May 6, 2008
Willie Zeit (or whatever his name is) is very, very annoying. So I hesitate to show this. But religion is even more annoying. Therefore, I show this (only the first bit is essential).
It is conceivable that this is the most fun these kids will be having for a long time. At least they are not…
May 6, 2008
The Myanmar/Burma death toll is now experiencing the usual effects of poor information, limited reporting, and the outcome of being stuck between sensationalism and horror.
Most agencies are reporting 22,000 dead with twice that missing. I do think that these numbers are meaningless at this…
May 5, 2008
Oh, I forgot ... that radio appearance was not free. I waived my usual fee of $1,500 per appearance in lieu of the following really cool gift from Minnesota Atheists:
(click the card to get yours!)
May 5, 2008
I'm talking about the May 4th Podcast of Atheist Talk, from the Minnesota Atheists. The first half was an interview of Lois Schadewald, editor of her brother's posthumous work "Worlds of their Own" ... a book of essays on pseudoscience.
The second half was an interview of Yours Truly by Mike…
May 5, 2008
... This is one of several interesting questions being asked by Bitch writer Maya Schenwar in: Learning Curve ... Radical "unschooling" moms are changing the stay-at-home landscape.
From the article:
Not long ago, homeschooling was thought of as the domain of hippie earth mothers letting their…
May 5, 2008
Linux is not for everyone.
Linux is an operating system that is idea for people who need their computers for important tasks, require reliability, and who do not need the hand holding and eye candy that some of the other operating systems seem to focus on. In short, Linux is for people who are…
May 5, 2008
This is in Myanmar, where a repressive military government has yet to allow relief workers mustering now in nearby Thailand to enter the country to lend assistance.
Cyclone Nargis made land fall Saturday in southern Myanmar in the vicinity of Labutta with sustained winds of up to 120 mph. It is…
May 5, 2008
... And, for more dating advice:
May 5, 2008
I woke up to an icky world this morning. After painfully clearing my lungs and scarfing down some medication, I scanned the TV channels for news. and the blogosphere for inspiration. The TV was giving me mainly god, while the blogosphere was giving me measles, pandemics, murdered sea lions, and…
May 2, 2008
On May third, 1978, Gary Thuerk, working for the Digital Equipment Corporation Marketing Department, sent 393 unsolicited emails to users of Arpanet (arpanet would eventually become The Internet).
Thuerk and Digitial Equipment Corporation were both chastised for this, and the official Arpanet…
May 2, 2008
I've been laid up with a nasty disease the last few days, so I've not been doing much productive. But I have gotten some TV watching in.
Just in time, too. Has anyone else noticed that House (last night) and Numbers (tonight, in fact, airing this very moment) contain thinly veiled attacks on…
May 2, 2008
I almost literally grew up in the shadow of the Albany Medical Center. Many of my family members were at one time or another employed there, perhaps cleaning the floor while in high school or in a clerical position as a part time job, etc. I have been in and out of the emergency room there…
May 2, 2008
I was just recently annoyed by a large female human bosom with a cat on it. Never mind the details. Anyway, I looked into it and discovered this:
May 2, 2008
Boo!
...
That scurrying sound you hear is the pitter-patter of libertarian homeschoolers running to their battle stations. These are the people who make home schooling ... which isn't such a bad idea in some cases ... a bad idea. All the time.
This is a community of people who claim to represent…
May 2, 2008
Vaccine denialism and related issues is something that I took a great interest in many years ago with the publication of Laruie Garret's "The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance," a book which presaged a great deal of later popular and more technical literature on…
May 1, 2008
PC should check out this cooling system.
May 1, 2008
The Carnival of Space - the anniversary edition is at Why Homeschool.
May 1, 2008
Tangled Bank #104 is here, at Dammit Jim!
May 1, 2008
A Missouri House Committee has just approved for consideration of the House an Academic Freedom Bill drafted with the aid of the Discovery Institute.
The bill has a nice twist to it in that it prohibits the consideration of any boundary or difference between religion and non-religion in regards…
May 1, 2008
May Day is the day that we traditionally get our military hardware out and parade it around Moscow and Havana. It is also International Worker's Day and International Labor Day. As with all holidays, there are spooky ancient origins as well. May Day is the half way point between Solstice and…
April 29, 2008
This is a photograph of a male orangutan attempting to spear a fish.
It is believed that this male has seen fish spearing by local fish spearing men. This is on Kaja Island, in Borneo. Quite a few of the apes in this area are "rehabilitated" having been earlier rescued from human possession.…
April 29, 2008
Expelled!, the so called documentary, has a web site on MySpace. Recently they ran a poll asking if Intelligent Design should be taught in schools or not. The results of that poll overwhelming indicate "no" ... with 420 thousand "nay" votes and fewer than one thousand in favor of violating the…
April 29, 2008
Home schooling is probably a really good idea for a lot of people, but only for a certain (unknown) percentage of people who actually do it. And, among those who do manage to home school, I would guess that the effectiveness of home schooling varies from pretty good to dismal because homeschoolers…
April 29, 2008
The Florida House yesterday voted to require teachers to criticize evolution when teaching the subject in Florida public schools. The house version of the bill will now, most likely, travel back to the Senate (where a similar bill, was recently passed). Governor Charlie Crist is not talking about…
