Yearly Archives: 2017

Give The Gift of Nostalgia and Angst

Books, , ,

For a holiday gift this year, consider giving a book about politics, since politics this year is so very special.

There are two kinds of books out this year of special interest. There is a plethora of books that expose the evil underpinnings of the white supremacist meritocratic oligarchic patriarchy. And, there is a growing collection of books about the last time America was going under for the third time, and the people of those times. Here is a selection for you to ponder. Continue reading Give The Gift of Nostalgia and Angst →

Vonegut, Salmon, Genetics, Magic: Cheap Books

Other, ,

For just a day or two, you should be able to get each of these books in Kindle for for two or three books:

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonegut.

The Color of Magic: A Novel of Discworld by Terry Prachett

A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Jennifer Doudna and Sam Sternberg.

Upstream: Searching for Wild Salmon, from River to Table by Langdon Cook.

Almost Like Praying: Lin-Manuel Miranda and Maria

Climate Change, Severe Weather and Other Disasters, , , , ,

The phrase “It is almost like praying” is from the song Maria, from the musical West Side Story. The phrase refers to the name itself, if I understand the somg correctly, which makes sense from a Catholic point of view because the name Maria and variants of it thoroughly indurate the prayer-text.
Continue reading Almost Like Praying: Lin-Manuel Miranda and Maria →

WaPo Opinion Piece: Extinction is fine, Climate Change is no big deal

Climate Change, War on Science, , , ,

R. Alexander Pyron, a professor of Biology at George Washington University, wrote an OpEd in the Washington Post urging us humans to care much less than we do about species extinction. In the essay he says: Continue reading WaPo Opinion Piece: Extinction is fine, Climate Change is no big deal →

Did a foreign power hack the TIME Person of the Year reader poll?

Politics, , ,

Did you know that there is a reader poll that you can visit to give the thumbs up or down for each prospect on a fairly long mid-list of possible persons of they year? Click here to participate (will open in a new tab or window). I have no idea how much influence, if any, this poll has on the final decision. But this year, the poll was clearly hacked and I assume that will be taken into consideration.

Have a look at the results so far, as of this writing: Continue reading Did a foreign power hack the TIME Person of the Year reader poll? →

Roger Pielke Junior Is Telling People To Shut Up Again

Climate Change, War on Science, , , , , , ,

I usually ignore Junior’s yammering whines, but in this case there is an interesting and helpful response providing the bigger picture, a thing to learn from.

For context, I provide below links to selected posts of my own about Junior.

This most recent event involves an Op Ed published by the largely anti-science-even-if-it-is-bad-for-the-economy The Wall Street Journal, by Pielke Jr. In it he attacks Michael Mann, and does so in a ham-handed and factually incorrect way. In other words, just another day in the life of Junior.

Since I let my subscription to the Wall Street Journal expire in 1971, and they hold their cards close to their golden chest, I provide the response, by defender of science Peter Fontaine, as graphic: Continue reading Roger Pielke Junior Is Telling People To Shut Up Again →

A Thanksgiving Day Story: Fear, Loathing, Feasting, Family

Anthropology, Palaeoanthropology, , , , , ,

What is Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a feast. But what is a feast? Anthropology is all about examining ourselves through the lens of other cultures. Or, at least, that’s what we used to do back in the good old days. Let’s have a look at this great American holiday from this perspective and see what we see. Continue reading A Thanksgiving Day Story: Fear, Loathing, Feasting, Family →

Cooking Laid Back Turkey

Cooking, , ,

First, consider cooking something other than a turkey

Cooking turkey is actually kind of a dumb idea. Most people don’t ever cook turkey. Turkey is like chicken … it’s a domestic bird that is familiar to all Americans … but it is very difficult to cook in a way that does not ruin it. So once a year, you cook this huge bird and try not to ruin it, and invite everybody that is important to you over to see if it worked.

As a result of this the truth is that many people have never had good turkey. They’ve only had ruined turkey. And for each of these people, what they think turkey tastes like is unique to the particular way their family’s turkey cooker learned to ruin the turkey every year.

How to cook a turkey

Continue reading Cooking Laid Back Turkey →

Two great ways to make a pumpkin pie

Cooking, , ,

I’ve got two pumpkin pie recipes for you. One is the way I usually make it, and it is the best pumpkin pie. The other way also turns out to be excellent, but it is designed for kids who don’t like pumpkin pie even though we think they should. I think kids are sometimes repelled by that pumpkin pie spice flavor. In fact, this kid friendly pie may be good for adults who are just plain sick and tired of everything having to taste like pumpkin pie spice this time of year and want a break, but still want their pumpkin pie.
Continue reading Two great ways to make a pumpkin pie →