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Just out of posted on September 30, 2009 - 5:25am

Just out of curiosity...is anyone still reading this blog?

power relations posted on September 29, 2009 - 8:09pm

The UK's Times Higher Education supplement recently published a piece on instantiations of the seven deadly sins in academia, with the Lust entry receiving a great deal of commentary from many quarters.

Athenian aforethought posted on August 24, 2009 - 9:55pm

Sometimes, and this hasn't happened to me recently, I begin thinking of a person -- a character, and they come to some sort of definition in my mind. Their likes and dislikes, habits, appearance, the sort of place they live in, and so on. But this all happens pretty quickly, with the result being a more or less fully-formed human instantiation that exists as a hierarchy of sharply-defined traits. I remembered one such character recently because I encountered a character very much like him in an actual novel. It gave me a feeling not unlike the one that you get when you read about an invention that you think you pioneered in isolation, and didn't bother to follow through on, bursting onto the scene and changing peoples' lives, or at least making boatloads of cash for the inventor.

it's my party posted on August 17, 2009 - 7:43pm

So, it appears that the health care reform that many hoped for in the U.S. is not going to happen. Of course, this doesn't mean that no good will come of the reform effort whatsoever, but this is a difficult process, and it would have been much, much better for the Dems to get it right when they appear to have the opportunity.But it's important to remember that a significant amount of opposition to this came from the grass-roots level. It seems that many people simply don't want the government involved in health care, despite, in some cases, their own great need. See, Rest of the World, this is America.

political disease posted on April 30, 2009 - 4:15pm

THE LUCIFER STRAIN[Scene: the CDC. In a sterile lab, two besuited microbiologists are performing various routine tasks.]Mb1: No, I don't eat it, but I just didn't grow up with it, so I have no taste for it.MB2: More for me!MB1: Have it, my friend! But I don't think it's anything to worry about.MB2: [laughs] Yeah, people just get hysterical when they're already stressed.MB1: Exactly. If this happened during a better economy, nobody would--[MB1's head explodes, spraying blood across the room. ]MB2: If only we, the American government, had never made that pact with--[MB2 convulses and collapses. Pan out to a view of a wall behind them, on which the sprayed blood has formed a dripping pentagram]MB2: [gasping] Master--!

consequence credibility posted on September 7, 2008 - 2:16pm

In any society, individuals rely, for their safety and social acceptance, on the information given to them from others (especially higher-status others) about what risks are involved in the activities of life, and what consequences are likely to arise from wrong actions. I think one important component of pervasive and persistent ideologies entails the capacity of such to convincingly persuade potential adherents of a) the undesirability of the consequences they warn of, and Cool the inevitability of those consequences following the wrong acts which are proscribed under that system.

insomniac blogging posted on August 23, 2008 - 1:43am

A List of Portmantbreauxbro: A young dude, any random man, a guy who likes to party and will yell at drunk girls to take off their tops, a frat boy. bromantic: Guys who seem like they're very invested in companionship but are kind of misogynistic. Will say things like "Dude, I totally love and trust my girl, I just don't trust other guys" as a defense for romantic gestures like bugging her car with miniature microphones.brosquatch: Also known as the abominable broman, this tall, hirsute fellow is native to sub-zero climes; his grunt-based language is intelligible to bartenders.

sometimes I just like to make up names posted on August 11, 2008 - 12:04pm

Earlhard Eg NunduggerHarelyborne ZumTab De MarseillesEkro RandcamtEmma VeteranMiguel Gandalf TrabuchetMarco TwainEllbag LeernerTanner SpicerWreithkeyshia ObwackwordswayOswald HandfingerBroad JeffCathy Thiggerthaffes

There was a posted on August 1, 2008 - 10:19am

There was a red line on the monitor that showed the progress of the ship through space: I was a passenger. I don't know where the ship came from or where it was going. I remember looking out of an aperture to the void, and watching stars and other distant bodies, and then thinking, There really shouldn't be clouds in space. That might have been the moment when I realized it was a dream.

self-doubt posted on July 28, 2008 - 8:56pm

I just noticed that the facial wash I grabbed somewhat impulsively in the duty-free is actually "Moisturizing" face wash. And...I don't know about this. I don't know if this is the direction I want my life to go in.