Noteworthy entries.

And the sign said

I've noticed quite a few signs around town lately. First, here's an emotionally-charged set of signs that might save lives. First I noticed a terribly wrecked car in the center of the campus of St. Louis University (I sometimes ride a bicycle through this area on the way to work): When you look closer, you'll see why this car was towed here: Two people were recently killed while driving this car. Once again, I am reminded that when I'm traveling in a car, it is likely the most dangerous thing I will ever be doing. There are other serious signs, of course. Here's one I spotted in a trending part of town. You see, this manly man believes that Jesus once visited the Americas. This poster is just down the street from the Roman Catholic Cathedral where, based on my experience being raised as a Catholic, most of the parishioners don't understand the most basic teachings of the church, and don't really care that they don't understand. Yet they disparage the Mormons and vice-versa. What other signs did I notice? How about this sign warning about the great danger presented by this parking lot gate? Click on this image, and you'll see that these gates are terribly dangerous, even though it doesn't seem so to me. It's especially hard to understand this warning when the bottom of the gate is padded with foam. In the photo above, you can see the entire apparatus. I now hesitant to go near it. But this gate is not a fluke. Here's another parking gate I noticed this week, this one located at the St. Louis County Circuit Court: [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingAnd the sign said

Flavor network map, and more exotic maps

Edge.org is featuring a wonderful collection of maps, including this Flavor Network by Yong-Yeol_Ahn, a postdoctoral researcher for the Center for Complex Network Research at Northeastern University (click for a high res view that will allow you to explore). Or consider this map of the oldest words in our lexicon, by Mark Pagel, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Reading University, England. And consider this map illustrating path dependence, a 1901 map of the Internet. Many more maps to see here, courtesy of Edge.

Continue ReadingFlavor network map, and more exotic maps

Who’s Afraid of the Tea Party, or, What Are Those Silly People Talking About?

At a Rand Paul rally, a woman who intended to present Paul with an ironic award (Employee of the Month from RepubliCorps) was assaulted by Paul supporters, shoved to the ground, and then stepped on. Police had nothing to do with this, it was all the supporters of one of the Tea Party leading lights. What they thought she intended to do may never be known, but they kept their candidate safe from the possibility of enduring satire and questions not drawn from the current playbook of independent American politics. Another Tea Party candidate, Steve Broden of Texas, has allowed that armed rebellion is not “off the table” should the mid-term elections not go their way. Sharron Angle of Nevada alluded to “second amendment remedies” in a number of interviews in the past six months. “Our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason, and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government,” Angle told conservative talk show host Lars Larson in January. “In fact, Thomas Jefferson said it’s good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years. I hope that’s not where we’re going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies.” Next to this kind of rhetoric, the vapidity of Christine O’Donnell in Delaware is more or less harmless and amusing. In a recent debate with her opponent she appeared not to know that the much-debated Separation Clause is in the First Amendment. Of course, a close hearing of that exchange suggests that what she was looking for was the exact phrase “separation of Church and State” which is not in the First Amendment. She thought she had won that exchange, as, apparently, did her staff, and they expressed dismay later when they were portrayed as having lost. The best you could give her is points for trying to make a point through disingenuous literalism. Not understanding the case law that has been built on the phrase that is in the First Amendment does not argue well for her qualifications to even have an opinion on the matter. Leading this apparently unself-critical menagerie is Sarah Palin, who despite having a dismal record in office and a clear problem with stringing sentences together has become the head cheerleader for a movement that seems poised to upset elements of both parties in the midterms. It’s one thing to throw darts and poke fun at the candidates, many of whom sound as if they have drawn their history from the John Wayne school of Hollywood hagiography and propaganda. But the real question is why so many people seem to support them. A perusal of the Tea Party website shows a list of issues over which supposedly grass roots concern is fueling the angry election season. [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingWho’s Afraid of the Tea Party, or, What Are Those Silly People Talking About?