Category: Culture
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Free speech Über Alles!
Will Saletan has has published a piece making a traditionalist American absolutist case for free speech. He points out that in most Western nations there are in fact curbs on speech which is considered offensive, disturbing, and perhaps dangerous. Ther…
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The delta quadrant of American politics & culture
Apparently when he was a consultant Mitt Romney would praise the merits of ‘wallowing in data.’ I agree with this, you can’t get more data than you need. Therefore I highly commend Public Religion Research Institute‘s survey of…
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The Europes
Planet Money recently did a report on the difficulty of maintaining high economic productivity in southern Italy. I won’t rehash the specifics of the story, but, I think it is important to get a visual sense of just how large the contrast between…
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The waning of the nuclear family
‘The Waltons’ Meets ‘Modern Family’: A Pew Research Center study, “The Return of the Multi-Generational Family Household,” published long before the most recent, even higher census figures, revealed that in 2008 a record 49 million American…
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The cheating of the chosen
Update: Harvard Students in Cheating Scandal Say Collaboration Was Accepted. Harvard Says 125 Students May Have Cheated on a Final Exam: Officials said that nearly half of the more than 250 students in the class were under investigation by the Harvard …
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Enough with the double standard
Most of the conventionally liberal readers of this weblog would probably term me anti-feminist. I believe that there are sex differences, and that these are important in the way we arrange policy and our personal lives. But I’m really pissed … Continue reading →
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Back to the 70s?
Peter Turchin has basically implied that it’s 1970 again, and we’re in for a new age of disturbance. I’m rather skeptical…but, today a co-worker pointed out that I have “70s hair.” My sideburns, yes, but that’…
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Neil Armstrong and the end of the Whig conceit
It has been 40 years since he last human being set foot on the moon. I was not alive when this occurred. The Whig views history as a progression. When we recall the past we remember, perhaps pity, a less developed age. Overall I disagree with declinis…
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The “Hey girl” shaped hole in our brains?
One of the positive aspects about interacting with the rest of the world in more than a professional or nerd capacity is that sometimes I find out what’s happening in popular culture. Therefore I’m now clued in to the fact that a new gener…
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Mischlinge brown pop
My wife, who has become a connoisseur of all things half-brown, brought to my attention the two new boy bands storming Britain have a “brown one” slot (i.e., “the cute one,” “the tough one,” “the innocent one,&…
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Harry Harrison, R.I.P.
The New York Times has an obit. Found out via Fred Pohl. I read some of Harrison’s work, but probably most memorable to me was the series which began with Hammer and Cross series in particular captured my imagination. With hindsight it’s pr…
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The Age of Heroes
Sometimes when you read reviews or papers you need to look very closely at what people say in a tentative speculative fashion. That’s because though the prose may be as such when read plainly and without context, you often have more prior informa…
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Quantify ‘Honey Boo Boo’?
As someone without a television I tend to be aware of only “cultural phenomenon” level shows. For example, Jersey Shore, and of course South Park. The past week something has impinged upon my consciousness, Honey Boo Boo. I am quite willi…
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The other Romana
No surprise that the Wikipedia entry for Romanadvoratrelundar has Lalla Ward’s photo. Romana II had a much longer run, and also now has famed associations. But Mary Tamm, who died last month, will always have a special place in my memory, as I b…
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The scourging of Sam Harris
A reader pointed me to this Sam Harris post, Wrestling the Troll. He asked what I thought of the post, and what I thought of Harris. In regards to Harris I don’t think much. I found The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason to …
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Spicy carrot juice
Those who have dined with me in “real life” know that when I eat savory foods, with the occasional exception of salads, I tend to enjoy a great deal of spice. By “great deal,” I am someone who can down eight habaneros in 15 minu…
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What big money for physicists means
9 Scientists Receive a New Physics Prize: Several of the winners said they hoped that the new prize, with its large cash award, would help raise recognition of physics and draw more students into the field. “It’ll be great to have this sort of show…
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The Scots-Irish as indigenous people
A fascinating comment below: In traveling across America, the Scots Irish have consistently blown my mind as far and away the most persistent and unchanging regional subculture in the country. Their family structures, religion and politics, and social …
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Toward healthier gestations
Neuroskeptic has a post up, The Coming Age of Fetal Genomics: So they don’t. Instead, they buy a $100 test kit, they each provide a small blood sample and send it off to one of the companies offering fetal genome testing. At the testing lab, they…
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More on jobs & Ph.D.s
First, I’m sure that the blue-collar readers of this weblog are thinking “cry me a river.” Yes, American scientists (perhaps excluding engineers, and to a lesser extent pharmaceutical researchers) are generally Left-liberal, but the c…