Today I'd like to briefly talk about a book I recently read, Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku.
If science for it's own sake fascinates you, you will enjoy this book. Kaku is a theoretical physcicist, and a co-founder of a branch of string theory; the book deals with his takes on the feasability or impossibility of various technological doodas and ideas that persist throughout Western culture.
Think Star Trek, Star Wars, ESP, Psychokinesis, Death Stars, Teleportation. Goofball stuff that wins you many bonus geek points for being interested in.
What the book does well is to take a look at particular technology, and assess what needs to be done to achieve it, and to make that presentation within a firm grounding of all the most recent science.
That is to say, Kaku does his best to discuss things with not only the traditional Newtownian laws of Physics, but to then layer relativity, and finally quantum physics on top of it. And sometimes the results are startling. It's hilarious when someone is making the case that teleportation on the macro level is significantly easier to achieve than precognition is. And then backs it up with physics. God I love that shit, heh.
Essentially, this is a puff piece. But it serves it's purpose well, as some of the stuff is just so damn interesting. Did you know that we have actually succeeded in teleporting a photon, yes, honest to god 'Dissapear from here and reappear somewhere else' under the Danube river? Years ago? Well, I knew, because I'm a geek, but when I mention that to most people, frankly they don't even believe at first.
And it's great at that; shocking people with wacky crazy cool ideas. It's very engrossing. People need to pay science more attention in general, and science books that have mass market appeal are few and far between. True, the intellectual rigor suffers a bit; essentially nothing new is presented for the informed reader, but seldom have I come across such a fun, concise, crisp book that would really interest anyone. Going to start lending this out to friends round-robin style I believe.
Pick up a copy. More science stuff to follow, when I get to it. If you absolutely needs yourself some more hawt science right this instant, go to
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/
who I'll be adding to my blogroll here soon.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Glenn Beck vs. Acorn
I will post the video here once I sober up and can find the embed codes. For now, check out C&L's coverage at:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/why-would-anyone-want-submit-themsel
Few things here. Firstly, Glenn Beck actually did a fairly impressive job of bullying the ACORN guy in the interview. For the first three minutes or so, I actually was thinking he made some sense. Then I just beer-bonged a fifth of vodka and by the time I was done puking Beck was securely back in Crazytown. Whew. I may get flamed for this, but I don't think Levinson came off very well.
I get his point; individual Acorn employees committed registration fraud, and that when you look at the percentage of them across the national spread, the incidence rate isn't very high. That should have been the first thing out of his mouth. I don't know if the information about specific charges and cases and their resolutions regarding ACORN is widely available, but if ACORN hasn't made a compiled, complete, easy to understand collection of said data and made it publicly available, they sure as fuck should have.
And he should have had some notes regarding each and every case so that he could have responded to Beck point for point instantly, and not needed to seem to spin so much. How could he not have essentially known what the entire interview was going to be like heading in? This was poor debate prep, pure and simple on his part.
And now for something completely different, that will probably horribly disgust you. I shot some fine Hefeweisse out of my nose and a good 8 feet across the room when I heard him bring up the false parallel of that BK employee who was taking baths in the sink.
Beck says 'If there were these numbers of people doing this at Burger King, no one would ever eat there!'. Sorry to break it to Glenn, and to everyone who has never worked in food service, but there probably ARE those numbers of people doing things far more disgusting all over the place. And not just in food service. Think about that Lowe's truck driver bangin' him some hookers on your fine new appliances that he's on his way to deliver to your home. Any of the movies over the years about teenagers and restaurants, and all the nasty shit that goes on. You know what? Those stories are funny and cliche, BECAUSE THEY ARE REAL.
People just need to accept that all kinds of gross shit is all around 'em. In some cases, ignorance truly is bliss. Thankfully, while most of it is really, really gross, not much of it is probably really harmful. So what, you ate a booger in your burger. It's all protein in the end, no?
P.S. - As I have the morals of a Drunken Liberal (i.e. none), in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I've had sex in one of the giant popcorn popping bins at a theatre I worked at as a teenager. Several times. Gives a whole new meaning to asking if you would like butter 'flavored' topping on your corn eh? Ah, sweet youth.
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/why-would-anyone-want-submit-themsel
Few things here. Firstly, Glenn Beck actually did a fairly impressive job of bullying the ACORN guy in the interview. For the first three minutes or so, I actually was thinking he made some sense. Then I just beer-bonged a fifth of vodka and by the time I was done puking Beck was securely back in Crazytown. Whew. I may get flamed for this, but I don't think Levinson came off very well.
I get his point; individual Acorn employees committed registration fraud, and that when you look at the percentage of them across the national spread, the incidence rate isn't very high. That should have been the first thing out of his mouth. I don't know if the information about specific charges and cases and their resolutions regarding ACORN is widely available, but if ACORN hasn't made a compiled, complete, easy to understand collection of said data and made it publicly available, they sure as fuck should have.
And he should have had some notes regarding each and every case so that he could have responded to Beck point for point instantly, and not needed to seem to spin so much. How could he not have essentially known what the entire interview was going to be like heading in? This was poor debate prep, pure and simple on his part.
And now for something completely different, that will probably horribly disgust you. I shot some fine Hefeweisse out of my nose and a good 8 feet across the room when I heard him bring up the false parallel of that BK employee who was taking baths in the sink.
Beck says 'If there were these numbers of people doing this at Burger King, no one would ever eat there!'. Sorry to break it to Glenn, and to everyone who has never worked in food service, but there probably ARE those numbers of people doing things far more disgusting all over the place. And not just in food service. Think about that Lowe's truck driver bangin' him some hookers on your fine new appliances that he's on his way to deliver to your home. Any of the movies over the years about teenagers and restaurants, and all the nasty shit that goes on. You know what? Those stories are funny and cliche, BECAUSE THEY ARE REAL.
People just need to accept that all kinds of gross shit is all around 'em. In some cases, ignorance truly is bliss. Thankfully, while most of it is really, really gross, not much of it is probably really harmful. So what, you ate a booger in your burger. It's all protein in the end, no?
P.S. - As I have the morals of a Drunken Liberal (i.e. none), in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I've had sex in one of the giant popcorn popping bins at a theatre I worked at as a teenager. Several times. Gives a whole new meaning to asking if you would like butter 'flavored' topping on your corn eh? Ah, sweet youth.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Quotable Quotes
And third in my 'I don't JUST cuss and post funny pictures' blog-enhacing series, Quotable Quotes!
Here's a few to start with:
Gwendolyn Brooks:
"Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold, it will not come again in this identical guise."
Leo C. Rosten:
"A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead."
Mark Twain:
"There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy."
Leo Tolstoy:
"Only greatly insolent people establish a religious law which is to be taken for granted by others, which should be accepted by everyone on faith, without any discussion or doubts. Why must people do this?"
Thomas Paine:
"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Me:
"Burp."
Here's a few to start with:
Gwendolyn Brooks:
"Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold, it will not come again in this identical guise."
Leo C. Rosten:
"A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead."
Mark Twain:
"There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy."
Leo Tolstoy:
"Only greatly insolent people establish a religious law which is to be taken for granted by others, which should be accepted by everyone on faith, without any discussion or doubts. Why must people do this?"
Thomas Paine:
"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Me:
"Burp."
Poetry
Maybe I'll branch out with poetry as well as music. What do all of my zero readers think of this? I like to think this embodies myself; I might not be all the way there yet, but I'm certainly striving for it with every breath I take.
I rarely shift, yet always am I in the Forefront of the Tide.
I am very much like a Rock, solid as the Bones of the Earth, with
potential nevertheless to flow as Glass.
All things dangerous and vicious break against me and are scattered helplessly.
The Sea hides many secrets, I hide many more.
Though the secrets of the Sea be vicious and wild,
there is no danger in the depths of my Wisdom.
Only Peace, and Hope.
Perhaps one day Love will seek refuge with me.
I rarely shift, yet always am I in the Forefront of the Tide.
I am very much like a Rock, solid as the Bones of the Earth, with
potential nevertheless to flow as Glass.
All things dangerous and vicious break against me and are scattered helplessly.
The Sea hides many secrets, I hide many more.
Though the secrets of the Sea be vicious and wild,
there is no danger in the depths of my Wisdom.
Only Peace, and Hope.
Perhaps one day Love will seek refuge with me.
Lucky
Alright, part of opening up the blog a bit, going to start making the occasional music posting. We'll start with this one, because I'm a little bit lonely tonight.
Why can't I find a nice drunken liberal gal who will go out and sing this at karaoke with me? :(
How to Fight Bigotry
Hola folks,
Being the degenerate drunken liberal that I am, I found myself browsing the Encyclopaedia Dramatica today. If you've ever been to that site, you know how you can find some pretty strange stuff.
So, eventually, I got around to the page about Angry Homo Kid. I watched some of this young mans' YouTube videos, and was struck by a couple of things.
This kid is an example of the brainwashing that many right-wingers are performing on their children. This kid is a member of the newest generation of bigots. Unless we can help him.
Notice how he claims "I used to be gay, but then I decided it's wrong, and now I'm very interested in girls." This from a kid who is what, 10? Used to be gay? Hmm...
Most homosexuals I've known did indeed know that they were gay when they were children. Did this kid? Somehow, I suspect the truth is closer to the fact that he is unable to distinguish homosexuality from prepubescence.
And yet, and yet...then there's the interesting fact that "He didn't really used to think about a lot of that stuff until he heard about it on the news." Three guesses as to what 'News' channel he must have been watching in his loving, Christian home.
Haha, just kidding, you only get one guess. And honestly, if you needed more than one, you're dumber than Michelle Bachmann.
This is what we're fighting. And we're not just fighting it to stop the spread of ideas and attitudes like this kid is expressing; we're fighting for the damn KID too. Look at him, he's in agony. Can barely restrain his misplaced rage. Fortunately, gifted and wise as I am in the ways of humanity, I detect a few things that may help.
Firstly, the kid is THINKING. G.I. Joe wasn't kidding when he told us that 'Knowledge is half the battle'. Watch the kid when he goes into one of his rages. It's almost like he's having a little fit; he twitches, blinks, moves his gaze randomly about for a second or two. The cognitive dissonance he's experiencing between what he knows (read: been told) and what he is subconsciously thinking must be off the charts.
The kid needs someone to tell him that he's normal, and thank him for at least trying to use his brain. Tell him to follow his thoughts down the rabbit hole. Maybe go find a gay person and talk to them. Maybe find a person from another religion (He is a Christian, and well, if you're in ANY OTHER RELIGION YOU MAY AS WELL WORSHIP LUKE SKYWALKER YOU LUKIST!) and find out that Jews' don't steal babies and own the media.
Bigotry and Hate cannot stand against the Flame of Reason.
If the kid is able to hang on and meet just a few people who can help him understand the conflict between the white-hot-cauldron-of-boiling-shit that is being poured into him by his asshat parents and the real world, he may just pull through.
This is where we need to fight bigotry; before it's entrenched so deeply that they've either fully rationalized their prejudices, or just don't have the energy or inclination to engage in reflection any more. Kids like this are the true front line in the fight for Freedom, Tolerance, and Reason.
If they get in much deeper than this, it becomes exponentially harder to pull them out of it, and the difficult factor increases by orders of magnitude as children turn into adults.
Talk to your children, your young cousins, family members, anyone out there. Stop this from happening to others. Stop the bullshit.
On a completely different note, yay Maine!
Congrats on stepping up to the plate and affirming that yes, when discussing 'Gay People', the operative and definitive word at play is PEOPLE, and finally granting them yet another group of rights they've been entitled to and denied for a very long time. Welcome aboard the REAL Freedom Train.
Post to be prettied up, snark and linkies added tomorrow when I have the patience to HTML it up.
Being the degenerate drunken liberal that I am, I found myself browsing the Encyclopaedia Dramatica today. If you've ever been to that site, you know how you can find some pretty strange stuff.
So, eventually, I got around to the page about Angry Homo Kid. I watched some of this young mans' YouTube videos, and was struck by a couple of things.
This kid is an example of the brainwashing that many right-wingers are performing on their children. This kid is a member of the newest generation of bigots. Unless we can help him.
Notice how he claims "I used to be gay, but then I decided it's wrong, and now I'm very interested in girls." This from a kid who is what, 10? Used to be gay? Hmm...
Most homosexuals I've known did indeed know that they were gay when they were children. Did this kid? Somehow, I suspect the truth is closer to the fact that he is unable to distinguish homosexuality from prepubescence.
And yet, and yet...then there's the interesting fact that "He didn't really used to think about a lot of that stuff until he heard about it on the news." Three guesses as to what 'News' channel he must have been watching in his loving, Christian home.
Haha, just kidding, you only get one guess. And honestly, if you needed more than one, you're dumber than Michelle Bachmann.
This is what we're fighting. And we're not just fighting it to stop the spread of ideas and attitudes like this kid is expressing; we're fighting for the damn KID too. Look at him, he's in agony. Can barely restrain his misplaced rage. Fortunately, gifted and wise as I am in the ways of humanity, I detect a few things that may help.
Firstly, the kid is THINKING. G.I. Joe wasn't kidding when he told us that 'Knowledge is half the battle'. Watch the kid when he goes into one of his rages. It's almost like he's having a little fit; he twitches, blinks, moves his gaze randomly about for a second or two. The cognitive dissonance he's experiencing between what he knows (read: been told) and what he is subconsciously thinking must be off the charts.
The kid needs someone to tell him that he's normal, and thank him for at least trying to use his brain. Tell him to follow his thoughts down the rabbit hole. Maybe go find a gay person and talk to them. Maybe find a person from another religion (He is a Christian, and well, if you're in ANY OTHER RELIGION YOU MAY AS WELL WORSHIP LUKE SKYWALKER YOU LUKIST!) and find out that Jews' don't steal babies and own the media.
Bigotry and Hate cannot stand against the Flame of Reason.
If the kid is able to hang on and meet just a few people who can help him understand the conflict between the white-hot-cauldron-of-boiling-shit that is being poured into him by his asshat parents and the real world, he may just pull through.
This is where we need to fight bigotry; before it's entrenched so deeply that they've either fully rationalized their prejudices, or just don't have the energy or inclination to engage in reflection any more. Kids like this are the true front line in the fight for Freedom, Tolerance, and Reason.
If they get in much deeper than this, it becomes exponentially harder to pull them out of it, and the difficult factor increases by orders of magnitude as children turn into adults.
Talk to your children, your young cousins, family members, anyone out there. Stop this from happening to others. Stop the bullshit.
On a completely different note, yay Maine!
Congrats on stepping up to the plate and affirming that yes, when discussing 'Gay People', the operative and definitive word at play is PEOPLE, and finally granting them yet another group of rights they've been entitled to and denied for a very long time. Welcome aboard the REAL Freedom Train.
Post to be prettied up, snark and linkies added tomorrow when I have the patience to HTML it up.
I'm Back
Wow. What a bender. I just finally sobered up after Election Day, and it's fucking May.
Anyways, I've got to get back to blogging. The need to consolidate my online presence has grown until it's now larger than Rush Limbaugh's ass. Well, ok not that astronomically big, but ALMOST.
This blog is a semi-disguise for me. I frequent all the big blogs out there, but as increasingly I'm finding that I don't really need to stop by all the old spots since so much content just ends up being cross posted and overloaded. Why comment and diary in 10 places about the same things, when I can just do it here.
So, if you notice a particularly snarky and (usually) beloved participant, commenter, or diarist disappear, that just MIGHT have been me.
Consequently, I'm going to tone down the goofiness a bit. Ditto for the profanity, although not too fucking much, obviously. I'm not the rude pundit for fucks' sake.
I'm going to try to srs bsns the blog up a bit and see what I can do about getting some original thought & commentary going, and perhaps even a bit of reporting.
I also need to see about actually getting some readers. That would help. (Hi, mom!) Hopefully the content thing will help with that.
Well, adieu mon amis.
Be prepared to experience thought so sharp and inciteful, it can cut even a Dick Armey down to size in 0.72 seconds.
Anyways, I've got to get back to blogging. The need to consolidate my online presence has grown until it's now larger than Rush Limbaugh's ass. Well, ok not that astronomically big, but ALMOST.
This blog is a semi-disguise for me. I frequent all the big blogs out there, but as increasingly I'm finding that I don't really need to stop by all the old spots since so much content just ends up being cross posted and overloaded. Why comment and diary in 10 places about the same things, when I can just do it here.
So, if you notice a particularly snarky and (usually) beloved participant, commenter, or diarist disappear, that just MIGHT have been me.
Consequently, I'm going to tone down the goofiness a bit. Ditto for the profanity, although not too fucking much, obviously. I'm not the rude pundit for fucks' sake.
I'm going to try to srs bsns the blog up a bit and see what I can do about getting some original thought & commentary going, and perhaps even a bit of reporting.
I also need to see about actually getting some readers. That would help. (Hi, mom!) Hopefully the content thing will help with that.
Well, adieu mon amis.
Be prepared to experience thought so sharp and inciteful, it can cut even a Dick Armey down to size in 0.72 seconds.
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