A Hero Of Many Galaxies

One of my favorite authors and comics writers, Harry Harrison, passed on Wednesday at the age of 87.  The Comics Reporter has a rundown of his work:

In the 1960s, Harrison began the novel series through which he is probably best remembered. The Stainless Steel Rat books focused on the thief/smuggler Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Deathworld books on culture and environmental clashes on the backdrop of a difficult-to-colonize planet, the Bill The Galactic Hero book offered up direct parodies of bad science fiction. Like many of the most popular and well-liked genre authors of the 20th Century, Harrison's work was generally smart but offered multiple entrance points for readers of various ages. They are frequently cited by current writers and fans of science fiction and fantasy as influential books from early on in their discovery of that kind of writing.

His 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! was the basis for the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green, and contains potent elements of social criticism only a few of which made it into the film version. It was dedicated to Harrison's then-young children, which gives poignancy to the novel's strong foreboding nature. In the 1970s, Harrison and the author Brian Aldiss worked as anthology series co-editors and were among the leaders in that corner of publishing in terms of collecting valuable material from decades past.

Like several authors of his generation, Harrison used the relative freedom of being a writer (no doubt in close conjunction that living costs be kept relatively low in an uncertain profession) to live in various places around the world. He would reside at various times in Denmark, England, Ireland, Italy and Mexico. For a time he taught a science fiction course at San Diego State University and organized similar courses in university summer programs. He continued his involvement in various fan- and professional-driven science fiction organization and was a presence at a lot of the early conventions.

Three 12-episode adaptation of Stainless Steel Rat stories appeared in 2000 AD in the late '70s to early '80s. "The Stainless Steel Rat" ran in #s 140-151 (1979/80), "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World" ran in #s 166-177 (1980) and "The Stainless Steel Rat For President" appeared in #s 393-404 (1984/85). Some of this material appeared in 1985 from Eagle Comics under its own cover.

In 2009, Harrison won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He was involved in advocacy for Esperanto; the language appears in some of his novels. He won a Nebula Award for Best Script and was nominated for multiple Locus Awards.

A last major piece of writing was released two years ago -- another Stainless Steel Rat book -- and Harrison claimed to be working on a secret project.

I grew up with Slippery Jim's exploits across the stars as a kid and discovered Bill the Space Trooper (who keeps getting parts from people he's not too fond of) in high school, and from there branched out into space, cyberpunk and military sci-fi writers like Heinlein, John Scalzi, Simon Green, David Weber, and William Gibson, but it was Harry Harrison's Vietnam "war is hell" metaphors that really made the genre interesting, thought-provoking and darkly funny to a young, snarky Zandar.   Even through Stainless Steel Rat's adventures are 50 years old, they remained as relevant to the world now as they did then and are definitely worth the read.  He's the first atheist hero I can recall reading about, too.

I hope Harrison's project sees the light of day.  Make that happen, universe.

Thanking A Vet - Doing It Right

Dennis Hall is dying.  The 63-year-old veteran has terminal cancer, and one of his final wishes is to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.  It is a simple request, but one the man is unable to afford.

His family held a garage sale and a bake sale as well, hoping to raise enough money to help him accomplish his goals.  Local news broadcast the story, and the total donations reached thousands of dollars.  Enough to send him on his trip, with the remainder to help with his medical bills.  His daughter will go with him to the memorial, where he can pay his respects to those who fought beside him, and those who fell.

It warms the heart to see people rally to show appreciation for those who risked their lives for us.  Perhaps our government will be inspired to do more of the same.

Don't Stand For It

Sitting has become such a part of our lifestyle that we don't even notice it.  Television turned one generation into couch potatoes, computers another, video games a triple threat.  By now we have mostly forgotten what it was like to live in a world without easy transportation or delivery to our living rooms.

Healthwise, it is starting to take a toll on people.

Government statistics suggest that almost half of us report sitting more than six hours a day; 65% say they spend more than two hours a day watching TV.

But it's taking a toll on health. A recent study showed that if people spent less than three hours a day sitting, it would add two years to the average U.S. life expectancy. And research has linked sitting too much to increased risks of diabetes and death from cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Endocrinologist James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., talks about sitting disease and how to get out of the chair and move more. Levine did some of the original research on the topic and is still investigating it — from a treadmill at his desk.

The article explains how we can and should start utilizing standing workspaces.  Employers are catching on, and as we start to take baby steps back towards active lifestyles, this is the easiest place for us to work in some extra movement.  I get up every hour and walk a "lap" at my job, which stops my restless legs and increases my productivity.  Walking has always been helpful when my mind is stuck on something, I always stroll my neighborhood when a story is nagging at me, so it makes perfect sense it could breathe new life into boring desk jobs.

Depending on the type of work, we can get so busy we neglect our bodies.  I work 14 hours days regularly, but during none of those tasks do I have to be standing.  I write for two hours a day at least, and move nothing but my fingertips.  My greatest exercise is the occasional forehead slap.

The expense isn't that great if we just start building them that way now, and when inevitable remodels come around.  Standing or flexible workstations are important in a world where you can kill yourself doing what you're expected to do.

Felix Felicitas

King Felix Hernandez earned his moniker for the Seattle Mariners as he retired 27 in a row for a perfect game on an idle Wednesday afternoon at Safeco Field.

The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner has long talked of his desire to achieve pitching perfection. He finally accomplished it against the Rays, striking out the side twice and finishing with 12 strikeouts.

It was the third perfect game in baseball this season -- a first -- joining gems by Chicago's Philip Humber against the Mariners in April and San Francisco's Matt Cain versus Houston in June.

 More than half of all perfectos -- 12 -- have come in the last 25 seasons.This also was the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season, three of them at Safeco Field. Humber threw his gem in Seattle, then six Mariners pitchers combined to hold the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless at the park on June 8. Prior to Wednesday, no team has ever had a combined no-hitter and a complete game no-hitter in the same season.

For the Rays, it was an all-too-familiar feeling. This was the third time in four seasons they had a perfect game pitched against them, following efforts by Dallas Braden in 2010 and Mark Buehrle in 2009. They've been no-hit four times over the past four seasons.

The lesson here is clear:  Every MLB game can be one for the record books, and if the Rays come to town, you should go, just in case you want to cross something off your bucket list.  Congrats to Felix and the Mariners, certainly.

Somebody ought to do some charts on the number of perfect games thrown during the Obama administration, just saying.

Priscilla, Queen Bitch Of The Desert

GOP Gov. Jan Brewer has decided that no, Arizona really doesn't have to follow executive orders issued by this President because he's a Kenyan Muslim anyway, so screw him and DON'T TREAD ON ME.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) has signed an executive order that attempts to thwart President Obama’s directive extending temporary work permits to more than a million undocumented immigrants. The Obama administration’s policy — which would grant two-year work authorizations to undocumented youth between 15 and 30 years of age who have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least five years — was announced in June and went into effect on Wednesday.

 Brewer’s order directs “state agencies to deny driver’s licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations” and “directs state agencies to start emergency rulemaking processes as necessary to implement her order.”

At this point I honestly expect Brewer to issue a diktat that states Arizona is no longer subject to federal laws and regulations anymore, and that President Sweet Sweetback is welcome to come to bring his boys down and try and do something about it.

As I recall, South Carolina did something similar about 150 years ago.  Let's see where this goes, Jan.

StupidiNews!

• India plans an ambitious launch of a Mars orbiter probe in late 2013, trying to become the first Asian country to reach the red planet.
• Chefs and foodies across the planet celebrated Julia Child's 100th birthday, as the late cooking icon was saluted by restaurants worldwide.
• Wednesday marked the day President Obama's deferment program for young undocumented immigrants went into effect, with thousands lining up in cities across the country to register.
• Facebook's stock lockup period expires today, as employees can now sell their stock on the market and many analysts warn the selloff could be sharp.
• More and more US cities and counties are turning to cameras that capture license plate numbers as "force multipliers" on stopping criminal activity, but privacy advocates are crying foul.

Last Call

And speaking of obvious efforts to disenfranchise traditional Democratic voters in swing states, a state judge in Pennsylvania has refused to block the state's bogus voter ID law that's so clearly awful that it had one GOP official crowing it would hand the state over to Romney in November.

A state judge on Wednesday refused to block Pennsylvania’s controversial voter ID law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson’s 70-page order wasn’t yet available on the court’s website, but a docket entry noted that the law would not be enjoined.

Simpson did not rule on the case’s merits, only on whether it could be enjoined.  Opponents of the law are expected to appeal to the state’s Supreme Court.

Time's running out, of course, so the GOP is dragging their heels to kill the clock.

Opponents of the law were confident it would be overturned when the trial wrapped up in early August. The state had admitted it had no evidence of in-person voter fraud taking place in the state and did not expect in-person fraud to take place if the law wasn’t enacted.

Remember, this is a law that prevents "voter fraud" that doesn't exist...but in doing so it prevents hundreds of thousands of the poor, the elderly, urban minorities and students from voting by throwing up extra barriers.  And should Pennsylvania not be able to provide the hundreds of thousands of voter IDs it needs to send out to people who don't drive or can't afford an ID card, well that's just a shame that their votes won't count, right?  Gotta protect the vote.

Apparently it needs to be protected from Democrats.  Who knew that the GOP coming to power in the state would lead to such an obvious effort to rig elections to forever stay in power?

Oh wait.  Everybody knew.

Teabagger Threat Matrix

Keep in mind the point of open threats like this is to not only stoke the GOP base, but to remind the rest of the voters what they're in for should they choose to re-elect the President. 

A small group of protesters in Elkhart, Indiana gathered near a tea party billboard on Monday, decrying the political ad for comparing President Barack Obama to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

The billboard, paid for by a tea party group We the People of Marshall and Fulton County, says: “The Navy Seals removed one threat to America. The voters must remove the other.”

The demonstration was organized by the Elkhart County Democrats, Occupy Elkhart activists and Indiana Senate candidate Jim Ball (D), according to The Elkhart Truth. The protesters described the billboard as “ignorant” and chastised the tea party group for “adding militaristic jingoism” to the political debate.

Sue Chilberg, a local Tea Party activist, told The Elkhart Truth that she supports the billboard because it urges voters “to do something about the very real threat of socialism.”

 "Wouldn't it be easier if Mitt Romney was in charge?  You swing voters can make all of this go away, you know..."

It's terrorism aimed at swing voters is what it is, let's be honest.  If only people would "remove the threat" of Obama, so if you voters do it, the unsaid "then one of us won't have to" remains unsaid, you see.  Bonus points for comparing him to Osama again, that was soooo 2010.

But somebody called Bush "Hitler" once, so it's all completely fair because DON'T TREAD ON ME and my rights to not have a black President, right?

Scare The Crap Out Of Grandma

It looks like 60 Plus, the pro-GOP SuperPAC outfit designed to outright lie to seniors about the Affordable Care Act (and they did a hell of a job in 2010) is back this year in Florida and Ohio, trying to turn the conversation away from Paul Ryan's Medicare cuts by scaring your grandparents about "Obamacare's death panels".  Politico's Alex Burns:

The conservative 60 Plus Association is launching ads in the Ohio and Florida Senate races today, criticizing Democratic incumbents for the Independent Payment Advisory Board set up by the Democratic-backed national health care law.

I reported earlier this week that 60 Plus was gearing up for a fresh round of ads. The spots – shared early with POLITICO – feature singer Pat Boone saying that “a lot of promises were made regarding health care reform,” that haven’t panned out.

“The new health care law creates a board of 15 unelected bureaucrats. It’s like a Medicare IRS, with a power to cut Medicare in order to pay for new government programs,” the narrator says.

The ads close with Boone reappearing on screen: “Call Sen. Nelson. Tell him, unaccountable bureaucrats should never have the power to deny you the care you deserve.”

The ads start running today with $276,000 behind then in Florida and $232,000 behind them in Ohio.

Which is a complete fabrication, by the way.  The board can make suggestions about cutting waste and fraud, but ultimately their suggestions have to be acted upon by Congress.  It's only if Congress or the President refuses to even consider their suggestions that they can be implemented without a vote on Capitol Hill.  Otherwise, the board is effectively toothless...unlike the unelected insurance company officials who get to decide who lives and who dies every day by denying coverage.

Those are your real death panels, folks.  And Paul Ryan wants to put them back in charge of everyone's health care, including those who would be receiving Medicare in the future and cutting benefits from those receiving Medicare now by making massive cuts to Medicaid, which goes to help the most vulnerable seniors.

It's clear that the right doesn't want to talk about Paul Ryan's plan to hurt seniors.  All they can do is lie about Obamacare and hope that you once again fall for it.

omg txt contest winner

A 17-year-old has out-tapped the competition to hold onto the title of being the US's fastest texter.

Austin Weirschke from Wisconsin beat 10 other competitors at the sixth National Texting Championship held in New York.

Contestants had to do one task with their vision blocked and another with their hands behind their back.

Mr Weirschke said he planned to put the $50,000 (£32,012) prize money towards paying for his college education.

The competition - which is sponsored by LG Electronics and featured one device with a physical keyboard - put three skills to the test: accuracy, speed and dexterity.

The article actually has a lot of interesting factoids, including the many ways they test the competitors to ensure they have the champ.  They raise challenges I would have never thought to, including how to type words backwards, or while facing distractions.

I'm glad to see the winner is going to use the funds for college.  Let's face it, many wouldn't be so mature, especially the stereotypical youth who sends 500 messages a day to train for this.

Well done, sir.

Follow Up: Woman Shot In Hospital "Mercy Killing"

CLEVELAND (AP) -- John Wise watched a tear roll down his wife's face as he stood alongside her bed in the intensive care unit. She'd been unable to speak after suffering a stroke and seemed to be blinking to acknowledge him, Wise confided to a friend who had driven him to the hospital. 

The couple had been married 45 years and Wise told his friend that they had agreed long ago they didn't want to live out their years bedridden and disabled. 

So a week after Barbara Wise's stroke, investigators say, her husband fired a single round into her head. She died the next day, leading prosecutors to charge the 66-year-old man with aggravated murder Wednesday in what police suspect was a mercy killing. 

The shooting leaves authorities in a dilemma some experts say will happen with greater frequency as the baby boom generation ages - what is the appropriate punishment when a relative kills a loved one to end their suffering?

It brings up a lot of good points.  First, killing is killing.  He shot his wife, and while motive helps us understand, it doesn't change the fact that he committed murder.  She could have been crying because she wanted to live.  She may have recovered, given time.  Even if this was a mercy killing, it was premature and unfair to both of them.

But should it be murder?  That's when it gets complicated in a hurry.  It's been a while since I've taken this topic, so let me refresh my stance for new readers. I believe in supporting those who choose to go out fighting to the last breath if that is what they want to do.  I also support ending suffering in a rational, dignified and well planned way if that is what someone wants to do when facing terminal illness.  It's time we regained ownership of our lives, and  the ability to declare our end of life wishes, free of what others want to impose on us.  Our medical choices are our own.  It's time for the law to allow us to make choices and put them down to be honored, in there with allergy information and other medical standards.

Also let it serve as a reminder that accidents happen.  Pianos fall from skies, drunks drive at all times of day. If end of life decisions are important to you, handle it now.  Don't just tell people what you want and hang the burden on them.  Write it down, get it taken care of so the people who love you most aren't torn.

This is so sad from so many angles.

Epic Presidential Shinkuu Hadoken Win

So, this happened.



See, Orange Julius?  He's doing something about the drought.   By SHOWING THE SUN WHO'S BOSS.

Unleash Joe Biden, Chain Of Fools Edition

Vice President Joe Biden made an unfortunate choice of words on Tuesday.

A defiant Vice President Joe Biden is denouncing Republican criticism over his remarks to southern Virginia voters that presidential challenger Mitt Romney would put them "back in chains" but concedes he meant to use different words.

The campaign flap began after Biden told supporters in Danville, Va., that the Republican ticket wanted to "unchain Wall Street." He then added: "They're going to put y'all back in chains."

Biden, speaking later in Wytheville, says he had meant to use the term "unshackled."

But he did not apologize and mocked the Romney campaign for showing outrage.

Nor should he, considering Rick Santorum and Allen West beat him to the punch months ago. 

Rick Santorum invoked chains last summer to warned Iowa voters that health care reform would lull citizens into government dependency. “They will put you in chains called ‘Obamacare,’ and you will never break away,” Santorum said.

Florida Rep. Allen West went a step further, likening Obama’s programs to slavery. “He does not want you to have the self-esteem of getting up and earning and having that title of American,” West said in July. “He’d rather you be his slave.”

The difference:  Joe Biden is man enough to admit he could have used a different phrase.  Keep that in mind.

StupidiNews!

• Wildfires in Washington state have scorched 28,000 acres and 60 homes as firefighters try to contain the blaze.
• The Secret Service is investigating a burned cat staked to an Obama campaign sign in a Minneapolis park as a possible threat.
• Retiring Blue Dog Dem Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California is now resigning immediately, citing both personal issues and the House's recess for all but a few weeks between now and Election Day.
• Hong-Kong based Standard Chartered has settled with the State of New York for $340 million over violation of Iranian sanctions, but the company still faces federal probes.
• With its software upgrade complete, the Mars Curiosity rover is now beaming back panoramic views of the red planet as it explores the surface of Mars.

Last Call

Since I’m feeling kinda floaty today anyway, I’ll warn you about getting out of the boat into Jennifer Rubin country.  Do not go there, brave traveler.  It is a silly place.

The latest media obsession (or is it an Obama campaign talking point?) is to demand Mitt Romney explain how his budget and entitlement ideas differ from those Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). When he declines, the media screams, “Evasion!” 

Why on earth would Romney answer that, and, more important, does anyone care? If the media is really interested in a compare and contrast exercise they can do their own analysis or ask some staffers. Romney, of course, is running at the top of the ticket, and both Romney and Ryan are running on Romney’s agenda. All Romney need do is explain what HE is for and how that differs from the president’s plans. Is there any voter who will decide to vote for or against Romney because of deviations from the plan his VP has proposed? That would be a first.

The media might have a point if Ryan had criticized Romney’s plans or if his own plans were vastly different from Romney’s. But in basic framework there is no difference between the two. They both want to lower tax rates and expand the base. Both Ryan and Romney want to block grant and reform Medicaid. Both favor a premium-support plan for Medicare. In short, they are in sync on every significant fiscal issue, and Ryan has agreed to be Romney’s VP.

I don’t even have to say anything at this point, she is the tautology of terribadness, the existential essence of ERHMAGERD, the dao of derp.

I’ll say it anyway.  Jennifer Rubin is so shamefully awful a shill for Romney, that if his programming included the advanced neural algorithms to approximate embarrassment he’d have to sit her down and let her cry on his synthetic pauldrons for a while until he had to flush his cache.  It actually causes physical pain for me to contemplate how bad the other employees of the Post have to feel when they read Rubin’s whiny, adolescent crap.  Why somebody in charge up there hasn’t told her “look, you’re pretty much the worst political pundit on the planet, and we would actually gain readership on a sustained basis if we fired you just from the intensity of the euphoria generated by your terminated employment” I have no idea, other than I guess they like what she writes.  That thought alone could rip apart suns.

Here’s another thought.  The Romney camp should just hire her.  They really, really do deserve each other, and she can go on pundit shows and say “Why should Mitt Romney have to answer that question?  Who cares?” because why should our media do anything that mitt Romney doesn’t like?  Why should they ask questions when everyone knows the purpose of the media is to crap out talking points like owl pellets and nod seriously?  Heck, then she could get paid in energon cubes or whatever Romneybot runs on these days and we could all be really happy far, far away from the both of them.