Just dodged a bit of a bullet, and repairs to the car (which was sounding simply ghastly) were considerably less expensive than I feared. In honor of the old dear, a verse from quite a while ago, that a total of maybe six people read at the time. Which is too bad, cos I really liked this one. After the jump: [Read more…]
The Kiribati islands
While they never have been dry lands
Have been sinking, as the ocean levels rise;
As each island’s head goes under
People leave, and it’s no wonder—
Now they’re planning for their future, which is wise
With the ocean levels rising
It is not at all surprising
That they’re looking to protect their sons and daughters
Onto Fiji they could squeeze
As a band of refugees
As the world denies the rising of the waters.
Continues… [Read more…]
Both the Torah and the Bible tell us scientists are right
When they say creation happened only once.
So they clearly are compatible, and never ever fight;
Any moron who thinks differently’s a dunce.
The creation of the universe, all sources now agree,
Came from something that’s outside of time and space,
With the power to create (as any idiot can see),
And we’re pretty sure it had a holy face.
We can say “In the beginning”; we can call it the Big Bang
Scientific or religious points of view;
We can say that life’s first moment was a note the angels sang—
Pretty much, that’s just what science says is true.
If both science and religion say it’s fiction, then it is
There’s no truth there to be found in Harry Potter
But if God should be life’s author, then the narrative is His
And admitting this… is how you win the Trotter.
Jump: [Read more…]
Today in a meek, if not mollified, manner
The Christians of Cranston removed the old banner
By simply defying the law of the land
They wasted a hundred and seventy grand
The banner is gone, and the page has been turned…
The question remains: has the lesson been learned?
story, after the jump: [Read more…]
Cos I know I have some knowledgeable readers.
So right now I am sitting in a darkened office, with brilliant jagged geometric shapes floating in my right visual hemisphere. Having just taken my Maxalt, I am hopeful that they will disappear soon, and that they will not be replaced by an exploding horrific headache.
But the questions…
This time, the colors are different from earlier visual migraines. Less bright colors, sometimes appearing to be a palate of grays. It also appears more melty than usual. Oh, and this one is confined to my right visual hemisphere.
So, does that mean vascular activity in left occipital lobe? Or could it be elsewhere in the various visual pathways? More generally, could one conceivably map the location in the brain where the migraine activity is happening by attending to the visual phenomena? (Has this been done?)
The NYTimes had (has?) a blog on migraine art; there is quite a lot of variation. I tend to get the current effect (location varies, as does color scheme now), and occasionally a different sort where it looks like I am viewing the world through a cracked stained-glass window. Would different sorts of visual experiences imply different, and specifiable, brain areas of vascular weirdness.
Signing off now–my right eye is beginning to throb, which is not a good sign.
I’m told I said some naughty things
I really hadn’t ought;
And I’m really, really, really,
Really sorry I got caught.
No context needed, I expect.
Ok, so I just noticed something. Some, though not all, of my FtB cohort have a widget of sorts that directs people to some of their “must read” posts from earlier months or years. This being the internet, pretty much anything that is older than a week or so tends to get lost, unless it happens to hit on a popular search term, in which case it will never die (that post was in my top five for every month on the old blog, with a handful of hits every day, each time from a separate search of the… obvious keywords).
So I’m thinking it might be a nice idea to have a side widget, maybe a pull-down so it doesn’t take up an internet mile, with some sort of “greatest hits” or “best introduction” or suchlike (it pleases me to see that “suchlike” is accepted by my spellcheck). I mean, I have over 1300 posts (true, some are re-posts); where is someone supposed to start?
I also am thinking that I have turned out to be a very poor judge of what people like. Things I am proud of are ignored; things I threw together in 15 minutes get lauded. As Linus Pauling would have said if he had talked about poetry, the best way to write a good verse is to write lots of verses. I may not be the best at what I do (I personally know at least three–perhaps four–better, one whose birthday is tomorrow), but by damn I am the most prolific.
I need your help to winnow the wheat from the chaff. I have no idea how many I will put in this sidebar thingy (it will depend on whether I can do a drop-down menu), but not a lot. So… which are essential? If this is the bare-bones (bare cuttlebones?) introduction, what do I include? Is there anything you printed out and tacked to your door at work or your fridge at home? Tattooed on your newborn?
What are the “Best Of”? (and yes, quit lurking and put your two cents in!)
I’m right, cos I’m right, which I knew all along
I am certain—one hundred percent!
There is zero percent of a chance I am wrong
And I’m certain I said what I meant.
There’s no reason for me to be changing my mind
Like that Dawkins, all wriggly and squirmy
No reason to look at the evidence, either—
I know it will only confirm me.
I’m pointing at Dawkins with utter delight
While his atheist followers grieve,
Cos I’m certain the way we decide who is right
Is how strongly believers believe!
Fun stuff, after the jump: [Read more…]
Freedom of religion means
That bishops get to choose;
Some medicines are wrong, and you don’t need ‘em.
And women stay behind the scenes—
You’re only going to lose;
You get no choice at all… and that is freedom
In Texas, where sports is religion,
It appears that religion is sports
And the Christians are glad of their home field advantage
They hold over non-Christian sorts.
(continues, of course…) [Read more…]