There are interesting similarities between the pastor in Florida who wants to burn the Koran and the guy in NYC who wants to build a community center/mosque.
Both of them “have a right” to do what they propose to do.
Both of them are offending people by exercising that right.
Of course there are important [...]
Content
A multi-author blog with a range of opinions on news, culture, politics, beer, art, science, education, religion and life
File: General
In a comment in a thread below, Ideb says it would be nice if all our decisions could be economic. E.g., if the cost of buying a gallon of gasoline included the cost of cleaning up oil spills, protecting tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, etc.
Yes, it would be nice, but it’s pretty much [...]
Here’s a response to Paul Krugman that I’ve seen cited a few places.
The article seems sensible enough to me, but Krugman is no dunce, and his opinion seems sensible to a lot of other people. So shall I spend months educating myself on Keynesian vs. Austrian economics, read up on statistics from the Depression, [...]
Often when I’m loading the dishwasher I think about those silly efficiency ratings you see at the stores. By efficiency they only mean how much energy — or maybe water — the thing uses. But there are so many other ways to measure the efficiency of a dishwasher.
For example,
+ how fast it cleans
+ [...]
Remember acid rain? It was just another in the long story of environmental scares that didn’t amount to that much.
The latest is that atmospheric CO2 will acidify the oceans. This one could be a little more serious.
One of the problems with making projections about the effects of atmospheric CO2 is figuring out how [...]
I’ve been playing with one for work, and although it has a certain gee whiz appeal to it, I don’t like it all that much.
The interface is not nearly as intuitive as they claim. For example, to move an icon on the desktop you have to touch it and hold it until everything [...]
I didn’t go. I was fishing. (And I wouldn’t have gone anyway.) I read a couple articles and heard a discussion about it on the radio this morning on “Grandy and Friends.”
Here’s what I’ve heard.
+ It was a pretty good turnout. Nobody ever knows precise numbers, but it was a large crowd. Likely [...]
… that there are certain things that just aren’t done?
It’s not a question of some unbreakable rule written on the roots of the gigantic ash Yggdrasil, or carved on the shell of the last turtle at the bottom of the everlasting pile of turtles.
It’s just that some things aren’t done. Get over it. [...]
I really do. I despise it and I refuse to do it. (Unless, of course, I’m a guest in someone else’s house, in which case I’ll be polite and follow the household rules.)
I hate it because it’s a colossal waste of time.
I hate it because it’s a colossal waste of time that makes [...]
I have no idea what Vox Nova is, or who it/she/they is in a tizzy with about what, but I liked this parody of it from Mark Shea’s blog.