Brain:

[elfs]

Zen Habits: 11 Ways To Bring Out The Awesomeness of Life

1. Simplicity. 2. Mindfulness. 3. Impermanence. 4. Do what you love. Read for the rest.

Brad Sherman (D-Calif) claims he was told "martial law may be required" if you and I don't hand our cash over to Wall Street

The Long Lag Problem

Jamais Casco writes about how we plains apes deal (or fail to deal) with problems that have a very long lag between initiation of the solution and the payoff.

One-man Mecha Helicopter

Ooh, I want one of these, as long as it has very good active sound cancellation in the helmets!

Use the Try Harder, Luke

Eliezer Yudkowsky posts a bit of conversation between George Lucas and Mark Hamill in which Lucas reveals that, contrary to public opinion, he really did have more than a small insight into human nature. His observation that if the end of the world were at stake most people wouldn't bother "trying" for five minutes really hits home.

I read another essay in which Anakin's falling in love with Amidala was a "deliberate move" on Yoda's part; it was the Jedi separation from love and humanness that let Senator Palpitane win, and it was Yoda's decision to let Luke and Leia be raised in "ordinary" families that gave them both the humanity needed to defeat the Dark Side. Yoda knew something was wrong with the Jedi Council, and he took steps to set things right. Hmmm.

McCain's Chief of Staff was also paid by Freddie Mac to be close to John McCain!

Holy Maverickness, Batman! The Washington Post is now reporting that Mark Buse, famously known for being an out gay man working for the repression ticket, was paid $460,000 to "work with John McCain" (interesting wording there, "with") on matters of interest to Freddie Mac. In short, he was paid to lobby McCain.

Now he works for John McCain. Maybe John McCain views Freddie Mac as his personal vetting service, bringing him competent people. If that's true, then why didn't they vet Sarah?

Teacher accused of proseletyzing demands to know name of student who first raised accusation

This case has been floating around the Internets for a while. John Freshwater is a teacher in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, who is accused of proseletyzing in class. He had a bible on his desk (which is, IMHO, perfectly acceptable, as long as the kids can keep a copy of Origin of the Species on theirs). The most compelling complaint comes from a student who asserts that Freshwater demonsrated the power of static electricity by "burning a cross into the student's arm."

Normally, I'm all for the accused facing his accuser. But threatening signs have begun appearing around town saying "If the Bible goes, the student goes." An attorney for the family calls those signs "threatening" (I should say so!) and is asking the court to keep the kid's name anonymous.

Comments

[shunra.livejournal.com]

I read the first item, closed the link, came back to the roundup, and read the second one.

I'll have to go back and read the Zen Habits one again, now. Martial law? They're threatening with martial law? :: deep breath ::