Al Jazeera: The Many Problems Caused by China's One-Child Policy

China's one-child policy has been a subject of much controversy, both within China and in the international community. In the years when it was first implemented, most people agreed that it was an economic and social necessity; now, thirty years later, it is likely creating more problems than it is solving. Al Jazeera reports:

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/05/2010519111922223452.html

The two most pressing issues, as analyzed in the above article, are that there is an increasing gender imbalance, due to the cultural preference for sons, and that a decreasing working-age population is expected to support an increasing population of retired elders (the oft-cited 4-2-1 problem).

Even if the policy is retracted today, the problems will still persist for decades. One can only imagine the lasting consequences if it remains in place for another few decades, or if it is never retracted. The current system was a fine stop-gap measure; it is unsustainable, and it doesn't take a genius to recognize it. It boggles the mind -- what is the government thinking?

A Word a Day

I get this in my inbox everyday:

http://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html

It's a treasure trove for logophiles, dispensed in tiny, tantalizing, tidbits every morning. Strange words, rare words, words that have fallen out of common usage, but are wonderfully interesting.

Join the mailing list -- do it.

NYTimes: A Victorian Cabin

It's very quaint, the sort of thing that I'd build in my backyard, if I had the time and the woodworking savvy:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/23/garden/20100624-chic-slideshow.html?ref=garden

The lace is a bit much, I admit, and this slightly unstable-looking structure is not where I'd choose to house my hypothetical china collection, but I'd absolutely live in this sort of a house. The only nontrivial improvement I can think of would be to perhaps build it in a tree. A Victorian treehouse, perhaps?

The Minute But Very Important Differences between Nerds, Geeks, Dorks, and Dweebs

I've heard this debate countless times as I've been shunted from one such category to another for most of my life. I don't know about its accuracy, but this is probably the simplest explanation I've seen thus far:


http://www.swiss-miss.com/2010/06/what-are-you.html

According to this diagram, I'm a nerd. I guess that settles it...? (Which of these, then, are you?)

Finder's credit goes to Weily.

R.I.P. Senator Robert C. Byrd

Senator Robert C. Byrd (D. W. Va.) died today. He was 92, and had served in Congress for 57 of those years (51 as a senator). He passed on at a time when the people of this country most needed him -- his vote, but more importantly, his wisdom, his indomitable will, and his fierce dedication to the defence of his people.

Byrd was the epitome of the American dream, the self-made man. He came from a coal mining town in the state that elected him to Congress. He was valedictorian of his high school class, but could not afford to attend college; he earned college credit and received his diploma while serving in Congress. He was, however, eminently self-educated; his speeches were peppered with historical and literary references. He was especially well versed in the histories of the republics that spawned the United States, namely the Grecian city-states, Rome, and England. He believed in the power of the people, as exercised by the Legislature -- and was vehemently opposed to those moments when Congress seemed like no more than a catspaw to the President. He was the greatest advocate of the people of his own poorly-resourced state, as he believed each senator should be for his own constituency. If there was any disparity, it was not because he demanded too much, but because they did too little.

He is also a fine example of a man who could admit his mistakes, own his lapses of judgement and his youthful indiscretions, and forge them into something good. He was, in his youth, a member of the Klu Klux Klan; indeed, it was one of the local clan leaders who first encouraged him to run for office. And yet, rather than denying it, he made for himself a brilliant career in politics in spite of it, acknowledging that stain on his conscience and rising above it to become a champion of his people, all his constituency, whatever their color or creed.

He will be missed, and even those who do not know all that he has done on their behalf will feel the weight of his absence. He was a true senator, a true statesman, a man in the make of those first Congressmen to walk the hallowed halls of the Capitol, over two centuries ago.

The New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us/politics/29byrd.html?hp

The New Adventures of Queen Victoria

It's a webcomic:

http://www.gocomics.com/thenewadventuresofqueenvictoria

Possibly the most brilliant use of stock art I've seen to date. If anyone knows anything about politics, it's Queen Victoria. I reckon she'd be ashamed of us, if she could see us now.

This one, on the oil spill, is especially amusing: http://www.gocomics.com/thenewadventuresofqueenvictoria/2010/06/24/
(For the uninitiated: https://www.shamwow.com)

NYTimes: Cooking Co-ops for Efficiency

This is a really interesting idea:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/dining/23coop.html

Cooking co-ops are probably ideal for friends and neighbors in apartment complexes, on university campuses (for those without meal plans but with kitchens), or at least within walking distance from one another. In a place like New York City, especially among the younger professional set, which often overlaps with the "just had babies" set, people really don't have time to cook full meals every day, and often, the entire family ends up eating T.V. dinners half the week (or going out to eat, which, in New York, is a huge drain on resources). The cooking co-op solves most of the problems that come with cooking on a weekday. I'll have to remember this, for when I graduate in two years and go off my meal plan. Any takers (though by the looks of it, we'll all be scattered all over the country, or at least, all over both coasts)?

EepyBird: Entertainment for the Curious Mind

EepyBird is the group that created the Diet Coke and Mentos fountains, as well as the Post-It note cascading awesomeness (really, how do you describe it?). Here's one of my favorite videos from each series, because such awesomeness is meant to be shared:

Diet Coke and Mentos:



Post-It Notes:



I can't tell you how many times I've watched these. I'm so very tempted to attempt to reproduce these experiments. Do you think my parents would mind?

NYTimes: I Can Has Cheezburger, the Web Empire

An internet phenomenon makes The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/technology/internet/14burger.html?src=me&ref=technology

I'm glad they're onto these internet memes over there at the Times. This is of particular interest to me because one of the imprints of Penguin (not the one for which I'm interning this summer) publishes the LOLCats books:
http://www.amazon.com/Can-Has-Cheezburger-LOLcat-Colleckshun/dp/159240409X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277588148&sr=1-1

Romantic Gardens Exhibit at the Morgan Museum

I do believe I've mentioned the Morgan Museum before. It was the private estate of the millionaire banker J. P. Morgan before he bequeathed it, in his will, unto the people of New York as a museum. It always has interesting exhibits, even though it's much smaller than, say, the Met. There's one in particular that's showing this summer, that I especially want to see. It's on the landscaping and outdoor architecture of manor estates during the Romantic period:

http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibition.asp?id=27

Ink

Blood is rather a common theme in philosophy and literature, but I thought this quotation uncommonly inspired:

Blood is the ink of our life's story.

~Jason Mechalek

There are so many layers of meaning in these few words. There is the blood of lineage, which for most people plays a crucial role in the course of their lives, whether through acceptance of a legacy, or repudiation of the same, or some combination of the two. There is the blood of birth, of bringing into the world another soul, another bearer of a name and a history. There is the blood of death, whether natural or otherwise, which changes the lives of all who bear witness, and all whose hands are thereafter stained. There is the blood of faith, which is not blood, but rather the vine's best attempt at blessing, for which believers have themselves bled, and lived, and died.

It is strange, is it not, that a biological substance, one of many, should hold for us such meaning?

NYTimes: Awesomest (Tree)House Ever

I've always had a bit of an obsession with treehouses (I wanted to live in one, as a permanent home, at one point), and this made my day:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/17/garden/20100617-location-slideshow.html

You have to admit it's pretty awesome. Right up there with jet-packs and hovercrafts.

Mario on the Walls

I never really played video games (my father was rather restrictive about such frivolities), but I am passably acquainted with the more iconic ones, mostly because some of my friends, in recent years, have taken it upon themselves to introduce me to them. These include the series of games featuring the brothers Mario. They are immensely amusing and a tad nonsensical; this is therefore quite entertaining:



Somebody had way too much time on their hands. Stop-motion film is awesome, but extremely time-consuming.

Sailing to Byzantium (by William Butler Yeats)

This is another of my favorite poems:

Sailing to Byzantium
by William Butler Yeats (1928)

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
— Those dying generations — at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unaging intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

It is often said that all great poems are about love or death, or both. I have posted many on love, romantic love especially, so it is only fitting that now, I add one on death, though in its own way, this, too, speaks of love. It is not a love of any one thing, but a love of life and all that is living, of its beauty and magnificence, the sheer vivacity of the world, as seen in the poet's slower old age. It is a fierce, desperate love, the frozen fingers of a dying man curled around some scrap of memory, the desire to leave behind something lasting, a monument of wondrous gold, and yet not of any earthly make, because even the mightiest stone shall fall. He desires some work greater than his mortal flesh and blood. It is, in part, the reason for his writing.

This is one of Yeats's greatest poems (and him being Yeats, that's saying something), and possibly one of the greatest poems in all of modern English literature. Gosh, that man was brilliant.

Today

is the 1931st deathday of the Emperor Vespasian, who was arguably one of the best emperors to ever rule the Roman Empire.

Vespasian ascended to the throne from relatively unimpressive roots; his was a family only promoted to the senatorial class after the fall of the Republic. Although he had been consul prior to becoming emperor, he is more known for his military exploits, having been involved in major campaigns in both Britannia and Judea (as the areas were called in those days). He came to power during the period of unrest known as the Year of the Four Emperors, of which he was the last surviving contender for the throne.

As an emperor, and as a man, Vespasian was known for his forceful personality, his generosity, and his support for arts and letters. He rebuilt Rome after the civil war, adding many new buildings and public spaces, including the Colosseum and the new Roman forum. He favored leniency in dealing with political opponents and took criticism well. All in all, he was a man I should have liked to know, and a fine father to his people, rather like Caesar Augustus.

BBC: Sperm Whale Faeces Help Oceans Absorb CO2

Kind of gross, but very interesting nonetheless:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10323987.stm

Nature is such complex balance; who knew that the bathroom habits of whales had such a specific and important function in the marine ecosystem?

Makes me want to run those Japanese whalers into a sandbar, it does.

NYTimes: Yelp and OpenTable Join Forces

This might make the summer more interesting:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/yelp-and-opentable-join-forces/?hpw

It seems like a natural merger, a comfortable association. After all, upon finding a good restaurant on Yelp, the natural inclination (and the smart thing to do) is to make a reservation. This simply cuts out the step of picking up the phone.

The New Yorker: Excuses, Excuses

Technology in the classroom:


http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2010/05/03/cartoons_20100426#slide=15

I think he gets points for creativity.

BBC: Sexier Birds are Poorer Fliers

A very interesting take on evolutionary biology:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8738000/8738613.stm

Basically, Mother Nature is running P&L (profit and loss) calculations, balancing in the male bird population the need for speed and the need to impress girls. Come to think of it, human society acts much the same way. Men who dress very well will impress (certain types of) girls, increasing their breeding potential, but dressing very well will also attract the attention of thieves and brigands, not to mention lighten one's wallet, so to a certain extent, only people with means (both to purchase and to avoid getting mugged) will dress well. At least, that's how it should be. Humans are not always the most logical or intuitive of creatures.

Bookshelf Background

When I found this new one in the template-settings, I couldn't resist. I'm working for a publishing house this summer (editorial department, absolutely loving it, could see myself here after I graduate), and I'm a huge bibliophile as is, so I reckoned it suited.

Thoughts? Do you like it?

NYTimes: The Dalai Lama, on Tolerance and Interfaith Relations

This is a must-read. If you read nothing else today, read this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/opinion/25gyatso.html?hp

This is a religious leader. Gosh, why can't the Pope, or the Ayatollah, or whomever, be a bit more like him? There's a reason why he won the Nobel Peace Prize, and the rest of them didn't.

The Dalai Lama has other issues, of course -- among them is probably a surfeit of impractical, religiously-derived idealism -- but the sentiment expressed in this particular article is one that today's world sorely needs.

Today

is the 46th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It's a landmark piece of legislation, marking the end of state-sanctioned segregation in the United States. It came at the height of the epic American struggle for freedom and equality in America. It was, in my opinion, one of the few events of Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency that made up for, in some cosmic way, the Vietnam War. His domestic policy was impressive, but his foreign policy abysmal. Today, 46 years ago, was Johnson at his best.

xkcd: The Search for Sentient Life

http://xkcd.com/638

I believe there's life out there. I still hold out some hope for SETI (that's the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), even though the probability that we find anything is exceedingly small. That we have not made contact is not evidence that no life exists beyond Earth, Fermi paradox that it is. One cannot prove a negative, after all.

MSNBC: Cops Bust Woman for Pouring Mayonnaise in Book Drop

Hurting books -- things like cracking spines and dog-earring pages -- makes me cry a little inside. (Gosh, I sound like a librarian.) But this, this is a new low:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37693202/ns/us_news/?GT1=43001

This woman sounds like she ought to be institutionalized. I can see drunk college kids doing something like this, but she's a senior citizen! Are they sure she doesn't have dementia or something?

NYTimes: Oxford's One Word Exam, Abandoned

This sounds really interesting, like something I might have enjoyed, but I suppose it never would have affected me anyhow...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/world/europe/28oxford.html?hp

I agree that it's not necessarily the best way to test intelligence, in that some of the most brilliant people probably did really terribly on it, but on the other hand, I think that a truly inspired essay would definitely have helped reveal some hidden talent in people who might otherwise have appeared intelligent, but not extraordinary, on their applications. Anyhow, it's an interesting exercise, and perhaps they could have offered it as a prize essay, rather than for admissions, if they really didn't see its value.

A sample exam: http://documents.nytimes.com/the-fellowship-exam-oxford-universitys-all-souls-college

BBC: Britain's Chief Scientist Knighted

The British are doing it right [sic] (correctly, I know):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10293940.stm

This is what we should be doing for scientists who are reaching out to the public, and educating people, and raising awareness about global warming and other environmental issues. The U.S. does not have honours of this nature, to be sure; a fairly new democracy such as ours is not quite conducive to ancient orders of knighthood or other such accolades. Regardless, there are many other ways to recognize the work of similar individuals in the States, which is what we should be doing, instead of pandering to the conservative Christians and vilifying science. This is why (among other reasons) education in the U.S. has been going down the tubes.

We have a nerdy(ish) President. I suppose that's a start.

PhD Comics

For anyone who has ever considered, or been involved in, academia:

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php

Sad, but true. I know a lot of current and future grad students, and most of them can't help wincing when reading these.

Incidentally, the author/artist was a grad student at Stanford; you can see it in the setting of the comics.

NYTimes: A Supercomputer Plays (and Wins) Jeopardy!

Simultaneously exciting and really, really scary:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20Computer-t.html?hp

 

On the one hand, I'm secretly hoping that Marvin, my (aging, about to be retired) laptop will talk to me, and to that end, I have enabled his voice command function and occasionally ask for the time, just to hear him respond in that computery voice of his. On the other hand, we humans really aren't as smart as we think we are. Robots might take over the world someday, and we're just hastening our own doom here.

3-D Optical Illusion

I believe Brett was the one who showed this to me first, though subsequently, about three different people tried to get me to watch it.

NYTimes: Summer Shakespeare, Outside and Urban

One of the many things I love about summers in New York:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/theater/04shakespeare.html?ref=nyregion

I intend to catch at least one play this summer. Anyone want to come?

(Love) Gives Me Hope: The Anti-FML

Brett introduced me to these two sites a while back:

http://www.givesmehope.com and the affiliated http://love.givesmehope.com

They're good for a quick moment of warm fuzzies, much in the way FML is good for a quick schaedenfreude fix. Huzzah for humanity!

NYTimes: Planting the Strip Between Sidewalk and Street

I've always thought that the little strips of grass by the curb are rather lonely and neglected. The trees planted there sometimes create cracks in the sidewalk, and the grass is always rather thin and the soil rather loose. I'm glad people are reclaiming it, like so:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/garden/27garden.html?hpw

Maybe that can be another new project this summer. We have a good few yards of grass strip in front of our house.

A list of erosion-controlling plants: http://www.theodorepayne.org/plants/plants_for_erosion_control.htm. The monkey flower is very pretty, but requires a lot of water.

BBC: Japan's New Solar Sail

How we're living in a scifi film, part #3986:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10293284.stm

I first read about solar sails (or rather, the idea thereof) in one of Freeman J. Dyson's books when I was in middle school or so (it might have been The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet, but I can't be sure, since it was so long ago). At the time he wrote it, which was about twenty years ago, methinks, he had conceived of the solar sail purely as a thought experiment. But mon dieu, look how far we've come!

Showing Up Unannounced

We pull into the garage after dinner out, and my mother exclaims, "Look at that! I wonder how it got here?" (roughly translated from the Chinese). Sitting innocently on the step is... a watermelon:


We concluded that my godfather must have decided to get us a watermelon. This is actually a semi-regular occurrence around here, and it is watermelon season.

Slices of life (no pun intended) from home.

NYTimes: The Scoop (iPhone app and website)

Just in time for the summer:

http://nytimes.com/thescoop

It appears to be quite comprehensive. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I intend to explore the City a little in the next few months, and this might be just the thing. If you're a New Yorker, or are here for any duration, do get the app, and let me know what you think of it (and whether you want to go adventuring!).

Today

is the 2333th anniversary of the death of Alexander the Great.

*brief moment of silence*

He was thirty two years old. Imagine what the world might have looked like, had he lived.

(Yes, I know he was Macedonian. I tagged this with "Greece" for the obvious historical association.)

The Most Unlikely of Places...

I arrive at home, after a rather harrowing experience at the airport, and walk into the bathroom. I am greeted by a new shower curtain. Behold:


My mother is awesome. It was completely unintentional, too; she doesn't know how to use a computer.

BBC: Butterflies!

I've always had a weak spot for butterflies. I used to sketch them, at the Museum of Natural History (They had a butterfly conservatory exhibit a year or two ago, and it was glorious.), and out of books. I had put that aside for a while, but this makes me nostalgic for sketching at museums. (I wonder whom I might rope into accompanying me this summer?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8730000/8730259.stm

The Morpho anaxibia's blues are absolutely breathtaking, and the Cithareas are just exquisite. Any favorites?

Ten Rules for Writing Fiction

Writers share their personal sets of ten(ish) rules for writing fiction:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one

It is rather interesting that the rules are so different for each author. This is a pretty hard-hitting list (Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, Geoff Dyer, &c.). Goes to show that it doesn't really matter how you write, as long as you do it well.

NYTimes: Schott's Vocab

A wonderful New York Times blog about interesting words!

http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com

This is the same Ben Schott who did the various Schott's Miscellan[ies]. He is awesome. Seriously, I want to be him when I grow up.

BBC: Bletchley Park WWII Archive to Go Online

This is actually really exciting!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/10239623.stm

I was, for a long time, fascinated with cryptography (I took a cryptography course at CTY when I was in seventh/eighth grade). The Playfair cipher, I remember, was one of my favorites. But nothing beat the paper Enigma. Yes, we reconstructed a version (albeit simplified) of the Enigma machine out of paper and manila folders. It was such fun!

And then, I'm a history nerd. World War II is a bit later-period for me, but I'm a fan of military history, so I've read my fair share on it. They'll have maps!

NYTimes: Facebook's Zuckerberg on the Hot Seat

Time for him to face the music:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/zuckerberg-on-the-hot-seat/?hpw

Zuckerberg is in over his head.

Facebook has grown so quickly that I don't think Zuckerberg really had time to take a step back and consider all the long-term consequences of some of his actions; at twenty-six, he's at the helm of one of the most successful start-ups in the tech industry. His ethical uncertainty is rather frightening. He has a great deal of real-world power, and he appears to be bound not by any conscience of his own, but rather by public sentiment, when it grows too loud against him.

At least the Google guys have said, "Don't be evil." Zuckerberg would do well to learn from their example.

Lego Printer

Most awesome printer ever:



Reminds me of the Mindstorm robots we had scurrying around the computer lab in high school. I swear, they were practically pets!

Thanks to Caitlin for sending this out!

MSNBC: Woman Sues Google over Walking Directions

There is really no one to blame for your own stupidity, dear, but it was a valiant effort:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37453662/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/?gt1=43001

I despair of humankind, sometimes.

Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock (by Wallace Stevens)

One of the few vers libre poems I really like:

Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock
by Wallace Stevens (1915)

The houses are haunted
By white night-gowns.
None are green,
Or purple with green rings,
Or green with yellow rings,
Or yellow with blue rings.
None of them are strange,
With socks of lace
And beaded ceintures.
People are not going
To dream of baboons and periwinkles.
Only, here and there, an old sailor,
Drunk and asleep in his boots,
Catches tigers
In red weather.

The imagery, of course, is beautiful. What makes it work for me, methinks, is the repetition -- of colors, of words, of sounds -- which lends to it a certain sense of structure and thematic coherence.

NYTimes: Pay-What-You-Want Restaurants

A rather intriguing concept:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/us/21free.html?hp

I like the idea very much (especially as a psychological experiment), but the implementation is necessarily very limited. It would only work, methinks, in relatively affluent neighborhoods (particularly in the current economic climate), where the average adult earned enough money to live comfortably without much debt -- the upper middle class, at least. The "working for food" option seems sound, as well, but it only fulfills the needs of a few people; it's unsustainable in poorer areas.

Still, it's a beautiful idea.

MSNBC: Head Bonk Causes Foreign Accent

An odd but very interesting phenomenon:

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/05/28/4383989-what-iz-zees-head-bonk-causes-foreign-accent?GT1=43001

I've been told by friends (mostly college friends, who have seen me awake at ungodly hours of night/dawn) that I sometimes develop a slightly British accent when I'm very tired. I've never really noticed, myself, but then, a lot of people don't really hear their own accents.

I've always hypothesized that it's due to overcompensation for fatigue. That is, because people tend to mumble or slur their speech when they're very tired, I've subconsciously attempted to compensate for that tendency by enunciating much more clearly when I'm tired, and Americans, or people not well-acquainted with British accents, think it sounds British. (That and the rather antiquated usage of English; I've been told by a friend, who is very well-versed in accents and phonology, that my speech tends to be much more precise than the average American's -- probably a holdover from the way I learned English essentially as a second language -- which everyone thinks sounds British.) But this article brings up a different possible cause: head trauma.

I have a scar running almost vertically down my forehead; the bone underneath is still dented from the impact. It's from a long time ago (I was six years old when the accident happened). My father always jests that I must have become stranger, or more intelligent, as a direct result of the injury. Would that have brought about my sometimes-almost-accent? Hmm...

The New Yorker: What Atlas Should Have Done

I've actually always wondered about this:


http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2010/04/05/cartoons_20100329#slide=8

*Plothole Alert!* (I jest.)

NYTimes: In Leaked Lecture, Details of China’s News Cleanups

The principles of journalism, China-style:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/world/asia/04china.html?hpw

It sickens me, sometimes, this perversion of journalism. I was, for a time, quite enamored of the Woodward and Bernstein story, and while it comes as no surprise, I'm still saddened by the extent of state control of the media in China. It goes beyond censorship; this is basically mind-control. The government and the media getting this chummy is never a good thing.

There is also a certain (most likely intentional) irony, methinks, that this article was published on this date.

Open Letter: Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

This is the most concise, logical piece I've read about global warming in a long time. It's written by scientists, of course.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5979/689

We need people like this in charge, advising the politicians, working on solutions. We need everyone else, especially those die-hard global warming deniers, to listen to them, instead of vilifying them as egg-heads and fear-mongers. We need the average American to pull his head out of the sand and recognize that his happy little bubble of ignorance is not the center of the universe, and think of the children, dammit!

I didn't realize I was so bitter at stupidity. Hmm.

NYTimes: The Besieged and the Beautiful in Languedoc

I'm particularly interested in the history of southern France, in part because of a fascination with troubadours, Eleanor of Aquitaine, castles, the Albigensian Crusade, and the area's medieval culture of arts. Anyhow, here's an article about it:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/travel/09Languedoc.html?8dpc

It is, in some ways, not surprising at all, that these old castles and grand landscapes were once the site of so much bloodshed. It is often the most beautiful places that have the darkest stories. After all, castles were originally built as fortresses, their imposing facades and crenellated towers meant to defend their inhabitants against besieging foes.

I'd dearly love to see the place at some point in my life. Anyone want to road-trip around southern France? (My high school French is rusty, but still serviceable, last I checked.)

Oh, and the lede line is brilliant.

Meet the Sloths

Beings of unbearable cuteness, being cute:



From pinktreefrog.typepad.com; filmed at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica. My thanks to Brett for bringing it to my attention.

NYTimes: A Resurgence of Terrariums

Self-sufficient gardens in little glass jars; like snowglobes, but better:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/garden/03terrarium.html

I want one. Hmm... maybe I'll make one over the summer? Trial and error? Hope that the plants don't die on me?

Petition to Save New York Public Libraries

Note (05/28): Because this is an actionable item, I'm keeping it at the top of the blog for the next week or two.

Edit (06/01): Quit Facebook Day having ended, this post returns to the top for a few more days.

Edit (06/03): My sincere thanks to anyone who petitioned, for your support for literacy in New York.

New York City is facing (more) budget cuts. The city government is considering cutting funding for the public library system. Considering the state of education in New York (and in the country at large), squeezing public libraries is not the best way to save money -- the societal cost is just too great.

Please sign this e-petition to reject budget cuts for, and closure of, public libraries in New York (even if you're not a New Yorker):

http://dontclosethebook.nypl.org/action?hpfeature=1

Spread the word.

This means a lot to me, personally, as well. I'm a lifelong, incurable bibliophile, and I would hate to see libraries close in my home city. My thanks to my dear friend Weily for bringing this to my attention, and also to everyone who petitions.

A Good Life, without God(s)

This just about sums up my take on religion (or at least, on the possible repercussions of atheism):

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.

~Marcus Aurelius (apocryphal)

I strive to live a good and worthy life because I believe in honor, in beauty, and in helping the less fortunate. I am an atheist because I believe in science and its methods of proof; I will believe it when I see it (or evidence thereof). (In a similar vein, I also believe in Occam's Razor -- that is, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. I see no need to create a mythology to explain natural phenomena if it is plain that science is progressively explaining more and more of said phenomena -- I trust that science will eventually be able to explain enough to satisfy me, and in the meantime, I am content to wait.) If there are indeed gods, and if they find these two tenants to be somehow contradictory, then I would not be able to reconcile my own morals to the rule of such beings, and therefore would not want to abide, for all eternity, by their laws. (Yes, I just applied social contract theory to heaven.)

Would I rather remain in hell for all eternity? Obviously, from a practical standpoint, fire and brimstone and torture isn't my idea of fun. But continuing in the above vein of political science, all these tortures are the Christian God's way of punishing sinners. Cruel and unusual punishment aside, notice that none of these tortures are the Devil's doing. They are the work of a being who, having cast the undesirables from his kingdom, insists upon punishing them in somebody else's territory. (If you try to claim that hell is a vassal territory, albeit gone rogue, by virtue of Satan's lesser magnitude of power, I will laugh, and point out that a state in rebellion for however many millenia without active attempts at reconquest or administration by the claimant state has de facto sovereignty. Moreover, God has violated His social contract with the denizens of Hell by actively detracting from their welfare. I suppose one could claim that hell is something like a penal colony, but the literature describing hell as "evil" and governed by a rogue, hostile entity suggests that for all that God quarantines sinners there -- and without due process, mind you -- it is not actually under God's control.) Anyhow, the Biblical (or at least, Old Testament) God basically seems to be a very powerful egomaniac who demands worship and compliance with his (albeit well-intentioned) rule. Quote Plato at me all you want, but I'm not sure that in this case, the wise and benevolent dictator is really all that benevolent.

Hmm... that was perhaps more than I'd intended to write when beginning this post. I suppose this counts as an increase in self-generated content? Expect this to continue, I'd say, especially over the summer, when I won't be writing papers about Revolutionary French politics and the Enlightenment for classes; I'll need an outlet.

BBC: Volunteer Cosmonauts begin 18-Month Mars Simulation

Prepping for a Mars mission!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10197470.stm

It sounds... strangely fun. (This from a girl who would consider hiding in a tree for a year and writing a book, mind you.)

Also... a Mars mission! A whole slew of middle school sci-fi daydreams are coming true. Don't we live in interesting times?

(Five nerd points if you get the reference.)

I, Cthulhu, or, What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47° 9' S, Longitude 126° 43' W)?

Neil Gaiman's romp in the Lovecraft universe:

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58523

Gaiman's a brilliant fanfiction writer. (He's also a brilliant writer, period, but then you already knew that.) This isn't his first foray into fanfiction (he wrote "The Problem of Susan" in response to The Chronicles of Narnia) nor into the Cthulhu mythos (his well-known story "A Study in Emerald" is a Sherlock Holmes and Cthulu crossover). It makes sense, given the nature of his work. Since American Gods, and the Sandman comics before that, he's worked in a rich literary and cultural tradition. With all the clever and nuanced allusions he makes, one would think he was raised in a library.

Anyhow, this was first brought to my attention many months ago by a good friend and teacher, Lisa. Good things are meant to be shared.

Invisible Bottle Trick

Fun with optics!



Come to think of it, despite my being a fuzzy, high school physics was a lot of fun (I was a fence-sitter through high school). I had a cool teacher; we did egg drop contests and things! Also, Science Olympiad! Three years of model airplane awesomeness! Trebuchets!

I miss Science Olympiad.

NYTimes: In Broadway Lights, No Vacancy

I'm a huge fan of Broadway theater, and it's good to know that even in this economic climate, Broadway theaters aren't languishing empty; shows still appear to be doing quite well for themselves:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/theater/02stages.html?hp

I'm glad to see directors sticking to their guns regarding artistic vision; rather than going for any available theater, many new shows are holding out for certain specific theaters that fit their particular needs. Too much of show business has been tainted by money.

I'm also terribly excited to be home this summer; the arts (performing and visual) are one of the things I miss most about New York.

Of Watches, and Wisdom

A piece of sound advice for people (especially precocious youths) who find themselves a cut above the mean:

Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket, and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show you have one. If you are asked what o'clock it is, tell it, but do not proclaim it hourly and unasked, like the watchman.

~ Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Most intelligent people will have found themselves in a position, at some point in their lives, where their mental capacities were detrimental to their social integration. The classic example is that of the bespectacled, socially awkward nerd being bullied by football players and their cheerleader girlfriends in high school. Or the equally awkward nerd girl (yes, the assumed default "nerd" is male, but that's just statistics) scorned by her skirt-and-heels-wearing peers for her braces and sweatpants and love of explosions. Anyhow, the above is practical advice on how to survive not only high school, but also the world at large.

This reminds me of a recent conversation with a good friend, regarding deference to etiquette and social context versus suppression of one's identity. Many nerds, I have found, deal with the above sorts of isolation and awkwardness by rejecting the institutions that have ill-used them. The argument goes, "It's who I am," and "I shouldn't have to give up my identity in order to have/be/join x." While in some cases, this is a valid argument (namely in cases where there is no viable alternative), it is too often used as an excuse, or a social crutch. One's identity should not preclude one from exhibiting, for instance, basic professionalism and consideration for others (that is, unless one wishes to be identified as "clueless", or some other unsavory sobriquet in perpetuam). One may be genuinely enthusiastic about one's learning (as is generally the case in particularly nerdy people), but it often comes off to those less interested as a sort of unbecoming vanity.

I recognize that I have this problem myself, and I cannot always be conscious of how I appear to others. I do, however, believe that simple courtesies should not be neglected, which includes not boring my friends to tears, where possible (that's what this blog is for, I suppose). One of my biggest problems, though, is that my notions of etiquette date from a bygone era -- so you folks have it easier, in some ways. You have less to unlearn.

And for those literal-minded readers who are thinking, "Why not wear the watch on your wrist, like a sensible person?" I would point out that Lord Chesterfield was of an age when pocketwatches, rather than wristwatches, were the norm.

Historic LOLs

LOLcats for history buffs:

http://historiclols.cheezburger.com

I think it's wonderfully funny. Your mileage may vary.

(Yes, I'm in a bit of a LOLcats mood.)

Bioengineering Only Goes So Far

This was originally posted on Failbook, but it's absolutely a win!



Oh, biology. I remember the days when I was pre-med. I guess it still comes in handy once in a while, on the internets.

NYTimes: All That is Wrong with Religious Dogma

This is the story of a good woman who did what was necessary to save a life. This is the story of how the Catholic Church, despite her years of innate virtue and selfless service, cast her out of the fold for this same action, because of the rigid convictions of a few frocked men in Rome. Read it and weep:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/opinion/27kristof.html?hp

This is why intelligent people are losing respect for religion. Will the Vatican reinstate witch trials, next?

Happy Chair is Happy: Faces In Inanimate Objects

I often notice faces in inanimate objects (and people sometimes look at me oddly when I point them out). But lo and behold, there is an entire website dedicated thereto (by the same group that runs LOLcats):

http://happychairishappy.com

I think the site's name particularly inspired.

NYTimes: In the Koreas, Five Possible Ways to War

I've always been fascinated by historical thought experiments, playing the "what if?" game, as it were. The Koreas reopening hostilities after a decades-long ceasefire, is unfortunately a too-real possibility; the New York Times discusses five ways in which it could happen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/weekinreview/30sanger.html

I hope it doesn't come to pass. The world has enough on its plate without another Korean War.