All posts by Greg Laden

Hurricanes may start stalling more, and that is bad.

Climate Change, Environment, Severe Weather and Other Disasters

The tempo of storms has changed with global warming. A single storm that might drop X amount of water across a zone one thousand miles in length and hundreds of miles wide may now drop that same amount of water over a zone that is only a few hundred miles in length. Major floods in Calgary, Boulder, Southeastern Minnesota, Duluth, and other very wet rainfall events are now on record as examples of this, and the cause is quasi-resonant Rosbey waves. Continue reading Hurricanes may start stalling more, and that is bad. →

A big tent need not include the outhouse

2020 Election, Politics

Democrats need to understand that we are a big tent party. In fact, we are THE big tent party.

So, when Colin Peterson, representing Congressional District 7 in Minnesota votes in favor of environmentally irresponsible mining, or against health care reform, or against sensible gun control, or against a woman’s right to choose, he looks like a Republican, acts like a Republican, and smells like a Republican, but we accept that because we are a big tent party and he represents a very conservative district. Continue reading A big tent need not include the outhouse →

Major child abuser rolls back in town, open for business.

Minnesota, , , ,

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 kids to learn to act. I have relatives who have done that program, and in fact, I think we are going to a performance of something sometime next month where a young grade-school age cousin will be in his second or third play (he usually does Shakespeare). Continue reading Major child abuser rolls back in town, open for business. →

Things To Do After Installing Xubuntu or XFCE

Technology, ,

One: set up Dropbox and, as it syncs your files from the cloud, go outside and mow your lawn or rake your leaves.

Two: Start using your computer.

Three: Cancel the order for the new laptop because your old laptop is faster now.

You may have been expecting one of those posts that tell you the “ten things to do after installing [Linux Distribution]” but this ain’t it. In fact, for the most part, those posts have become fairly useless. Consider these “things to do”: Continue reading Things To Do After Installing Xubuntu or XFCE →

Trump Betrays Kurds, World Must Act to Prevent Human Rights Crisis

Politics

I’ve long been a supporter of Kurdistan, and I think the Kurds should get their country back.

So, it is my pleasure, though a sad pleasure, to print this OpEd by Kenneth F. McCallion. Kenneth F. McCallion is an accomplished human rights attorney, former federal prosecutor, and author of “Treason & Betrayal, The Rise and Fall of Individual -1” Continue reading Trump Betrays Kurds, World Must Act to Prevent Human Rights Crisis →

Why is no one immune to having racial biases?

Race and Racism

I’ll just put this here:

Racism is a phenomenon that emerges from our individual lived experiences and the culture in which we grow up and participate in as adults. A humanistic perspective or a logical mind does not obviate biases in how we know things, and thus, how we perceive or perform as actors in it.

Anthropologist Greg Laden will discuss North American racism as a phenomenon in science and society, its history, and how it is maintained. How do racial, or similar, biases form at the individual and societal level? How are they affected, or not, by societal fixes, great speeches, or education? How can Humanists be better humanists by grappling with this difficult area of human behavior?

Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist, educator, and science writer. His PhD work (at Harvard) was with the Efe Pygmies of the PR Congo, and he has contributed to research on the key features of human evolution, the initial chimp-human split, and the rise of our genus Homo. More recently, Laden studies, speaks, and writes about climate change and race and racism. He is working on a book on falsehoods we know and love.

Dear Republicans: What is taking you so long?

Politics, , ,

I know the answer to that question. You are bad people, every one of you. You are morally, ethnically, and intellectually incapable of doing the right thing. Every single one of you who considers yourselves still a Republican is not worthy to breathe the same air our children are being poisoned by as we speak. Continue reading Dear Republicans: What is taking you so long? →

The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg

Politics, TV Shows and Movies, ,

The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg is a podcast hosted by, you guessed it, former prosecutor and Justice Department administrator Chuck Rosenberg. You will know of Mr. Rosenberg as a regular justice expert guest on various MSNBC shows, especially the Rachel Maddow Show. Rosenberg was appointed as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2006, and was previously a US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, and later, Chief of Staff to Jame Comey at the FBI. He was administrator of the DEA from May 2015 to October 1, 2017. Appointed under Obama, departed under Trump. Continue reading The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg →