dangerousmeta!, the original new mexican miscellany, offering eclectic linkage since 1999.

CJR: Peggy Noonan loses it on the IRS story.

Oy vey.

ArtDaily: Death mask of Napoleon to be auctioned.

“I came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to offer it for sale in the hope that, as a result, it was something more people would then be able to see and enjoy.” Nothing cheers one up more than a nice deathmask.

WritersDigest: If You’re Feeling Down and Out About a Rejection Letter …

“But my point is an artist will not quit. He doesn’t have a choice. An artist is not going to do other things. It isn’t a matter of being brave.” Goes for artists in any medium/media.

The Economist: Microcredit—Put to the test.

100% interest?

Pacific Standard: Thoughts of Faith and God Decrease Tolerance for Ambiguity.

“Thoughts of faith and God apparently spur people to view the world in black-or-white terms.”

HuffPo: Pat Robertson Tells Wife Of Cheating Husband To Be Grateful For Marriage.

“Responding to a question from a viewer, Robertson said that married men ‘have a tendency to wander’ and it is the spurned wife’s job to focus on the positive and make sure the home is so enticing, he doesn’t want to stray.” And HuffPo expected … exactly what? This from a man surrounded by ladies with beehive hairdos.

Economist: Barack Obama and the presidency — W’s apprentice.

“Increasingly, however, the exigencies of office seem to be trumping the legal qualms of the campaign trail—something Mr Obama’s supporters will regret when a future Republican president perfects the dodges he is pioneering.”

SciAm: 400 PPM— Can Artificial Trees Help Pull CO2 from the Air?

Pretty neat.

Guardian.UK: Dan Brown still can’t write, but he deserves some respect.

Meh. His first book was Foucalt’s Pendulum, extra light in the loafers.

Slate: Margaret Atwood discusses science fiction in a Slate podcast.

I admire her comments about positivity and its effects, around nine minutes in.

National Review: Theater Night — Vigilantes 1, Vulgarians 0.

“So I minded my own business by utilizing my famously feline agility to deftly snatch the phone out of her hand and toss it across the room, where it would do no more damage. She slapped me and stormed away to seek managerial succor.”

ArtDaily: Paris police boost efforts to protect tourists.

“It will also begin distributing leaflets in heavily touristed areas, in English and French, warning against a trend that involves young criminals asking visitors to make donations to false charities or to sign false petitions, distracting them from pickpockets.” Heavy theft in the City of Light.

MSNBC: Charges dropped against Florida teen over amateur science experiment.

“The Florida teenager who was arrested two weeks ago for causing a small explosion on the campus of her high school will not be charged with a crime. Kiera Wilmot, 16, was arrested by police in Bartow, Florida, after conducting an unauthorized science experiment which lightly damaged an eight ounce plastic water bottle.” My emphasis.

this isn’t happiness: The Origins of 9 Great British Insults.

Bampot.

FT: US deficit falls faster than expected.

“The better picture has also shifted the deadline by which the US needs to raise its borrowing limit to avoid a default on its debt from August until October or even November, the CBO said.” Oh joy, more time for Benghazi and the IRS.

Selectism: John Lennon’s first car to be sold at auction.

A ‘65 Ferrari 350GT 2+2 Coupe. Imagine.

LRB: Climate Change Book Reviews, by Thomas Jones.

“Perhaps the best we can hope for is that somehow – using some of the technologies and policies I’ve discussed here, and some of the many I’ve overlooked – we’ll muddle through. But only if we slow climate change to a rate that we, like other organisms that evolved when the world was mild, can adapt to. If we don’t, we may indeed be doomed. And Pyrococcus furiosus, which needs us a lot less than we may need it, will inherit the earth.”

blog.gibbon.co: The Grumpy Designer Syndrome.

“This feeling of being grumpy and not satisfied is on the one hand very inconvenient and annoying (in particular for your coding colleagues) but on the other hand it might be absolutely necessary for any designer that has the goal of becoming the best he/she can be.” Familiar!

CNN: Time travel—Can it really be done?

I feel like I’m doing it every night, on my evening phone call to Tokyo. It’s tomorrow there. I’m a creature of simple pleasures, I get such a kick out of that.

Jalopnik: So You Want To Watch Free Motorsports Online?

I watched an IndyCar the other day. All the cars look identical except for color; as a result, there was a video-game quality to it. I found it an excellent substitute for Sominex.

CJR: Untangling Obamacare — What’s behind the rate increases?

What does a 100% increase sound like to you? Subsidies will soften the blow … I remain maximally skeptical.

CSM: Did the IRS illegally target the Tea Party? Seven questions answered.

Some needed background.

NY Times: Daft Punk Gets Human With a New Album.

It is so retro. I’ve listened through once, had flashbacks of Jackson/Flashdance/Chic all the way through. I’ll have to give it a go with headphones at some point. I didn’t hear anything remarkable on the first go-round — but then I’ve been programming in Expression Engine, setting up some logical constructs, so my attention is decidedly not on the music’s nuances.

Guardian.UK: Pioneering author’s body found mummified in New Mexico home.

“Her brother-in-law Louis Ponce found the body after he and his wife Edna, Salinas’ sister, drove from their home in California to check on her after two years of unreturned phone calls and letters.”

A Continuous Lean.: As it Happened — Brimfield.

Each year, I drool. Each year, my savings account is so happy I was not close enough to visit.

[Vintage tip: Remember to buy moldy leather, not dry leather. Mold can be removed and the leather restored, with a little elbow grease. It will still be strong and have a service life ahead of it. Dry and cracked leather, though it may look more palatable, will crack, fail and need replacing.]