January 2009
53 posts
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The award for Best Analogical Zinger to a Shoddy...
Siamang, for this gem on a recent Friendly Atheist post:
Paul Copan:
“And, second, granted that the major objection to belief in God is the problem of evil, does the concept of evil itself not suggest a standard of goodness or a design plan from which things deviate, so that if things ought to be a certain way (rather than just happening to be the way they are in nature), don’t such ‘injustices’...
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Not to be out-stimulated, Japan gives free money
Just received word that ALL Japanese residents (permanent and non) are receiving 120,000 12,000 yen (US $134.27 at current exchange rates) worth of free moneys to spend on stuff in the domestic market. Well, Japan doesn’t have to tell ME twice: this is going into the washlet fund!
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Chinese New Year
…Japan does not celebrate it. :((((
People kept wishing me a happy Chinese New Year over IM, and I could only bitterly think “I’m not eating decent Chinese food unless I’m making it myself, and I really have no high hopes for my movitation.”
In fact, I wouldn’t have known it was today had my parents not basically been counting down for me in our Skype...
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Terrible news!!
I can no longer multitask!!
My days of being able to gather research for 2 separate papers while reading a book for an unrelated class, all the while talking to 3 friends on AIM and listening to music… have come to an abrupt end!
Recently, I have actually been turning off my music to respond to IMs… while doing nothing else!
The state of my brain is dire indeed! I need to do some...
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The Inauguration of President Barack Obama - The... →
ryebot:
Fantastic collection of images from inauguration day of both the US and global reaction.
I was going to repost this as an image post… but then I couldn’t pick which photo to use. Just go look at them.
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Classical quartet performance at Obama's... →
Can’t really blame them… at least they played along without gloves! (Okay, so the pianist had some fingerless ones… she can have those.)
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Is Obama President? →
ryebot:
I like this website.
Me too. It’s almost as good as this one.
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So how 'bout that inauguration?
It was pretty lax for me. I woke up at 1:30AM and watched the inauguration via BBC’s stream from the comfort of my own bed. All the while, I was talking to a friend who was watching the inauguration in the US, and summarizing the whole thing to another friend in the US who was commuting from work. Obama was my candidate of choice since early on in the primaries, so it was great to see him...
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The White House Website Then & Now
productiveatwork:
Today:
When Bush took office:
(thanks Jamie)
Change indeed.
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A National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, 2009 →
First act of President Obama. And the White House now has a blog!
I woke up at 1:30am to watch the inauguration… then went promptly back to sleep.
Oh, the things you learn from the Discovery...
Adrien Brody drives a custom Hummer H2 with pointlessly large 28” wheels. …And he gets lonely when gay guys don’t hit on him.
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Kids? Not thinking? That's unpossible!
I just listened to the Point of Inquiry podcast episode featuring Sir Harold Kroto (from 3/28 of last year). Kroto is a Nobel Prize winning chemist who is also an active science educator. …Which is why it surprised me when he started talking about why kids today aren’t getting into science. His own interest stemmed from tinkering with mechanical building sets and fixing all the things...
"The Rake's Song" by the Decemberists
cakeordeath:
A new Decemberists’ song, “The Rake’s Song,” is available for free download on their site.The new album comes out in March and is entitled “The Hazards of Love,” their most straightforward title yet. Whether that will make for a refreshing or simplistic album I don’t yet know, but this song makes me feel a little weak. Could just be Colin Meloy singing about marriage.
Felt the need...
Elna Baker's stories
Found out about Elna Baker today via Friendly Atheist… and now I am sort of addicted. She’s an actress-turned-writer with a great knack for telling stories. Especially about her exploits in trying to find love as a practicing Mormon who doesn’t “put out.” But anyway… don’t read my boring drivel, go listen to her tell her stories now.
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Kellulu plan a trip, ramble on more than is...
First: Welcome back to Tumblr, Slappy Kelly!!!
Kells and I had an IM conversation today that went something kind of like the following:
K: I’m planning my China, HK, Japan trip.
Me: Awesome, but instead of visiting me, want to meet up in Tokyo?
K: Woot! How about late October?
Me: Hmm… actually I think the Tokyo Game Show is sometime around then?
K: Wait seriously???
Long...
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Tuesday's inauguration schedule
Stolen from here and reposted for my own convenience:
Inauguration schedule:
11:30 a.m. — President-elect Barack Obama will arrive for his swearing-in.
11:46 a.m. — Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in.
12 p.m. — Obama takes the Presidential oath of office, while Hail to the Chief is played and howitzers fire a 21-gun salute.
12:01 p.m. — Obama makes his...
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Sometimes, skeptics are just complainy
Skeptic though I am, I am sometimes exasperated at the value judgments and big deal fellow skeptics make when some controversial decision involved a religious person. Case in point, a British woman recently decided to carry her conjoined twins to term, despite a slim 20% chance of survival at birth, and an even smaller chance of survival to adulthood. She is devoutly Catholic and stated that her...
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Living in Japan, up to now
So since I’ve discovered Memiary, I’ve become less and less motivated to post to Tumblr. And I haven’t done one of my video or audio blogs (personal reference only… you won’t be cursed by my speech or image anytime soon… unless you frequent my Flickr) in months. But every once in a while (I like how every sentence I’ve written so far has begun with one of...
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I'd give God more credit than that...
Pet peeve airing time!
So a 6-year-old boy took the family car’s keys and tried to drive himself to school when he missed the bus (that is hella dedication, son). The linked article describes it perfectly coherently… kid drove 6 miles, wove in and out of traffic, and finally crashed… but was not hurt and continued to walk the last mile towards school so he wouldn’t miss...
