Category: thoughts

God and the Mad Hatter

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

“True believers in any creed are usually eager to be persuaded that there is better evidence supporting their convictions than there really is. But there is a special kind of pleasure to be extracted from the credulity of materialists, if only because they are more prone than most other fanatics to mistake their metaphysical presuppositions for purely rational conclusions drawn from dispassionate reasoning.”

I loved this. Especially ‘Persinger’s magic electrical hat.’

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/12/god-and-the-mad-hatter

bananas!

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

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"a NAH nah!" she says. I don't think you can quite see the banana in this picture. It is such a thrill when our little Quine says words. This was banana's first showing, after she dragged me to the pantry by the finger and threw my hand at the doorknob. Then she tried to pick up the (large) bunch of bananas on the shelf. "You want a banana?" I said, expecting a murmur and perhaps a flappy hand. "Mhm. A NAH nah!" (flapflap!) She has since said it while looking at my face and referencing me. And smiling. One of these days, she'll get that language is super useful and that my face and tone of voice are a wealth of information. #autism #jointattention #autistiquine #thinkdifferent
Posted by Instagrate to WordPress

The surprising thing ancient mummies tell us about what to eat

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

”I’m a clinical cardiologist and I want people to eat a healthy diet, but this puts all that in perspective. … At least part of this disease is not explained by traditional risk factors. These ancient people didn’t have preservatives, everything was organic, they didn’t smoke and they got plenty of exercise. But … the amount of atherosclerosis in ancient times isn’t much different from what you see in modern times. If you account for age, it looks like we’re in the same ballpark.”

So you know, live your life and eat stuff you like, but not too much of it. And don’t take any diet advice as gospel, no matter who says it!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/31/the-surprising-thing-ancient-mummies-tell-us-about-what-to-eat/

Rapidly Rising Water Level At Arcadia Lake May Have Triggered Quake

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

USGS seismologist Dan McNamara thinks the rapidly rising water at Arcadia Lake, the result of Winter Storm Goliath may have triggered the 4.3-magnitude earthquake. The water rose two feet on the lake the day before that first 4.3-magnitude earthquake.

Two feet?! Whoa!

http://www.news9.com/story/30882063/rapidly-rising-water-level-at-arcadia-lake-may-have-triggered-edmond-earthquake

A Death in Saudi Arabia Underscores Divide Between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

“The year 2015 was filled with violence and bloodshed in the Middle East. The New Year does not promise much better. On 2 January, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed at least 47 people in a single day. Even for a place like Saudi Arabia — where, unlike most other places in the world, executions have been increasing — 47 executions in one day is extraordinary.”

There is good information about the differences between Muslim ideologies as well.

http://www.cnewa.org/blog.aspx?ID=2720&pagetypeID=35&sitecode=HQ

Eliot and Liberalism

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

“By destroying traditional social habits of the people, by dissolving their natural collective consciousness into individual constituents, by licensing the opinions of the most foolish, by substituting instruction for education, by encouraging cleverness rather than wisdom, the upstart rather than the qualified, by fostering a notion of getting onto which the alternative is hopeless apathy, Liberalism can prepare the way for that which is its own negation: the artificial, mechanized or brutalized control which is a desperate remedy for its chaos.”

That is startlingly accurate, especially when you learn it was published in 1940.

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2016/01/eliot-and-liberalism

It’s Time To Finally Admit ‘Digimon’ Is Better Than ‘Pokémon’ – MTV

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

Abby is on an anime kick. She’s watched Princess Tutu and is dipping into Digimon. Being 24 and not into anime in 1998, I had no idea how Digimon was any different from Pokemon. This set me straight. Warning: Digimon spoilers.

http://www.mtv.com/news/2509179/digimon-better-than-pokemon/

new year, old blog

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

I’m blogging here at my own URL again, yay! I liked the other URL but the ad-free package increased 300% this year, so clearly self-hosting was the way to go. The template and overall look will change a lot in the next few weeks, but the content and the address will stay the same. I find myself less and less drawn to Google Plus, which is sad, and I don’t like Facebook very much. I do like Instagram, and how easy it is to use from the phone, and cross-posting is much easier from there than from Google Plus. All of that to say I will be posting here, Facebook, and Instagram, but all essentially the same content.

I think I have the comments set up so anyone can comment pseudonymously, which was a problem for my previous URL.

So, like, watch this space.