Yearly Archives: 2011
NASA to Host News Conference on Asteroid Search Findings
NASA will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT) on Thurs., Sept. 29, to reveal near-Earth asteroid findings and implications for future research. The briefing will take place at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, launched in December 2009, captured millions of images of galaxies and objects in space. During the news conference, panelists will discuss results from an enhancement of WISE called Near-Earth Object WISE (NEOWISE) that hunted for asteroids.
Denialists of a feather stick together
NCSE’s Genie Scott in Scotland:
Continue reading Denialists of a feather stick together
Comparative Snorking
I don’t have the same circle Google Girl has but I do have a Circle of Shame. You want to stay out of there.
Slut Walk Needs Your Help
Donations needed for SlutWalk Minneapolis- ALMOST THERE! 🙂
We really need your help.
We have $1,742 in donations right now, and that means we have paid the permit for the Park Board. YES!
We have an additional invoice of $402 for the rentals for the road barriers for the Walk. The total is $2,137. We are only $395 away from paying for the Walk. So close, we can hardly stand it!
Please help. Your donations are tax deductible. We have over 600 Walkers signed up. If each of you donated just $5, we’d have the permit paid, any other extra fees, including the rental for the PA system and the road barriers, and money left over for donations to MN NOW and Alexandra House.
We know you’re Walking because this is really important to you. You’re a survivor or you are supportive of a survivor or you feel that the Rape Culture needs to be changed and sexual violence against people is never OK.
Please donate, ask your friends to donate, link this to your social media sites, tweet it….get the word out.
Other SlutWalks had to raise their funds as well, and they were successful. We know that the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota can do this.Our donate button is just below. Please donate. Please ask others. Remember, you’re doing this for yourself, for someone you love and care about, for someone you don’t even know who appreciates your support and care. Thanks for donating!
Debbie the Blogger on Natural Transitioningâ„¢
Debbie is a friend that I KNOW has a lot of blog posts in her. I have special powers, I can see these things. And she’s told me that she wants to write more, and I strongly sense this is more than a half baked idea; It might even be a need. Or at least, a fully baked idea.
So, I’m very happy to see that Debbie caught a break. Our mutual friend, Amy, was kidnapped by Pirates, and her blog had an open space in it so Debbie has jumped in to fill it with a very interesting post on gender transitioning vis-a-vis the Naturalistic Fallacy. Have a look:
Aurora Alert!
Tonight and tomorrow, there should be auroras visible much much farther south than normal. According to Universe Today you should see Auroras in most US states north of the southern tier of states. Unless they are exaggerating. Worth a look.
A List Of Lisp and Emacs Books
Land of Lisp: Learn to Program in Lisp, One Game at a Time!
Continue reading A List Of Lisp and Emacs Books
Guess the X Blog, Win A Darwin Coffee Mug
Hurry over while the guessing is still good! A Darwin I Think Mug to the first commenter who correctly identifies the symbolism of the name “The X Blog”
Are You Funding the Fundies? Yes. Here is what to do about it:
For weeks, you and other All Out members have been urging companies to cut ties with CVN (also known as CGBG) – a site that allows customers to donate a portion of their online purchases to ‘charities’ – including several anti-gay groups such as Focus on the Family (FotF) and Family Research Council (FRC). Because of our efforts, dozens of major companies have dropped off the network!
But now these groups have taken notice and they are telling their supporters to directly contact companies like Apple, Macy’s, Microsoft and Netflix and push them to re-join CVN. These companies have come out in support of LGBT rights, but are now the targets of a powerful hate machine.
NFL Football Sunday Random Thoughts
Well, the Vikings-Lions game did not go very well today, though I’m glad my neighbor who appears to be an alien enjoyed the Bears-Packer’s game judging by the flags and banners and fireworks and stuff flying out of his townhouse.
Sheril Kirshenbaum will be on CBS Tomorrow Morning (Monday)
It will be the Early Show at 830-9 Eastern. Details here.
OK, they skipped that segment but Sheril should be on TOMORROW MORNING. 8:40 ET.
NASA Satellite Update
Oh man, this is bad ….
Continue reading NASA Satellite Update
Balancing Acts in Science
How do you know when alternative views are real alternatives, and thus should be considered in a “balanced view” vs. when those views are not any longer valid and should be ignored? This sounds like a hard thing to do but it is not as hard as you might think. I suggest two different approaches: “Tipping Points” and “Clues that Something is Wrong Here.”
Saudi Arabia Takes An Important Step Towards the 20th Century
The Medieval Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a relatively progressive King, apparently. He decided that women would be allowed to vote. This is a good thing, but it does remind us of how backwards a nation can be. And makes us wonder if a country like Saudi Arabia should have ever been allowed in the UN to begin with.
From the wp:
Saudi King Abdullah announced Sunday that the nation’s women will gain the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections to be held in 2015 in a major advancement for the rights of women in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.
In an annual speech before his advisory assembly, or Shura Council, the Saudi monarch said he ordered the step after consulting with the nation’s top religious clerics, whose advice carries great weight in the kingdom.
…
Abdullah said the changes announced Sunday would also allow women to be appointed to the Shura Council, the advisory body selected by the king that is currently all-male.
Note that only local elections were mentioned. Women in Saudi Arabia still can’t drive, and are liable to be sentenced to death if they are raped, etc. etc. But this is an important step in the right direction.