My Bloggy Thanksgiving Greeting for you is HERE.

And while you are over there please read THIS.

As you know, freethoughtblogs.com has switched to a new server, and we are now in that post server-switch phase of adjusting everything that got broke during the move.

One of the problems we are having behind the scenes is this: Normally, if you open a blog post (or start one up) in edit mode, you see the current text and HTML code and stuff, you can change that, you can save that, and then the post on line is different according to those changes. What is actually happening is that there is almost no relationship, sometimes, between what you do and what comes out on the site. If you make a change, publish the change and verifiy it is there, then re-open the post and make a second change, there is a pretty good chance that the first change will be gone. Or, if you just let the post sit there and auto-saving happens, then the post may revert to an old form. And so on.

So, we are doing an experiment in which The X Blog (singularly and in particular) will have it’s HyperCache turned off. We are not sure but we are thinking that could be the cause. Or, more exactly, I was whinging about it possibly being the cause, in the back channel, and the IT Tzar, Mat, took that as me volunteering to have mine turned off to see what would happen.

Thus, HyperCache will be disabled on The X Blog during the night tonight (Wednesday).

After that, I’ll mess around with editing stuff and see if those problems go away. For your part, you can report anything interesting or strange that you observe, and make comments on performance.

The strange things you observe and issues of performance may or may not be related to this blog. As long as it is interesting.

Thank you very much.

If you are looking for some recipes, here are a few suggestions.

Theory and background

• Thinking Thanksgiving I
• Thinking Thanksgiving II
• Homemade Thanksgiving
• How to do a Godless Thanksgiving

Cooking Thanksgiving Turkey

• What is a turkey, really?
• Brining the bird
• How to cook a turkey
• How to NOT cook a turkey.

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving: Gravy

• First, make stock
• How to make gravy

Stuffings

• Carmelized Onions, Mushroom, and Sausage Stuffing
• Obviously, we need more on this list.

Thanksgiving Side Dishes

• Squash Ravioli
• Grandma Lylah’s Cranberry Relish
• Ad Hoc Soup

Thanksgiving Deserts

• The best pumpkin pie Evah! So good that I am not allowed to make it because it makes everyone else’s pumpkin pie look bad. (scroll down to “And now, a quickie.”
• Pie and Ginger
• Pie and Ginger (Check out that site for about a half dozen other recipes up and downstream on the blog stream.)

Additional Information:

• Check out Mrs. Charles Darwin’s Recipe Book
• In case you want hot sauce, this is your hot sauce.
• In case you are on a diet watch this and pretend you ate
• Just so you know: Plants can help you. They can kill you. And they can get you stoned.
• Weirdest Thanksgiving Meals

So, what can you add to this list?

Lynn Margulis died yesterday at her home in Amherst at the age of 73.

Margulis is best known and best remembered for her endosymbiotic theory. You know what this is because you took basic biology and it is now part of every textbook. Notably, at the time Margulis published this idea, it was rejected and continued to be shunned for some time, but eventually was accepted. Margulis made a number of other important and accepted contributions to evolutionary biology.

Margulis has also pressed forward with a number of other theories (either hers, or as an advocate for others) that are just plain wacky. But they only deserve the briefest of mention at this time of her death.

Margulis, who began her University training at the University of Chicago at the age of 14, earned an MA from Madison and a PhD from Berkeley (1963) won the National Medal of Science, was a member of the National Academy, and had many other awards and accolades. She was married to Carl Sagan, and their children are well known for their various contributions to science, science writing, and technology.

Image from wikipedia

Don’t forget, XFactor is on NAO!!!! Vote for LeRoy!

For reasons that are entirely beyond my comprehension, some time ago, people started to deep fry their turkeys. Don’t do it unless you know what you are doing. And you probably don’t know what you are doing.

Here’s what William Shatner has to day about it:

Continue reading Happy Turkey Day! Don’t be an idiot! →

The XFactor is on NOW! Vote for LeRoy!

I may or may not have written a blog post called “Manspace.”

Its relationship to “Womanspace” and “Womanspacegate” will be only partly obvious.

Today, you get into a car and just drive. In the old, old days, you walked. Somewhere in between, you could, under certain circumstances, get in a stagecoach and go somewhere.

I’ve never done that (well, actually, I have, but that’s another story), but I have spent a lot of time flying around in tiny airplanes that get filled to capacity with weight in the form of humans and their luggage. When you do that, the pilots tend to weigh everything and add it up to make sure they know exactly how much there is and to not go over some limit, and they tend to put things where they want them. I’ve seen pilots ask a particularly large or small person to sit in a particular seat, for instance. The point of doing that is not only to control weight, but also to achieve balance (mainly between the front and back ends of the aircraft).

Continue reading “Gentlemen Shall Lean to the Left” →

Well, this is interesting. Facebook just did the strangest thing. Continue reading Just what does “Facebook” think we are all doing, anyway? →

This week on Atheist Talk Radio, I’ll be interviewing Shawn Lawrence Otto, who has just launched his book, “Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America,” a richly documented and well reasoned analysis of modern science denialism, especially addressing climate change.

We’ll speak about Shawn’s book as well as the current state of climate change research and the related politics. I guarantee a lively and enlightening conversation.

If you are in the Twin Cities, please, join us at Q. Cumbers for brunch. If you bring a copy of Shawn’s book and a pen you can get it signed!

We would also like to note that this Sunday’s Q. Cumbers brunch will be also be a meet-up of a different kind. There will be at least three FTB.com (Free Thought Blogs) bloggers at the brunch, Stephanie (who is also hosting the radio show), Moi, and coming down from Canada with his wife Jodi, will be Jason.

Shawn Lawrence Otto’s Web Site is Here.

Source

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2 of 3: Continue reading Americans United Awards →