tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55837782024-03-05T18:01:22.966-05:00Hypotheses Non FingoPolitics and general interest, with a specialty in space issues and astronomy.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comBlogger988125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-60666246860767856812017-10-28T23:12:00.001-04:002018-10-29T23:19:41.830-04:00Lucretius, Shelley, and RidleyMatt Ridley, a.k.a. the Rational Optimist, is an unusually clear headed pundit in our days of tribal hatred, and his blog is always a pleasure to read, even when you are just skimming its archives. That does not mean of course that he never makes any mistakes. Indeed, in any publication as ephemeral as a blog, mistakes are inevitable, and the wonder is not that he makes them, but that he makes soFigulushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549064050271896212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-48364120526795187272010-06-12T09:04:00.002-04:002010-06-12T09:06:02.623-04:00Against the-President-as-First-Responder-in-ChiefPaul Mirengoff lays out what is pretty close to my opinion on the matter of the oil spill and the President's proper role in the response.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-55394892210358894612010-06-12T08:33:00.004-04:002010-06-12T08:39:22.744-04:00Don't rescue somebody when there's an emergency. Let the professionals handle it later, if the victim's still alive then.This kind of thing just makes my blood boil! Terrific job by Snodgrass (the rafting guide & rescuer), and thank goodness for Bradford (the outfitter) having a backbone and standing up for his man!Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-74640195023301145202010-06-01T08:00:00.002-04:002010-06-01T08:07:37.666-04:00Israel: the North Korea of the Middle East?Daniel Drezner makes the analogy. Like Glenn Reynolds, I don't buy it.Ahh, those peaceful peace activists organizing a peaceful blockade run: They're financed by a terrorist-linked group. Their supporters are just as peace-loving as they are. And of course, there's only one side worthy of reporting. No need to read Israel's side in this.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-70415088776994581192010-05-17T15:40:00.002-04:002010-05-17T15:45:30.296-04:00Intelligence Games and Computer WormsFascinating and eerie description of the evolution of a sophisticated computer worm, and the hunt for its mysterious controller. Whoever this is has got millions of computers under his control...whenever he decides to activate the worm.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-86610163907566923522010-05-16T20:24:00.003-04:002010-05-16T20:27:14.915-04:00Use a nuke to stop the oil spill!Well, it worked for the Russkies, at least with gas well fires. The nuclear bomb: the Swiss Army knife of mineral exploration!Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-32334964671785726892010-05-16T19:42:00.002-04:002010-05-16T19:56:17.277-04:00Did Nixon prevent a Soviet nuclear strike on China?Well, according to Liu Chenshan, a Chinese historian writing in an officially-sanctioned Chinese publication. According to his claim, during a 1969 border war, the Soviets told the United States that they wanted to stop the Chinese threat with a nuclear strike, and they wanted the US to remain neutral.The US responded that we'd launch a nuclear strike of our own against the USSR if they did so, Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-2084221786562142282010-05-04T22:47:00.002-04:002010-05-04T23:03:22.856-04:00Quantum entanglement might help bird navigationFrom Popular Science. That seemed a bit too far out for me at first, but...It's been thought for a while that birds navigate using the Earth's magnetic fields. One molecule that's a candidate for their magnetic sense is called "cryptochrome." Here's my reading of their idea how this all might work: When exposed to certain colors of light, cryptochrome can become "activated," producing a pair Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-26330195489659109332010-04-09T10:21:00.003-04:002010-04-09T10:28:00.662-04:00How the Left views the SouthOr at least the part of the Left M.J. Rosenberg represents. He's a “Senior Foreign Policy Fellow” at Media Matters. When speaking at a New America Foundation panel recently, he had this to say about Southern support for Israel:The whole south shifts to the Republican Party over one issue, they don’t like black people…so you have the racism thing, the fact that we’ve eradicated the separation ofTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-51898813199188342112010-03-28T08:12:00.001-04:002010-03-28T08:14:17.468-04:00Hyacinth Girl on Obamacare"Looking Down": Ultimately, it is not the “healthcare for all” proposal I am against, it is the importation of the European idea of prolonged adolescence to America. It is the legitimization of the idea that the government should take care of me, that it is my “right” to be provided with a safety net from cradle to grave. The idea of the nanny state is very seductive–I can feel the siren call Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-46267802394558787162010-03-24T20:44:00.003-04:002010-03-24T20:46:57.545-04:00New human species discovered by paleontologistsThis brings the count to four! Us, Neanderthals, the "Hobbits" of Flores, and now this new species from Siberia. The ones on Flores were alive as recently as 14,000 years ago. This new species is known from a sample 40,000 years old, but the surprising thing is that it's not from an isolated place like that island is. They would have had more interaction with our ancestors. Interesting!Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-65350243988684134382010-03-21T22:57:00.001-04:002010-03-21T22:59:12.897-04:00Was Stupak playing us?Via NRO: Stupak video from 2009Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-56917172456873399062010-03-21T22:46:00.002-04:002010-03-21T22:47:37.662-04:00216Well, away we go... Last one out of the free world, turn out the lights.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-10883218996848196502010-02-12T07:27:00.002-05:002010-02-12T07:30:04.412-05:00Car Lust: The best streetcar everIt's a little out of my area, but I'm posting this because (1) I like trains, or anything on rails, and (2) I went to grad school in Pittsburgh, where these ran until 1999. (The Car Lust blogger is from Pgh. himself, and he has a whole history of the city's streetcars.)Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-24169861658220484292010-02-04T09:53:00.003-05:002010-02-04T09:57:54.025-05:00Quodlibeta--whatever you likeFigulus recommends this blog: Quodlibeta. Excellent mediaeval/classical studies by knowledgeable guys. Nice emphasis on the intersection and compatibility between science and religion.I'm going to add it to our Blog Roll when I have some time. Until then, enjoy it from this link.P.S: check out their post on Oresme and the moving earth!Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-58954885791678504582010-02-04T09:53:00.000-05:002010-02-04T09:53:29.640-05:00Launching NASA on a Path to Nowhere: AnalysisLaunching NASA on a Path to Nowhere: AnalysisFormer astronaut Tom Jones (whom I've had the pleasure to meet) also wants us to break out of Low Earth Orbit. This is a knowledgeable article by a NASA insider.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-5179688452033815812010-02-04T09:18:00.000-05:002010-02-04T09:18:08.112-05:00Giving up on the Moon?Giving up on the Moon?I've disagreed with Rand Simberg on space policy for a while. After some time I finally realized that he wasn't anti-manned space travel, but rather anti-NASA. He wants a strong private space industry, as do I. But in the near future, the big manned space projects are simply going to be NASA projects. And so Obama's cutting the Constellation project and the Aries rocket Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-16018745711422297742010-01-27T22:20:00.002-05:002010-01-27T22:23:18.280-05:00State of the UnionMy Administration has a Civil Rights Division that is once again prosecuting civil rights violations and employment discrimination. We finally strengthened our laws to protect against crimes driven by hate.Once again, a dirty slam at Bush. I'd like to ask him how his administration's dropping the case against the Black Panthers squares with this.He's really classless.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-47365581298531621312010-01-27T21:56:00.002-05:002010-01-27T22:00:40.821-05:00State of the Union9:53 PM: Takes bold stand on freezing the Federal budget. [Yay! Reign in spending! ...after printing money for the last year...]9:55 PM: This freeze will take place next year...after our economy is stronger. [....awkward pause...giggling by Republican side...] [Oh, like, "I'll start that diet next month...after Thanksgiving...]Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-29960198712451947852010-01-27T21:50:00.002-05:002010-01-27T21:52:16.466-05:00State of the Union9:49 PM: Blaming Bush for the deficit. Classy. And the snide, defiant attitude you get out of a 13-year-old girl while doing it.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-87336145391660049412009-12-14T15:27:00.004-05:002009-12-14T15:34:40.605-05:00What has just turned me in favor of global warmingNot in favor of believing it exists (which I already do, although I'm skeptical of details), but in favor of it happening. As in: I want more of it!Take a look at this record of historical temperatures from ice core samples in Greenland and Antarctica and quake in fear. Good GRIEF we're lucky to be living in one of those warm, terribly-short interglacial periods! And from the Antarctic data, Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-5096070812872877282009-12-14T08:09:00.002-05:002009-12-14T08:19:40.500-05:00A little Rumanian cultureTwo items from Rumania today: news and music. A Rumanian friend told us about the pianist Florin Chilian, whose beautiful song "Zece" ("Ten") I've linked to. And for keeping up with the news, there's the foreign broadcast of Rumania's public television network, TVRi, which functions a bit like the BBC World Service. It broadcasts online for expatriate Rumanians, and I just noticed the news Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-91101353361071821562009-12-14T08:06:00.002-05:002009-12-14T08:09:36.988-05:00Amazing librariesOddee compiles a picture tour of the 20 most amazing libraries around the world. Fascinating to look through. I'm most intrigued by the private library of Jay Walker, described in much more detail in this Wired article from last year. I've got a friend with an extensive private library in his apartment--something as large as many high school libraries, in fact--but it's still got nothing on Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-317282357151541412009-12-14T07:55:00.002-05:002009-12-14T08:06:31.740-05:00So are the Brits trying to make a detour around Prince Charles?I shouldn't be able to care less, but I have some reluctant interest in how succession works in monarchies. In the early days, succession wasn't a matter purely of inheritance, and you could have several competing claims to the throne. This often resulted in battles and hacking and poisonings and the Norman invasion and such, so eventually, the British and other monarchies started clearer rulesTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5583778.post-8559272062644288452009-12-14T07:28:00.001-05:002009-12-14T07:55:44.951-05:00Climategate: roundup of the deeper analysis of "Mike's Nature Trick"There have been a few really excellent articles lately that probe "Mike's Nature trick" in good depth. Anthony Watts has cross-posted this article from The American Thinker, which is the best one I have found for understanding just what "Mike's Nature trick" really is. We've been wondering if there was any outright manipulation of the data to reach a predetermined conclusion, and I believe MarcTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818012642535201815noreply@blogger.com