Author Archives: alan

I can think of no good reason why it should be possible for the default setting of a phone to allow the incurrance of extra charges merely by dialling a phone number. It should require a conscious act of a … Continue reading →

Source: (1000) Alan Cooper’s answer to How can you believe that CO2 at 280ppm was good for the planet when the northern hemisphere was cooling to a return of 100,000 years of ice sheet? – Quora

  It is only when mass killings break new records, seem directed at particular groups, or involve large numbers of children, that they persist for long in the collective consciousness. But when they do there is (almost) unanimous empathy for … Continue reading →

Google AI Studio did a pretty good job when asked to “colorize this photo”   I then asked it to “place the little girl from the previous photo in a class full of others of a similar age” And it … Continue reading →

This picture of smarmy old smug lizard people explains it all for me   Source: (39) Why does everyone still hate the Democrats? – by Noah Smith

People often ask why we should worry about increasing CO2 concentration when the world was full of life back in the time of the dinosaurs when it was much higher. But what is important is not the level itself but … Continue reading →

One reason why I suspect that Dunning-Kruger is on the rise (in all areas, not just wrt vaccines) is because advocates for all causes (in their need for credible corroboration) and the media (in its thirst for sensational opinions) so … Continue reading →

Of course no-one has any idea of how many people actually read any book! But I am one who did read Darwin’s 1859 book On the Origin of Species, and who (as a result of that reading) became a fan … Continue reading →

Unlike last year’s firebombing of my local synagogue, yesterday’s murder of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington was not antisemitic. Regardless of whether or not the murderer has general antisemitic feelings, the act itself was directed specifically at supporters of … Continue reading →

Thomas Homer Dixon, in the course of urging Canada to prepare for war, refers to Aisha Ahmad’s claim that the result of such a war would destroy the US – in a way that I think is like the so-called … Continue reading →

Canada doesn’t need the F35 – or any other fighter aircraft for that matter. The only conceivable military threat to us is from the South, and possesses such overwhelming conventional military strength that any traditional resistance would be futile. Our … Continue reading →

An article that explicitly acknowledges that the “effect” it reports is probably explained by confounding with other factors (in this case social isolation and lack of access to medical services) should not be titled in a way that suggests the … Continue reading →

It is true that water vapour causes more warming than CO2. But what is also true is that the concentration of water vapour in the atmosphere is determined by the sea surface temperature and so is not something we can … Continue reading →

A Quoran asks: Is there a contradiction between the idea that population growth is necessary for economic growth and the fact that eventually we run out of food, fresh water, arable land, and so on? Are economists driving us over … Continue reading →

Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are dickheads … but look. The fact that traditional antisemitism always shows up alongside antizionism is entirely to be expected and in no way “makes nonsense” of the claim that antizionism … Continue reading →

Shortly after the conclusion of the Liberal leadership vote today Justin Trudeau will probably submit his resignation as Prime Minister to Governor General Mary Simon. The purpose of this message is to engage as many Canadians as possible in urging … Continue reading →

One of my pet peeves is failure to reject false arguments for a conclusion one believes to be true. And climate change is very much a case in point. While it may seem reasonable to “follow the evidence”, I have … Continue reading →

YES!!! Source: X Threatens Our Democracy. Canada Should Ban It | The Tyee

This story  about a Jewish man in Miami who shot at two Israeli tourists whom he mistook for Palestinians (and who then posted “Death to Arabs” on social media due to the same misperception) makes me wonder whether ten years from … Continue reading →