Link Anthology 2/5/2009
* A facetious guide written by an engineer on how to deconstruct almost anything.
* mrissa declares a new holiday, February 13: One Year Closer to Balance. And there's a homework assignment! Do something to bring balance to your life, then drop her a line about it. Go on, you know you want to! I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet; it may or may not involve living by Transcendentalist principles for the year. We'll see.
* LibriVox is a project aiming to verbalize every public-domain book in the country and release them as free audiobooks.
* From Coyote Wild, a lovely little parody short by Sarah Rees Brennan--"An Old-Fashioned Unicorn's Guide to Courtship."
* Via yhlee, a funny anecdote about Chinese vs. Swedish manners. I've definitely observed this, and been frustrated by the brusque commands.
* The California 4th District Court of Appeals decides that private schools can discriminate against students. Specifically, a Lutheran school expelled two girls for appearing to act like lesbians.
* Obama talks obliquely about his plans for his Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I think his idealistic vision of promoting religious tolerance through this particular venue is doomed to failure, but he's welcome to try. And I'll give him props for including secular humanism groups. Still, I'm disturbed by the implication that the Obama administration may yield to pressure to allow these faith-based organizations--which receive taxpayer funding--to discriminate in employment based on their beliefs. And one of the commenters makes an interesting point: if religious organizations may receive taxpayer money, shouldn't they be contributing taxes as well?
* In happier news, Johanna Sigurdardottir has become Iceland's prime minister and also the first openly gay head of government in modern times. And the bestest part of all--Icelanders don't think it's any big deal!
* mrissa declares a new holiday, February 13: One Year Closer to Balance. And there's a homework assignment! Do something to bring balance to your life, then drop her a line about it. Go on, you know you want to! I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet; it may or may not involve living by Transcendentalist principles for the year. We'll see.
* LibriVox is a project aiming to verbalize every public-domain book in the country and release them as free audiobooks.
* From Coyote Wild, a lovely little parody short by Sarah Rees Brennan--"An Old-Fashioned Unicorn's Guide to Courtship."
* Via yhlee, a funny anecdote about Chinese vs. Swedish manners. I've definitely observed this, and been frustrated by the brusque commands.
* The California 4th District Court of Appeals decides that private schools can discriminate against students. Specifically, a Lutheran school expelled two girls for appearing to act like lesbians.
* Obama talks obliquely about his plans for his Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I think his idealistic vision of promoting religious tolerance through this particular venue is doomed to failure, but he's welcome to try. And I'll give him props for including secular humanism groups. Still, I'm disturbed by the implication that the Obama administration may yield to pressure to allow these faith-based organizations--which receive taxpayer funding--to discriminate in employment based on their beliefs. And one of the commenters makes an interesting point: if religious organizations may receive taxpayer money, shouldn't they be contributing taxes as well?
* In happier news, Johanna Sigurdardottir has become Iceland's prime minister and also the first openly gay head of government in modern times. And the bestest part of all--Icelanders don't think it's any big deal!