Archive for February, 2010

Snow leopard kittens & our burgeoning population

I came across this adorable overload of a snow leopard at the Akron zoo frolicking in the snow.  I’m not going to tell you how many times I watched the video because then I’d have to come to terms with all of the homework I should have gotten done instead.  The zoo snow leopard is […]

Hold on to your socks

This article in New Scientist blew my mind.  Basically, physicists were trying to find gravitational waves, but kept getting all this noise in their data.  And by “noise” they might actually mean they’ve figured out that we’re “living a giant cosmic hologram.” I took a philosophy class about identity and perception once that made me […]

Happy Blog Anniversary!

I started blogging 6 years ago today.  I’ve blogged for a lot of different reasons, but the desire to share and connect with other people, to be part of a larger conversation, has always been a part of it (though sometimes I’ve really identified with Jamie here and felt like quitting).  I count many of […]

Just one reason we shouldn’t be nation-building

From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Politics is not extrinsic to a Muslim’s personal religious life, as in Christianity, which mistrusts mundane success.  Muslims regard themselves as committed to implemented a just society in accord with God’s will.  The ummah has sacramental importance, as a “sign” that God […]

January Migraine Data

Several weeks ago I posted barometric pressure trends from December along with whether or not I was sick that day.  Unfortunately, I didn’t do a good job recording barometric pressure on days that I wasn’t sick.  I did a better job in January. If you’re new to this blog, I have frequent migraines that I […]

Religious tolerance under Arab imperialism

From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Nobody in the new empire was forced to accept the Islamic faith; indeed, for a century after Muhammad’s death, conversion was not encouraged and, in about 700, was actually forbidden by law: Muslims believed that Islam was for the Arabs as […]