The Chilean national architectural exhibit, showcasing the country’s work at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Designed by my brother:
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http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/12/13/global-voices-and-the-power-of-we/
A few cheap vignettes never hurt anybody.
When a date starts to go like this…
Some will say this violates Occam’s razor…
by David Nolan, in 1969; via Jenn Pahlka.
Dan is inspiring here as usual, on the familiar but awkward subject of collective cheating – and notes a strong dichotomy of positive and negative reactions among his own students around cheating. (Now why this should be correlated to goofing off in class is not reflected on in his post, though he notes the relationship. I have some ideas, based on how much a class is seen as being ‘for show’. But that’s for another post.)
In some coastal waters, at least.
Via phys.org
Entanglement, Decoherence, and the Quantum/Classical Boundary
via Johannes Koelman.
“At last, the long-awaited release of Bigipedia 2.0 – the infallible, ever-present cyberfriend is back! Now with all errors and mistakes.”
Every episode of Bigipedia is worth listening to. From David Tyler and #Pozzitive, via the UK wikivine.
Earlier this year I wrote a bit about the latest UNHRC periodic rights review of the US, something that happens for every country once every four years. Norway offered the most excellent advice, making 7 solid apolitical recommendations.
They didn’t rehash international policy disputes or convention-signing, which can be nominal at best: and focused instead on essential changes that can be carried out now, and would be historically significant. If we implemented their 7 recs, our nation would be a better place. Here they are, consolidated (with the # of the rec, and our response):
The death penalty is increasingly considered outmoded and barbaric in most of the world, yet in our domestic discussions it is seen as a reasonable option – more a matter of regional preference than a fundamental moral matter. 35 states currently allow it.
And what’s up with the 7th point above? The US has imposed restrictions on its international aid funding over the past few decades to prevent aid recipients from using those funds to provide abortions or suggest them as an option for family planning. The most well-known example of this is the Mexico City Policy , instated by Reagan and since repealed or reinstated by each preseident in the first days of his term, along party lines. This affected roughly $100M of aid given to family planning programs; and is also called the “global gag rule” because it prohibited aid recipients from using any of their funds for abortion care.
Today, while the MCP stands repealed, there are other similar restrictions in force – including the one highlighted by Norway. They are reportedly the first country to bring the issue up in an international setting, as part of a campaign launched with the Global Justice Center.
Overall, I am fascinated at how unified and sane most of these recommendations are. It reminds me that peer review by a large group of peers tends toward the awesome, constructive side of the scale, even when the peer group includes some trolling and posturing.
Structured bed-dancing from 1954.
A case study by Tom Morris. (Previously: slowly learning to say ‘yes’ )
Tim Starling asks template authors and geo-mavens to be patient.
On December 21 this year we should all make text posts that sound really apocalyptic but aren’t, like
OH GOD EVERYTHING IS BURNING
because I turned up the heateror
ALL I HEAR IS SCREAMING
from my tvor even
THIS IS GOODBYE BECAUSE WE’RE EVACUATING
the danceflooror
I’M UNDER THE BED IN THE DARK I CAN HEAR THEM COMING FOR ME
I might lose this game of hide-and-seek
via unwinona
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