Sense and Nonsense

Oh, God, Please Don't Boil Us in a Vat

And other examples of rampant chapel idiocy, from Monty Python:

 

Stay Away

Don't waste your money on "Damsels in Distress."  Horrible movie!

Grading Papers: The Circles of Hell

Or "The Stages of Grading," according to Debby Thompson.  Sublime.

(UPDATE:  But maybe there is help for weary teachers on the distant horizon, just as I prepare to hang up my cleats.)

Beating the College Bookstore

Among the marketplaces in America long known for ripping people off, college bookstores rank right up there near the top. Traditionally, there's no competition and no easy way for students to get their hands on needed books from alternate sources.  But that's slowly begun to change in the past few years, and here's a new development that should quicken the rate of change: a textbook price-comparison web app for college students.  Check out this price comparison tool that is the result of a partnership between the 20 Million Minds Foundation (20MM) and SlugBooks.com.  (Screenshot of web app below.)

 

Excellent.

 

Ignorant Americans

Here's a chart that the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza says reminded him "for the billionth time, that assuming the average person follows the back and forth of Washington as closely as we do is a major mistake."

 

Cillizza goes on to write: 

So, yeah. A majority of people don’t know the name of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. More frightening? Eight percent named Thurgood Marshall, who not only was never the Chief Justice but also died in 1993. And let’s not even talk about the four percent who think Harry Reid, a Senator not a member of the Supreme Court, is the Chief Justice.

Yes, the data is from the summer of 2010, which is almost two years ago now. And yes, with the Court more front and center in the news — Citizens United, health care — of late, it’s possible those able to name John Roberts as the Chief Justice may be slightly higher today. But, only slightly.

What the above chart proves is that analysis about how what the Court does — whether it’s what they have already done on Citizens United or what they might do with the Affordable Care Act — will impact the political landscape amounts to something close to a guessing game.

Regular people are simply not engaged — they don’t know or care — about the intricacies of the government in a way that people who live inside the Beltway and spend their lives in politics are.

It’s a lesson we have to re-learn constantly.

Amen.

 

Political Illiterates

Source

U.S. Geology and Topography: Cool Maps

See this interesting set of maps from the U.S. Geological Survey.

What's Wrong with Yahoo!

Something is desperately wrong at Yahoo!, the internet portal. I don't know the source of the problem; I'm only aware of the symptoms.  The principal indicator of a serious malady is the growing frequency with which totally unintelligible items show up on the home page. The problem seems to be the lack of any editorial control, any adult supervision, any passing of any human eyes over the copy before it is posted. 

For example, a few days ago, this item appeared under the "Lifestyles" section on the home page: "Bodily Changes and Aging Process."   I'm interested in this topic because I'm aging like crazy and my bodily changes are, in a word, horrific.  So, imagine my surprise when, clicking on the link, I came across text even more horrific than my aging body.  I'm going to show you the first paragraph, verbatim. You'll think I've altered something, that I'm putting you on, but I'm not. This mass of gibberish appears on one of the world's biggest web portals; it has remained there for several days.

From the start of our birth, our body endures several changes. As we have a tendency to reach young adolescence, but the body experiences a series of senescence, or bodily changes abnormal, that the bodily functions begin to say no. The body makes these changes, that the general public can notice, the distinction.  The musculoskeletal system is that the 1st space that the majority diseases and diseases begin. For this reason once, someone turns thirty five years older despite their activities, athletic nature, etc. Still, one will scale back such disease by avoiding injuries to the muscles and joints. you'll try this by avoiding accidents when attainable, abuse, excessive alcohol, drugs, tobacco and thus on. you'll increase your health by exercising, eating healthy, socializing with positive individuals, and avoiding environmental toxins. Visiting your doctor is crucial to forestall disease further. after you visit your doctor, he takes the time to check your physical standing based mostly on the family history you gave to him. The doctor can contemplate family history, as well as hereditary diseases. Your doctor can take family history into thought as he studies diagnostics, cures, prevention, and treatment to assist you avoid disease. As noted earlier, our body starts to refuse by age thirty five, that our sensory organs also will begin to require a rain check.

Go to the article to see the rest of this utterly incomprehensible tripe.

So, was this typed by a team of drug-crazed monkeys?  Is this brought to us as an inept product of Google Translation, rendered into "English" from the original Hungarian or Mongolian?  Was this produced by some very early beta version of an artificial intelligence program?  Has any person at Yahoo! ever laid eyes on this stuff?  Are there no editors there?

The byline attributes the text of this piece to "Dealfigure Entertainment."  What a solid decision Yahoo! has made in turning to Dealfigure for content!!  Here's a sampling of some of their other fine writing, currently available on Yahoo!  Again, absolutely verbatim.

From "The Work Hours in Healthy Aging Days"

Healthy aging is usually risky throughout your operating days. As a younger person you go where the money is at; then later you're sorry you worked there.  Aging is difficult to have faith in once you are in your younger years. cash is that the solely issue on our minds and generally that isn't smart. generally we've got to require what's out there to require care of our family and at a similar time, we have a tendency to may well be putting ourselves in peril soon.  We all have had to figure in places that weren't smart for your health however we've got to form a living to stay a roof over our heads. Some work places aren't smart to be in attributable to chemicals, dust, and smoke.

Or, from"Super Green Food Powder Benefits Making Good Things Better":

There are several edges to taking superfood powder. the first advantage of powder is that they're made up of food. this suggests that once we take them, our bodies enjoy the total vary of nutrients offered by that food. usually|this can be} vastly completely different from taking vitamins as a result of vitamins often concentrate on one specific nutrient (such as Vitamin C or Vitamin D). we have a tendency to|once we|after we} take superfood we are taking foods that have a spread of vitamins and minerals that profit the body, thus we have a tendency to are effectively obtaining additional nutrition from the food powder than we might from one vitamin. Taking these foods in powder type could be a nice short cut to boosting health. 

Really?  Is it too much to ask of major internet portals and content providers that they edit the nonsense they throw onto the web?  This is appalling. 

Consumers' Adoption of Technologies

Derek Thompson of The Atlantic posted an interesting item yesterday about the rate of adoption by consumers of various new technologies over the past century -- electricity, phones, automobiles, cellphones, etc.   The fascinating graph below is from that piece. 

How to Know if Your Dog is a Republican

It can be hard to know, unless you're tuned-in to the signs that are there.  Washington Post Magazine humorist Gene Weingarten offers help to American dog owners, by outing his own dog Murphy (in photo), who, Weingarten says, seems awfully Republican.  Here are some of the tidbits in an article I advise you to check out:

Some of the evidence is unsubtle and unsurprising: Like other Republicans, Murphy shows inappropriate interest in the reproductive systems of women she does not know, shamelessly sticking her nose into their business. It can be a problem on walks. But other things are more nuanced.

. . .

Like other Republicans, Murphy demands less government; she makes this position abundantly clear anytime I attempt to govern her behavior in any way inconsistent with her immediate desires, such as horking up maggoty chicken from the gutter, which she will do with subversive glee while in a protective crouch. She’s for eliminating federal agencies, particularly the U.S. Postal Service, a position she shares with Ron Paul and reconfirms once a day, impolitely, through the mail slot.

Good lord.  It appears even man's best friend can fall prey to the lure of the GOP.