Automated Attack Monkeys, Scalpel Mines, & Acid

Several of you have said that you will miss my netcasts on LC. Well, PHEAR NOT! Starting today, I shall be doing a replacement feature on here. It'll probably end up being three or four times a week, rather than daily. It will be five link items (blogs or news items or whatever else floats my boat) and one meme. And because I hate the word netcast I shall be calling it something else:

The Blood Is The Life!

Fresh squeezings from the veins of the internet

(Somehow, that just seems so... me!)

I'll be making an icon later, but for now, here are today's picks:

• To be filed under you've got to laugh or you'll cry - George Osbourne's £47 Expenses Claim for Two DVDs. The Evening Standard reports that George Osborne claimed £47 of taxpayer's money for two copies of a DVD of his speech - and the speech was on "value for money". - hat tip Stephen at Lib Dem Voice/lib_dem_voice_feed.


• Weaker Copyright Benefits Society. Michael Geist summarises a Harvard Business School Report on intellectual property which has interesting findings - hat tip Amused Cynicism/amused_cynicism_feed and Slashdot/slashdot_feed


• The Flower of Power. Click on the petals which apply to you and see how blue (or yellow) you are. I have 7 blue petals, two yellow, and one blue AND yellow because I am a special snowflake bi.


• Positive Thinking Does More Harm Than Good for some people. I recall saying this (less eloquently) to several people when they told me that all I need to do to land the job of my dreams and be rolling in money is "think positive". Maybe they'll believe me now I have The Economist on my side - via andrewducker


• El Presidente Ros Scott has written a pamphlet for Unlock Democracy. It's about Local Government, and you can download it here. It has been described as a brilliant, hard hitting review of recent government policy towards local government and should be essential reading matter for anyone who cares for our democracy. by a COMPLETELY impartial person.

And today's meme: Mugs

Do you have a mug or mugs which is/are Your Mug(s), at home or at your workplace? Describe it/them, upload pictures, tell us why it is special to you. - via innerbrat

Home: I have three mugs that I get upset if anyone else uses them. The first, and most important, is the Wile E Coyote Capricorn mug that Sarah H bought me for my 18th birthday. I can't find a picture of one online, but the picture on it is similar to this one. The text on it is so faded it's barely legible now (because Ian used to put it in the dishwasher), but it reads Capricorns are ambitious and self-confident, and zealously persistent, but shouldn't go off half-cocked because that could be hazardous to their health. It's special to me because it was a present, and because it has my favourite cartoon character and my star sign on, and it's very me. It's very faded and old, but I still love it, and if it ever got broken I would cry lots. It's also advice I could probably do with bearing in mind more often...

The second is a Snape/McGonagall mug that anisiriusmagus bought me for another birthday. I was heavily into RP at the time, and I used to play McG.

The third is one I bought myself from the WB store in Manchester, when it was still there. It's green, and has all the WB cartoon characters on it, and holds a pint, which makes it perfect for sinister milky drinks at bedtime.

Workplace: the pub I work in only has one of these left - the traditional half-pint dimpled beer mug - and I treasure it. It keeps the beer cooler than the fancypants newfangled tulip ones, and it just feels RIGHT. My dad used to drink beer out of the pint version when I was a kid. If it got broken, I think I would actually have to buy some more, after saving up for a few weeks.

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