Racy.

As an Asian guy with an extremely long torso and short legs, I thought this was interesting:

Anthropometric measurements of large populations show that systematic differences exist among blacks, whites and Asians. The published evidence is massive: blacks have longer limbs than whites, and because blacks have longer legs and smaller circumferences (e.g. calves and arms), their center of mass is higher than that in other individuals of the same height. Asians and whites have longer torsos, therefore their centers of mass are lower.

I’m generally suspicious of “inherent genetic advantage” arguments, but at least I know I’m not alone.

Linkwad.

1. For $250, ColorWare will prettify your iPhone 4, and might fix that “death grip” problem (which, in turn, might not be such a problem after all. Even if it is, it also might be (but probably not) getting fixed on the DL).
2. The “Son of Sam” killer’s image gets burnished while he’s in jail. I’ve always loved the phrasing of the “Hello from the gutters of New York” Breslin letter, regardless of authenticity.
3. Who do you write like? Based on this post, I write like Stephen King. My mom is apparently a H.P. Lovecraft fan.
4. The FCC’s “indecency rules” are bullshit, says the Court of Appeals. Crappy-drawers whiners including the Parents Television Council and Concerned Women for America are appealing.
5. Fuck what you heard, gang nicknames are awesome. I would love it if people called me “Bloody Batman.” (Via @Maryvale)

Here, kitty kitty kitty.

I personally like cats, but this is definitely something all designers want to do from time to time:

Dear Shannon,
That is shocking news. Luckily I was sitting down when I read your email and not half way up a ladder or tree. How are you holding up? I am surprised you managed to attend work at all what with thinking about Missy out there cold, frightened and alone… possibly lying on the side of the road, her back legs squashed by a vehicle, calling out “Shannon, where are you?”

Although I have two clients expecting completed work this afternoon, I will, of course, drop everything and do whatever it takes to facilitate the speedy return of Missy.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 9.37am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Poster

yeah ok thanks. I know you dont like cats but I am really worried about mine. I have to leave at 1pm today.
[...]

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.24am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

yeah thats not what I was looking for at all. it looks like a movie and how come the photo of Missy is so small?

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.28am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,
It’s a design thing. The cat is lost in the negative space.
Regards, David.

Via Andrew Sullivan

Linkwad and an update.

1. Johannes Mehserle wrote a public letter of apology. TNC (and I) would rather not have to worry about the police.
2. World War 2: Worst. War. Ever. (Via @MattYglesias)
3. A solar charger that doesn’t suck.
4. Double Rainbow Guy interviewed by Fast Company, of all things. Videogum has the man-boob-free highlights: “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Last night I went to an Indian sweat and I prayed really hard about this. When I shot the video, I was not high at all, I was not having sex, and I was not hiking, as a lot of people assume. This is my land that I bought in 1988. Wait, what was the question?”

Turns out Kill Hannah is opening for the Smashing Pumpkins tonight on the “Bands I should have seen in 1996 tour.” Here’s “Kennedy.”

Updated: Apparently that AIDS breakthrough isn’t a cure after all.

Electioneering.

Alex Tabarrok notes that disproportionate representation of rural areas was instrumental in passing Prohibition:

I’d always understood that prohibition was, in part, an attack by rural WASPs against urban, (often) Catholic, immigrants but I had not realized how much the drys were helped by malapportionment in the state legislatures which gave rural voters greater power than their numbers alone would have suggested.

“Statewide wet majorities were rendered irrelevant by the rotten-borough legislatures.  The very same day the citizens of Missouri rejected a dry amendment to the state constitution by a margin of 47 percent dry to 53 percent wet, they elected a legislature that just two months later would ratify the Eighteenth Amendment by a 75 percent to 25 percent margin. In Ohio, the sacred cradle of the ASL, legislative districting and assiduous politicking put ratification over by a combined legislative vote of 105-42; however, when left to their own devices, Ohio voters rejected the very same measure in a referendum.”

Along with often-abused Senate procedures like holds and filibusters, this phenomenon is one of the hidden structural problems that keep gay marriage illegal and climate change unaddressed.