I’m not surprised when someone who is 80 dies. But it’s the end of a universe of memories and experiences. Tepper was a big influence on me, and I’m adding “The Gate To Women’s Country” to my recommended reading list. (News on Locus Magazine)
One of the side effects of working with lots of solvents and paint and similar stuff is: lizard skin.
And there’s really only one good way to fix lizard skin, namely, glue it back together with some nice soft gooey oils, and let newer skin grow out without drying out or being abraded. This is a pair of recipes for two lotions. Links for ingredients are at the bottom.
I wrote about how Hitler and many of his upper echelon leaders were smashed on opiates or amphetamines, or both. When I finished that summary, I mentally bookmarked to look up whatever I could find about allied leaders’ drug use during WWII; Winston Churchill, of course, was a notable drinker.
I have to confess something: I never thought Picasso’s cubism was all that brilliant. It sort of reminds me of the kinds of things a 6-year-old does with magic markers, and a parent sticks up on the refrigerator with a magnet. Speaking of “refrigerator art”, anyway, this is delightful: a father with some experience at photoshop re-renders his 6-year-old’s cubist masterpieces:
Adam Curtis has another movie out. If you’re an Adam Curtis fan, you don’t need to read any more.
The contractor who allegedly took home data from NSA systems, apparently collected over 50 terabytes. But that’s not the kicker…
It sounds as though the National Republican Senatorial Committee has a problem with its email servers, too. Let me shorten this somewhat: if you’re putting Microsoft Exchange on an internet-facing server, and you’re not managing it fairly carefully, you’re snack food for hackers.
Is this the right room for an argument?
Labelling is a rather strange tactic in argument; it’s popular but weak and mostly a poor tactic because of the ease with which it can be dragged into verbal nihilism. [Read more…]
From “Applied Eugenics” by Paul Popenoe, 1918 (MacMillan)
The United States birth-rate may, on its face, appear high enough; but its face does not show that this height is due largely to the fecundity of immigrant women. Statistics to prove this are given in Chapter XIII, but may be supplemented here by some figures from Pittsburgh.
I spend a lot of time on airplanes, usually asleep. Not because it’s restful but because I have long legs and going into a trance is the easiest way to cope with the discomfort.
On my way out to LA, I woke up to change the mix in my music player, and looked out the window: