links for 2011-04-06

• Data Warehouse
  // Looked up Dan Gladden's stats. They weren't very good. And, he was in a brawl that brought about a rule change. Interesting stuff.
  (tags: Baseball stats personal)
• Federal shutdown would stop tax audits – Washington Times
  Quote:'Overall, the official said he expects about 800,000 government employees to be furloughed if Congress and the president aren't able to agree on spending cuts before midnight Friday, which is when current stopgap funding expires.

  The official said the IRS will still process electronic tax filings, but will not process paper filings, which means a delay for those who filed by paper and are expecting refunds.

  // Just FYI

  (tags: government taxes)
• Maine legalizing switchblades for one-armed people – Yahoo! News
  Quote:"In most states, carrying switchblades is illegal in most circumstances, though owning the knives may be allowed in some states.

  Federal law allows their use by a person with one arm only on federal property if the blade is shorter than three inches.

  The Maine bill requires that the knives have a blade that is three inches or shorter.

  // Seems reasonable. I've never understood why the ban is in place anyway, being stabbed with a knife is the same no matter the mechanism, and a fixed blade can be brought to bear with the same swiftness as a switchblade. There's some issue with concealability (folding knives and switchblades take up less space than a fixed blade). In any case, a boxcutter can be operated by someone with one hand, it can be used as swiftly as a switchblade and it is just as concealable. We simply can't outlaw sharp objects, so I see any regulation as a fool's errand.

  (tags: knives law libertarian liberty)
• US atom smasher may have found new force of nature – Yahoo! News
  Quote:""One thing we know for sure — it is not the Higgs-boson. That is the only thing we know for sure."

  Physicists were to discuss their findings further in a meeting to be webcast at 2100 GMT.

  "Nobody knows what this is," Christopher Hill, a theorist at Fermilab who was not part of the team, was quoted as telling the New York Times.

  "If it is real, it would be the most significant discovery in physics in half a century."

  // Cool.

  (tags: physics science)
• Glasgow Ice Cream Wars – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (tags: crime culture icecream true-crime weekendreading wikipedia)
• Judge gives 'Juror No. 799' indefinite jury duty after she makes racist remarks on questionnaire
  // A funny story, a little sad too. Having just been through jury duty, I'm now convinced it is an important process, and that people shouldn't be trying to avoid it, though it does, or at least can, have a huge impact on their income). Be honest and forthright during the process, take it seriously.
  (tags: law judicial.system jury.duty martyemail)
• Why the Middle-Aged Are Missing Out on New Jobs – Yahoo! Finance
  // The shrinking labor force is a major confound in this analysis.
  (tags: economy employment demographics)
• BBC News – Surgeons raise alarm over waiting
  // Move along, nothing to see here.
  (tags: healthcare)

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Personal Update

Getting back on the grid here, slowly. I just finished serving on my first jury, which was an interesting experience. I’m writing up a longer article about what it was like, it should be posted here sometime this week. I’m also working on a short story, and now I’m in negotiations for another big project. The book is on schedule for this summer’s release and El Dos de Mayo is just around the corner. So expect the same level of non-posting for a while. I’m still debating whether I will revive the Twins Podcast for this year. I’m thinking one long podcast at the end of every month would be ideal.