- 10 neat facts about Carl Sagan.
- Daniel Hauser, the kid whose mother tried to take him to Mexico to avoid chemotherapy, is now cancer-free after court-ordered treatment. (From Paul.)
- A list of cats with fraudulent diplomas. (From Sydney.)
- Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell. (From Exarch.)
I feel like a bad owner. My cat doesn’t have ANY degrees. Have I been denying her educational opportunities?
As a nice tie in to the AI of Dogs vs Cats, I believe we can definitively say that cats are smarter.
I am now thinking of enrolling my kittehs in some higher education programs as well.
My dentist had his cat ordained as a Reverend.
I guess I’m a bad cat mom, my kitties have no education at all although one of them does enjoy perching on my shoulder when I read.
I’m homeschooling my cats but I may have reached a dead end. Simple arithmetic was ok, and even basic algebra, but when it came to trig, that was clearly their sine qua notinmylifetime.
They use writing implements, but not for making marks on paper, so I tried to teach them to use the computer. So far, they are convinced that a keyboard is some sort of catottoman to sit on for the purpose of demanding attention. Its an idee fixe. Bummer.
Does anyone know which cat degree universities are the best? I don’t think it would be fair to my cats to send them to an inferior institution.
I’ve found that my cats’ fondness for the computer is due to its warmth. My dim bulb Siamese tries to lay on the laptop keyboard when it’s in use, then once the laptop is shut he curls up on top. Well, maybe he’s not so dim in this case.
And interesting about the Minnesota teen. He’s cancer-free; what a shocker. I brought that up in my cultural anthro class today, as we were talking about religion.
These are some of the happiest quickies I have seen in awhile. I feel all warm and fuzzy and am smiling. Thank you.
For a more detailed article about Daniel Hauser with a blatantly skeptical slant, there is this:
http://www.examiner.com/x-8922-Portland-Skepticism-Examiner~y2009m11d8-Former-chemotherapy-refugee-13-now-cancerfree-no-thanks-for-doctors
@Gabrielbrawley: “I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like I just swallowed a puppy.”
@pciszek: I had missed the “medicine man” and “functionally illiterate at 13” angles. That just makes it even stupider.
The Hauser story is very good news and a great illustration in support of government intervention when parents go supernaturally stupid on their children.
I’ve talked to my cat a few times about reenrolling and getting that BA finished up. He just looks at me with disdain and says he has a secure niche in a robust free market so piss off already about school stuff.
I’m really glad that Daniel Hauser is ok. But I remember reading about this somewhere else a few weeks ago. It’s a shame that his family will probably continue to believe that the woo healed him rather than the medical treatment, but at least the kid didn’t die.
11. Carl Sagan once beat up Chuck Noris. Chuck still doesn’t like to talk about it.
I miss Carl Sagan, too. He was my mentor via his books and especially, the Cosmos series.
I learned so much from his books and admired him for his enthusiasm for science and discovery. He was on my college professor “dream team” I made up once:
Carl Sagan for Astronomy
Richard Feynman for Physics
Isaac Asimov for Chemistry and Biochemistry
Those are the only ones I remember at the moment.
@QuestionAuthority: Can we add Frank Herbert for English/Journalism?
@James Fox: I second the motion.
Make your own darn list! ;-)
So many stupid ALTIES commenting on that cancer article. My favorite:
“With childhood cancers, 73 percent of patients will develop a chronic illness within 30 years and 42 percent will develop a severe, disabling, life-threatening or fatal condition, including heart disease, lung scarring, strokes and second cancers. Blindness, deafness, infertility, early menopause, neurocognitive defects, depression, anxiety and moderate to extreme physical pain are also common side effects.”
All of that sounds pretty nasty and ominous doesn’t it? Although none of it sounds quite as bad as “being fucking dead in 6 months“, which is what the cancer would actually do without the treatment …
Those cats — they’re smarter than you think! >;->