(Sorry, brain running on idle so far this morning. I swear the following has nothing to do with drugs. This is a sort of sideways answer to those who say you can’t prove there’s no God.)
1) In Heaven, everybody has delicious Thomas’s English muffins for breakfast, and they come already toasted and slathered with real butter. Plus, they’re served by obsequious angelic beings who look exactly like Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards. Continue reading “7 Things Christians Can’t Prove Aren’t True”
Brian Dettmer does art. I saw something like this a few years ago — I guess it must have been his work — and I love it.
Regarding ancestral slave owning (which accusation some complete and utter idiot has attempted to smear Richard Dawkins with — and no, I’m not linking to it, because I don’t link to complete and utter idiots):
Just in case the charge is ever leveled at me: Continue reading “On My Slaveholding Ancestors”
I’m a long way from the planning table here at FtB.
I’m pretty sure Ed Brayton and PZ Myers have a Master Planner’s Lair somewhere, which has a huge hot tub, beer bar and poker table, where the World Domination plans proceed.
Pictured above is the Soundproof Lair for Concealing Maniacal Laughter. I like to think the whole complex is in Scotland somewhere, probably underground, and they get there by Opening a Way into the Never-Never. I suspect Ian Cromwell, Daniel Fincke and certain others get periodic invitations to confer on important points of the Plan, although they may just be there to pick up Ed’s and PZ’s empties. Continue reading “Hey, It’s An Imperfect World (Sorry, L.Ron)”
Just wanted to follow up on my post of a few days ago. I still feel a little bit bad about the headline, “Hurrah! Cure for Alzheimer’s Discovered!”
I intended it to be funny, sort of a reflection of common practice in science reporting. This does it better:
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”
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”
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.
I buried this at the end of a previous post. I suspect its totally awesome total-awesomeness escaped certain of the FtB audience, who probably glanced at the FtB home page and found only a vanilla headline, and thought: Meh.
But here, again: Avengers! Fucking Avengers!! Coming May 4!!!
I am so there for the midnight showing.
