Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Our Evaporating Army
Most reporting has focused on the problems of recruiting, which has fallen far short of goals over the past few months. Serious as it is, however, the recruiting shortfall could be only a temporary problem. If and when we get out of Iraq – I know, a big if and a big when – it […]
Whither the Indictments?
Fed up with statements by reactionary partisans who keep managing to, um, transcend obvious truth, David Brin offered up a short list of issues, of which this was one: Rush [Limbaugh] promised us indictments. Hunneds. Tousens. Milliuns of indictments, as soon as "honest men take over the filing cabinets" in DC. It would be an […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Splenetics
Worth Remembering (BBA I)
I didn't write a serious memorial-day memorial piece yesterday. I welcome the day set aside for remembering the deeds of those who have fought for liberty and freedom. The challenge would have been honoring our troops' bravery and loyalty in Iraq while making it clear that the war in Iraq is neither honorable nor noble. […]
I'm a Serial Sperm Killer
I ask you, how could I not at least notice the headline of this little Paul Waldman piece from The Gadflyer? Stop the Sperm Massacre! President Bush has opened my eyes to what may be the greatest tragedy currently taking place in our nation. Embryos, he has told us, are "life" that must not be […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Such Language!
Doesn't It Look Like A…?
I didn't even know these were the results we'd been waiting for (until someone — who it was escapes me now — pointed it out), but now that they're here we can all be happy. It reminds me a bit of my college art teacher to whom everything with curvey lines was "vaginal", everything with […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., The Art of Conversation
Snowflake Collectibles
Republicans have invented a new strategy for discounting science: snowflake babies. First, Republicans opposed to the bipartisan stem-cell research bill, which passed the House on Thursday, arranged a press conference with families that have adopted frozen excess embryos, featuring 21 of the 81 snowflake babies. Then, in the afternoon, President Bush appeared at the Rose […]
Bon Voyage Voyager
Bob Park, who writes What's New for the American Physical Society (my professional organization), isn't too happy with the new priorities for NASA's budget. Neither am I for that matter, although my reasons are somewhat different. Nevertheless, I agree with him: SPACE: VOYAGER 1 REACHES THE LIMIT OF BUSH’S ATTENTION SPAN. It’s been traveling for […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Speaking of Science, Splenetics
Diabetes for Beginners
Tufts researchers recently reported that while the leading source of calories in the average American diet used to be from white bread, that may have changed.* What it has changed to is sweet drinks, presumably including soft drinks sweetened with sugar and various fruit juices and drinks (even "All Natural" ones!). It's an interesting observation, […]
Corruption Overload
The rich aren't like us — they pay less taxes. — Peter De Vries, American author, 1910–1993 Here I always tought it was H.L. Menken — sure sounded like something he'd write — or maybe Will Rogers or Gracie Allen*, but De Vries is fine with me. I mostly liked his books, his satire was […]
Microsoft Dumps Reed
I suppose this means I'll have to dislike Microsoft a little less than before (but because of transfinite arithmatic, it doesn't mean a substantive change). I'd also like to point out to Microsoft that I'm available as a consultant, and could probably save them a little money, as if that is important to them. When […]
A Private Mandate
Now pro-pre life flaks roam the land; insisting that “taxpayer dollars" not be spent on “false hope”, but on missile shields and drug wars. While the President interprets back to back electoral majorities from the Supreme Court and Diebold as a mandate to define science and reason.[*] [Jerry and Joe Long, "Caesar and Stem Cells", […]
The Blessed Blastocyst
It makes one wonder when miscarriage and menstruation will become manslaughter, too (although it does bolster my argument that married straight couples who fail to produce at least one child every 9 months sin much more, and far more frequently, than any male-male couple ever could): Nature is full of waste. Of all the fertilized […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Splenetics
Michael Innes (TTMA05)
Michael Innes, an academic (English Professor) whose "real" name was J.I.M. Stewart, died in 1994; as I write this, he's one of only two authors on my TTMA05 list not still living and producing. He's also the author on this list I'm least likely to recommend without reservation, because I can't bring myself to say […]
What Members?
The Chicago Sun-Times report includes the comment from DeLay that made me choke on my coffee this morning when I heard it on NPR: Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) said the embryonic research bill would force taxpayers to finance "the dismemberment of living, distinct human beings." "Dismemberment"? In order to dismember something, doesn't it have […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Jo Bannister (TTMA05)
A prolific British author, Jo Bannister has written a number of novels, including three mystery series. It is her series set in the East Anglian town of Castlemere, featuring a trio of CID officers (Sergeant Donovan, Inspector Liz Graham, Superintendent Frank Shapiro) that I'm most familiar with, but I have read one of the "Brodie […]
Weak Fathers
Dobson prefers his electorate nauseated by the noxious fumes of the windbag. He's opined that homosexuality results from a weak father figure–who knew Dick Cheney was such a softy?–and that, if caught early, can be "cured." Dobson also endorses corporal punishment for children. "By learning to yield to the loving authority … of his parents," […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Nancy Atherton (TTMA05)
I once went into a mystery bookstore of the rather snooty variety, and had a brief chat with the owner about Ms. Atherton and her Aunt Dimity series. "Oh," he sniffed, "she's so terribly sentimental and precious, don't you think?" "Exactly," I said, "and she's very, very good at it, too." Aunt Dimity is the […]
Acceptable Worlds
At virtually the same time that we heard the interesting news from South Korea about their ability to produce stem cells through cloning techniques, news teams rush to hear the president's predictable thoughts on the advance: I worry about a world in which cloning becomes acceptable. The fool pisses me off so much that I […]
Science & Mystery
Science feeds on mystery. As my colleague Matt Ridley has put it: “Most scientists are bored by what they have already discovered. It is ignorance that drives them on.” Science mines ignorance. Mystery — that which we don’t yet know; that which we don’t yet understand — is the mother lode that scientists seek out. […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Speaking of Science
Exit is Not an Option
From a press conference by "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheik Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Sabah, After Their Meeting, May 19, 2005, Washington, D.C.": QUESTION: Madame Secretary, in the New York Times today, there's an article that senior military leaders, both at the Pentagon and in Iraq, are claiming that it […]