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via liberal japonicus Hello Mr and Mrs America and all the ships at sea. The good doctor is fine but doesn't have the bandwidth to post this up, so she sent it as an email to the usual suspects and Japan time being what it is, I'm putting it up.  I've had an easier Sandy … Read more

by liberal japonicus It's not Friday, but a little early for everyone.  I don't know if anyone knows the book Island of the Blue Dolphins, but it was a book I remember reading as a kid. The book is based on a true story, and as it turns out, a researcher may have found the … Read more

by Doctor Science We’re battened down pretty well against Sandy. Jim MacDonald at Making Light provided a helpful guide: How to Batten a Hatch. Food prepped and ready, water and lights handy, blankets piled. I spent much of yesterday cooking: roast pork, spanakopita, today I’ll make tomato sauce. We figure we can all cuddle up … Read more

by Doctor Science The Atlantic’s James Fallows got to tour and take pictures inside notorious Chinese manufacturer Foxconn. This is the Foxconn “campus” in the Longhua area of Shenzhen, north of Hong Kong. Some 220,000 people work there; about a quarter of them live on site; and several thousand new employees are recruited, trained, and … Read more

by russell This is a short and sweet post, mostly just in the interest of putting something out there for discussion.  My personal stance on the topic will most likely be obvious, and so likely requires little elaboration. So, here ya go. The "ownership society" was a common slogan during the Bush years.  But, somehow, … Read more

by Doctor Science I just started using Tumblr: doctorscienceknows.tumblr.com. Mostly I’m using it for keeping track of images: when I’m working on an Obsidian Wings post, I tend to flip through lots of images, save a few, then forget where I got them from. No more of that! she said optimistically. Demon Tumbling Downstairs, by … Read more

a guest post by sapient  [note: When Sapient suggested that we discuss an article about the situation in Libya, I invited him to send in a guest post. I'd be more than happy to make this a continuing series, so if you have something that you want to get up, send it to me at … Read more

by Doctor Science ALPHA CENTAURI HAS A PLANET! Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy put it in all caps, and I don’t blame him one bit. ALPHA CENTAURI B HAS A PLANET. European Southern Observatory artist’s impression. The planet (currently euphoniously called “Alpha Centauri Bb”) is only a hair larger than Terra: 1.13 Earth masses. Alas, … Read more

by Doctor Science In Chrystia Freeland’s NY Times piece on The Self-Destruction of the 1 Percent, she says: In the early 19th century, the United States was one of the most egalitarian societies on the planet. “We have no paupers,” Thomas Jefferson boasted in an 1814 letter. “The great mass of our population is of … Read more