So, here's something to amuse you while you're shutting down Oakland.
via Boing Boing.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Nothing in Biology Makes Sense
So, we're on a somewhat restricted publication schedule here at Lost in Transcription, as we are entering Day 4 of no power following Saturday's "Snoctogeddon." Still not clear how many more days until the lights (and heat) come back on, or how long every place with WiFi will be overrun with laptop refugees.
In the meantime, let me point you to a new group blog, which takes it's name from Theodosius Dobzhansky's famous quotation, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." I wrote about the origin of the quotation here, and featured this anagram-themed Darwin Eats Cake strip:
The new blog's name is "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense," and features the even something-er URL http://nothinginbiology.org/. It features writing from Simone Des Roches, Devin Drown, Sarah Hird, CJ Jenkins, Noah Reid, Chris Smith, Luke Swenson, Jeremy Yoder, and Jonathan Yoder (the fightin' Yoders!).
The venture is only a few weeks old, but features veteran bloggers, and already has some really interesting posts.
Read it!
In the meantime, let me point you to a new group blog, which takes it's name from Theodosius Dobzhansky's famous quotation, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." I wrote about the origin of the quotation here, and featured this anagram-themed Darwin Eats Cake strip:
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| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=19 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/19.jpg |
The venture is only a few weeks old, but features veteran bloggers, and already has some really interesting posts.
Read it!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Occupy the East India Trading Company
So, remember the third, terrible Pirates of the Caribbean movie? The big villain is Lord Cutler Beckett, a bigwig at the fictional East India Trading Company (any similarity to the East India Company purely coincidental).
His catch phrase, which he says whenever he is screwing someone over or doing something unethical, is "It's just good business." Which makes him sort of emblematic of what the whole Occupy movement is protesting against.
Near the end of the movie, all of his scheming and manipulation has backfired. We are treated to a prolonged sequence of him walking down a flight of stairs on his ship while the ship (the whole world, one could say) is collapsing (or, rather, exploding) around him. He repeats his catchphrase just before being engulfed in a huge fireball.
In honor of Lord Beckett, I whipped up this little thing. Feel free to share it before the cease-and-desist order comes.
And here is the thematically related next installation in the Occupy Darwin Eats Cake series:
His catch phrase, which he says whenever he is screwing someone over or doing something unethical, is "It's just good business." Which makes him sort of emblematic of what the whole Occupy movement is protesting against.
Near the end of the movie, all of his scheming and manipulation has backfired. We are treated to a prolonged sequence of him walking down a flight of stairs on his ship while the ship (the whole world, one could say) is collapsing (or, rather, exploding) around him. He repeats his catchphrase just before being engulfed in a huge fireball.
In honor of Lord Beckett, I whipped up this little thing. Feel free to share it before the cease-and-desist order comes.
And here is the thematically related next installation in the Occupy Darwin Eats Cake series:
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| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=67 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/67.jpg |
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Public radio, Occupy, and Darwin Eats Cake
So, look, I like public radio as much as the next guy. Which is to say, you know, Car Talk is sort of funny, I guess. But at this point, I think I'm pretty much done with them.
It seems that these guys are so desperate to avoid accusations of liberal bias (even if they come from unabashedly biased right-wing sources) that they will fire (or force someone else to fire) anyone who participates in the Occupy protests.
The first was opera reporter Lisa Simeone, who participated in an Occupy-related protest near Washington. She was the host of Soundprint, an independently produced show distributed by NPR, but was fired after pressure from NPR, which was prompted by criticism from Fox News and the Daily Caller. Her other show, World of Opera, refused to fire her, so NPR dropped distribution of the show, which will now be distributed by North Carolina' WDAV.
Simeone noted that, if she is in violation of NPR's ethics codes for speaking outside of work, then so are a lot of NPRs political reporters. Of course, the difference is that she was acting as an individual citizen, and not being paid, plus, she does not talk about politics at all in her radio show. Other people, who are political reporters, get paid to speak for businesses and on mainstream media outlets. So, there's that.
Just to recap: Opera reporter exercises free speech, for free, on her own time? Ethics violation. Political reporter paid by corporations to talk politics on their own time? AOK!
More recently, Caitlin Curran was fired from her job at The Takeaway, which is produced by WNYC and Public Radio International, after becoming virally famous for this photo:
You can read Curran's first-hand account on Gawker.
My guess is that public radio is running scared right now from the right-wing attack on their federal funding, which has been going on forever, but has been particularly vocal over the past six months or so. Here's the thing, though, it does not matter how much you bend over to appease the right. They are going to keep coming after you. Even if all the federal funding is taken away, they are still going to keep coming after you.
The problem is that to the right, public radio is inherently symbolic of liberalism, if for no other reason than that it does not pander to anti-intellectualism.
Anyway, all of this brings us to the latest episode of Darwin Eats Cake. I posted the first two strips in the Occupy Darwin Eats Cake series here. Here are the next three:
It seems that these guys are so desperate to avoid accusations of liberal bias (even if they come from unabashedly biased right-wing sources) that they will fire (or force someone else to fire) anyone who participates in the Occupy protests.
The first was opera reporter Lisa Simeone, who participated in an Occupy-related protest near Washington. She was the host of Soundprint, an independently produced show distributed by NPR, but was fired after pressure from NPR, which was prompted by criticism from Fox News and the Daily Caller. Her other show, World of Opera, refused to fire her, so NPR dropped distribution of the show, which will now be distributed by North Carolina' WDAV.
Simeone noted that, if she is in violation of NPR's ethics codes for speaking outside of work, then so are a lot of NPRs political reporters. Of course, the difference is that she was acting as an individual citizen, and not being paid, plus, she does not talk about politics at all in her radio show. Other people, who are political reporters, get paid to speak for businesses and on mainstream media outlets. So, there's that.
Just to recap: Opera reporter exercises free speech, for free, on her own time? Ethics violation. Political reporter paid by corporations to talk politics on their own time? AOK!
More recently, Caitlin Curran was fired from her job at The Takeaway, which is produced by WNYC and Public Radio International, after becoming virally famous for this photo:
You can read Curran's first-hand account on Gawker.
My guess is that public radio is running scared right now from the right-wing attack on their federal funding, which has been going on forever, but has been particularly vocal over the past six months or so. Here's the thing, though, it does not matter how much you bend over to appease the right. They are going to keep coming after you. Even if all the federal funding is taken away, they are still going to keep coming after you.
The problem is that to the right, public radio is inherently symbolic of liberalism, if for no other reason than that it does not pander to anti-intellectualism.
Anyway, all of this brings us to the latest episode of Darwin Eats Cake. I posted the first two strips in the Occupy Darwin Eats Cake series here. Here are the next three:
 |
| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=64 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/64.jpg |
 |
| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=65 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/65.jpg |
 |
| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=66 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/66.jpg |
Friday, October 28, 2011
Raponomics update: Tap Dat A$$et
So, here's the best thing I've seen in a while. It's the latest entry in the raponomics genre, which is a thing now.
K-RUG in the house, yo!
Grab your pitchfork and end this plutocracy – it’s the only way to save our pseudo-democracy.
There's also a Keynes-Hayek smackdown rap here.
h/t to pillar of poetic righteousness D. A. Powell.
K-RUG in the house, yo!
Grab your pitchfork and end this plutocracy – it’s the only way to save our pseudo-democracy.
There's also a Keynes-Hayek smackdown rap here.
h/t to pillar of poetic righteousness D. A. Powell.
Iraq War vet injured by police at Occupy Oakland needs help
So, there's an update on Scott Olsen, the Iraq-War Vet whose skull was fractured by police at the Occupy Oakland protest. Olsen's status has been upgraded from "critical" to "fair," but that he will need to undergo surgery within the next couple of days to relieve pressure on his brain. Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace have set up donation sites to help cover medical bills.
Now, you might think that if you are a veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, and you get hospitalized by the police while engaging in a peaceful protest, that there would be some mechanism for covering medical bills that didn't rely on private donations. Of course, if we lived in that America, people would not have needed to be out protesting in the first place.
If you recall, the Washington Post's coverage of the violent police crackdown on protesters was illustrated by a picture of a policeman petting a cat that was "left behind by Wall Street Protesters." Well, that photo now has its own tumblr: Oakland Riot Cat. Here are a couple of samples.
where Quan is Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who still seems to think that she bears no responsibility for this.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Now, you might think that if you are a veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, and you get hospitalized by the police while engaging in a peaceful protest, that there would be some mechanism for covering medical bills that didn't rely on private donations. Of course, if we lived in that America, people would not have needed to be out protesting in the first place.
If you recall, the Washington Post's coverage of the violent police crackdown on protesters was illustrated by a picture of a policeman petting a cat that was "left behind by Wall Street Protesters." Well, that photo now has its own tumblr: Oakland Riot Cat. Here are a couple of samples.
where Quan is Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who still seems to think that she bears no responsibility for this.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Three-eyed Simpsons fish caught near Argentinian nuclear plant
So, who doesn't love it when life imitates art? Apparently, some fishermen near Córdoba, Argentina caught this fish:
Perhaps coincidentally, the fish was caught near the city's nuclear reactor.
Sadly, a brief survey of Córdoba's Wikipedia page reveal's no mention of a baseball team, glacier, gorge, or iconic lemon tree.
Spanish-language story here.
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| Image via Geekologie. |
Sadly, a brief survey of Córdoba's Wikipedia page reveal's no mention of a baseball team, glacier, gorge, or iconic lemon tree.
Spanish-language story here.
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