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Recent Posts
- Review of “DTF St. Louis” Episode 5: David Harbour Deserves an Emmy
- The Year Without a Winter Over, Wildfire Season Begins
- On Pekka Hamalainen’s “Indigenous Continent”: Finnish Historian’s View of Native American History
- The Year Without a Winter Ends: It’s Spring!
- Review “War Machine”: Glimpse Our Future Wars Against Invading Robots
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Author Archives: williamjcobb
On the Idiocy of the Tea Party Express
Other people (and politico bloggers, I’m sure) have written more about this than I, but the sheer idiocy of the Tea Party movement is making me embarrassed for our country. (That and The Bad Girls Club, but that’s another story.) … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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British Grandma Goes to Bed With Headache, Wakes Up Speaking French
This story, fresh from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, appeals to my sense of humor, so I have to share: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1311835/Gran-Kay-Russell-goes-bed-migraine-wakes-French-accent.html
Posted in Weird Science
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My Kindle Arrives! (Big Deal.) Now What?
So I’ve been swamped lately with too much reading, including reviewing Joseph Skibell’s 593-page novel titled A Curable Romantic (“It’s okay, but I really wish it were longer . . . .”), & really don’t even have time to think … Continue reading
Posted in books, writing
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Another Example of How Facebook Marks the Beginning of the End
Another example of the slogan, “Friends Don’t Meet Friends on Facebook,” is this grim story, about the consequences of inopportune Facebook postings: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38928514/ns/us_news/ I’ve long felt the long tentacles of the Facebook empire closing around my world, and at this … Continue reading
Posted in Social Networking
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Timothy Egan on the Know-Nothings
Today’s NY Times has an excellent piece by Timothy Egan about the current Know-Nothing movement in the country, and its dangerous implications: What he does best is summarize some of the most ridiculous claims of this fake movement, a bedraggled … Continue reading
Posted in books
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On Getting Skunked and the Disaster in the Arctic
My cat, Iris, got skunked this weekend, always fun. I woke in the middle of night to a horrible smell, wandered down the hall half-asleep into the living room, and—I’ve been dying to yank out this Weather Channel phrase—”It was … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Weird Science
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On Heidi Cullen's "The Weather of the Future": Forecast for 2050: Your car just melted and your hair is on fire.
Heidi Cullen, a climatologist perhaps most famous for being The Brainy One on The Weather Channel (as opposed to, say, Stephanie Abrams, The Smiling Babe), has a new book out titled The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change
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"When Americans Believe in God, God Will Bless America"
From Huber Heights, Ohio: Today I passed a billboard on I-70 (in Indiana, I think it was) that read WHEN AMERICANS BELIEVE IN GOD, GOD WILL BLESS AMERICA. On the surface that’s innocuous, right? We all want God to bless … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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Culture Wars in the Heartland: Guntoters Against Socialism, Or George Saunders Was Right
Live from St. Louis, Missouri: So I’m travelling across Kansas (after a night in Hays, Kansas, at the Candlewood Suites, which should be renamed the Candlewood Sucks) and pass a billboard proclaiming, “Obama Is a Fraud: Demand Resignation Now!” The … Continue reading
Posted in The West
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Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Too Big To Fail" = Too Big To Read?
All summer I’ve been trying to get through Andrew Ross Sorkin’s terrific book about the financial meltdown (or as I like to call it, The Big Fall) of 2007-8, Too Big To Fail, and I think I’m going to have … Continue reading
Posted in books
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