Today is the 10th anniversary of the passing of the great astronomer and educator, Carl Sagan. To memorialize this day, Joel Schlosberg has organized a blog-a-thon of articles about Dr. Sagan. Here is my contribution. 12/20/06 Update. Here is the link to Joel Schlosberg’s meta post concerning this event. I have no terribly inspiring words …
Monthly Archives: December 2006
A Traitor to her Sex
This evening on NPR’s All Things Considered, Nadia Colin (spelling uncertain) of Texas was quoted saying that women shouldn’t be elected president. She said, “Coming from Texas, I think the majority of us feel that with a male leader we feel safer. I would not vote for a woman president, ever.” It is the year …
Freaky Optical Illusion
Try this link on for size. You’ll have to look at the image before the rest of this post will make sense. If you don’t believe that the diamonds are identical shades of grey (and I didn’t either), pull out your favorite jpg editor or color sampler and prove it. Even knowing they are the …
Winter Solstice
At 00:22 GMT on December 22nd, the world will celebrate once more its free annual trip around the sun. This equates to 18:22 (6:22 PM EDT) 19:22 (7:22 PM EST) December 21st for those of us sitting on the east coast of the United States. To commemorate this occasion, and its companion solstice during the …
Harry Potter Update!
From the horse’s mouth!
Cobb less Anti-Evolutionary Today
According to the AJC, the Cobb County, GA, biology-book sticker case has been settled. In an agreement announced today, Cobb school officials said they will not order the placement of any “stickers, labels, stamps, inscriptions, or other warnings or disclaimers bearing language substantially similar to that used on the sticker that is the subject of …
Encore to the Vamp Post
Zombways. Eat Flesh! I need one of these to run races in.
Biology of Homo Sapiens Vampiris
Anyone interested in the biology and evolutionary development of the vampire (Homo Sapiens Vampiris) should watch this link. This popped up on Pharygula, SFSignal, and at least one other blog I read. It’s making the rounds very quickly. Be aware that it is about 20 minutes long, but well worth your time.
Dating Ad Seen on Fark.com
You can join this site, because there are over 11,000,000 members, and every single one of them is a girl under 25. It’s too bad I didn’t grow up in hornysville like these women. I chose to remove the name of the site. You can go to Fark and maybe it will still be there.
Poetry
I’ve never been a fan of reading poetry. I’m too impatient to enjoy it. I want my fiction delivered up free of simile, metaphor, or symbol. I can handle it if these items are secondary to the story, but if they are presented in a manner which requires me to comprehend to appreciate the book, …