G"Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens is no friend of the Affordable Care Act…" Apparently he's also no friend of learning how insurance works or what the terms of insurance, such as "pre-existing condition", mean. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Of course, using data to drive hiring decisions has its problems. Employers guided by data could wind up skipping over promising candidates. But Barbara Marder of the consulting firm Mercer points out that the way companies hire now has its own flaws. We like to hire people who are like us. People who went to schools we know. People who were referred to us by our friends." Actually this is a little behind the times. Back in 2010, we had to design/write our resumes to be machine read. Welcome to your new hiring manager, the computer.
The dismal salary of $140,000 a year. Yes, it sure sucks to make six-figures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Linkee-poo of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown
"Because I used to be poor, overworked and overwhelmed. And I produced zero books during that time." On writing, the time, and some of the lies that are never fully explained. (Grokked from several people now)
Also, as a reminder, it ain't all tea and cakes, this writing gig. Also, just because those rich writers mentioned above felt they struggled when they had it easy, doesn't mean everyone with a struggle story is exaggerating or making it up out of whole cloth.
How I cured my impostor syndrome. Although it's about being a scientist, it's very relevant to writing. Yea, it seems like a writing meme today.
Just in time for Santa. Don't forget, kids, he moves fast. Remember to lead the target. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project building a direct route from to the tip of the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer. They fear disturbing elf habitat and claim the area is particularly important because it contains an elf church." Ah, Iceland. This reminds me of what feng shui is about when you think of "how would the dragon live here?" Turns out, if you think of how a dragon would live in your home or office, you create spaces that humans are quite comfortable in. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Real-time wind map of the Earth. 'Cause. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Sarah Palin continues to be the cheerleader that destroys everything they touch. She will do more to win the War on Xmas than the Festivus Pole ever could. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"But on December 16, the FDA issued a proposed rule that would require companies to provide 'more substantial data to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of antibacterial soaps' before selling these products. The move is in response to the mounting evidence that triclosan might not be as effective as manufacturers claim… triclosan soap products are useless when it comes to most seasonal infections: They target bacteria, not the viruses that cause colds and flus. And they don't work any better on bacteria than standard soap—which also gets rid of viruses." The problem with "anti-bacterial" soap. Normal soap is anti-bacterial and work much, much better than those anti-bacterial soaps and hand rubs (such as, those hand rubs don't work on C. diff.). They work well when you don't have access to water, but if you can, wash your hands with normal soaps (although not all soaps are made the same). (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
The Chinese are on the moon. Hey, congrats, welcome to the club… wait a second. This is why you need to really look at the stock images you buy. (Grokked from Tor.com)
What's eating Seattle. I mean, what's blocking Big Bertha which is drilling a tunnel under Seattle. (Grokked from Cherie Priest)
"Right-wing group The National Liberty Foundation, a Florida-based political collective associated with the conservative Tea Party, is posting anti-immigration propaganda from Bioshock Infinite, originally designed to satirize real-world conservative politics." I'm really hoping this is some kind of performance satire, but probably not. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Environmentalists arrested under terrorism charges to having too much glitter on their protest banner. Sigh. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"That is the death of the American Dream in a single chart. It is harder for the poor to get into the middle class, and for the middle class to become wealthy, in America than in almost any other industrialized country. Our income distribution is the most unequal of any industrialized country, and at the highest level since 1928." Merry Xmas. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Also, as a reminder, it ain't all tea and cakes, this writing gig. Also, just because those rich writers mentioned above felt they struggled when they had it easy, doesn't mean everyone with a struggle story is exaggerating or making it up out of whole cloth.
How I cured my impostor syndrome. Although it's about being a scientist, it's very relevant to writing. Yea, it seems like a writing meme today.
Just in time for Santa. Don't forget, kids, he moves fast. Remember to lead the target. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project building a direct route from to the tip of the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer. They fear disturbing elf habitat and claim the area is particularly important because it contains an elf church." Ah, Iceland. This reminds me of what feng shui is about when you think of "how would the dragon live here?" Turns out, if you think of how a dragon would live in your home or office, you create spaces that humans are quite comfortable in. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Real-time wind map of the Earth. 'Cause. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Sarah Palin continues to be the cheerleader that destroys everything they touch. She will do more to win the War on Xmas than the Festivus Pole ever could. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"But on December 16, the FDA issued a proposed rule that would require companies to provide 'more substantial data to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of antibacterial soaps' before selling these products. The move is in response to the mounting evidence that triclosan might not be as effective as manufacturers claim… triclosan soap products are useless when it comes to most seasonal infections: They target bacteria, not the viruses that cause colds and flus. And they don't work any better on bacteria than standard soap—which also gets rid of viruses." The problem with "anti-bacterial" soap. Normal soap is anti-bacterial and work much, much better than those anti-bacterial soaps and hand rubs (such as, those hand rubs don't work on C. diff.). They work well when you don't have access to water, but if you can, wash your hands with normal soaps (although not all soaps are made the same). (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
The Chinese are on the moon. Hey, congrats, welcome to the club… wait a second. This is why you need to really look at the stock images you buy. (Grokked from Tor.com)
What's eating Seattle. I mean, what's blocking Big Bertha which is drilling a tunnel under Seattle. (Grokked from Cherie Priest)
"Right-wing group The National Liberty Foundation, a Florida-based political collective associated with the conservative Tea Party, is posting anti-immigration propaganda from Bioshock Infinite, originally designed to satirize real-world conservative politics." I'm really hoping this is some kind of performance satire, but probably not. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Environmentalists arrested under terrorism charges to having too much glitter on their protest banner. Sigh. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"That is the death of the American Dream in a single chart. It is harder for the poor to get into the middle class, and for the middle class to become wealthy, in America than in almost any other industrialized country. Our income distribution is the most unequal of any industrialized country, and at the highest level since 1928." Merry Xmas. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
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