Links for 2010-07-15

""Good morning, sir. I have prepared a breakfast of scrambled egg, kippers and bacon, as per your request."
"Fantastic, Jeeves! I tell you truly, I've worked up a massive appetite and that's no mistake."
"Am I to assume that tonight's excursion went well, sir?"
"Well, it started off a bit sticky. My cape got all tangled when I went to punch this one hooligan in the face."
"Ah, yes. The cape."
"Jeeves, we've had this discussion twice now. The cape is part of the ensemble."
"We have had this discussion twice, sir, because your cape has gotten tangled up in your legs twice.""

"This happens about once a year, even here in blue-state land.

A student shows up to complain that his professor is gay, and that s/he is "trying to convert everybody." When I ask for specifics, the student quickly shifts gears to clarify that "I don't care what you do at home, but you shouldn't wave it around in my face." Seeing a complete lack of response, the student then asserts victimhood, alleging that the professor won't give a fair shake to students who don't agree with her.

I've tried a number of different responses over the years, with varying degrees of success."

"Tools like twitter - tools that give us a view of the world through our friends - can trap us within what my friend Eli Pariser calls "filter bubbles" - the internet is too big to understand as a whole, so we get a picture of it's that's similar to what our friends see. If our friends are Brazilian, or know some Brazilians, perhaps we got the joke about Cala Boca Galvao very quickly - if not, we miss it. The wider world is a click away, but whether we mean to or not, we're usually filtering it out.

This wasn't how it was supposed to work."

"According to the OED, the first occurrence of "slush pile" was not in reference to what we commonly now know as unsolicited manuscripts from unheard-of (and often insane) aspiring authors. It appeared in January 1907, when the Washington Post published an article accusing J.H. Seward & Co. "of fraudulently obtaining refunds of customs on fruits imported into this country." "

""Hi there. This is Tish from the Solis Womens Health Center. We found some things we wanted to review from your last mammogram."

The first thing that shot through my head was, "Oh great, like I don't have enough things to do and now I have to carve out time for another stupid visit to the doctor's. The perky voice continued.

"We'd like you to come back and take a few more views. When are you available tomorrow?"

Those few words sent a stream of thoughts running through my head at about the speed of light: Tomorrow? Really? Tomorrow?

It doesn't matter that I know the vast majority of callbacks reveal there is nothing to worry about and reflect medical professionals that would rather err on the side of caution. It doesn't matter that I am fortunate to have no family history of breast cancer. The thought invariably flashes through your head: What if I have cancer?"

"When people make this argument that marriage is about procreation, it insults the memory of my grandmother and grandfather, people who could not have legally married if this standard were applied consistently. It insults people who are infertile for any reason, including voluntary sterilization, congenital conditions, or side effects of other medical treatments. And it insults anyone who takes marriage seriously - as an institution focused on bringing together loving couples and recognizing the special ties that they've formed."