I’ve posted before about flying without showing any ID. In that story, a guy named John Gilmore challenged people to fly without showing their ID. He doubted that they’d be able to without being harassed. As it happens, the travelers made it through without a problem, but they had to submit to a tougher physical […]
Cup Noodle in Our Hearts
Momofuku Ando, the inventor of Cup Noodle instant noodles (the first of its kind) has died of a heart attack. (Link) “It was the masterstroke of providing a waterproof polystyrene container for the noodles that made his Cup Noodle an instant success in 1971.†College kids everywhere should have a day of mourning. And this […]
Polls
Several blogs around town noted that Pelosi’s approval ratings are lower than Bush’s. (His are 45%, hers are 43%). Volokh points out, correctly, that everyone knows Bush. Therefore, practically everyone who didn’t approve of him, actively disapproved: 54%. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who neither approved nor disapproved of Pelosi. […]
From the Horse’s Mouth
You’re probably all ready for me to stop talking about the Frozen Girl. But Seed gave me the actual blog that her parents keep. (Link) [End of Post]
Wisdom of the Ages. Not So Much.
So many of our most difficult choices have been reasoned through and discussed thousands of times through the years. Socrates was already pondering most of the same questions we think about today. And until recently, the issues hadn’t really changed through the years. Ethical problems are human problems, and humans have been the same for […]
Frozen Girl
Has everyone had a chance to talk about Ashley yet? (link) Ashley is a nine year old girl with with “static encephalopathy.†That just means that she’s got brain damage, and she’s not ever going to get better. In her case, her abilities and thoughts are somewhere around a three-month old baby. That is, she […]
Law
I love reading smart non-fiction writers. I love finding a flaw, or an unexplained item, then having the writer point it out and polish it away. The writer says, “you may be thinking, ‘if X then Y.’ But that’s not true because A and B.†And I say, “yeah! I was thinking that!†I can […]
Guide to Political Interference in Science
I got it from Seed (my favorite little science mag, linked on the left of the main page). (link to guide)
Freedom to Lie
Ok, first of all, alert readers may notice that it’s been more than a week since my last post. I’ve been house-sitting, away from my computer, and sick with a cold. As you can see, I subscribe to the shotgun approach to excuses, but coincidentally, they all happen to be true. Onwards: David Duke made […]
What’s in a Name?
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. So I got my Shakespeare, as mentioned in an earlier post. I […]