tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-235155 2009-07-16T00:01:00-05:00 Cerebral Table Talk TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01157117982d970c 2009-07-16T00:01:00-05:00 2009-07-16T07:39:38-05:00

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is a long time champion of "sanctity of human life." He is a staunch opponent of abortion and since his conversion to Catholicism, also of the death penalty, except in rare cases. It is not surprising...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0115720c55b9970b 2009-07-16T00:00:00-05:00 2009-07-16T00:48:54-05:00

The cat obviously is enjoying the monkey business. (thanks to Namit Arora for the link) And more about cats and how they have "tapped into human biases" to their own advantage.

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01157112ddac970c 2009-07-15T08:00:00-05:00 2009-07-16T07:34:18-05:00

I happened to catch parts of Tuesday's Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The most fascinating exchange of the day took place when Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) questioned the judge. Sessions, a southern right winger, whose own nomination to...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011570faad72970c 2009-07-15T00:00:00-05:00 2009-07-15T00:10:07-05:00

Readers may remember this book review about the Crypto Jews of Spain and Portugal. Their stories were a complicated maze of religious faith, persecution and conversion under duress. Above all, their history was also about tenaciously and secretly holding on...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571fe0e8a970b 2009-07-14T00:00:00-05:00 2009-07-13T11:43:12-05:00

Having failed in their attempt to inject religion into science education, Texas conservatives have shifted their attention to the state's elementary school social studies curriculum. According to some, school children need no longer learn about national figures such as George...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571fe3f36970b 2009-07-13T11:55:41-05:00 2009-07-13T11:55:41-05:00

1. I imagine the average music listener has as much trouble teasing apart the different musical lines, instruments and voices in a symphony (say) as I do. Why isn't there a product category on the market where the different voices...

D tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571fc3f2f970b 2009-07-13T00:05:00-05:00 2009-07-13T10:51:03-05:00

An article in the Wall Street Journal sheds light on the other side of the Iranian Green Revolution - the mindset of the enforcers of the status quo. The Basij paramilitary force has been deployed widely by the ruling regime...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571fbb6e0970b 2009-07-12T21:08:04-05:00 2009-07-12T21:08:04-05:00

We've all seen it. We've probably all seen the video, which clearly shows that there is -- or should be -- no controversy. More entertainingly, to my mind, is how it created yet one more great opportunity to mock Ann...

Joe tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571eed164970b 2009-07-10T11:40:18-05:00 2009-07-10T11:40:18-05:00

The Misunderstanding I did not say: You are nothing to me; I said the hummingbird, the anglerfish are not amazed at themselves. I did not say: I have forgotten you; but that every day a man finds more things that...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011570ee3e4b970c 2009-07-09T03:50:41-05:00 2009-07-09T09:28:31-05:00

A photo I took of some Uighur men, at their request, on the Southern Silk Road in Summer 2006. More photos here. Some ruminations after the break. I have been sickened over the past few days by the deteriorating conditions...

AnnaLevine tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571d7ebe9970b 2009-07-08T00:12:44-05:00 2009-07-08T00:12:44-05:00

In a recent landmark ruling Delhi's highest court has decriminalized homosexual sex among consenting adults in India's capital. NEW DELHI —In a landmark ruling Thursday that could usher in an era of greater freedom for gay men and lesbians in...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011570e2fb53970c 2009-07-08T00:00:00-05:00 2009-07-07T23:54:11-05:00

I haven't posted here for a while - probably the longest time since the inception of the blog. I don't know how that has affected regular readership. Although A.B. is not a personal blog, this article about slow and moribund...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011570c124b9970c 2009-07-04T06:26:30-05:00 2009-07-04T06:44:23-05:00

Every now and then, I see something going on in American politics, and then pause to think "Haven't I seen a similar scenario, before , only a continent away and 10 years ago?" Then,regional politics in India: Jayalalitha: brought in...

Sujatha tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571a9479b970b 2009-07-03T01:02:13-05:00 2009-07-03T01:02:13-05:00

Bringing new meaning to navel gazing and much, much more, is NCBI ROFL. Am I just giving a shout out to a friend's blog? No -- I'm giving a shout out to a friend's blog that posts abstracts from real...

Joe tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011570b03d3f970c 2009-07-02T14:30:23-05:00 2009-07-02T14:30:23-05:00

1. Minnesota finally has its fair share of representation in the U.S. Senate, assuming we think a system that gives Montana and California the same number of senators is fair. But at least Minnesota's now caught up with important places...

Joe tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011571946460970b 2009-06-30T19:50:02-05:00 2009-07-01T00:54:11-05:00

One of the out-of-left-field suprises in jazz last year was the album Kinsmen, by Indian-American saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. As a self-deprecating ethnic joke, his brother had given him a CD called "Saxophone Indian Style" -- but when Mahanthappa listened to...

Andrew Rosenblum tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef011570940435970c 2009-06-29T15:45:11-05:00 2009-06-29T15:44:37-05:00

It is a just and proper convention we use in naming authors and thinkers that the immortals have only last names. After all, to name an author is to enter into a game where we are to rank them in...

D tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0115716f7e88970b 2009-06-27T06:36:00-05:00 2009-06-27T07:29:16-05:00

RIP, Michael Jackson. ------------ Buzz Aldrin wanted to be the first Moonwalker, but thwarted, in the final moments, by simple logistics. "In the end the decision came down to logistics. The lunar landing craft's hatch was located on Armstrong's side....

Sujatha tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68372319 2009-06-22T12:49:05-05:00 2009-06-22T12:49:05-05:00

Bloggers can continue to rave and rant about anything that suits their fancy. But now the Federal Trade Commission plans to monitor their claims, especially if money or freebies are changing hands. Savvy consumers often go online for independent consumer...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68317337 2009-06-22T00:00:00-05:00 2009-06-21T00:14:33-05:00

Summer has arrived early in Houston this year. June, usually a much cooler month than July and August, is sizzling. Most years around this time, it feels more like late spring or early summer with temperatures in the mid to...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68310863 2009-06-21T00:00:00-05:00 2009-06-21T00:00:00-05:00

President Obama on fatherhood. Happy Father's Day to the dads among our readers.

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68269647 2009-06-18T22:48:40-05:00 2009-06-18T22:48:40-05:00

If only the problems of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel-Palestine, N. Korea and the Republican right were as easy to swat away! (Link via a friend's e-mail)

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68088935 2009-06-14T07:32:36-05:00 2009-06-19T15:59:41-05:00

Much discussion is on in the media and blogosphere over the violent clashes in the aftermath of the Iranian elections. Was the election rigged or not? A collection of interesting links and stories: In which Juan Cole thinks that it's...

Sujatha tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68005391 2009-06-11T18:37:23-05:00 2009-06-12T00:04:33-05:00

Some snippy conservative twit outed Publius, of Obsidian Wings fame (measured relative to the blogosphere, of course, which still puts him WAY behind that guy in his mother's basement who suggested some baseball player in Philadelphia might be using PEDs,...

Joe tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68003347 2009-06-11T17:12:16-05:00 2009-06-11T17:12:16-05:00

I just love this quote: "How dare she be smart and aggressive? Wait, she’s a lawyer and a judge."

Joe tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67682383 2009-06-11T06:45:38-05:00 2009-06-11T09:11:52-05:00

It seems Alvin Plantinga has written a popular account of his evolutionary argument against naturalism, viz. that evolution selects beliefs for survival value, not truth, so that while our beliefs may be useful we've no reason to think them true....

D tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67955507 2009-06-10T14:48:12-05:00 2009-06-10T15:04:58-05:00

Last month, Alex Ross contributed a worthy and encouraging account of Salonen's long career with the LA Philharmonic and his recent departure from the musical leadership of the orchestra. Salonen really is a marvelous musician, composer, and conductor, but as...

Dean Rowan tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67772207 2009-06-07T08:56:54-05:00 2009-06-07T08:56:54-05:00

I will be posting very infrequently in the month of June. Unless my co-bloggers find the time to write, there will be little new material on the blog until the middle of July.

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67613653 2009-06-04T11:34:07-05:00 2009-06-04T12:20:46-05:00

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court has been characterized by right wing rabblerousers as a racist and a militant femme. She has caught a lot of flak, particularly for one statement she made in a 2001...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67605823 2009-06-03T18:14:15-05:00 2009-06-03T18:14:15-05:00

Last week, Ruchira featured an article by Matthew Crawford about the redemptive value of manual labor. My comment begins, "Crawford is full of it." Read the comment if you care to know why I think so. Now, thanks to Ron...

Dean Rowan