gregladen | December 8, 2007With all the recent news about dinosaurs, I thought you'd like to see a video of actual dinosaurs:
gregladen | December 8, 2007The question is, which street? I mean, that is quite a difficult question.
Which ... street ... should ... be ... named ... for ... Douglas ... Adams.
(That was me thinking very carefully.)
What is the ANSWER to this most difficult and intriguing question....
Well, as you know, I have a real nice Linux supercomputer so I fed the question to the computer ... some time ago ... and it has come up with an answer. Click on the computer to find out the answer...
gregladen | December 8, 2007From this blog at harpers.org, yesterday:
I'm not sure if Secretary of the Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is cheap or cuckoo, but it comes as something of a shock to learn that the controversial book The Atlas of Creation is prominently displayed in the waiting room to his office. Written by the Turkish writer Adnan Oktar (under the pen name of Harun Yahya), the Atlas offers an Islamic version of creationism and blames Charles Darwin for modern terrorism-including the 9/11 attacks.
And today, from the same source:
Richard Mills, an agency spokesman, said in an email: "Apparently like thousands of…
gregladen | December 8, 2007Google.org director Larry Brilliant uses a clip from an old Frank Capra movie to show that we've known about global warming for 50 years -- yet in half a century, we've done almost nothing to solve it. He explores this and other megatrends that could inspire pessimism. But, he says, there is a more powerful case for optimism.
gregladen | December 8, 2007Coturnix points out that the following video of Dan Abrams speaking with two women about sex among teenagers is a good example of reporting about a scientific issue mired in a political quagmire.
Keywords and phrases:
Well, what that study actually reveals is...
Well, in a number of cases....
The study said it didn't work. So we need to do more of it to make it work.
I say, if the legislation doesn't work, screw it.
gregladen | December 8, 2007I know all my fellow bloggers are jealous about my Linux calendar posts (like this one) and normally I don't reveal my secrets. But this is so cool I have to share it.
The Linux calendar command (in the terminal window) puts out, by default, a listing of events, etc. from today and tomorrow. The listings come from "calendar" files that come with your Linux distribution (these are also on most Unix systems). You can also make your own calendar files. (I'm working on that now.)
But how do you take the output from Linux Calendar and turn it into a blog post?
Well, you can type "calendar"…
gregladen | December 8, 2007Don't Forget: The Listening Project, December 13, at the Oak Street Cinema!
The City of St Paul is a Free Speech Zone
Some inside info on the upcoming Republican National Convention from our own blogospheric correspondent on the East Side...
I have deep roots in the East Side of St. Paul. It is where I really started getting involved in politics through campaigns. I volunteer as treasurer for one of the legislators on the East Side, Tim Mahoney (DFL 67A.) So, I am happy to see that the cop in charge of security for the 2008 GOP convention is an East Sider.
gregladen | December 8, 2007The Rev. Michael Dowd is preaching a surprising message: Evolution is real and science points to the existence of God.
For the last five years, the author and former evangelical pastor has lived out of a van with his wife, crisscrossing the nation to deliver the good news.
His latest book, Thank God for Evolution, drew endorsements from five Nobel laureates and dozens of religious leaders. With the battle between science and religion at a fever pitch, it couldn't come at a better time. Just last week Texas papers reported that a curriculum director had been fired in October for forwarding…
gregladen | December 8, 2007The School Board for Rio Rancho, New Mexico has rescinded "Policy 401" which is said to have supported the teaching of creationism. Let's have a look.
I managed to grab a copy of the policy from the Rio Rancho Public Schools web site ... presumably it will disappear shortly:
The Rio Rancho Board of Education recognizes that scientific theories, such as theories regarding biological and cosmological origins, may be used to support or to challenge individual religious and philosophical beliefs. Consequently, the teaching of science in public school science classrooms may be of great interest…
gregladen | December 8, 2007
Dec 08
Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) born in Venosa (Italy), 65BC
Dec 08
James (Grover) Thurber born in Columbus, Ohio, 1894
Dec 08
First Ph.D. awarded by Computer Science Dept, Univ. of Penna, 1965
Dec 08
Blessing of the Water in Uruguay
Dec 08
Mother's Day in Panama
Dec 08
Our Lady of the Cacupe in Paraguay
Dec 08
Jim Morrison is born in Melbourne, Florida, 1943
Dec 08
John Lennon is shot and killed in New York City, 1980
Dec 08
Afflux (50th of the Season of The Aftermath)
Dec 09
Ball-bearing roller skates patented, 1884
Dec 09
Independence Day in…
gregladen | December 8, 2007... or a cult.... But really, aren't they all cults?
Germany's federal and state interior ministers have declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional, clearing the way for a possible ban.
The ministers have asked Germany's domestic intelligence agency to examine whether the Church's legal status as an association could be challenged.
Scientology is not recognised as a religion in Germany.
A Church of Scientology statement said the ministers were "completely out of step with the rest of the world".
The attempted ban is "a blatant attempt at justifying the on-going and never-ending…
gregladen | December 7, 2007Praise Nothin' We're in the Age o' Reason, Brother!
Foot worship?
[hat tip: Spanish Inquisitor]
gregladen | December 7, 2007Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has said teachers who refuse younger students access to the site are "bad educators".
Speaking at the Online Information conference at London's Olympia, he played down the long-running controversy over the site's authority.
He said young students should be able to reference the online encyclopaedia in their work.
Mr Wales said the site, which is edited by users, should be seen as a "stepping stone" to other sources.
As long as an article included accurate citations, he said he had "no problem" with it being used as a reference for younger students, although…
gregladen | December 7, 2007Another round of heavy artillery launched in the War on Christmas. It's a hit!
[hattip: PZ Myers]
gregladen | December 7, 2007He was saved by creation science. But a little too late, like, it happened after he became a vicious cannibal.