I didn't know we had one of those

I was reading this story in the Boston Globe about several lawmakers who are now demanding that Bush fire the NASA Inspector General.

This follows a report that NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb was abusing his authority, etc. The report was from the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency.

I didn't know we had such a council.

Betcha nobody's asked them about Gonzales.

I didn't know we had one of those

I was reading this story in the Boston Globe about several lawmakers who are now demanding that Bush fire the NASA Inspector General.

This follows a report that NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb was abusing his authority, etc. The report was from the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency.

I didn't know we had such a council.

Betcha nobody's asked them about Gonzales.

What to eat for the next six days

For the world's religiously Jewish population, Passover started at sunset last night, and was celebrated with a seder. The Passover season is marked by its traditions of cleaning out the kitchen, limiting diet to certain foods, and contemplating religious symbolism and history.

I, of course, am not a Jew, so learning about Passover and related traditions has been an adult kind of thing for me.

For those looking for interesting ways to cook traditional foods during Passover, this article in the Boston Globe includes recipes for an ex-pat Turkish Sephardic woman's culinary specialties -- perfect for the season. (And they mostly look pretty promising to try at other times, too.)

Passover dietary restrictions vary, depending on one's heritage. Mike is of completely mixed heritage; his mother's people were Ashkenazi, and his father's were Sephardic. He really identifies much more with the Sephardic wanderings than the Ashkenazi history, so it will be fascinating for us to be in Greece and Turkey next month.

What to eat for the next six days

For the world's religiously Jewish population, Passover started at sunset last night, and was celebrated with a seder. The Passover season is marked by its traditions of cleaning out the kitchen, limiting diet to certain foods, and contemplating religious symbolism and history.

I, of course, am not a Jew, so learning about Passover and related traditions has been an adult kind of thing for me.

For those looking for interesting ways to cook traditional foods during Passover, this article in the Boston Globe includes recipes for an ex-pat Turkish Sephardic woman's culinary specialties -- perfect for the season. (And they mostly look pretty promising to try at other times, too.)

Passover dietary restrictions vary, depending on one's heritage. Mike is of completely mixed heritage; his mother's people were Ashkenazi, and his father's were Sephardic. He really identifies much more with the Sephardic wanderings than the Ashkenazi history, so it will be fascinating for us to be in Greece and Turkey next month.

French train beats record

A French train has beaten the old speed record for a train on rails -- held by one of its siblings -- and reached speeds of 574.8km/h (356mph), notes the BBC. (I half-expected the story to explain that the train was still late because, after all, it was France.)

French train beats record

A French train has beaten the old speed record for a train on rails -- held by one of its siblings -- and reached speeds of 574.8km/h (356mph), notes the BBC. (I half-expected the story to explain that the train was still late because, after all, it was France.)

I'm proud. Damned proud.

When I graduated from Ohio University in 1979, I entered the ranks of educated men and women, and joined forever the group of Bobcat Alumni worldwide. We are bound together by our time in Athens (Ohio), by a damned fine highly-ranked school, by our complete inability to remember the words to our alma mater, and by an understanding that if we wanted a good football team, we went to the wrong school.

Now, we can be proud. Damned proud.

Ohio University has made two more lists of colleges and universities with specialty distinction.

And, while we're only #18 on the MPAA list, we were the top banana -- #1 -- on the RIAA list!

There'll be some kinda celebrating on on September 19 this year, I betcha.

*blonde hair-flip*

I'm proud. Damned proud.

When I graduated from Ohio University in 1979, I entered the ranks of educated men and women, and joined forever the group of Bobcat Alumni worldwide. We are bound together by our time in Athens (Ohio), by a damned fine highly-ranked school, by our complete inability to remember the words to our alma mater, and by an understanding that if we wanted a good football team, we went to the wrong school.

Now, we can be proud. Damned proud.

Ohio University has made two more lists of colleges and universities with specialty distinction.

And, while we're only #18 on the MPAA list, we were the top banana -- #1 -- on the RIAA list!

There'll be some kinda celebrating on on September 19 this year, I betcha.

*blonde hair-flip*

The true value of PowerPoint...

Really, of course, Dilbert is about all of our working lives.

The true value of PowerPoint...

Really, of course, Dilbert is about all of our working lives.

Language problems in England

No, this isn't going to be one of those posts where I note that "spotted dick" means something different in American English than it does in British English.

Instead, it's a post that notes that even the English get bit by dialect bugs...in England.

It seems that a presenter on a kids' TV show was greeting deaf viewers with a sign in Makaton, rather than standard British Sign Language.

In Makaton, the sign means, "I'm happy to see you."

In British sign language, it means, "I'm f***ing you."

The Royal Institute for the Deaf got to say, "We *told* you so," because they'd advised the show's folks not to use Makaton (a sign system developed for deaf kids with learning disabilities).

Language problems in England

No, this isn't going to be one of those posts where I note that "spotted dick" means something different in American English than it does in British English.

Instead, it's a post that notes that even the English get bit by dialect bugs...in England.

It seems that a presenter on a kids' TV show was greeting deaf viewers with a sign in Makaton, rather than standard British Sign Language.

In Makaton, the sign means, "I'm happy to see you."

In British sign language, it means, "I'm f***ing you."

The Royal Institute for the Deaf got to say, "We *told* you so," because they'd advised the show's folks not to use Makaton (a sign system developed for deaf kids with learning disabilities).

What is "normal"?

In my graduate statistics courses, we learned that "normal" described a position that wasn't more than a standard deviation out from center in either direction.

So if everybody else's doing it, no matter what you think, it's "normal." Now that millions of people are playing online games, going to SF movies, and that sort of thing, such behaviors are "normal."

But, apparently, some things are just beyond the pale, and some people are clearly abnormal.

As I was reading Ansible just now, this quote from "How Others See Us" jumped out at me:

A Neurologist Explains: `What is schizotypal? It's a more subtle version of schizophrenia. This is not somebody who's completely socially crippled; they're just solitary, detached: these are the lighthouse keepers, the projectionists in the movie theaters. These are not people who are thought-disordered to the point of being completely nonfunctional; these are people who just believe in kinda strange stuff. They are into their Star Trek conventions. They're into their astrology, they're into their telepathy and their paranormal beliefs ...' (Robert Sapolsky [speech], Freethought Today, 2003).

A bit more clarity in your speech might not come amiss, Dr. Sapolsky...lest someone point out that hanging with the baboons in Kenya could be considered...odd.

What is "normal"?

In my graduate statistics courses, we learned that "normal" described a position that wasn't more than a standard deviation out from center in either direction.

So if everybody else's doing it, no matter what you think, it's "normal." Now that millions of people are playing online games, going to SF movies, and that sort of thing, such behaviors are "normal."

But, apparently, some things are just beyond the pale, and some people are clearly abnormal.

As I was reading Ansible just now, this quote from "How Others See Us" jumped out at me:

A Neurologist Explains: `What is schizotypal? It's a more subtle version of schizophrenia. This is not somebody who's completely socially crippled; they're just solitary, detached: these are the lighthouse keepers, the projectionists in the movie theaters. These are not people who are thought-disordered to the point of being completely nonfunctional; these are people who just believe in kinda strange stuff. They are into their Star Trek conventions. They're into their astrology, they're into their telepathy and their paranormal beliefs ...' (Robert Sapolsky [speech], Freethought Today, 2003).

A bit more clarity in your speech might not come amiss, Dr. Sapolsky...lest someone point out that hanging with the baboons in Kenya could be considered...odd.