Archives for November, 2010
Samuel Hengel. So, who’s gun did he use to kidnap the children and kill himself?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 Samuel Hengel is, or should I say was, a mentally disturbed, probably depressed student in a rural area of Wisconsin who showed up at school yesterday with a pistol. He used the firearm to hold the teacher and students in one of his classes for several hours. (details here) Scary part (well, there’s several scary…
It’s Official: Gay is Okay
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 The United States Military has finally come to realize what we all have known for, well, generations. It’s OK to be gay and in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or, believe it or not, the Marines. A Pentagon study on gays in the military has determined that overturning the law known as “don’t…
Palin demands that Wikileaks director Assange be hunted down and captured or killed
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 Or, at least, that’s what I assume she means when she asks “Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?” Equating her recent book with the quarter-million or so cables among US embassies and the state department, she is known to have tweeted: Inexplicable: I recently won…
Do you think Julian Assange violated the 1917 Espionage act?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 That’s the Wikileaks guy. Believe it or not, there’s a poll! The act makes it a crime ” To convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies. This was punishable by death or by imprisonment for…
Just when you thought it was safe to call the season over …
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 Today is the last day of the official Atlantic Hurricane season, and that seems right because for the last several days there has been no significant tropical storm development in the region. However, there is evidence to suggest that the Atlantic Hurricane seasons have been getting longer, perhaps requiring a change int he expected end…
DADT report will say that 70% favor lifting ban
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 … or, to be more precise, 70 percent of those polled predict that lifting the ban would have positive, mixed, or no results. The report is expected to become public any moment now, but you can read about what it will contain here.
NASA mystery press conference: Did they find ET?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 NASA has slyly, or inadvertantly, let out a handful of clues that a planned news conference will reveal details of an important new finding regarding life on other planets. There have been a number of moments in the history of astrobiology where an important find has gotten us all very excited, including the discovery of…
Black Atheist Distinction
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 A message from Ayanna18vcu
The great thing about Apple is that all the hardware and software are designed to work together …
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2010 … like clockwork. Orange that is.
Most in US armed forces have no strong objections to repealing DADT
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 … acording to the report that will be released by the Defense Department tomorrow. Except Marines, of course. the survey found resistance to repealing the ban strongest among the Marines, according to The Washington Post. It’s an attitude apparently shared by their top leader, Commandant Gen. James Amos, who has said that the government should…
A miscellany of sites to visit.
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 The Berry Go Round Plant Carnival is up and it’s an especially good one. Don’t miss it! Hillary Clinton on Wikileaks The first day of the Minnesota Recount is going badly, following my expectations perfectly. Story here. Speaking Out on International Gay Rights.
“..in a lame-duck setting, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is not going anywhere”
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 Republican Lindsey Graham, who is a guy with a girls name apparently, strongly feels that the Senate is unlikely to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell during the Lame Duck session. The house has already voted to repeal, and Obama is in favor of repeal, and the Senate is more likely to approve human-rights related legislation…
“Panic among Kenya’s gays”
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 Kenya’s Prime Minister wasted no time in abusing the abysmally horrid policy shift made recently by the UN to remark that Gays in Kenya should be arrested. Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya board member Nguru Karugu said Monday the office has received calls from concerned members, some of whom are HIV-positive and fear they…
Shimon Schocken’s rides of hope
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 video below the fold
King Tut’s Tomb Discovered!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 A frail elderly woman would have a hard time walking a few blocks, from her apartment to the subway, then from the subway to the MET, with winds gusting to near hurricane strength. So, the patron of the arts and of archaeology, who happened to be a cousin of my first wife, called around to…
The Wisdumb of Michele Bachmann
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2010 “I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not…
Leslie Nielsen is Dead
Posted by Greg Laden on November 28, 2010 And I don’t refer here to his humor, his lifestyle, or even his hair. Leslie Nielsen never produced an original piece of humor in his life. All of his jokes were stolen from my friend Karl and me, from stuff we did back in middle school. But, I do have to give Nielsen credit for…
A very private conversation revealed, just like Wikileaks
Posted by Greg Laden on November 28, 2010 The following is an accurate account of a recent conversation in which illegal, and possibly dangerous acts against the Federal and State governments were planned.
This photograph needs a caption
Posted by Greg Laden on November 28, 2010 more captions needed
Blame it on Rio
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2010 Have you ever noticed that everyone else’s house or apartment is cleaner than yours? That’s because your arrival is usually expected, and a certain amount of cleaning up happens before you get there. So, you experience everyone else’s home cleaned up but your own crib just the way it is. Like China. Before everybody came…
The Hitchens Blair Debate
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2010 The videos are below the fold to avoid flash freakout on your computer. The question: Is Religion a Force for Good in the World? The Pre Debate poll of the audience said no, it is not: PRO: 22% CON:57% UNDECIDED:21% And 75% of those polled said they’d be willing to change their mind. After the…
Is religion a good or evil force in society?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2010 Americans and citizens of some of the most Islamic countries tend to agree that it is a force acting on the side of good. Many Europeans say the opposite. There is a rough correlation between the religiosity of a country and how much religion is revered (duh) as a primarily good thing.
The Fetish in relation to Skepticism
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2010 I was just glancing through the blog of Katheryn Schulz, author of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, a book about people who were wrong about stuff, often big stuff (for example, she talks about individuals who spent decades in jail owing to false convictions). Meantime, I’m working on posts related to the…
Friday funny feline
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2010 hat tip: Julia
Making law on the high seas
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2010 What really happened at the First Thanksgiving
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2010 A re-enactment:
Jimmy Carter: Religion is one of the ‘basic causes’ of violations of women’s rights
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2010 The Feast
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2010 The enemy has arrived, in force, outside your village. The men are armed and wearing the symbols of war, which is appropriate because your group and the group milling about outside your walled settlement are at war. One of the men, wearing war garb but adorned also with white flagging to indicate a peaceful intent…
, which is now available for the 
