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Boggled

You Europeans will be tolerantly amused by this, but …

I live in an apartment in Schenectady, New York. (It’s kinda near the center of the state, if you’re not familiar with newyorkography.) It’s an older building. In fact, the area I live in is the oldest part of the town — there’s a building a few blocks away that dates from the late 1600s.

My building dates from the 1800s. It’s a creaky old thing, but comfortable. I’d like to show you a series of pictures from when I went down to the basement today to do laundry.

First, here’s the laundry room: Continue reading “Boggled”

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Hurrah! Cure for Alzheimer’s Discovered!

Yes, I’m doing that “sensationalist headline” thing the popular news media is so famous for.

But … I hope this is true. It would be damned cool if it was. At the same time, I’ve learned — not as a scientist, because I’m not one, but as a reader of news and onetime newspaper editor — that what you read in headlines is often misleading. And you can’t even trust the stories that follow.

But here it is: Breaking News from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine

Continue reading “Hurrah! Cure for Alzheimer’s Discovered!”

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Short Stack #11

In Life’s Darkest Hours, remind yourself of this: There’s chocolate.

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Few people know that most of the early programmers at Microsoft were total emos. For instance, the first version of Clippy included the phrase, “Hi, it looks like you’re writing a suicide note! Would you like some help?” Continue reading “Short Stack #11”

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Iron Sky

Came across this trailer for a movie coming April 4. I’ve heard NOTHING about it, but it looks like something I’ll want to see on the big screen.

Space Nazis? Ooh, baby, I’m on board.

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Our Plan Proceeds. One More Is Assimilated.

Biodork joins the FtB network, further spreading the atheist stain among the peoples of the world.

Go welcome her!

Her name is Brianne Bilyeu, and she describes herself as “skeptic, humanist, atheist, feminist, pro-sexual freedom, nerd, geek, dork, bibliophile, activist, pro-choice, over-joiner, liberal, progressive, scientist, wife, sister, daughter, gamer, storyteller, listener.”

On the other hand, she admits, in her very first post on FtB, to simultaneously “drinking whiskey and eating an Oreo McFlurry.”

I can’t put my finger on why that seems so unnatural, Brianne. But it does.

And then there’s the way you agree with Bill O’Reilly all the time. Hmph.

I’ve got my eye on you, missy.

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A Magnitude of Horror, Inhumanly High

One of our human failings is that there are plenty of things we can know intellectually without feeling them viscerally.

You can go to a dozen funerals, and not be very deeply touched by it all, until someone you really love dies. You can read or hear about the Holocaust in high school history class, and even see pictures of death camp inmates, and not really have any least idea about what the whole thing means until you walk through the Holocaust Museum, holding the card of a little kid who was sucked into the horrible maw of it, touring through the nightmare exhibits and waiting to see whether YOUR child lived or died. Continue reading “A Magnitude of Horror, Inhumanly High”

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The Book of Good Living: Moving Forward

[If you get nothing else out of this post, know this: I am (WE are!) asking for input. Seriously, I think this thing might work. Also: If you can’t help in any other way, but like the idea, you can Facebook, tweet, Google-Plus, or otherwise snork (social network) the hell out of this post.]

I know you all, avid readers that you are, saw my recent post on The Book of Good Living.

It’s kind of a no-brainer, don’t you think? A book of lessons and rules designed not to control you or lessen your freedom, but to help you grow and become complete. And to help in building a society of justice, equality, and opportunity.

It would be the handbook, the basic operating manual, that should come with every human life.

And I’m sure you read the comments. A number of readers were very excited by the idea. Continue reading “The Book of Good Living: Moving Forward”

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Coincidence? I think NOT.

After Neil deGrasse Tyson posted a request on Facebook on Monday, asking for things he might say to President Obama on Tuesday …

I hardly ever ask questions on this wall, but I feel compelled: Tuesday I’ll be at the White House. If you had one sentence for the President, what would it be?

… and I replied on Monday with my ABCD by 2023 idea …

Mr. President, let’s amp up U.S. science education by devoting ourselves as a nation to an Apollo-type program in medicine: Launch “ABCD by 2023” to discover even more effective treatments – or cures! – for Alzheimer’s, Birth defects, Cancer, and Diabetes.

(As I explained: “Not only would it save millions of our loved ones, it would give education a shot in the arm. It would provide huge numbers of jobs. It would get America investing in itself again through advanced research. It would underscore the value of attracting and retaining bright young minds from all over the planet. And it would provide the major spin-off of a fantastic body of new knowledge.)

… Today — just one day after Tyson met with the president — the news carries this story:

HHS to Boost Alzheimer’s Research Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Obama administration plans to increase federal funding for Alzheimer’s disease research and caregiver support by more than 25 percent over the next two years, the Department of Health and Human Services announced today.

Man, when you’ve got an electrifying idea, things happen! It’s like President Obama LEAPED to the phone the instant the words were out of Tyson’s mouth.

God, I love making a difference.

And I’m sure the president will get to the BCD parts in the next few days. He’s probably easing his way into it.

And thanks, Neil, for listening.