Trouble at Sea

Summarizing first world problems: "He told me that they had just eaten onion sandwiches and they were asking to use the red plastic bags to use the restroom in, and they had some fruit. They did have some water, but it was warm bottled water." - Kim McKerreghan relaying ex-husband's explanation of conditions on a broken cruise ship.

Warm bottled water?!? Is this hell? Sandwiches and Fruit?!? That is torture! 

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/2/14/carnival_ship_worn_o.html

Just When Athiests Make Headway, They Get Boned

The last episode of Bones really pissed me off. Instead of having a strong heroine who employes rational thought and leads a fulfilling life as an atheist- they start to mush her brain and make her dance with theism. Now I hate her.

Chicken Soup Therapy

Is it possible that therapy works on mental illness for the same reason home made chicken soup works for colds - time. It takes at least two days to make home made chicken soup from scratch, just about a day or two shorter than the average length of a cold. Even better, it feels good to know someone would go through the effort to make you feel better. Could it be that years of therapy just piggybacks on the natural healing process that a person goes through with time and it feels nice to have someone go through the effort to make you feel better?

Bye Bye Popey Pants

Well, the Pope has resigned and will be giving up the papacy on February 28. He says he is too sick to continue but every Pope for the last six hundred years has died as Pope. I wonder if Ratzinger is actually sick or if he is facing some disgrace. I don't know what could disgrace him though, this is the man who wrote the document teaching bishops and priests how to cover up child rape and who said condoms helped cause AIDS. What could disgrace him? A secret wife and child who he loves and cares for? Anyways, I'm glad the trash is going out. I wonder what child rapist supporting, birth control hating, AIDS spreading bigot they will dredge up next.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/11/us-pope-confirm-idUSBRE91A0A120130211

Modern Gladiator Audience - A Question of Football Ethics

Is it ethical to watch a sport that causes its participants serious injury, some with life long consequences including chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other severe brain injuries that lead to potential homicidal mania, early onset dementia and suicidal ideation?

 

 

SETIcon II: Science, Fantasy, and Intellectual Tap Dance

No Radio Telescopes Required

Fans of and leading minds in scientific search for extraterrestrial life gathered in Santa Clara, California for SETIcon II. SETIcon II ran from Friday, June 22, through Sunday, June 24, 2012. It was an opportunity to share meaningful and informative time with extraordinarily accessible microbiologists, planet scientists, astrobiologists, physicists, engineers, entrepreneurs, geologists, philosophers, linguists, astronauts, artists, and science fiction stars. It was also a chance for the SETI Institute, a non-profit scientific research organization focusing on the search for extraterrestrial life, to update their fans and enthusiasts on their research.

Read the rest here (And oh, do you want to):
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/seticon_ii_no_radio_telescopes_required

In Four Days

"Extent of surface melt over Greenland’s ice sheet on July 8 (left) and July 12 (right). Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days, the melting had dramatically accelerated and an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12. In the image, the areas classified as “probable melt” (light pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite detected surface melting. The areas classified as “melt” (dark pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected surface melting. The satellites are measuring different physical properties at different scales and are passing over Greenland at different times. As a whole, they provide a picture of an extreme melt event about which scientists are very confident. Credit: Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory" - NASA


http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/greenland-melt.html