Links for September 29th through September 30th

This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on September 30, 2009). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

Sometime between September 29th and September 30th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • Poll: Eyman Initiative 1033 Looks Likely to Pass: "As I've said before, Eyman's initiative would fuck the state of Washington, even though the language seems innocuous. It would essentially limit the amount of money the government can collect from taxpayers based on how much it collected the previous year, adjusted for inflation and population growth. Any surplus the state collects would go toward reducing property taxes. But in practice, the measure would lock Washington into its current budget–the worst budget the state has had in decades, owing to the recession–and prevent the budget from expanding when the economy improves. So the state at its leanest–like right now, with a budget requiring the state to lay off roughly 3,000 teachers and cut basic health services for 40,000 people–would become the most robust the state could ever be."
  • JK Rowling Lost Out on US Medal Over Harry Potter ‘Witchcraft’: "A memoir by George W Bush's former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books 'encouraged witchcraft'." Huh. I'd have figured it was because in the later books, she rather shamelessly and not very subtly mocked the Bush Administration and general U.S. post-9/11 paranoia.
  • Reminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child: "Roman Polanski raped a child. Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in 'exile' (which in this case means owning multiple homes in Europe, continuing to work as a director, marrying and fathering two children, even winning an Oscar, but never — poor baby — being able to return to the U.S.). […] Can we do that? Can we take a moment to think about all that, and about the fact that Polanski pled guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, before we start talking about what a victim he is? Because that would be great, and not nearly enough people seem to be doing it."
  • Rare Important Instantaneous Photograph: "It became necessary, one day, at Willet's Point, to destroy a worthless mule, and the subject was made the occasion of giving instruction to the military class there stationed. The mule was placed in proper position before the camera and duly focused. Upon the animal's forehead a cotton bag was tied containing six ounces of dynamite….."
  • Vikings ‘Were Warned to Avoid Scotland’: "Scotland is full of dangerous natives who speak an incomprehensible language and the is weather awful. That was the verdict of a series of 13th century Viking travel guides that warned voyagers to visit at their peril."
  • Steampunk’d: Diana Vick’s Victorian sci-fi dream for Seattle.: "'IT'S MASSIVELY CREATIVE, insanely inventive, and extraordinarily unique.' That's Diana Vick (pictured) describing steampunk, which she's certain will be the next subcultural wave to hit the Emerald City. She's banking on that certainty as cocreator of Steamcon, a convention celebrating the hottest movement in sci-fi."