Discriminating Against the Unqualified

Thank goodness for Hillary Clinton. For the record, I think it's perfectly appropriate to discriminate against people applying for jobs they won't perform.

Just bask for a moment in the hypocrisy of conservatives. They don't want people legally protected from racial or sexual discrimination, but they're all fine and fucking dandy for forcing organisations to hire people who will turn away patients or lie to them and put their lives at risk. It's like requiring burger joins to hire a fry cook who will tell people at the counter that their restaurant doesn't make fries and that, furthermore, you should be ashamed of yourself for wanting any.

I suppose it's not really hypocrisy. We are dealing with people who believe reality is perfectly relative.

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Science is Awesome

One of the things I've never understood is why anyone needs myths to make life interesting. Gnomes and fairies are cool, but I don't need to believe that they're waiting to be found just beyond the next patch of grass to think the world we live in is amazing and wonderful. Why do the pyramids need to be inspired by extra terrestrials? Why is it not amazing that people built them?

Believing in the world as it is and evaluating everything with an open, skeptical mind (not mutually exclusive) often yields more wonder than believing in spirits or complicated myths.

Gobekli Tepe



I first heard about this site in Art History. Gobekli Tepe was originally overlooked, mistaken for a graveyard. What it is is far more fascinating and it subverts everything we know about early modern humans. In every archeology and anthropology class I've had, I've learned that the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculturally based communities was indicated by the development of permanent architecture, particularly areas of designated worship. This makes sense, of course, because once you settle down and start producing more food than you or your family needs, some of you can start specialising in things like art and architecture and your community will need a gathering place to make decisions, talk, and worship. Hunter gatherers naturally need to keep their lifestyle portable, because they move around within their territory. Gobekli Tepe, however, was a temple built by hunter gatherers. When you think about it, if hunter gatherers only move around in a given territory, why not get together and build a temple that you can return to seasonally? There's nothing unrealistic about it, but it is a huge discovery.

Homo Floresiensis



Another thing that I've always learned was that our last living human cousins were Homo sapiens neanderthalensis who died out more than 30,000 years ago. The discovery of H. Floresiensis, the little people of Flores, is nothing new, but their designation as a unique species of hominid means that fully modern man was not yet alone in the world until a mere 13,000 years ago, only until about two thousand years after the first humans crossed the bering land bridge and discovered the New World. Floresiensis most likely evolved from Homo erectus on the islands of Indonesia, but also shares many traits with fully modern humans.

These are both fascinating finds that simultaneously change and flesh out our understanding of our history on this earth. That we still know so little is no cause for fear. The world is endlessly wonderful, and endlessly surprising.

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Prop 8 Protest

Here's a link to my photos from the downtown Portland protest.

This one is probably my favourite.


I took a bunch of photos of cute dogs, but you know animals. They always turn out blurry on film.

UPDATE

My camera ran out of batteries before I saw these guys so all I have are crappy cell phone pictures, but here are some nice ones from other Portland Flickr users.



More good ones.

Some background on gnome discrimination.

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Hugging the Panda

Maybe I shouldn't make so much out of it, but I'm instituting this feature into my writing: any time a conservative delivers obvious misinformation, they will be heretofore described as "hugging the panda."

Duly noted.

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I've Always Been a Geek

Although I usually characterise my early obsessions as cartoons and, later, anime specifically, I started out arguing scientific trivia with the nearest self proclaimed nerd. I used to argue about sharks and snakes at Daycare with a skinny blonde kid with glasses who seemed baffled by my insistence. I guess girls weren't supposed to know anything about sharks and snakes or care. I never really went into the sciences, but it has more to do with poor grades in chemistry and math than anything. No matter how hard I worked at those, I never got the hang of them.

But I still love science (and I'm an SF snob) and as a geek, I identify with pretty much all other geeks. Whatever our obsessions, cats, anime, a specific science, or comics or games, we're all united by having an inordinate knowledge and passion for esoteric subjects that make more normal people uncomfortable.



It's what makes us awesome.

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There's One in Every Party

Oh, Joe Lieberman, you silly scumbag! When I was a kid, my parents didn't want to hear my apologies when I got in trouble. They knew it didn't mean anything. If I could regret it so quickly, I wouldn't have done it in the first place. I was only sorry I got caught. If he apologizes, I think we can be reasonably sure that he's only sorry he backed the wrong horse. Although I've no reason doubt he sincerely believed in John McCain, that would only make an apology at this point sound all the less sincere.

I don't think we should ask him to apologize. I think he should lose his position. It's sweet that Bayh and the democrats are so willing to forgive him, but all I've got to say to good ol' Joe is fuck you, our fair-weather friend!

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