Archive for October, 2003
Fries
I wasn’t going to post anything this week - as I’m away from my broadband connection in the city. However, this study (which I heard about on NPR) is so disturbing that I had to post something about it. I still can’t believe people would think that this kind of a diet is suitable for […]
Flare
If your cell phone stopped working the other day, here is why:
A massive solar flare erupted from the surface of the Sun at 9:51 UTC on October 28, 2003. The solar flare persisted for more than an hour, peaking at 11:10 UTC. Associated with the flare was an ejection of a billion tons or more […]
Mary
I don’t usually much care for theology - but two articles I’ve read lately caught my attention. In today’s NY Times there is a review of a new book, The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle, in which it is pointed out that:
…nowhere does the Bible say that [Mary Magdalene] […]
Madame
Madame Chiang Kai-shek, (Soong Mayling), died at the age of 105. But even though the otherwise hagiographic Washington Post articles says:
To their enemies, the Chiangs were the opportunistic overseers of a corrupt and decadent political apparatus that had little or no regard for human life or the well-being of China. Madame Chiang was the “Dragon […]
Think-Tank
I’m all for grass-roots politics, but there is no denying the tremendous influence that conservative think-tanks have had on the contemporary political climate. Both domestic and foreign policy have been hijacked by right-wing ideologues with well-financed institutional backing. So I’m glad to see that the left is starting to fight back:
John D. Podesta … wants […]
Ballpoint
I can’t remember when I received my first “Space Pen” - I used to love those things. The Astronauts used them! You could write upside down, on an oily surface, in extreme heat, anywhere… So you can imagine my shock, surprise, and horror to find out that normal ball point pens write in space! For […]
Notable
Inspired by Prometheus6, I’ve started a “best of” section of my own. These are entries that I’ve put a little more thought than usual into, or which I’m proud of for some reason. This way those entries won’t disappear from the front page of this site simply because they are out of date. I’ve called […]
Eminem
Calpundit brought my attention to this post by Matthew Yglesias, where he points out that the New York Review of Books article on Eminem fails to grasp the difference between radio and CD versions of a song. Pretty funny actually.
I read this article just the other day, and all I could think about is why […]
Parallels
It seems that “has taken to likening the democratic prospects of modern Iraq to those of the early 20th century Philippines.” Interesting how the similarities play out:
The Spanish empire ceded the Philippines to U.S. control in 1898 after losing that “splendid little war” in the Caribbean. The American military then invaded the Philippines and […]
Nascar
Inequality is increasing, but those getting the short end of the stick - blue collar workers - are largely in favor of Bush. How can that be?
First the inequality part, from an excellent post over at the Whiskey Bar (via Marstonalia):
The latest available data — for 2000 and 2001 — shows the trend towards greater […]
An anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, 
