Friday, March 26

 
Slate has a nice article cutting through the OxyContin hysteria, a typical drug-war narrative based on hype, not facts.

Thursday, March 25

 
Following up on Jason's Tuesday post, which I read and liked. I just got the first issue in a gift subscription to Scientific American. And I have to say, it is a weird magazine. The fringes of current science are way out there! I, also, have some ideas on why smart people believe weird things.
1) The scientific explanations that "disprove" paranormal phenomena are based on the scientific method and its insistance on replicating events and isolating variables, while the nature of paranormal phenomena is grounded in circumstance, sycnchronicity, and the unique experiential moment. The "objective science" of debunking can't challenge the subjective and experiential nature of the phenomena; it lacks the emotional truth to shake someone's belief.
2) Science itself is, in fact, very weird. Very weird, very legitmate science includes:
nonlocality - things don't actually have to be near each other to interact (flash demo here);
string theory (a multi-demensional explanation for the nature matter);
and the whole commonly accepted idea that all the matter of the universe was compresses into once place billions of years ago and exploded from that one point and has been moving out from there ever since - you know, the big bang idea.
All of these ideas have logical and emperical facts backing them up and great scientific validity, but all are way out there from the ways we think about our world during everyday life.

Tuesday, March 23

 
Following up my Scientology post on Monday: Why Smart People Believe Weird Things.

Monday, March 22

 
Here's a funny site that reads a bit like a snapshot of what I am up to, these days, as I wait for one of those interviews to pay-off...

 
Wandering about sci.skeptic the other night, I came across what I thought was an interesting discussion about Occam's Razor. After digging down into the thread, things seemed to get a little ugly. Googling some of the more active participants revealed a nut-job Scientologist and her nemesis (my hero for the day). After that, stream-of-consciousness would allow my mind to go nowhere except the subject of Tom Cruise, who I believe is a happy card-carrying member of that cult. My mind continued to wander along the lines of "handsome actors, not too bright, religious freaks" and of course the path of least resistance led me to Mel Gibson, who I now personally believe is a pervert, or a sadist, but at the very least has some real problems. (And here's the smack-down.)

Sunday, March 21

 
Record Stores: We're Fine, Thanks.

Friday, March 19

 
Funny Friday, but sadly, only funny beacuse it's true: "City council members in Port Orange passed a controversial law that bans outdoor smoking in front of children at public parks and recreation properties, according to Local 6 News."
Tip of the hat to Jacob Sullum who'd "like to direct Port Orange's leaders to (his) proposal for banning fat people from public parks--an idea that seems all the more appealing now that excess weight is expected to surpass smoking as a cause of death any day now."

And in other news, Mel "I am an idiot in the first degree" Gibson's new movie inspires love, er, fighting among lovers in Georgia.

Thursday, March 18

 
Love Canal: Clean?

Wednesday, March 17

 
Europeans are beginning to question America's motives more than ever. Or perhaps a more accurate way of putting it is they are seeing through to the truth.

 
David Blunkett, currently the Labour Home Secretary, "will fight in the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the right to charge victims of miscarriages of justice more than £3000 for every year they spent in jail while wrongly convicted. The logic is that the innocent man shouldn’t have been in prison eating free porridge and sleeping for nothing under regulation grey blankets."

Tuesday, March 16

 
Here is a recent article on Alternet reminding us of the value of the Genuine Progress Indicator.

 
Congressional investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, intended to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.

 
State court to DEA agent - return that man's pot! A court stands up for states' and individuals' rights against the federal government.

Monday, March 15

 
The cops are really friendly down-under I hear.

Friday, March 12

 
Indecent, eh? Let me tell you, producing a gore-hate-film and promoting it as a Bible story, now that's indecent. (M)

Thursday, March 11

 
I've been off-line a lot lately.
I don't like being off-line that much, though I have been reading more books in this time.
I don't like the president's attitude on bio-ethics and politics.
I don't like Disney that much, and I don't like the fact that they get so much government welfare, neither.
I don't like the brewing culture war and the government getting all prissy and indignant.
I do like having HBO in my new apt., though (for this!)
I may have exceeded your daily allowed intake of crankiness. Sorry.

Sunday, March 7

 
Artist Marianna Fekete labors within the limits of her medium in an attempt to express three-dimensional form, constrained to a two-dimensional plane, inspired by the structure of music.

Saturday, March 6

 
... And welcome back, John!

 
I dunno. Seems to me that the Republican National Committee will use whatever it takes to keep their Prez in favorable light. First Moveon.org was declined Superbowl commercial time, and now this.

 
How's that old song go? I haven't got time for the pain...
Well, the Feds say you better make time, 'cause you won't get the help you need. Yup, this is compassionate conservatism.

Friday, March 5

 
Unreal meets real. (M)

Thursday, March 4

 
Big people talk about things; little people talk about people. (M)

 
An interview with George Soros. (M)

Wednesday, March 3

 
On a lighter note... The Masters of Memory Lane. (M)

 
Across the USA, Wal-Mart faces backlash where it once found welcome mats... Fight, fight! (M)

Monday, March 1

 
Ecopaint soaks up noxious gases from vehicle exhaust--it will go on sale in Europe this month. Clever, useful and the effort should be applauded, but unfortunately it's another "band-aid" solution.

Archives

05/01/2000 - 06/01/2000   06/01/2000 - 07/01/2000   07/01/2000 - 08/01/2000   08/01/2000 - 09/01/2000   09/01/2000 - 10/01/2000   10/01/2000 - 11/01/2000   11/01/2000 - 12/01/2000   12/01/2000 - 01/01/2001   01/01/2001 - 02/01/2001   02/01/2001 - 03/01/2001   03/01/2001 - 04/01/2001   04/01/2001 - 05/01/2001   05/01/2001 - 06/01/2001   06/01/2001 - 07/01/2001   07/01/2001 - 08/01/2001   08/01/2001 - 09/01/2001   09/01/2001 - 10/01/2001   10/01/2001 - 11/01/2001   11/01/2001 - 12/01/2001   12/01/2001 - 01/01/2002   01/01/2002 - 02/01/2002   02/01/2002 - 03/01/2002   03/01/2002 - 04/01/2002   04/01/2002 - 05/01/2002   05/01/2002 - 06/01/2002   06/01/2002 - 07/01/2002   07/01/2002 - 08/01/2002   08/01/2002 - 09/01/2002   09/01/2002 - 10/01/2002   10/01/2002 - 11/01/2002   11/01/2002 - 12/01/2002   12/01/2002 - 01/01/2003   01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003   02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003   03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003   04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003   05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003   06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003   07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003   08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003   09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003   10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003   11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003   12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004   01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004   02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004   03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004   04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004   05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004   06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004   07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004   08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004   09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004   10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004   11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004   12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005   01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005   02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005   03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005   04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005   05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005   06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005   07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005   08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005   09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005   10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005   04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006   10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007   11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007   12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008   01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008   02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008   03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008   04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008   05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008   06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008   07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008   08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008   09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008   11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008   12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009   01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009   02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009   03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009   04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009   05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009   06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009   07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009   08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009  

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?