Two things. I wonder which one I’m going to read first.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Ray Bradbury Has Died
He was one of the first authors (other than the likes of Dr. Seuss) that I read
The website io9.com, which appears to have broken the news, says the 91-year-old author of “The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked this Way Comes, and many more literary classics” died in Los Angeles, possibly early this morning. “We’ve got confirmation from the family as well as his biographer, Sam Weller,” io9 adds.
This Day was D-Day
D-Day was today in 1944. My father was involved. Wikipedia is silly. Kids these days have no idea. There is, of course, a classic movie on the topic. Continue reading This Day was D-Day
Wisconsin. You blew it.
A while back, about the time protesters were occupying the Wisconsin State House, I mentioned that while I fully supported the recall of Walker, I also thought the voters of Wisconsin had to take a certain amount of responsibility. They did elect the guy, after all. It was their fault, collectively, that he was in office.
People got mad at me and told me I should say things like that. The people of Wisconsin were victims, they didn’t mean to put an evil Democracy-hating crook in the state house. They needed our support, not our admonition.
But guess what. I was right. The majority of voters in Wisconsin are union busting dickheads, and the rest of the voters, the almost majority, are either not sufficiently persuasive, not showing up at the polls, or are not reproducing quickly enough. Officially, Wisconsin is a Stupid State. I’d love to just think that whatever happens to you, Wisconsin, you deserve because you brought it on yourself (I can say that more Passive Aggressively if you like). But unfortunately, what you did was worse than just screwing yourselves. You’ve screwed the entire country. You let yourselves be the first domino to fall in what was left of a delicate system set up to maintain certain rights and certain responsibilities. We got here with a lot of violence, hard work, death and destruction, nearly revolution. Remember? No, of course you don’t. And you have knocked over the first domino. You idiots.
If you are a Wisconsin resident, and you understand that Scott Walker had to be recalled, and you did not show up at the polls, then you are my enemy. You are everybody’s enemy. You are worse than the yahoos who wanted him to stay and showed up and voted, because at least they participated in the process.
If you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year, and you voted to keep Walker in, you are an idiot. If you don’t have a job and you want one, of if you have a job in anything where Unions matter even if you are not in a union, and you voted for Walker, you are an idiot. I could go on. I think you get the point.
And the Packers suck even when they win.
Good night. Don’t bother calling me and emailing tomorrow for money and pizza. Dig yourself out this time. I’m busy over here in Minnesota trying to keep our yahoos down. Maybe we’ll send them there, you like them.
Jeesh.
DJ Grothe vs. Tony Stark
I think the DJ Grothe thing has run its course. DJ issued a lengthy apology to Rebecca Watson on Skepchick. The apology has some good things in it, DJ has said some of the proper, need-to-be-said things. But as has been pointed out by both Rebecca and Stephanie (see also this) with added commentary by Jason, DJ’s comment…what it said, how it was said, what wasn’t said, to whom it was said, and to whom it was not said, among other things…underscored rather than diffused the problem. Now, he should be prepared to take the next needed steps.
Dr Phil tells us that there comes a time in many relationships for one person to be a hero. It is now time for DJ Grothe to be the hero. Pursuant to this, I give you … DJ Grothe, Joining The Avengers for a Trial Period: Continue reading DJ Grothe vs. Tony Stark
Shame on you Scott Walker
Bruce Schneier Interview Live Tonight
Tonight, on Skeptically Speaking, Desiree Schell will interview Bruce Schneier, author of Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive
You may remember the Marshal McLuhan Incident that recently happened on Sam Harris’s nonBlog. Harris had been pushing blatant racial profiling and was heavily criticized for this. So, he went to the expert, Bruce Schneier and asked for a guest blog post to evaluate Harris’s ideas. To his credit, Harris ended up Marshal McLuhaning himself when Schneier essentially backed up the ongoing critiques of his, Harris’s, arguments.
As usual, Desiree will conduct the interview before a live radio audience on line. The edited interview will be provided at the end of the week, along with a special guest appearance by me, in which I will talk about an issue related to Schneier’s book.
This week, we’re talking about trust and cooperation, and the implications these social values have for security in the era of global networking. We’re joined by security technologist and author Bruce Schneier, to talk about his book Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive. And on the podcast anthropologist/blogger Greg Laden returns to discuss speculation about cognitive limits on the use of social networks.
We record live with Bruch Schneier on Sunday, June 3 at 6 pm MT. The podcast will be available to download at 9 pm MT on Friday, June 8.
Details and links, including a link to the live show, are HERE.
Liars and Outliers
Tonight, on Skeptically Speaking, Desiree Schell will interview Bruce Schneier, author of Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive
As usual, Desiree will conduct the interview before a live radio audience on line. The edited interview will be provided at the end of the week, along with a special guest appearance by me, in which I will talk about an issue related to Schneier’s book.
This week, we’re talking about trust and cooperation, and the implications these social values have for security in the era of global networking. We’re joined by security technologist and author Bruce Schneier, to talk about his book Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive. And on the podcast anthropologist/blogger Greg Laden returns to discuss speculation about cognitive limits on the use of social networks.
We record live with Bruch Schneier on Sunday, June 3 at 6 pm MT. The podcast will be available to download at 9 pm MT on Friday, June 8.
Details and links, including a link to the live show, are HERE.
Tom Barrett in Walker Debate
Help with a study being conducted at the University of Western Australia.
The study is on Science and Society and they would like you to fill out a survey. Thanks.
Judge Pissed at Zimmerman, Orders Him Back to Jail (updated)
George Zimmerman, killer of Trayvon Martin, apparently misled the courts as to how much money he had available, and was thus given a light bail. The judge, learning of this, has ordered him to surrender himself to authorities to get re-locked-up.
Apparently, he had raised a whopload of money on the Intertubes but failed to mention it.
Prosecutors claim Zimmerman had $135,000 available that had been raised by a website he set up. Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, testified at the bond hearing in April that they had limited funds available since she was a nursing student and Zimmerman wasn’t working.
Update: Defense team says Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman in police custody in Fla.
The Cultural Roots of Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party
Funny, huh?
… no, not really.
Conferences are Workplaces for Many: that does not mean they are not fun
To me, a conference or convention has always been a workplace. And, to some extent the Internet is too. I’ve sat on enough committees, had enough diversity training, and been involved with enough academic (mostly) disputes (hey, I was part of the Most Dysfunctional Department in the Universe for a few years!) that I tend to see human interactions gone bad in the light of mediation, HR rules and potential intervention, policy, and so on. This is why I am not real sanguine on the idea of working out how young men can go to conferences and a) not act like idiots and at the same time b) get laid anyway. Continue reading Conferences are Workplaces for Many: that does not mean they are not fun
Perhaps it is time that DJ Grothe resign as the President of the JREF…
DJ Grothe has done some great things and he’s taken the James Randi Educational Foundation a long way; he’s made an important mark and we should all appreciate him and his prior efforts. Hell, we should create an award named after him and give it to people every year. Thank you DJ Grothe for all you’ve done for the skeptic movement.
What is a SuperPAC, Animated
I love the “Bwahahahaha” parts: