Archive for January, 2009

Agnotology, A Sad and Important Word. Thanks, Robert Proctor

Winter  (for us Celts, the last day of Winter.  Imbolc starts tomorrow, actually this evening.)   Waxing Wild Moon Clive Thompson taught me a new word:  agnotology.  Clive writes a regular column in Wired, one of my favorite magazines.  He reports in his column (2/09 issue) on the work of Stanford historian of science , Robert […]

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A Pain

Winter             Waxing Wild Moon Kate’s neck has begun to hurt again.  I hope it doesn’t mean the nerve root block has lost its potency, but it might.  Where we go after that we don’t know right now. Errands and business meeting in the AM.  Nap and Sierra Club research in the PM.  Workout, then a […]

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Survey: Americans give cold shoulder to thought of moving to Twin Cities

Survey: Americans give cold shoulder to thought of moving to Twin Cities Last update: January 30, 2009 – 5:08 PM While “We Like It Here” has become a badge of honor of sorts for inhabitants of the Twin Cities area, a national survey by a respected research firm has found that Americans elsewhere have little […]

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A Bit More on the Humanities. OK, Maybe a Lot More

 Winter    Waxing Wild Moon I reproduce part of a David Brooks column here because it relates to the humanities thread I began a few posts ago.  He seems to counterpoise the liberal education as defined by Harvard against the institutional life devoted to what I would call a vocation.  This seems wrong-headed to me on […]

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Up On the Twisted Side of the Bed

Winter  Waxing Wolf Moon “Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well-ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.” – Seneca Seneca comes along just in time as I head out the door for an oil change for […]

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Retirement Parties, Funerals, and Hospitals

Winter   Waxing Wild Moon (a wonderful thin crescent turned upward toward Venus, the bright evening star) Went into Mary Broderick’s retirement party this afternoon.  A fine affair with the obligatory good noises and a gracious speech by Mary. It seemed, though, a bit formulaic, a ritual with parts:  the buffet with an assortment of snack-like […]

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Weather Boring

Winter      New Moon (Wild) The weather here has gone into a stable, cold pattern.  Just not very interesting.  No storms. No new snow.  No new ice.  No winds.  No warmth.  Some way below freezing cold, but been there done that this year.  It’s not been terrible for me because I don’t have to get out […]

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Moving On

Winter   New Moon (Wild) Life’s pace has once again picked up for me.  The Sierra Club work has begun to fill in winter hours, enough so that I realize something will have to be done as the growing season approaches.  Smarter planting and gardening, yes.  That’s in the works, but I’ll also need some flexibility.  […]

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The Wonders of Cable

Winter      New Moon (Wild)     Weather now available at 3 sites under Andover Weather + on the right side of this page. “Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen but understanding it for the first time.” – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi I read an article in the latest Wired about Comcast.  The […]

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Research and the Stars

Winter     New Moon (Wild) This morning I redid the research documents I create each afternoon for the Sierra Club.  I divided them into Minnesota news and Other news.  Since I had 6 documents, this means I now have 12.   It will make them more useful, I hope, since the national and international clips cluttered up […]

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