Carnivals!

If you're going to be hosting a carnival (like me), you might want to wander through Sour Duck’s Carnival Host Notes. Some of what she says about hosting the Feminist Carnival doesn't apply to smaller affairs, but it's all worth thinking about in advance... There's a new edition of the carnival, too. Looks like lots of good stuff again.

The lastest Skeptics' Circle is in the form of an Icelandic Saga (yeah, the boring "they all sat around the table and told tales" bits, but the writing's good and the links are worth it).

We haven't hit bottom yet...

Microsoft's blog-hosting service has been blatantly censoring users at the behest of Chinese authorities. Not because there's a legal necessity: just because they were asked.

And Rodney Balko asks the question do you know what's going on? Not directly, but it's a cute column. Scary, but cute.

Misology

In a comment on my Agnotology post, pantagruel points out another very useful word: misology, the hatred (mis-) of knowledge, learning, argument or reason (-ology). Here's more about it, including a technical consulting firm which is apparently hoping that nobody knows what the word means....

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

You are Milk Chocolate

A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds. You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life. Also nostalgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago.

What Kind of Chocolate Are You? [via]

The description isn't totally wrong, to be fair. But I don't identify any of that with white chocolate: sweet but insubstantial, elegant in appearance but adding little flavor... not me!

[UPDATE: Yes, I see that it says Milk Chocolate. I'm not sure what happened, because I clearly remember it coming up as White Chocolate before. Brain spasm, as my brother used to say, I guess. For the record, I don't think that's a terribly good description of Milk Chocolate, either.]

Inflation Ahead, and it's deliberate

The Cunning Realist argues that the Fed is moving towards inflation but trying to keep it quiet and relatively slow (I don't think he adequately takes the midterm elections into account: unless there's some way to blame it on Democrats as a group, the Fed will do everything in its power to keep gas prices from spiking next summer). This represents a stark shift from Greenspan's previous pattern, and should, as TCR says, be explained publicly, but it might represent the fruits of the transition to his successor, who's more of a money-supply guy.

Dramatic, Powerful, Flirty. Ice Cream?

You Are Chocolate Ice Cream

Dramatic. Powerful. Flirty.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You? [via]

There's so much more to say about this flavor. So much....

Is there a Carnival for You?

It used to be that blogging carnivals were few and far between, but it seems that there's a regular roundup for everyone, now. The inaugural edition (a.k.a. "First Date") of the Jewish Dating Blogcarnival has appeared.

There's a carnival for ME! I've volunteered to host the next Bad History Carnival, so keep your eyes peeled for bad historians, analogies, and other ahistoricalities.

It's not technically a carnival, but Penny Richards' disability blog roundup has some great reading as usual.

And to the Harry Potter fans I've offended... tough. I'm still a serious fantasy and science fiction geek, but I was never a trekkie. I've read Star Wars books, showed up the first day for movies, played with plastic figures.... but I grew up (and I never played out the Star Wars stories with the figures: we made up our own stories). I've been to Science Fiction Conventions (but never a TrekCon). I'm sorry, I just don't get fandom; I think it's pathological and I think the fandom economy (and it is an industry, people: you are a market) is highly problematic.

Collected Atrocities

After having their illegal activities revealed, the Bush administration, typically, goes after the whistleblowers and threatens the publishers. Administration supporters volte face spryly because it's "their guy" or "a crisis" or whatever they think will fly. Because they, at least, are not quitters, they will continue throwing human resources at a problem until they figure out what the problem is.

Because we can't get an exemption, the US has stopped promoting the landmine ban treaty. Because they might have real weapons, we won't do anything about the North Korean kakistocracy.

For a very different sort of atrocity, this will set your teeth on edge (via Tigerlily). This, on the other hand is just disgusting (via Chris Bray). And the utter vacuity of Western Civilization stands revealed here.

And, Anne Zook's been accumulating atrocities as well. No overlap, as near as I can tell, with my list. Damn.

2005 in epigram

Via Bill, at So Quoted, I found Ann Althouse's quotes of the year. It's not bad, as a year in review. What it's missing is the undercurrent of ephithets...

For a subtly frightening year in review for Asia, go here. And for a list of current armed conflicts (some of which date back a half-century), go here. And weep.

New Year's Resolutions

I am NOT going to list over a hundred goals for the year. I am NOT going to sell everything and buy a motor home to meet new people. I might take these into account...

Actually, I hate New Year's Resolutions. I know what's wrong with me, mostly, and I know what needs to be done. New Year's is just one of several annual "oh, shit. I'm older and still stuck" moments which pass by me every year. I make the same resolutions every time, and I honestly don't think I've ever made any progress on them. But let's see if making them public (yet anonymous) helps.

Here's the short list:

• lose weight and sleep more (yes, those go together)
• blog better: perhaps less frequently, but with more focus (see)
• Manage time (instead of letting it pass me by; also cutting out clear time-wasters)
• Figure out how to be professionally happy not just conceptually (I love my job, in theory) but actually (I'm not so sure about the work I do), which will include, ironically, working harder at it, not to mention considering alternatives.
• Take and share and archive more pictures
• write more letters/e-mails

That's enough. If I can make progress in most of those areas, 2006 will indeed be a better year.