Colleges and universities across the United States are planning to re-open in the fall with large numbers of students on-campus. Some places have done this sensibly, by limiting that number to just first-year students, or just seniors, and only for one term or another. Others have proceeded with full populations […]
Rant
37 posts
I am a baptized Christian in the American Baptist Church. But I am also a critical thinker. Many people call today “free speech day.” Many others think this is a day to support Chick-fil-A. Even more others think that today is a day when Christians clearly show their homophobia by […]
Our country is stricken with an outbreak of a truly terrible disease. It’s passed by the internet, radio, TV . . . really, any means of communication. Mainly, these represent “oral transmission,” although written transmission is just as likely. What disease am I talking about? It’s called “Gohmert-Barber Syndrome,” also […]
OK, that’s it. I cannot take it anymore. STFU. This is a time to mourn, not fight the pro-gun-control or pro-second-amendment culture war. STFU. Stop speculating on why parents bring kids to a midnight showing of anything, and thus – by implication – blaming the parents for the deaths or […]
In today’s New York Times [1], writer Jim Holt gave his opinion on the row initiated by physicist Lawrence Krauss regarding the value of philosophy. You can go read the details of that spat on your own; I’m about as interested in that debate as I am in polo. For […]
The Texas Freedom Network tonight reprinted a quote from a Texas-based organization that is against access to contraception. Here is the quote: “I am so sick of people lumping abortion and birth control together and calling it ‘women’s health.’ Neither one of these two things are necessary for women to […]
Today, it became clear to me that the CommandIR was not going to cut the mustard. I aimed my webcam at the emitter, and could clearly see the emitter lighting up when it was instructed to send commands to the Comcast box. That meant the emitter was transmitting, but it […]
A few weeks ago, we received notice that Comcast would be transitioning channels above 30 to digital, away from analog. This transition is to happen on April 15. We were told we could get either a converter and a set-top box, or a pair of converters. Jodi and I opted […]
In the past month, Energy Secretary Chu and now President Obama have addressed DOE labs. In both cases, the address was announced the morning it happened, essentially at the last minute and out of the e-mail time window of nearly every user I know physically located at SLAC. As a […]
After watching key parts of the DNCC and RNCC these past few weeks, including the big speeches by substantial figures like McCain, Obama, Palin, and Biden, and important secondary figures like Gore and Lieberman, I’ve had some personal reactions to some of the speeches. The most interesting contrast to me […]
Just a short follow up. Obama’s site is employing YouTube and flash to distribute video clips from the DNC convention. Good for them! Let’s see what the Republicans do about making democracy available online.
This is a rant. I’ve earned it. For years, I have made the long, hard slog to Washington D.C. I have written to my Congressional representatives, made phone calls to local and national offices. I have dug into the political process, thought hard about modern democracy, and tried to work […]