Link dump for June 12th, 2009 through June 30th, 2009:

• Senate recount: After unanimous ruling for Franken, attention shifts to Pawlenty — and Coleman – Finally, a ruling. But no real resolution, since the supremes didn't actually tell Pawlenty to issue the certificate. Oh well… We've waited this long, right?
• Grilled Cheesecake: A Sweet Take on a Classic Sandwich – Or, as I'd like to think of it, a heart-attack sandwich. Of course, I'd also like to think of it as delicious. But I would never have more than one bite.
• Ten Movies to Watch Instead of Star Trek – "…check out some movies that tackled science fiction just as well as the new Trek (and often better)."
  A good list of flicks that I would definitely prefer to watch instead of the new Trek. I know I'm in the minority amongst my friends as far as that goes (and probably the only one who hasn't seen it so far). But there you go. At least it's snark you can laugh along to.

Link dump for April 29th, 2009 through June 10th, 2009:

• Coaxing bees into making honeycomb sculpture – I'm not sure how I feel about this ethically (actually, I'm pretty conflicted about this ethically), but it is gorgeous. If you could convince me that the pieces were constructed without harming the bees, I would say this was an amazing cross-species collaboration.
• Medusa as a Young Girl – I think it would be fun to have pets on my head!
• Bachmann compares gays to pedophiles on hate crimes bill – Argh! This woman just makes me so mad sometimes: “[A]pparently people who are practicing pedophiles would be considered protected under this legislation, but not, I understand, veterans, not, I understand, pregnant women, not, I understand, 85-year-old grandmothers would be protected under this law,” she said. “But who would be protected? A pedophile, someone who considers themselves gay, someone who considers themselves transgender, someone who considers themselves a cross-dresser? That is who is protected.”

Link dump for March 26th, 2009 through March 30th, 2009:

• How Old Are You Really? Can You Pick Up a Pencil? – A nice, and slyly funny, alternative to the Real Age test.
• WineHaven Winery and Vineyard – One of our favorites, and we just found out they're local! Expect us to take at least one short roadtrip to the Chisago Lakes area this summer for a tasting (wine-loving family members in tow, of course).
• The Perfect Gift – For those of us without kids, we can ignore the bits about parenthood and enjoy this really insightful blog post about happiness.
  "Perhaps happiness is interesting, because it isn’t, in fact, simple, or uncomplicated. Perhaps the real thing isn’t just a Hallmark card sentiment.
  "For me, I realized in that moment, happiness is inextricably bound up in striving. In straining for achievement, of whatever kind. In having a challenge and making it to the other side.
  "It doesn’t much matter what the challenge or object of achievement is."
• Michele Bachmann fabricates middle-class tax hikes – "Rep. Bachmann, Republican, is a "fool for anti-tax arguments." And she is prone, as in the cramdown example, to take things that have nothing to do with taxes, and declare them to be the moral equivalent of tax hikes. She is truly, madly, deeply anti-tax (also anti-gay marriage). And it may be that, for many of her supporters who share those aversions, that's enough.

  But there ought to be some minimal respect for honesty and factuality that we demand of our elected officials. "

• Slow Gardening Ramps Up – Easy, Cheap and Green – NYTimes.com – "EVEN if you lack outdoor space, you can grow something — basil or rosemary, for instance, in a sunny window. It may not seem like much, “but if you have somebody over and you’re chopping something real quick, you can say, Hand me a piece of that basil,” said Felder Rushing, a noted garden writer and speaker. “That’s all it takes to get that feeling of connection to the land.” "

Link dump for March 21st, 2009 through March 25th, 2009:

• Coleman has been afforded due process – I enjoyed this good, concise, op-ed piece by former secretary of state Joan Anderson Growe. I'm sure a Coleman supporter may feel otherwise, but she has some really good points.
  "This election, however, was held under laws and rules that have been clear to everyone from the beginning. Former Sen. Coleman has taken ample advantage of his rights to hold the results up to unprecedented scrutiny. So, while he and his supporters will surely be disappointed if he does not win his contest, they cannot claim that they were not afforded due process."
• When It Comes To Shampoo, Less Is More – Thanks to my tipster wife for the link. This is how I have felt for quite a while now. My hair is fine if I wash it once a week (but I do have my mixed heritage to give me a but of a boost there). I simply can't imagine washing more often, and how that would just strip the heck out of my poor hair. It's delicate enough as it is (again, mixed heritage). Plus the expense would be horrendous.
• Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point – “The argument about which is better for you, sucrose or HFCS, is garbage. Both are equally bad for your health.”
• Memo dishware – Oh it's be neat-o to have one of those lined-paper-inspired trays. It'd be like eating off a note pad! Tee!
• Parody Motivator Generator – Make your own "Demotivator" poster thanks to Despair, Inc.

Link dump for February 24th, 2009 through March 4th, 2009:

• Christian salt seller hopes to shake up market – <Sputter>
• Shawnimals – Free avatars and desktops, found via Craft.
• Legal Guide for Bloggers – Courtesy of the EFF
• Dinner with a Stranger – What "stranger" would you want to have dinner with?
• Point and shoot tips from the old masters – Found via Kottke.org, great piece that puts "I can't shoot great photos because I don't have a DSLR" into perspective.
  Great tips, even if I feel like I should know them all already, like: "The first rule when dealing with poor cameras is Be selective. Shoot where the photos will be good."

Link dump for February 4th, 2009 through February 10th, 2009:

• Steampunk Cake! – Gonna have to get one of these for the wife's b'day.
• Religious right attempts to derail stimulus package – ' “For 37 years, the law of the land is that the government can’t pay for buildings that are used for religious purposes.” Even if it is the law, however, some religious right groups plan to sue the federal government if the bill is not changed. '
• Neil & His Magnificent Oracular Journal – Be-turbanned Neil Gaiman. (You have to actually shake it.)
• HYmini, a "micro wind power generator" – Sooooo cute! My darling wife will have to tell me if it would actually work (as she is the wind wiz in the house), and I don't really need another gadget. But I kind of wish that I did.
  Thanks to the Moms for the tip.
• Cities can't thrive under Pawlenty's cuts – "Cutting LGA is a backhanded property-tax increase from a no- new-taxes governor, and a city's ability to support job growth will suffer as a result. Weakened cities can't balance the state's budget deficit on their backs."

Link dump for January 24th, 2009 through January 28th, 2009:

• The Triumph of Blue Patriotism – "This patriotism’s founding document is the Declaration of the Independence. Abraham Lincoln, not George Washington, is the father of the nation, and Martin Luther King, not Ronald Reagan, is its greatest recent leader. This patriotism is not red, not white, but blue."
• Growing Food on the White House Lawn – "1918: President Woodrow Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson use sheep to mow and fertilize the First Lawn at a time when the country is trying to conserve resources for the war effort."
  Somehow I doubt that my wife would let me keep sheep to keep from having to mow the lawn.
• A Low-Tech Treatment for Bee Plague – I've been thinking about bees a lot lately, in preparation for camp. And then pieces like this pop up and I think about them even more. Good, short opinion piece about possible solutions to colony collapse.
  "Those remnant wild bees, feral and native alike, might just be the seeds of a solution. And to sow those seeds and foster their growth, we must not till the earth, but do just the opposite: we must take patches of agricultural land out of production, and restore them to natural habitat."
• Elevating Science, Elevating Democracy – "Science is not a monument of received Truth but something that people do to look for truth."
• Al Dente – An adorable and slightly trippy short film (found via the Tor.com's blog's Saturday Morning Cartoon series). Note: requires Quicktime to view on site, but you can download mp4 versions further down the page.

Link dump for January 21st, 2009 through January 24th, 2009:

• HEAVY METAL BAND NAMES, a flow chart – Of possible interest to a few of my more metal-loving friends (you know who you are). Found via Boing Boing.
• 389 Years Ago – I love this poster, with delicious typography and both delicious and not-so-delicious facts about African American history.
• Chia Obama – Oh, dear god-I-don't-believe-in, why?!?!?
• Le Grand Palindrome de Georges Perec – I loved this piece when I was in college (I did an independent study one semester that included George Perec' novel 'La Disparition' and subsequently got hooked). The title is very appropriate. It is one very, very long palindrome. I know that most people won't be able to read this (unless I have some closet francophiles among my friends). But I was just too excited not to share.
• By RNC standards, is SUV ramming Planned Parenthood terrorism? – Astute look at the issue. A charge of terrorism should be blind to the religion of the perpetrator, but it's unfortunately likely that the man who did this will not be charges with it because he said "the Lord" wanted him to do it, and not "Allah".
• Cake Wrecks: Sunday Sweets: Lord of the Rings – Crazy amazing Minas Tirith cake. Yes, that's a cake.