November, 2010:
Linkpost, 10/28/2010
I’m still clearing the backlog …
- Plastic Water Bottles Won’t Hurt You. Or: Laboratory Research Shows that Laboratory Research Causes Cancer in Rats.
- Brutality with religious overtones, including some things about Mexican narco-cartels that might surprise you.
- Why do communists only drink herbal tea?
Linkpost, 11/15/2010
- Taking inspiration from nature: Concrete laced with bacteria
- Trees Infused With Glowing Nanoparticles Could Replace Streetlights
- Say what? Scientists find playing Tetris an effective therapy after traumatic situations
- The Westboro Baptist Church ran into trouble in La Plata: “We’re … ten deep for at least 300 yards.”
- Cocoa genome ‘will save chocolate industry’
- What’s the 2010 Word of the Year? Refudiate.
- Revisiting the Myth of The 12-Year Old McDonald’s Burger That Just Won’t Rot
- Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners (NSFW language)
Semi-linkpost, 10/27/2010
I link to the second more to talk about framing your argument. In paragraph four:
The latest numbers from the IRS – based on 2008 tax returns – show that the top 1% of income earners paid 38.02% of individual income taxes paid. That’s a lot, but it’s actually a smaller share of the total tax bill than the top 1% paid in 2007. That year they paid 40.42%.
The tax rate didn’t change in that period, so the raw amount of money that the top 1% earned actually dropped. You couldn’t tell by the way the article framed the information, however.
Linkpost, 10/26/2010
- Bees’ tiny brains beat computers, study finds. For those of you in the industry, the key buzz-phrase here is “traveling salesman problem”.
- Japanese scientists are planning to print smells with ink-jets.
- Balloon filled with ground coffee makes ideal robotic gripper.
- Chupacabra Mystery Solved.
Linkpost, 10/22/2010
- Cowardly WisCon ConCom Caves. (I’ve learned this new word studying the Qur’an: dhimmi. I think it might apply here.)
- Washington Post Blockbuster Confirms Worst Fears About Holder Justice Dept. Race Policies. Welcome to the party, guys.
- 70% Of All Stock Market Trades Are Held for An Average of 11 SECONDS. I am both impressed by the ingenuity, and disturbed at the disconnect of value and trade.
- Debbie does downloads. Just remember, even downloading pr0n goes on your permanent record.
Qur’an Study Update
So I’ve been grinding through the Qur’an. It’s kind of a slog — it’s not organized in any “normal” narrative order. Instead, it’s arranged (except for the first) with the longest chapters (or suras) first. I’ve gotten through the first ten (out of 114) so I’m about halfway through.
It hasn’t been much fun to read. Even putting aside the horrible King James style that Muslim translators use, the content isn’t very happy. If you had told me that the Qur’an was written by Gary Gygax as an in-character supplement describing the religion and philosophy of an adversary race, I’d have believed you. It’s that bad.
In fact, I can say without reservation that the author(s) of the Qur’an would consider me their enemy, and want me dead. You, too.
Assisting in my study: Robert Spencer’s Qur’an Commentary. And yes, I know, Spencer is of the opinion that “there are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.” One of the things he does is this commentary is stick to quoting Muslim sources, so (at the very least) it matches how al Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood see their religion.