So I guess I’ll weigh in. Or rather, as is my wont, I’ll go on for many paragraphs about how the issue is more complicated than some people would like you to believe. And I’ll do zero research to see if I’m right! An annoying and unproductive conversation I had with another commentor at mindyourowndamnbusinesspolitics.com has […]
Old Post
I wish I’d found this old post back when the Gates drama was happening. I want to try to remember it because sometimes when people say, “would this [bad thing] have happened to a white person,” I think, “well, yeah, probably.” Sometimes; not all the time. This is from Why Oh Why, which isn’t really […]
Next Generation Hand-Wringing
I’ve commented several times about how how wrong-headed some people are about technology (here, and here, and here). In short, Facebook and iPods really really really aren’t ruining society or creating people who can’t communicate. So I guess it’s obvious where I stand. There’s a new book out, A Better Pencil, which explains that the […]
Religious Law
So here in Atlanta, a Hindu temple filed for bankruptcy. This means that creditors are supposed to be allowed to do an inventory of all the temple’s assets. But the Hindus at the temple are in the middle of a “216-day period of ritual cleansing” in which non-Hindus aren’t supposed to enter the temple. So […]
T-Rex Mini Me
Man-sized, but otherwise identical, T-rex found in China. (They’re calling it a raptorex.) And you thought the Japanese were good at miniaturization. This is what the T-rex looked like before it evolved into the massive beast it eventually came to be. Have a look. It apparently changes how we thought that T-rex evolved. The thinking […]
Happy Birthday, Doctor J!
Not the basketball player, but the amazing Dr. Johnson (who has appeared before in these magical pages). Creator of the first modern English dictionary. Today he would be 300 years old and still bitching. Bitching, that is, in the most witty and quotable way. Go read some of his dictionary. Today’s word is pickapack, which […]
The Worst Place for Homosexuals on Earth
Iraq. Technology and social media makes it easier to torture and murder people who aren’t bothering anyone.
Sex and Violence
Yes! It’s a common complaint of mine that naked bodies are seen as terrible things to show a child, but violence is ok. I recently saw Waltz with Bashir. It’s about war, as well as the Christian Lebanese massacre of Palestinian refugees. So there are some nasty scenes and ideas in the movie. Death, destruction, […]
Cheap Pics
These guys spent just under $150, total, to send a camera into SPACE and take pictures. Or, almost space. Close enough for me. Go have a look, and read how they did it. You could do it, too, ’cause they’re gonna post instructions. [Link from Wired’s Gadget Lab.]
Bollards!
I didn’t know what a bollard was. Do you? If you have to have them in front of a library, this is the way to go. Another pic.