Friday is Everybody Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day *UPDATED*

This seems to be a good aggregation of posts about Brett Kimberlin.

Friday is Everybody Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day *UPDATED*

via Bookworm Room by Bookworm on 5/23/12

Before today, I'd been aware of Brett Kimberlin in only the vaguest possible way, since his name suddenly seemed to be popping on various sites I visit.  Since his name didn't actually ring any bells, I didn't stop to educate myself about him.  This morning, though, I've had a crash Kimberlin course and, friends, it's ugly.  It's also something that requires action from as many people as possible in order to use the sunlight of free speech to bleach out the ugly and costly lies that Kimberlin is propagating against conservative bloggers.
First, a few facts.
Kimberlin is a convicted bomber.  He even has a nickname:  "The Speedway Bomber."  Back in 1978, he set of a series of eight bombs in Speedway, Indiana, one of which blew the limbs off Vietnam Vet Carl DeLong, who later committed suicide because of his injuries.  Kimberlin is also a convicted drug dealer.  In 1988, he claimed that he sold drugs to Dan Quayle, but there was nothing to corroborate this claim.  Given Kimberlin's far left politics, it's reasonable to believe that he was lying for political effect.  Incidentally, you won't be able to discover any of this through Wikipedia — it's been scrubbed.
Kimberlin, who is out of prison, has now made it his life's mission to go after conservative bloggers to have had the temerity to mention him online.  Michelle Malkin explains:

Over the past year, Aaron Walker (who blogged as "Aaron Worthing"), Patterico, Liberty Chick, and now Stacy McCain have been targeted by convicted Speedway bomber Brett Kimberlin because they dared to mention his criminal past or assisted others who did. The late Andrew Breitbart warned about Kimberlin and company.
I have spoken directly with both Patterico and Aaron about their ongoing battles.
The mainstream press, not just the conservative blogosphere, needs to hear and report their stories.
This is a convoluted, ongoing nightmare that combines abuse of the court system, workplace intimidation, serial invasions of privacy, perjury, and harassment of family members. McCain was forced to move with his family out of his house this week, and has just gotten a small taste of what Aaron and Patterico have been enduring over the past year. Aaron and his wife were fired from their jobs after their employer feared the office would be targeted next. Convicted bomber Kimberlin has filed bogus "peace orders" against Aaron, when it is the Walkers who are the victims, not the perpetrators.
And Patterico's plight will send chills up your spine when he is ready to tell it.

For more information about Kimberlin's behavior, Lee Stranahan put together a short video:

Kimberlin's legal actions are not intended to protect himself against unwarranted slander from conservatives.  Instead, they are aimed at squelching free — and truthful — speech.  His theory is that, if he makes free speech too costly, using a combination of physical threats and legal costs, people will stop speaking.  He's not alone in this belief, since he's managed to fund his lawsuits with help from various far-left groups that are also deeply committed to ensuring that America's First Amendment protections are reserved only for pre-approved Leftist speech.
Lee Stranahan offers the best (indeed, the only) way to respond to someone who relentlessly abuses the Free Speech rights America grants — MORE SPEECH:

This is no war of words; Kimberlin is a serial litigator who has filed over 100 lawsuits by his own account and he takes people to court, claiming they are harassing him. He calls their employers.  I stand with all these people, some of whom are my friends. I'm launching a new effort on my own that I hope will help.
The only effective way to fight Brett Kimberlin is for as many people to research and write about him as possible. 
So I'm declaring this Friday, May 25th as Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day.
Here's what you do to take part…

1. Research Brett Kimberlin on your own. Don't trust secondary sources; look for the orginal articles articles published about him, too.
2. On Friday, May 25th — write an honest, factually accurate post about what you learned and what your OPINION is. Brett may try and sue you, so be accurate, factual and separate fact from opinion.
3. The post doesn't have to be long — ANYTHING helps.
4. After you post, Tweet, share, whatever — get the post out there.

As you can see, I'm doing my part right now, by getting the May 25 ball rolling. Indeed, the ball is already rolling, with sufficient numbers of people writing on this subject for Kimberlin's list of assigned targets to have grown exponentially. Eventually, there'll just be too many targets and, with luck, this guy will quietly slink away.
On May 25, of course, I'll write again about Kimberlin. Can you do something to help out too?
UPDATE OF OTHERS BLOGGING:
Instapundit Glenn Reynolds
iowntheworld.com
The American Thinker
Walter Olson at Overlawyered
Blazing Cat Fur
Donald Douglas at American Power
The American Catholic
The Lonely Conservative
Kathy Shaidle at Five Feet of Fury
Nice Deb
Sundries Shack
PJMedia Tatler
Dan Riehl
Film Ladd
The Coalition of the Swilling
DaTechGuy
Richard Fernandez
Legal Insurrection
Doubleplusundead
Daley Gator
The Camp of the Saints
Wake Up America
Darth Chipmunk
Zilla of the Resistance
Lady Liberty 1885
Goldfish and Clowns
Small Dead Animals
Hillbuzz
Yid with Lid
Evil Blogger Lady
Israel Matzav
Lisa Graas
Bob Owens
Melissa Clouthier
Blackfive
Ace
Day by Day
Noisy Room
Kim Priestap (two links)
Radio Patriot
Gay Patriot
Bruce Kesler at Maggie's Farm
This enthusiastic participation, from bloggers (and cartoonists) whom you like and respect is a reminder that this is important.  By creating an impossible broad target for Kimberlin and his ilk, we use speech to neutralize entirely his efforts to destroy speech.  It's the wonderful opposite of a boycott.

How To Plot A Coordinate Dataset In Google Maps [Aardvarchaeology]

How To Plot A Coordinate Dataset In Google Maps [Aardvarchaeology]

via ScienceBlogs Select by Martin R none@example.com on 12/14/11

As an archaeologist I often need to plot coordinates on maps and plans. At every scale, really: from individual finds on the plan of an excavation trench to the distribution of something across Europe. Just dots of varying shapes and colours on various background maps. Most often, it's GPS data from field walking and metal detecting. My colleagues in contract archaeology and academe use ArcInfo for these things, but I've never had incentive or opportunity to learn to use it. Also, once you know the software, you still need a map to plot stuff on, and those are expensive. So I've been wondering if I could somehow plot my coordinate data via Google Docs in Google Maps. Free software, free maps, free updated aerial photographs.
Turns out, you can. And today I figured out how. I believe it was David Petts who nudged me in the direction of Google's "Fusion Tables". And Hans Persson (who is an inveterate geocacher) asked me to write my findings up on Aard.
1. Data formatting
Convert your coordinate data to decimal lat & long after the WGS84 datum and with a decimal dot, not the Swedish decimal comma. For instance, my house is at lat 59.289576 long 18.258234. Call the northings column "Latitude" and the eastings column "Longitude". (There are Excel macros to do coordinate conversions. For the Swedish systems, I find Robert Larsson's on-line conversion utility handy, though it doesn't do batch jobs.)
You may also want to add a "Text" column to describe what each point marks, and an "Icon" column that takes entries like "small_red" and "large_blue".
(The Map function is pretty smart and also happily works with street addresses or place names if you put them in a "Location" column.)
2. Where to put the data
Stick this data into a spreadsheet in Google Docs. Save and close the spreadsheet.
3. Plot your dots
Now click the Create button on the start page of Docs and select "Table (beta)". Tell the software to grab the data from the Docs spreadsheet you just created. (At this stage you can also tell it to disregard any extraneous data columns.) I don't quite know how to conceptualise the distinction between these tables and standard Docs spreadsheets. But for practical purposes, tables are useful because (unlike spreadsheets) they have a Visualize menu including a Map alternative. Use it and zoom in on your area of interest.
4. Colour your dots
At first, all of your dots will be small and red. To get the software to use the data you entered into the "Icon" column, (such as "large_blue"), click "Configure styles", change the "Marker icon" settings to "Column", and select "Icon".
Tell me how you're doing with this, Dear Reader, and I'll update the entry as I learn more. The first thing I want to find out now is how to create a dynamic link between my spreadsheet and the map, so that any changes to the data appear automatically on my maps. At the moment I have to make a new table every time I change the spreadsheet. Also, the only way I currently know of to get maps out of the software is screen grab, which doesn't make for great resolution.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy

Tim Groseclose - Ricochet.com

Tim Groseclose - Ricochet.com

James Kibbie - Bach Organ Works

James Kibbie - Bach Organ Works

Dennis Prager | Jewish Journal

Dennis Prager column at the Jewish Journal

Historical Financial Statistics

Historical Financial Statistics

That is a new database, on-line, it looks very useful and it is constructed by smart people.  Summary:

Welcome to Historical Financial Statistics, a free, noncommercial data set that went online in July 2010. We aim to be a source of comprehensive, authoritative, easy-to-use macroeconomic data stretching back several centuries. Our target range of coverage is from 1492 to the present, with special emphasis on the years before 1950, which few databases cover in detail.

I am told by a credible source that progress will be cumulative.

Standing with Israel

From Brooks News:

StandWithUs, the international Israel education organization has mobilized a team of multi-lingual, web-savvy student volunteers around the globe to take Israel's case to the world, just as they organized a successful Internet response during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in December 2008.

....

The goal is to fight the web war against Israel by blogging and using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and posting talkbacks on a range of media sites. The volunteer teams are identifying and sharing videos, images, and relevant messages with their social networks.

SWU was founded in 2001 in response to the public's need and desire for more information about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The organisation runs several websites with relevant information:

The main website

www.standwithuscampus.com is a resource for students on campus.
www.emersonfellowship.com details SWU Emerson Fellowship program on 39 U.S. and Canadian campuses.
www.standwithus.co.il is based in Jerusalem and details international operations.
www.LearnIsrael.org provides material for librarians, teachers and a free downloadable curriculum for high school teachers.
www.stand4facts.org is a password-protected site containing a database of information on anti-Israel speakers.
www.united4freedom.org is a speakers' bureau

Fwd: Friends, Americans, Conservatives ... Announcing ObamaCareWatch.org

via The Weekly Standard Blog by William Kristol on 6/8/10

Today marks the launch of what will be an invaluable website for elected officials, candidates, journalists, and, really, all Americans: ObamaCareWatch.org.

Pakistan: Thousands rally against Facebook because of Everybody Draw Muhamma...

Pakistan: Thousands rally against Facebook because of Everybody Draw Muhammad Day

Note the threats on some of the signs above.

Islamic War On Free Speech Alert, and an update on this story. "Muslim anger prompts Pakistan to block Facebook," by Babar Dogar for Associated Press, May 19 (thanks to Maxwell):

LAHORE, Pakistan - Pakistan's government ordered Internet service providers to block Facebook on Wednesday amid anger over a page that encourages users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The page on the social networking site has generated criticism in Pakistan and elsewhere because Islam prohibits any images of the prophet. The government took action after a group of Islamic lawyers won a court order Wednesday requiring officials to block Facebook until May 31.

By Wednesday evening, access to the site was sporadic, apparently because Internet providers were implementing the order.

The Facebook page at the center of the dispute -- "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" -- encourages users to post images of the prophet on May 20 to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of "South Park" for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

In the southern city of Karachi, some 2,000 female students rallied demanding that Facebook be banned for tolerating the controversial web page. Several dozen male students held a rally nearby, with some holding signs that urged Islamic holy war against those who blaspheme the prophet.

"We are not trying to slander the average Muslim," said the information section of the Facebook page, which was still accessible Wednesday morning. "We simply want to show the extremists that threaten to harm people because of their Mohammad depictions that we're not afraid of them. That they can't take away our right to freedom of speech by trying to scare us into silence."...

Sounds reasonable to me.

In an attempt to respond to public anger over the Facebook controversy, the Pakistani government ordered Internet service providers in the country to block the page Tuesday, said Khurram Ali, a spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, which regulates the telecommunications network in the country.

But the Islamic Lawyers Forum asked the Lahore High Court on Wednesday to order the government to fully block Facebook because the site had allowed the page to be posted in the first place, said the deputy attorney general of Punjab province, Naveed Inayat Malik.

The court complied with the request and ordered the government to block the site until the end of May, Malik said.

Lawyers outside the courtroom hailed the ruling, chanting "down with Facebook."...

Skeptic Papers

Skeptic Papers

Yes, I'm putting the 'k' back in skeptic.

Popular Technology has been adding links to a resource they have created for papers which have non-consensus views.  In my experience, the devil is often in the details so when reading, don't go by the titles and abstracts but get the papers and check them out.   Still they have successfully listed 700 papers which they claim have non-consensus views on climatology.

http://www.populartechnology.net/2009/10/peer-reviewed-papers-supporting.html

At least a couple of them have storied pasts due to the gauntlet they were forced to run to reach published status.  There is one in particular by McIntyre McKitrick again which is a valid criticism of Santers work validating models.  The paper hasn't been allowed by the powers that be to take its rightful place on the list as of yet.

It's an interesting resource, check it out.

Federalist Papers

For the online reference library: Federalist Papers

Alice in Wonderland

Neat stuff online...

What could be more beautiful than the original manuscript? This is the original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, the pen-name of Charles Dodgson, an Oxford mathematician. It is called "Alice's Adventures Underground" and it is a treasure of the British Library. The book is in their online gallery and you can look at each hand-written, hand-drawn page (all 91 pages). Here is the link:

British Library Online Gallery-Virtual Book

Pants On the Ground!

Pants On the Ground!

With all the sadness in the world today, just watch this and smile. And get ya pants off the ground!

"You call yourself a cool cat, looking like a fool. Walking down town with your pants on the ground."

Here's another version with some additional lyrics.

Kipling

The New Readers' Guide to the works of Rudyard Kipling

how to solve differential equations

at WikiHow

http://www.wikihow.com/Solve-Differential-Equations

Christmas Rant

Stage Right Outs Himself

Big Hollywood » I Am Stage Right

It has been almost one year since I began writing here at the Big Blogs of Breitbart.com. When it all began, I was motivated by the events that brought down Sacramento Music Theatre executive Scott Eckern. Ironically, his story, which inspired this new avocation also served as a real-life lesson in the new political world we inhabit. You see, Mr. Eckern was forced to resign his position because it was discovered that he donated money to the anti-same sex marriage Prop. 8 campaign. Knowing that, I would have been a fool to put my name on the things I’ve written here. So, “Stage Right” was born.
....
I have reached the point where I can no longer hide behind the warm embrace of anonymity while I stand shoulder to shoulder with such brave and noble colleagues. I no longer fear professional retribution nearly as much I fear the direction of my government and the lack of candid analysis from the professional journalists charged with the responsibility of critically analyzing that government.

So, to that end: My name is Larry O’Connor.

Statistical Computing Package

A letter in Jerry Pournelle's mail column: Current Chaos Manor mail

I used SAS on the job for about ten years. I came to loathe it. It has plenty of high-quality canned statistical routines, but if you need something that's not in any of the cans, things get ugly pretty quickly.

Far better is R from http://www.r-project.org/

Aside from its technical superiority, R has the advantage of being open-source and available for downloading without charge, while SAS costs Big Bucks. https://www3.sas.com/order/pricing.jsp?code=PERSANLBNDL Remember the uproar over Microsoft going to annual-subscription-based pricing? Well, SAS has been that way from the beginning: when your subscription runs out, SAS *stops*working*. How cool is *that*??

I've been very happy with Open Office for a couple of years now. I imagine other open source ware can also be quite good.

A place to buy weird stuff

http://www.mcphee.com/shop/