That’s what the National Hurricane Center says. At this moment, Laura is a Category 2 hurricane edging over the next few hours into Category 3 territory. It is possible that Laura will reach Category 4 status before making landfall, but the storm is expected to weaken a little prior to the eye coming ashore. Laura … Continue reading Laura is a Formidable Hurricane
Representative Matthew Grossell, of the Minnesota Legislature, tells us to “be prepared to defend this republic” from protesters calling for racial equity and criminal justice reform. Grossell is a rep from District 2A, which is one of the most famous districts in Minnesota because it is where we find International Falls, often cited in national … Continue reading Republcian Rep Matthew Grossell: Be prepared to defend the Republic!
The term “ad hominem” means directed against a person. If you are a racist, and I say you are a racist, then my statement is ad hominem. Note that the statement may be technically correct. I’m saying something about you, and you really are a racist, so my statement is correct. On the other hand, … Continue reading If I suggested you read this, it is because you used “ad hominem” wrong
In Minnesota, we have a Democratic Governor, a Democratic House, and a Republican Senate. We have what is recognized nationwide as one of the best responses to COVID-19 by any US State. Within Minnesota, we find the highest level epidemiology and immunology talent, with one of the top in a small handful of leading scientists … Continue reading Minnesota Republicans Reject Science, Call For Increasing Death Toll
There are four Cormoran Strike books, written by “Robert Galbraith” aka JK Rowlings. Obviously the JK in JK Rowlings has some significance. Anyway, they are really fantastic books. Extraordinarily well written private eye literature pieces that are not hobgoblins of the patriarchy are hard to come by. Each book is great, but as a set … Continue reading Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowlings Book Cheap
Updates Spain has had a major surge in Covid-19 numbers. India has more people locked down right now than any other country. Trump intends to “open up” the economy by Easter. Fortunately he is powerless to do so. The best available information suggests that Covid-19 is not mutating much, suggesting that once a vaccine is … Continue reading COVID-19 Conversation: Updates and meanderings
Ice has been melting from Greenland and Antarctdica’s glaciers at a rate six times greater than 20 or 30 years ago. According to NASA, “If the current melting trend continues, the regions will be on track to match the “worst-case” scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of an extra 6.7 inches (17 … Continue reading Greenland Ice Melt On Track to be Worst Case Scenario
Super Tuesday is coming up, and I have my predictions. Last cycle, I predicted the relative performance of Sanders and Clinton in each race, and my predictions were uncannily accurate. I did better than polling and other predicting agencies or individuals. This year, things are more complicated, and I have less confidence now than I … Continue reading What will happen on Super Tuesday 2020? (Updated to exclude Buttigieg and Klobuchar)
It is said that scientists are lousy at communication, lousy at telling everyone else about their science, in understandable and compelling terms. This is of course absurd. There are tens of millions of scientists, and dozens of them are really excellent communicators! Among the many sciences, there is a science of science communication. It overlaps, … Continue reading Your Cranky Uncle vs Climate Change
You may have heard of the “Children’s Theater Company” in Minneapolis, known for about five years in the 1960s as “The Moppet Players.” It has long been a big deal, nationally known, and award winning. It has put on multi-generational plays friendly to children of various ages, but also, has long run a school for … Continue reading Major child abuser rolls back in town, open for business.
As the Midwest experiences unprecedented flooding, authorities assure us that a handful of nuclear power plants in the area will remain at full power and are not in danger. Flooding would be a disaster for a nuclear plant, as it could shut down cooling systems. In a very stormy situation, power to a nuclear plant, … Continue reading Confessions Of A Rogue Nuclear Regulator: Review
Minecraft is probably the most creative video game out there, not in the sense that its creators are creative, but rather, that it is all about creating things, and this is done by constructing novelty out of a relatively simple set of primitives. But to do so, the player needs to know about the building … Continue reading Minecraft Blockopedia
At the core of this post is a review of a new book, Learn Robotics with Raspberry Pi: Build and Code Your Own Moving, Sensing, Thinking Robots. I recommend it as a great above-basic level introduction to building a standard robot, learning a bit about the Linux operating system, learning to program in Python, and … Continue reading Making Raspberry Pi Robots