In Rich Horton's roundup of Asimov's for the year, he has kind things to say about "Inclination." I see at least three other Blue Heaveners mentioned, including paulmelko, tim_pratt, and gregvaneekhout. Did I miss anyone?

Funniest fucking thing I've seen all goddamn day long.

Click photo for race result.

You'll note, of course, that this is the same spot where Robert Cheruiyot slipped and hit his head. Laura manages to keep to her feet.

Help search for interstellar dust.

Epidode #28 of "ShunnCast" is now available, in which Bill likens himself to Luke Skywalker of old, returning to the Death Star that is Calgary to do battle with Darth Vader and the Emperor, striving mightily not to be turned to the Dark Side of the Force.

http://www.shunn.net/podcast?id=28

See also shunncast.

Laura's unofficial finish time for the Chicago Marathon was 3:48:09! Her pace was 8:42 per mile! Way to go, Laura!

Laura and I are on our way to Chicago. She has been training since January for the Chicago Marathon, which runs this Sunday! Her number is 34100, if you want to track her split times and (virtually and silently) cheer her on.

I'm very proud of her, and can't wait to hand energy drinks off to her at key points along the route. Way to go, Laura!

Quite a one-two punch for parents at Salon today. First, an interview with Richard Dawkins:

I would say that parents should teach their children anything that's known to be factually true -- like "that's a bluebird" or "that's a bald eagle." Or they could teach children that there are such things as religious beliefs. But to teach children that it is a fact that there is one god or that God created the world in six days, that is child abuse....

Children ask questions. And when a child says, "Why is it wrong to do so and so?" you can perfectly well answer that by saying, "Well, how would you like it if somebody else did that to you?" That's a way of imparting to a child the Golden Rule: "Do as you would be done by." The world would fall apart if everybody stole things from everybody else, so it's a bad thing to steal. If a child says, "Why can't I eat meat?" then you can say, "Your mother and I believe that it's wrong to eat meat for this, that and the other reason. We are vegetarians. You can decide when you're older whether you want to be a vegetarian or not. But for the moment, you're living in this house, so the food we give you is not meat." That I could see. I think it's child abuse not to let the child have the free choice of knowing there are other people who believe something quite different and the child could make its own choice.

Then Bill Maher:

[W]e can pretend that the biggest threat to "our children" is some creep on the Internet, or we can admit it's Mom and Dad. When your son can't find France on a map, or touch his toes with his hands, or understand that the ads on TV are lying—including the one in which the Marine turns into Lancelot—then the person fucking him is you.

Very different pieces, but both well worth reading. (Even if Dawkins seems to deliberately misunderstand the questions about finding meaning in life and talks all around them.)

And how about a little action sequence?

Granted, it's a peculiar sort of action....

It was co-o-o-old this morning at a quarter-of-six as I made my way to the office, first truly frigid morning of the season. Which means it's as good a time as any for some Ella pix!