Sunday Afternoon

I was going to watch the Bears-Bengals game. It is 45-3, Bengals going into the 4′th quarter and yes, the game is every bit as bad as that. This wasn’t a matter of the Bengals running in a few lucky fumbles; right now the Bengals have about doubled the Bears on offense (397 to 220 yards) with one quarter to go.

Ok, the Bears did fumble away one opportunity and throw an interception; it is now 45-10.

(photo from yahoo)

Sometimes, one team plays well and the other doesn’t. This is one of those times.

Rants (via Richard Dawkins)

One thing to remember: in the USA, the Christian extremists are a bigger threat. Sure, the fundies are not as noxious nor are they as violent as the Muslim fundies. But they are far more numerous and have much more influence; we even have a few in Congress and in State Houses.

That, plus our love for the Constitution, should help us avoid Europe’s fate.

Atheist Posters (from Friendly Atheist)

I do wonder why “You Can Be Good Without God” is somehow more offensive than “Jesus Saves”, etc.

Speaking of Faith, check out this Newsweek Article:

For five years, since the publication of Sam Harris’s The End of Faith, the so-called faith-versus-reason debate has been a favorite pastime of certain secularists and intellectuals, the subject of innumerable books and lecture series. Three charismatic men—Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Hitchens (who is a NEWSWEEK contributor)—have not just dominated the conversation, they’ve crushed it. And so they’ve become celebrities. Together they’ve sold more than 3 million books worldwide, which suggests they may be in this for more than just our edification.

Gee, people bought their books. Oh noes!

The whole thing has started to feel like being trapped in a seminar room with the three smartest guys in school, each showing off to impress … whom?

Uh, perhaps the people who bought their books? Maybe some of us like hearing what smart people think?

But this version of the conversation has gone on too long. We have allowed three people to frame it; its terms—submitting God to rational proofs and watching God fail—are theirs.

“We have allowed”??? Who is “we”? If you don’t like the books, don’t read them.

We in the media have to bear some of that responsibility. Just as we covered Jerry Falwell when he said the Teletubby Tinky Winky was gay, we cover the “new atheists” because following controversy is part of what we do. As religion editor of NEWSWEEK, I have done my share of enabling these battles, most recently in a September interview with Dawkins. But we can’t shoulder all the blame. The atheists are, more than other interest groups, joyous cannibals and regurgitators of their own ideas. They thrive online, where like adolescent boys they rehash their rhetorical victories to their own delight.

This whining is just pathetic. You can’t make people pay attention to you. I read what Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and Dennett have to say because their arguments make sense to me and they write well.

The mistake this clown makes is that she see seems to think that those of us who self-identify with the New Atheists somehow take our cues from people like her. Believe me, I don’t. I suspect that the “religious stoner” crowd (e. g., those who think that Karen Armstrong makes sense) might.

Hat tip: Jerry Coyne.

Wild Life Pairie Park Floodplain Trail

The pool at the Riverplex was closed when I went to swim; I took advantage of the pretty day to hike 4-4.5 easy miles at Wildlife Prairie Park instead. This was an “injury recovery” level effort; no pain but I took it very easy.

I took several photos of the Flood Plain Trail; all of them are here.

Here is the start.

There are some minor hills.

Most of it is grass like this.

There are good water views in the latter third of the trail.

Here is the pond section.

This side trail goes to some cabins that you can reserve for an evening. Deep in the trail you can see a deer (it is somewhat far away but it is standing in the middle of the trail)

Old Photos: Quad Cities Half Marathon 2008

The album is here. I walked a 2:25:13.

Near Mile 7

Guess what? I actually finished 30 seconds AHEAD of this lady; we are about mile 7 here.

Driving it home; form goes to **it.

Distance in Photos: You can see the speed in walking.

Back in 2007, I attempted and finished the Farmdale 33 mile race (walking 100 percent of the time). But I remember starting out and being completely unable to stay with anyone, which was unusual for me at the time.

But I had come back from a hip/piriformis injury and here I am:

Look at my feet. Notice how wide apart they are; it is almost as if each foot had its own straight line path. This is because I didn’t have the hip rotation to keep the feet aligned.

I look a bit better here:

(FANS 2009; it was early)

Right here, though I am making errors, my feet are better aligned.

Here I am in my single support phase:

And this is what a faster walker looks like:

Notice she is still legal late in the race (Tammy at Portland; she walked a 4:38, whereas I walked a 5:14 and a 5:28 respectively at these marathons).

What does this mean? Obviously marathon success depends on many factors including proper training, being ready (my 5:14 came within one month of a draining 100 mile trail race) and ability. But technique is a huge factor, and inefficiencies from bad technique add up over time.

25 October 2009 (am)

ARGH!!! The pool is closed (at the Riverplex); I might try later in the morning (9-ish?) and get it done, or maybe at 2 pm at the University. It is pretty outside but I shouldn’t try a walk if I want to finish the 30 miler next weekend.

Science and Nature: via Tiny Frog:

Also, check out these photos to see what happens when environmental controls are ignored.

Tiny Frog also points us to some slander...(but why are these frogs immune to this frog killing fungus?)

Animal Camouflage: Try to find the snake in this photo at Conservation Report. I love this feature that they run regularly.

Michael Moore: has an interesting and thought provoking take on why American newspapers are not doing well:

(hat tip: Mano Singham)

Saturday Night…24 October 09

This is the Tachikawa “bantam” league football team (1972); my Dad is the adult in the white shirt (background); Coach Jordan is the other adult. This photo came from Roy Pena’s facebook account; he was an excellent athlete then and does ultra marathons these days. He is sitting and looking toward the camera. Ray Nowiki has done century bike rides; he is standing and looking toward the camera.

Me: I am number 64 and sitting with my back to the camera. Notice my feet: that’s right; I am sitting in a “Hero” pose:

No, my knees just won’t do that anymore, at least not comfortably.

Free Speech

It is no secret that there are many Hitler Downfall parodies. The film makers are trying to stop them though a prominent First Amendment attorney says that this is “fair use”, pointing out that these parodies not only don’t hurt the film, but actually help it.

You can see dozens of these ranging from Hitler being mad that the Patriots lost to the Giants, Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary, Sarah Palin quit as Governor, etc.

President Obama If you have conservative political friends, they will sometimes yap about President Obama’s approval ratings “tanking”.

Here are the numbers via Real Clear Politics

As you can see, there is some regression to the mean, followed by a steady rating.

What you don’t hear is that, while President Obama is NOT popular with those who didn’t vote for him, he remains very popular with those who did:

Barack Obama’s approval rating with people who didn’t vote for him is 14%.

Barack Obama’s disapproval rating with people who voted for him is 6%