Vanessa Schnatmeier (1954 - 2012)

Old friend from fanzine and apa fandom, remet in Facebook. I will miss her.

Scalzi making sense again

The Existential Horror of Betaness

Thanx to Whatever.

Indoctrination

Gender in the hidden curriculum

Thanx to Geek Feminism.

"Stupid"

Contra Jindal, in American politics there is a substantial market for "stupid" -- one which the GOP has sought to corner. (I grant that they have not entirely succeeded.) Phrases like "food-stamp president" and "shut that whole thing down" don't come out of the ether. Richard Mourdock isn't an outlier. He is the logical extension of the notion that abortion is murder. You can't fix this by modulating your tone. The party exists where the people are

--Ta-Nehisi Coates

"A Constitutional Doomsday Machine"

Money is speech.
Corporations are people.
War is peace.

Charles P. Pierce offers an immodest proposal.

Nothing succeeds like secess

Ron Paul is in favor of Texas secession. (I don't expect it to happen, but if it does, the Austin airlift will be a hoot.) He defines himself as a libertarian, but favors States Rights, which means turning power over to agencies that tend to be more oppressive than the federal government. Discordian Libertarians recognize the inevitability of government (like bondage to our bowels, as Mr. Heinlein said), and want it to be as large, distant, and hence incompetent at restricting personal liberty as possible

Libertarians for World Government

Radical idea

The World Bank has recognized that there is no investment more effective for achieving development goals than educating girls. And of course not shooting the girls.

Publisher wars

Harper Collins and Warner Brothers are fighting over gambling rights to Lord of the Rings.

Thanx to Andrew Porter on trufen