December 2011
November 2011
“A related provision would create a federal statute saying the government has the legal authority to keep people suspected of terrorism in military custody, indefinitely and without trial. It contains no exception for American citizens. It is intended to bolster the authorization to use military force against the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which lawmakers enacted a decade ago.”
—Senate Approves Military Custody for Terror Suspects - NYTimes.com
“Twins joined at the head — the medical term is craniopagus — are one in 2.5 million, of which only a fraction survive. The way the girls’ brains formed beneath the surface of their fused skulls, however, makes them beyond rare: their neural anatomy is unique, at least in the annals of recorded scientific literature. Their brain images reveal what looks like an attenuated line stretching between the two organs, a piece of anatomy their neurosurgeon, Douglas Cochrane of British Columbia Children’s Hospital, has called a thalamic bridge, because he believes it links the thalamus of one girl to the thalamus of her sister. The thalamus is a kind of switchboard, a two-lobed organ that filters most sensory input and has long been thought to be essential in the neural loops that create consciousness. Because the thalamus functions as a relay station, the girls’ doctors believe it is entirely possible that the sensory input that one girl receives could somehow cross that bridge into the brain of the other. One girl drinks, another girl feels it.”
—Could siames twins share a mind?
“What we found is that once we’ve learned a word, it is placed in a purely visual dictionary in the brain. Having a purely visual representation allows for the fast and efficient word recognition we see in skilled readers,” Glezer said. “This study is the first demonstration of that concept.”
—Brain’s Visual ‘Dictionary’ Allows Speedy Reading | Reading Ability & Learning to Read | Dyslexia & Reading Disorders | LiveScience
Hello, Thanksgiving
I am thankful for countless things that I take for granted every day. My daily problems are minuscule compared to most of the world’s population who hunger, thirst, and strive for something better. I try to do the best I can at what I love doing: teaching people. My hope is that the people I interact with go away with at least one new thing they have learned and use that thing as a tool to make their lives, and the lives of those around them, better.
But if I had to pick just one thing, out of the millions I am thankful for today, it would be the fact that I can read. Books and libraries are so important to me, as they are to many of us, but on this Thanksgiving Eve I realize just how important they are. Books create my worlds, my ideas, and provide me with a lifeblood that no other physical, material object can.
So on this Thanksgiving weekend, make sure you pick up a book, sigh with relief, gratitude, and thanks that it exists. Then sit down, open it, and begin another journey.
Play
The Dependent Clause: WHO MOLDS YOUNG MEN BETTER?! →
thedependentclause.com
Click through for the whole list. Thank you, Jake. Brilliant.
Lord Ned Stark of Winterfell
-The hand of the king
-Wears a lot of fur
-”Winter is coming”
-Took in the bastard John Snow
-Let everyone have a pet direwolf
-Watched his sons practicing archery
-Made Bran witness an execution
-Stood up to the king in defense of his daughter because that prince is shitty
-Hates Jaime Lannister
-Killed a direwolf even though he didn’t want to
-Won’t talk to John Snow about his mother until the time is right
-Rode for King’s LandingCoach Eric Taylor of East Dillon, Texas
-Texas State Champion 2006
-Wears a lot of wraparound Oakleys
-”Never take your helmet off on my field again”
-Took in Tim Riggins that one time
-Let Julie have a pet Matt Saracen
-Helped rehabilitate Smash Williams’s knee himself
-Made the whole team run suicide sprints in the rain
-Stood up to Joe McCoy in defense of JD McCoy even though JD McCoy is shitty
-Love/Hates Buddy Garrity
-Spoke before the schoolboard even though he hates that stuff and his record speaks for itself
-Tends to not talk to anyone about anything until the time is right
-Wrote “State” on the dry erase board—Gabe Delahaye, “Coach Taylor vs. Ned Stark: Who Molds Young Men Better?” (Videogum)
Play
“Not to be overly pedantic, but talking is a kind of doing. Indeed, talking is primarily how one gets things done in politics. How does Mr Perry convey that he is a doer, and not a talker? By talking. What else is there? Interpretative dance? A presidential candidate unable to best a foe in a public exchange, or to communicate his position on a complex issue when the heat is on, is about as useful as a one-legged fullback. There’s a good reason Mr Perry’s embarrassing debate performances have left him trailing Herman Cain by 15 points in the polls not long after he entered the race with a comfortable lead: a candidate this feckless on his feet would be eaten alive by Barack Obama in the general-election debates.”
—Talking is Doing in Politics
“This fall is why we love baseball. If the Cards can rally from 10½ games back in late August to the postseason, from two runs down in the ninth and two more runs down in 10th, and come back to win when they twice were down to their final strike, there is hope for us all. And that’s what we should think about to pass the time. As Cubs fans will tell you, it’s never too early to start dreaming about next year. By the way, pitchers and catchers report in approximately 100 days.”
—2011 World Series: Why did the postseason have to end? - ESPN
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Poor Ava Carpenter couldn’t clear the tears from her eyes. She is 6 years old. A streak of red coursed through her blonde hair. Most of the Cardinals ladies, even the littlest ones, dyed at least one lock of hair. Ava wore red boots, too, and as proud as she was of her daddy and as tough as she was trying to be for his sake, she couldn’t get past the gigantic Cardinals mascot causing her waking nightmares.
“She hates Fredbird,” Alyson Carpenter said. “Instant terror.”
” —Pujols’ crossroads complicate Cardinals’ title - MLB - Yahoo! Sports