Monthly Archives: September 2008

Money, Honey

Though my last post was meant for rest and relaxation, this one cannot be.  This is it, folks!  My generation (current twentysomethings–are we Gen Y or Gen Z??) has recently had its trial-by-fire, its fertility rite signifying complicity in the big “E”: it’s the ECONOMY, stupid!  I am going to be as precise as I […]

Posted in Culture, Economics, September 2008 | Leave a comment

The First Presidential Debate

Well, I think Chris has put it pretty well.  I know who I’m voting for, and I can’t wait for the election to be over.  I really don’t want to talk about politics, but I feel like I have a responsibility to cover the debate.  So here we go…
Big coup for Obama right off the […]

Posted in Culture, Economics, Politics, September 2008 | 1 Comment

It’s Friday! Doubleplusgood!

I realized this morning that I had missed my day again.  Oh well, this gives me a chance to talk about politics since it’s the day of the debate.  I normally don’t like to write about politics because everyone else does and I have nothing special to contribute, but here I go.  Politics, at least […]

Posted in Economics, Politics, September 2008 | Leave a comment

Fall and the March Towards Halloween

One of my websites has been down for some time, otherwise I probably would have started gushing more enthusiastically about the Halloween season earlier.  My general interest in this weirdest and most commercially minded of holidays (though HONESTLY commercially minded, unlike some of the holidays based on religion) is a bit irrational, considering that I […]

Posted in Culture, September 2008 | Leave a comment

Friday Link-Fest

This is a few days old, but I was too busy linking to old British sketch shows last week to talk about it then. Justin Webb, the BBC’s North America editor, is arguing that Sarah Palin getting elected might not be as utterly disastrous for the entire world as most people think. He […]

Posted in Blogs, Literature, Politics, Publishing, September 2008, music | Leave a comment

The “Extended Evolutionary Synthesis”

OK, a little background is in order for this post to make sense.  The Modern Synthesis in evolutionary biology refers to the mathematical theory that reconciled Mendelian genetics (think green and yellow peas from your high school biology class) and biometry (biometricians tended to study continuous traits like height).  The three main players were Ronald […]

Posted in Biology - Evolution, September 2008 | Leave a comment

Richard Wright

Seems like bad news comes in wave after wave of 14 ft storm surges these days.  Amidst worldwide economic problems, endless wars, mock politics, and an endangered environment, we get news of dead heroes.  This was not the blog post I planned to write when I started the day, but Richard Wright deserves a few […]

Posted in September 2008, music | Leave a comment

Computer problems (plus some reflections on speciation)

I’m a couple days late posting because my computer crashed this week.  I’m actually up in Indianapolis right now to take it to the Apple Store for repair.  That’s really neither here nor there though.
I had a good, but brief conversation with History and Philosophy of Science PhD student Matt Dunn last night.  He is […]

Posted in Biology - Evolution, September 2008 | Leave a comment

A prescient vision from…THE EIGHTIES!

Here are Stephen Fry  and Hugh Laurie singing a song from their old sketch show, “A Bit of Fry and Laurie.” It’s from about twenty years ago, but rather accurately describes the state of US policy today.

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The Recent Paradox of Kim Jong-Il

As far as contemporary absolute leaders are concerned, North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il certainly ranks as one of the most interesting.  To say nothing of his policies, politics, and views, he has been seen as larger–and decidedly stranger–than life.  Known as a gourmand despite the contradictions inherent in that lifestyle vis Communist practice, he has been […]

Posted in Culture, Film, Literature, Politics, September 2008 | Leave a comment