links: planets, gays, labor, JPL, etc.

[mindstalk]

Earth-sized planet found around Alpha Centauri B. With a three-day orbital period, so kind of hot.
http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=25109

"Gay like me"; evangelical pretends to be gay for a year, discovers the closet sucks
http://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2012/10/15/when-a-christian-fundamentalist-pretends-to-be-gay/

Tycoon opts for unilateral geo-engineering
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/15/pacific-iron-fertilisation-geoengineering
Side note: AIUI, iron fertilization hasn't done much in past experiments. I marvel that no one's suggested it simply to boost fisheries: more algae -> more plankton -> more fish. The open oceans are nutrient deserts, AIUI.

Online "bullying" by liberals
http://offbeatempire.com/2012/10/liberal-bullying

People objected to Uzbekistan forcing children to pick cotton. The government listened; now they're forcing asthmatic doctors and nurses to pick it instead.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19931639
Mysterious kidney disease is killing sugar cane workers. Leading hypothesies are "handling nasty chemicals" and "they're working themselves to death in the heat". http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/14/kidney-disease-killing-sugar-cane-workers-central-america
Sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, high fructose corn syrup...

I'm sad this never passed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Domain_Enhancement_Act

Ben Franklin, futurist: http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/2012-October/074565.html

1998 article on high levels of violence in the South: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/ideas-trends-southern-curse-why-america-s-murder-rate-is-so-high.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

The second Cuban missile crisis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19930260

Atheist science-snark vs. religion: http://i.imgur.com/r3RDQ.png

JPL planetary surfaces infographic: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10795
Rovers; http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10889
Stellar evolution: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10737
There's lots more.

The changing economics of professional chess: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/10/09/wages_and_technological_change_in_chess.html

The fall of California's colleges, or the Mississippification of CA: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NJ06Dj01.html