Happy Birthday, James Randi
August 7th was the Amazing Randi’s 86th birthday. He’s still going strong and I hope he continues to do so, because I’d like to meet him at TAM. However, it might be a while before I’m able to afford a trip to The Amazing Meeting.
Brian Dunning Was Sentenced To Federal Prison
Host of the excellent weekly podcast Skeptoid, Brian Dunning, having pled guilty to wire fraud some months ago and was sentenced to 15 months in Federal prison this past week. (Here is his announcement.) There is a faction of the skeptic/atheist community that is acting gleefully at this news. Just because, in my opinion, they decided Mr. Dunning is a jerk.
I was asked for my thoughts on this on Facebook. This was my response…
“[H]e broke the law, he pled guilty, and he’ll serve time. Has he gotten off easy? I don’t know. I intend to continue listening and linking to Skeptoid, because, in my opinion, it is still an excellent source of skeptically examined phenomena. I do my best to separate the artist from the art. After all, I still listen to the SGU (Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe). It’s still an excellent podcast and everyone on it is very good, whether or not I agree with their conduct away from the show.”
I won’t say which rogue I’m referring to, but I don’t think it’s not hard to guess for those who have been following the skeptic/atheist fracturing.
Could Bigfoot Be A Bear?
It seems very possible that, at least, some of the bigfoot sitings that have been claimed over the years could have been bears walking on their hide legs. Bears do that. And when they do they look strikingly and eerily similar to humans. Doubtful News recently posted a video of a bear walking bipedally. Kinda creepy.
Pedantic Moment: How Much Groceries Could 20 Bucks Buy In 1998?
This is what bullshit looks like.
A lot of nonsense gets posted on Facebook, I’m sure you knew that. Well, here’s another one. The above meme is implying that 20 dollars was enough to purchase that full cart of groceries in 1998, while, in 2013, that same 20 dollars bought only three or four items. Quite simply, this is bullshit. I was buying groceries in 1998 and no way would that small amount of money buy all those items.
There’s a bottle of champagne or wine in that cart! That alone could be 20 bucks! Also, there are well over 20 items in that cart, which would mean the average cost of each of those items would be less than a dollar. 1898, maybe. 1998, no way!
I also believe the statement about us all needing to stop pretending people can live on minimum wage is a straw man. I could be wrong, but I don’t think anyone is claiming that minimum wage is a livable wage.
Sir Paul Plays Target Field
Finally, I told of our evening of Saturday August 2nd. Amy, Hayden, and I went to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert. This was a birthday present for Hayden who turned 11 years-old the day before. (Astrologers put your charts away.)
The show was great. Paul was amazing. His voice may not have quite the range it used to have, but it was still good and his energy was terrific. He played for 2 and 3/4 hours! That 72 year-old really knows how to please (and work) his audience. Yes, it was a night of nostalgia, but what’s wrong with that?
I also talked about my need to learn patience, our seating neighbors, my breaking out my loud whistle, and how ‘Hey, Jude’ brought a tear to my eye.
Worth every penny.
Movie Recommendation: None
Sorry, I didn’t have time to recommend a movie. You’re on your own this week.
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