Aug 28, 2016 13:33
- Heads up: Today is the last day you can register (for free) to vote
for the Dragon Awards, which will be presented at DragonCon
next weekend. The Hugo Awards have made their preferences clearly
known; for the cast-out Puppy cohort the Dragons are every bit as
good and probably better.
- The least affordable American cities, and how much
you need to be making to buy a home in them. Do you need to
live in Silicon Valley to have a satisfying career? No. Whatever
salary you make will go direct to landlords, or to long-time
homeowners who will take your million+ and retire. Get Thy Ass Unto
Omaha.
- Zerohedge posted a chart showing how much Obamacare
premiums are going up in 2017, by state. Carol and I have been
paying $20,000 per year for premiums since the ACA killed our
pre-ACA policy. (Didn't somebody important say we could keep our
plan if we liked it?) This is starting to make Medicare look good.
(Thanks to Charlie Martin for the link.)
- The FTC is going after a large publisher of
nominally peer-reviewed scientific journals, claiming that
almost no peer review is done on the articles. Also, people named
as editors by the publisher were often not affiliated with the firm
in any way. Sigh. Peer review is not any sort of gold standard
these days. I'm thinking it might be a zinc standard, or perhaps a
tin standard.
- People scratch their heads when I say that Woodrow Wilson was
the worst US President ever. He is also the most-bleached. The reasons I loathe him begin with his racism
but are mostly about his hatred of the US Constitution. He came as
close as any President ever did to being a dictator, and that's
precisely what he wanted to be.
- Here's a map depicting every cargo ship in the world and where it was going
at the displayed time. Yes, yes, the map is from 2012, but it's a
good illustration of how goods move around the world. I don't see
any action in the Northwest Passage, but there are ships going up
and down the coast of Greenland, and a few crossing under South
America through Tierra Del Fuego.
- Here are some photos of more Tarzans and Janes than
I've ever seen in one place, gathered at LACon in 1975 for the
100th birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- Heh. I was a big Tarzan fan in grade school. And I actually met Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. In fact, I
think she may have been about to ask me down to the bar for a
drink. Or maybe not; and I wonder if I missed a chance to make a
fascinating new friend that night.
- Friday was International Boron Appreciation Day, and in
the excitement of National Dog Day, I missed it. How could you blame me?
There wasn't a mule in sight. (Thanks again to Charlie Martin for
the link.)
- Today is Go Topless Day. Why don't they have a National
Ytterbium Appreciation Day? I can go topless any time, but damn,
ytterbium gets no respect at all!
media,
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