Monthly Archives: February 2006

There’s been a lot of pontificating lately about freedom of speech. First, there were the offensive Mohammed cartoons published in the Danish newspaper JyllandsPosten, leading to riots and burnings across the Middle East. Lots of newspapers stood by JyllandsPosten, even … Continue reading →

I just realized that I’ve been piling all the articles I’ve been reading for Cognitive Daily for nearly a year now in one stack. It’s over 170 articles, and the pile itself is quite impressive: Over ten inches of dense, … Continue reading →

I don’t write a lot about sports here, but the fact of the matter is, I’m a sports nut. My favorite is the most politically incorrect sport of all: football. I just love watching steroid-laden bullies smack each other’s brains … Continue reading →

Here’s a simple algebra problem: A + B = PZ So California now requires algebra and geometry of all its high school graduates. Forty-four percent of all Los Angeles high school students fail algebra, and an additional 17 percent pass … Continue reading →

Here’s a quote that’s been making the rounds lately: The death of the humanities and the disciplines that promote “thought”—the majors in which have declined in real terms to less than 10% of college majors, with business expanding to 22%—results … Continue reading →

My Johari Window — via Scalzi, of course. You can go there and indicate what you think my “qualities” are, then compare them to my own assessment of myself. If you have your own Johari Window (you can create one … Continue reading →

When I was in high school, the rules for athletic participation were clear: if you didn’t have grades at a minimum level, you were off the team. My high school basketball team had a benchwarmer who — it was later … Continue reading →

P.Z. Myers is very clear in his views on religion: he doesn’t like it. For Myers, Ken Ham is an example of why religion is so damaging. In one sense, I agree — scoundrels like Ham make religion look pretty … Continue reading →

Last September, I wrote a post about why we need to protect our national parks. Now the policy I wrote about is one step closer to implementation. If you’re not happy with what’s being done to our national park administration, … Continue reading →

There’s no doubt that Flight 93 is a schlocky melodrama, but it’s good schlocky melodrama, and that’s an important point. Another point in its favor, mentioned in the Reuters review, is the use of relatively unknown, ordinary-looking actors. This helps … Continue reading →

Last night I went on one of the most harrowing journeys I’ve ever been on. My palms were soaked in cold sweat, and my heart was beating at an astonishing rate. All this while sitting comfortably on my living room … Continue reading →