Events

My dad tipped me off to Sam Harris' response to this year's World Question: When evaluating the social cost of deception, one must consider all of the misdeeds—marital infidelities, Ponzi schemes, premeditated murders, terrorist atrocities, genocides, etc.—that are nurtured and shored-up, at every turn, by lies. Viewed in this wider context, deception commends itself, perhaps even above violence, as the principal enemy of human cooperation. Imagine how our world would change if, when the truth really...

The San Francisco Chronicle's columnist is particularly funny—and scathing—today: To my mind, even the softest portrait of W merely raises the larger question, perhaps not to be fully answered for many years: How could such a mediocre and unimaginative human cause so much damage? How could this frat house daddy's-boy dullard so perfectly undermine America's fundamental identity and disfigure every major department of government and bring the nation to its knees? Indeed, unpacking that one may take...

Apparently their forests aren't working: The country's 1.2 million square miles of trees have been dubbed the "lungs of the planet" by ecologists because they account for more than 7 percent of Earth's total forest lands. They could always be depended upon to suck in vast quantities of carbon dioxide, naturally cleansing the world of much of the harmful heat-trapping gas. But not anymore. In an alarming yet little-noticed series of recent studies, scientists have concluded that Canada's precious...

We start 2009 continuing the ridiculous story of the governor's strenuous efforts to ensure a Republican majority in 2010. Today's Tribune outlines what might happen next week in Washington: If Burris shows up Tuesday to claim the seat given to him by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the outcomes range from a denial of entry to a limbo where he can hire staff but not vote. Should Burris appear in Washington without that certification, armed police officers stand ready to bar him from the Senate floor...

The 30-park geas actually took me to 32 parks. Here's the timeline of me seeing at least one home game for every team in Major League Baseball: City Team Park Built First visit Last visit Chicago Cubs NL Wrigley Field 1914 1977 Jul 24 2022 Jul 16 Los Angeles Dodgers NL Dodger Stadium 1962 1980 Jul 28? 2001 May 12 New York Mets NL Shea Stadium§Citi Field 19662009 1988 Sep 15†2012 Jul 6† 1997 Apr 19†2012 Jul 6† Houston Astros NL Enron FieldMinute Maid Park‡ 2000 2001 May 9   2009 Apr 7† Milwaukee Brewers...

New Scientist is reporting this hour on findings published today in the journal Nature, showing a 30% reduction in warm-water flows in the Atlantic Gulf Stream. This is a long-predicted effect of global warming, similar to changes in the flow that may have caused the so-called "mini ice-age" of the 14th and 15th centuries—and the major ice age of 110,000 years ago. Not to be alarmist or anything, but this news is the climatic equivalent of seeing fifteen "for sale" signs on your block. It shows that...

I just got a voice message from the National Republican Campaign Committee, asking for survey input. As a matter of fact, I do have some ideas for the 2006 campaign... Heh.

The National Hurricane Center just a few minutes ago released this report: ...TROPICAL STORM EPSILON...THE 26TH NAMED STORM OF THE 2005 ATLANTIC SEASON...FORMS OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC OCEAN... AT 11 AM AST...1500Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM EPSILON WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 31.6 NORTH... LONGITUDE 50.4 WEST OR ABOUT 845 MILES...1360 KM...EAST OF BERMUDA AND ABOUT 1395 MILES...2245 KM... WEST OF THE AZORES ISLANDS. For those of you keeping score at home, this means we've seen 7 more named storms...

Anne writes: I told the credit card woman that it was because I was boycotting J. Crew because they sell fur. She actually had the nerve to say, "I can assure you that the fur that we sell comes from reputable breeders and not from animal destruction." I think that was off-script, huh? I just said, "I think by definition it comes from animal destruction." I encourage everyone who is getting J. Crew's catalogs to call (800) 562-0258 and ask to be taken off their lists--and be sure to tell them why. I...

I just finished Garbage Land, leaving only about a dozen books on my reading stack right now. Highlights: Why is this in the Software category? Because better wetware means better software. It's important to read widely in order to write better, whether your language is English or C#. Read as much as you can, about anything that interests you. Limit your professional reading to 50% of your total no matter what (but shoot for 25%). The more you know about things outside your profession, the more you can...