[links] Link salad is lost in time like tears in the rain
Asimov’s for April/May 2013 (3 of 3) - In which my novella "The Stars Do Not Lie" is held up as an example of bad fiction. (Honor is restored, however.) Proving once again that the story truly does belong to the reader.
The Telegraph on Sex - Cora Buhlert with a roundup on British commentary on literary sex scenes. Mmm, literature.
A Photo Service That Understands the Contents of Your Images - Everpix organizes photos after analyzing them with software that can detect things such as animals, outdoor scenes, and people. Is this really a good idea?
SETI: The Artificial Transit Scenario
Massive flood scarred the surface of Mars less than 500 million years ago - Water carved channels at least 70 meters deep and 40 kilometers wide. Mmm, Missoula Flood on Mars.
Sinkhole Science: A Primer - An expert weighs in on causes-and which areas are most vulnerable.
2 Civil War sailors from the Monitor to be buried at Arlington
The Law of the Tongue - Humans have trouble honoring treaties with each other, what are the chances they’d respect a contract signed with another species? Pretty good … at least in one case. (Snurched from Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
NOTE: Do Not Kill Yeti Except in Self-Defense
Earth at its warmest since last ice age - and temperatures are still rising - More of those liberal "facts" and "data", which of course being part of reality, good conservatives can safely ignore.
Antiscience “Academic Freedom” Bill Dies in Kansas - I have no doubt these same state governments will continue to try to pass bills that curb our children from learning and blind them to the real world. And while they do so, that very same world is still warming up. And species are still evolving. And the Universe adds another few years to its already considerable 13.73 billion year age. That’s the way things are. Ah, conservatives. Stunting the minds of children everywhere in America.
What China’s hackers get wrong about Washington - No one can carry out complicated plans. All parties and groups are fractious and bumbling. But everyone always thinks everyone else is efficiently and ruthlessly implementing long-term schemes. Um, maybe. (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
What happened to Orson Scott Card? - Now there’s a furor from the right, that this is a left wing witch hunt against people who disagree with their agenda, to economically punish those who don’t toe some political line. I disagree quite strongly. This is not some freedom of speech thing, not some despicable and childish refusal to engage with those who disagree politically. I would defend to the death Card’s right to speak his beliefs, but the hell if I have to stock it on my shelves if I’m the owner of a comic book store. And the hell if I have to draw the panels into which those words are written if I’m an artist. Card has the right to speak, but so do all these other people. To my view, Card's depth of bigotry crosses the line from the usual conservative irrationality into something much akin to mental illness. He would literally condemn people I love to death: this isn't reasonable disagreement over an objectively debatable point, this is vile poison that gains undue traction and attention due to Card's prominence. I feel very, very sorry for the misery Card lives with inside his own head that makes him think this way.
Honey, I shrunk the bigots - A new study released today, and summarized by the Washington Post, shows that opposition gay marriage is shrinking, and now generally resides in only three pockets of Americans: white evangelicals; old people; and uneducated whites. The rest are basically on our side. It's nice to be on the right side of both morality and history. Maybe someday the GOP will catch up.
Medicaid program helped Will Weatherford's family after all, he admits - Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford reversed course on Wednesday and said that health care provided for his brother was covered under Florida's Medically Needy program, which is financed by Medicaid. So ends a mystery that developed a day earlier when Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, voiced opposition to expanding Medicaid in his opening day speech of the 2013 legislative session. I am reminded of Craig T. Nelson's angry, moronic remark that "I've been on food stamps and welfare, did anybody help me out? No." Ah, once again we bathe in the light of the justly famed intellectual consistency of conservatives.
New York NRA Official Barred From Having Guns After Altercation With Wife - Yep. Guns definitely make us all safer, especially with the NRA safeguarding our right to threaten our spouses in the privacy of our own homes.
QotD?: Can you ever really go home?
3/8/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.75 hours (a little WRPA, 1,000 words of first draft on a requested short)
Hours slept: 7.5 hours (fitful, including two hours on the plane)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike, yay hotel gym!)
Weight: 241.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block escorting ACORN thugs to steal the votes of "Real Americans": 0
Currently reading: Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett
The Telegraph on Sex - Cora Buhlert with a roundup on British commentary on literary sex scenes. Mmm, literature.
A Photo Service That Understands the Contents of Your Images - Everpix organizes photos after analyzing them with software that can detect things such as animals, outdoor scenes, and people. Is this really a good idea?
SETI: The Artificial Transit Scenario
Massive flood scarred the surface of Mars less than 500 million years ago - Water carved channels at least 70 meters deep and 40 kilometers wide. Mmm, Missoula Flood on Mars.
Sinkhole Science: A Primer - An expert weighs in on causes-and which areas are most vulnerable.
2 Civil War sailors from the Monitor to be buried at Arlington
The Law of the Tongue - Humans have trouble honoring treaties with each other, what are the chances they’d respect a contract signed with another species? Pretty good … at least in one case. (Snurched from Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
NOTE: Do Not Kill Yeti Except in Self-Defense
Earth at its warmest since last ice age - and temperatures are still rising - More of those liberal "facts" and "data", which of course being part of reality, good conservatives can safely ignore.
Antiscience “Academic Freedom” Bill Dies in Kansas - I have no doubt these same state governments will continue to try to pass bills that curb our children from learning and blind them to the real world. And while they do so, that very same world is still warming up. And species are still evolving. And the Universe adds another few years to its already considerable 13.73 billion year age. That’s the way things are. Ah, conservatives. Stunting the minds of children everywhere in America.
What China’s hackers get wrong about Washington - No one can carry out complicated plans. All parties and groups are fractious and bumbling. But everyone always thinks everyone else is efficiently and ruthlessly implementing long-term schemes. Um, maybe. (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
What happened to Orson Scott Card? - Now there’s a furor from the right, that this is a left wing witch hunt against people who disagree with their agenda, to economically punish those who don’t toe some political line. I disagree quite strongly. This is not some freedom of speech thing, not some despicable and childish refusal to engage with those who disagree politically. I would defend to the death Card’s right to speak his beliefs, but the hell if I have to stock it on my shelves if I’m the owner of a comic book store. And the hell if I have to draw the panels into which those words are written if I’m an artist. Card has the right to speak, but so do all these other people. To my view, Card's depth of bigotry crosses the line from the usual conservative irrationality into something much akin to mental illness. He would literally condemn people I love to death: this isn't reasonable disagreement over an objectively debatable point, this is vile poison that gains undue traction and attention due to Card's prominence. I feel very, very sorry for the misery Card lives with inside his own head that makes him think this way.
Honey, I shrunk the bigots - A new study released today, and summarized by the Washington Post, shows that opposition gay marriage is shrinking, and now generally resides in only three pockets of Americans: white evangelicals; old people; and uneducated whites. The rest are basically on our side. It's nice to be on the right side of both morality and history. Maybe someday the GOP will catch up.
Medicaid program helped Will Weatherford's family after all, he admits - Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford reversed course on Wednesday and said that health care provided for his brother was covered under Florida's Medically Needy program, which is financed by Medicaid. So ends a mystery that developed a day earlier when Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, voiced opposition to expanding Medicaid in his opening day speech of the 2013 legislative session. I am reminded of Craig T. Nelson's angry, moronic remark that "I've been on food stamps and welfare, did anybody help me out? No." Ah, once again we bathe in the light of the justly famed intellectual consistency of conservatives.
New York NRA Official Barred From Having Guns After Altercation With Wife - Yep. Guns definitely make us all safer, especially with the NRA safeguarding our right to threaten our spouses in the privacy of our own homes.
QotD?: Can you ever really go home?
3/8/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.75 hours (a little WRPA, 1,000 words of first draft on a requested short)
Hours slept: 7.5 hours (fitful, including two hours on the plane)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike, yay hotel gym!)
Weight: 241.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block escorting ACORN thugs to steal the votes of "Real Americans": 0
Currently reading: Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett