Daily Blend: Thursday, June 10, 2010

Brittany Novotny

I so, so wish someone would come up with a foolproof cure for writer’s block. My nuts and half my right foot wouldn’t be payment enough.

• Who better to run against incumbent anti-gay (and generally crazy) Rep. Sally “gays-are-more-dangerous-than-terrorists!” Kern (R-Oklahoma) than an openly transgender Democrat? Everyone, vote Brittany Novotny [pictured]!
  (via @todayspolitics)

• PZ Myers’s excellent rant against how teachers are constantly being censored and forced to hide their thoughts and opinions under fear of losing their jobs. Cites the example of Elizabeth Collins, teacher who held a passionate liberal blog where she expressed her concerns, all in a perfectly legal, impersonal and harmless manner. She was fired for it. That last link includes a poll (“Did the teacher deserve to be fired for the blog post?”) and the sort of comments (at the time of writing this) that gives you the urge to destroy something expensive.

• The dating scene in Michigan must suck, seeing as it’s apparently a felony to “seduce an unmarried woman” there. With sentences of up to 5 years in prison and fines of up to $2,500. Say it with me, everyone: what … the … hell …
  (via The Agitator)

• I so wish I could get the video code to work in a blog post, but I can’t, so here you go: what happens when engineers own dogs.
  (via The Agitator)

• Indiana Jones 5 seems to be in the works, and will feature the Ark of the Covenant human sacrifices the Holy Grail crystal alien skulls the Bermuda Triangle!
  (via The Daily Grail)

• Cool infographic of the Earth’s above- and under-water topography, from top (tallest mountain) to bottom (deepest trench). Damned vultures.
  (via Pharyngula)

• Right-wing hate-mongering radio host Michael Savage claims that most Jews just “went like sheep to the slaughter” during the Holocaust (because, of course, when your entire population is being sought out and taken away by the militarized police, your first reaction should be to kick and scream) and then compares their supposed “cowardice” to today’s Americans, who are now “slaves” to their government and kept in “stockades”. Oh, Rightist classiness.
  (via @mmfa)

As always, if you have any story suggestions, feel free to send them in.