“Voting” reminds me too much of situations where people who don’t do anything get to say what they want others to do.
The great Guido van Rossum (creator of Python programming language) when replying to some requests to have people vote on a Python project roadmap.
movies
music
miscI was not aware that there were two separate words, quiet and quite. I used them for their meanings interchangeably, using both spellings unaware. Now I have to go fix my blog posts :(
atheism: Common Sense Atheism
atheist writing: Pharyngula
rationality: Less Wrong
software development: Stack Overflow
software writing: Joel on Software (honorable mention: Ted Dziuba)
HTML5: diveintohtml5
website: Stack Exchange sites
Most sex workers, regardless of history, seem to enjoy their work and many see it as empowering.
This is news to me. I guess my intuition screwed with me. (source)
I’m not saying there’s no such thing as genius. But if you’re trying to choose between two theories and one gives you an excuse for being lazy, the other one is probably right.
from Paul Graham’s What You’ll Wish You’d Known
For every drowned and pulseless child rescued by intensive care, there are many more who don’t make it—and not just because their bodies are too far gone. Machines break down; a team can’t get moving fast enough; a simple step is forgotten. Such cases don’t get written up in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, but they are the norm. Intensive-care medicine has become the art of managing extreme complexity—and a test of whether such complexity can, in fact, be humanly mastered.
That’s some scary shit. Read the whole article to get the context (i.e. the heroic work involved in saving that girl’s life). It’s a great read.
Bomb explosions with scattered body parts make nice images on the television and, as such, are a natural ratings booster. However, the fact that these are the most entertaining harms does not imply that they are the greatest. Unfortunately, the harms inflicted through the use of legislation get far less attention, even though they do more damage, simply because they have less flash and bang.
Alonzo Fyfe’s Focus on Harm. Nice quote, but I think Alonzo is one of those people that Stephen Gowan refers to.
Last time, I raved about my experiences at a friend’s home place, Nyosini. My memory is not to be completely trusted, but this second (third?) one was even better. Such hospitality is what I’m sure most people on the planet have never experienced. We (me and two friends, who were just as impressed) were treated like royalty. We slept there just once though, so we spent all out time there in one yard.
I have never seen a family quite like this. My own family is quite close, but definitely not as kindly as this one. And by the way, there are no exceptions. The love they have, and express, for each other is… damn I wish I was a better writer. This is stuff that brings me to tears when I think of it.
I met Bongo again, and the guy’s character hasn’t changed a bit… maybe even more shy than last time, I can’t tell. Lwazi and Siya weren’t there (boarding school).
One could say it was me (us?) paying homage to that wonderful family (it’s been over 3 years), but also an excuse to go enjoy the warmth of their welcome, not to mention the gorgeous scenery of the rolling hills it’s situated upon.
