Umbriel

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• Commented on What's Your Christmas Card List Got to Do With the Development of the Human Brain?
  Libertarians have no problem with communities and social sharing. It's the means by which individuals are compelled to be a part of a particular community, and the means by which those communities are empowered to enforce their will on the...
• Commented on Galileo's fingers found
  It's a bit simplistic and harsh to say that the Vatican "hated" Galileo. There were, in fact, many of the more learned clergy who understood the truth of his observations, but felt he should keep his mouth shut, at least...
• Commented on Man to marry his video game girlfriend this Sunday
  >There is no drama or arguments. ... >They don't demand expensive gifts over and over. ... >They won’t get board of you or think of you as being annoying. ... >and they don't get mad at you for random reasons...
• Commented on Hiding Your Sexual Orientation From Your Parents 101 (teen-made video)
  As a non-practicing heterosexual male geek, I hid my sexual orientation from my parents, and pretty much everyone else in high school....
• Commented on Do chimps grieve?
  A display of grief, or at least concern, from social primates isn't all that surprising to me. I was more surprised a couple of years ago to see the apparent "funeral ritual" of hippopotami. Apparently the rest of the herd...
• Commented on The Chipmunks: From Rags to Riches
  There is such mention at the link. What's missing from the post is an elipsis......
• Commented on The American Spirit
  The statement "all religions have validity" doesn't mean that they agree or are correct in all, or even major, particulars. Mr. Horowitz' Gandhi quote indeed sums up the idea. Someone could believe that both Christianity and Islam "have validity" simply...
• Commented on Storm-sewer dwellers of Las Vegas
  There was a post here from Xeni two years ago -- http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/05/exploring-400-miles-.html -- about a book on the Vegas storm drain system and the wonders to be found there. Excerpts appeared in a local Vegas indy paper: http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2007/05/03/news/cover/iq_13874722.txt http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2007/05/03/news/cover/iq_13943774.txt ...so...
• Commented on Ethics of robots that kill
  If it's ethical to drop a bomb in hope of killing an enemy even if innocents might be harmed, then I fail to see how it's unethical to dispatch a robot to seek out and kill the specific target. Even...
• Commented on Building a mystery box
  What's your pleasure, sir?...
• Commented on Video about wannabee amputee
  Obligatory reference to a fascinating old Atlantic Monthly article on this subject and the broader context of psychological diagnoses: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200012/madness...
• Commented on Creepy unmarked cage for people in Superior, Colorado
  Here's a similar cage near a park and a mental hospital in Dover, NJ. http://www.weirdnj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=28 Apparently the story is that it's not actually connected with the mental hospital (contrary to local rumor) and in fact was the secure area of...
• Commented on Saving the tasty Mangalica pig from the brink of extinction -- so it can be eaten
  Who knew Miss Piggy was Spanish? 'course, her French was always pretty atrocious......
• Commented on The Pyramid of North Dakota
  Just like the pyramids of Egypt and Central America -- makes one consider just how much of human achievement has been inspired by fear and ignorance....
• Commented on Mathematically modelling phantom traffic jams
  @11 -- "Rubbernecking" or "Gaper Delay" exacerbates the communication problem you refer to, in that drivers are late to notice when traffic opens up ahead of them if they're gaping at an accident, or even just pulled over cars or...
• Commented on PETA pushes to halt Seattle fish mongers from tossing fish
  I, for one, would be eager to snap a photo if a gutted PETA member was sailing over my head....
• Commented on Knock Knock: Liquid Metal Breeching Rounds
  @5 -- Apparently some police are using them as the default load in their shotguns, for both door-opening and shooting at felons. The latter isn't just a matter of bloodlust -- police would ideally want a round with as little...
• Commented on Search algorithms are editorial decisions
  Attempting to make anything "public" by making it the responsibility of any governmental entity, _is_ the equivalent of entrusting it to a (hopefully) benevolent dictator. Choice is the best mechanism for ensuring public freedom, and the best way to ensure...
• Commented on Steampunk guitar amp
  @7 -- I think the ornamentation and style give it a Victorian vibe, even though the design tropes were still alive in the '20s alongside Art Deco. And it should, as @6 suggests, go to XI...
• Commented on Too much cola causes muscular weakness
  I chuckle as I swill down another 2 liter Mountain Dew....
• Commented on WWII Stalingrad diorama photos
  I'd go for the former, MDH. The history seems a bit loose. The captions reference SS troops, and some of the images show a Tiger tank, neither of which were present at the battle of Stalingrad. I rather wish there...
• Commented on Fake DHS "photography license" for fake no-photos laws
  Perhaps the EFF or ACLU would be willing to lend their authority and logos to this cause?...
• Commented on The Economist Gets Something Right
  If you check out Reason.com (which already has a lot of cross traffic with BoingBoing), you'll find that the hardcore pro-market libertarians over there are pretty darn critical of corporate welfare, eminent domain abuse, and the like, just as they're...
• Commented on Supermen! The potent, primitive four-color heroes of 1936-41
  That makes perfect sense. But I still prefer the image of the cops shaking the guy down and finding an incriminating bag of chips in his coat......
• Commented on Supermen! The potent, primitive four-color heroes of 1936-41
  I'm a little confused by the term "dip and drug addict" -- by "dip" do they mean snuff, or guacamole?...
• Commented on Nuclear launch center "blast door" art
  I don't know that the reciprocal deaths of millions of Soviet citizens would necessarily have sealed the death of humanity. There _is_ the whole southern hemisphere to consider....
• Commented on UK farm grows 1301 fluorescent light bulbs
  Two wild guess/hypotheses regarding a non-EMF reason for a correlation between power line proximity and Leukemia: 1) Inhaled trace ozone 2) Exposure to herbicides used to keep down weed & tree growth in the right of way...
• Commented on Oregon Passes Bill "Too Gross to Talk About"
  I know I've seen news items about individual pervs being arrested for assaults of this kind, but the "gang initiation" thing is a meme that gets tacked on to all kinds of imaginary threats to make them seen more menacing...
• Commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  Marvin Harris' earler "Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches" also explores this theme http://www.amazon.com/Cows-Pigs-Wars-Witches-Riddles/dp/0679724680...
• Commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  Marvin Harris' earler "Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches" also explores this theme: http://www.amazon.com/Cows-Pigs-Wars-Witches-Riddles/dp/0679724680 And I'm with Cicada, above, in recognizing the growth of "secular religion" -- People looking to civil law or government more generally for group identity, self-validation, or...