gregladen | July 21, 2010Tomorrow we begin the obstetric countdown to goat birthing. This is only our second time 'round with this, and while I'm less nervous than last time (way more nervous than the actual goats, though), I'm still a little worried. Mostly about Selene, who after her bout with meningeal parasite last year has some residual weakness in her back legs. Although she gets along great, can still jump on the stanchion, etc... and is a fine milker, I'm worried she'll have trouble delivering.
Well, now I know where to get goats ...
gregladen | July 21, 2010As many of you know, I moved my blog Culture Dish yesterday from ScienceBlogs, where it's been the past few years. As Carl Zimmer pointed out in his post about PepsiGate and the many bloggers who relocated, moving a blog is no small undertaking. Fortunately, I have a rockstar web designer who created this blog here yesterday and transferred my old Culture Dish archives to this site. ...
Here
gregladen | July 21, 2010I think the strike is still on. One of the problems we have around here is communication, and it is not just between management and bloggers. Nobody tells me anything. But another problem we have around here is patience. So I'll try to be patient.
In the meantime, I continue to blog at my old site, and here are a few recent non-trivial installments you may find interesting:
Can you train an adult brain? (An actual science post!)
Web Reactions to #SbSTRIKE (Humor, tragedy)
Learning the Bash Shell (A repost to keep you amused, if you are into this sort of thing)
gregladen | July 20, 2010
... or something. I'll be here, on strike.
There appears to be a bit of a work action on Scienceblogs.com, and it appears that I'm going along with it. I'm doing this to make one point, and only one point.
Before I make that point I want to make a few other comments.
1) Although I agree with many of the complaints of many of my colleagues regarding the Scienceblogs administrative responsiveness, especially when it comes to technical issues, I appear to be happier than the average Sbling in that I don't seem to be foaming at the mouth. I'm just ... interested in seeing things work better…
gregladen | July 19, 2010In those days, one of the hardest things to come by was a good pair of boots. Boots were carefully and painstakingly hand made of relatively rare materials. They were meant to last for years, re-soled now and then, re-heeled a bit more often. I myself barely remember, as a child, bringing the family shoes to the cobbler for new heels, or perhaps bringing them back home, acting as a tiny courier and not having to bring any money for the work being done since it was put on an account. But back in those days ... long before my time or even my father's time ... boots were even more rare and a…
gregladen | July 19, 2010Knowing the Problem of Induction
Through these experiences, I found out how religious people "know" what they know. There could be no doubt, because the words came directly to me while I was experiencing the ecstasy. There was no induction needed, because through those experiences I had the Truth.
On the Utility of Dicks
This is not about what you think it is.
Adventures Among Ants
Well, OK, not so much read, but listen to!
Rage rising...rising...rising...
At some point, there will be a loud noise, a sudden lurch (Bora's departure may even be it), and everyone will abruptly turn and run…
gregladen | July 19, 2010Breaking news: It seems as though the cap placed on BP's deep sea oil well may be leaking, and there is seeping gas and/or oil from nearby indicating that the oil is leaking from the bore hole into surrounding sediments.
A White House spokesman says BP's ruptured oil well is leaking at the top, along with seepage about two miles away.
Robert Gibbs also says officials are monitoring bubbles that can be seen on an underwater camera.
Leaks could mean the cap on the well has to be opened to prevent oil and gas from escaping elsewhere.
The mechanical cap on the well stopped the flow of oil into…
gregladen | July 19, 2010
The Twittersphere erupted Sunday when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tweeted that "peaceful Muslims" should "refudiate" the mosque being built in New York City near where the Twin Towers once stood. Palin found herself the butt of many tweets, as refudiate, of course, is not a word in the English language.
After deleting the offending tweet, Palin replaced it with another calling on "peaceful New Yorkers" to "refute the Ground Zero mosque plan," which only added to the confusion because it would appear the word she was looking for was "repudiate." Then came the kicker: To quell the vicious…
gregladen | July 19, 2010It spawned the Mark Williams letter that praised slavery. Then, under pressure from the outside, expelled Williams. But that is not enough.
Following is the Williams letter, in case you missed it.
Dear Mr. Lincoln
We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!
In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week. We voted to condemn a…
gregladen | July 19, 2010It looks like the possible worst case scenario is more than a theoretical possibility. The news on this is vague and unclear, but it seems as though pressure reductions under the newly placed well cap have been detected, indicating that oil and gas in the deep sea wll are going somewhere. The fear would be that this indicates that the bore running from the deep deposit to the surface is leaking into surrounding sediments. If that really happens, it could be detected by gas coming from the surface near (but not directly from) the bore. Eventually, if this leak is for real, oil could start…
gregladen | July 18, 2010Where I grew up, lakes were important. We would spend considerable time driving to them, and once there, camp next to them for a couple of weeks. Every now and then we'd go and camp next to the really really big lake. The one with England on the other side, or so my brother would tell me. All the lakes had these big chairs along the swimming areas that lifeguards sat in. The really really big lake had extra tall chairs. I remember thinking that they could probably see England from up there!
But despite the importance of lakes in our recreational regime, lakes were actually fairly…
gregladen | July 16, 2010On the Utility of Dicks
For a few bucks, a randy Switzer can have a three pack of condoms delivered by bike in one hour.
Researchers create 'lesbian' mice by deleting a single gene
Stone Age Dildo Found in Sweden
gregladen | July 16, 2010Co-creator of the philanthropic FEED bags, Ellen Gustafson says hunger and obesity are two sides of the same coin. At TEDxEast, she launches The 30 Project -- a way to change how we farm and eat in the next 30 years, and solve the global food inequalities behind both epidemics.
gregladen | July 16, 2010This presentation by John Abraham of St. Thomas in Minnesota rips to shreds Christopher Monckton's prior presentation at Bethel College (both religious institutions of higher ed, but of very different characers!). A summary of the Abraham v. Monkinton debate is supplied here, on Class M Planet.