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stcynic | August 19, 2006Well, maybe. DaveScot left a comment at UD and Dembski replied:
DaveScot: Glad to see you again. You've done inestimable service for this blog, and your insights have been missed. I've upgraded the account under which you posted this comment to "Author" -- same as Sal. I want to see you posting here again.
So do we, Bill. So do we.
stcynic | August 18, 2006I'm just stunned by this. The famous penis pump judge was sentenced to four years in prison today - four years. That strikes me as an absolutely ridiculous sentence for such a minor offense. I was sure he would get probation and that was it. The fact that he lost his job, his pension and his public reputation is punishment enough. He's become a national laughingstock and is utterly humiliated. What good does this sentence do for anyone? Are they trying to deter the vast numbers of other judges pining away from a penis pump? I just don't get it. The only one who actually saw him do it was the…
pharyngula | August 18, 2006Dang, but I seem to be too late. A Seattle newsweekly describes a generous program from Focus on the Family—you could get on to their website store, order up to $100 worth of their enlightening merchandise, and then they only asked for a donation! Pay $0, get it all for free!
Unfortunately, they seem to have caught on. Now you only get a message that the resource center is closed. Keep an eye on it in case it re-opens.
(via Riba Rambles)
It's backup, and jeez...it worked. At least, we'll see if it works if the books arrive in about two weeks. Look at it as a way to get your hands on Wells'…
grrlscientist | August 18, 2006You have to do two things before you go below the fold: (1) tell me how girly you think you are and (2) guess how girly I am.
You Are 12% Girly
Um... you're a guy, right? If not, you're the most boyish girl in the world.
And for you, that's probably the ultimate compliment.
How Girly Are You?
stcynic | August 18, 2006A family in Germany who says they have to scream and sing while praying, loud enough that they wake up the entire building, because the volume is necessary in a battle with Satan:
A seven-member family faces eviction from an east Berlin apartment tower after neighbors complained about loud prayer sessions that keep the whole building awake at night, a German newspaper said Thursday.
"I really don't want to disturb the neighbors but the high volume is needed in the battle against the devil," Pierre D., the 42-year-old father of the Christian family, told Bild newspaper. He is fighting an…
purepedantry | August 18, 2006Quotes of the Day from Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams:
"I know that astrology isn't a science,' said Gail. "Of course it isn't. It's just an arbitrary set of rules like chess or tennis or, what's that strange thing you British play?'
"Er, cricket? Self-loathing?"
"Parliamentary democracy. The rules just kind of got there. They don't make any kind of sense except in terms of themselves. But when you start to exercise those rules, all sorts of processes start to happen and you start to find out all sorts of stuff about people. In astrology the rules happen to be about stars and planets, but…
stcynic | August 18, 2006Yet another example of our European allies just not understanding freedom of speech. Prosecutors in Germany have announced that they'll be watching Madonna's concerts there to make sure she doesn't violate the law against insulting religious beliefs. There's a point in her concert, apparently, where she puts on a crown of thorns and sings a song from a mirrored cross. The Roman Catholic Church has condemned the performance, which is fine - you don't like it, you have a right to say so. But no government has the legitimate authority to tell her she can't do it just because some people find it…
purepedantry | August 17, 2006Interesting reading for today:
The Neurocritic has a very good article on cognitive effects of socio-economic status. There are three important points: 1) the effects are not genetic, 2) there are a variety of different cognitive consequences, and 3) the reality is more complicated than previously suggested. Amen to that.
Mind Hacks links to synaptic fashion -- scarves and bowties illustrating synaptic contacts. I want one.
The Neurophilosopher discusses why starving song birds don't sing as well. He also has a good piece on multipotent neural progenitors.
tqa | August 17, 2006Janet tagged everybody, so here goes:
The rules: "Go here and look through random quotes until you find 5 that you think reflect who you are or what you believe."
1) What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
2) In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.
Carl Sagan…
tqa | August 17, 2006Ed Brayton, over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars, has some excellent commentary on the court finding that the warrentless wiretapping of international phone calls (referred to by the White House as the Terrorist Surveillance Program) is massively illegal and unconstitutional. Ed focuses on the possibility that the ruling will be overturned on standing grounds, and the implications if that happens. I'm going to focus on something a little different: the White House response to the ruling, and the fundamental misunderstanding of the President's job description that it demonstrates.
The…
purepedantry | August 17, 2006I haven't been posting much because I am defending my Quals today.
81 slides...I am so the Power Point God.
UPDATE: Triumph! I have passed. One more hurdle between me and occupational recognition overcome. And, yes, 81 slides was a bit long. It was supposed to go 2 hous with questions, but I went about 20 minutes over. They were joking that I was trying to "pass by attrition."
stcynic | August 17, 2006I've written before about Vinx, an absolutely amazing musician and singer I've been fortunate enough to meet and interact with over the years. From the front page of his webpage comes another testimony to the magic of his live show:
What Vinx Did for Me
By Shawnn K. Shears
July 22, 2006
I saw Vinx last night, felt his sweat and the weight of his arm on my back. I listened to his every word, every inflection uttered on stage and heard sounds that freed me from earthly bonds.
For any who do not know his music, take heart. Your life is about to improve. Perhaps you have never heard creativity so…
stcynic | August 17, 2006The White House says that Bush read Camus' The Stranger on his summer vacation, and Tony Snow says he even discussed it with some of his aides. Slate has a hard time believing it. So does the Carpetbagger Report. I'm not sure I buy it either. I think I'd have an easier time believing that Miss Manners was spotted backstage at a Wu Tang Clan show.
stcynic | August 17, 2006The 6th circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed by Cooley Law School (the largest law school in the nation, located in Lansing, Michigan) against the American Bar Association. The school filed suit when the ABA refused to accredit two satellite campuses, one in Grand Rapids and one in Oakland County, and imposed sanctions on the school for operating those satellites without accreditation. The district court granted summary judgment to the ABA and dismissed the suit; the appeals court just upheld that judgment. The timing is rather…
jrosenhouse | August 16, 2006While I was away, William Dembski offered up this revealing post. He describes how he met philosopher Barbara Forrest and asked her to autograph his copy of Creationism's Trojan Horse. She signed it, “To Bill, With Thanks.” Dembski writes:
Indeed, what is she thanking me for? If ID is such a vicious evil, a more appropriate inscription might have read:
To Bill,
You malignant subverter of science, you despiser of all that is wholesome and right. May you rot in hell, if there is such a place (which I doubt).
With all good wishes,
Barbara Forrest
But she didn't. She thanked me. Why was…
thescian | August 16, 2006If you haven't yet visited Hansdehar, a village in the Haryana state, here's where you go for a glimpse. More villages will come online says the Smartvillages.org website. The initiative by Samanvay Welfare Society (I can't find a link. The link at Smartvillages.org is broken) is a smart one. The issues facing villages are manyfold. The more eyeballs we can get to look at them, the more potential there is for smart solutions.
I particularly like the local facilities page on the website. I know those people a lot. For the first 15 years of my childhood, I lived in a small town called Jolarpet…
mikethemadbiologist | August 16, 2006Our (lonely) Benevolent Seed Overlords ask:
To what extent do you worry about AIDS, either with respect to yourself, your children, or the world at large?
Personally, I don't worry so much--I came of age when nuclear annihilation was a real possibility. It doesn't get scarier than that. I think one potential casuality of the AIDS epidemic could be public health in the developing world--or more accurately, the willingness of the developed world to support developing world public health efforts.
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous upsurge of funding to combat infectious disease in…
purepedantry | August 16, 2006How fantastic is this:
A 25-million-year-old whale fossil from southeastern Australia has revealed a bizarre early type of 'baleen' whale. The creature was an ancient cousin of our modern blue whales and humpbacks, but it was hardly a gentle giant of the sea. Instead it was small and predatory, with enormous eyes and teeth.
Enormous blue whales and humpbacks fall into the category of baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have no teeth, feeding instead by filtering out krill and plankton from huge gulps of sea water. For filters, the whales use large whalebone or 'baleen' plates arranged in comb-…
stcynic | August 16, 2006Iran has opened a display of cartoons making fun of the holocaust at a museum in Tehran. This is being done in response to the Danish cartoon controversy, and according to the Telegraph:
Organisers of the exhibition say they are testing the West's commitment to freedom of speech.
But what exactly are they testing? We have no authority to stop the exhibit from taking place in another country. And of course, the notion that "the West" is all of one mind on the subject is absurd. If such an exhibit was attempted in France, Germany or Austria, they would likely arrest the organizers and perhaps…