Where have I been? I started this post for a Saturday a while back, and now there are something like 6,000 new posts in my aggregator and I haven't even shared these! Obviously I'm going to be digging out for a while. And finishing 5 more quilts by the end of January, and shifting all my investments to socially responsible companies, and cleaning out my closet. Oh yes. I will do it.
But first, let's start catching up with some of the good writing on the web:
Sepia Mutiny's abhi describes some recent transportation security changes in "SSSS: The mark of the beast":
Yesterday the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) released its new rules on what can and cannot be taken aboard an airplane. This decision will greatly affect South Asians across America. Before, if you were brown an accidentally got caught with contraband, your life was over. After being strip-searched there was the possibility that you would be stamped with the "mark of the beast."
Defective Yeti addressed another important safety topic in "Snow Advisory," which will seem quite familiar to Austin residents.
Powazek.com provided a useful guide to a good number of tv dramas called "The Subliminal Reassurances of Procedural Dramas":
House - Don't worry, if you're incredibly, implausibly sick, a team of doctors led by a brilliant but broken man, who is also a grumpy drug addict, will save you ... but only if you're interesting enough to convince him to.
Feministe shared a tanka by a 16 year old that addresses porn and feminism: "Porn Hound, Meet Feminist Website."
Brad Ideas is keeping us updated on current events with "AAAS issues warning to Pat Robertson -- You have turned away from science":
"We’d like to say to the good Reverend Robertson: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to Science, you just rejected it from your life," AAAS said on its daily television show broadcast from Washington, the 3.14159 Club.
McSweeney's has consumer reporting covered with "The IPod Zepto: Inconceivably Small":
Look closely at the period-sized dot in the middle of the box. Now, find the red rectangular square in the center of the dot. This is the outer packaging of your iPod Zepto. In a sterile, wind-free environment, carefully open the outer packaging and remove the clear-plastic inner wrapping. Finally, using the enclosed high-magnification lens, unwrap the plastic and look for a white case. Inside the white case is your iPod Zepto.
Ending on a somber note, Rhetoric 101 explains "The Bad Guys" with an excellent blend of excerpts, narration, and storytelling:
As we all know, the people in Iraq would never notice all those dead people, all those tortured family members, all those disappeared, unless they were reported on our news, here in the USA.
Enjoy. Once I dig through the growing pile of blog posts in poor SharpReader, I will report back with more.
