#TenYearsLater | I'm pretty sure noodlin' must have been (or be) a reality show by now ...

cryptonaut-in-exile: Bait is for the weak. 

Noodlin' image via HowStuffWorks

Looks like catfish noodlin' is more prevalent these days. I wonder if gar have fallen out of fashion, or were noodled to extinction?

A humanist (not me) argues: Down with #secularism!

Richard Smyth - Down with secularism! | New Humanist: 

There are many kinds of idiocy, of which religion is only one. None of them ought to be excluded by law from having a say in the running of the country. All of them, however, should be challenged at every turn by the real powerhouse behind any true democracy: argument.

Yes, we should argue, but for arguments that are already settled, we shouldn't have to keep having them either. I think Mr. Smyth completely misses the point that secularism is a key component of the Rule of Law. I read him as arguing for a small 'd' democracy where the majority sets policy regardless of minority rights. I couldn't disagree more. Once we establish a right, understand how it's preservation promotes liberty and justice, we don't  (or should know better than to) let a majority come along and vote it away just because a strand of bigotry rose in popularity.

Will Your Children Inherit Your E-Books? : NPR

Will Your Children Inherit Your E-Books? : NPR: 

Whenever serious readers die, their heirs face the task of dispersing their books. But few of us like to think about what will happen to our own libraries. Will our children value our books (and will they have shelf space for them)? Will they be bought by a serious research library, or draw bids at Christie's? Not unless we are famous, or they are first editions. Perhaps they will re-enter circulation at a used bookstore, sold for pennies and resold for a few dollars: it's pleasant to imagine them released back into the sea of books, to be caught afresh by a new reader.

Montana copper barons avenged.

Supreme Court Declines to Revisit Citizens United - NYTimes.com: 

Back to the good ol' days!

“Even if I were to accept Citizens United,” Justice Breyer continued, “this court’s legal conclusion should not bar the Montana Supreme Court’s finding, made on the record before it, that independent expenditures by corporations did in fact lead to corruption or the appearance of corruption in Montana. Given the history and political landscape in Montana, that court concluded that the state had a compelling interest in limiting independent expenditures by corporations.”

The Newsroom

It's better than the reviews made it out to be. I'm pretty sure it's better than anything else that's on right now ...

Ep. 1: We Just Decided To - Full Episode

Time for a new Munro Doctrine for the press: don't be a git

Time for a new Munro Doctrine for the press: don't be a git like Obama's Irish heckler | Across The Pond | IrishCentral: 

Neil Munro: Disgraceful Git

While simultaneously crowing about the need to bring America back to a time where authority was respected, people were decent and God was feared, the vanguard of conservative vitriol are deeply unedifying, toxic and unchristian. And while they do all this, they also try and pretend as if they have the moral high ground. 

This couldn’t have been more evident than when Tucker Carlson, a man previously most famous for wearing a bowtie and getting his ass handed to him by Jon Stewart on a show that was promptly cancelled, attempted to justify his reporter’s action by claiming he was trying to his job, high-handedly suggesting that his guy is some kind of Dirty Harry-style maverick reporter, the only one who has the guts to stand up to the fancypants, emigrant loving elite. Either Carlson is deluded, cynical beyond all belief or an idiot, and I’m not sure which is worse or more dangerous.

Volunteering to host the Zim Bear ...

Remember the Zim Bear? C'mon, how could you forget the close, beady-eyed stare and the chilling lack of affect? Well, he's been put on the road by Big League Stew and it only makes sense he visit the Rays' minor league affiliate, so I've volunteered us as a host family so we can take him to meet Wooly the Bull. Will keep you posted if we're selected ...

Here's one of Zim Bear's recent missives:

I crouch at the ready in my cramped vessel, ready to attack at the first rays of sunlight.
— Zim Bear (@WheresZimbear) June 22, 2012

Cary News's "Renaissance man" assessment of Fuquay-Varina video game developer may be a bit over-the-top. (At least premature.)

Cary News | Fuquay-Varina video game developer is Renaissance man: 

Fuquay-Varina resident David Klingler, 20, developed every piece of the newly-released video game; from each piece of the code, to each handwritten drawing and graphic, to each musical note, many of them played by Klingler himself, an award-winning Scottish fiddler.

A homer, always cheering for a local kid to make it big, I started looking into this with high hopes from based on the Cary News write-up (by the way, would it have killed those guys to put a link in the article?) but when I tracked it down my reaction was: well, maybe the sample on indie games doesn't do it justice?  Unfortunately, the overall aesthetic didn't hook me or make we want to take a chance on this game.

Regardless, here's wishing Mr. Kingler, much success going forward. It's clear from his post-mortem that he learned quite a bit about the process of putting a game together and I expect his next project will benefit from those lessons.

#Firefly Rewind "Objects in Space"

Firefly Rewind - Episode 14: Objects in Space: 

Eavesdroppers above (the bounty hunter) and below (River)

On Whedon's DVD commentary track for this episode - one of the few DVD commentaries I've ever listened to more than once, and one I recommend if you care about the show and somehow haven't heard it yet - he talks about how the episode's roots were born in his teenage crisis of faith and discovery of existentialism, and the idea of morality in a world without God, which he previously summed up in a line from "Angel": "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."

Brilliant takedown of the NYT Style page. #♥

The New York Times Profiled the Brant Brothers Because the New York Times Hates You: 

Born on third, being told they hit triples. 

"For a teenager, Peter Brant can sound like a been-there-done-that dowager countess, not that his Old World pretensions aren't refreshing in the Internet age."

No. No no fucking no. They aren't refreshing. A rich teenage hipster with Old World pretensions isn't refreshing. In fact, there are entire Tumblr feeds dedicated to eradicating that particular species from the universe.

ᔥ

RT @daveg Brilliant take down of the worst section in the worlds worst newspaper, the New York Times gawker.com/5920269/the-ne… <--- LOL for reals
— Meg Hourihan (@megnut) June 22, 2012

Casey Affleck to bring From Drugs to God: The Josh Hamilton Story to the big screen.

Casey Affleck to Write and Direct Baseball Film -- Vulture: 

All-Star Hamilton via Deadline

Casey Affleck will write and direct a film on the outfielder's story. A producer says Hamilton's ascension is "tailor-made" for Hollywood and likens it to The Natural, The Blind Side, and Walk the Line, plus faith.

I want to be interested in this because it's baseball and there's a local connection -- Josh Hamilton played his high school ball in Raleigh. But, "Irresponsible, troubled kid who struggles with drug addiction makes it to the big leagues crediting belief in a socially acceptable, fairy tale" just doesn't appeal to me.

David Ortiz, most beloved sports figure in Boston, isn't feeling it at work.

David Ortiz: Boston Is "Becoming The Shithole It Used To Be": 

"It's becoming to be the shithole it used to be. Look around, bro. Look around. Playing here used to be so much fun. Now, every day is something new, not related to baseball. People need to leave us alone, play ball and do what we know how to do."

#Secularism | Cue the claims of oppression and intolerance in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

FFRF debuts ‘Quit the Church’ billboard in St. Louis | Secular News Daily: 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has placed a bold 14x48-foot billboard in patriotic colors at I-70 and North Broadway in St. Louis, Mo., aimed at Roman Catholics, which urges them to “Put women’s rights over Bishops’ wrongs” and “Quit the Church.” Nearly 300,000 people will drive by the board every week during its four-week run.

Rescued chi to become 'bionic dog' courtesy of NCSU

Rescued pup to become 'bionic dog' | Albuquerque News - KOAT Home: 

... Enchantment Chihuahua rescue got Peggy from a shelter in Roswell at 5 months old. The group contacted several universities looking for a prosthesis ... they found North Carolina State University, which was willing to implant titanium in the dog ... 

Peggy fit the bill and now she's headed to Raleigh for the first phase of her implant. If she didn't get the procedure done, she would have to have her leg amputated because the weight of it puts too much pressure on her spine.

↬ The Daily What

Guys, you need to know about this: goo.gl/ml8oS #ChihuahuaSolidarity
— The Brigadier (@Brigadier_AGLS) June 17, 2012

Remember the General Slocum

Remember the General Slocum - The Morning News: 

1,000 lives lost. Image ᔥ TMN

Until Sept. 11, 2001, the date of the city’s deadliest tragedy was June 15, 1904. In the days following both events, desperate survivors and relatives searched the city, carrying photographs of the missing. 

Today the General Slocum is all but forgotten.

History as a list of tragedies, each new one overlaying the memory of the last, and the one before ...

George W. Bush’s Severed Head Disrupts DVD Shipments

George W. Bush’s Severed Head Is No Longer on HBO Go, iTunes -- Vulture: 

The network is also holding shipment on any DVD sets featuring the commentary that started the controversy.

I got mine day one. W's severed head, and the discussion thereof, will remain in my collection.

We will fight them in the jungles!

We will fight them in the jungles! The gorilla that does a fine impression of Churchill | Mail Online: 

It's a bit of a stretch ... but, OK. 

This greedy gorilla is turning the tables on Winston Churchill with a staggeringly accurate impersonation of the British wartime leader. 

Churchill has himself gone down in legend for reportedly entertaining his grandchildren by 'crouching in the branches of an oak, baring his teeth and pounding his chest'.

Selective memory makes me awesome at predictions! (I got the Pacquiao fight right.)

ESPN - Streak for the Cash - cdogzilla Entry

Let's not look into my history of predictions. Just bask in the small glory of this correct long shot pick against heavily favored Pacquiao.

Thanks, terribly corrupt boxing judges, for awarding the fight to the clear loser so I could win!

Puzzles of evolution: Are other hominins alive today?

Puzzles of evolution: Are other hominins alive today? - [stub only] 26 March 2012 - New Scientist: 

Adipose yeti? Image via SWEETMUSIC20

Coltman concedes that new species of primate are occasionally found in remote regions, so there is a slim chance ...

 The cryptozoologist's dream is dying. No sasquatch, no yeti ... just us. It'll be a sad day when we've been to every cave, every forest is a managed preserve, and there's no more room for the creature/cousins of our imagination.

Rhett & Link, YouTubers extraordinaire, give commencement at area high school. #NC

High School Graduation Speech/Song - Rhett & Link - YouTube:



"It's the sound of reality about to suck the taste out yo mouth."

Truth.

Friend of a friend's brush with fame: 9th Doctor encounter

My wife told me today that one of her co-workers met Christopher Eccleston in New Orleans while he was filming in a house she and some friends had rented a floor in.

Eccleston screencap from New Orleans, Mon Amour via Develish1

Apparently he wasn't aware anybody lived in the house and came charging upstairs to use the bathroom during filming. He was abashed about his mistake and offered to let her and her friends come down and  watch the filming. They also got to have dinner with the crew that night.

Not much of a story, as far as brushes with fame go, but as a fan of his work, it's comforting to hear a story that confirms the suspicion he's a decent human being, not an entitled twat.

Thanks, @BloggersDotCom, for the feature this morning!

Was a little surprised when my inbox filled up and @mentions started popping up one after another this morning. Welcome to all who are checking in here for the first time. If I'd know you were coming, I'd have tidied up a bit and had a pot of coffee ready.

Since you're here, please make yourself comfortable, feel free to poke around, and let me know if I there's anything I can do for you. You'll see my blogroll over on the right, lots of other pleasant (by which I mean bombastic, argumentative) folks you might want to visit as well. But don't rush off! They're not going anywhere. Sit, have a cuppa, let's get to know one another. 

Cdogzilla from United States has been featured, his profile bit.ly/Ky2zjQ and Blog bit.ly/KfezKf #blogger #blog
— Bloggers (@BloggersDotCom) June 12, 2012

Before 9 saw the Dalek ...

... he showed Rose a (classic) Cyberman:

Rose, the Doctor, and a Cyberhead (dead).

A little Firefly yesterday, a "classic" New Who episode today. It's a Dalek at the heart of this episode, but I like the framing of this shot.

A case study in conservatives and liberals talking past each other. #CantWinForTrying

Chris Matthews's so-called Common Sense loaded with imperialist assumptions

msnbc video: Chris Matthews: Common Sense

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You can watch the whole thing at the link, or on MSNBC a couple times a night, it's these few seconds that irk me.

Yes, ask who's paying for it, but when you ask people if they want to go around the world protecting "our interests, our oil," maybe make it clear the assumption that it's "our oil" is at the root of the problem with Americans' failure to hold our leadership accountable for decades of disastrous foreign policy and perpetual war.

I Don't Feel Safer #TenYearsLater

cryptonaut-in-exile: I Don't Feel Safer:

Bush proposes Dept. of Homeland Security . Yesterday, the bureaucracy was bad. Today it's good and we need more. Which is it?

Did we need it then? Do we need it now?

The video stream isn't as visceral, but my pinpoint paper viewing technique wasn't cutting it ...

NASA TV: Live Webcast Streams

Via NASA

At a TX High School, Saying ‘Atheist’ ist Verboten!

At a Texas High School, Saying ‘Atheist’ Could Disrupt the Learning Process: 

When they submitted a design for approval, this is the message they got back from the principal:

Image via friendlyatheist.com

A thoughtful commenter left the contact form link in the comments on Hemant's post, so I sent along the following ...

Click for larger image

Please consider leaving a (respectful, civil) note for the school's principal. Let's see if we can change his mind without being "disruptive".

#TenYears Later ... Ich bin ein cdogzilla

cryptonaut-in-exile: C-Dog Uber Alles:

Holy raving egomania ... I'm the #1 search result for 'c-dog' on Google. (In Germany.)

Not any longer.

Back then I was blogging with the diminutive. Today, as full-on 'cdogzilla' I am virtually the only result (in my many forms) for the term. (In Germany.)

Lancaster couple's engagement announcement intitially rejected, but outrage prompts policy change ...

Lancaster Couple's engagement announcement rejected | WGAL Home - WGAL Home

Lancaster Newspapers initially refused to run  same-sex marriage announcement.

And here's the literate, thoughtful response of a supporter of the newspaper's first, bigoted decision:

Lori Weaver · Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Way to go Lancaster Newspaper! Thank God that someone still has standards and follows them! God made man and women and when he created us he created the Eve to be there for Adam. He did not created a man for Adam he created a women. Marriage is suppose to be between one man and one women. I will continue to support the Lancaster Newspaper.

Ms. Weaver must be canceling her subscription and clutching her bible in fear now.

Clothes don't make the man (or woman), words do.

Your words matter - Salon.com: 

image via allaboutlearing

Those early childhood years are really essential for trying to create connections in the brain that foster more compassion, love and forgiveness and less fear and anxiety. What studies [conducted mostly with] animals but also [with some] humans show is that the more positive and enriching an environment you have, the more neural connections you make; the brain itself is just more highly connected and more able to be creative. When you are placed in an environment that is very deprived and very negative, the brain makes much fewer connections.

Slate review: Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312

Science fiction review: Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312. - Slate Magazine: 

Illustration by Dan Zettwoch for Slate

A very few writers can at length sustain both the nothingness where characters, where lives, happen and also the tech and thrill where adventure occurs. Iain M. Banks, yes, almost always. And then there's Kim Stanley Robinson, whose new novel, 2312, is his boldest trip into all of the marvelous SF genres—ethnography, future shock, screed against capitalism, road to earth—and all of the ways to thrill and be thrilled. It's a future history that's so secure and comprehensive that it reads as an account of the past—a trick of craft that belongs almost exclusively to the supreme SF task force of Le Guin and Margaret Atwood.

I'm going to re-read it before writing up a review of my own, but I couldn't resist posting this one because it captures the same enthusiasm and reverence for Stan's talents I share.

We're on the verge of losing the utility of the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

Hack the Cover — by Craig Mod: 

CARDON WEBB'S SERIES DESIGN FOR OLIVER SACKS ᔥ @craigmod

Why? 

Why the cover? To protect the innards.
Why a half-title? It's a hold-over from when there weren't covers.
Why cloth? Cloth is a damn fine material in which to wrap stuff you want to protect. 

There is a tremendous opportunity for book designers and software engineers to figure out what our digital book procession should be. There's clearly something lost when you're thrown into a text without context — but how should that context be delivered? What 'function' should a cover serve in the digital book space? And even: What is the cover?

#EAv | Playing Empire Avenue with EavNet

This post is for my fellow EmpireAvenue.com players. I find myself explaining every so often how I'm buying back in my shareholders and occasionally find someone who is unfamiliar with the benefits of using EmpireAve.net for portfolio management in the game. So, below is a screencap to explain how I'm using EavNet to buy back sorted by dividend yield.

Click for full-size image

There's another tool I may eventually switch to when my daily dividend is larger and the ability to make multiple buys become necessary: Dr. David's insideEAv. Currently, my ~50,000e/day dividend payout doesn't allow me to match or max in more than a handful of players any given day, but I think in time, I as I max in the more established players and my daily payout continues to increase, I'll want to be able to buy up to my max in several players at at time, and that's where this other tool will come in handy.  EavNet offers the same functionality, but as a paid feature and I'm not looking to add any more bills.

I don't only buy back, though that's where most of my eaves go each day. When I'm doing missions, I typically use those eaves to invest in new players. I also run an EAster egg on this blog every so often and need to salt away eaves to pay out the reward for finding it. I may even come back and stick one on this post some day ...

[Edit 7/3/2012: It's back for the holiday!]
[Edit 7/6/2012: It got claimed! Check back later.]
[Edit 9/28/2012: It's back!]
[Edit 1/27/2013: Gone for now. Check back later.]

Romney croons, "We could use a man like Herbert Hoover again ..."

The Myth of the Businessman-President - NYTimes.com: 

Romney croons, "We could use a man like Herbert Hoover again ..."

Romney has made business experience the main reason to elect him. Without his business past or his projections of business future, there is no there there. But history shows that time in the money trade is more often than not a prelude to a disastrous presidency. The less experience in business, the better the president.

Romney would disqualify Clinton, TR, Ike, and FDR for not having sufficient business experience to run for the presidency. Thinks his qualifications, like those of Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush before him, are a better predictor of successful administration.

It seems business experience is a fairly reliable indicator of what sort of president we'll get: a disaster.