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Guns, Crabs, “That’s not cutting a rug”, Dancing, Homeless Jesus, and SCIENCE!

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This entry is part 6 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Today’s stream of stuff, plus a few from over the weekend… the most popular of which was quite the discussion about the Second Amendment.

I’m at the computer far later than I’ve been trying to be lately. Mostly because I was at a Silver Spring Citizens’ Advisory Board meeting earlier in the evening. That always throws my schedule off. (Though not at much as those good ol’ town board meetings I covered when I worked for the paper up in rural NY… some of those ran until near midnight.)

There’s a lot that goes on in the Silver Spring area. There’s a lot more that’s going to be going on in the next decade or so. There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding–and distrust–of the process. I’ve seen that before (re: the aforementioned board meetings way back when). That’s a common problem when it comes to the public and government. I don’t have a good solution to offer, but it’s would have to involve the government finding time and money to more actively engage the public than it does while cleaning up any actual incorrect information. Of course, that requires people not being so paranoid about the government lying to them… which, of course, is a sadly earned reputation the government has acquired over the years.

So, here’s the thing: If you’re even close to being a concerned citizen when it comes to any topic, make an effort to look not just into the situation that has you concerned, but also get familiar with the process it goes through and check out other projects that have gone through that same process. Then, at least, you’ll know if you should be paranoid or not. You’ll also be able to (nicely?) let your officials know if they’re screwing something else or saying things that could confuse others.

Or, y’know, everyone can just continue to shout at one another… whatever… 😉

Geek Cred, Stupid Kids, Good Crazy/Bad Crazy, Muppet Christ Superstar, Old Mall Nostalgia, Thor in Drag, and a Whole Lotta T-Rex

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This entry is part 7 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

One thing technology has really let us do is get a different view into the lives of celebrities. Now, on their terms, we can see them as real people–not just icons on a stage or screen. That down-to-earth-ness also means the lines of communication between fans and celebrities are more open now than they’ve ever been before.

One of my favorite things about Twitter, especially when I was watching TV shows in real-time, was being able to give a shout-out to the various cast and crew members letting them know when they particularly impressed me or jumping in to some other conversation that was going on. Getting an actual, real time response was always nice.

Well, now I can say “Achievement Unlocked: Celebrity Feedback!” for YouTube, too. For certain values of “celebrity,” at least. Posted a jokey comment on the latest Nerdist News vid, making what I thought was a tired, overused pun… but apparently host Jessica Chobot hadn’t heard it before and said she wished she’d thought of it to end the show with.

Some days, it’s the little things that help.

Not that a wee bit of YouTube celebrity digital love could balance out all the other news I was reading through and pondering online during the day. (Though all the T-rex stuff did help a lot with that.) We live in a problematic world and, sadly, the bad stuff doesn’t really surprise me any more.

Working a Pole, Hoofin’ It, Haunted Island For Sale, Toxic Interpretation, Our Panopticon, Sacred Nature, and a New Moon

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This entry is part 8 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Anyone who knows me, knows I have an affinity for creepy things. Maybe it’s because I grew up on classic horror films. Maybe it’s because I’m just a morbid bastard. The why doesn’t really matter…

I’ve often said that I’d pay extra for a haunted house. It’s true. I would. So when I see a place that’s billed “the most haunted place in the world” go up for sale, I truly lament my lack of billions of dollars to toss around with wild abandon.

And it really warms my dark and twisted little heart when I see a bunch of other people I know responding to the news in the same, gleeful way.

Some day, we’ll all have our own haunted island. And we’ll just dare the rest of you to come and visit.

Not Good Advice, Not Nazis, Not the Inside of a Building, Not Cool, Not Ishtar, Not Catholic, Not Earth

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This entry is part 9 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

There’s a lot of misinformation that floats around online. Today there were two big bits that just needed something said.

The first was that ridiculous “Ishtar is pronounced Easter” image meme making the rounds. It misrepresents pretty much everything about Ishtar and Easter. I let it slide the first couple of times I saw it… but by the fourth or fifth I just had to start telling people it was utterly incorrect. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who was totally annoyed by it, so there was already a nice vitriolic article with the proper information to link to.

The second bit was a much bigger deal. The initial reports had Ukraine requiring Jews to register with the government. That, of course, never goes well and is totally not cool. It’s also a bit out of character for any actual country (especially one that’s recently had the eyes of the world on it) to do in this day and age… so it smelled a little fishy to me and I held off indignantly posting about it. Soon enough, in another thread, another friend of mine who is much more knowledgeable about the goings on in Russia and Ukraine chimed in, mentioning that the people passing out the notices of the required registration were being called terrorists by the Russian and Ukrainian media… pretty much cementing that it’s definitely not a government program. Then an article turned up laying all that out.

There was a third bit that I hoped was some sort of hoax, but, after some quick checking, it turned out that, no, a school did, indeed, distribute some of the absolute worst, most harmful, and utterly idiotic guidelines for how its 5th grade students should deal with bullies. It included “Don’t tell anyone about it,” and a bunch of other stuff that came down to “If it keeps happening, it’s obviously your fault.” Totally not cool. Thankfully, there’s an appropriate level of outrage about this.

Rockin’ it With One String, Some Jesus Jokes, Minons With Pets, Awesome Con, and Useful Dark Emotions

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This entry is part 10 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The second annual Awesome Con kicked off today. I couldn’t make it to the “preview” day, but I apparently had a bunch of friends who were there and it looks decent enough. I’ll be there all weekend… since I was in on the Kickstarter and got a good deal on the passes. I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking forward to–I still don’t think I’m a big enough fan of anything–but I have little doubt I’ll see some interesting stuff.

Easter may be one of the more serious liturgical holidays for Christians (at least leading up to the whole Resurrection thing), but that’s exactly the sort of setup that makes for some funny takes on things. There were a couple of those in the feed today. The X-Men flavored one was a particular favorite, though texting at Gethsemane (instead of dozing off) is an appropriate modernization, I think.

Oh, and in case you missed it, according to Princeton, the U.S. isn’t even close to a democracy any more. Nope, we’re an oligarchy now. So, pay up in order to have a voice.