The Cranky ProfessorYou type, and I tell you why 4,500 years of written history shows you're wrong.When Smart People Write Silly Things- June 23, 2008 Its hard to take all this seriously if you know any conservatives, just as its hard to take Lakoffs neurodeterminism seriously if you know any science. As he acknowledges, current brain-imaging technology is far too crude to see specific neural activity. Cores Narrative structures Issue-to-worldview binding Its all speculation. Lakoffs historical claims are easier to assess. Theyre demonstrably false. In his quest to explain the 21st century, he seems to have forgotten the 20th. He writes that.http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001647.html Vote for me for Fascist Dictator . . .- June 23, 2008 . . . and I will set you free from competing style guides! What IS it with journals with their own house styleshttp://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001646.html It's a small world!- June 23, 2008 So I'm watching an Ealing comedy, The Captain's Paradise, when a face strikes me as all too familiar. IMDB to the rescue - and yes, the Captain's hot Spanish wife in Ceuta (or its fictional double) IS Lily Munster.http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001645.html China and pollution- June 21, 2008 Here's an interesting and remarkably optimistic article from the Atlantic about China and the environment.http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001644.html Lake Ontario archaeology- June 19, 2008 The National Geographic has a photo set of the British vessel from the Revolutionary War found on the bottom of Lake Ontario - really great photos - look at the level of preservation!http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001643.html Reduce, reuse, recycle- June 18, 2008 Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month 1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration. In the wake of becoming the most well-known global warming alarmist, Gore won an Oscar, a Grammy and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, Gore saw his...http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001642.html How they get away with it- June 17, 2008 Inside Higher Ed has a first person thing from a person who, after 20 years as an adjunct, has just been offered a tenure track position. Some have asked why I continued to teach as a part-timer if things were so tough, and to be honest, every spring I begin asking myself that same question. In fact, I have left teaching twice. The first time I was offered a position as a business manager for a corporation that owns travel stops throughout the Southwest. The money was good, the hours were...http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001641.html Summertime and the bikin' is easy- June 16, 2008 Summertime and the bikin' is easy Originally uploaded by Michael Tinkler. This doesn't always work - but I was camera-less and headed north on Main Street when I saw this. 15 minutes later I was back with a camera and the bikes were still there . . . gosh Geneva is a beautiful place in June! If your eyes are as poor as mine you might want to click for the larger version and see why I wanted the picture.http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001640.html Talking about . . . religion, education, professors, a core curriculum, Darwin- June 13, 2008 Go read this interview with a Univ of Chicago professor. All of it. I can't find the heart to comment, but I'll pull out some quotations to tempt you: And so I specialized in religions that are dead, which has the great advantage that nobody talks back. No one says, Thats not what I heard last Sunday! Everybodys dead. And I like that. Now, I sometimes have to deal with religions that keep going. And theyre more problematic because then you deal with people who believe things. They also find..http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001639.html Molecular Archaeology- June 13, 2008 The things Google News turns up! My sorting word was archaeology, but here comes an article on medicine - and if the cure for my allergies comes from chicken immune systems, fine with me! Of course there's this little paragraph: "If we can secure funding for a further three years to work on IgY and pinpoint the target, the results could then be applied to IgE. A successful drug molecule would need at least a further five years development by a pharmaceutical company." Several years of...http://www.crankyprofessor.com/archives/001638.html |