[links] Link salad packs its bags for the far side of the world

They’re going to have to use a flamethrower on that cat — Cat vs. octopus. Weirdly funny.

Jay Lake, jusqu’au bout en fantasy — Apparently, I'm big in France. (Actually, this is a nice news plug about what's going on with me right now. Merci, y'all.)

Question of the day, sex toy edition (NSFW) — Copyright. Hah! (Via Scrivener's Error.)

A Continent Mired in Crisis Coins a Language of Economic Pain — (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)

RNA Drugs Target Genes That Were Once Off-Limits — A unique class of RNA drugs could bring new treatments to cancer and other diseases.

Yellowstone wolves spur recovery of bears' berries

New teeth grown from urine — Pretty sure they're just taking the piss on this one.

How Astronauts go to the bathroom — (Via David Goldman.)

An Inflatable Emergency Airborne Communications Network

If not for clouds and nitrogen, Earth could be an uninhabitable hell right now — So sort of like Bridgeport, CT?

Ark. District Arming Teachers, Staff With Guns — Because nothing says child safety like MOAR GUNZ!

Fox News Anchor Dumbfounded That A Scholar, Who Is Muslim, Had The Audacity To Write A Book About Jesus — Welcome to the conservative mind.

How to Lose Friends, Citizens and Influence — The U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act seeks to co-opt foreign banks as long-arm enforcement agencies of the IRS. (Via danjite.)

Young Republicans: Let’s Not Give Democrats Any Reason To Call Us Bigots — Yeah, good luck with that. If you want to manufacture angry white men, you are institutionalizing bigotry.

Obama Says Ho Chi Minh Was Inspired by Founding Fathers, Conservatives Freak Out — But Obama's comment wasn't a gaffe or insult to American war vets, as much as someone like Allen West would like it to be. What Obama said is literally a historical fact. But those liberal "facts" don't matter when there's angry white men to be manufactured by stoking conservative outrage.

QotD?: What's the longest flight you ever took?

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7/30/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo brain)
Hours slept: 7.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 250.4
Number of FEMA troops on my block conducting Department of Justice investigations of white patriots: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg