Potpourri 5 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 13-Oct-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Tales from the Third Age | ***Dave Does the Blog – I was mentioning to someone the other day my early problems with getting into Tolkien. I ran across this post today which goes over them in greater detail.
November Fifth Is Bank Transfer Day – I don’t expect this to make a huge difference (have a significant turn-out), but it’s a good idea anyway for the folks who do it.
Post-apocalyptic zombie-slaying family portrait session – Sweet.
Poor People Have Rights Too – “(Incidentally, you know who isn’t being asked to submit to drug testing before receiving public assistance? Bankers, traders and anyone else who received money from the bailout.)”
80 percent of US boys use condoms the first time – The Denver Post – That’s good to hear. Wish it were higher, but it’s trending the right direction.
The 6 reasons why Herman Cain (supposedly) can’t win – Opening Shot – Salon.com – I’m not fond of any of the GOP candidates. Cain isn’t the most lunatic amongst the bunch, but he’s damned goofy in most areas.
Occupy Wall Street: Poster smackdown – Salon.com – Some very nice posters here (and some less-than-successful ones).
When Cartoon Network was born – Imprint – Salon.com – Some cool stuff here — and I speak as someone who didn’t very much enjoy (but was culturally immersed in) the H-B cheap-o cartoons of late 50s and early 60s.
The LA Times notices the “double standard” on Iran – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com
Ryanair unveils its latest plan to save money: remove toilets from the plane – News & Advice, Travel – The Independent – Well, not all toilets. Just all but one. Because toilets never go out of order, or become occupied by people who have to take more than a minute or two.
Colorado governor, Denver mayor unsure of course on protesters | The Spot — Denver, Colorado politics and government news — The Denver Post
Defining “Cult,” Defining “Christian” | Politics | Religion Dispatches – True Christianity® for me, but not for thee.
Florida Republican Wants To Bring Back Firing Squads – Perhaps being torn apart by dogs would be another option. Or tossing them to the sharks after a plank walk. Stoning! We could go back to stoning!
Rhode Island Governor Chafee Doesn’t Recognize Who Romney Has Become – The issue is only somewhat speaking to a national GOP audience. The real issue is speaking to the national nominating audience — the folks who are most likely to vote in primaries, or participate in caucuses, the “base” or the “fringe” or the relative fanatics who are usually really angry or scared about something. Those are the groups that these folks have to appeal to in order to get to the next step …
The Eternal Sunshine of the Wingnut Mind – Don’t worry about the divine Ms Sarah … she’ll have a very comfortable life on the ghost-written book and over-priced speech-giving circuit.
The Norwegians have pissed off the Muslims again – Nice poster!
Flood-Gate: Perry Officials Try to Hide Sea Level Rise from Texans with “Clear-Cut Unadulterated Censorship” – Reality-challenged.
Pressed About His Plan To Raise Taxes On Food, Herman Cain Says Poor People Should Just Buy Used Goods – And this guy is doing very well in the GOP polls. Yeesh.

Unblogged Bits (Wed. 12-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

The ten weirdest road signs – I’ve always been amused by the Tank Crossing signs on Salisbury Plain.
Universal Drops ‘Tower Heist’ Early VOD Experiment in Response to Theater Boycotts: Angie Han
TOM THE DANCING BUG: Definitely-Not-Gay-Man Meets His Arch Nemesis!! – HA!
Forced Exercise’s Effects on the Brain (Parkinson’s Disease) – NYTimes.com
More Evidence Against Vitamin Use – NYTimes.com – Unless you’re diagnosed with a vitamin deficiency, or are unable to maintain a healthy diet for some reason, lay off the vitamin pills.
Somebody watched “Born Free” too many times – I’m sure someone thought it was a Great Idea. Unfortunately, ideology (of whatever sort) unbound by consideration usually leads to bad decision-making.

Unblogged Bits (Wed. 12-Oct-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Bill Donohue Condemns Jeffress As A “Poster Boy For Hatred” – And when Bill Donohue talks about people being “a poster boy for hatred, not Christianity,” he’s got the experience to back up that claim!
Not Just The ‘53 %’: The Working Poor Pay More Of Their Income In State And Local Taxes Than The Rich In 49 States | ThinkProgress
mental_floss Blog » Why Do We Call the President’s Wife “First Lady”?
FBI agent and federal prosecutor take Ferrari for joyride and total it; owner out of luck – While it’s hard to shed too many tears for the owner of a $750K Ferrari (tears over the aesthetic loss aside), the legal protection provided law enforcement here is in bad need of revision. Immunity where the property is in custody of law enforcement is fine, but where misused by government employees … no. Though I note the suit was against the government per se; can the officials themselves be sued (since clearly it was not something done in pursuit of their duties)?
Zits for 10/2/2011 – Heh. This feels familiar.
House Republicans Eliminate Funding for Job Training (Again!) – Of course they do. None of them (or their sponsors) need it. (Alas.)
House Majority Appropriations Bill Attacks the Other 99 Percent – Of course it does.
:New York Style Cheesecake: – Okay, now I want cheesecake. Real, honest, non-flavoring-injected, non-fruit-festooned cheesecake.
“There Is Almost No Voter Fraud in America.” – These efforts, almost all from the GOP, are focused on a non-existent problem. Which raises the question of why they’re being done, which boils down to (a) fomenting fear among the populace about nefarious democracy-undermining plots by illegals and radicals and the like, and (b) making it harder for folks to vote, most affecting the poor and minorities, who, coincidentally, are less likely to vote for the GOP. Despicable.
Herman Cain Plays The Race Card Against Obama: “Never Part Of The Black Experience” – Stay classy, Herman.
52% of Republicans support tax increases on rich: Chris in Paris
‘Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane’ Comic Covers – Zany!
Topeka, Kansas Repeals Domestic Violence Law – Appalling. Every single Tea Party dolt out there ought to be hanging their head in shame.
Chaplains: Pentagon’s Same-Sex Marriage Rules Don’t Bother Us – Nobody’s forcing Jewish chaplains to celebrate Catholic Mass, or Baptist chaplains to oversee Wiccan handfastings. The conservative argument that chaplains will be forced, kicking and screaming, to “marry” “gays” is either idiotic or disingenuous (or, most likely, both).
GOP Candidates Blame 30 Years Of Rising Income Inequality On Barack Obama And Single Moms – Of course they do.
I swear to God this is what they must be doing – The Oatmeal – HA!
Perfect – But … but … Eric Cantor said they have absolutely nothing in common! He said!
Stunning macro-photography of animal eyes – Eyes are amazing.

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 11-Oct-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Who are the 47%? – “Have you been wondering who those lazy 47%ers who refuse to pay their fair share of income taxes are?You know, the ones who need to kick in so that the millionaire jahbcreaters don’t have to? Here’s who they are …”
Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth” at 50 : The New Yorker – I dearly loved this book as a kid. I still keep trying to encourage Katherine to read it.
DC Comics is giving Wonder Woman a father. Want to know who it is? – There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this idea, but there’s nothing so right with it that it needed doing. If you change fundamental continuity, do so for a very, very good reason (which sometimes happens, but more often it’s just, “Hey, I want to put my gummy fingerprints all over this character” kind of a thing.) Azzarello is good, and I have no doubt he will do good things with this, but I think they could have been done without the change.
Marvel’s The Avengers – Movie Trailers – iTunes – Woot!
God can’t seem to make up his mind who he wants the next President to be. – Actually, I think it’s most likely just God calling these hubris-driven dolts to make public idiots of themselves by running for President. As, so to speak, object lessons for the rest of us.
Fox Host to Joe Lieberman: You Sound Like a Republican – Quacks like a duck, too.
How To Share Google Reader Stories to Google Plus – Ah. Cool. And it’s selective, too, so I don’t blow all my G+ followers (such as they are) away with all the Unblogged Bits volume.
Life Should Be Full Of RPG Quests – Ah! Yeah, I know this contact. I’m seriously taking this one. I might run it several times, in fact …

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 11-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Fischer Plays The Victim, Decries Romney’s Rude and Insulting Attack On Him – Amusing — because when Bryan Fischer talks about tacky, impolite and rude language that completely and utterly lacks class, he speaks as an expert.
Protesting in America: admin
Bryan Fischer Pleads Ignorance About His “Poisonous Language” | Right Wing Watch – Sorry, Bryan — playing the victim just doesn’t cut it.
Rep. Buck McKeon: No Defense Bill Unless It Bans Same-Sex Marriages By Military Chaplains | ThinkProgress – Well, next time someone talks about who’s being supportive of the military, we know a person to point at in the negative.
Former Ex-Gay Ministry Leader Comes Out, Recants Previous Teachings | ThinkProgress
Cagle Post » Christian Heaven for Buddhist, Steve Jobs – Some of these (and there are many others on the web) can be seen as simple cultural shorthand, and others as humorous jokes. On the other hand, imagine the reaction in some quarters about a cartoon of a dead Christian showing in a Muslim heaven, or circling around again on the Wheel of Life, or some other non-Christian afterlife setting.
Georgia Considers Replacing Firefighters With Free Prison Laborers | ThinkProgress – Yes, this is an insane idea with all sorts of crazy aspects (e.g., would you welcome fire fighters into your house if you knew some of them were prison inmates?) … but at least IT DOESN’T RAISE TAXES, SO IT’S THE AMERICAN WAY!
Robert Jeffress Has a Lot of Nerve | Religion Dispatches – More on the silliness of defining Who Is a True Christian(TM).
Colorado Supreme Court could take on medical-marijuana appeal – The Denver Post – It seems to me that if it is not criminal to possess legally obtained marijuana for medical purposes, then unless an employer can demonstrate the employee’s performance is impaired, it should not be grounds for firing.
How texting is changing the world [infographic] – Holy Kaw! – Cool.
Futurity.org » Immunity ‘trick’ turns off peanut allergy – Cool!
Eric Cantor Explains the Difference Between the Tea Party and the Occupiers – Short Cantor: “Because the OWS is against Other Americans, while the Tea Party is against THE EVIL GOVERNMENT!!!!!!”
US ties Iran to plot to assassinate Saudi diplomat – The Denver Post – (1) Yikes! (2) How dare another country stage an assassination on US soil?! We’d never — um … (3) Article followed by one comment saying it’s all a Obama hoax to bolster his ratings, and the another saying that the US must immediately declare war on Iran. sigh
The Fox Poll on OWS – And, yes, Internet polls are freaking useless. But this it’s always fun to see something like this.
Why Believe In Keynesian Models? – NYTimes.com – “Because they work.”
A Peek Inside A Christian Right Anti-Gay Strategy Session – If “Marriage is a ‘pre-political’ institution, and therefore not a civil right,” could not the same be said for race (which obviously is “pre-political”) or, for that matter, religion? Or perhaps some would like to argue that racial equality and religious freedom are not civil rights, either.
Before Netscape: the forgotten Web browsers of the early 1990s – I remember using Mosaic. Plus, of course, some of the WWW alternatives, such as Gopher and Veronica. Good times …
Microsoft finds 64 billion fewer spam messages per month after botnet takedowns – Spam delenda est!

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 11-Oct-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Richard Dawkins is Banned by the Wyndgate Country Club in Michigan | Friendly Atheist – Rather than an apology, I think a law suit is in order. As a location that offers up its facilities to the public, Wyndgate is not allowed to discriminate based on race, national origion, etc., including based on religion. Which, based on the owner’s statement, this clearly is.
BBC News – Row over photo in shopping centre – “It is not our intention to – and we do not – stop innocent family members taking pictures” … except when your security guards do just that, and then call the police about it.
NYTimes Sues The Federal Government For Refusing To Reveal Its Secret Interpretation Of The PATRIOT Act | Techdirt – The law enforcement interpretation of a public law is … classified? Yeesh. Many thanks to the NYT for pursuing this.
Bachmann Tells Man With ‘No Teeth’ to Rely on Charity – If “charities” and “university programs” were so effective at dealing with the poor and indigent’s health care problems — why have have we had a nation with so many health care problems? Where have they been? (Answer: they’ve been doing what they can, but in the face of the large number of un- and under-insured in the “free market system,” they’re a drop in the bucket. Not that Bachmann would admit that.)
Muslim Woman: Southwest Booted Me After Flight Attendant Thought I Said ‘It’s A Go’ – Maybe we just shouldn’t let Those People fly at all. That will avoid all these embarrassing law suits based on nervous flight crew people thinking They look suspicious or that They are muttering suspicious things or that They are just a little too brown and foreign-looking for comfort. This sort of behavior, allowed by airline regs, mocks the whole idea of anti-discrimination laws.
Congressman tells OSHA chief not to use “buzz” words like cancer : The Pump Handle – And the War on Science continues …
There I Fixed It: Analog Making Itself Useful To Digital – That’s … pretty cool. Need to give this tip a try.

Unblogged Bits (Mon. 10-Oct-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

But what do they want? – Pretty much.
It’s Anti-Flat-Earth Day, and Conservapedia Still Thinks the Theory of Relativity Is a Liberal Plot – Yeah, head asploding over here.
Denver cop gets deferred sentence in Erie clubhouse fight – Boulder Daily Camera – Any bets that if it had been the cop that was punched there wouldn’t be deferred sentence and fines?

Unblogged Bits (Mon. 10-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Jeffress Says Satan Is Behind Roman Catholicism – Hey, all you folks who thought I was exaggerating about how Catholics are seen as just as bad by some on the Right as Mormons? Read on …
Bryan Fischer’s Speech To The Values Voter Summit – I think I won’t watch these. Having an aneurysm isn’t on my calendar this week.
Google+ Loses 60% of Active Users – I’ve been not doing all that much on G+ because, to be honest, it doesn’t tie into anything. Give me a way to easily crosspost to it — or from it — and I’ll be there.
Barnes & Noble Won’t Sell Physical Copies Of Kindle Exclusive Comics – I’m not sure how you are supporting your promise to “make available any boo, anywhere, anytime” when you’re not carrying something in your physical stores, just because you aren’t allowed to carry it in your digital store.
Panic of the Plutocrats – NYTimes.com – “Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe realize, deep down, how morally indefensible their position is. They’re not John Galt; they’re not even Steve Jobs. They’re people who got rich by peddling complex financial schemes that, far from delivering clear benefits to the American people, helped push us into a crisis whose aftereffects continue to blight the lives of tens of millions of their fellow citizens. Yet they have paid no price. Their institutions were bailed out by taxpayers, with few strings attached. They continue to benefit from explicit and implicit federal guarantees — basically, they’re still in a game of heads they win, tails taxpayers lose. And they benefit from tax loopholes that in many cases have people with multimillion-dollar incomes paying lower rates than middle-class families. This special treatment can’t bear close scrutiny — and therefore, as they see it, there must be no close scrutiny.”
X-Ray of foot in high heeled shoe – Are you watching, comic book artists?
Black & Blue – AWWWWWW! TEH CUTE!
Fischer: Rights Endangered If President Believes In Evolution – Bryan, Bryan, Bryan … off your meds again, I see.
Joe the Plumber Is Running For Congress [Candidates] – (Rolls eyes.)
WIN: I Hope This Adds a +2 to His Defense – Ooooh. I would have wanted one of these in school. (Probably just as well I didn’t have one.)
NYT editorial spells out what #OccupyWallStreet wants – “It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation. That’s the job of the nation’s leaders, and if they had been doing it all along there might not be a need for these marches and rallies. Because they have not, the public airing of grievances is a legitimate and important end in itself.”
The Hungry Muppet: Our National Shame
GOP Rep: ‘We can’t allow’ more coverage of Occupy Wall Street | The Raw Story – Heaven forbid folks in the streets should shape policy. Unless, y’know, they’re waving tea bags around.
AFP: Did chemical reactions cause Twin Towers collapse? – Some interesting speculation here.
Financial Romanticism – NYTimes.com – Laissez-faire works just as well — and as pitilessly — as Darwinian natural selection. You may very well end up with a most-fit outcome, but you’ll also end up with a lot of extinctions and population crashes along the way.
World’s Largest Shopping Mall is Empty: Joanna Ong
What Everyone Is Too Polite to Say About Steve Jobs – It’s been interesting watching the coverage of Jobs on his passing — from the immediate hagiography to the legitimate critiques (and less legitimate iconoclasm) of his practices and philosophy. Let’s say that, like the hypothetical TIME Man of the Year, he was a man who had a tremendous impact and leadership in the realm of IT and consumer electronics. Like Ford and Edison, he was a seminal figure in his field, and like both those men, there was a lot both to admire and criticize.
Did Steve Jobs give good advice?

Unblogged Bits (Sun. 9-Oct-11 1731)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Dietary Equations – SMBC October 09, 2011 – Heh.
Lenovo ThinkPad Android Honeycomb tablet – after 1 week – Been slowly pondering tablets and how I might make use of them. Haven’t come to any decisions, really, but I keep watching.
Chrome Remote Desktop – Access Any Computer Remotely Using Google Chrome – Cool.
Anwar al-Awlaki Might Have Been Innocent – “Make no mistake, I am shedding no tears for al-Awlaki. Up until his death al-Awlaki was openly advocating for the murder of innocent people and was al-Qaeda’s most famous Internet preacher. By all accounts he was a loathsome human being, and he may very well have been guilty of the crimes he was executed for. But what if he wasn’t?” We’ll never know. But you’d really think all those folks so much up in arms over what a scoundrel Obama is, or how he’s plotting to take over the US and put his opponents in labor camps, would be a lot more upset over this. Ditto for the folks who were so much up in arms over Bush’s extralegal shenanigans.
Econ. 101: Alan Grayson Schools P.J. O’Rourke on OWS: scarce
War Flag – This would only work for the US if it were clear any more when we were at war — or if there were any prospect of things like “The War on Terror” to ever be resolved.
Texas pastor: Romney “not a Christian” – This election is doing a nice job of churning up the muck at the bottom of the GOP pool …
Someone is getting fired… – I can just see eyes widening in the control booth, a paralyzing moment of disbelief, and then a frantic rush by a dozen hands to hit the KILL THE SOUND! button …

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 7-Oct-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

The Nephilim fossil of upstate New York – Science looks for disproof of what is understood. Faith looks for comforting proof. Which do you think is more likely to find things that are inaccurate and incorrect?
Values Voter Summit Conflicts With Jewish High Holy Days for Third Year in a Row – Well, if they’d just become good Christians, they wouldn’t have these silly conflicts!
Sexology, 1960s – What’s fascinating is watching the magazine’s “motto” change over time.
Ikea Catalogue, 1965 – Actually, I think you can still get a lot of that stuff.
TASS Windows, WWII – They sure liked giving Hitler a big nose.
President Newt Gingrich Would Take One Thing From FDR: He’d Ignore The Supreme Court If He So Wished | Election 2012 – Stay classy, Newt.
Topeka, Kansas City Council Considers Decriminalizing Domestic Violence To Save Money | ThinkProgress – Huzzah for tax cuts! Huzzah for the Tea Party! Huzzah for small government! Huzzah!
10 Stubborn Food Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science [Nutrition] – Good stuff.

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 7-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Page One of @nytimes 10 years ago, as US went to war in Afghanistan. – Ten years.
Exclusive: Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet | Danger Room | Wired.com – Yikes.
The 5 Most Epic Battles of Will That Would Not End | Cracked.com
Fischer: Halal Foods Represent “Creeping” Sharia – “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” – Matthew 15:11. You might want to consider that, Bryan.
The Most Dangerous Thing You Can Do: Stay Safe – “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt (Attributed)

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 7-Oct-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Barnes & Noble Pulls Watchmen, Sandman And 100 DC Graphic Novels From Their Shelves Over Amazon Kindle Fire Deal Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors – Wow. I can understand B&N being torqued at DC, but I don’t see this as a smart move on their part. Anything that reduces traffic into or sales from a bricks & mortar store isn’t a good idea.
The Other Guy Who Died: Jeffrey Weston
Oct 7, 2011 – Ten Years Later – Priorities …
I Just Don’t Know What You See in Him – I can honestly say my wife is more of a “gamer chick” than I am a “gamer dude.” And it’s cool.
California Officials Quash School Rule That Forced Students Into Separate Lunch Lines Because Of Low Test Scores – Incenting achievement by rewarding it in some fashion is a fine idea, if done carefully and properly. Turning it into a “dunce cap” program, though, is neither careful nor proper.
Obama’s Food Safety Law That Republicans Fought Could Have Prevented Tainted Melon Outbreak: Alex Seitz-Wald
Wells Fargo Forecloses On Home Because The Title Was Never Transferred – Stay classy, Wells Fargo!
What do these books have in common? – Go, Kate, go!
Drug Maker Adds Line To Pill’s Surface To Delay Generic Versions – Best Health Care in the World!
Vintage Right-Wing Whine: Hank Jr. Says His First Amendment Rights Were Violated By ESPN – You keep citing that “First Amendment”. I do not think it means what you think it means …
Herman Cain Quotes Obscure 20th-Century Strike-Breaker and Attributes it to Lincoln – Don’t let your “facts” and “history” get in the way of my sound bite!
Wall Street Journal: neutrinos show climate change isn’t real – Science doesn’t know everything! So science really knows nothing, and we must ignore it when it tells us really inconvenient stuff! (Dolt.)
Strong winds mussing your Colorado lifestyle? Get used to it – The Denver Post – Should be an “interesting” winter this year.
Parents’ code word thwarts stranger’s advances toward CAK student » Knoxville News Sentinel – An interesting family safety idea.
Panel: Healthy men shouldn’t get prostate test – The Denver Post – Very, very interesting. The question is not whether folks have had their lives saved by PSA testing, but whether more lives have been lost (and others injured) by the follow-up activities from such testing.
Crackdown on California dispensaries planned; Colorado shops watch development closely – The Denver Post – Really, Justice Department? You don’t have any other more urgent law enforcement concerns going on out there? Really?
‘Blues Brothers’ Actor Charles Napier — Dead at 75 | TMZ.com – Also a ST:TOS alum. “His name was Adam.”

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 6-Oct-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Lenovo Ideapad A1 – Affordable Android Tablet Now Only $200 – Huh. Tempting …
The Oxford Comma: Strippers, JFK, and Stalin | We Know Awesome – Oxford Comma FTW!
Christian Gaming Zone: Minecraft – When the only ideology you have is a hammer …
Scott Brown Calls Elizabeth Warren Ugly | Mother Jones – Stay classy, Scott! (Oh, wait, too late …)

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 6-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Fischer: I Am Persecuted For Telling The Truth – You keep using that word “truth.” I do not think it means what you think it means.
Re-Watching Star Trek: The Motion Picture – I remember standing in line for hours opening night of this film. And being simultaneously wowed by the production values and really disappointed by the story and characters.
Why Romney Won’t Stand up to the Bigotry of Bryan Fischer | Religion Dispatches – Certainly doesn’t make me think of him any more favorably as presidential material.
M82: Starburst Galaxy with a Superwind – Pretty.
Geller Says Liberals Love Nazism, Sharia – In case there was any question, Pamela Geller’s a dolt.
An Atheist Goes to a Christian Men’s Conference (Part 1) – Ah. Church as feel-good chest-thumping entertainment. Ick.
Supreme Court weighs legality of putting public domain works back under copyright – In this case, I find myself (oddly) agreeing with both Scalia and Roberts in their comments.
Study debunks myths on organic farms
No Justice Scalia – Conservatives like Scalia are about the Law and Process. The human lives behind them seem to make little difference, as long as the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted. Referring to a “spirit” of the law is blasphemy in their ears, and “compassion” is a dirty word.
It’s About To Become A Bit More Expensive To Shop At Costco – I easily save that much every time I visit.
Palinisms – (Rolls eyes.)
Back When Protests On Wall Street Weren’t Peaceful – People forget about the Gilded Age excess and violent unrest that eventually led to the Progressive Movement (under Republicans, no less). Strangely, it’s just the sorts of reforms from that era that ended the violence that so many monied interests today are eager to roll back. Those who forget the past …
Time lapse of stop-motion puppeteer at work – That. Is. Awesome.
Steve Jobs ~ 1955-2011: Peter Carey

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 6-Oct-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Tainted Canteloupes Cause Pregnant Woman To Miscarry As GOP Still Fights To Gut Food Safety Laws | ThinkProgress – “Party of Life,” anyone?
American Patriotism and God – There’s a distinction between patriotism and nationalism. Love of country can be (indeed, like any true love, must be) both positive and critical. Putting your nation on a pedestal, though, is idolatry of the worst kind.
Execution by secret WH committee – Salon.com – “Seriously: if you’re willing to endorse having White House functionaries meet in secret — with no guidelines, no oversight, no transparency — and compile lists of American citizens to be killed without due process, what aren’t you willing to support?” (Note: the Harry Tasker “But they were all bad” excuse doesn’t apply; this is not about the targets, but the process, because it’s the process that will eventually decide if the targets are “all bad.”)

Unblogged Bits (Wed. 5-Oct-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Lapin: Bible Warned Us Of 9/11 Attacks, Which Were Based On Hitler’s Dream – Wow … the zany … it burns …
Move Over, Boys: 10 FEMALE Superheroes Who Need Movies | Newsarama.com – Okay, I’d watch any of these.
Steve Jobs ~ 1955-2011: Peter Carey
Downside Of Superhero Cleavage – Heh.
My Life – a Venn diagram – All too often.
Marian Wright Edelman: Is Our Nation on the Titanic? – Who should be burdened? Who should be privileged? Who, indeed?
The 15 Best Staged Splash Mountain Photos – Fun.
96-year-old Chattanooga resident denied voting ID | timesfreepress.com – I suspect some folks would consider that a feature, not a bug, of the new law.
TOM THE DANCING BUG: “Governor Rick, Science Hick,” starring Rick Perry!!! – It’s like George W. Bush, only with better hair and less charm.
How Buying Grocery Items At A Drug Store Can Be A Bad Deal – No huge surprise here. The only reason to buy most things at a Walgreen’s is purely convenience. As long as you’re aware of the convenience surcharge, then it’s up to you.
Posting Stupid Stuff On Facebook Is Why You Don’t Have A Job – Coming soon: Facebook with Further Career Destroying Timeline!
The show will never go on again — the most resplendent abandoned theaters across America [Modern Ruins] – Eerie. Magnificent. Sad.

Unblogged Bits (Wed. 5-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

The small blue ball is all the earth’s salt water & the even smaller blue ball is all the earth’s fresh water – Wow. That really puts it into serious perspective. There’s always a feeling that there’s limitless water in the ocean because, well, we just see the large surface. But as a proportion of the Earth overall? Huh.
We can do better than the cheaper insults used against us…right?? – I didn’t comment much about Christie because it seemed unlikely he was going to run. But the jokes and criticism of him about his weight, from Left and Right, were pretty damned petty. And stupid.
Someday, maybe social media will apply their rules consistently – Look, another reason not to use Facebook.
Crazier than Ken Ham? – The Crazy! It Burns!
The Thinnest State Loosens Its Belt : NPR
Jesus Harvest Seeds – Imagine the hue and cry if the local Muslims, or Atheists, were handing out ideologically-themed candy to the local young’uns.
Who’s Who at the Values Voter Summit | Right Wing Watch – If you lie down with rabid dogs, you get up frothing at the mouth.

Unblogged Bits (Wed. 5-Oct-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Occupy Wall Street Is A “Populist” Movement (The Tea Party Is Not) | Media Matters for America
Amendment 7 on 2012 ballot threatens religious freedom – OrlandoSentinel.com – Organizations, including religious ones, that accept government money become beholden to the government for more in the future, and are inevitably affected by government requirements and influence. Why folks eager to tear down the church-state wall are so quick to forget that — greed aside — is a mystery to me.
New York State Senators want “refined First Amendment,” laws to prevent trolling, flaming and excluding people from online groups – Boing Boing – Dolts. (And Democrat Dolts, to boot.)
[Comic] FoxTrot forSunday, October 02, 2011
Joe. My. God.: Sesame Street To Debut “Hungry” Muppet – Greatest country on Earth …
Italy’s insane Internet law prompts removal of Italian Wikipedia – Boing Boing – Crazy …

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 4-Oct-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Casa Bonita Owner Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy – Denver News Story – KMGH Denver – I can’t bring myself to hope that CB shuts down … but perhaps the next owner will actually bring edible food to the fray …
The Boys of War – NYTimes.com – Red badges of courage.
US signs ACTA – (Sigh.)
Conservative Economist: ‘Regulatory Uncertainty Is A Canard Invented By Republicans’ – Don’t get in the way of my talking points with your “facts”!
What is Secularism? Secularism is for everyone. – I am not a “Nontheist,” but I am fully behind Constitutional Secularism. Because the theism most likely to wangle its way to the top of the religious heap at the moment is not an ideology I want the government endorsing, let alone enforcing.
Dumb Alabama Immigration Law Working So Well Its Crops Are Rotting – Unfortunately, the intent from too many of the interests behind the Right is to make such backbreaking labor attractive (through lack of anything else) to the American labor pool.
I Never Expected a Bridge Demolition Would Look Like This [Video] – As someone who works for a company that does this, it’s not surprising, but it’s still very cool.
Gallery of Hildebrandt illustrations – I fell in love with the Brothers Hildebrandt (as did so many others) from their iconic Lord of the Rings calendars. Even though I didn’t care for a number of their interpretations (e.g., Rivendell), others were Just How I Pictured It (at least until the movies). Cool stuff here.
“Beware The Batman” CGI Animated Series Coming For 2013, “DC Nation” Updates – That’s … interesting.
Colorado energy projects move along with $900 million in stimulus – The Denver Post – It seems to me that federal grants/loans are particularly suited for the higher risk sorts of things that businesses won’t want to do.
But I don’t even like my band. | So I had a small chat with Scott Lobdell tonight. – If Lobdell’s as upset over how his 1st issue was interpreted as he sounds here, then it was a massive fail on his part (plus some massively bad choices in the art by Kenneth Rocafort).
Disney and Pixar Announce Slate of Four New 3-D Re-releases into Movie Theaters | The Disney Blog – I had (and have) no interest in 3Difying of Disney’s traditional animation. I’d think practically any of the Pixar releases, though, would be kind of cool.

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 4-Oct-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Mount Vesuvius gases accused of painting the town red – Interesting. (And, yes, I need to get back to working on those photos …)
Stop Snitchin: Fox News And Wall Street Banks Hustle To Kill New Whistleblower Protections – Of course they are.
Perry Fought To Keep Confederate Symbols Displayed On Government Buildings – Yeah, not too surprising there.
Obama Uses Reagan Quote To Rebut Republicans’ ‘Class Warfare’ Charge: Pat Garofalo
Ignoring The One-In-Four Residents Who Lack Health Insurance, Perry Claims Texas Has ‘The Finest Health Care In America’ – Best health care … money can buy (i.e., if you have the money).
Study: Employers 40 Percent Less Likely To Hire Gay Men – Dolts.
Trapdoor in the Kitchen Floor: Spiral Wine Cellars | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn – Ooooh. Do want.
Tea Party Nation Urges Monday Night Football Boycott, Backs Hank Williams For Senate – Gee, remember when the Right was having conniptions over people showing disrespect to the President, and, through him, to America itself? Now the Right considers reprimanding people who disrespect the President as deserving of organized retribution.
The Book Bench: An American King: Noah Webster’s Holy Bible : The New Yorker
A clean house – The same is true of my office desk.
Cables – SMBC October 04, 2011 – This is disturbingly familiar.
UNIVAC: the troubled life of America’s first computer – A very interesting tale of the dawn of the computer age.
Respecting the Atheist at the Table – A very cool story, from all sides.
Turkish Cartoonist Faces a Year in Prison for ‘Blasphemous’ Cartoon – Blasphemy should not be a crime. God doesn’t need people protecting his reputation.
CO Radio Host And Former House Candidate Compares Michelle Obama To Chewbacca – What an ass.
Miami charter boat leaves divers in open water | McClatchy – Yikes!
8 States Hike Minimum Wages – And I’m glad to see I’m in one of them.
HOWTO carve a pumpkin by hammering cookie-cutters into it – Makes a note …
GOP senior officials quietly trying to restore science to their agenda – Good luck with that. The only way it will happen is if the TP leads to some massive GOP defeats, removing the need for Republican candidates and office-holders to pander to them. Except, of course, it’s not just the TPers, but the major corporate contributors to the GOP (e.g., the Koch Bros.) who have a vested interest in keeping inconvenient science off of the national agenda.