September 6, 2009
The loons have been strangely silent all weekend, and I have been singularly distracted from them, so it was not until this morning that I realized that the adults are gone.
Well, they are not totally gone, but they are in a transitional phase. I think they are starting to spend time in their…
September 6, 2009
Hat Tip DT
September 5, 2009
Well, tonight we had a modest little party at the lake to celebrate Amanda's completion of the last requirement of her Master of Biological Science Degree. This is what teachers call a "content area" degree. In other words, it is not an education degree, but a degree in the actual real world…
September 5, 2009
To the extent that one would have booted such a machine.
Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, is being sent to the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley where it is to be restored to working order.
The computer, which was designed in 1949, first ran in 1951 and was designed to…
September 5, 2009
Mars Orbiter has captured thousands of images in high resolution from the surface of the Grumpy Reddish Planet. The picture you see here is a chain of pit craters. That must have been one helluva noisy event. Reminds me of the walls at the Entebe Airport.
Anyway, the High Resolution Imaging…
September 5, 2009
The tie-dyed shirts really make the Mentos thing work work....
September 5, 2009
Cats:
Dogs:
September 5, 2009
Missing laptop and panda bear!!!! If you are at DragonCon Read This Now!!!!! Please.
September 4, 2009
The other day when I was not hacking my kindle, I discovered that it ran on Linux. Or at least, when I went to "status" and typed in 411, the OS details came up and that is what it indicated.
So, should I really be impressed buy this?
I love this punchline:
September 4, 2009
Dr. Gruver,
I was utterly floored to learn that your school district has expressed (by strong implication) concern over the value and appropriateness of a message from President Obama to the school children of our country.
I am equally flabergasted that you would bend to pressure from what really…
September 4, 2009
Below the fold. Because that's that's the law. Probably.
September 4, 2009
... is more of a cave in according to Stephanie Zvan. Read her post at Quiche Moraine.
September 4, 2009
All the kiddies have to wait until September eight, but I've obtained a copy of it!!!!
Ooops, wrong president. OK, now, please help me find all the press and other documentation of the left wing going nuts over the president addressing the school children.
Oh, what? There isn't any? You mean…
September 3, 2009
Dusty Trice has some brilliant reporting. Here's his film:
Read his detailed report and analysis here.
I love this: The woman who asks the opening question seems to assume that the general population is behind her. Love the way she says "Obama" ... reminds me of how southerners used to say a…
September 3, 2009
There is something funny about this video. Can you spot it?
September 3, 2009
A fireside talk debunking the more outrageous myths. Pass it on.
September 3, 2009
I was shocked to learn only a few minutes ago that the administration of the largest independent school district in the state of Minnesota had no idea until today about the President's intention to speak to the school children of this country next week.
As one teacher said to me, "It is very hard…
September 3, 2009
Dear Dr. Thein,
I am a parent of a child in the Roseville, MN School District. I am very concerned about news reports I've been hearing from elsewhere in Minnesota indicating that there are parents upset about The President of the United States addressing the students in some classrooms next week…
September 3, 2009
A poll of facebook ... link is here ... asks "Should President Obama be allowed to do a nationwide address to school children without parental consent?"
I find the wording of that statement to be astounding. But anyway, if you are on facebook, you may want to go and vote. CUrrently, 65% say NO,…
September 3, 2009
Drug monkey points out the latest over the tip insanity... The President of the United States plans to distribute an address to the nation's school children on September 8th, and some of the wingnuts are saying they want their kids out of school, or out of the classroom, for that event. They are…
September 3, 2009
At issue here is the idea that "biology" is slow and ponderous, glacial, even geological, in its rate of change, while culture is quick and snappy and makes rapid adjustment. Connected to this is a subtly different but very important idea: Culture actually makes sensible adjustments to compensate…
September 2, 2009
"You also must rely on Science."
Well, OK, he didn't actually SAY that, but he did DO that...
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson underwent 10 hours of surgery to repair an irregular heartbeat that put the 79-year-old at higher risk of a deadly stroke or heart attack, his lead surgeon said Monday.…
September 2, 2009
What is this strange blog that seems to like me, happy about my voice and putting me on my very own blog roll and stuff?????
Don't forget to check out the "about" page.
September 2, 2009
A new study using both genetic and cultural data shows that ethnic groups in Central Asia are primarily a sociocultural phenomenon.
From the Abstract:
...we used genetic data that ... in addition to data from the literature, to understand better the origins of Central Asian groups at a fine-…
September 2, 2009
OK, folks, your wisdom is needed.
I got an email from Sheril Kirshenbaum asking me to promote a blog post in which she asks for pictures that might be used to illustrate her upcoming book on kissing. I had planned to help her out, and in fact, here I am doing that right now: Please look at this…
September 2, 2009
Central Asian ethnic groups are more defined by societal rules than ancestry. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genetics found that overall there are more genetic differences within ethnic groups than between them, indicating that separate 'ethnic groups' exist in the mind more…
September 2, 2009
... is now up at Southern Fried Science.
September 2, 2009
From Health Care Can't Wait Dot Com
September 2, 2009
I just received a very cool graphic from my friend and former student who is currently living under the ice at the South Pole. She is very excited about the implications of this graphic.
To read this, imagine yourself on a certain date (x axis). Now, follow a line down from top to bottom and see…
September 2, 2009
Today's falsehood is the idea that individual animals act for the benefit of their own species.
Let me give you an example. When I was a kid, I watched a nature show about cougars. The show 'documented' a single female cougar going about doing cougar-things and being generally cougar-like. At…
