Just a bit of fun, yer ‘onor. Every now and then I feel the urge to “play the Troll card” or “play the Bored card” on certain discussion threads i.e. point out that another commentor has grown tedious in one… Read More ›
education
Special snowflake watch
A physicist commenting on a post about how a newspaper report of a social sciences paper (speculating on why the rate of rape by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women is reportedly low) has whipped up somewhat of a rightwing frenzy… Read More ›
Duncan Fine talks sense on BMI
It’s not anything that our readers familiar with Shapely Prose don’t know, but using the BMI as the sole determinant of whether someone is overweight or obese is a really unreliable measurement. Given the hysteria this week about Australia’s “obesity… Read More ›
Opportunities squandered
JOHN Howard squandered the benefits of the $80 billion-a-year resources boom and wanted to be re-elected so he could retire, Labor leader Kevin Rudd said yesterday. Defining the choice facing voters in one of his last major speeches of the… Read More ›
“Oh! My! Look out! you can get HIV/AIDS”
A condom PSA from India. I’m torn between thinking “Now that’s how you do PSAs!”, and convulsing at the gleeful gyrating men and the clown-condoms. Enjoy. About this video: This is an entertaining and educational video in Telugu on Condom… Read More ›
Debunking differences
Get your Gender Essentialist bingo cards ready, but this time so that we can cross off various myths being vigorously debunked. First the headline and teaser: The difference myth We shouldn’t believe the increasingly popular claims that boys and girls… Read More ›
Request: epistemology for newbies?
I feel there’s a hole in my book-larnin’. I’ve never really read any formal epistemology, just picked bits and pieces up as I go along. Can anyone recommend any web- (or uni website-) available, chapter/article-length introduction to general principles and… Read More ›
So that’s why it’s annoyed me so much
I’m not the only person to be annoyed over the years by the egregious overuse of the term “paradigm shift”. I knew people were misusing the term, but not having actually read Kuhn’s seminal work wherein he coined the term,… Read More ›
Watson is no Galileo
I’ve used this quote before, but it bears repeating. “Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo it is not enough that you be persecuted by an unkind establishment, you must also be right.” ““ Robert Park James Watson, famous for… Read More ›
Weekend Fun: Family Drabbles
The lad, who has just turned five, has taken to asking for story challenges. We had a ball over dinner last night thinking of three things for a story to feature, and then listening to the result. My challenge to… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 