It’s almost becoming a cliché that America hasn’t been so divided since the Civil War. Trump didn’t create that, he merely exploited and exacerbated it, which is bad enough by itself to deserve a bum rap from history. Biden promised to bring us back together, and I think he sincer[...]
Archive for July 5th, 2021
July 5th, 2021 - 2:41 pm § in Science
What if we’re alone?
Are we alone? The correct answer is: We don’t know. There are billions of galaxies, each with millions or billions of stars, so there likely are trillions of planets, at least some hospitable to life. Therefore, as a matter of statistical probability, the odds intelligent life exists only here[...]
July 5th, 2021 - 2:04 pm § in Misc.
PHOTOGRAPHY: What city dwellers never see
Amateur astronomers longingly speak of “dark skies.” Which don’t exist east of the Mississippi River (see map here), or if you live in a city, as most of us do. But I don’t know if the night sky ever looked like this anywhere; a camera sees a lot more than the human eye does,[...]
“Do your homework”
How history is taught in public schools is now a battleground in the culture wars. (It shouldn’t be overlooked that political interference with lesson plans is now also spilling over into public universities, but that’s beyond today’s topic, and won’t be covered here.) As alw[...]