[links] Link salad is going to slide, slide in all directions

The paths and links of language and memory — scarlettina on language and culture.

An Unexpected Ass Kicking — On meeting history, and realizing he is wiser than you. This is just a wow blog post. (Thanks to danjite.)

The Point of Exclamation — Ah, punctuation.

CBS & QMx Making Groovy Retro Star Trek Posters For Every TOS Episode — Oh, man, these Star Trek posters are fabricated of high-density awesome. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

Curiosity Mars-Rover Landing: "Everything Worked Perfectly" — In which davidlevine and I are quoted on the National Geographic Web site.

NASA's Mars Rover Crashed Into a DMCA Takedown — Way to go, Scripps. That's a solidly asshole move right there.

What made 'Nasa Mohawk Guy' such a successful meme? — Heh.

NASA welcomes striking new photos from the red planet after Mars rover nails the landing

Study: Cats wiping out backyard wildlife — The story says cat owners are offended by the study. Why? Duh. They're predators.

Chart of the Day: Algobot Wars Now Rule Wall Street — It's an interesting story, but the headline alone is worth the price of admission.

Warm extremes in Earth’s climate becoming more common — Study argues increasingly severe events are the new normal. Weather is not climate, except eventually it is.

The lamentable state of protest today — Steve Buchheit with an entertaining rant.

Church, pastor charged in fake raid: 'You can't, in the name of religious liberty, engage in criminal activity' — How is this not totally fucking nuts to any rational person? (Via shsilver.)

Unimpressed Martyrs — If there is one thing I'm consistently irked by it's the Persecution Envy of modern Western Christians. They live in a world where they have more religious freedom than at just about any time in history and yet you wouldn't know that just by listening to them. Somehow this privileged group considers itself the most persecuted group in the world. Confidential to my Christian friends: Loss of privilege is not persecution. (Snurched from Slacktivist Fred Clark.)

Republicans Blasted Obama Administration For Warning About Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism — Gee, ya think? Real Americans with guns cannot be terrorists, just conservatism cannot fail the country.

?otD: Is there nothing you can measure anymore?

---

8/8/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 6.25 (solid)
Weight: 236.4
Currently reading: The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski