Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Slate: Lunar Parking Permits.
Some 30 years ago people used to make fun of the Libertarian Party for their wacky far-out platform, which included such planks as opposition to the moon treaty, which outlawed private colonization of the moon. Today, these views are a bit more mainstream.
Also at slate: The Wrong Poster Children, criticsm of the pro-Jena-6 demonstrations.
I've spent a lot of time the past few days listening to the radio, stations fading in and out as I drove across the country. One of the snatches of live news I heard was coverage of the Jena 6 situation, so I'm pleased to see Slate with a more nuanced coverage. While the 60 civil rights movement was about nonviolence and speaking truth to power, a lot of the currentmovement tendency seems to be in support of violence and speaking power to truth.
Some 30 years ago people used to make fun of the Libertarian Party for their wacky far-out platform, which included such planks as opposition to the moon treaty, which outlawed private colonization of the moon. Today, these views are a bit more mainstream.
Also at slate: The Wrong Poster Children, criticsm of the pro-Jena-6 demonstrations.
I've spent a lot of time the past few days listening to the radio, stations fading in and out as I drove across the country. One of the snatches of live news I heard was coverage of the Jena 6 situation, so I'm pleased to see Slate with a more nuanced coverage. While the 60 civil rights movement was about nonviolence and speaking truth to power, a lot of the current
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I'm just back from the xkcd event in Boston. Tired, blisters on feet, but it was fun. About 1000 people showed up.
1000 flickr pics of event.
kevin from jersey. under the mask, he looks kinda like jet li. he and randall were some of the cutest and most fun people there. here is video off kevin dancing. randall video.
Hippopotamus
Antihippopotamus
Annihilation
1000 flickr pics of event.
kevin from jersey. under the mask, he looks kinda like jet li. he and randall were some of the cutest and most fun people there. here is video off kevin dancing. randall video.
Hippopotamus
Antihippopotamus
Annihilation
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
http://www.theandrewmeyer.com/
website of the florida kid who got tasered at kerry speech.
That got me thinking of what Wil was saying the other day at Geek in Review.
Communication empowers people, and an empowered people are very, very scary to the powerful upper class who hope that we’ll just go away, right after we buy a lot of crap from them that we don’t need. And holy shit are they scared right now. The revolution may not be televised, but it’s being blogged, YouTubed, MySpaced, Facebooked, Dugg and Netscaped. Instead of embracing this new technology and the generation that’s growing up with it and taking it for granted, the big media conglomerates and their *AA organizations are spending time, money and energy they could be spending on creating awesome content on trying to destroy the technology that scares them. video of incident. Taser of course stands for Tom A Swift Electric Rifle.
website of the florida kid who got tasered at kerry speech.
That got me thinking of what Wil was saying the other day at Geek in Review.
Communication empowers people, and an empowered people are very, very scary to the powerful upper class who hope that we’ll just go away, right after we buy a lot of crap from them that we don’t need. And holy shit are they scared right now. The revolution may not be televised, but it’s being blogged, YouTubed, MySpaced, Facebooked, Dugg and Netscaped. Instead of embracing this new technology and the generation that’s growing up with it and taking it for granted, the big media conglomerates and their *AA organizations are spending time, money and energy they could be spending on creating awesome content on trying to destroy the technology that scares them. video of incident. Taser of course stands for Tom A Swift Electric Rifle.
O'Bama offers some interesting and innovative tax ideas, which should buy him a lot of votes. The tax breaks on working and older americans would be offset by taxing "that man behind the tree over there."
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
The United States vs. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola,things one can learn by reading the bonobo conspiracy.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
So I made an appointment for work to be in Baltimore next week, and then realized that that puts me on the east coast around time for the xkcd meetup in Boston on the 23rd, as inspired by the comic below. So, not that I think anyone reads this blog, but if there's anyone on the east coast who wants a visit or has ideas how to kill time on the 21 or 22 of September, drop me a line gtbear at gmail.com. And if near Boston, feel free to show up to the xkcd thingy.
Friday, September 14, 2007
collin
I heard just now that collin, who was the doorman at the club i go to, has had a heart attack, memory loss, is recovering in madison wi.
I'm not sure exactly what one does in these situations - we aren't exactly friends, but i would have liked to be.
I'm not sure exactly what one does in these situations - we aren't exactly friends, but i would have liked to be.
via digg, 10 books that changed some guy's life.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/category/10-books-that-changed-my-life/
They include Joy of Cooking and Titan, about how John D Rockefeller went from rags to riches. Some of the other 10 are how to manage time money and friendships.
I like books like Titan, true life Horatio Alger stories.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/category/10-books-that-changed-my-life/
They include Joy of Cooking and Titan, about how John D Rockefeller went from rags to riches. Some of the other 10 are how to manage time money and friendships.
I like books like Titan, true life Horatio Alger stories.
Free the rat!
Our old friend the giant inflatable rat was fined $133 in New Jersey, and a lower court has upheld the fine against a free speech challenge. The case will now move on to the NJ Supreme Court. hat tip howard.
related articles one
inflatableimages.com
The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati sided with the unions in 2005, ruling that the rats were a form of protected free speech.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
LC: What's the strangest reaction you've ever gotten from a fan?
NG: Every once in a while, I'll get a piece of fan mail that touches my heart. The other day a young lady sent me an envelope full of grass. It had little to no explanation along with it, but it was nice to receive. It was strange encouragement.
LC: Did you write back?
NG: There wasn't a return address.
some other webcomic: http://www.deerme.net
NG: Every once in a while, I'll get a piece of fan mail that touches my heart. The other day a young lady sent me an envelope full of grass. It had little to no explanation along with it, but it was nice to receive. It was strange encouragement.
LC: Did you write back?
NG: There wasn't a return address.
some other webcomic: http://www.deerme.net
Flickr
This is a test post from 
, a fancy photo sharing thing.
, a fancy photo sharing thing.
Furry hijinks video
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Book 36
Lady Bird Johnson's diary of the white house years.
She's a better writer than Lyndon, and a nicer person, so this is a fun read.
Book 35 was by Drew Pearson - who was one of the Johnson's first guests in the white house in December '63. I have several books open at the moment - I've just finished the first chapter of this one. Might update this post as I go along.
Lady Bird Johnson's diary of the white house years.
She's a better writer than Lyndon, and a nicer person, so this is a fun read.
Book 35 was by Drew Pearson - who was one of the Johnson's first guests in the white house in December '63. I have several books open at the moment - I've just finished the first chapter of this one. Might update this post as I go along.
Monday, September 10, 2007
DC gun ban case moves forward. Parker v DC below, it's now DC v Heller.
QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether the Second Amendment forbids the District of
Columbia from banning private possession of handguns
while allowing possession of rifles and shotguns.
Most commentators think the court will take the case. If it does, it is a victory for Eugene Volokh, one of the scholars who has led the modern trend to suspect that the 2nd Amendment means what it says.
QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether the Second Amendment forbids the District of
Columbia from banning private possession of handguns
while allowing possession of rifles and shotguns.
Most commentators think the court will take the case. If it does, it is a victory for Eugene Volokh, one of the scholars who has led the modern trend to suspect that the 2nd Amendment means what it says.
update to wheaton post below:
my friend, let's call him Bob, tracked down wheaton at PAX and ate his brain or something.
I would link but it's registration required, and you have to know somebody.
my friend, let's call him Bob, tracked down wheaton at PAX and ate his brain or something.
I would link but it's registration required, and you have to know somebody.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
New York taxi drivers strike over monitoring system, extortion.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Ted Kennedy video 1962? tsg
Book 35 was "Washington Merry-Go-Round"
Gossipy guide to DC in 1931, it doesn't list an author, not even "anonymous"
About page 150, I started to catch on why: it's critical of public figures from a very socialist perspective, which doesn't harm the narrative any.
Google clears up two mysteries.
Mystery one, who wrote it? Drew Pearson.
Mystery two: the security guard where I was working this week asked "Isn't that the title of Jack Anderson's column? (Maybe that's why the title looked familar, and I bought it, at an antique store in Paducah.)
It turns out Pearson was exposed as the author, got fired, and later got hired to write a column by the same name, which eventually Jack Anderson took over.
One more example of why the right to be anonymous is so important - it can cost you your job. Most readers wouldn't be interested in the sordid details of who was who in 1931 - but for those who are, this is the book. Chapters on Vice President Charlie, on Secretary of the Treasury Melon, on the progressive mavericks in the senate. Chapter I'm on now is about congress.
1932 movie of the same name.
not to be confused with
Gossipy guide to DC in 1931, it doesn't list an author, not even "anonymous"
About page 150, I started to catch on why: it's critical of public figures from a very socialist perspective, which doesn't harm the narrative any.
Google clears up two mysteries.
Mystery one, who wrote it? Drew Pearson.
Mystery two: the security guard where I was working this week asked "Isn't that the title of Jack Anderson's column? (Maybe that's why the title looked familar, and I bought it, at an antique store in Paducah.)
It turns out Pearson was exposed as the author, got fired, and later got hired to write a column by the same name, which eventually Jack Anderson took over.
One more example of why the right to be anonymous is so important - it can cost you your job. Most readers wouldn't be interested in the sordid details of who was who in 1931 - but for those who are, this is the book. Chapters on Vice President Charlie, on Secretary of the Treasury Melon, on the progressive mavericks in the senate. Chapter I'm on now is about congress.
1932 movie of the same name.
not to be confused withSaturday, September 01, 2007
Spent some time catching up on blogs I try to follow - here's Wil at PAX in an xkcd shirt. Haggled for a laptop which should be ready tomorrow, so maybe I can be online this week.
Update on book 31, Vinge, Rainbow's End - it won the Hugo.
Too funny wheaton update.
Went to Kentucky. Bought a DuPont Dynamite box. Poor condition, but $10.
Here's one story about using that sort of thing.
On this trip I took the bridge, but last week I took the ferry at Cave-in-Rock Illinois.
The country music station in kentucky is a lot countrier than the one around here.
Here's one story about using that sort of thing.
On this trip I took the bridge, but last week I took the ferry at Cave-in-Rock Illinois.
The country music station in kentucky is a lot countrier than the one around here.
34.
Y: The Last Man volume 4 safeword.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5445332
All Things Considered, June 1, 2006 · David Lipsky reviews the latest installment of Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man, graphic novels that depict the adventures of Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand. The futuristic tale mixing humor and disaster is in its seventh volume, "Paper Dolls."
Amazon. Read in a coffeehouse in Evansville.
Y: The Last Man volume 4 safeword.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5445332
All Things Considered, June 1, 2006 · David Lipsky reviews the latest installment of Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man, graphic novels that depict the adventures of Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand. The futuristic tale mixing humor and disaster is in its seventh volume, "Paper Dolls."
Amazon. Read in a coffeehouse in Evansville.
