Unblogged Bits for 2012-07-27

My Google+ –> Blog stuff is still not working, dagnabbit.  So here are some of the things I’ve been talking about that you haven’t seen live (not unlike NBC’s Olympics coverage).

I’ve been lax in doing this — sorry.  It did give me a chance to do some thematic grouping, though.

The Chick-fil-A Thang

1. Exclusivity for Me but not for Thee – If you exclude the excluders, are you being an even worse excluder?  More Bryan Fischer zaniness.
2. Being ticked off at Chick-fil-A – I’ve been a dozen different threats on Google Plus discussing the whole Chick-fil-A thing.  This post sort of summarized my opinions on the matter: it’s one thing to levy social punishment on CfA for their activities, but it’s another thing for the government to do so.
3. This is why I belong to the ACLU – Because they’re less about ideology than civil liberties.  Which, I guess, is an ideoogy, but it’s one that cuts across all others.
4. Straight support of gay marriage rights – Applause to Jeff Bezos.

Olympics

1. The London Olympics and London archaeology – The coolness — and problems — of construction projects in an area with deep, deep hstory.
2. Olympic events you won’t see in London – A shame. I’d love to watch tug-o-war.  Or croquet.
3. The London Olympics … last time – A look at the 1948 Olympics.
4. There’s Macedonia, then there’s Macedonia – On the naming of countries. Interesting.
5. The Olympics Opening Ceremonies – My impressions.  NBC sucks. And the Brits put on a show you wouldn’t see in America.
6. NBC looks out for all its easily confusable audience members – During the Opening Ceremonies, bBy talking, talking, talking.  And not running it live.  Idjits.

Election Politics

1. No Man Is an Island (Self-Made Man Edition) – Romney’s “We did this, no, really, truly, all by ourselves” examples … aren’t.
2. Playing the Anglo-Saxon Card – Stay classy, Team Romney!
3. You lost me at John Bolton – Romney’s getting his foreign policy advice from the Bush team. And not even the semi-sane members of that team.
4. Mitt makes headlines on his overseas junket – Just not the headlines he wanted.
5. Our special Anglo-Saxon relationship – Is what other countries think of us important?  The GOP answer varies depending on how Mitt is doing overseas.
6. Another “busted” attack meme from the GOP – I’ve been hearing finger-waggling attacks against Obama on the Churchill bust for years. Here’s the truth.

Guns and the Aurora Shooting

1. Rot, rot, rot, rot, it’s a plot, plot, plot, plot! – Conspiracy theorists have a field day with the theater shooting. Cretins.
2. We need more guns! – Gun sales are up in Colorado after the theater shooting.  People are looking for safety blankets.
3. A safety net … this time – Why are some victims of the Aurora shootings having to rely on others’ passing the hat?
4. Societal vs Individual Responsibility — FIGHT! – Reality is a lot more complicated than that binary case. Really.
5. Heroes – Why some folks weren’t charging the gunman at the Aurora Theater: they had other, more important things to do.
6. Sorry, Mitt – he had those guns legally – Romney gets called out, even by the Denver Post, on his misstatements about the Aurora shooting.
7. Forgive them their trespasses – So is this one of those “Stand Your Ground” things?  Crazy.
8. Printing your own weaponry – That’s probably not a good thing, though the broader considerations of what you can do with that technology is fascinating.
9. Talking about guns and America – A bit of interesting history of guns and gun possession perspective over the years.
10. Weapons of Mass Murder – How did mass murderers mass murder in the old days?

Other Stuff

1. The Legend of Korra – Good stuff. Glad to see it’s coming back for a second season.
2. Tablets is Tablets (except some are smaller) – The ongoing but somewhat goofy Samsung-vs-Apple courtroom saga.
3. Descriptive vs Prescriptive Dictionaries – China and Newspeak
4. The best thing since sliced bread – All about the history of … sliced bread, of course.
5. Mont-Saint-Michel … from … SPAAAAAACE!
6. More powerful than a locomotive: Time – A train yard photo.
7. “You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong” – A criminal conviction for covering up child abuse.
8. Why libertarians are sometimes just plain crazy – The Net Neutrality debate.
9. Planets and suns and sizes – Cool comparisons.
10. The Hobbit Trilogy? – I’m there.
11. Five Men and a Nuke – Not. On. A. Bet.
12. Water, water, not anywhere – The growth of Las Vegas. Crazy.
13. The self-made man who admits he’s not just self-made – No man is an island, and individual effort, while essential and laudable, also needs the context and assistance of the efforts of others.
14. Pop! – A big balloon popping under very special circumstances.
15. Blogging topics of … the Future! – Political Round-up 2032!
16. Remember this about five, maybe ten years from now – War in the China Sea? Yeah, that’s certainly a possibility.
17. Justice isn’t always served – Assuming that the person convicted in a crime is the person truly guilty might work as a generality, but always beware of thinking it’s a certainty in each particular case. Because the justice system is sometimes, sadly, more interested in winning than in justice.
18. Hints from Hill-oise – Some clever household ideas.
19. The worst thing the British ever did to India – What the heck are those soldiers doing?
20. Killing the sickly goose that lays the golden eggs – On why the two big comic book companies don’t even really try to pull in female readers.
21. Retaining the Bush tax cuts – More Democratic / Republican squabbling.
22. Studying migraines amidst the mutineers – The Bounty mutineers gave Bligh head-aches. Now their descendants are helping scientists understand migraines.
23. To see ourselves as other see us – Why do cameras make us look fat?
24. The House GOP prefer to play a shell game with climate information – Stay class, Republican “leader”ship!
25. Dork Tower’s Shades of Evil – Heh.
26. To know recursion, you must first know recursion … – On using social media to complain about social media …
27. A little lie for Jesus – But if it’s for Jesus, it’s a good thing, right? Right? Yeesh.
28. Yes. This is why I am a geek – John Scalzi on what it means to be a geek.
29. Too many secrets, Marty – On not just rubber-stamping national security legislation.
30. Best prisons lobbyist money can buy – And, of course, it’s Arizona.
31. Art Deco Batman – coolness.
32. The worst meeting in the history of show business – Yeah, that was pretty bad.
33. Oooooh, it’s like owning a Palm Pilot again! – Google’s touch search on smartphones.
34. Polluting our precious bodily fluids – Have scientists discovered that fluioridation of water supplies is reducing our IQ?  Um … no, they haven’t.
35. My hair doesn’t actually look like that … – Weight, weight, don’t tell me.