Informed Comment: Peace and Love in the Quran

Quranic exegesis from a genuine expert. I guess Cole is cherrypicking to some extent, and could probably make Islam look violent and xenophobic with the same tools -- just as one can with the bible. But the point for me is that, as all readers of such texts do, he's finding what he's looking for. This is a nice counterpoint to the mainstream Western presentation of Islam.

Michael Berube, International Professor of Danger: Sadness

Again, just read this. For those who don't already read MB, his son Jamie has trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome); Prof Berube's writing about Jamie is truly extraordinary.

One Good Thing: letter to alex and chris

Wow. Just -- wow. Go read this. Holy shit. *shakes head* Holy shit.

zmachine_sandia_big.jpg (JPEG Image, 2400x1586 pixels)

Sandia's Z machine has produced plasmas that exceed temperatures of 2 billion degrees Kelvin -- hotter than the interiors of stars. No one quite knows how. The linked picture shows the machine firing, but I assume that's not how it looks at max power.

Those with thick accents need not apply?

MN to join ND, TX, and PA in outlawing foreign TAs. Right, because Merkins will never have to talk to any damn furriners after they leave school. What country is this again?

linklog archive, aka my Ma.gnolia account