August 2010 – Page 4 – William M. Briggs

What The Sale of Barnes and Nobel Means To Reading

Not too long ago, on the outdoor-shopping-mall-like 86th street in New York City---chain stores everywhere---Barnes and Noble opened a new store. Enormous, wide aisled (a rarity for stores in the…

Culture

California Judge Reverses Prop 8: A Right To Marriage?

A judge in California has, as we have all heard, struck down the publicly created law which bans two-person, same-sex marriage. This was no surprise, as most expected that this…

Philosophy

Shermer Tries, And Fails, To Take Down Chopra

Aurora last night masked by clouds. Saw plenty of bats. Here is a review of another article you might like to read. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, tried to…

Statistics

Manzi: What Social Science Does—and Doesn’t—Know

This article is nothing but an extended link to a must-read piece in City Journal. Internet still once daily. Thanks to reader I. for suggesting this topic. If you haven't…

Culture Statistics

Everybody Has A Mental Disease: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5

I am so far Up North that I heard a radio interview with Uncle Ted Nugnet on the best kinds of arrowheads to bring down feral pigs. Internet still only…

Philosophy Statistics

Correlation and Causality: Have A Drink, Get Rich

I am down to one brief internet connection daily, found, intermittently, at a coffee shop in town. I apologize for lack of or slowness in answering questions. According to the…

Statistics

Three Cards: One Black, One Red, One Half & Half

Just a short one today, all. I'm heading further North. So far from civilization that when I was a boy, it was a cause to celebrate when a cit thirty…

Johnno on What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?April 21, 2026
" I have never been a conspiracy theorist, for the simple fact that keeping secrets with multiple (tens, hundreds, and…
Brian (bulaoren) on What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?April 20, 2026
@Cary Motorcycle accident? No, that was due to covid.
Cary D Cotterman on What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?April 20, 2026
In the mid '70s I was the janitor at Cal Tech's Kerkhoff Marine Laboratory, where they studied the effects of…
Brian (bulaoren) on What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?April 20, 2026
I'm waiting for members of the California Coastal Commission to start disappearing.
Bill Hankel on What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?April 20, 2026
Thank you for your application of common sense (and math!) to this issue. I have never been a conspiracy theorist,…