The Big Think

Turns out, over is right, under is wrong. I knew it.

Archbishop of Canturbury says that Christian doctrine is offensive to Muslims.

Ya think? I thought they were just mad because we drew cartoons of them. Turns out they’re upset at what Christians believe.

Just don’t give these things real bullets.

Because we don’t hear about it in the mainstream media, I wanted to point to an article that shows the progress we’ve had in Iraq in just the last two years. And since it’s been written by a person who is there and has been there in the past when things weren’t so good, I submit that it’s a better representation of the truth than what we’re being force fed through normal media channels.

Then there are times when the change hits you across the forehead like a 2×4. Yesterday I found inspiration in the tears of joy on hundreds of faces at the graduation for the Iraqi Military Academy at Rustimiyah as 252 young men graduated from the one year course of instruction and were commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the Iraqi Army and Air Force…

We all just sort of stood there and soaked up the energy and passion. This is where Iraq is today. These families, rich and poor, Sunni and Shia, young and old were overcome with pride for their sons becoming officers of the new Iraq.

It wasn’t because they would be getting a regular pay check. Not because there is nothing else to do. These men have committed themselves to building a new democratic Iraq and the sheer joy and pride of their families tells even the most jaded observer, including a couple of veteran western journalists in my group, that something has shifted here that can’t be ignored.

read the whole thing.

Cool scale satellite model made from wood.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog!

Yes, we were gone. Yes, we’re back. 2250 miles to the mountains and returned, and all I brought back (besides 14 hours of interviews and b-roll) is a wicked head cold/allergies thing that made the 500 miles driven today pretty miserable. We’re all unpacked and I’m off to slumberland pretty soon, but I wanted to check in and say we made it. Oh, and after Katherine made such a big stink about not being able to comment on my blog because the safeties were all on, I removed them all just before we left so I could enjoy her long and bellicose comments. What did I get? Not a single comment from a reader. I did, however, get 250 spam comments.

So Kat, you lost your chance! If you want to comment, do it like everybody else and just tease me on your own blog. Preferably accompanied by a link.

Check out this spectacular New York penthouse. It has a library that makes me giddy.

In September of 2000, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the University of Idaho were both embarrassed when they were forced to admit that they had doctored promotional photographs to make their campuses look diverse. In both cases, non-white faces were added to real student photographs of all-white groups.

At the universities involved, officials insisted that they meant well, but just about everyone agreed that Photoshop diversity isn’t the real thing. But what if photos, even real photos of real live students, convey a false impression? . . .

The findings: Black students made up an average of 7.9 percent of students at the colleges studied, but 12.4 percent of those in viewbooks. Asian students are also more likely to be found in viewbooks than on campus, making up 3.3 percent of real students on average and 5.1 percent of portrayed students. . . . Looked at another way, he found that more than 75 percent of colleges appeared to overrepresent black students in viewbooks.

So why are black students more prevalent in viewbooks than on campus?

“Black equals diversity for many people. If you show African American students, people think that means your institution is diverse,” said Timothy D. Pippert, an assistant professor of sociology at Augsburg, who led the study. “They are defining diversity as that face.”

from this article.

My alma mater (Baylor University) is particularly guilty of this. One look through the alumni magazine would convince you that 50% of the campus is black, 25% of the campus is asian or hispanic, 10% is American indian or foreign born (the ubiquitous “other”, and the other 15% white. I challenge anyone to walk around campus and find a single non-white face in a thirty minute time span. Minorities are there, but they’re rare compared to white (majority female) students.

I’ve got no problem with diversity at schools- I like it. But the face that Baylor presents to the world in its media materials is laughingly inaccurate. It’s obvious to me or any of my friends who attended BU, and I always thought it was slightly dishonest. Nothing illegal about it, but it’s nice to see that the practice is getting some attention.

You know you wanna push this button.

“If you were to blow up our spheres to the size of the Earth, you would see a small ripple in the smoothness of about 12 to 15 mm, and a variation of only 3 to 5 metres in the roundness,”

Now that’s impressive.

The roundest object in the world.

Set your watches for August 21st, 2017. That’s the date of the next total solar eclipse that will take place in North America. More info here.

Scientists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center are about to embark on a human trial to test whether a new cancer treatment will be as effective at eradicating cancer in humans as it has proven to be in mice.

The treatment will involve transfusing specific white blood cells, called granulocytes, from select donors, into patients with advanced forms of cancer. A similar treatment using white blood cells from cancer-resistant mice has previously been highly successful, curing 100 percent of lab mice afflicted with advanced malignancies.

“In mice, we’ve been able to eradicate even highly aggressive forms of malignancy with extremely large tumors,” Cui said. “Hopefully, we will see the same results in humans. Our laboratory studies indicate that this cancer-fighting ability is even stronger in healthy humans.”

Excellent! Full article here.

Woah… how to blow stuff up. Uh… Sean? Call me. We have work to do.

The Tunguska event.

I really like this pic of us:

I found a pair of convertible hiking pants at REI the other day. This pair:

They’re great, except that they had a small rip along the belt area in the back left. Retail price: $55. REI Garage Sale price: $3.83. Sold! I brought them home and ironed a patch onto the inside over the hole, then I got some matching thread and stitched the stuffing out of the rip. Problem solved, and since the hole was under where the belt goes, you’ll never see the rip. Sewing machines rule.

What’s it like to suddenly be able to see in 3D?

Bill Gates has left the building. Say what you want about him, the man could laugh at himself.