Random Thoughts
I am spending my vacations in the beautiful island of Leukada, in the Ionian sea. Consequently, my posting rate here has dropped significantly in the last few days. I will return in August; in the meantime I will still post something, but expect a much smaller rate of articles for a while here.
When I received the message from Frau Christian Plachta an associate at the Institute yesterday “Pflanzenernährung mitgeteilt, dass Herr Konrad Mengel am 12.07.2012 im Alter von 82 Jahren verstorben ist. Die Trauerfeierfindet am Donnerstag, den19.07.2012 um 14:30 Uhr in der Kirche in Pohlheim-Watzenborn statt” meaning that “ Institut of Plant Nutrition informs that Professor Dr Konrad Mengel has expired on 12.07. 2012 at the age of 82 years and the “Trauerfeier” assembly will take place on 19.07.2012 at 14.30 in Church from Pohlheim-Watzenborn.
Words cannot recall…
A recent blog on an Australian news site on inspiration porn has had me taking notice of the images that come across my facebook feed, had me looking at the content and the messages that different people take away from the photos of disabled persons smiling, running, laughing, being.
Stella Young, in her piece, takes away a clear message from what she has called (she's not the first to term it so) inspiration porn:
"Let me be clear about the intent of this inspiration porn; it's there so that non-disabled people can put their worries into perspective. So they can go…
Given all the Higgsmania, I thought it appropriate to draw attention to another topic on which much energy [excuse the pun] had been spent previously; Fukushima. The English version of the accident report by the appointed commission (NAIIC) has been released and unfortunately its conclusions were all too expected.
This is another glaring example of how science can be so readily subverted by those that would implement technologies for their own profit or gain. It has become almost a cliche to consider that virtually every technology that has some element of danger, requiring…
vongehr |
The so called “Free Thought Blogs” (FTB) has kicked out blogger Greg Laden and some other godless chap: “Thunderfoot”. Ed Brayton, the FTB high priest, writes that:
it was intended to be very “loosy-goosy,” where we would all make decisions together like a commune; it turns out that doesn’t work very well …
Ha ha – great – the pinnacle of free thought, the one place stuffed with all the right people, who, if only everybody were half as Jesus as them, would turn the world into paradise, needs Dear Leader to add a little Stalin because “it turns out that it doesn’t work very well”.
Since PZ…
Hank |
Who hasn't thought about Chasing UFOs?
When I saw "Independence Day" in 1996 I first thought, "A Mac can bring down an entire alien civilization? Their users really are creative!" but then I wondered if some day, someone might actually get paid to find aliens.
Well, that day is here. But I have to warn you, the language is bad in this UFO stuff.
"Chasing UFOs", on the National Geographic channel, is not a family show. I sort of assumed it would be, like these sorts of shows used to be, but it became evident early on that the way our intrepid UFO hunters had to show you how…
"It takes more work to communicate with someone whose native language isn't the same as yours. And autism goes deeper than language and culture; autistic people are "foreigners" in any society. You're going to have to give up your assumptions about shared meanings." -- Jim Sinclair, "Don't Mourn For Us"
I'm rereading "Don't Mourn For Us," in tandem with "On Being a Cripple," for a comparison paper my comp 1 students will be writing tomorrow, and the quote above really hit me, especially given a situation my son and I navigated yesterday.
Sinclair's words, I…
We all say hurtful things to the ones we love. Some things we mean, and others we're just using the other person as a punching bag. Sometimes the damage we do with those words can't be undone and can't be healed, and relationships end. Parent/child relationships are different, though, or should be. As parents, we're supposed to develop thick skins and our children by the age of two are working hard to help us get those thick skins with their repeated cries of "I hate you!" ringing in our ears. Those words and feelings continue on through adolescence as we as parents impose order and rules on…
Having come across this article, "Sleepy medical staff run increased risks of accidents driving home after a night shift", I couldn't help but be struck by two obvious questions.
(1). Since when does being a medical staff member make any difference in the risks of driving while sleep deprived? If it doesn't matter, then it seems that the study is being unnecessarily specific for something which is common, obvious knowledge.
(2). More importantly, if the risks are dramatically higher for "sleepy medical staff", one has to wonder what the risks are to patients.
It would…
Change is a heartless bitch at times and a welcome friend at others--guess it depends on what the change is and whether you saw it coming and welcomed it. Part of being a teacher is accepting a routine of change--semesters pass, summer sessions and minimesters compress a semester, and students come and go. There's a rhythm and flow to courses, and change is constant throughout the semester: students get comfortable, relationships form, knowledge deepens and the class roster goes through changes. Not every student who begins the semester with me will make it to the end. Some leave early,…