Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Helen Thomas, who appears to be one of the two last journalists in AmericaThe other one is, of course, Seymour Hersh. Greg Palast might be one someday when he grows up–if he drops the shrill joking style.. Remember back in 2003 when no one in the White House press pool was asking any questions… Read more →
Author: Mr. McLaren
Connecting some dots…
So, an Administration official says Iran “could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 16 days“. Well that sounds scary. Of course over in the reality-based community we can read that “Western nuclear analysts said yesterday that Tehran lacked the skills, materials and equipment to make good on its immediate nuclear ambitions“, and in particular that: The… Read more →
I am such a geek.
How else to explain how much pleasure I got from this piece on that important question: Who would win in a fight between Cthulhu and Godzilla? Just in case you don’t click through for the metatextual analysis, here’s the best sentence from it: “He’d eat a few thousand people, make a giant throne of their bones, and just generally do… Read more →
More Moyers
Last year my impression of Bill Moyers as a stately intellect was shattered when I discovered that he is actually a really intelligent rabblerouser. Well, this year he’s still rousing the rabble, this time about campaign finance and K Street corruption, and making a lot of sense while doing it. He starts out with a pithy summary of the problem,… Read more →
Grammar question
FARTHER/FURTHER: according to the AP style guide you use “farther” to refer to physical distance and on “further” to refer to an extent of time or degree. So you had to wait a further two hours past the appointed time because I had hiked 10km farther than I expected. So, what happens if the extent of degree is also a… Read more →
Confusing The Art and the Artist
It’s one of the classic mistakes, isn’t it? The quality of the art has no dependence on the character or personal qualities of the artist, right? It’s entirely possible for a complete bounder and an utter cad to be a brilliant and gifted writer, who can produce sterling prose that informs the mind and touches the heart, isn’t it? Actually,… Read more →
A Nice Night…
Sitting on the couch, with some music quietly playing in the corner, reading A Dirty Job, while Trish sits on the other end of the couch reading Temeraire,I know, I know, but the British title is so much less cheesy than the American one and we can hear Sarah breathing through the monitor. That’s a pretty nice way to spend… Read more →
The Junos exposed
Last weekend Halifax was overrun with the entertainment industry, in a build-up to the Juno Awards. (If you aren’t familiar with the awards, or this year’s specifics, there is lots more information available.) For me, this mostly meant that downtown was worth avoiding on Saturday because between Juno tourists and closed off streets for the red carpet shenanigans it wouldn’t… Read more →
Speaking of obvious science…
I wonder if there are resources out there to help a parent raise a “media literate” (read “advertiser-proof” and “immune to image pressure”) kid? I should look during my next chunk of free time. Children’s viewing time may increase requests for advertised products Children who spend more time watching television and movies and playing video games may be more likely… Read more →
Science And The Obvious.
Popular Science has a nice round-up of ten different studies where science confirms the obvious (with a bonus page about science disproving a few bits of conventional wisdom). The ten conclusions are: Combining Drugs and Alcohol is Bad For You Gun-Toting Drivers are More Prone to Road Rage Faraway Objects Are Tougher to See The Beer-Goggle Effect is a Bona… Read more →
And we just had the Down By Law party, too…
There are a lot of MP3 blogs out there. A LOT. I don’t read too many of them on a regular basis. Mostly I just check The Hype Machine every morning to see if there’s anything that seems interesting. (I should totally stop doing that, because I keep finding things that I then have to buy.) Among the select few… Read more →
Science Fiction Authors Say Smart Things: Sagan on TV
Over on his blog science fiction writer Nick Sagan (author of fun books Idlewild, Edenborn, and forthcoming Everfree) has a post about his favourite TV shows. Now, while all five shows he lists are good shows, his numbers 5, 4, 3, and 2 would not make my list of “all time best” shows. (How can you make a list of… Read more →
Some stories just write themselves…
You know, I can’t really add anything to this. I mean, there’s something completely funny in each of the first three paragraphs of this story: Police say the Grateful Dead leader’s commode was stolen recently from a driveway along with three other toilets and a bidet. Garcia’s salmon-colored toilet was the subject of a legal battle before it was finally… Read more →
Sir Arthur C. Clarke is equally as awesome as Sir Sanford Fleming
OK, before I get on to mocking the whole Sri Lanka time change thing, let’s take a moment to enjoy what is possibly the best picture in the history of science fiction fandom: Yes, that is a picture of Sir Arthur C. Clarke wearing a t-shirt that says I INVENTED THE SATELLITE AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT.… Read more →
I Love “Overheard in New York”
How could one not? Put the feed in your aggregator. The Monkey Can Take Care of Himself Guy #1: Hey, where’s Gus? Girl: I dunno, he was smoking a cigarette and I left. Where is Gus? Guy #1: Uh oh. Guy #2: You mean you just left him to die alone? –L train Read more →
