tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75090228203489785582024-03-08T08:24:38.796-05:00Humanist ChickWelcome to the blog "Humanist Chick". My name is Michelle and I am a nice girl whose interests tend to begin with "h": history, Houdini, humor.. ::giggle::. Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-80282518853207784642020-05-13T15:52:00.000-04:002020-05-13T15:54:04.924-04:00Transgender science?Hello,<br />
<br />
Is being transgender scientific? I shared my heart and soul in this essay, which is beautifully written if I do say so myself. :)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youandmemagazine.com/articles/how-could-i-be-a-woman">http://www.youandmemagazine.com/articles/how-could-i-be-a-woman</a><br />
<br />
Please let me know what you think about it.<br />
<br />
xoxoxo,<br />
<br />
MichelleMichellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-62603227565860530392020-05-10T13:48:00.001-04:002020-05-10T14:11:26.450-04:00Amazin' Amazon?Amazon's big money maker is _not_ retail.<br />
Wait, Amazon's big money maker isn't retail?<br />
<br />
Digital storage.<br />
Cloud computing.<br />
Amazon Web Services.<br />
<br />
According to two Amazon documentaries, one on CNN, one Frontline on PBS, Amazon's big money maker comes from companies and agencies hiring Amazon to store their data.<br />
<br />
Major clients: US government agencies, Conde Naste magazines, PBS. Not CNN?<br />
<br />
In 2017, Amazon was hired for storage by the Central Intelligence Agency.<br />
Do you read Wired, The New Yorker, or Vogue? They are Conde Nast publications.<br />
<br />
Outages, past?<br />
<br />
Too big to fail?Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-65990117419006965752019-04-26T09:52:00.001-04:002019-04-26T09:52:18.521-04:00Death and LifeI'd been meaning to call a friend back. Now I can't because he passed away suddenly. I didn't expect this, as he was barely older than 50.<br />
<br />
Has this ever happened to you?<br />
<br />
If there's a better reason to be nice when you talk to people, I can't think of it.<br />
If there's a better reason to call friends back sooner, I can't think of it.<br />
<br />
So many adages and advice about life make more sense to me now. <br />
<br />
Is it just me?<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-6971983401455603612019-02-14T19:44:00.001-05:002019-02-14T19:44:12.104-05:00Happy Valentine's DayI want to share my gratitude to my sweetheart for making my life better. Love has changed my life. Happy Valentine's day, sweetie.<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-41509775309912326142018-09-12T09:54:00.001-04:002018-09-12T09:54:30.931-04:00September theater!She was a Hollywood super-star and, surprisingly, co-inventor of technology used in missile guidance and cell-phones!<br />
<br />
The award winning, hilarious, and thoughtful play "Hedy!" by my friend Heather Massie will be performed on Saturday September 15th in NYC!<br />
<br />
Tour, tickets, pics: http://www.heathermassie.com/hedy<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-65637140549498500552018-04-19T21:28:00.000-04:002018-04-19T21:36:23.073-04:00Einstein's activismEinstein's activism against lynching apparently takes up 20 pages of his FBI "Treason File #61". There's nothing treasonous in it.<br />
<br />
Einstein's FBI file is available on the FBI website.<br />
<br />
Its implications are discussed in the newly updated _The Einstein File: The FBI's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist_ by Fred Jerome. I went to the book launch tonight.<br />
<br />
Apparently, Einstein didn't just sign a letter. He actively co-chaired an anti-lynching organization, in shock and anger at the wave of lynchings in 1946 after black soldiers returned from World War II. His co-chair was noted singer and activist Paul Robeson, who was also a friend. When a singer was not allowed to stay in a local hotel --solely due to her race--- Einstein let her stay at his house. In her memoir, she recalled him fondly.<br />
<br />
Einstein was also active ---beyond writing--- on other issues. Free speech and nuclear weapons are still debated today. But on anti-semitism and race, Einstein's opinions, while radical in their day, are common sense now.<br />
<br />
I like knowing this side of Einstein. For me, it humanizes him.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-57408547426265431172018-04-02T20:30:00.000-04:002018-04-02T20:30:28.941-04:00"Local" newsI was surprised that much of "local" TV news stations is not locally owned.<br />
<br />
Is "local" commentary local?<br />
<br />
If I choose to watch Fox, I know it's the same regardless of where I am. That's a fair choice.<br />
<br />
If I watch a local news station, and the local anchor makes a commentary, I assumed that commentary was hers or his.<br />
<br />
Apparently, Sinclair Broadcast Group gives local news anchors scripts that they must use --without telling that it is centrally scripted. Why do they hide this? <br />
<br />
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/business/media/sinclair-news-anchors-script.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-51840810511604600272018-02-08T13:16:00.000-05:002018-02-08T13:16:14.765-05:00Agnostic?I'm wondering if many atheists overlook the good of religion. Maybe atheists would do better to look for common ground with the religious. Prayer, for example, might be helpful, even significantly so, even if God doesn't exist. My hope is that the religious and non-religious will look for more common ground. Hopefully, I'll write more about this in the future.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-26950116979966797702017-11-17T11:29:00.000-05:002017-11-17T11:32:23.270-05:00When showing whyConfederate statues constructed decades, or even close to a century, after the US Civil War? As much as I love reading about history, I sometimes wonder the point. But the mysterious case of the Confederate Statues almost feels like a mystery story. If the south wanted to honor its dead, I felt that perhaps it was right to keep the statues up.<br />
<br />
Then I heard when the statues were erected.<br />
<br />
Many of the statues honoring the Confederate leaders and fighters were erected half a century after the Civil War, concurrent with renewed or challenged segregation. More compelling, some confederate statues were put up during the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s, almost a century after the end of the Civil War.<br />
<br />
A half a century after the civil war? That timing makes it seem less like honoring the dead, and more about celebrating the cause. What cause? "Negro" inferiority. In other words, celebrating or supporting the tremendous suffering of human beings.<br />
<br />
Excuse me while I vomit.<br />
<br />
Because segregation wasn't "separate but equal"or a benign "southern culture": it was murder. Lynching was used brutally to support a system in which skin color trumped ability and character. Segregation was daily humiliation, the insulting of children, the permitted abuse of every African American. And before that, slavery : legal kidnapping in chains, the separation by ownership of parents from children, whipping.<br />
<br />
I might be able too support a few confederate monuments IF they were constructed when white southerners were mourning their dead shortly after the Civil War. Even then, it is offensive, but I'm willing to compromise that much.<br />
<br />
Challenge me: look up for yourself when Confederate statues and monuments were put up. Then ask yourself what it was like to be black at the time.<br />
<br />
<br />
The study of history can be relevant to the present.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-43484333674180972932017-09-09T21:34:00.000-04:002017-09-09T21:34:13.926-04:00More Evidence?There are climate change skeptics, but the publisher of Skeptic flipped on the issue. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, used to believe that climate change was not happening or, at least not human caused. He's changed his mind on this.<br />
<br />
Katrina and the superdome. Sandy, with New York City streets under feet of water.<br />
<br />
And I'm published in Skeptic, again, with vol22, n2. Reviewing books about fraud and cons. Obviously unrelated. One of the points, in one of the books: the most successful con is the one that is undiscovered.<br />
<br />
And I've flipped over Skeptic.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-84917131865526293382017-06-12T23:12:00.000-04:002017-06-12T23:12:03.162-04:00Wondering War WomanAre people who do evil things necessarily evil themselves?<br />
Are all people who do evil things beyond the reach of change?<br />
<br />
I liked the movie Wonder Woman --as fiction. In the film, there is evil which cannot be redeemed. Made for a more entertaining story if there's clear heroes & villains.<br />
<br />
But, in real life, is it ever the same as it is in a superhero fantasy?<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-2538115739869242292017-05-08T12:15:00.002-04:002017-05-08T12:15:38.061-04:00Damaged CareWhat if the US Congress had the same health insurance as the rest of us? (They don't).<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-46501915671331308742017-04-29T09:23:00.000-04:002017-04-29T09:23:36.596-04:00What Nancy Drew onDid you ever read any of the Nancy Drew mysteries? I read book after book, more than fifty of them. I think I learned as much about writing from those books as from English class. But when I recently rediscovered them, I fell in love for a new reason: the cultural currents she "Drew" on. (forgive me).<br />
<br />
<br />
The earliest volumes were published in the 1930s, when the US was a different place. Did you know that the first two dozen books in the mystery series were rewritten in the 1950s and 1960s to make them more modern? The original versions of the Secret of the Old Clock and its dozen or two follow-ups had Nancy wearing gloves and hats, and this was changed when the books were revised.<br />
<br />
Racist stereotypes were also changed. Irish servants. References to a (stupid) black woman as a "negress."<br />
<br />
The first detective story, of any type, is generally credited to Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s. Children weren't really a market for them (or for anything else) until at least half a century after that. Oh, and in the 30s and 40s, Nancy as a strong female character, and a youth, was controversial.<br />
<br />
Since the first Nancy Drew novel appeared in the 1930s, and are still being produced, it is now obvious that "Carolyn Keene" is a pseudonym. But it always was: no such person ever existed. Nancy Drew stories were contracted from a publishing company from the very start, with a clause taht the actual author could not receive credit or compensation beyond a small fee.<br />
<br />
Some people dream of being given a new car (if not a blue roadster). I dream of being given a bunch of old (or new) Nancy Drew books. I'm a bibliophile and not wealthy (this is not a good combination). Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?<br />
<br />
I'd type more, but I want to go back to reading Nancy Drew mysteries. They're really fun! Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-45721630785975436062017-03-14T14:53:00.000-04:002017-03-14T14:53:33.274-04:00"Whether" prediction works?Much more snow was forecast. On the news they talked of a foot or more for NYC. We have less than they forecast.<br />
<br />
Is this unusual? My very first review for Skeptic magazine, written under my male pseudonym, talked about this. The book was William Sherden's _The Fortune Sellers_ and his persuasive argument was that predicting the future doesn't usually work. That even with better equipment and better training, weather prediction is not going to _ever_ be more accurate than an estimate, and that not for more than a day or two ahead.<br />
<br />
Sherden makes the same argument for stock market prediction. People pay big money for stock market prediction, and how often is it right?<br />
<br />
Try it: maybe write down for, say, a week, what weather forecasters say, and then write down what happens. How right are they for seven days ahead? For the next day?<br />
<br />
Do you own stock? Would it give you confidence to write down what the predictors say, and then, six months or a year later, compare it with what happened?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-85036310756729179952017-01-31T11:14:00.001-05:002017-01-31T11:14:59.140-05:00Skeptic v21n4Hysteria that even leads to the detention of a child? I'm talking of course about the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and their aftermath. If y'all haven't already done so, you might enjoy picking up a copy of Skeptic magazine, v21n4, the issue currently on newsstands. It features a book review by yours truly on the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and their aftermath.<br />
<br />
In it I review three books: The Witches by Stacy Schiff, In the Devil's Snare by Mary Beth Norton, and America Bewitched by Owen Davies. Schiff discusses the 1692 epidemic with grace and comprehensiveness, Norton makes a step by step case about why the 1692 trials were longer and deadlier than any other in the colonies. Davies notes that some things haven't changed: it was women who were mostly executed in 1692, and women who were involved in most of the cases since, as late as the 1950s.<br />
<br />
Skeptic magazine, by the way, looks to science to explain strange phenomena.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-14607999104762663192016-12-31T13:28:00.005-05:002016-12-31T13:35:02.131-05:00Tech allows change?<div class="MsoNormal">
Why do histories of science discovery include biographies of
the discoverer? I found it revelatory when it was pointed out that it was new
technology related to glass which allowed the discoveries made via the
microscope and telescope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel
like I missed this because I was too distracted by text discussing who the
discoverers were. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying that the lives of the scientists are not
worth studying. Discovering, via Keynes, that Newton believed in alchemy is
relevant to many questions, the fact that one scientist could do his work because
he was wealthy, that another was persecuted while others of his time weren’t
due to where he lived, is all worthy of study, for many reasons. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I am saying is that in trying to cram everything into a
textbook, we run the risk of readers getting turned off. I was. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of what I’ve learned about history, and other areas,
I’ve learned despite the textbooks. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What if curious children and adults were introduced to the
story of science in another way? What if science history was framed by the
history of the technology available to the investigators, rather than by the
investigators lives? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What if telescopes and microscopes got a chapter, perhaps
the same chapter? I didn’t understand it when the ability to see inside of cells
was credited to a person rather than to a technology. The person deserves some
credit, but since the person was the focus I lost sight of the fact that it was
the technology that allowed the insight. Likewise the telescope: Galileo’s
place is secure because he used the telescope more effectively than his
predecessors, but the larger point, the take away, is that the new technology
is what allowed him to see new things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an era where science funding is cut, this is not an
insignificant point. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was a Time Magazine special edition that discussed the
results of scientific discoveries. The laser, for example, led to new
audio/video tech, new eye surgery, and supermarket checkout scanners. This was more helpful for my understanding of the world, or of how science and technology can effect society, than if that discussion had been clogged with names. There was nary a one. So I could focus on the ideas, and I said, "WOW! THAT'S NEAT!"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What if a discussion of modern discoveries and theories was
framed around how the cpu --starting with the 4004, say--- allowed calculations
previously too complex and lengthy for humans to do? It’s true: in more than
one field, calculations that would have taken _teams_ of researchers _years_ to
accomplish can now be done in hours or minutes. And in field after field,
---iPhones to mass marketing to the age of the universe to cancer--- this has
made all of the difference. </div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want to study how science is done, study how the
great scientists worked. But if you want to learn how discoveries changed our
lives, focus on the technology. Trying to do both at once confused me and
discouraged me. Separating them opened the world to me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is it just me?</div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-77369857355228874922016-12-18T09:10:00.001-05:002016-12-18T09:10:04.751-05:00petition today!https://www.change.org/p/electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19-4a78160a-023c-4ff0-9069-53cee2a095a8?source_location=topic_page<br />
<br />
If you sign it today, you might help stop Trump from taking office.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
*The US military is seriously concerned about climate change<br />
*Trump saying that protesters are paid by media<br />
*Trump refusing security briefings<br />
*Trump 3am tweets indicating someone who is too thin skinned to be given the nuclear codes.<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-81251805503378773052016-12-12T09:39:00.000-05:002016-12-12T09:44:17.470-05:00SnowIt snowed yesterday. I missed it because I was reading. And then I looked out, and it was magical. Partly because, wherever it's cold enough, it's an experience that people share.<br />
<br />
Did you know that Christmas trees were celebrated before the time of Christ because these trees remained green despite the snow? That makes evergreen trees magical, too.<br />
<br />
Have you ever seen a snow globe? A hollow ball the size of a crystal ball, with a flat base below a clear glass dome, a diorama inside which is a snowy scene when shaken. Ever imagined what it would be like to get inside of one? My friend Peter Samelson does a fine theatrical piece, elegantly simple, in which he creates this image, always a closing piece, because what is more magical than snow?<br />
<br />
Magician David Copperfield told Peter that he admired his piece, and a year or two later David premiered a much more elaborate theatrical experience of seeing snow for the first time. It closed David's Broadway show, and has even been quoted in a novel.<br />
<br />
Theatrical magic, done as well as David or Peter can do it, can open us to the memories of the beauty of snow even in summer.<br />
<br />
It's just as magical to look out the window, remember childhood sledding or wonder if any two snowflakes are the same, when it is snowing and you are indoors. I missed this yesterday.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-33049562187888721442016-12-10T11:17:00.000-05:002016-12-10T11:29:07.253-05:00Societal knowledgeOf course human beings continue to learn more about the world: the ancient Greeks couldn't put a human being on the moon, the germ theory of disease wasn't fully accepted by doctors until, what, a a century and a half ago?<br />
<br />
But we also lose knowledge:<br />
*archological sites give us new knowledge of human origins and the timing of human accomplishment. Bombs obliterate this, as was done in the first US Gulf War a quarter century ago, and more recently in Syria.<br />
*the notion that everything is made up of atoms --which led eventually to the atomic bomb and plastics, amongst many other things--- was first proposed hundreds of years BC: but, by luck, Democritus's writings were lost, and Plato's (among others) were preserved, all by accident. What if it had been the reverse? (From Charles Van Doren's _History of Knowledge_).<br />
*I read, somewhere, in English, that there are languages that are only spoken by a few senior citizens, that once they die, the language may too.<br />
* So-called primitive people sometimes know that an obscure plant will treat a particular symptom. Pharmaceutical companies investigate this, and it can be the origin of some new wonder drugs. If the peoples, or the plant, go extinct, so does that knowledge.<br />
*The Pinkerton Detective Agency protected the President of the United States before the Secret Service did. The Pinkerton detectives were also involved in a vast array of issues, from labor strikes to investigating fake psychics. So is the burning of their records insignificant?<br />
*Which isn't as bad as the case of the massive scale of records destruction in the Chinese cultural revolution. Historians of China are at a loss: the records of earlier times were systematically destroyed.<br />
*Houdini was one of the highest paid entertainers of his era, and remains an icon 90 years after his death. Too bad he was buried with some of his family correspondence in his coffin.<br />
<br />
Can you think of other examples of knowledge that was destroyed, permanently, by accident or on purpose?<br />
<br />
<br />
(Note: Source: the concept of "lost knowledge" was introduced to me by Peter Burke's _Social History of Knowledge_. I don't know if he discusses any of my examples).<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-76468886507161621122016-11-30T23:19:00.000-05:002016-11-30T23:22:40.666-05:00Does it count? Is measurement, numbers, taking over our lives?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The humanist in me is tickled that the design of, say, sailboats, is done using mathematics.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Surely university scholars are safe? </div>
<div>
*statistical analysis of texts to find word patterns to help identify anonymous authors</div>
<div>
*a database that ranks scholars by the number of times their article has been cited</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My physician likes to describe the nuances of his patients symptoms on his reports, he told me, but he added that his boss wants him using specific diagnosis codes ---numbers--- instead. So much for nuance. Easier for billing, perhaps, easier for epidemiology perhaps, but less human. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I stopped going to a confidential support group in part because of the new rule that everyone had to sign in. So much for confidentiality. I'm told that this decision was made because the institution gets its funding based on ----the number of people who attend. In some support groups, that will scare people away. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
Is it a "sign" of the "times" that even the romantic places of libraries often now use statistical "tests of collection strength"? </div>
<div>
(One joke: if a math book is a book about math, is a library book a book about libraries? Just asking)</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then there's the danger of computers doing financial trading ---flash trading--- the owning of a stock for seconds, literally less than a minute, to make a profit. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What happened to the craftsman who designed the boat by how he felt, the librarian who bought the books that felt right, buying stocks because you feel they will go up? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What are we losing? </div>
<div>
Are we becoming numb-er? (That joke is from the delightfully thoughtful book Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos, but all the other jokes, such as they are, are mine. The context in which I am using his joke is also different: the trends I describe are not his focus in that book and, in any case, have advanced since his book. Hopefully that does not "mean" that we are numb-er to them). </div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-48386023593607924892016-11-29T10:49:00.000-05:002016-11-29T10:49:03.530-05:00Star TrekA character study, Cold War story, racism, all in a compelling drama? An epsiode of the original Star Trek called "Balance of Terror" did that seamlessly and enjoyably.<br />
<br />
I'm not a Star Trek nut, I'm not even that fond of TV, but that episode of that show was compelling.<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-21822406068511193502016-11-14T15:57:00.000-05:002016-11-14T16:09:34.105-05:00Trump vs ConstitutionHi all,<br />
<br />
Donald Trump is dangerous, please sign the change dot org petition now, asking the Electoral College to change its vote at its December 19th meeting. <br />
<br />
Do you think Trump is emotionally stable? Really?<br />
Do you believe that climate change is a hoax? Land based hurricane, melting glaciers, and all?<br />
Do you believe that journalists should be sued for stories that displease a politician?<br />
<br />
I did not want this blog to be political, but I am making an exception, because Donald J. Trump is so dangerous. Even his appointment of alleged white supremacists, denial of climate change and support for changing libel laws to allow journalists to be sued --even these---are not my greatest concern. <br />
<br />
I signed the petition because I am concerned that Donald Trump is not emotionally stable.<br />
*remember when he published the politician's phone number?<br />
*he stated on 60 Minutes last night (taped Friday) that many of the people protesting his election are paid by the media to protest and do not actually oppose him. Does he have a grip on reality?<br />
*he has bragged about groping women, yet he threatened to sue as "liars" women who accuse him of doing what he bragged about. Is this someone who is emotionally stable?<br />
*how did he react to petty insults, many of which were true, with 3am tweets? Do you really want him to have the nuclear codes?<br />
<br />
Then there is this: he publicly called for the arrest, and perhaps the assasination, of his political opponent. Is that America?<br />
<br />
I signed the petition because Trump is emotionally unstable.<br />
<br />
More info on his positions and appointments thus far: ACLU dot org and Southern Poverty Law Center (splc dot org). Or even Trump's own website.<br />
<br />
Change dot org petition to ask the Electoral College to change its vote at its December 19th to keep the loser of the popular vote from taking office: change dot org.<br />
<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-83628138989302823012016-11-11T09:27:00.001-05:002016-11-11T09:27:45.694-05:00HEDY! Tuesday November 15thFirst the premiere sold out, then the encore performance sold out. Now you have one last chance to see the funny and thoughtful "Hedy! The Life and Inventions of Hedy Lamarr" on Tuesday, November 15th, at 9:30pm at Theater Row theaters, 42nd btw 9th & 10th.<br />
<br />
The time is important, because at telecharge dot com, the show will be listed by date and time rather than by show name, as it is still part of the United Solo festival.<br />
<br />
On seeing it again, I was powerfully struck by how the show amusingly highlights the non-amusing issue of women being judged by their looks and the humor of Ms Lamarr using men's stupidity to her advantage.<br />
<br />
For less than $25 it is a bargain, and only an hour long.<br />
<br />
And there's intrigue: she was Jewish and imprisoned in Austria at the dawn of WWII. And she bested Louis Mayer in negotiations. And did I mention that it is funny?Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-4646254069296784472016-11-10T10:40:00.001-05:002016-11-10T10:40:37.741-05:00May Trump growI can only hope that he is more self-reflective, more willing to listen to advice, in office.<br />
<br />
My worst fear about Trump isn't his policies ---I often disagree with politicians--- my fear about Trump is his impulsiveness.<br />
<br />
May he grow into the responsibility he has been given.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509022820348978558.post-82652789023248713672016-10-30T21:18:00.000-04:002016-10-30T21:18:34.852-04:00Hedy!When I saw an advance workshop production of "Hedy! The Life and Inventions of Hedy Lamarr" the whole audience laughed so hard, so often, and the show won an award! So now it's being produced for two shows only. The November 9th performance is sold out! This is under United Solo/Theatre Row.<br />
<br />
An extra performance, Friday November 11th @7:30pm has been added and there are a few seats left. Telecharge dot com or : 212-239-6200. It may be under date and time rather than by title.<br />
<br />
Can you believe that a Hollywood star co-invented technology used in missile guidance and cell phones?Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176561648732261182noreply@blogger.com0