another setback for cryonics

French court rules that frozen couple must be buried (BBC).

According to French law, a corpse must be buried, cremated or donated to science.

A naïf like me might suppose that a longterm scientific experiment, even if performed by amateurs, satisfies the spirit of the law . . .

Prosecutor Jean-Frederic Lamouroux argued last week that the couple’s removal from their refrigerated chambers was an “issue of public order and public health.”

. . . and that a freezer is more sanitary than a graveyard, not to mention in the best interest of the health (if any) of two members of the public.

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author, author!

Yesterday a stranger asked me out of the blue – perhaps because she saw a book in my hand – whether I happened to know the name of the author of the book Nigger which was recently mentioned on Oprah. I happened to see it later; in case that stranger is reading this, the author is Randall Kennedy.

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for a chuckle on your way to hell

Seen today at Dr Comics & Mr Games: 79 titles by Jack Chick in one convenient package for $19.99 !

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learn something new every day

I check this site periodically: Howstuffworks “Articles of the Day”. Current articles: revolvers, amplifiers, fire extinguishers, slot machines, lithography, light bulbs, instant film, elevators, gasoline, organ translpants, LEDs, grenades, sewing machines.

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backward compatibility

BBC News | SCI/TECH | ‘Happy’ mice skew results

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the future is here

Dad, about to move from Pittsburgh to Raleigh, reports on a house-hunting trip:

We had done a lot of looking at houses through the Internet before going, and we were already quite attracted to the house we actually bought. Score yet another one for the Web.

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Libertarian Spank Inferno

(You know I’ve been itching for an occasion to use that phrase.)

I got mail today (on one of my many lists) that began:

SUPER EMERGENCY – MUST READ – PLEASE ACT NOW

I AM THE MODERATOR OF A YAHOO ANTI-IMMIGRATION EMAIL LIST

(Is there any other kind?)
I thanked the sender for saving me the time to continue reading, and got this reply:

I am a member of two Libertarian groups.

#1 – Libertarians for Life – Pro-Life group
#2 – Libertarians for Closed Borders – Anti-Immigration group.

Not all libertarians are libertines, just most of them,

– followed by a quotation in full of my campaign speech.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my study, scratching my head.

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