Some favorite books on writing. YMMV. But, there's an Xmas list. (Grokked from Mer Haskell)
The Diane Rehm show on the link between infection and mental illness.
"It’s no wonder that so many writers come across as anxious and neurotic." Kameron Hurley on the perils of being a neopro writer (although I think she's moved beyond that stage). While I haven't made it as a writer yet, I so have the feels for the middle of her essay. "It had been months since my spouse and I had even gone out to the movies. When I wasn’t working, I was thinking about what a terrible person I was for not working. The work itself started to become a way for me to avoid the stress and anxiety, because I could pour it into the work. But the work was becoming relentless. It was eating my life." Sing it, sister.
North Korean "ghost ships." They've been washing ashore in Japan. Bio warfare, defectors, lost fishing boats, no one is quite sure.
"For the first time since it instituted a warning system in 2013, Beijing has issued a 'red alert' over dangerous levels of air pollution." Drill, baby, drill.
"Disease-carrying insects have already begun to move into new territory, climbing higher up the Andes in South America and reaching farther north into Canada and the U.S. to spread what were once considered tropical diseases like West Nile virus." The good news of climate change just keeps rolling in.
"A lot has been said this weekend about remarks Jerry Falwell Jr. made in Convocation… Some authors have accused Christian leaders like Falwell of making proclamations appealing to religious authority but lacking biblical reflection. Christian antagonists often use Scriptural misinterpretations to lambast self-defense in general and gun ownership in particular. When unbelievers in his time tried to ensnare Jesus with his own teachings, Jesus replied, 'You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.' I believe the same can be said today of Christians and non-Christians alike who misuse Scripture to deride self (and national) defense." Bullshit. Put away thy sword, Peter. Or, as it's stated elsewhere, live by the sword, perish by the sword. Dear Professor Daniel Howell, see to your soul, because it is in mortal peril. And basing your belief on "the Jesus to come" is spurious at the best. God, when he came as the Christ, was very unlike what the Messianic Jews thought he would be like. They also believed he would come in the form of the warrior priest. You need to relearn your Bible, sir. Your previous education is deeply lacking. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Earlier today, FOX contributors Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash made comments on different programs that were completely inappropriate and unacceptable for our air." Okay, so maybe they do have a line they wouldn't cross. It's an incredibly low one, but good to know it's there. But then, the contributors are only banned for two weeks. I wonder if Roger Ailes is making them sit in the corner with their faces to the wall?
"What’s really striking is how the ante keeps getting increased with abandon. First Trump said he would 'strongly consider' closing some mosques in America in response to the attacks. Then that morphed into the suggestion that we would have 'absolutely no choice' but to take such steps." And he keeps gaining in the polls, because he mastered the language of fear and vapidness that much of the public wants. (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
The Trumpster wants to go see Bill Gates and close up the internet in some way. Fuck. I guess he really wants to see Bill Gates because he hasn't received that million dollar prize for his email having been chosen randomly by Microsoft to win the internet lottery. (Grokked from Dan)
And when JW Rowling weighs in to judge your campaign you really oughta reconsider your positions.
Gee, the Trumpster is a little shaky on the details of his plan? No shit. Hey, everybody, Trump isn't a details person. Has never been. Details are for the little people to figure out. Name me one thing this asshat has said where he's had the details of how his ideas will work out (let along, any actual knowledge of how our government works). Really, I'm waiting.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
Linkee-poo is a little boy, with a little love for the offering
"I realised this attitude was way more gross than shoveling fries. Because I am not better than a McDonalds worker." On working in fast food for four years. Yep, that's about as long as I worked at Wendy's. I learned a lot there. And many, many people I've met over the years (not those I would call my friends) wouldn't last long in that environment. And for the same reasons outlined in article, because they believe it was below them. People who work in service jobs like these are harder working than most CEOs. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
Turns out, Stonehenge may be a used monument. It might have been erected in Wales for a few hundred years before it was moved. Yes, the world is stranger than you think. (Grokked from Neil Gaimen)
When we had a lunar program, we did some crazy things. Like placing seismometers on the surface from a few lunar missions, and then crashing a rocket into the moon. To figure out what the Moon was made of. For SCIENCE! You know, not because we like explosions (like those Mythbuster guys). (Grokked from Dr. Phil)
The personal jetpack is here. Okay, I'll just note in the video there are no long, single-take cuts of the jet pack flying. Even back in Thunderbolt times we had HO fueled jetpacks that could stay aloft for 30 seconds to a minute.
Seven signs you maybe in a manipulative relationship. (Grokked from Janice)
"Lead researcher, PhD candidate Gordon Pennycook, said people who were more receptive to the 'bull****' statements were found to be 'less reflective, lower in cognitive ability (ie verbal and fluid intelligence, numeracy), and are more prone to ontological confusions and conspiratorial ideation.'… They were also more likely to 'hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine.'" Well, okay then. That explains most of Facebook. (Grokked from Robert J. Bennett)
"But what does that consistent finding really show? It shows simple arithmetic. Roughly half of evangelical Christians are women." Fred Clark on the recurring statistics showing at least a third of evangelical Christians are pro-choice.
"'If some of those people in that community center had had what I’ve got in my back pocket right now,' (Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University) continued before he was cut off with cheers from the crowd. 'I’ve always thought if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walk in and killed us.'" He later clarified his statement to mean those muslims who plan on carrying out terrorist attacks. But that's not what he said. He advocated killing muslims in the street, and given that Liberty University is a "good Christian school" that amounts to sectarian war. Here in the US. To cheering. Jesus is weeping. Also, Junior here isn't a Christian, no matter what he says. By that statement (which hasn't been his only one which contradicts the very foundations of Christianity) he has committed apostasy. Time to tax the fucker. (Grokked from Dan)
"Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) defended his Thursday vote against denying guns to those on the no-fly list because the federal database 'has a significant number of errors.'" Notice that there's no legislative push to actually root out those errors or make it easier to find out why you may have been put on the list, or to challenge it. And suddenly conservatives are all about fixing our visa system. Good luck with that, Ron Paul. You guys scuttled the democratic initiative to update and fully staff that office in the State Department.
Ignorance, they name is the GOP. "Nevada state Rep. Michele Fiore (R) last month dismissed a statement from Nevada Republicans calling for the state to bar refugees from Syria, and said that she is prepared to travel to Paris to shoot Syrian refugees herself." Even though no terrorist in the US has been Syrian, or a refugee. And then there's the Trumpster who doesn't know and Muslim athletes even though he won the 2007 Muhammad Ali Entrepreneur Award and helped keep Mike Tyson from going to jail. Seriously, I have to pick and choose which examples I link to here. It's an exhausting list.
Turns out, Stonehenge may be a used monument. It might have been erected in Wales for a few hundred years before it was moved. Yes, the world is stranger than you think. (Grokked from Neil Gaimen)
When we had a lunar program, we did some crazy things. Like placing seismometers on the surface from a few lunar missions, and then crashing a rocket into the moon. To figure out what the Moon was made of. For SCIENCE! You know, not because we like explosions (like those Mythbuster guys). (Grokked from Dr. Phil)
The personal jetpack is here. Okay, I'll just note in the video there are no long, single-take cuts of the jet pack flying. Even back in Thunderbolt times we had HO fueled jetpacks that could stay aloft for 30 seconds to a minute.
Seven signs you maybe in a manipulative relationship. (Grokked from Janice)
"Lead researcher, PhD candidate Gordon Pennycook, said people who were more receptive to the 'bull****' statements were found to be 'less reflective, lower in cognitive ability (ie verbal and fluid intelligence, numeracy), and are more prone to ontological confusions and conspiratorial ideation.'… They were also more likely to 'hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine.'" Well, okay then. That explains most of Facebook. (Grokked from Robert J. Bennett)
"But what does that consistent finding really show? It shows simple arithmetic. Roughly half of evangelical Christians are women." Fred Clark on the recurring statistics showing at least a third of evangelical Christians are pro-choice.
"'If some of those people in that community center had had what I’ve got in my back pocket right now,' (Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University) continued before he was cut off with cheers from the crowd. 'I’ve always thought if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walk in and killed us.'" He later clarified his statement to mean those muslims who plan on carrying out terrorist attacks. But that's not what he said. He advocated killing muslims in the street, and given that Liberty University is a "good Christian school" that amounts to sectarian war. Here in the US. To cheering. Jesus is weeping. Also, Junior here isn't a Christian, no matter what he says. By that statement (which hasn't been his only one which contradicts the very foundations of Christianity) he has committed apostasy. Time to tax the fucker. (Grokked from Dan)
"Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) defended his Thursday vote against denying guns to those on the no-fly list because the federal database 'has a significant number of errors.'" Notice that there's no legislative push to actually root out those errors or make it easier to find out why you may have been put on the list, or to challenge it. And suddenly conservatives are all about fixing our visa system. Good luck with that, Ron Paul. You guys scuttled the democratic initiative to update and fully staff that office in the State Department.
Ignorance, they name is the GOP. "Nevada state Rep. Michele Fiore (R) last month dismissed a statement from Nevada Republicans calling for the state to bar refugees from Syria, and said that she is prepared to travel to Paris to shoot Syrian refugees herself." Even though no terrorist in the US has been Syrian, or a refugee. And then there's the Trumpster who doesn't know and Muslim athletes even though he won the 2007 Muhammad Ali Entrepreneur Award and helped keep Mike Tyson from going to jail. Seriously, I have to pick and choose which examples I link to here. It's an exhausting list.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Linkee-poo, fly a little higher than the rest, make your journey last, soar a little longer than the best, leave your worries in the past
Looking for some new holiday music that doesn't sound like the old holiday music? Try Folk Alley's holiday music stream. No, they're not sponsoring this post, I just happen to like folk music, and I also happen to like holiday music I haven't heard five-thousand renditions of the same exact song. And even when they do the standards, I guarantee they put a new spin on it so it sounds completely new. Maybe you'd like it, too. Folk Alley is listener sponsored, so there's no commercials to boot.
Martin Shrekli learns the wrong lesson. Instead of, "if I had kept the drug price reasonable, we'd be making money way into the future" the lesson he took away was "I should have grabbed more profit until the $1 alternative arrived." In the Biggest, Clueless Asshole of the Year competition it was a tough field with the 2016 primary in full swing, but I think we're found a winner. (Grokked from John)
Research finds that kindness, support, and respect are the glue that holds good relationships together. Next up, water is wet. Well, okay, they attached electrodes and stuff to people, and then reviewed thousands of hours of video tape. So it's real research. Also, the article is full of good examples. (Grokked from Janiece)
So, after taking all out money and not going to jail, the big bankers are waging a war of morality. In this case, they're denying credit, accounts, and credit card payment for sex workers, condom merchants and other adult service providers. Really? I'll bet they'll be very interested to continue processing all the orders for dildos on Amazon. Cause that's what we want our bankers to do, be the moral stewards of the country. Of course "It's troubling to note just how much the impact is disproportionately on women." (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
"Xu Yuanxiang, vice president of Beijing-based Alibaba Pictures, said in a film seminar on Friday that the company would no longer hire professional screenwriters. Instead it would gather material from online forums and fan fiction writers to compete with each other over screenwriting credit." Wow, a shockingly bad version of the Hunger Games, but for screenwriting. Here is a business model to use to study what failure mode means. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
A revamp of the "person on the street" questioning, a couple of Dutch pranksters recover a Bible with a Qur'an and ask people to comment about the verses inside. "A lot of conservative Christians like to argue, as do atheists, that the Qur’an is full of barbarism and misogyny. Unlike the atheists, though, they forget that their own Bible is also full of horrific verses." Yes, this. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
We've hit the point where the candidates have become parodies of themselves. Especially in their speeches to the Republican Jewish Coalition. Dr. Ben Carson, in an attempt to bolster his international affairs credentials mispronounces "Hamas" as "hummus" (note to Dr. Ben, the soft-talk thing just backfired). And the Trumpster praises the Jews for their business acuity and says they won't like him because he doesn't want their money. You just can't make up this shit, and if this was fiction people wouldn't buy it. (Grokked from Christopher Moore)
"Michigan Republican legislator on why schools ‘fail’: 'We can’t fix that. We can’t make an African American white.'" Sure, it's from a longer quote, the other parts don't help make that quote any better. Can't fix that kind of stupid. Also, there's more electoral stupidity going on in Michigan. Can't blame it on Michigan, the Ohio GOP tried the same fucking things. You small government, less intrusive government people at work. (Grokked from Julie)
Martin Shrekli learns the wrong lesson. Instead of, "if I had kept the drug price reasonable, we'd be making money way into the future" the lesson he took away was "I should have grabbed more profit until the $1 alternative arrived." In the Biggest, Clueless Asshole of the Year competition it was a tough field with the 2016 primary in full swing, but I think we're found a winner. (Grokked from John)
Research finds that kindness, support, and respect are the glue that holds good relationships together. Next up, water is wet. Well, okay, they attached electrodes and stuff to people, and then reviewed thousands of hours of video tape. So it's real research. Also, the article is full of good examples. (Grokked from Janiece)
So, after taking all out money and not going to jail, the big bankers are waging a war of morality. In this case, they're denying credit, accounts, and credit card payment for sex workers, condom merchants and other adult service providers. Really? I'll bet they'll be very interested to continue processing all the orders for dildos on Amazon. Cause that's what we want our bankers to do, be the moral stewards of the country. Of course "It's troubling to note just how much the impact is disproportionately on women." (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
"Xu Yuanxiang, vice president of Beijing-based Alibaba Pictures, said in a film seminar on Friday that the company would no longer hire professional screenwriters. Instead it would gather material from online forums and fan fiction writers to compete with each other over screenwriting credit." Wow, a shockingly bad version of the Hunger Games, but for screenwriting. Here is a business model to use to study what failure mode means. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
A revamp of the "person on the street" questioning, a couple of Dutch pranksters recover a Bible with a Qur'an and ask people to comment about the verses inside. "A lot of conservative Christians like to argue, as do atheists, that the Qur’an is full of barbarism and misogyny. Unlike the atheists, though, they forget that their own Bible is also full of horrific verses." Yes, this. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
We've hit the point where the candidates have become parodies of themselves. Especially in their speeches to the Republican Jewish Coalition. Dr. Ben Carson, in an attempt to bolster his international affairs credentials mispronounces "Hamas" as "hummus" (note to Dr. Ben, the soft-talk thing just backfired). And the Trumpster praises the Jews for their business acuity and says they won't like him because he doesn't want their money. You just can't make up this shit, and if this was fiction people wouldn't buy it. (Grokked from Christopher Moore)
"Michigan Republican legislator on why schools ‘fail’: 'We can’t fix that. We can’t make an African American white.'" Sure, it's from a longer quote, the other parts don't help make that quote any better. Can't fix that kind of stupid. Also, there's more electoral stupidity going on in Michigan. Can't blame it on Michigan, the Ohio GOP tried the same fucking things. You small government, less intrusive government people at work. (Grokked from Julie)
Friday, December 4, 2015
Linkee-poo's lover's got humor, she's the giggle at a funeral
Prehistory, when giant mushrooms roamed the Earth. Okay, we not roamed exactly, but towered 25 feet high and were forest like. Que hookah smoking caterpillars in 3 2 1 (grokked from Alex Renwwick)
"Researchers from North Carolina State University have confirmed that blood vessel-like structures found in an 80 million-year-old hadrosaur fossil are original to the animal, and not biofilm or other contaminants. Their findings add to the growing body of evidence that structures like blood vessels and cells can persist over millions of years, and the data not only confirm earlier reports of protein sequences in dinosaurs, they represent a significant advance in methodology." BWA?! Who needs insects in amber! (Grokked from Steven Gould)
So, some eggheads have taken an Xbox Kinect and repurposed it as an x-ray assistant. Well, actually, I did predict this (this is one of the few areas left for automation). And I'm all for ALARA (as low as reasonably possible, our guiding principle for radiation exposure to patients). But I've never used calipers on a patient. AEC (automatic exposure controls), which they then go on to talk about in this paper on their "breakthrough", have fairly well eliminated their use in all but the most outdated equipment rooms. I've also been trained to use the exposure charts to accurately estimate technique (roughly your exposure to get a good x-ray) when patients aren't "ideal" (overweight, old, young, have some other disease process going on which alters the anatomy). A few times that doesn't work well (but this wouldn't help those times as there are conditions you really can't measure or compensate for before taking an exposure), and I've seen the seasoned techs that have trained me also be fooled by a patient. While help for positioning would be fabulous, there again are times that when positioning a patient correctly, I've made minor adjustments and come out with a better exposure (human bodies are similar, but not exactly the same), and that has to do with palpating the patient (which this wouldn't be able to do), and such minor changes because of experience (more intuitive guesses) that I don't believe this is the perfect solution they're touting. But I think it would help. (Grokked from Dan)
The 10Tb hard drive. Also with some deep geekery on the engineering behind hard drives (including using a laser to melt parts of the magnetic medium and thereby free up more atoms to change their polarity and the write head passes over). (Grokked from John)
Brilliance in marketing, combining two things the American public love, TV and guns, and adds in the convenience of the home shopping network. Genius.
But they're only going to focus on the positive parts of Presidential Nominee Trump. Yea, that'll work out well. Actually, with the way our legislative districts have been gerrymandered, it probably will.
"'Even if [the President] won’t sign them into law, we will put out specific proposals and give the people a real choice,' (Speaker Paul) Ryan will say. 'And I don’t mean just undo what the president has done—as if we could time-travel back to 2009. I mean show what we would do, what our ideal policy would be—looking forward to 2017 and beyond.'" Looks at chart, let's see, that'll be the 8th year in a row he's promised to do that. Not holding my breathe.
"Researchers from North Carolina State University have confirmed that blood vessel-like structures found in an 80 million-year-old hadrosaur fossil are original to the animal, and not biofilm or other contaminants. Their findings add to the growing body of evidence that structures like blood vessels and cells can persist over millions of years, and the data not only confirm earlier reports of protein sequences in dinosaurs, they represent a significant advance in methodology." BWA?! Who needs insects in amber! (Grokked from Steven Gould)
So, some eggheads have taken an Xbox Kinect and repurposed it as an x-ray assistant. Well, actually, I did predict this (this is one of the few areas left for automation). And I'm all for ALARA (as low as reasonably possible, our guiding principle for radiation exposure to patients). But I've never used calipers on a patient. AEC (automatic exposure controls), which they then go on to talk about in this paper on their "breakthrough", have fairly well eliminated their use in all but the most outdated equipment rooms. I've also been trained to use the exposure charts to accurately estimate technique (roughly your exposure to get a good x-ray) when patients aren't "ideal" (overweight, old, young, have some other disease process going on which alters the anatomy). A few times that doesn't work well (but this wouldn't help those times as there are conditions you really can't measure or compensate for before taking an exposure), and I've seen the seasoned techs that have trained me also be fooled by a patient. While help for positioning would be fabulous, there again are times that when positioning a patient correctly, I've made minor adjustments and come out with a better exposure (human bodies are similar, but not exactly the same), and that has to do with palpating the patient (which this wouldn't be able to do), and such minor changes because of experience (more intuitive guesses) that I don't believe this is the perfect solution they're touting. But I think it would help. (Grokked from Dan)
The 10Tb hard drive. Also with some deep geekery on the engineering behind hard drives (including using a laser to melt parts of the magnetic medium and thereby free up more atoms to change their polarity and the write head passes over). (Grokked from John)
Brilliance in marketing, combining two things the American public love, TV and guns, and adds in the convenience of the home shopping network. Genius.
But they're only going to focus on the positive parts of Presidential Nominee Trump. Yea, that'll work out well. Actually, with the way our legislative districts have been gerrymandered, it probably will.
"'Even if [the President] won’t sign them into law, we will put out specific proposals and give the people a real choice,' (Speaker Paul) Ryan will say. 'And I don’t mean just undo what the president has done—as if we could time-travel back to 2009. I mean show what we would do, what our ideal policy would be—looking forward to 2017 and beyond.'" Looks at chart, let's see, that'll be the 8th year in a row he's promised to do that. Not holding my breathe.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Linkee-poo, if you're compelled to go spinning be sure your spindles are steel, let liberty be your motto and glory will turn your big wheel
On the difference between Hollywood's Ancient Rome, and the actual Rome.
Meritocracy my ass. Smart poor kids less likely to graduate college than mediocre rich kids. Another study to show what we already knew (and one that the people who don't know this will never read or believe). (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
We're boned.
Yes, Virginia, small town America is chock-a-block full of teh crazy. "The two-term mayor of a small Ohio town has apologized for alleging that 'blacks have all but formally declared war on whites' (among other things saying the war has started) in a Friday Facebook post." I'll bet he gets re-elected.
"The Alabama Justice Project has obtained documents that reveal a Dothan Police Department’s Internal Affairs investigation was covered up by the district attorney. A group of up to a dozen police officers on a specialized narcotics team were found to have planted drugs and weapons on young black men for years." And that's where this story starts. It goes downhill from there. The good news, there was a group of police officers who tried to expose the other officers. Unfortunately their police chief and the district attorney were in on the corruption. (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)
Putting the Christ back in Christ-ma-Christ. Because too much is never enough. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
There's this moment that we expect computers to become self-aware. But, the opposite happens in humans. Dr. Ben Carson on Syrian refugees. Seriously, read that second paragraph and try not to make the curious dog head tilt at the cognitive dissonance and blatant un-awareness of self and politics going on there.
Not only does Eric Bolling of Fox News double down on Trumpster's thousands of NJ Muslims celebrating after 9/11, but goes one further saying "they were tipped off." It's like Fox News pays bonuses for who can be the most idiotic conspiracy theorist. Oh wait, they probably do.
To all the people who cheer to the Trumpster's statement about killing the terrorists' families as well, you do know you're endorsing a war crime, and legitimizing the terrorist's tactics, right?
The Trumpster just uses people for his own purposes. This isn't new. He's been doing it for years.
The conscience of the conservative. Sen. McCranky "GetOffaMyLawn" Pants will be troubled by voting to kill Obamacare and the expanded Medicaid services, but fuck the poor, he'll do it anyway.
The conservative right lies to promote their pre-conceived ideas about Planned Parenthood? Shocked, shocked I am… Next you'll be telling me they support contraception. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
Meritocracy my ass. Smart poor kids less likely to graduate college than mediocre rich kids. Another study to show what we already knew (and one that the people who don't know this will never read or believe). (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
We're boned.
Yes, Virginia, small town America is chock-a-block full of teh crazy. "The two-term mayor of a small Ohio town has apologized for alleging that 'blacks have all but formally declared war on whites' (among other things saying the war has started) in a Friday Facebook post." I'll bet he gets re-elected.
"The Alabama Justice Project has obtained documents that reveal a Dothan Police Department’s Internal Affairs investigation was covered up by the district attorney. A group of up to a dozen police officers on a specialized narcotics team were found to have planted drugs and weapons on young black men for years." And that's where this story starts. It goes downhill from there. The good news, there was a group of police officers who tried to expose the other officers. Unfortunately their police chief and the district attorney were in on the corruption. (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)
Putting the Christ back in Christ-ma-Christ. Because too much is never enough. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
There's this moment that we expect computers to become self-aware. But, the opposite happens in humans. Dr. Ben Carson on Syrian refugees. Seriously, read that second paragraph and try not to make the curious dog head tilt at the cognitive dissonance and blatant un-awareness of self and politics going on there.
Not only does Eric Bolling of Fox News double down on Trumpster's thousands of NJ Muslims celebrating after 9/11, but goes one further saying "they were tipped off." It's like Fox News pays bonuses for who can be the most idiotic conspiracy theorist. Oh wait, they probably do.
To all the people who cheer to the Trumpster's statement about killing the terrorists' families as well, you do know you're endorsing a war crime, and legitimizing the terrorist's tactics, right?
The Trumpster just uses people for his own purposes. This isn't new. He's been doing it for years.
The conscience of the conservative. Sen. McCranky "GetOffaMyLawn" Pants will be troubled by voting to kill Obamacare and the expanded Medicaid services, but fuck the poor, he'll do it anyway.
The conservative right lies to promote their pre-conceived ideas about Planned Parenthood? Shocked, shocked I am… Next you'll be telling me they support contraception. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Linkee-poo looks for more spoons
Screen writing tips from Aaron (fuckin') Sorkin. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
Vulcan, the planet that scientist convinced themselves was there, but never was.
There's apparently a shortage of Rey merchandise (for Star Wars). Funny about that. Hey Disney, good thing the chicks don't dig fantasy or this could be really bad. (Grokked from Yanni Kuznia)
"Politicians are quickly learning that they can say just about anything and get away with it. Along with vindication, apology and suffering, there now exists a fourth way forward for the politician spewing whoppers: Blame the backlash on media bias and walk away a hero." A self-inflicted wound. (Grokked form Matt Briggs)
I don't know where liberals get the idea that social conservatives are responsible for irresponsible goading of "lone wolf" actions. You know, like maybe this guy. "Popular Facebook evangelist Joshua Feuerstein calls on Christians to 'punish Planned Parenthood' and make abortion providers fear for their life." And he's not the only one. (Grokked from Charles R. Terhune)
More cause to believe that Ted Cruz (and many other conservatives) live in their own fairy tale worlds (of the Disney variety). "'Now, listen, here's the simple and undeniable fact: the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The media doesn't report that,'(Hugh Hewitt) continued…" as he "interviewed" Ted Cruz. Citation please. I mean, that right there is the victimization mindset of the whackaloon GOP.
"The Republican-controlled Senate is moving forward with plans to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and gut Obamacare despite a deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs that left three dead and nine injured." Because nothing, nothing will convince them to head away from this path. But it's all political theater anyway. "(S)ome Republicans from states that had expanded Medicaid expressed reservations about what their voters back home would think if they rolled back insurance coverage for the poor. They were assured by leaders that the bill was going to be vetoed anyway so there was no reason to harbor real worries about the political repercussions." And because beating up on Planned Parenthood plays well to the home audience of these people. Yes, they are coming for your birth control. Notice Cruzmania is only talking about male contraception, "You can get rubbers anywhere." Note he's not discussing the ongoing battles of having health insurance cover female contraception.
Here's hoping CNN tells the Trumpster to go pound salt. He's asking for $5M to participate in the next debate. CNN, you'd be wise to tell him that he's not invited, no matter what his poll numbers might be. More room for the rest of the field.
America is wonderful, the land of the free, the home of the brave. Unless you're muslim (or black, or hispanic, or agnostic/atheist, or…). Twenty-seven example of anti-Islamic hate since the Paris attacks. To which my first comment was "only 27, wow, my estimates were way off." (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Pope'splaining.
Vulcan, the planet that scientist convinced themselves was there, but never was.
There's apparently a shortage of Rey merchandise (for Star Wars). Funny about that. Hey Disney, good thing the chicks don't dig fantasy or this could be really bad. (Grokked from Yanni Kuznia)
"Politicians are quickly learning that they can say just about anything and get away with it. Along with vindication, apology and suffering, there now exists a fourth way forward for the politician spewing whoppers: Blame the backlash on media bias and walk away a hero." A self-inflicted wound. (Grokked form Matt Briggs)
I don't know where liberals get the idea that social conservatives are responsible for irresponsible goading of "lone wolf" actions. You know, like maybe this guy. "Popular Facebook evangelist Joshua Feuerstein calls on Christians to 'punish Planned Parenthood' and make abortion providers fear for their life." And he's not the only one. (Grokked from Charles R. Terhune)
More cause to believe that Ted Cruz (and many other conservatives) live in their own fairy tale worlds (of the Disney variety). "'Now, listen, here's the simple and undeniable fact: the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The media doesn't report that,'(Hugh Hewitt) continued…" as he "interviewed" Ted Cruz. Citation please. I mean, that right there is the victimization mindset of the whackaloon GOP.
"The Republican-controlled Senate is moving forward with plans to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and gut Obamacare despite a deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs that left three dead and nine injured." Because nothing, nothing will convince them to head away from this path. But it's all political theater anyway. "(S)ome Republicans from states that had expanded Medicaid expressed reservations about what their voters back home would think if they rolled back insurance coverage for the poor. They were assured by leaders that the bill was going to be vetoed anyway so there was no reason to harbor real worries about the political repercussions." And because beating up on Planned Parenthood plays well to the home audience of these people. Yes, they are coming for your birth control. Notice Cruzmania is only talking about male contraception, "You can get rubbers anywhere." Note he's not discussing the ongoing battles of having health insurance cover female contraception.
Here's hoping CNN tells the Trumpster to go pound salt. He's asking for $5M to participate in the next debate. CNN, you'd be wise to tell him that he's not invited, no matter what his poll numbers might be. More room for the rest of the field.
America is wonderful, the land of the free, the home of the brave. Unless you're muslim (or black, or hispanic, or agnostic/atheist, or…). Twenty-seven example of anti-Islamic hate since the Paris attacks. To which my first comment was "only 27, wow, my estimates were way off." (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Pope'splaining.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Linkee-poo, madmen fed on fear and lies to beat and burn and kill
An exercise to get students to use more active words kinda runs off the rails. I appreciate what the instructors are trying to do here, really. By "banning" certain words they're encouraging their student to expand their vocabularies, and conjoined with the concept of "students teaching themselves" they've tried their best. But how they're going about it is very stupid. If you want kids' vocabularies to expand, expose them to good words, teach them their meanings, encourage them to explore books. (Grokked from Steven Gould)
And because it needs to be said, sex workers can be sexually assaulted and raped. Again, non-consent is non-consent. Saying no means no. So, yes, a porn star can be raped on set as well as off the set. Because she works in porn (or in a strip club, or even as a prostitute) is not an excuse. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
So, why is it a problem that injection wells linked to fracking may cause earthquakes? "The ground is shaking near Cushing, Okla., home to the largest commercial crude oil storage center in North America… (and) one of the most important places in the U.S. energy market." Yea, because the ground subsidence, sink holes, damage from earthquakes in places that don't have building codes that enforce compliance with buildings that may be shaken, it could really fuck up our energy supply of fossil fuels.
"Republican presidential hopefuls… noticeably silent about a fatal shooting… at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs…All three of their Democratic counterparts tweeted in support of the organization… Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the only one of the major GOP candidates to comment…" saying he was praying for the families of those killed and injured, and the first responders. Note, not the people actually injured. Color me unsurprised. This was posted on Saturday, I'm sure they'll bow to public pressure and comment by Monday. (Grokked from Dan)
Taxi driver is asked about his nationality, rider goes into house, comes out with a rifle and begins shooting. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Couple finds those online healthcare pricing tools are mostly suggestions. Again, we won't have good pricing controls until health facilities and doctors' offices are required to publish their pricing like a fast-food restaurant. Tell me again how we don't need a single-payor system in this country.
Because for the Trumpster, everything is awesome. "'I have a great relationship with the black pastors,' Trump said." Yea, but after several pastors he was supposed to meet with said that they wouldn't be endorsing him, the closed the meeting to the press. And then they cancelled it. Because it would have been bad optics. And then they blamed it on the Black Lives Matter movement. Stay classy, Trump.
"It’s all an elaborate stage production, manufactured by Fox News, talk radio and rightwing politicians, that fills the lives of the working class with terrorists, feminist, atheists and gay people, convenient groups used to distract from who is really screwing them over this week. The votes of the working class have been neutralized or co-opted with tidy scapegoats, the Second Amendment, Jesus and white victimhood." On the disappearing middle-class, the rise in death rates in the white middle-class, and committing political suicide. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Well, the GOP candidates are finally responding to the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting. Carly Fiorina demonstrates that she can blame the left for anything. Yes, it's all in the leftist politics manual right here, on page 3 it says, "always blame the right for everything, especially those things they espouse," Ted Cruz, not to be outdone by teh crazy, goes full birther.
"Where all da white women?" Ah, Michelle Bachmann, you're daily dose of spittle-flecked insanity.
Even CJ Pearson, the 13-year-old conservative wunderkind gets it. Dear GOP, even he can see through you. Ah, but don't worry, I'm sure next week the RNC will bring him back into the fold and he can blame watching the "liberal mass media" for making him doubt his conservative love. "'I don't want to be the conservative wonder kid that people follow because I make them feel good and like young people are part of their movement…' he told CNN." Too late. Although I'm sure the heaping helping of scorn he's now facing will convince him to come back as well.
And because it needs to be said, sex workers can be sexually assaulted and raped. Again, non-consent is non-consent. Saying no means no. So, yes, a porn star can be raped on set as well as off the set. Because she works in porn (or in a strip club, or even as a prostitute) is not an excuse. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
So, why is it a problem that injection wells linked to fracking may cause earthquakes? "The ground is shaking near Cushing, Okla., home to the largest commercial crude oil storage center in North America… (and) one of the most important places in the U.S. energy market." Yea, because the ground subsidence, sink holes, damage from earthquakes in places that don't have building codes that enforce compliance with buildings that may be shaken, it could really fuck up our energy supply of fossil fuels.
"Republican presidential hopefuls… noticeably silent about a fatal shooting… at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs…All three of their Democratic counterparts tweeted in support of the organization… Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the only one of the major GOP candidates to comment…" saying he was praying for the families of those killed and injured, and the first responders. Note, not the people actually injured. Color me unsurprised. This was posted on Saturday, I'm sure they'll bow to public pressure and comment by Monday. (Grokked from Dan)
Taxi driver is asked about his nationality, rider goes into house, comes out with a rifle and begins shooting. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Couple finds those online healthcare pricing tools are mostly suggestions. Again, we won't have good pricing controls until health facilities and doctors' offices are required to publish their pricing like a fast-food restaurant. Tell me again how we don't need a single-payor system in this country.
Because for the Trumpster, everything is awesome. "'I have a great relationship with the black pastors,' Trump said." Yea, but after several pastors he was supposed to meet with said that they wouldn't be endorsing him, the closed the meeting to the press. And then they cancelled it. Because it would have been bad optics. And then they blamed it on the Black Lives Matter movement. Stay classy, Trump.
"It’s all an elaborate stage production, manufactured by Fox News, talk radio and rightwing politicians, that fills the lives of the working class with terrorists, feminist, atheists and gay people, convenient groups used to distract from who is really screwing them over this week. The votes of the working class have been neutralized or co-opted with tidy scapegoats, the Second Amendment, Jesus and white victimhood." On the disappearing middle-class, the rise in death rates in the white middle-class, and committing political suicide. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Well, the GOP candidates are finally responding to the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting. Carly Fiorina demonstrates that she can blame the left for anything. Yes, it's all in the leftist politics manual right here, on page 3 it says, "always blame the right for everything, especially those things they espouse," Ted Cruz, not to be outdone by teh crazy, goes full birther.
"Where all da white women?" Ah, Michelle Bachmann, you're daily dose of spittle-flecked insanity.
Even CJ Pearson, the 13-year-old conservative wunderkind gets it. Dear GOP, even he can see through you. Ah, but don't worry, I'm sure next week the RNC will bring him back into the fold and he can blame watching the "liberal mass media" for making him doubt his conservative love. "'I don't want to be the conservative wonder kid that people follow because I make them feel good and like young people are part of their movement…' he told CNN." Too late. Although I'm sure the heaping helping of scorn he's now facing will convince him to come back as well.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Linkee-poo never gets to say much, never get to talk, tell us a little bit, but not to much
Hey, you know all those people who say that their middle-ages novels set in an English type country where everyone is white, when they get called on that say, "they're just being true to history"? Well, bullshit. Here is DNA evidence of skeletons found in London that show it was a very diverse city. Always has been. (Grokked from Chia Evers)
Slavic fairy tales illustrated. Interesting. (Grokked from David Klecha)
You'd think with all the hype and attention the NFL's Pinktober campaign gets there would be log of money flowing to help prevent breast cancer and for breast cancer research. You would be wrong. (Grokked from Charles Terhune)
A subterranean pagan basilica is restored in Rome. Going on my vacation list right now. (Grokked from Michelle Swiniarski)
"Many or most of the 150 or so people at the meeting seemed more tolerant and open-minded. But the loudmouths who vented their poisonous views dominated the proceeding, and no one had the appetite to take them on." And that's part of the problem, the majority is tired, and because of that, the loudmouth bullies think they're in charge. And the problem is that those people aren't actually the targets of the hatred which makes it easy for them to ignore it and not take action. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
And in other gun news, a Mississippi man shoots a Waffle House waitress in the head because she asked him to not smoke in the restaurant. Because we're a rational society. (Grokked from Steven Gould)
Something that's been on my mind lately, Have we, as a country, become a kleptocracy. I mean, it's been evident that many places in the US have been running on the banana republic model. But has it gone too far already? (When I say I know a revolution is coming, this is a major part of that) (Grokked from Debbie Morrow)
Dear Rep. Grayson, don't be a dick. I understand the urge, the sense of righteousness and revenge, but nobody is served by it.
"'I am being attacked and smeared by the liberal media for legally exercising my 1st and 2nd Amendment rights and for using public data to defend my credibility when they make accusations against me,' (David) Wright wrote on Thursday." On his replacement Facebook page, after he took down the original page where he published the names and addresses of people who spoke against an anti-Sharia law in Irving, Tx. Nah, dude, we're just calling it what it was and calling you what you are. And if you don't understand what you did and how you portrayed yourself, well, I guess you shouldn't have reposted the list until you figured out how to be a real human. What the real problem here is, you didn't think anyone would notice.
Tweet of my heart: @Are0h White people have physically attacked everything conservative candidates of have criticized. Are you paying attention?
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Linkee-poo, shut up Uncle Ted
"And they’re telling us that the only way a female character can be strong is if she acts, in every way possible, like a man." On the absurdity of Scott Bergstrom's interview with Publishers Weekly. (Grokked from Julie)
"No matter what the adults say, nine times out of ten, the kids are ready to talk." One writing books that ask questions that are topical, and difficult. (Grokked form Leah Bobet)
Read this a while ago, but io9 made it into a more readable version. That's how a homophobic post on tumblr was turned into a dystopian science fiction lovefest. (Grokked this time from Cat Rambo)
Apparently, even looking at cops is disrespectful, at least according to Fox News. I would like to say that this isn't racism rearing it's ugly head and that Megan Kelly really isn't trying to say that this black man should lower his gaze while standing in front of a police officer, but unfortunately I believe that is exactly what is going on here. Just pointed to in case you need a reference.
This is how terrorism works. IT's a little short sighted and doesn't look at the long con, but a good thing to keep in mind. Especially when you read the next article. (Grokked from Janiece)
The armed protestors outside an Irving, Texas mosque publish the names and addresses of people who spoke out against an Anti-Sharia resolution. I'm of two minds about this. One, it's an obvious case of intimidation given that the group that published them is advocating for an eventual conflict (and also believe it's a good idea to bring guns to a "peaceful" protest). But two, it's a part of the public record. Now why the council required residents to register with all that information just to speak before council, that's another question (and frankly a little archaic and stupid). But I'm also surprised to find this happened in Texas, given their general proclivity to deny FoA/Sunshine/Records requests. Also, that it's published by the side of the conflict by those who are wearing the masks is a negative. Not to mention the context of how it was published as a list of "of Muslims and Muslim sympathizers". I wonder what would happen if a list of the names and addresses of the idiots with guns were also published? (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Some inside perspective on ISIS. I'm not familiar enough with the various sub philosophies of Islam to gauge the veracity, but it sounds plausible. A nation state built on apocalyptic vision, it's happened before. And that the vision is disputed by the majority of the rest of the adherents to that religion also isn't unique (what's in your eschatology?). Also, that those people who support the ideals, who live outside the actual real life application of those rules, find it exciting and desirable also isn't new. And that internally, within that state, the actual application of those values is brutal and oppressive, justifying the unjust, and lying to themselves that it's all for the greater good also is not new. (Grokked from Janiece)
And Janiece herself has some good things to say about all of this; Paris, ISIS, terrorism, and American compassions and courage. Yes, that.
The Trumpster (well, his spokesman) says, "don't fuck us, GOP, or we'll go nuclear on your ass." Okay, he was a little nicer about it. Have we mentioned the cracks are beginning to show? But if the Trumpster goes "rogue" as a third party play, will the lunatic fringe Reagan invited in actually split from the party (in this case, I'm thinking permanently, not just at the Nov 2016 election)?
"No, if you want to take down Trump, there is only one line of attack that will work—but it is an attack that requires the party leadership and its donors to attain some critical distance from their own beliefs and points of view." And that's where the schism happens. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
"Write your story the way you want to write it. You don’t have to talk to anybody. It doesn’t make any difference. But many people were shot. It makes sense." The Trumpster on being challenged about his Civil War memorial on his golf course.
Yes, Rep. Steven King is just that racist. I wonder just how he would feel about Cleveland's Little Italy, which not only being very Italian in feel (it's slightly mixed now with lots of student off-campus housing), but also very Catholic, both of which at one time were considered un-American.
"On a scale from zero to 100, the scientists gave Cruz a six." Drops mic, walks away.
Slow clap. Well played, Vice, well played. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
Tweet of my heart: @robertjbennett In the first 10% of your story, you make the case for reading the following 90%.
"No matter what the adults say, nine times out of ten, the kids are ready to talk." One writing books that ask questions that are topical, and difficult. (Grokked form Leah Bobet)
Read this a while ago, but io9 made it into a more readable version. That's how a homophobic post on tumblr was turned into a dystopian science fiction lovefest. (Grokked this time from Cat Rambo)
Apparently, even looking at cops is disrespectful, at least according to Fox News. I would like to say that this isn't racism rearing it's ugly head and that Megan Kelly really isn't trying to say that this black man should lower his gaze while standing in front of a police officer, but unfortunately I believe that is exactly what is going on here. Just pointed to in case you need a reference.
This is how terrorism works. IT's a little short sighted and doesn't look at the long con, but a good thing to keep in mind. Especially when you read the next article. (Grokked from Janiece)
The armed protestors outside an Irving, Texas mosque publish the names and addresses of people who spoke out against an Anti-Sharia resolution. I'm of two minds about this. One, it's an obvious case of intimidation given that the group that published them is advocating for an eventual conflict (and also believe it's a good idea to bring guns to a "peaceful" protest). But two, it's a part of the public record. Now why the council required residents to register with all that information just to speak before council, that's another question (and frankly a little archaic and stupid). But I'm also surprised to find this happened in Texas, given their general proclivity to deny FoA/Sunshine/Records requests. Also, that it's published by the side of the conflict by those who are wearing the masks is a negative. Not to mention the context of how it was published as a list of "of Muslims and Muslim sympathizers". I wonder what would happen if a list of the names and addresses of the idiots with guns were also published? (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
Some inside perspective on ISIS. I'm not familiar enough with the various sub philosophies of Islam to gauge the veracity, but it sounds plausible. A nation state built on apocalyptic vision, it's happened before. And that the vision is disputed by the majority of the rest of the adherents to that religion also isn't unique (what's in your eschatology?). Also, that those people who support the ideals, who live outside the actual real life application of those rules, find it exciting and desirable also isn't new. And that internally, within that state, the actual application of those values is brutal and oppressive, justifying the unjust, and lying to themselves that it's all for the greater good also is not new. (Grokked from Janiece)
And Janiece herself has some good things to say about all of this; Paris, ISIS, terrorism, and American compassions and courage. Yes, that.
The Trumpster (well, his spokesman) says, "don't fuck us, GOP, or we'll go nuclear on your ass." Okay, he was a little nicer about it. Have we mentioned the cracks are beginning to show? But if the Trumpster goes "rogue" as a third party play, will the lunatic fringe Reagan invited in actually split from the party (in this case, I'm thinking permanently, not just at the Nov 2016 election)?
"No, if you want to take down Trump, there is only one line of attack that will work—but it is an attack that requires the party leadership and its donors to attain some critical distance from their own beliefs and points of view." And that's where the schism happens. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
"Write your story the way you want to write it. You don’t have to talk to anybody. It doesn’t make any difference. But many people were shot. It makes sense." The Trumpster on being challenged about his Civil War memorial on his golf course.
Yes, Rep. Steven King is just that racist. I wonder just how he would feel about Cleveland's Little Italy, which not only being very Italian in feel (it's slightly mixed now with lots of student off-campus housing), but also very Catholic, both of which at one time were considered un-American.
"On a scale from zero to 100, the scientists gave Cruz a six." Drops mic, walks away.
Slow clap. Well played, Vice, well played. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
Tweet of my heart: @robertjbennett In the first 10% of your story, you make the case for reading the following 90%.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
When I look, and I find, I still love you
Because Saladin Ahmed reminded me, today is the day the heavens cried for the loss of a star that burned ever so bright and ever so fast, this has been in my head all day. And now it may be in yours.
I still tear up a little listening to this.
I still tear up a little listening to this.
Linkee-poo is always drunk on Sunday, trying to feel like I'm at home
Robert J. Bennett puts on his Cranky-Pants™ and talks about story.
Advertising gone wrong. An ad campaign for The Man in the High Castle, Amazon's series based on the same novel by Philip K Dick, misses the very basic test of "do not piss off the customer." The story is set in an alternate history where the Allies lost WWII, and the Axis powers have divided the US. So the ad agency divided a subway car and put Nazi iconography on ones side, and Empirical Japan iconography on the other side. Seriously brain-fucked idea. While it may "pass the rules" (which it really doesn't), it was just dumb, dumb, dumb. No, really, the ad exec who pitched this should be flogged, and not in a 50 Shades of Grey way either. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Living in panderville. Or, even in 2015 our culture still sees women and minorities this way, and it's a fucking problem that is long passed time to fix. But that means men must get over being privileged, and I think if you look at the presidential campaign, or almost any marketing campaign, we're still a long way from home on that score. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
One explosion in Spectre sets a Guiness World Record. (Grokked from Dan)
Electric cars really are greener. "The media loves these stories. They're counterintuitive, surprising, and best of all, show that those silly greens, with their idealistic yadda yadda, don't know how to do math." I remember a reader commenting that electric cars were "dirtier" than gas because all that electricity was produced by coal. As I replied, we can get electricity from things other than coal (and now, 5 years down the road, coal is already going away here in the US). (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
Thanksgiving without the turkey.
As a reminder, it's the white supremacists who believe the race war is coming, not the Black Lives Matter movement. In this case, 3 white men open fire on a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)
And then, after 5 Black Lives Matter protestors were shot by white suspects, police used mace on the Black Lives Matter protestors. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
Time interviews Randall Munroe, he relies in cartoons. Like a boss. (Grokked from Dan)
Pro ISIS messages painted on "the rock" at Youngstown State. Not mentioned in this report, the Arabic was misspelled. This, I'm fairly confident, is a false-flag operation. Because 1) Youngstown? Seriously, Youngstown doesn't even make the Cleveland news, and 2) A message rock? Look, if you're going to fake these kinds of things trying to incite violence and drama you have to think big. Because that's what ISIS does. Why were the attacks in Paris and not in Brussels (were the attackers were supposedly based)? Because people the world over care about Paris, they don't care about Brussels where there are plenty of EU official buildings.
Dr. Ben Carson would like you to know he's a very smart person. And he can learn foreign policy issues, once he puts his mind to it. :: shakes head :: You'd think he'd do that once he said he wanted to be President.
Dr. Carson chalks it up to a rookie mistake. When he was asked if he supported what the Trumpeter had said about NJ Muslims celebrating on 9/11, "I didn't know that they had an agenda behind the question." Seriously, he keeps telling us he's smart.
Advertising gone wrong. An ad campaign for The Man in the High Castle, Amazon's series based on the same novel by Philip K Dick, misses the very basic test of "do not piss off the customer." The story is set in an alternate history where the Allies lost WWII, and the Axis powers have divided the US. So the ad agency divided a subway car and put Nazi iconography on ones side, and Empirical Japan iconography on the other side. Seriously brain-fucked idea. While it may "pass the rules" (which it really doesn't), it was just dumb, dumb, dumb. No, really, the ad exec who pitched this should be flogged, and not in a 50 Shades of Grey way either. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Living in panderville. Or, even in 2015 our culture still sees women and minorities this way, and it's a fucking problem that is long passed time to fix. But that means men must get over being privileged, and I think if you look at the presidential campaign, or almost any marketing campaign, we're still a long way from home on that score. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
One explosion in Spectre sets a Guiness World Record. (Grokked from Dan)
Electric cars really are greener. "The media loves these stories. They're counterintuitive, surprising, and best of all, show that those silly greens, with their idealistic yadda yadda, don't know how to do math." I remember a reader commenting that electric cars were "dirtier" than gas because all that electricity was produced by coal. As I replied, we can get electricity from things other than coal (and now, 5 years down the road, coal is already going away here in the US). (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
Thanksgiving without the turkey.
As a reminder, it's the white supremacists who believe the race war is coming, not the Black Lives Matter movement. In this case, 3 white men open fire on a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)
And then, after 5 Black Lives Matter protestors were shot by white suspects, police used mace on the Black Lives Matter protestors. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
Time interviews Randall Munroe, he relies in cartoons. Like a boss. (Grokked from Dan)
Pro ISIS messages painted on "the rock" at Youngstown State. Not mentioned in this report, the Arabic was misspelled. This, I'm fairly confident, is a false-flag operation. Because 1) Youngstown? Seriously, Youngstown doesn't even make the Cleveland news, and 2) A message rock? Look, if you're going to fake these kinds of things trying to incite violence and drama you have to think big. Because that's what ISIS does. Why were the attacks in Paris and not in Brussels (were the attackers were supposedly based)? Because people the world over care about Paris, they don't care about Brussels where there are plenty of EU official buildings.
Dr. Ben Carson would like you to know he's a very smart person. And he can learn foreign policy issues, once he puts his mind to it. :: shakes head :: You'd think he'd do that once he said he wanted to be President.
Dr. Carson chalks it up to a rookie mistake. When he was asked if he supported what the Trumpeter had said about NJ Muslims celebrating on 9/11, "I didn't know that they had an agenda behind the question." Seriously, he keeps telling us he's smart.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Link-poo goes over the river and through the wood
The reboot we didn't need, Netflix is going to relaunch Lost In Space. (Grokked from Dan)
There are reasons I stopped reading Dilbert regularly. Here's one more. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
How to handle those awkward holiday conversations with Relative Fact-Free-News-Letter. 'Cause you know you're gonna need it (also, I hope to have provided enough ammunition to fortify your own opinions). (Grokked from Mary Robinette Kowal)
"product acceptance challenges." Okay, see, here's a major problem of marketing (and Hollywood sequel making). It's what happens when there is a success in the marketplace; like a successful product, store, service, media. Then come the business consultants to determine how these things made money, how they appealed to the market (ie. consumers). Instead of saying "because it was well made and exceeded consumer's expectations", instead they look for the granular metric that can be repeated to make another success. Even though what was really the cause of the success is a holistic quality statement. But you can't measure or "replicate" that (actually you can, but it requires people who have brains). So they then focus in on things that progressively matter less in an attempt to make another best seller. So eventually they end up with products that nobody wants (or sizes that nobody buys). (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Fred Clark says, "Dear Google, you still want to make Google+ a thing? Well, first you need to apologize for killing Google Reader and for getting rid of the blog search option." And there you have an example of the above thesis.
"Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Friday suggested that Syrian refugees are just trying to come to the United States for a 'paid vacation,' noting how much the federal government spends to resettle refugees." Dear Representative Mo Brooks, you're an asshole. You might want to work on that. You're correct, I'm being mean. Dear Rep. Brooks, you're an ignorant, racist, know-nothing, "oh pity me" asshole. I apologize to all the other assholes who were offended by my earlier statement.
Sometimes you wonder if the Trumpeter is just a blowhard the brownshirt like, and then you find he is a brownshirt himself. It's one thing to remove protestors, it's another to cheer them being "roughed up" by your followers (or security). You know, especially after he says that it shouldn't happen.
Fred Clark has some words for the people who like to roll out the "why should we do (this) when we still have homeless veterans we should be taking care of!" argument (this, by my recollection, is the 4th time in the last 6 years). "Decent people don’t play that game. Happy people don’t play that game. People who genuinely care about one good thing do not treat every other good thing as competition that must be crushed and stopped. They do not argue that justice for X should come at the expense of injustice for Y." Fred Clark speaks the truth. And then he also tells the truth that the current administration has actually been working to solve that problem everyone is so upset about now. Note how they weren't upset when President Obama actually was solving the problem.
"'Jake, what should've happened is we should've been informed about it and we were not,' (Presidential candidate Chris) Christie said. 'We should have these folks vetted and vetted well.'" On his comments about Syrian refugees. Basically, Christie is admitting to being willfully ignorant of how refugees are vetted. This isn't the government's fault, this is his fucking fault for not being curious about issues that affect his state. This is the state of the GOP today, "We don't know, and we don't wanna know, we just want to be afraid and ignorant." No, really, this is what he is admitting to here.
Ted Cruz pulls a Mitt Romney. Proving once again, the party of "fiscal discipline" can't even read a spreadsheet. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
There are reasons I stopped reading Dilbert regularly. Here's one more. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
How to handle those awkward holiday conversations with Relative Fact-Free-News-Letter. 'Cause you know you're gonna need it (also, I hope to have provided enough ammunition to fortify your own opinions). (Grokked from Mary Robinette Kowal)
"product acceptance challenges." Okay, see, here's a major problem of marketing (and Hollywood sequel making). It's what happens when there is a success in the marketplace; like a successful product, store, service, media. Then come the business consultants to determine how these things made money, how they appealed to the market (ie. consumers). Instead of saying "because it was well made and exceeded consumer's expectations", instead they look for the granular metric that can be repeated to make another success. Even though what was really the cause of the success is a holistic quality statement. But you can't measure or "replicate" that (actually you can, but it requires people who have brains). So they then focus in on things that progressively matter less in an attempt to make another best seller. So eventually they end up with products that nobody wants (or sizes that nobody buys). (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Fred Clark says, "Dear Google, you still want to make Google+ a thing? Well, first you need to apologize for killing Google Reader and for getting rid of the blog search option." And there you have an example of the above thesis.
"Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Friday suggested that Syrian refugees are just trying to come to the United States for a 'paid vacation,' noting how much the federal government spends to resettle refugees." Dear Representative Mo Brooks, you're an asshole. You might want to work on that. You're correct, I'm being mean. Dear Rep. Brooks, you're an ignorant, racist, know-nothing, "oh pity me" asshole. I apologize to all the other assholes who were offended by my earlier statement.
Sometimes you wonder if the Trumpeter is just a blowhard the brownshirt like, and then you find he is a brownshirt himself. It's one thing to remove protestors, it's another to cheer them being "roughed up" by your followers (or security). You know, especially after he says that it shouldn't happen.
Fred Clark has some words for the people who like to roll out the "why should we do (this) when we still have homeless veterans we should be taking care of!" argument (this, by my recollection, is the 4th time in the last 6 years). "Decent people don’t play that game. Happy people don’t play that game. People who genuinely care about one good thing do not treat every other good thing as competition that must be crushed and stopped. They do not argue that justice for X should come at the expense of injustice for Y." Fred Clark speaks the truth. And then he also tells the truth that the current administration has actually been working to solve that problem everyone is so upset about now. Note how they weren't upset when President Obama actually was solving the problem.
"'Jake, what should've happened is we should've been informed about it and we were not,' (Presidential candidate Chris) Christie said. 'We should have these folks vetted and vetted well.'" On his comments about Syrian refugees. Basically, Christie is admitting to being willfully ignorant of how refugees are vetted. This isn't the government's fault, this is his fucking fault for not being curious about issues that affect his state. This is the state of the GOP today, "We don't know, and we don't wanna know, we just want to be afraid and ignorant." No, really, this is what he is admitting to here.
Ted Cruz pulls a Mitt Romney. Proving once again, the party of "fiscal discipline" can't even read a spreadsheet. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
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