At first I was worried, because it seemed like setting the clocks back would mean it was an hour longer until the real sport returned. Fortunately, though, we set the clocks forward on March 11, more than two weeks before the Blessed Opening Day and get back on track.
I was relieved. Football's OK as far as it goes, but there's only so long I can pretend the NBA regular season matters before I dissolve into gales of laughter.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Fall Back
It's the time change -- I'm going to go get back that hour of sleep that Donald Trump owes me. See you in the future.
Friday, November 3, 2017
So What Happened?
A Facebook friend suggested that "for 11 minutes, there was peace on Twitter." She was referring to the fact that Thursday, an employee of Twitter on his or her way out the door shut down President Donald Trump's Twitter account and it stayed down for 11 minutes.
And of course she was wrong, because Twitter itself didn't go away for those 11 minutes and it remains the knee-jerk exercise in group think that it has been for most of its existence.
Twitter initially said that a glitch of some kind caused the shutdown before learning about the gift its former employee left behind. Twitter spokespeople said they are investigating the matter to learn how it happened.
Few tears would fall from these eyes if the president never Tweeted. Things would be a lot calmer. Few tears would fall from these eyes if Twitter itself didn't exist -- not entirely because without Twitter I think it's impossible to have a President Trump. Maybe largely, but not entirely. It is here, though, and many people use it and it's become a medium of expression for them.
Unless some overgrown toddler has a tantrum and decides to play games, that is.
And of course she was wrong, because Twitter itself didn't go away for those 11 minutes and it remains the knee-jerk exercise in group think that it has been for most of its existence.
Twitter initially said that a glitch of some kind caused the shutdown before learning about the gift its former employee left behind. Twitter spokespeople said they are investigating the matter to learn how it happened.
Few tears would fall from these eyes if the president never Tweeted. Things would be a lot calmer. Few tears would fall from these eyes if Twitter itself didn't exist -- not entirely because without Twitter I think it's impossible to have a President Trump. Maybe largely, but not entirely. It is here, though, and many people use it and it's become a medium of expression for them.
Unless some overgrown toddler has a tantrum and decides to play games, that is.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Old Jokes
Over at Today I Found Out, a piece outlines the oldest known jokes found in ancient tablets and writings. They demonstrate that humor does not always translate along across cultural boundaries -- Sumerians particularly.
Some of the jokes from ancient Greece draw a chuckle or two, although they seem a little like one of Henny Youngman's old routines. Which, I am certain, would have been gleefully pointed out by Don Rickles, were he still living.
Folks in my profession are known for attempting to include humor in our sermons, not always to good effect. Some of my colleagues simply insert an opening joke into the presentation whether it relates to the subject or not. Others of us will try to wax wry within the bounds of our topic, with better or worse results.
We follow in the footsteps of the first known Christian sermon, preached by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2. He opens by refuting the suggestion that the people infused with the Holy Spirit were in fact infused with more mundane spirits: "These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!"
He was soon beaten and thrown into prison. Which should be a caution to more public speakers, both religious and secular.
Some of the jokes from ancient Greece draw a chuckle or two, although they seem a little like one of Henny Youngman's old routines. Which, I am certain, would have been gleefully pointed out by Don Rickles, were he still living.
Folks in my profession are known for attempting to include humor in our sermons, not always to good effect. Some of my colleagues simply insert an opening joke into the presentation whether it relates to the subject or not. Others of us will try to wax wry within the bounds of our topic, with better or worse results.
We follow in the footsteps of the first known Christian sermon, preached by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2. He opens by refuting the suggestion that the people infused with the Holy Spirit were in fact infused with more mundane spirits: "These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!"
He was soon beaten and thrown into prison. Which should be a caution to more public speakers, both religious and secular.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Things That Shouldn't Be There -- Again
Recently, an M-class red dwarf star about 600 light-years from Earth was discovered to have a planet. This is not uncommon; M-dwarfs are the most common stars in our galaxy and many of them have planets.
But the wrinkle comes in when we look at the size of the planet, which scientists figure is about the size of Jupiter. In our own system, the Sun outsizes Jupiter by about a thousand times. But NGTS-1b orbits a star about half the size of our Sun, which makes for a star-planet ratio unprecedented in astronomy so far. Only three M-drwarfs have been discovered to have gas giants in orbit, and none of them is anywhere near as large as Jupiter.
So once again, the universe offers up a surprise to the people who keep looking at it and wondering what it's like -- which is part of what we call science, after all. The people who think all the science is settled and we know everything about stuff? Well, they're not looking for new things, so they probably won't ever find any.
But the wrinkle comes in when we look at the size of the planet, which scientists figure is about the size of Jupiter. In our own system, the Sun outsizes Jupiter by about a thousand times. But NGTS-1b orbits a star about half the size of our Sun, which makes for a star-planet ratio unprecedented in astronomy so far. Only three M-drwarfs have been discovered to have gas giants in orbit, and none of them is anywhere near as large as Jupiter.
So once again, the universe offers up a surprise to the people who keep looking at it and wondering what it's like -- which is part of what we call science, after all. The people who think all the science is settled and we know everything about stuff? Well, they're not looking for new things, so they probably won't ever find any.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
NCAA -- Being and Nothingness
You may have read a couple years ago about a deal where some classes on the schedule at the University of North Carolina turned out to be, strictly speaking, fake. They didn't really meet or exist or anything, but students signed up for them, got course credit for them and often posted pretty good grades.
Oh, and almost half of those students were also UNC student-athletes. You probably don't need me to tell you that student athletes make up nowhere near half of its student body. But if you do then it might be that you work for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which earlier this month decided that the fraud UNC committed against academic standards, the idea of education, the taxpayers and supporters of UNC and its own students was not its problem.
You see, it turns out that because half of the students who gained from the fake classes weren't student athletes, then by gosh and golly the NCAA sees this as a matter for the school to decide itself. After all, it says "Athletes" right there in the name and far be it from the NCAA to get itself mixed up in the academic side of university life. That's "school stuff," and the NCAA knows it's out of bounds. And the outsized role UNC plays in men's college basketball has absolutely nothing to do with it, you nattering nabob of negativism.
Shannon Watkins, who wrote the Noble Center article linked above, brings the proper amount of dripping scorn to bear on the mummer's dance of a university at Chapel Hill. She points out that even though the fake class mess has been cleaned up, all of the conditions that spawned it still exist. Student athletes are still admitted to UNC even though their grades and test scores fall below the minimum standards for college readiness. They're still expected to achieve above-average marks in classes paced for students with higher scores who don't have the equivalent of a full-time job in the form of athletic practices and competitions. And they're brought on without any concern for what this might mean for their future if they aren't among the microscopic percentage of athletes who play their sports professionally.
Sure, the chances are good that someone would sue the NCAA if it went ahead and dropped the hammer UNC earned right smack in the middle of its Tarheel tail. And given the technicality around which the organization wound its invertebrate self, the chances are also good that a judge would toss any sufficient penalty and rend the tattered sackcloth of its credibility even more.
So UNC will be allowed to keep the gasoline and matches that started this fire as long as they promise to never play with them again. And the kids who signed up for the fake classes get to keep their fake A and B's.
Whether or not they can identify any of the letters that come after them, though, is apparently not anyone's concern.
Oh, and almost half of those students were also UNC student-athletes. You probably don't need me to tell you that student athletes make up nowhere near half of its student body. But if you do then it might be that you work for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which earlier this month decided that the fraud UNC committed against academic standards, the idea of education, the taxpayers and supporters of UNC and its own students was not its problem.
You see, it turns out that because half of the students who gained from the fake classes weren't student athletes, then by gosh and golly the NCAA sees this as a matter for the school to decide itself. After all, it says "Athletes" right there in the name and far be it from the NCAA to get itself mixed up in the academic side of university life. That's "school stuff," and the NCAA knows it's out of bounds. And the outsized role UNC plays in men's college basketball has absolutely nothing to do with it, you nattering nabob of negativism.
Shannon Watkins, who wrote the Noble Center article linked above, brings the proper amount of dripping scorn to bear on the mummer's dance of a university at Chapel Hill. She points out that even though the fake class mess has been cleaned up, all of the conditions that spawned it still exist. Student athletes are still admitted to UNC even though their grades and test scores fall below the minimum standards for college readiness. They're still expected to achieve above-average marks in classes paced for students with higher scores who don't have the equivalent of a full-time job in the form of athletic practices and competitions. And they're brought on without any concern for what this might mean for their future if they aren't among the microscopic percentage of athletes who play their sports professionally.
Sure, the chances are good that someone would sue the NCAA if it went ahead and dropped the hammer UNC earned right smack in the middle of its Tarheel tail. And given the technicality around which the organization wound its invertebrate self, the chances are also good that a judge would toss any sufficient penalty and rend the tattered sackcloth of its credibility even more.
So UNC will be allowed to keep the gasoline and matches that started this fire as long as they promise to never play with them again. And the kids who signed up for the fake classes get to keep their fake A and B's.
Whether or not they can identify any of the letters that come after them, though, is apparently not anyone's concern.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Switching On or Off
This "storymap" shows some of the differences in nighttime lighting around the globe between 2012 and 2016. It's a pasted-together version of some satellite photos, as obviously the entire world can't be in darkness at the same time.
Physically, that is -- metaphorically is another matter entirely.
As the text shows when you scroll down, there are several areas that change in between the two different maps. Northern India lights up big time, indicating the arrival of electrical power to that part of that country. Some areas of North America lose nighttime brightness, which has more to do with improved lighting technology than actual loss of lighting.
Syria, unfortunately, goes dark for an entirely different reason, that being the brutal war waged by its dictator against his people. And North Korea remains dark for much the same reason, althought it's less from an outbreak of a dictator's war against its people than the continuation of it.
Physically, that is -- metaphorically is another matter entirely.
As the text shows when you scroll down, there are several areas that change in between the two different maps. Northern India lights up big time, indicating the arrival of electrical power to that part of that country. Some areas of North America lose nighttime brightness, which has more to do with improved lighting technology than actual loss of lighting.
Syria, unfortunately, goes dark for an entirely different reason, that being the brutal war waged by its dictator against his people. And North Korea remains dark for much the same reason, althought it's less from an outbreak of a dictator's war against its people than the continuation of it.
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