Friday, April 4, 2008
Who Said?
“The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world. This is not at all as rude and unmodern as it sounds."
We are here! We are HERE! WE ARE HERE!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89318829
All Things Considered, April 2, 2008 · I don't know what sins Dr. Seuss committed in his life to be doomed to have Jim Carrey star in movie adaptations of his books. But I came out of Horton Hears a Who, with my wife and my three excited and happy daughters, irritated by something even more annoying than Carrey's tics. In a new subplot added by the filmmakers, the mayor of Whoville has 96 daughters. He has one son. Guess who gets all his attention? Guess who saves the day? Go ahead, think about it, I'll wait.
Best essay I've read in a long time.
All Things Considered, April 2, 2008 · I don't know what sins Dr. Seuss committed in his life to be doomed to have Jim Carrey star in movie adaptations of his books. But I came out of Horton Hears a Who, with my wife and my three excited and happy daughters, irritated by something even more annoying than Carrey's tics. In a new subplot added by the filmmakers, the mayor of Whoville has 96 daughters. He has one son. Guess who gets all his attention? Guess who saves the day? Go ahead, think about it, I'll wait.
Best essay I've read in a long time.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Potential Astronauts
We were accomplished pilots who, the early 1960s, trained to become astronauts. We underwent the same rigorous physical testing that Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Wally Schirra underwent.
After passing those tests, we prepared to report to Pensacola, Florida, to undergo advanced aeromedical examinations using military equipment and jet aircraft. A few days before we were due to report, however, the testing was cancelled because the Navy would not allow the use of their facilities for an unofficial project without an official NASA request to run the tests.
In 1962 public hearings commenced before a special Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics regarding our case. A NASA representative, along with astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, testified that we could not qualify as astronaut candidates, claiming that NASA required all astronauts to be graduates of military jet test piloting programs and have engineering degrees, even though John Glenn himself did not have an engineering degree when he was selected. None of us were graduates of military piloting progams, however, several of us had been employed as civilian test pilots, at least one had jet flying time, one was an engineer, and most had considerably more flying time than the astronauts that had been selected for the Mercury 7 mission.
Who are we?
After passing those tests, we prepared to report to Pensacola, Florida, to undergo advanced aeromedical examinations using military equipment and jet aircraft. A few days before we were due to report, however, the testing was cancelled because the Navy would not allow the use of their facilities for an unofficial project without an official NASA request to run the tests.
In 1962 public hearings commenced before a special Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics regarding our case. A NASA representative, along with astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, testified that we could not qualify as astronaut candidates, claiming that NASA required all astronauts to be graduates of military jet test piloting programs and have engineering degrees, even though John Glenn himself did not have an engineering degree when he was selected. None of us were graduates of military piloting progams, however, several of us had been employed as civilian test pilots, at least one had jet flying time, one was an engineer, and most had considerably more flying time than the astronauts that had been selected for the Mercury 7 mission.
Who are we?
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Heads of Government
Is it March again already? It took me by surprise this year. Anyway, here we go with another new game.
Which of the following sets of countries have all had a female head of government either elected or appointed?
1- Iceland, Norway, San Marino.
2- The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia.
3- Lithuania, Ireland, France.
4- New Zealand, Bermuda, Turkey.
5- Pakistan, India, Bangladesh.
Which of the following sets of countries have all had a female head of government either elected or appointed?
1- Iceland, Norway, San Marino.
2- The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia.
3- Lithuania, Ireland, France.
4- New Zealand, Bermuda, Turkey.
5- Pakistan, India, Bangladesh.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Quick quote quiz
Who said, “A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless. All a woman has to do is put you on hold.”
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Quick quote quiz
Who said, "Dumb blonde jokes don't bother me, because I know I'm not dumb. And I know I'm not blonde"?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Physicist
I split the atom, and my partner got a Nobel Prize for it.
I was born in Austria in 1878 to a family of non-practicing Jews. As a young adult, I was baptized Lutheran.
I entered the University of Vienna in 1901 and obtained my PhD in 1906. Then I was drawn to the study of radioactivity.
In 1917, while I was still in my thirties, I was given my own physics section in the prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry. In 1934, my partner, Otto Hahn, a chemist, and I investigated the very heart of the atom, its nucleus.
Unfortunately, my rise in the scientific world coincided with Adolf Hitler’s political rise.
Although I was of Jewish descent, I had been baptized a Protestant and loved my country. Nevertheless, I was dismissed from teaching and my name was suppressed. I hung on without protest, hoping the unpleasantness would be temporary. But as restrictions on "non-Aryan" academics tightened, I finally slipped across the border with only a small valise carrying a few summer clothes. I was 59. I continued to advise Hahn through letters from Sweden.
At my direction from afar, Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann more closely analyzed the byproducts of the neutron-bombardment experiments. To their amazement, the elements weren't heavier than uranium, but lighter. "Perhaps you can come up with some sort of fantastic explanation," Hahn wrote me. Within days, collaborating with my nephew Otto Robert Frisch, also a noted physicist, I worked out a theoretical model of nuclear fission.
Hahn published the chemical evidence for fission without listing me as a co-author, possibly because of the political situation in Nazi Germany, or possibly because he convinced himself that he had not been inspired or guided by me.
Historically, I came to be known as Hahn's junior assistant, when in reality I had been his equal partner at the Institute for 30 years.
With my name missing from the key experimental paper on nuclear fission (previously Hahn and I always shared the credit for our joint efforts), Hahn alone received the 1944 Nobel Prize for chemistry.
With the passing of time, my reputation was resurrected, and in 1966 Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, and Itogether were awarded the Enrico Fermi Award. I also received the Max Planck Medal of the German Physics Society in 1949.
My legacy is instead a permanent abode on the periodic table. In 1994 an international commission agreed that element 109, artificially created in Germany by slamming bismuth with iron ions, will be named after me.
I was born in Austria in 1878 to a family of non-practicing Jews. As a young adult, I was baptized Lutheran.
I entered the University of Vienna in 1901 and obtained my PhD in 1906. Then I was drawn to the study of radioactivity.
In 1917, while I was still in my thirties, I was given my own physics section in the prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry. In 1934, my partner, Otto Hahn, a chemist, and I investigated the very heart of the atom, its nucleus.
Unfortunately, my rise in the scientific world coincided with Adolf Hitler’s political rise.
Although I was of Jewish descent, I had been baptized a Protestant and loved my country. Nevertheless, I was dismissed from teaching and my name was suppressed. I hung on without protest, hoping the unpleasantness would be temporary. But as restrictions on "non-Aryan" academics tightened, I finally slipped across the border with only a small valise carrying a few summer clothes. I was 59. I continued to advise Hahn through letters from Sweden.
At my direction from afar, Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann more closely analyzed the byproducts of the neutron-bombardment experiments. To their amazement, the elements weren't heavier than uranium, but lighter. "Perhaps you can come up with some sort of fantastic explanation," Hahn wrote me. Within days, collaborating with my nephew Otto Robert Frisch, also a noted physicist, I worked out a theoretical model of nuclear fission.
Hahn published the chemical evidence for fission without listing me as a co-author, possibly because of the political situation in Nazi Germany, or possibly because he convinced himself that he had not been inspired or guided by me.
Historically, I came to be known as Hahn's junior assistant, when in reality I had been his equal partner at the Institute for 30 years.
With my name missing from the key experimental paper on nuclear fission (previously Hahn and I always shared the credit for our joint efforts), Hahn alone received the 1944 Nobel Prize for chemistry.
With the passing of time, my reputation was resurrected, and in 1966 Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, and Itogether were awarded the Enrico Fermi Award. I also received the Max Planck Medal of the German Physics Society in 1949.
My legacy is instead a permanent abode on the periodic table. In 1994 an international commission agreed that element 109, artificially created in Germany by slamming bismuth with iron ions, will be named after me.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Runner
I won the Badwater ultra marathon in 2002 and 2003. The Badwater ultra marathon, considered the world’s toughest running event, is a 135 mile (215 km) course starting at 282 feet (85 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. There is a cumulative elevation gain of 13,000 feet (4,000 m). It usually takes place in July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 F (49 C) in the shade are not uncommon.
The first time I won, in 2002, I finished over four and half hours before the second place winner, Darren Worts, who was ten years younger than me. I was 41.
The first time I won, in 2002, I finished over four and half hours before the second place winner, Darren Worts, who was ten years younger than me. I was 41.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Primatologists
1- I am the world's leading authority on orangutans, and have spent over thirty years in Borneo observing them in the wild. I am a professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and 'Professor Extraordinaire' at Indonesia's Universitas Nasional in Jakarta. I am also president of the Orangutan Foundation International in Los Angeles, California.
As for my personal life, after many years in the field, I divorced my spouse and married a scantily-clad native.
2- I spent many years studying mountain gorillas in Rwanda. When I went to Africa for the first time, I had my appendix removed preemptively so that I wouldn't suffer appendicitis while in the jungle. I was murdered in 1985, probably by poachers, but my murder remains unsolved. My story was told in the dramatic 1988 Movie Gorillas in the Mist.
3- I have spent 45 years studying chimpanzees. One of my major contributions to the field of primatology was the discovery of tool-making in chimpanzees. Though many animals had been observed using "tools", previously, only humans were thought to make tools, and tool-making was considered the defining difference between humans and other animals. This discovery convinced several scientists to reconsider their definition of being human.
As for my personal life, after many years in the field, I divorced my spouse and married a scantily-clad native.
2- I spent many years studying mountain gorillas in Rwanda. When I went to Africa for the first time, I had my appendix removed preemptively so that I wouldn't suffer appendicitis while in the jungle. I was murdered in 1985, probably by poachers, but my murder remains unsolved. My story was told in the dramatic 1988 Movie Gorillas in the Mist.
3- I have spent 45 years studying chimpanzees. One of my major contributions to the field of primatology was the discovery of tool-making in chimpanzees. Though many animals had been observed using "tools", previously, only humans were thought to make tools, and tool-making was considered the defining difference between humans and other animals. This discovery convinced several scientists to reconsider their definition of being human.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Bogeyman
I am famous for being an atheist, likely the most famous and most-despised atheist in America. My name is constantly circling on spurious Internet petitions although I have been dead since 1995.
I was born in 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I graduated from Rossford High School in Rossford, Ohio. I enlisted and served in the military in Europe during WWII. I got a BA from Ashland College (now University) and a law degree from South Texas College of Law.
During the 1950s I attended Socialist Workers Party meetings while living in Baltimore townhouse with my sons, parents and brother. In 1959 I applied for Soviet citizenship. The following year, after receiving no response, my two sons and I traveled by ship to Europe with the intention of defecting to the Soviet embassy in Paris and living in the Soviet Union. The Soviets refused us entry, and we returned to Baltimore in 1960.
One day my thirteen-year-old son William told me that he could no longer, in good conscience, participate in reciting coerced prayers in school. We talked it over, and William decided that he would ask the school to excuse him from the daily ritual. The school refused.
In 1960 I filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore school district in which I claimed it was unconstitutional for my son William to participate in Bible readings in public schools. In 1963 this suit reached the United States Supreme Court which voted 8-1 in my favor, effectively banning "coercive" public prayer and Bible-reading at public schools in the United States.
Following the Supreme Court decision, I founded American Atheists, a nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of non-believers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.
In 1995 I disappeared mysteriously from my house and there was speculation that I had run off with hundreds of thousands of dollars of my organization’s money. However, several months later police were able to prove definitely that I had been murdered by an ex-convict who worked in our offices.
I achieved posthumous notoriety among users of the Internet through an urban legend. An e-mail claimed I was attempting to get TV programs such as Touched by an Angel and all TV programs that mention God taken off the air. It cited a petition RM-2493 to the FCC which had nothing to do with me, and which was denied in 1975, concerning the prevention of educational radio channels being used for religious broadcasting. A variant acknowledging my death was circulating in 2003, still warning about a threat to Touched by An Angel months after the program's last episode had been aired. In 2006 similar e-mails were still being reported, eleven years after my disappearance and long after my confirmed death.
I was born in 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I graduated from Rossford High School in Rossford, Ohio. I enlisted and served in the military in Europe during WWII. I got a BA from Ashland College (now University) and a law degree from South Texas College of Law.
During the 1950s I attended Socialist Workers Party meetings while living in Baltimore townhouse with my sons, parents and brother. In 1959 I applied for Soviet citizenship. The following year, after receiving no response, my two sons and I traveled by ship to Europe with the intention of defecting to the Soviet embassy in Paris and living in the Soviet Union. The Soviets refused us entry, and we returned to Baltimore in 1960.
One day my thirteen-year-old son William told me that he could no longer, in good conscience, participate in reciting coerced prayers in school. We talked it over, and William decided that he would ask the school to excuse him from the daily ritual. The school refused.
In 1960 I filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore school district in which I claimed it was unconstitutional for my son William to participate in Bible readings in public schools. In 1963 this suit reached the United States Supreme Court which voted 8-1 in my favor, effectively banning "coercive" public prayer and Bible-reading at public schools in the United States.
Following the Supreme Court decision, I founded American Atheists, a nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of non-believers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.
In 1995 I disappeared mysteriously from my house and there was speculation that I had run off with hundreds of thousands of dollars of my organization’s money. However, several months later police were able to prove definitely that I had been murdered by an ex-convict who worked in our offices.
I achieved posthumous notoriety among users of the Internet through an urban legend. An e-mail claimed I was attempting to get TV programs such as Touched by an Angel and all TV programs that mention God taken off the air. It cited a petition RM-2493 to the FCC which had nothing to do with me, and which was denied in 1975, concerning the prevention of educational radio channels being used for religious broadcasting. A variant acknowledging my death was circulating in 2003, still warning about a threat to Touched by An Angel months after the program's last episode had been aired. In 2006 similar e-mails were still being reported, eleven years after my disappearance and long after my confirmed death.
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