Ms McCaffrey died at her home in Ireland on Monday, apparently the result of a stroke.

The first woman to win the Hugo and to win the Nebula, she wrote dozens of readable books in multiple series.

She continued to write into her 80s and was available to her fans.

She will be missed.

Over at Blonde Sense the Jersey Cynic notes that investors are leaving the markets. At lot of people have been forced to liquidate because of the economy, but even more seem to have decided that the ‘game is rigged’ and they don’t want to throw good money after bad. MF Global is just the latest in a series of failures by the regulators to protect investors from the market insiders.

Comrade Misfit featured an old quote by Jay Leno that rings true today. The ‘confidence fairy’ won’t be back until most of the crooks are purged from the markets … but then there won’t be anyone left to operate them.

… From a very unexpected source.

Comrade Misfit has a picture of a Russian campaign billboard, which says “Вы же всё равно не заметите разницы.” Her translation, “It doesn’t matter anyway, you won’t notice the difference.” isn’t as emphatic as it could be, but then “всё равно” has no direct single meaning in English, usually “It’s all the same to me” is close, but the “же” is kind of similar to adding 4 or 5 exclamation points.

The sign was put up in advance of the 4 December election for the Russian parliament, and the red block in the lower right-hand corner indicates it was paid for by the Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации КПРФ, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which corresponds to the check mark in the number 6 box.

It looks like a standard Единая Россия, United Russia, sign, and the UR logo is prominently featured, but Putin’s Party would never have included the flock of sheep with two identical rams on one of their signs. The sheep/ram analogy works the same way in Russia as it does in the US.

The Commies doing snark … will wonders never cease.

Adrastos at First Draft has the transcript that provides a clear example of why watching Fox News makes you ignorant.

‘Noz jumps in noting that must make mustard gas a condiment.

A college humor site leaps at the opening with Food & Drug Administration Declares Pepper Spray a Vegetable.

The Crasher Squirrel was a ‘Net meme caused by a funny picture of a squirrel who popped up in a couple’s vacation picture. The squirrel was then ‘photoshopped’ into all sorts of scenes.

The same thing is happening to Lt. Pike.

Ridicule is one of the most powerful weapons a non-violent movement has.

It was afternoon and I was on my way to a chemistry class. I had stopped for a drink of water when the news came over the speakers in the classrooms.

For those who weren’t alive at the time: remember what you felt on September 11, 2001 for a taste of November 22, 1963. It was a massive change for the worldview of my generation and it marked the beginning of a period of disruption and decline in the civility of American society. Arthur had died and Camelot fell.

At his inauguration John Kennedy made the point: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

The BBC has an article about the New York ‘lone wolf’ bomb maker that Tsar Michael made such a fuss over on Sunday.

Great, they had a ‘show and tell’ with a lot of props and videos to explain their side of the story. I have a problem with this. The people at the news conference were all officials from New York City. The alleged ‘terrorist’ is being charged under New York law and will be tried in a New York court.

Excuse me, but you get extra special ‘merit badges’ if you are a Fed and get an indictment for terrorism. If the defendant is actually convicted your personnel file gets an embossed gold star on the front. Where were the Feds?

Apparently the Feds declined the opportunity to be involved. The FBI turned down an opportunity to be at a news conference‽ The case must be really shaky, because the Feds steal good cases from locals all the time.

Charlie Pierce notes that former FBI Director Louis Freeh has been tasked by Pennsylvania State University to head the internal investigation into the Sandusky Affair. Freeh has a lot in common with Pierre de Lancre, another famous ‘witch hunter’.

This move may calm the alumni, but don’t expect anything worthwhile, like facts or the truth, to result.