The Loar Axe

"We're not calling you out, we're calling you in... to the Star Chamber."

Scalzi seems to be reacting to people who want to introduce kids to, like, Heinlein's Harem Fantasies or whatever. The SF "canon" until ~1970 does not have a lot of books you can hand to your smart teenage niece.

Shame on NYU Langone for ending gender-affirming care & kicking trans New Yorkers to the curb. It's a violation of their promise to treat all people equally, kindly, and respectfully — and a violation of NYC's human rights law as well. Bending the knee is bad; denying people care is even worse.

Tired: be recognized as wise after a lifetime of careful reading and slow mastery of classic texts

Wired: get recognized as wise without any of that work because you successfully convinced people that homework is dumb and skipping homework is the real mark of wisdom

This "don't read old books" thing seems like an offense-as-defense move against the insecurity of being poorly-read.

Some people just want a book that says "exaaacctly" back at them.

as xena warrior princess taught me, we become who we pretend to be

YouTube video by Stephen O'Regan They're Made Out Of Meat

Tom Noonan sold "disgusted by the idea of Thinking Meat" so well.

Personal life In December 2009, Watts was detained at the Canada- United States border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to perform a reportedly random search of the rental vehicle he was driving. Watts is alleged to have assaulted a CBP Officer and was turned over to local authorities to face charges. According to an officer, the authorities used pepper spray to subdue Watts after Watts became aggressive toward officers. [13] According to Watts, he was assaulted, punched in the face, pepper- sprayed, and thrown in jail for the night. 14] The officer later admitted in court that he had punched Watts. A jury found Watts guilty of obstructing a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. He faced a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison. Watts blogged about his sentence saying that because of how the law was written, his asking, "What is the problem?", was enough to convict him of non-compliance. [15] In April 2010, he was given a suspended sentence and a fine. [16] However, due to immigration laws, [17] Watts' felony conviction prevents him from re-entering the United States. [18] Descriptive alt text

Like, this is just straightforwardly a case of "CBP decided to fuck up a guy's life for fun on a slow Tuesday" right?

As a side effect of abolishing ICE and reforming CBP out of existence, Peter Watts will be allowed to do book tours in the US again.

Le Guin and Orwell are such great writers to discover because they have SO MUCH to say and somehow are constantly relevant.

"You see, I was talking about people who aren't me."

The year is 2046. Looking like shit at work is a dominance move. You paid how much for just that one chin, bro? What a chump - I have three chins for free.

So imagine how bad things must be in Wisconsin for 2 & 1 to still lose to 6.

huh. neat. 2048 might be really weird.

mr ed teaches us that in a pinch you can use peanut butter as a substitute for broca’s area

Not sure I can describe the gift, or the context that made the gift the stuff of legends (apparently), without loudly self-identifying. They must not find me.

I didn't even work at this company. I was a plus one. And yet, they fear me.

The key to bringing an "oh God no" gift to a white elephant exchange is to bring a second gift that you'll admit to. That way, when the investigations and recriminations start, you can say "it wasn't me, I brought the <normal thing>"

Have you ever brought a white elephant gift to a corporate holiday party so good (read: upsetting) that the company still talks about it 15 years later?

An old friend just shared some tremendous news with me.

Thought this was a joke but oh no.

USA Curling demonstrates the unstoppability of the Seattle- Minnesota combo.

"Ah damn, that's what I was gonna call MY new math."

Do you think Terence Tao was mad that Terrance Howard called dibs on the name "Terryology" first?

Ah, another satisfied Breville AfterBurner kettle customer.

<lee kuan yew laser eyes>

Kirkland shorts in the leg press?
Muscle building will impress.
Jeans at the gym?
The calves do be slim.

The Death Star board room scene is low key the funniest scene in cinematic history. It’s a work meeting with an evil samurai wizard everyone else finds mildly annoying and when his manager tells him to stop killing a coworker with his magicka, he has to listen.