onegoodmove

Posted by Norm at 1:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Norm at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins
note: I've added Part 3
Richard Dawkins examines the legacy of Charles Darwin. The three part programme will be broadcast on Channel Four at 8 pm on Monday 4th, Monday 11th and Monday 18th August.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Posted by Norm at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

• Americans choose God over doctors for saving lives

  More than half of randomly surveyed adults - 57% - said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment.

• TPM CAFE BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION ON JAMES GALBRAITH'S THE PREDATOR STATE


• Think Progress » McCain Jokes About His Definition Of The Rich: ‘How About $5 Million?’


• See Jane Compute : Reading is fundamental

  I have had two experiences in quick succession that have made me seriously wonder what kind of reading education kids these days are getting.

  (Jeez, did I just go over into old geezer territory? I think that's the first time I've used the phrase "kids these days" in a blog post. Next I'll be telling people to get off my lawn...)



• The Satirical Political Report - An Offbeat Look at the Hot-Button Issues of the Day » McCain Explains to Rick Warren HIS ‘Purpose-Driven Life’


• Bad Science » My Placebo programme on BBC Radio 4

  I’ve been so busy I completely failed to spot that this show went out earlier this evening. It’s a smashing programme I made with Matt Silver from the BBC Radio 4 Science Unit on the placebo effect.

  We charge through some of the most fun experiments in the field, and in part two we get all philosophical about what it means for mankind.
  I’m an enormous fan of BBC Radio 4 science, and I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about why they’re so great. As well as resisting the drive to dumb down, there’s also one very important structural factor: around 70-80% of a radio science documentary - by necessity, for auditory colour - is made up of words spoken by the people who have done the science themselves.

  (tip to pedantsareus)


• Adult Christianity TM |(tip to pedantsareus)

Posted by Norm at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

note: If you still don't think John McCain is unfit to be the president of all the people; here is one from the archives that will remind you what an arrogant prick he really is.

Posted by Norm at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

I love lists like the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels, it is a list I've perused before and one on which includes many titles I've read. I stumbled across it again a few days ago and decided I'd make it a goal to read everything on the list I haven't already read. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I've only read 37 of the 100 books. I plan on reading the remaining 63 over the next three years, one does not live by classic literature alone.

I usually get through 40 or 50 books a year. I'm doing a little better this year, and will probably finish with 70 or 80. The nice thing about starting this project now is the Kindle I recently received as a gift. Many of the books are in the public domain and available for free from sites like Feedbooks, Manybooks, and Project Gutenburg

Think of the money I'll save, and maybe it is good for the environment as well. No trees are cut down to produce the books, no fuel is burned transporting them across the country on airplanes and in trucks. I may be overlooking something here, but it seems on balance to be a good thing. I could just check them out of the library of course, but even there it means a trip in the car and more fuel used.

And talk about instant gratification, I can decide on a book and in less than a minute it is available to read. My Kindle is already filling up with books I intend to read, but unlike the many books