Internet gremlins got into the blog servers and disabled my blog for much of the day. For those who were frustrated trying gain access or post comments, I hope it is some consolation that I too was shut out. We are very democratic here!

Normal blogging is back.

When I was younger, the thought that a person might change their gender never crossed my mind. But now I personally know five people who have done so and they remain the same in most respects before and after the gender change. You realize that while gender is an important aspect of a person’s self-identity, it matters relatively little in the everyday interactions between people. Being transgender now seems like just another slice of the diversity of the human condition. [Read more…]

Cartoonist Jen Sorenson anticipates the future if, as feared, cell phones are soon allowed on airplanes. [Read more…]

We have lived on the same street for nearly 25 years. When we moved in our children were in pre-school and kindergarten. As time went by, they and the other children on the street grew up and moved on as we became the old-timers, and new younger families moved in with their own little children. [Read more…]

By now it should be clear to practically anyone who follows news with even the mildest critical gaze that the leaders of governments lie. In order to serve their purposes, they are willing to lie routinely, unscrupulously, shamelessly, and indiscriminately. The only thing that stops them from lying is the fear of getting caught and even then, in the case of James Clapper who still has his job even after lying under oath, it is sometimes not enough to stop them. [Read more…]

The US media acts like a herd, moving as a group from one narrative to another, painting each situation in the most extreme colors, as if they are trying to stampede policymakers into taking rash actions, because nothing is more exciting to the media than rapid changes in policy and actions [Read more…]

There is a report that the five surviving members of the Monty Python are going to have a reunion stage show. [Read more…]

Matt Taibbi writes that coverage of the 2016 presidential election has already begun. He says that this is inevitable but what depresses him is the way it is covered. He explains how there has now evolved a standard lens through which all politicians are viewed and that results in a particular narrative form. He looks in particular at the way the senator Elizabeth Warren’s potential candidacy (which is not at all clear will happen but he favors if it does) is described. [Read more…]

NOTE: To see how to solve the problem, please see this later post.

Some readers are complaining that some videos are auto playing (which is of course highly annoying), even though the embedding code I use is supposed to not do that. Others say it is not autoplaying for them. Since this is not a universal problem, we need to narrow things down in order to try and solve it. So can readers (even those not experiencing this problem) please post in the comments this basic information? (I know some have done so earlier, but if you could do so again, we can have all the information in one convenient place for easier analysis.)

1. Does it autoplay for you at all?
2. Does it autoplay for all embedded videos or just some? If the latter, identify the general category (YouTube, Daily Show, etc.)
3. What machine/operating system/browser are you using?

Once we narrow down the problem, maybe we can find a way to get rid of it, though I will likely need help since I am not a techie.

Thanks.

UPDATE:

Here are two Daily Show clips embedded differently. Can people please check and see if either or both auto play? The reason I ask is that I shifted from the second to the first method a couple of months ago when some people complained about the autoplay, hoping it would solve the problem. Now some are complaining that autoplay started a couple of months ago and I want to see if the problem lies (at least partly) with that change. If the change did not solve the original problem but created a new problem for others, then I will revert to the original embedding method.

Clip 1:

clip 2:

As atheists, we tend to take a hard-headed attitude towards god and the afterlife. Neither exists and we view those who believe in them as being either mistaken or clinging to them out of a need for a comforting illusion. While I am convinced that telling the truth about the non-existence of any gods is always desirable, I am not as sure about the afterlife and am willing to be persuaded that, under very limited circumstances, maintaining the fiction may be justifiable. [Read more…]