Is that supposed to be wrong?

Nate Silver is a mathematician for the New York Times known for his remarkably accurate election poll predictions, far better than any previously seen in the world of poll predicting.  Because of his accuracy he's an unusually controversial figure for the typically staid world of mathematicians (except for those who work in climate science).  Recently the co-editors of Politico accused Silver of "trying to use numbers to prove stuff".  Oh my stars and garters, can you imagine that?

A mathematician.

Using numbers to prove stuff.

Oh, the horror!

I guess he was supposed to use pigeon entrails instead?  Or tea leaves?

Why the next thing you know cooks will be using food, musicians using notes, and writers using *gasp* words!   Where will the madness end?

Slow

Had a traumatic cognitive breakthrough-type thing last month.  Useful in the long run, stressful in the short.  Completely physically and emotionally exhausted right now.  Trying to write about it.  That'll be a long post.  Have a series of short posts to get out of the way first, to clear the decks.  Hopefully before I start posting those I'll have regained the ability to type complete sentences.

Pretty Frazzled Right Now

Not bad but harried.  Will post more when circumstances (and I) calm down.

Pinning Down a Dream

For about ten years I've been longing for a website that would collect information on plus size athletes, dancers, and fitness instructors.  I get so tired of seeing stupid people spout off about how anyone who is plus sized must be out of shape, and I wanted one link I could use to refute their misconceptions.  So I made one on Pinterest.  Introducing Power Women: Plus Size Fitness Role Models.

Please let me know if there's someone I should include.  I may copy the whole thing over to Tumblr for greater exposure, but I'm not sure.  What do y'all think?

April Timeline

April 19, 1775 -- "The shot heard round the world" begins the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the American Revolution.  Commemorated in Maine and Massachusetts on the third  as Patriot's Day with the holding of baseball games in Fenway Park and the running of the Boston Marathon.  Also commemorated by Tea Partiers, "Patriot" groups, and white supremacists in less wholesome ways.

April 20, 1889 -- Birth date of Adolf Hitler.  Commemorated by white supremacists and other pond scum.  In America these commemorations are often combined with Patriot's Day.

April 15, 1955 -- Income tax returns are set as due annually on this date or the nearest next business day for most people living in America.  Protested by anti-government groups and other pond scum.

April 19, 1985 -- FBI raids the compound of The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) in Arkansas, a reactionary white supremacist Christian group wanted in connection with several murders with no loss of life on their major holiday, the 210th anniversary of "the shot heard round the world".

April 19, 1993 -- FBI raids the compound of the Branch Davidians, another reactionary Christian group with outstanding arrest warrants, hoping to recreate their success with the CSA.  Instead, 76 adults and children die.  Both raids are commemorated by other reactionaries around the country.

April 19, 1995 -- Right-wing nutcase Timothy McVeigh bombs the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in retaliation for the Branch Davidian raid.  The most destructive terrorist act on American soil until 9/11, it kills 168 adults and children.

April 20, 1999 -- Junior right-wing nutcases Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 children, a teacher, and themselves at Columbine High School in an attempt to outdo Timothy McVeigh.  It's the worst American public school massacre -- until this winter.

April 16, 2007 -- Unable to handle stress and the "frightening prospect" of being "turned out into the world of work, finances, responsibilities, and a family," (according to the official review) college nutcase Seung-Hui Cho kills 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech in the worst massacre at an American college in modern times.  No one knows if he was commemorating Patriot's Day or just panicking over the end of the school year.

April 15, 2013 -- The Boston Marathon Massacre.

Yo.  You think we could maybe have a serious discussion on domestic terrorism in this country?  Or is everyone gonna stuff their heads in the sand and act all shocked, shocked, SHOCKED the next time blood flows in the third week of April?

In 2014 Patriot's Day falls on April 21.  Mark your calendar.

Preacher Wants to Enslave Non-Christians

Source.

In a recently posted You Tube sermon, the pastor of Chalcedon Presbyterian Church, Dr. Joe Morecraft says in a Biblical society, the godly must own “the fool who despises God’s wisdom” because it’s the only way to keep those with a “slave mentality” from ruining other people’s families.
Based on Proverbs 11:29, Morecraft makes a case for Biblically justified enslavement of a man who does not “trust in Christ” since slavery is the only way to “keep a fool under wraps.”
The dominionist pastor interprets the Proverb to predict that in a Christian theocracy, an unbeliever will “lose his family, his property, and his freedom,” and “his energies, talents and life will not be used as he himself pleases, but in the service of wise people who work hard to benefit the community.”
“Put him in somebody’s service where they can watch over him and make him do right even though he doesn’t want to do it.”
According to Pastor Morecraft, the consequences of being a “foolish person who is unwilling to live by the Word of God” is to “become a slave of somebody who is godly and who is wise.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSBauI1ETX4

Coming Up For Air

The family's been down with a seasonal bug.  Regular Life (TM) will resume at some later date.