A falsehood is an incorrect or muddled belief widely enough held to be notable, and possibly dangerous. A falsehood is also a potentially powerful teaching tool. Evolution generally, and human evolution in particular, is loaded with them.
Continue reading “False Pearls before Real Swine”
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Utah wants to count Mormon Missionaries in census.
But they can’t, because they don’t freakin’ live in Utah.
But I wish they did. Hey, has anyone noticed a marked increase in these drones from Utah in South Minneapolis lately? What do they think they are goig to accomplish there?
Anyway:
SALT LAKE CITY – The U.S. Census Bureau has told Utah’s elected leaders it won’t count Mormon missionaries serving overseas in the nation’s next head count.
Census Bureau officials, rejecting Utah’s lobbying efforts for the better part of a decade, say there’s no way to reliably count the overseas missionaries.
Utah leaders say the omission cost the state an extra congressional seat in 2000, when the state fell just 857 people short of receiving the last available slot in the U.S. House. (msbnc)
Missionaries. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. Actually, we can live without ’em.
Build your own Apple computer
From scratch!
If you follow all the instructions here, you’ll have built your own Apple Computer.
It will be an Apple I.
The Rules of Climate Change Denialism
I (compulsively?) read the Letters to the Editor of the Greenville News. They are, in my mind, a frightening window on the psyche of a particular, vocal segment of the US population. Filled with accusations of Obama-led socialism (though, so far, absent of birthers), Al Gore hypocrisy, and general looniness of all kinds, it’s like Fox News filtered through the League of the South.
Michele Bachmann Will Hold a Town Hall Meeting at Lake Elmo!
I, for one, am going to be there, in the back of the room, screaming at anyone I disagree with until they SHUT UP. Because that’s how I roll.
Continue reading Michele Bachmann Will Hold a Town Hall Meeting at Lake Elmo!
The Falsehoods
Biology is harder to learn than quantum physics. Why? Because most people think they totally get biology, but everyone knows nobody gets quantum physics. Therefore, any effort to explore quantum physics will result in new learning, but people rarely learn new biology. The bottom line is that our brains are full of biology, which would be good if most of it did not consist of falsehoods.
Continue reading The Falsehoods
Billy Wayne Posey is finally dead. Better late than never.
Posey was one of several, probably several dozen, people directly involved in the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. He died a free man and of natural causes last Thursday at the age of 77.
In those days, America was an unabashedly racist society, so it was quite possible for a horrendous crime such as occurred then to happen with little done about it. That crime amounted to terminal violence against three men in order to make them shut up. Today, of course, no one would threaten violence or even shout really loud at anyone to make them shut up. Would they?
Details here and here, because you probably don’t know what I’m talking about.
Sun equivalent of missing link found.
Well, not really, but it is interesting.
The mystery of why temperatures in the solar corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere, soar to several million degrees Kelvin (K) –much hotter than temperatures nearer the sun’s surface–has puzzled scientists for decades. New observations made with instruments aboard Japan’s Hinode satellite reveal the culprit to be nanoflares.
Skepchick. n.
A skepchick is that rare creature, the skeptic who is both female and desirable. She is generally quite popular, usually due to her appealingly large intellect, her quick wit, or just her ability to stand everyday interaction with skeptical men.
“Skepchick” is updated in the Urban Dictionary. Interesting but a bit dicey in spots, IMHO. (Click Here to see it)
Hat Tip Elyse
Growing Right Wing/Republican/Libertarian Threats against Obama
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Fueled by Rush Linbaugh, Glen Beck’s babbling, (the voices of the Republican Party), and lobbyists … There really is a measurable increase in the threat of mainly racist violence against Obama. See also this link from ABC news . .. hat tip Doug.
Congratulations to Formerly Hideous PhD Student!
Betul was never hideous. In fact, she’s quite un-hideous in every measurable way. And she now has to change the About Page of her blog because she has completed her thesis defense! Congratulation!!!!!! Visit and say hi.
Michele Bachmann …
The Worst Person in the World!!!! Again!!!!
Continue reading Michele Bachmann …
Mac users are humble
The King is Dead
About the fifth time I came to the right/wrong location, it dawned on me … “Elvis Presley Boulevard” must have just recently been named as such …
That, I realized, could also explain another strange thing I was seeing….
Continue reading The King is Dead