The Eisenstein Effect
13 hours ago
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
ACK!!!!!
Livejournal appears to be experiencing one of it's periodic DOS attacks. Or something. Given that this is happening right in the middle of nablopomo, I sure am glad I have a spare blog. Given livejournal's flakiness, maybe it should be the spare.
At any rate, I took one of those stupid quizzes the other day. This was about geography. It was the kind of quiz that gives you some nifty HTML to post. Here is the nifty HTML:
Contrary to what the NHTML says, I am nowhere near a genius in geography. I just missed the two questions that weren't embarrassingly easy.
At any rate, I took one of those stupid quizzes the other day. This was about geography. It was the kind of quiz that gives you some nifty HTML to post. Here is the nifty HTML:
You are 80% genius in Geography
Wow! You are almost a geography genius. A little more studying and you'll be at the top of the class in no time at all.
Geography fun 101
Take More Quizzes
Contrary to what the NHTML says, I am nowhere near a genius in geography. I just missed the two questions that weren't embarrassingly easy.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Adele - ''Someone Like You''
Livejournal doesn't seem to want to let me post today, so I thought I would come over here and post this video of Adele. Yeah, I know. Livejournal is yesterdays news, and this should be where I post all the time. Old habits die hard I guess.
There is much to admire about Adele. She has a gorgeous voice, and now that Amy Winehouse is dead,she is the standard bearer for British R&B/jazz singers.
I also appreciate that she doesn't look like a supermodel.She's even a little overweight. I don't understand the requirement that female singers be gorgeous.
Don't get me wrong. I am not a feminist, and I'm just as shallow as the next guy. I enjoy looking at hot women. But when I am listening to music, the sense that's engaged is my hearing, not my vision. That's why it's called LISTENING to music and not looking at music.
As if her looks were not enough of a handicap, her politics are all wrong. She has recently caught quite a bit of flak for criticizing the liberal taxation and welfare policies of the British government.
She doesn't do anything a successful singer is supposed to do, except have a gorgeous heartfelt voice. Apparently that's enough. Who knew?
But enough of my rantings. Here's Adele.
There is much to admire about Adele. She has a gorgeous voice, and now that Amy Winehouse is dead,she is the standard bearer for British R&B/jazz singers.
I also appreciate that she doesn't look like a supermodel.She's even a little overweight. I don't understand the requirement that female singers be gorgeous.
Don't get me wrong. I am not a feminist, and I'm just as shallow as the next guy. I enjoy looking at hot women. But when I am listening to music, the sense that's engaged is my hearing, not my vision. That's why it's called LISTENING to music and not looking at music.
As if her looks were not enough of a handicap, her politics are all wrong. She has recently caught quite a bit of flak for criticizing the liberal taxation and welfare policies of the British government.
She doesn't do anything a successful singer is supposed to do, except have a gorgeous heartfelt voice. Apparently that's enough. Who knew?
But enough of my rantings. Here's Adele.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Ira Yarmolenko on dateline
The following was originally posted in my livejournal:
Friday night I did appointment TV for the first time in years. Dateline was running a story about Ira Yarmolenko. It was the second half of a two hour episode, the first being devoted to Casey Anthony. I have taken pride in my ignorance about the Casey Anthony case, but I was willing to sit through the first part to make sure I didn't miss anything about Ira.
The segment on Ira was entitled Mystery On The Catawba. Given that there have been arrests and a trial and a conviction, the word "mystery" seemed a bit overblown. I guess they chose that word because there are still some doubts about the verdict. And there were certainly twists and turns in the case that most people in the national Dateline audience would not be aware of.
I did not learn much new from watching this segment, as I should have expected. I did come away slightly more convinced of Carver and Cassaba's guilt than I was after watching their defense attorneys, David Phillips and Brent Ratchford being interviewed. Keith Morrison asked them about their DNA on the car. They made no effort to explain it, and simply continued to insist their clients didn't touch the car. That is an implausible claim. I can only conclude that after talking to Cassaba and Carver they couldn't get the truth, or heard a story that would not have sounded good to a jury.
And they seemed really wedded to the idea that Ira committed suicide.Phillips suggested "they can't find the killer because there's not one". Not only is this a ridiculous statement, it suggests that suicide is the best alternative theory to Cassada and Carver being the culprits. Phillips tried to back up his suicide claim by saying Ira had given away a lot of her possessions, which is consistent with suicide. Keith Morrison, to his credit, pointed out her friends said she was a very generous person who liked to give things to people.
That's a pretty good counter argument, but there's an even better one he could have given if he'd done a little more research. Ira was planning on moving back to Chapel Hill. Giving things away is as consistent with moving as it is with suicide.
There were interviews with Cassada's daughter Amy which I must admit were very moving. She seemed to genuinely love her father and genuinely believe in his innocence. I couldn't help but think somewhere Ira was wanting to give her a hug to comfort her. Amy Cassada was actually more persuasive on Cassada's behalf than his lawyers were.
But ultimately, I remain convinced of Carver and Cassada's guilt. I'm open to contrary evidence, but this dateline episode did not provide enough to convince me.
Friday night I did appointment TV for the first time in years. Dateline was running a story about Ira Yarmolenko. It was the second half of a two hour episode, the first being devoted to Casey Anthony. I have taken pride in my ignorance about the Casey Anthony case, but I was willing to sit through the first part to make sure I didn't miss anything about Ira.
The segment on Ira was entitled Mystery On The Catawba. Given that there have been arrests and a trial and a conviction, the word "mystery" seemed a bit overblown. I guess they chose that word because there are still some doubts about the verdict. And there were certainly twists and turns in the case that most people in the national Dateline audience would not be aware of.
I did not learn much new from watching this segment, as I should have expected. I did come away slightly more convinced of Carver and Cassaba's guilt than I was after watching their defense attorneys, David Phillips and Brent Ratchford being interviewed. Keith Morrison asked them about their DNA on the car. They made no effort to explain it, and simply continued to insist their clients didn't touch the car. That is an implausible claim. I can only conclude that after talking to Cassaba and Carver they couldn't get the truth, or heard a story that would not have sounded good to a jury.
And they seemed really wedded to the idea that Ira committed suicide.Phillips suggested "they can't find the killer because there's not one". Not only is this a ridiculous statement, it suggests that suicide is the best alternative theory to Cassada and Carver being the culprits. Phillips tried to back up his suicide claim by saying Ira had given away a lot of her possessions, which is consistent with suicide. Keith Morrison, to his credit, pointed out her friends said she was a very generous person who liked to give things to people.
That's a pretty good counter argument, but there's an even better one he could have given if he'd done a little more research. Ira was planning on moving back to Chapel Hill. Giving things away is as consistent with moving as it is with suicide.
There were interviews with Cassada's daughter Amy which I must admit were very moving. She seemed to genuinely love her father and genuinely believe in his innocence. I couldn't help but think somewhere Ira was wanting to give her a hug to comfort her. Amy Cassada was actually more persuasive on Cassada's behalf than his lawyers were.
But ultimately, I remain convinced of Carver and Cassada's guilt. I'm open to contrary evidence, but this dateline episode did not provide enough to convince me.
Friday, July 1, 2011
From my Livejournal:"Writing About Ira"
I posted about this in my livejournal about a week ago (which I realize is eons in internet time.)
I felt so strongly about the subject matter I initially wanted to repost it here. After noticing at least one reference to "this blog", I decided it would make more sense if read at livejournal. So here's a link:
I felt so strongly about the subject matter I initially wanted to repost it here. After noticing at least one reference to "this blog", I decided it would make more sense if read at livejournal. So here's a link:
Writing About Ira
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