tingilinde

zeynep's realization

America has become a police state... 

She has a great deal of personal experience with this.

 

 

 

 

what if wes anderson made a commercial - for real?

He did

a bee!

Another mechanical flying marvel from Festo

a tip of the hat to Greg

 

vaccination works

Especially for children.

 

animals on life

Covers over the years.

 

a hacking story

On the hacking of Voyager 1 to recover its ability to send useful data.

a tip of the hat to Bjarne

Also this bit on the centrally important antenna near Canberra

 

 

 

on bastards

It's more complex than you may have imagined

snip

...

As I am finding, analysis of the language of illegitimate birth reveals a rich, complex vocabulary used to indicate something less than fully legitimate birth. Terminology included both new and old words, plucked from ancient sources or transliterated from medieval vernacular languages. We find this terminology in the widest range of medieval sources, used to describe contemporaries, ancestors, and biblical and even mythological figures. Definitions vary over time and space, but also depending on the context, the kind of source, and, of course, authorial intentions.

Today we use the term bastard as an insult, or to describe children born outside lawful marriage. Before the thirteenth century, definitions of illegitimate birth offer more complexity and flexibility. In analyzing the language of illegitimate birth as it appears in medieval sources, we can identify three main concerns, which sometimes overlapped and were, on occasion, quite willfully conflated: social status, paternity, and marital status. Prior to the thirteenth century, the marital status of the parents had far less importance for royal succession than we might expect. Instead, attention largely focused on a child’s mother, her social status, and her sexual morals.

...

 

 

on the threat propaganda poses to american democracy

From Anne Applebaum

 a short introduction to her pay-walled long form piece in The Atlantic.

a tip of the hat to Jim

 

 

a most clever way of displaying the phases of the moon

A great example from Greg Blonder

 

why evangelicals see his sexual abuse as a feature

Along with other broken commandments.  it makes him a hero to them. 

snip

...

And yet, at the same time, it is something that is reflective of just being a natural man, being a red-blooded male that God made to initiate sexually. And so if you were to enter into a men’s accountability group or some kind of community group at an evangelical church, and you were to say, “You know what, guys, I don’t really understand where you’re coming from: I’ve never struggled with this temptation. I’ve never looked at porn. I’ve never masturbated. I’ve never been attracted to that at all. And, frankly, y’all are weird.” They would look at you as if you are the weird one. Like, “What is wrong with you? Are you asexual? Are you a closeted homosexual? Like, is this something that you are not attracted to women?” Because it’s such a common part of evangelical male life to struggle and fight against lust and sexual sin.

In that sense, Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels makes him relatable. Because the battle with lust is something that every Christian man is supposed to deal with.

They’re supposed to be pursuing sex; God made them to do that so that they can make more babies — arrows in the warriors’ quiver for the kingdom.

...

 a tip of the hat to Jim