A Welcome to New Readers and Paeans to the Old

Oh, my.  When one gets linked by PZ Myers, Maria Dahvana Headley, and Neil Gaiman in the course of a few days, traffic suddenly goes through the roof, and new readers show up.

Allow me to quote Rowan Atkinson: "My god, there are a lot of you."

Let me just state this clearly and upfront: you are the reason writers write, and I'm incredibly grateful too see you all here, whether you've come for a single post or plan to stick around a while.  Without you, I'd have nothing to drive me onward through those lonely dark hours, no reason to strive for the right word in the right place at the right time.  I'd still write for only myself, but not half so much or half so well.  So, thank you.  I'd pour you a drink of your choice, only we're in cyberspace, so I'm afraid you'll have to pour one for yourself.  Hopefully, some of us will remedy that someday.


So, introductions would seem to be in order.  You're very likely busy people without time to delve the archives.  A few facts, then:

I'm Dana Hunter, which isn't the name on my drivers license but is the name I go by in all situations but legal transactions and at work, so I consider it my "real" name.  I started out using it because my birth first name got filched by one of my characters, who won't give it back, and my last name is awesome but leads to horrible retail jokes.  And Dana Hunter is now more than a 'nym, but me.  But if you really want to know my original name, I'll tell it to you when we meet in the physical world, and you will probably laugh.

Those wanting the story behind the 'nym, see here.

I have a homicidal cat.  If you stick around, you will be subjected to pictures of her.  Fair warning.

I'm not a professional geologist, but a passionate amateur with a lot of friends who are professional geologists.  I write about geology a lot.  I live in the Pacific Northwest and came from Arizona, which both have the kind of geology that leaves you awestruck by the magnitude of it.  But that's not the only science that catches my fancy, so you'll see bits on biology and chemistry and physics and whatever else grabbed me by the lapels and said very firmly about an inch from my face, "NOTICE ME."  I research my posts as thoroughly as I can and try not to say inaccurate things, but if you catch me in an error, by all means say something.  I don't like letting mistakes stand uncorrected.

I write SF.  Someday, I will even publish SF.  Those who want an advance peek at my fiction and non-fiction projects can shoot me an email and become a Wise Reader.  Yahoo knows me as dhunterauthor.  For those in the audience who like reading about the craft, I do up a Dojo right here on ETEV every Tuesday, wherein writing is discussed and the wisdom I've obtained from others and via my own experience is passed on.

I'm a Gnu Atheist.  That's "New Atheist" to those without a sense of humor.  I am not fuzzy and accommodating to religion, but if you're one of the faithful and your religion is tough enough to take it, we'll all be fine.  This is just by way of fair warning (which the folks who arrived here via Pharyngula don't need): I write about atheism and religion, and I do not do so moderately.  Oh, and I'm a liberal Democrat.  I started out as a potty-mouthed progressive political blogger and sometimes return to my roots.  If those two things don't scare you away, then we're a good match. ;-)

I read each and every comment on every post, but with two book projects, this blog, a full-time job that has nothing to do with either, an erratic but existent social life, a weird paranoia that acknowledging one person means I've just disrespected the others, time management skills that can only be described as teh suck, and the memory of a brain-damaged gnat, I don't respond as often as I should.  I'll try to do better, but I can make you no promises.  Just know that I do actually appreciate each and every comment.  Live for them, actually.

Right, I think that'll do as an overview.  Now on to the really important matters: the readers and fellow bloggers who have been here for a long time.

If I tried to get specific, I'd miss some of you and feel horribly about it.  So I won't try just now.  You know who you are, and you know I'm talking to you right now: all of you geobloggers, my long-time Twitter tweeps, my intrepid companions and my cherished commenters and friends.  All of you who have been there mixing it up in the comments threads and saying things on Twitter that make me tear up while punching the air, because to have done something that made you happy, to have written something you liked, is the ultimate.  You know how much I love my cat, but if some freakish circumstance forced me to choose between you and her, I'm afraid she'd have to go.

You're everything I ever wanted when I began writing, all alone, oh so many years ago.  You are the wise and the wonderful people, so often smarter or kinder or more talented than me (or all three), who somehow yet find something of worth in the words I write.  You egg me on and lift me up and apply the judicious prod to the buttock when necessary.  You correct me when I'm wrong, and give me sound advice, and cheer and jeer and basically just provide me all the reason I'll ever need to brave carpal tunnel and all the other hazards of the writer's life.  You make me believe that this whole writing-for-a-living thing may just be possible.  And you show me wonders.  You give me intriguing new paths to explore.  You inspire me.  You make me do things I've never done but turn out to have been a fabulous idea.  A lot of you ends up in what I write, and a lot of what I write is for you.

Without your links and retweets and recommendations, this blog would be nowhere.  I cherish each and every one.  I'm always astonished and flattered and incredibly grateful when you deem something I've written as worthy of sharing.

And if my wildest dreams come true, and fame and fortune are achieved, I will never, ever forget you.  You're all coming with me.

It can never be said enough: Thank you.  Thank all of you.

And now, introductions and paeans achieved, I shall get on with giving you all the very best I am capable of, because you damn well deserve it.

Life-Changing Experience

What a difference less than a year makes!  So no shit, there I was, sitting in training class watching one of the most mind-numbingly boring videos I've ever encountered, and my thoughts strayed to all of you.

You've changed my life.  And you saved it, just then, when my brain threatened to implode from terminal boredom.  Under the circumstances, I figured it might be time for a big ol'

Thanks!

Seriously.  I mean it.

First off, there's all of the people who've been round here since the beginning, or nearly so.  Without you, I wouldn't have kept blogging. You made everything worth it, kept me going when I thought that maybe I should bugger off and do something else, and made me think in ways I'd not thought before.  You stuck with me through all sorts of craziness.  You're amazing.

Then the geoblogosphere adopted me as one of their own.  You know those moments you can look back on afterward and pinpoint as there, right there, life changed?  Yeah, that was one.  The big one.

You want to know how much you've changed my life?  This much:

Last year, I didn't have any science books planned.  I didn't think I could do any such thing.  Now, because of you, I've got one in the works and a few more patiently queued up.  I'll be writing non-fiction science books because you showed me I could.  I couldn't do it without you.  Literally could not.

Last year, I was freaking out over how I'd get the science right in my science fiction.  How could I find and understand the information I needed?  How could I get expert insights when I wasn't comfortable approaching experts and didn't know where to find them?  But here you are: experts!  Dozens of you.  On Twitter and on this blog, always ready with a helping hand when I need it.  Because of you, the fiction I write will be much sounder in their science, and there's plot possibilities I didn't even know existed before you, the experts, introduced me to so much fascinating stuff.  And the best thing? You get to choose where and when you help out, so I don't have to feel guilty for pestering you!  You're brilliant, you are.

But it's more than that.  It's the adventures.  Late last summer, my intrepid companion and I ended up adventuring in Oregon with Lockwood, and can I just tell you that being shown geology by a geologist is a whole new experience for an interested amateur.  Landscapes spoke in ways they couldn't have spoken before.  He gave them a voice.  The world becomes far more fascinating when it can speak to you in more than just a few fragmented words.

And the adventures don't stop there.  Lockwood and Silver Fox plan to join us for a trip to Mt. Mazama and Old Perpetual early this summer.  Some talk of wine and geology on Twitter led to plans (still coming together) for Glacial Till, Uncovered Earth, Helena, Lockwood and me to bring a whole new meaning to "geology on the rocks" later this summer.  Ann will be accompanying me on my next foray into Arizona, and who knows who else will sign on when that trip draws near? 

I sometimes hear people say inane things, like how online friends aren't the same as the real thing.  All I can say is, they've never met my tweeps, my commenters, my fellow bloggers.  They've never experienced this community of people.  Always up for adventure, always ready with a helping hand, always bubbling over with enthusiasm for science and various entertainments and the wonders of the world - we may be far-flung, but we're close-knit, and every single one of you has made my life immeasurably richer.

This life of mine, it's better with you in it.  Just thought you should know that.

And thanks for saving me from neuron implosion in training, there.  I owe you big time!

Reader Appreciation Day

Source

It's time to take a moment out of the week's blogging topics and say, "Thank you!"

You, my dear readers, are absolutely brilliant.

I put out a plea for the things that scare you, and you weren't afraid to rise to the challenge.  If I end up with the writing chops to create a truly frightening Big Bad, it will be because you - yes, you - stepped up and delved into your minds and risked nightmares and probably worse to let me know what terrifies you.  Without that, I wouldn't have a clue.  And I wouldn't have the confidence to attempt this.  Incredible.

Then there are all of you who commented on my last, rather lame Oregon Geology post.  You got me the info on benchmarks I'll need for this summer.  You've inspired me to go out and find some benchmarks and make something of them.  And all those kind words!  All I can say in reply is that I'm glad you've enjoyed the series so much, because it's all been for you.  Wouldn't be writing this stuff if you weren't there, you know - what would be the point?  90% of the fun in going out, seeing and doing these things, is in writing them up afterward, hoping I'll have given you a bit o' adventure as well.  I take each and every one of you into the field with me.  I get wonderfully excited, finding things you might like.  So it's a vast relief to know I'm getting the job done.  Thank you for being there.  Thank you for egging me on!

We've got quite a few more adventures coming up.  I've still got bulging folders full of images from other trips waiting for your viewing pleasure.  And this summer, new adventures!  Requests welcome: I'll announce each one, and you can tell me if there's a particular bit you want to see.  You're along for the ride, even if only virtually.

Now, should I ever, say, win the lottery or make bags of money by publishing books people decide to devour, those virtual trips shall become a reality.  You're all invited.  Nothing would please me more than to gather groups of you and get out there and see the world with you.

This world is a better place with all of you in it.  Never doubt that.  You guys rock, and you make me the luckiest woman alive.

I Can Haz Monotype Corsiva!

Thank you thank you THANK YOU to all of you who commented, emailed, and otherwise made sure I could, in fact, have my new computer and my Monotype Corsiva too!  You have made me a very happy writer indeed!

And a special shout-out as well to those of you who commented on last night's missive about reading the scientific literature.  Gave me a warm glow, that did!  Karen's advice on how to economize said reading shall come in useful (beginning tonight, in fact!), and it's good to know my babbling could act as Chris Rowan's backup. 

This is why I love the intertoobz: we're an incredible community of people, sharing information, encouragement and wonders in a way that would have seemed like total science fiction not long ago.

Cyberdrinks all round, and when I at last get to meet you IRL, it shall be a round of actual alcohol (or poison o' choice) for all.  Love you, my darlings!

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Scientific Literature

Things have changed rather drastically.  As recently as six months ago, I couldn't have read a scientific paper to save my life.  Oh, I grant you, I'd tried a few times, but found myself bogged down and stymied by incomprehensible language.  So I usually gave them a miss.

Instead, I read the science blogs, which are for the most part written in layperson-friendly language.  Popular science books, ditto.  Ventured into some heavier stuff written for a non-lay audience and found it heavy going, but waded on through, aside from a few books I had to put aside because I Just Wasn't Getting It.

Then, a few months ago, I started wanting to read the papers referred to in various and sundry.  Problem being, far too many of them are behind a pay wall, and I am far from rich.  Grumble.  I didn't really notice my attitude shifting, but it was.

And then, last month, as I developed a sudden need to research ice caves, I turned in desperation to Google Scholar.  Some freely-available .pdfs turned up in my searches, and those, combined with a dearth of suitably-detailed stuff written in regular people language drove me to actually read a couple of scientific papers, and I discovered I liked them.  I enjoyed reading them.  I understood at least the gist of what they said: the language didn't seem incomprehensible, the big words didn't frighten me, and I'd absorbed enough of the terms and concepts through other reading that even the denser passages weren't that difficult to read.  I know I'm still missing at least 50% of what those papers are trying to say, but I'm getting enough of the context that I can understand what they're getting at.  If a term throws me, a quick Google search resolves the confusion.  The math is still completely beyond my ken, but surprisingly many papers on geology have little to no math featured.  So that's all right, then.

I've been watching my own reading in fascination.  Sometimes, I'll stop and think, "Holy shit, I'd have had no idea what that meant last year."  But somewhere along the way, I learned how to read science.  I picked up enough Greek and Latin that I can loosely translate very large, unfamiliar terms with relative ease.  I mean, take this phrase: "cryogenic carbonate precipitates."  Sounds huge and scary.  But all it really means is carbonate rocks like limestone deposited in a cold environment.  Basically, if you know how things like stalagmites form in caves (deposited by water carrying dissolved calcium carbonate), know that carbonate refers to stuff that contains carbon and oxygen (like limestone), and that cryo means cold, you've got it made.  Even "heterothermic" held no terrors.  Hetero - mixed.  Thermic - temperature.  Mixed-temperature.  Easy-peasy!  I've got the gist of it justlikethat!  Sure, it's not 100% precise, but at this point, it doesn't have to be.

And that ability to translate on the fly didn't come from studying ancient languages, but simply from reading a lot of books and blogs about science, where the authors carefully defined terms when they couldn't use plain English, and thus I started seeing patterns in what certain words mean and how they're used.  I didn't even know I was learning that sort of thing!  It just happened, and wasn't obvious until the day I needed it.

You science bloggers and popular science book writers, you may not quite realize what you're doing.  You're making it possible for former English-History majors like myself, us college dropouts, us regular old Joes and Janes with an interest in science but absolutely no formal training, to dip into the scientific literature and read it without undue strain.  It's challenging, absolutely - but thanks to those writing for a popular audience, it's not an insurmountable challenge anymore.  Give me another year or two hanging about your blogs and reading your books, and it's quite likely I'll be a more confident judge of quality, as well - I'll begin to understand statistical methods better, I'll have a better sense of what makes the difference between solid and shoddy science, and it's just possible that even math will hold no terrors.  It's because you've embedded these tough concepts in a matrix of clear prose.  And you've thus given me the keys to a whole new kingdom.  I don't have to rely on translators so much any more.  It's wondrous is what it is.  So, a thousand times: thank you.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a whole ocean of science papers I've yet to dabble my toes in.

Christmas Rocks

In more ways than one.  For instance, I'm not at work.  Woot!

By the time you read this, it'll be Boxing Day, so Happy Boxing Day!  That holiday always confused me as a kid.  I had no idea why there would be a special holiday for beating people up.  Then I found out it was an extra holiday lucky people in Britain and other such countries celebrated that had nothing to do with boxing, and I think this is where my anglophile tendencies began, because who wouldn't want an extra holiday right after Christmas?  Even if it did have a funny name.

In fact, it seems no one's quite sure why it's actually called Boxing Day.  Who cares?  There's sales on - reason enough to celebrate!

We have rather more luck with Christmas, where the name is obvious and the seasonal celebrations easily traceable.  Hudson Valley Geologist Steve Schimmrich has a good primer up on all that.  And Doctor Science points out that no, in fact, Christ is not the "reason for the season," as so many fundies like to pretend (h/t).  And it wasn't a foundational holiday for early Americans, either.  Our own national hero George Washington saw it as a prime time to launch a sneak attack, as the colonists who would become Americans didn't celebrate Christmas but Germans did.  Isn't there something in Sun Tzu about taking advantage of enemies' hangovers?  I'm sure there must be.

Retailers would have us believe it's all about buying shit, and giving and receiving gifties is awesome, but Doctor Science has some of the other reasons us secular types enjoy a good midwinter celebration:

To have a green tree in the house, filled with light, in the darkest and coldest time of year, as we feel the year turn from old to new -- how can that not be numinous? When we decorate with green branches and red berries, this isn't from Christian iconography --

"I remember hearing," said Susan distantly, "that the idea of the Hogfather wearing a red and white outfit was invented quite recently." NO. IT WAS REMEMBERED.

(from Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett). The rising of the sun and the running of the deer, seeing our families and having enough to eat: all of these things are worth celebrating. Such celebrations don't have to be either secular or religious, in the usual sense: they are pagan in the sense of "rustic, countrified, what the common people do". Human, in other words. 

Good reasons all.  And I'm not fussed about what our midwinter celebrations are called.  "Christmas" is a decent enough shorthand for all those midwinter celebrations.  But next year, I might start popping off with "Happy Boxing Day!" just to see how many Americans have no idea what I'm talking about.

But all of that's just a long lead-up to what we're really here for: the presents!  And thanks to our geobloggers, Christmas this year rocks!

Follow me after the jump for ye delights.

A Shout-Out to My Readers, Established and New

You people are amazing.

When I wrote up my college field trip experience for the Accretionary Wedge, I spent most of my time doubting whether I should do it.  "Ogod, I I I me me me- I'm sick of I, and so is everyone else!"  Seriously debated whether that wretched thing should be published.  Did it anyway because, well, what the hell.  At least you guys could look at the pretty pictures and skip the text.

Then Chris Rowan tweeted it, and so did Brian Romans (twice!) and Silver Fox.  Andrew Alden blogged it.  Callan Bentley, David Orr (who does dinos, too!), Lockwood, Coconino, and Suzanne all said incredibly kind things.  And I suspect the sudden influx of followers on Twitter is somehow related.

I had no idea that babbling would strike such a chord.  I shall now promptly give the credit for that post to Jim Bennett, because without him, never would've happened.  Credit also goes to you, my dear readers, because without you, there's no reason to spend time babbling on this blog.  You truly make this all worthwhile. 

So, my dear Silver Fox, yes, I will become your ghost writer, and pay need not be discussed.  Compliments (and field trips!) are coinage enough.  Same goes for all of you.  Only problem is, you lot don't need a ghostwriter - I've read your work, and believe me when I say that a ghostwriter would only get in the way of already perfect prose.  You inspire, entertain, inform and enlighten just fine on your own.  All I'd be there for is cleaning up the occasional typo.  Which, I'll have you know, is perfectly satisfactory if it means I get to spend more time with you!

Each day, I carry you with me.  When I'm out on adventures, I'm thinking of you.  Every time I snap a photo these days, it's with the thought of what might delight you.  You make these excursions far more meaningful than they would be otherwise.  Every time there's a new post from you, my world expands.  You're everything I've ever wanted or needed.  Figured you should know that, and refer back to that truth in case you're ever feeling like no one appreciates you.

I do.  And I know I'm not alone.

A Shout-Out to Evergreen and Union-Negotiated Health Insurance

Wednesday was fun.  About half an hour into my shift, the mild discomfort I'd been feeling announced itself as a full-blown kidney stone.  I'm prone to the bastards, and apparently the one that had announced its existence a few months ago didn't so much pass as await a better opportunity.  Anyone who's had these before knows it's an exquisite form of agony.  Sometimes, it's only moderate torture, and you can ride it out with the proper swear words.  But since I can't scream profanities at work, I decided a trip to the ER for some nice happy drugs was in order.

Now, I've been to a lot of hospitals for these stupid things.  I've had to wait in the waiting room for hours before getting a doctor, and been put through the excitement of having to register before being seen.  The last thing you want to do while your kidney feels like it's simultaneously imploding and exploding after being blowtorched is answer questions about your insurance.  I wasn't looking forward to it.

But when I got to Evergreen Hospital's ER, a gentleman zipped out to meet me, whisked me back for a blood pressure and temp check, slapped the plastic bracelet on, and said they'd call me right back.  I don't think the whole thing took more than five minutes.  I had time to call my intrepid companion and alert him to the fact I'd need a ride home, and then they were ushering me right to an exam room.  I'd barely gotten the gown on before a nurse was there - with bad news.  They had to check for blood in ye olde urine before they'd start the good drugs.  This, I thought, would take ages.  But no - about fifteen minutes after producing a sample, she was back with the great good news that I did, indeed, have a stone, and it was time for the blessed relief.  Wasn't her fault that just as she was putting the IV in, the damned thing passed.  All that drama for naught.

The ER doc, who is one of the sweetest people I've ever met, decided we'd best ensure the little bugger wasn't just playing possum, so we waited a bit.  He sent me home a little over an hour later with a prescription for the good stuff and an apology for taking so long with the discharge papers - they were horribly busy.

You never would have guessed it from the speed with which they handled my case, start to finish.  That place is amazing.  I wish every hospital could have an ER that functioned so smoothly.  And it's one of the only hospitals I know of that sends someone in to get you registered only after you're no longer in agony.

In fact, they left me feeling so good (even without drugs, hee hee) that I went back to work for the rest of the evening.

They did a fantastic job, they've got a wonderful hospital with an exceptional staff, and they deserve recognition for the tremendous work they do.  So, my dear Evergreen: thank you from the bottom of my heart (and my kidney)!

And there's another reason I'm telling you about my ridiculous little medical woes: it points up the value of good health insurance.  Everyone in this country should be able to have the experience I had.  When the pain hit, I didn't have to suffer.  My union-negotiated health care's got me covered (theoretically, anyway).  So well, in fact, that when I checked out, there wasn't even a copay. 

Now, single-payer would be a fuck of a lot better - I wouldn't have had to do that frantic little do-I-or-don't-I-have-my-insurance-card-on-me check.  But having good insurance is certainly the next-best thing.  We're on our way to that with the Affordable Care Act.  No, it's not going to be perfect at first.  Yes, insurers will kick up a fuss and try to wriggle out of their obligations and in general make this as miserable as possible.  Cons will try to tear the law down rather than building it up, and too many "moderate" Dems will be more than happy to help them with the wrecking ball.  But if we, the sick and those who could get sick without prior notice, keep the pressure for a better health care system on, it won't just be the union members and other suck lucky folk who have good coverage.  We can take this Act and build on it.

So, thanks to my union for ensuring I'm well-insured.  And thanks to those who had the courage to vote for the first steps to ensuring the whole country's well-insured.  That's the first skirmish won - keep fighting for more!

Finally, huge thanks to my intrepid companion, who stood by ready to drive my loopy self home if they'd had to pump me full of painkillers, and who even cleaned out his car, and let me ruin his afternoon plans, just so he could be told his services weren't necessary.  Friends like that are solid gold.  I can't ever express in words how much he means to me, and I suck at performance art, so a simple "Thanks, man" will just have to symbolize the whole.

Thank You All

Those of you who recommended books have earned a free drink when next you're in Seattle.  Not that I wasn't going to buy you one anyway, but you'll have an extra on the table.

My order has been placed.  It is, in fact, sitting in the office right now, and at the moment I'm debating whether to stay up until 9am to collect, or try to sleep for a while first.  It's worse than Christmas as a kid, I swear. 

My bank account's sulking, and gave a little scream when it noticed I'd put extra stuff on the wishlist for later, but it can go get stuffed (not with money, o' course, cuz I spent that).  I'll trade moolah for knowledge any day.  Someday, it shall come to terms with that fact.

Thank you again, and thank all of you for being a part of this cantina.  You make my day every day!

I Probably Require Medical Attention

Far too many years ago, I was in a Mexican cantina (continuing my) drinking after my first Circus Mexicus.  Stevie, then the Peacemakers' lead guitarist, was sitting a few tables away.  We were not yet drunk enough to approach him and engage in appropriate worship.  And then our chance seemed to have passed, as he got up to leave.  But on his way out, he stopped by the table, thanked us for coming to the show, and shook our hands.

Necessary hygiene forced me to actually wash that hand the following day, but it was a close-run thing.

Fast forward a couple of years, many Peacemakers shows later, and picture me staggering toward the exit of a Flagstaff bar after yet another tequila-drenched show.  Stevie emerged from a side door, saw me, exclaimed, "Hey - you were in Mexico!" and gave me a full-body hug.

Necessary hygiene forced me to bathe within the next few days, but it was a close-run thing.

Fast forward to a May in Mexico.  A few months before, having shed my early aversion to tattoos, I had gotten myself inked with the Peacemakers logo, and now no shit, here I was in JJ's Cantina, meeting Roger Clyne in person and learning that he did, in fact, approve of my choice in art.  I believe it was the alcohol that allowed me to remain conscious.  Otherwise, I should probably have required an ambulance crew to remove me from the premises after having swooned.  The coda to this is that when I saw him over a year later at the CD release party for No More Beautiful World, he studied my face for a moment, started mumbling about cantinas and tattoos, and then remembered my name.  What prevented me from needing paramedics at that time, I'm not sure, but I do remember the room blurring a bit round the edges.

So yes, I have met actual rock stars, and been recognized by them, and so I know precisely how it feels to actually be recognized as a distinct entity rather than an amorphous blob fitting the description of "yet another fan."  This necessary context should help you understand why I was revisited by this feeling just this evening, when I perused the comments on this thread.  And this on top of PZ responding to my pathetic pleas on Twitter and then linking to ye olde humble blog.  To me, PZ Myers and Ophelia Benson are rock stars, all right?  They are the Stevie and Roger of the blogging world.

There are only three responses appropriate to the occasion.  One is to pass right out, but it seems I come from a line of females not prone to fainting no matter the provocation.  The second is to give a somewhat-restrained "SQUEE!" and say, "Thank you!"

The third is to place your tongue firmly in your cheek, and enact the relevant scene from Wayne's World:



I know I'm not the only admirer of the above celebrities who's been treated as more than an interchangeable unit by them.  So there's just a few things to say: Thank you for recognizing us as more than amorphous blobs.  Thank you for inspiring us.  And thank you for providing Wayne's World-worthy moments.

The Shape of Things to Come

The holiday season's almost over.  It's a new year and a new decade.  I've spent a considerable part of December thinking about what I want, what I need, and what I'm likely to get out of this year.  You're very much a part of that thinking, my darlings. 

First of all, thank you.  Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, and thank you for being such a wise and wonderful bunch.  I often wish this cantina weren't virtual - you all deserve a round on the house.  And that round will be yours should we ever meet IRL.

You are the reason this blog's survived this long, and the reason it will continue to survive - nay, not merely survive, but thrive.  But we'll be doing a bit o' remodeling.  (It's already begun - the side bar's been modified a bit, at long last!) 

Here's the rough plans: Happy Hour Discurso's still on, at least Tuesday - Friday every week (barring extraordinary circumstances, like, y'know, holidays).  It'll probably be pared down a bit.  It's hard to pick the creme de la stupid when there's so damned much of it, but we'll have to try.

Your Daily Dose of Health Care Reform Stupidity is finished.  I was going to stick with it until the health care reform bill was passed, but there are limits, and I've reached mine.  Bored now.  We'll fold the most outrageous health care reform stupidity into Happy Hour and be done with it.

You'll see at least two posts daily from me on (most) weekdays, and one or two (normally) on weekends.  But I'm cutting back a bit.  Full-time blogging on top of full-time writing and a full-time job was getting to be too much.  And the focus on politics, ditto.  I want to focus on other things - science, writing, the delightful things in life.  You'll see that here.  Some of it you won't see, because I'll be offline working on me book.

Things are still a bit fluid, and more changes may come, but that's where we're at just at the moment.  I'm sure there'll be some tinkering around the edges, and if something doesn't sit well with you, speak up.  I don't just write this blog for me, you know.

Right, then.  Let's get on with it.

Ed Brayton Praises Police: Dana Hunter Taken to Hospital with Heart Failure

If you're a regular reader of Dispatches from the Culture Wars, you know that Ed Brayton gleefully exposes every bit of police corruption that comes his way.  He's merciless.  And so, this post rather took me by surprise.

It starts out normally enough:

Dozens of convictions for drunk driving are suspect now that a routine audit of a crime lab in Colorado Springs showed that the results of those tests were typically overstated by the lab's testing.

And so I read on for the smackdown.  Instead, I got this:

The good news is that the local police and prosecutors seem to be taking this seriously and looking to do the right thing:

"We're not going to be relying upon any questionable blood alcohol content results," he said. "The District Attorney's office and the Colorado Springs Police realize how serious it is and we're acting accordingly."

"We don't want to treat anybody as guilty if they're not," he added...

And then he gives them kudos.  Kudos!

I don't know if my world will ever be the same again.

Oh, and Colorado Springs?  Kudos to ye for caring more about truth than convictions.

I Love My CongressCritter: PWNing Polluters Edition

No dose of health care reform stupidity today, my darlings.  I refuse to take my medicine.  I'd rather cheer on my Rep instead.

First, he delivered the spanking that Jon Stewart should have done:

During today’s forged letter investigation hearing in the House, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) rebuked the authors of SuperFreakonomics for participating in a “continuing effort to deceive the American public” on the science of climate change. Inslee condemned the coal industry’s effort to “hoodwink, defraud, and deceive the American public now to cover up the toxicity to the world environment” of global warming pollution. Inslee then pivoted to authors Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, criticizing them for “absolute deception” in their work on global warming:

The second thing I want to note is this is not the only continuing effort to deceive the American public. I want to note a book called Freakonomics, or SuperFreakonomics, that some authors wrote, that basically said or asserted we don’t have to control CO2, we’ll just pump sulfur dioxide up into the atmosphere and that will solve the problem. They purported to quote a scientist named Ken Caldeira from Stanford who’s one of the predominant researchers in ocean acidification to suggest that Dr. Caldeira didn’t think we should control CO2. Which is an absolute deception. Dr. Caldeira I’ve spoken to personally. He’s told me we have to solve ocean acidification. You can’t solve ocean acidification without controlling CO2 and yet people are still trying to write books to deceive the American public. And we ought to blow the whistle on them, we’re blowing the whistle on one today, we’ll continue to do it, because ultimately science is going to triumph in this discussion.

Then he delivered a sound spanking to Bonner & Ass.:

Now Inslee is pressing Steve Miller of the ACCCE to admit that his group is responsible in part for the fraud perpetrated by Congress. Inslee reads the phone script that Bonner sued, on ACCCE's behalf, to solicit support for the coal lobby's campaign. (We posted the document here.) It suggests that electricity bills will double if global warming legislation passes.

Inslee is making clear how misleading the phone script was, calling it "wholly wrong and fraudulent."

Bonner now points out that this was a training document for callers, rather than the script itself. Same difference, says Inslee.

Now Miller of the ACCCE is saying the doubling of rates issue came from Bonner, and ACCCe had no idea Bonner was sayig that. To which Inslee says that Miller reminds him of the guy who hires a hit-man and tells him, don't tell me if you use a knife or a gun.

Beauty!

Of course, the shysters perjured themselves in front of him:

As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, ACCCE President and CEO Steve Miller lied under oath when he told the committee that his organization has never opposed clean energy legislation.

Later during the hearing, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) asked Miller about the purpose of ACCCE. Miller replied that in addition to grassroots lobbying (astroturfing) and state-based lobbying, his front group has only began federal lobbying in “April of 2008″ in its “16 year history”:

INSLEE: Your entire goal of your organization is to influence Congress. Is that right?

MILLER: We do work at the state level, we do regulatory matters, we do general education to the public. So, the federal, direct federal lobbying has only been part of our portfolio since April of 2008 with a 16 year history of the organization.

[snip]

Miller’s claim is another example of the coal industry’s perjury under oath. In a six month period of 2007 alone, ACCCE, under its previous name of Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, spent $2,660,000 lobbying the federal government. Senate disclosures show that the organization has spent millions more lobbying since 2001.

This may be why Jay decided a little poetic justice might be in order:

Rep. Inslee is now telling Steve Miller of ACCCE that as "penance" for the forged letter fiasco, his group should tell Sen. James Inhofe that we need to take serious efforts to limit global warming legislation.

And that they should run an ad that says at the top: "We need CO2 regulation in America and we need it fast."

Miller, unsurprisingly, is unwiling [sic] to do this.

Love that little dig at Inhofe.  Love love love.  But I love the fire he lit under Steve Miller's arse even more.

Yup.  Still proud to be represented by Rep. Inslee.  Especially when he's on the warpath.

Have I Told You Lately that I Love You?

Seriously.

I don't respond to comments as often as I should - okay, call it next to never - but I read each and every one.  And I have something to say to all of you:

I'm damned lucky to have such a lively bunch of wise, wonderful, and delightful patrons as you.

I'll stop torturing you with cheezy lolz now.  Thanks for being my patrons, my darlings.  Consider this open bar...

Dodd's Going After Telecom Immunity

Some of you may remember the battle against the FISA bill last year, which basically gave the government broad new spying powers and immunized the telecom companies against their lawbreaking.

Sen. Chris Dodd and some friends have decided that last bit may need revisiting (h/t):

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will introduce the Retroactive Immunity Repeal Act, opening up some of the country's largest firms to legal liabilities. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) have signed on as co-sponsors.

“I believe we best defend America when we also defend its founding principles,” Dodd said in a statement. “We make our nation safer when we eliminate the false choice between liberty and security. But by granting retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies who may have participated in warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, the Congress violated the protection of our citizens' privacy and due-process rights, and we must not allow that to stand.”

Good on them.  I don't have a lot of hope they'll get anywhere with this, but I'm damned glad they're trying.  That travesty never should've been passed to begin with.

Mystery Solved

A few days back, I mentioned that the commercials for the new season of The Shift contained an unidentified promo song. No one on the intertoobz could figure out what it was or where it came from.

A day later, Dave from Investigation Discovery hopped into a forum where folks were bitching and promised he'd find out. And Dave came through:

And the answer is . . . . .

The Shift's Season 2 theme from the promos is called "Something Is Wrong"

It was recorded & produced by David Ayers & Felix Tod, the MC Vocals & rhymes are by Skeme and the publisher is West One APM (ASCAP).

More details to come on availability of this track outside of THE SHIFT's promos . . . which comes back for its second season on Wednesday, September 30at 10 PM on Investigation Discovery!

More elements are going to be online soon - but check the series' website out at http://investigation.discovery.com/t...the-shift.html to learn more.

Thanks for all your enthusiasm for The Shift promos - and be sure to check the show out!

Dave

Dave, you are so my hero!

By the way, if you like cop shows, three reasons to watch this one. 1) It takes place in Indianapolis, IN, which is a rather interesting place; 2) the detectives are fascinating; and 3) the cameras aren't horribly intrusive.

In my case, though, I'll mostly be doing it for Dave. But it really is a good show.

One thing I learned from The Shift marathon I watched Sunday: there's a damned good reason to hire women as detectives. How many men would haul off and hug a suspect? How many male suspects would accept that hug and then start babbling a confession, complete with telling where they buried the body, as if they were admitting to Mommy that yes, they'd been a bad, bad boy? Extraordinary. Let that be a lesson to the ladies: don't be afraid to be feminine in a traditionally "male" job. It can absolutely work in your favor.

Anyway. Mystery solved. Moving on, now...

The Lives They've Saved

A glass of the premium stuff is tipped heartily in the direction of the ATF this morning:

Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville field office for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the two men planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

It can be easy, when police departments are used to crush peaceful demonstrators, when the entire Justice Department is rotting away from the inside due to partisan plants, and when the FBI is haring off after ACORN, among other stupid law enforcement tricks, to forget that these men and women perform a ridiculously hard job. It's easy to forget the good they do on a daily basis.

The ATF just prevented two fuckheads from murdering a great many people. They're out there keeping these violent hate groups from making bloody statements. With the frenzy that's been whipped up lately, and the Republicons pulling resources away so they can go chase voter fraud chimeras, the pressure on agencies like the ATF has got to be insane.

So I want to extend my sincere appreciation to them, and to the Secret Service: all of the officers who work to ensure that Obama doesn't end up a Kennedy, who bust their asses keeping our abundant supply of domestic terrorists from succeeding in their plots to murder and maim our citizens, and who walk that fine line between democracy and repression with due caution. Muchos gracias, mis amigos.

Salud.

Pour That Man the Best Drink in the Cantina

Richard from the Panda's Thumb earned my undying affection long ago. He works his ass off keeping us up on the antics of the anti-science crowd, and he did me the great honor of agreeing to be one of my Wise Readers in the event I actually get away from political bullshit long enough to actually write a story. (Which will happen just as soon as Obama and the Dems sink this rim shot, I swear it.)

Now, he's earned himself a lifetime of free drinks:

A Way With Words

Apropos of practically nothing normally on PT, I really like Dana Hunter’s way with words...

*blush*

Muchos gracias, mi amigo.

This goes for all of you, my darlings: I will never be able to express all of you mean to me. You're my light in dark places. And you do outstanding work making this world a better place. You're very much appreciated.

Never forget that.

Wow. Just.... Wow.

Sitemeter led me to a new delight tonight: PTET.

Leads DaveScot around by the nose.

Unleashes the Smack-o-Matic until Denyse O'Leary blubbers.

Has the same soft spot for Buddhism I do (once the religious crap's stripped away and the philosophy's left to shine).

I likes this blog!

Oh, and, you know, there was that really nice compliment that melted me into a soppy little puddle:

While I'm in a blog-rolling mood, props to En Tequila Es Verdad for being without question the best blog in the world today...

Wow. I mean... really... wow. That's overwhelming, is what that is. Gracias.

But you know what? This blog wouldn't be anything without my readers. I scribble it, but you, my darlings, are the ones who inspire it. So that compliment, there: that belongs to you.

Salud, mi amigos.

Gracias, Gracias Mil Veces

(Oh, dear lord, I didn't realize the word for "times" looks almost exactly like "feces." Silly español. Don't take that the wrong way.)

I just wanted to give you all a huge thank you, En Tequila Es Verdad style. I expected a few comments from the regulars, not the flood from new, old and lurkers alike, when I asked for your input on this blog's content.

You've given me a plethora of fresh directions. I'm reassured that there's something I'm doing right. And that's going to ensure that this community of cantina commentators continues without going stale. I owe you for that. You all drink for free.

This blog is all about you guys. I know it looks like politics, religion and the occasional bit of science, but underneath it all is you. Never forget that. Keep the suggestions coming, and don't be afraid to make demands in the future. I'll be right here, listening to every word.

Salud, amigos y amigas.