A lighter snack - 21 October 2010
Oct. 22nd, 2010 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptGood morning, keeps of pets of odd sizes and shapes. In another case of Internet memes manifesting in the real world, long cat is long. Record-breakingly so.
Also, a sketch for a heroine that would capture a significant readership and subtly introduce them to the world of heroines being tied up by villains.
Sketching professionaly for a bit, I agree - forcing people to come into the physical library to download an electronic copy of a book is stupidity of the highest magnitude.
Did we mention that public libraries are almost always connected to the Internet and offer free-as-in-gratis wireless access?
Out in the world today, signals that the United States is planning on selling jets and upgrades to Saudi Arabia may be fueling the ostentatious displays of military power and hardware by Iran.
Inside the United States, what a difference a few years makes. Anwar Al-Alwaki was invited to the Pentagon as a moderate Muslim guest soon after the 11 September attacks in 2001 Now, he's being chased and hunted as an inspirer of domestic terrorists.
We knew this was going to happen - the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay on the lower court ruling that imposed a moratorium on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. So those servicemembers planning their coming-out party will still have to wait and worry that they will be discharged merely for being gay or lesbian.
Meet Drop Zone Security, the people responsible for handcuffing a reporter and threatening anyone else who got close to them - they're rather unsharp crayons in all of he spects of the businesses they run.
In technology, the changing...face of music, thanks to virtual avatars that can be programmed to sing just about any song you feed into them. Of course, as with all other things, including insurance mascots, Rule 34 applies. In the case of the mascot, it's possible the imaginations of others may have contributed to the killing of the character. The official reason, of course, is that the mascot got no recognition nor brand penetration. We like the other story better, because it makes for more interesting scenarioes, but truth's inmportant too.
Popular rental giant Netflix is considering a subscription model that will be only instant-streaming, an attractive option for those with fast internet connections and an unwillingness to wait for physical discs to arrive. Now, if they would only make sure that all of their catalogue is streaming-ready, instead of having first or last episodes only available on disc...
In opinions, I am amazed, sometimes, at how column writers can start on one thing, veer over to another, and end up making a point very different than what they were setting out to do, and can do so without signposting or showing where they make their logical hops to get to their conclusion. Example: what appears to be a screed against the erasure of religion in speeches by Democrats and liberals lurches violently into "government should be limited in scope by other social institutions such as social groups and churches and fosters dependency and unquestioning loyalty to the government when it takes over those spaces", and then has a quick volley between those two positions again before closing, with, I guess, having tried to implant in your mind that the government is trying to shut down your churches and force you to be dependent solely on them for assistance? I can't really tell.
For a far better example of proper column writing, surprisingly from someone who's not usually this articulate or clear, Mr. Pendry suggests that the matter of lesbian and gay service members is about the Constitutional authority given solely to Congress about the military operation and the creation of a Constitutional right to serve in the military, instead of about deeply-held religious beliefs or moral beliefs of individuals. That's at least a novel argument that could be considered - but it still means that we can hammer Congress to change the law or the executive to do something properly even as they sort out the Constitutional standing.
Mr. Sowell continues his multicultralism tirade, this time by praising those immigrants who adapted quickly and saying that a culture that forces its immigrants to abandon their native culture to get anywhere in their new space is just the right thing to have.
Mr. Stossel is back on the anti-union kick, first painting them as scary people who deliberately ensure slowness in production, then saying that public sector union pensions are what's dragging the country and the taxpayers down, and finishing up by saying that unions used to do good for workers, but now, the free market is superior and the public sector should be forced to compete with them on wages and benefits, so public sector workers can enjoy all the misery of the private sector, including crappy health care plans, tiny wages, and management that can dismiss someone without cause.
Last out for tonight, The Slacktivist talks about the need to look at all the Christian Foundational writings as a whole, a roadmap and directions for anyone to get to the joys of Christianity, and that those who use the writings like legalists, chopping context and slinging verse like arguments on why They shouldn't be allowed into heaven usually end up with the Bad Ending, because they separate themselves from the joy through their unwillingness to love all their brothers and sisters. A fascinating discussion erupts in the comments about the choice of examples for that last point - a lot of people sympathize with the older brother of the Prodigal Son and see his complaint that everyone's feasting over his brother and nobody has ever given him word one of thanks as a reasonable one for anyone who labors hard and thanklessly.
Also, a sketch for a heroine that would capture a significant readership and subtly introduce them to the world of heroines being tied up by villains.
Sketching professionaly for a bit, I agree - forcing people to come into the physical library to download an electronic copy of a book is stupidity of the highest magnitude.
Did we mention that public libraries are almost always connected to the Internet and offer free-as-in-gratis wireless access?
Out in the world today, signals that the United States is planning on selling jets and upgrades to Saudi Arabia may be fueling the ostentatious displays of military power and hardware by Iran.
Inside the United States, what a difference a few years makes. Anwar Al-Alwaki was invited to the Pentagon as a moderate Muslim guest soon after the 11 September attacks in 2001 Now, he's being chased and hunted as an inspirer of domestic terrorists.
We knew this was going to happen - the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay on the lower court ruling that imposed a moratorium on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. So those servicemembers planning their coming-out party will still have to wait and worry that they will be discharged merely for being gay or lesbian.
Meet Drop Zone Security, the people responsible for handcuffing a reporter and threatening anyone else who got close to them - they're rather unsharp crayons in all of he spects of the businesses they run.
In technology, the changing...face of music, thanks to virtual avatars that can be programmed to sing just about any song you feed into them. Of course, as with all other things, including insurance mascots, Rule 34 applies. In the case of the mascot, it's possible the imaginations of others may have contributed to the killing of the character. The official reason, of course, is that the mascot got no recognition nor brand penetration. We like the other story better, because it makes for more interesting scenarioes, but truth's inmportant too.
Popular rental giant Netflix is considering a subscription model that will be only instant-streaming, an attractive option for those with fast internet connections and an unwillingness to wait for physical discs to arrive. Now, if they would only make sure that all of their catalogue is streaming-ready, instead of having first or last episodes only available on disc...
In opinions, I am amazed, sometimes, at how column writers can start on one thing, veer over to another, and end up making a point very different than what they were setting out to do, and can do so without signposting or showing where they make their logical hops to get to their conclusion. Example: what appears to be a screed against the erasure of religion in speeches by Democrats and liberals lurches violently into "government should be limited in scope by other social institutions such as social groups and churches and fosters dependency and unquestioning loyalty to the government when it takes over those spaces", and then has a quick volley between those two positions again before closing, with, I guess, having tried to implant in your mind that the government is trying to shut down your churches and force you to be dependent solely on them for assistance? I can't really tell.
For a far better example of proper column writing, surprisingly from someone who's not usually this articulate or clear, Mr. Pendry suggests that the matter of lesbian and gay service members is about the Constitutional authority given solely to Congress about the military operation and the creation of a Constitutional right to serve in the military, instead of about deeply-held religious beliefs or moral beliefs of individuals. That's at least a novel argument that could be considered - but it still means that we can hammer Congress to change the law or the executive to do something properly even as they sort out the Constitutional standing.
Mr. Sowell continues his multicultralism tirade, this time by praising those immigrants who adapted quickly and saying that a culture that forces its immigrants to abandon their native culture to get anywhere in their new space is just the right thing to have.
Mr. Stossel is back on the anti-union kick, first painting them as scary people who deliberately ensure slowness in production, then saying that public sector union pensions are what's dragging the country and the taxpayers down, and finishing up by saying that unions used to do good for workers, but now, the free market is superior and the public sector should be forced to compete with them on wages and benefits, so public sector workers can enjoy all the misery of the private sector, including crappy health care plans, tiny wages, and management that can dismiss someone without cause.
Last out for tonight, The Slacktivist talks about the need to look at all the Christian Foundational writings as a whole, a roadmap and directions for anyone to get to the joys of Christianity, and that those who use the writings like legalists, chopping context and slinging verse like arguments on why They shouldn't be allowed into heaven usually end up with the Bad Ending, because they separate themselves from the joy through their unwillingness to love all their brothers and sisters. A fascinating discussion erupts in the comments about the choice of examples for that last point - a lot of people sympathize with the older brother of the Prodigal Son and see his complaint that everyone's feasting over his brother and nobody has ever given him word one of thanks as a reasonable one for anyone who labors hard and thanklessly.
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