Entry tags:
One Small Step
Neil Armstrong has died.
Leslie Fish's Hope Eyrie says it best:
Leslie Fish's Hope Eyrie says it best:
But we who feel the weight of the wheel
When winter falls over our world
Can hope for tomorrow and raise our eyes
To a silver moon in the opened skies
And a single flag unfurled.
For the Eagle has landed; tell your children when.
Time won't drive us down to dust again.
Entry tags:
Hypercaffeination
As a member of Sigma Xi, I have recently begun receiving daily "SmartBriefs", digests of interesting scientific/technological news items. Today's SB was headlined thus:
Study finds elevated caffeine levels in Pacific Ocean near Ore.My immediate thought was, "Starbucks?" (Yes, I know, they're based in Washington, not Oregon. But still....)
Ray Bradbury
There was a sound of thunder, and there will come soft rains....
Ray Bradbury has died.
He was kind of a crotchety old man toward the end, but he will be missed. For sad, for scary, for melancholy, I don't know of his equal.
Ray Bradbury has died.
He was kind of a crotchety old man toward the end, but he will be missed. For sad, for scary, for melancholy, I don't know of his equal.
Entry tags:
Hoodies
I have no idea what Geraldo Rivera is like as a person. Never met him, don't particularly want to.
But his remark on the Trayvon Martin case - blaming Martin's death on the fact that he was wearing a goddamn hoodie - is utterly reprehensible.
A boy is dead, and Rivera is making fashion comments.
But his remark on the Trayvon Martin case - blaming Martin's death on the fact that he was wearing a goddamn hoodie - is utterly reprehensible.
A boy is dead, and Rivera is making fashion comments.
Entry tags:
Begging for the Guillotine
Today, people at the Chicago Board of Trade threw a bunch of McDonald's job applications on the Occupy Chicago protestors below them.
It is perhaps worth pointing out that earlier this year, McDonald's sifted through one million job applications - and hired about 62,000 applicants. That's only about 6%; or, to put it another way, on the order of sixteen applicants for every job. Every crappy service job at Mickey D's: sixteen applicants per job.
Do I hear knitting needles?
It is perhaps worth pointing out that earlier this year, McDonald's sifted through one million job applications - and hired about 62,000 applicants. That's only about 6%; or, to put it another way, on the order of sixteen applicants for every job. Every crappy service job at Mickey D's: sixteen applicants per job.
Do I hear knitting needles?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Two Down
The rinderpest virus, once a devastating plague among cattle and buffalo in Africa, has been eradicated.
Polio, you're next.
Polio, you're next.
Entry tags:
R. I. P. Martin Gardner
Damn.
Martin Gardner died yesterday. To say that he was a major influence on my developing worldview would be an understatement; my love for mathematics and science owes more to him than to anyone else, with the possible exception of Isaac Asimov. His Mathematical Recreations column in Scientific American was always a joy; as a teenager I read most of his published collections of columns, and now have the full set on CD. I've seen other people mention The Annotated Alice and others of his works; for me, The Ambidextrous Universe is the one I love most. I still use some ideas from it when I teach linear algebra.
Rest in peace, Mr. Gardner. You were too a mathematician!
Martin Gardner died yesterday. To say that he was a major influence on my developing worldview would be an understatement; my love for mathematics and science owes more to him than to anyone else, with the possible exception of Isaac Asimov. His Mathematical Recreations column in Scientific American was always a joy; as a teenager I read most of his published collections of columns, and now have the full set on CD. I've seen other people mention The Annotated Alice and others of his works; for me, The Ambidextrous Universe is the one I love most. I still use some ideas from it when I teach linear algebra.
Rest in peace, Mr. Gardner. You were too a mathematician!
"Such"?
From the BBC:
A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.Does anyone else find that last sentence boggling? ("The first such incident". The first time since 1989 that a bear has killed Kashmiri militants?)
Two other militants escaped, one of them badly wounded, after the attack in Kulgam district, south of Srinagar.
The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked.
It is thought to be the first such incident since Muslim separatists took up arms against Indian rule in 1989.
Mary Travers, 1936-2009
Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary, has died.
"Leaving on a Jet Plane".
"500 Miles".
"Puff".
"If I Had a Hammer".
"Blowin' in the Wind".
"Lemon Tree".
"Cruel War".
"Early Morning Rain".
:bows head:
"Leaving on a Jet Plane".
"500 Miles".
"Puff".
"If I Had a Hammer".
"Blowin' in the Wind".
"Lemon Tree".
"Cruel War".
"Early Morning Rain".
:bows head:
Entry tags:
Retraction
Damn. I've been tracking this for a while, hoping against hope, but:
That story about Shante's PhD? False. The record company didn't pay for her education, and she doesn't have a doctorate.
Oh, well. Facts are stubborn things.
(H/t to Ta-Nehisi Coates.)
That story about Shante's PhD? False. The record company didn't pay for her education, and she doesn't have a doctorate.
Oh, well. Facts are stubborn things.
(H/t to Ta-Nehisi Coates.)
Entry tags:
Sanity Clause
I don't know more than a smidgen about hip-hop, and I doubt I've even heard of Shante. Apparently she was one of the first major hip-hop stars, but retired early, disillusioned by the sleaziness of the recording industry.
She eventually completed a Ph.D. in psychology at Cornell. Here's how.
Good for her, says I.
She eventually completed a Ph.D. in psychology at Cornell. Here's how.
Good for her, says I.
Bearing Arms
Some admittedly sketchy research has persuaded me that the Founders probably intended the Second Amendment to guarantee an individual right to bear arms. I'm not particularly inclined to discuss that point.
The laws of the state of Arizona regarding firearms are among the least restrictive in the country. I'm not inclined to beat my breast over that either; within certain well-known limits, the citizens of Arizona are entitled to whatever laws their elected representatives choose.
Nonetheless, I find it highly disturbing that today, as President Obama was giving a speech in Phoenix, a crowd of protestors nearby included about a dozen people carrying guns. Lawful, yes; constitutional, most likely; sane and responsible... I'm very much in doubt.
The laws of the state of Arizona regarding firearms are among the least restrictive in the country. I'm not inclined to beat my breast over that either; within certain well-known limits, the citizens of Arizona are entitled to whatever laws their elected representatives choose.
Nonetheless, I find it highly disturbing that today, as President Obama was giving a speech in Phoenix, a crowd of protestors nearby included about a dozen people carrying guns. Lawful, yes; constitutional, most likely; sane and responsible... I'm very much in doubt.
Entry tags:
My Kind of Man
David Souter, who is retiring from the Supreme Court to return to his beloved New Hampshire, is faced with a question: what do you do when you have more books than your house will safely hold?
Here's his answer.
My kind of man.
Here's his answer.
My kind of man.
Entry tags:
Sadness
One of my favorite - no, scratch that: my favorite blogger, hilzoy of Obsidian Wings, is retiring from blogging.
I can't fault her; this was a sideline for her, and apparently an increasing distraction from her real job. Still, I will miss her. ObWi has lost three of my favorites in the last three years - Katherine, G'Kar, and now hilzoy - and this loss is the worst.
I selfishly cling to the hope that she'll return one day, if not at ObWi then in some higher-profile venue.
I can't fault her; this was a sideline for her, and apparently an increasing distraction from her real job. Still, I will miss her. ObWi has lost three of my favorites in the last three years - Katherine, G'Kar, and now hilzoy - and this loss is the worst.
I selfishly cling to the hope that she'll return one day, if not at ObWi then in some higher-profile venue.