Weekend link dump for April 12

There are so many better ways to spend tax dollars than spending them on prisons.

“Brand owners are now expected to pay a fee to register the .sucks of their domain, or else face a third-party potentially misusing the domain. Coupled with the pricey per year cost, it’s hard to see ICANN’s confirmation of a .sucks domain as anything other than a brand’s nightmare.”

“The modern American jail — which is distinct from prison, the place where those convicted of crimes go — primarily houses the legally innocent. There are 731,200 people inside American jails — substantially more than the population of Washington, D.C. — and three out of five of those inmates have not been convicted of anything at all.”

“An unintended consequence of this and other recent court rulings knocking holes in the wall between church and state is that Satanists, pagans, and pranksters have eagerly embraced their newfound right to express their spiritual beliefs on public time and property.”

Use your smartphone as a particle detector – for Science!

Urban farming could be the wave of the future.

The other “I” word needs to be said aloud.

The Hugo Award nominations are a debacle again this year. More here from Scalzi.

A cable cord-cutting FAQ for those of you who are not like me and thus don’t watch too many live sports to even consider this.

Low oil prices are really bad news for recycling companies.

“Are we really prepared to send women to jail for decades if they have abortions? Even illegal ones?”

“This week provides an occasion for the U.S. government to get real about history, as April 9 is the 150th anniversary of the Union’s victory in the Civil War. […] To mark the occasion, the federal government should make two modest changes: It should make April 9 a federal holiday; and it should commit to disavowing or renaming monuments to the Confederacy, and its leaders, that receive direct federal support.”

Beware the scourge of pay-to-publish journals that will run any crap “scientific” study for the right price.

Also beware unaccredited non-scientists who make scary but bogus claims about all the things that will kill you and your children.

RIP, James Best, better known as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane.

RIP, Stan Freberg, comedy and voice acting legend. See here for more.

If they can bring back Brontosaurus, they can make Pluto a planet again. Who’s with me on this?

Spoiler alert: Google now has a patent for spoiler blocking technology.

“The strings that we attach to government aid are attached uniquely for the poor.”

“But what if we apply Cheney’s analytic method to his own administration’s Iran policy?”

A Golden Girls Lego set. Sure, why not?

Why are we still looking at courtroom sketches of Dzokhar Tsarnaev?

“So here’s the thing, Southwestern Christian University: is Dave Bliss really the man you want leading your students? A serial rule breaker who smeared the reputation of a dead man?”

RIP, Lisa Simon, longtime producer and director on Sesame Street.

RIP, Lauren Hill, basketball player and national inspiration. Cancer really, truly sucks.

Related Posts:

This entry was posted in Blog stuff and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.