tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137266812024-03-13T18:31:18.432-04:00Umlud's place"All great truths begin as blasphemies." G.B. ShawUmludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.comBlogger1403125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-67796472812580541492018-11-09T17:21:00.001-05:002018-11-09T17:21:32.616-05:00On facts, opinions, and being allowed to hold and express what while being taken seriouslyA friend of mine recently posted a piece from 2012, and written by Patrick Stokes titled, "No, you're not entitled to your opinion." It was really quite a good one that helps answer the question of why the statement, "you're entitled to your own opinion" is both true and untrue. After reading through it, I was reminded of another essay that could stand as a complement, written in 1989 by Isaac Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-20983002871244038712018-04-13T11:34:00.000-04:002018-04-13T11:34:55.733-04:00Yes, this actually is sexist. But is that necessarily a problem?In the facebook comments section (yes, yes, I know) of an NPR article about the gender disparity of OB/GYNs, I read the following comment:
I
have never seen a male OB GYN. I have always sought female doctors.
It used to be difficult to find female providers. All of my OBs have
also been mothers. I refuse to take advice regarding something as life
altering as birth from someone who has noUmludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-32628243935831994782018-01-26T14:58:00.000-05:002018-01-26T14:58:00.106-05:00Chile calls uses the wrong name for berriesChile is a major agricultural producer for international markets. However, its domestic market for fruits typically sold to the international market is still relatively new. This means that Chileans are learning about fruits and vegetables being grown for other parts of the world, and most of these foods don't have much of a strong history in Chilean culture, and so people are pretty open to Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-4284144716197594272018-01-05T20:00:00.000-05:002018-01-05T20:00:26.114-05:00Some people don't understand what a scientific definition is (or how to actually respond to points raised in a comment)Recently, a friend posted the statement: "There are only two genders: male and female. Do you agree?"This provoked a stream of comments. Most happened to take a position that favored the proposition. But then I noticed this statement:
This
is a scientific question, based on data; it is not a philosophical one.
Does the subject have "XX" chromosome or "XY" chromosome? It's very
simple. It hasUmludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-84153202267379164792017-12-31T10:07:00.000-05:002018-01-03T10:08:29.191-05:00Why understanding context when asking a question is importantIn a recent forum discussion, one person asked if Chile celebrated January 1 as a holiday. It seemed to many who responded to be a rather odd question, given the historical and cultural contexts. But then someone had to bring up the point that "well some countries don't observe a national holiday on January 1."
Yes, that's true, but there are a few things that are odd about the question, and Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-2296713924383194072017-09-07T13:16:00.000-04:002017-09-07T13:16:39.870-04:00Hurricane Irma, warm oceans, and expanding the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ScaleBack in 2011, I wrote about the current five-category hurricane system that the US uses (known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale), noting that the foundational logic of the scale was based on structural engineering questions:
a former NOAA hurricane center administrator and co-inventor of the SSHS that, "there
is no reason for a Category 6 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale because it
is Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-56164697400872136792017-05-22T18:25:00.003-04:002017-05-22T18:25:59.941-04:00Some things to consider when thinking about political trendsI don't write so much these days on this blog, but that doesn't mean that I've stopped thinking about some of the themes that I have written about in the past. Today, I want to write a little about US national politics and trends. Specifically, I want to write a little about the US Presidential elections, and what it means for Democrats.
This urge was spurred on by an article I read at Vox ("Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-70999680397267567562016-12-14T10:56:00.000-05:002016-12-14T10:56:01.458-05:00What is the translation of the Chilean "Región" into English?
One of my pet peeve annoyances of living in Chile is related to the unique way in which the administrative areas are designated, and how such designations get mistranslated into meaninglessness (or confusion). For reference purposes, the largest sub-national administrative zone is called "Región." Now, many people might want to translate this into the English "Region," but this would be like Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-80212740914818929682016-11-12T15:50:00.001-05:002016-11-12T16:37:53.690-05:00What was the purpose of the electoral college? One idea.
I've been seeing many comments about the purpose behind the electoral college. These include "The point of the electoral college is to ensure the entire country has a voice not just highly populated area," and, "The purpose of the electoral collage is to ensure that we don't elect dictators," and others. It seems to be a bit of a puzzle, since there is not any reason cited by the electoral Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-81013930678143647322016-10-18T17:51:00.000-04:002016-10-18T17:51:01.721-04:00Linguistic differences and organizing plurals with the word "type"I was proofreading a paper written in English by a native Spanish speaker, and came across the following phrase:
... that include this type of tools ...
And that really had me scratching my head for a couple reasons. First off, the writing of this particular author was generally quite good, and often what he wrote is exactly what he meant. Second, he had just described the evaluation tool to Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-38201002294221365442016-09-23T15:52:00.002-04:002016-09-23T15:52:21.975-04:00A man was killed by police... again. And people are still "just asking questions"... again.
To all of the people who continue to ask questions about one detail or another detail, who think that something could have happened before the start of the video, or who think that we should all wait so that the police can uncover all the evidence, I really have to ask one small thing:
If the humanity alone doesn't move you to ask what the heck is going on and demand action and Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-24006437851756725782016-07-30T18:41:00.001-04:002016-07-30T18:41:28.232-04:00To non-scientists, science is something that you can believe in
A friend of mind posted the following article to their Facebook wall.
"Cool Catchphrase, Hillary, but Science Isn't About Belief."
While I understand that some scientists feel annoyed with the framing of "belief in science," I thought that the author (and many of those scientists) got so many points wrong that it required a lengthy response.
Several points. 1Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-83383420199031959322016-07-25T16:10:00.001-04:002016-07-25T16:10:17.015-04:00"Drogar" is a word in Spanish, but "evolver" doesn't exist.One question that occasionally pops into my head is, "Why is that English word made into a Spanish word?" This normally happens when I stumble across a banally common word that is so obviously from English that it makes me wonder, "Why isn't there a word for this in Spanish?" I then check the RAE to see if it is an officially recognized word, and - if it is - I look to see if there are any handy Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-26698839454639607222016-05-17T18:00:00.000-04:002016-05-17T18:18:41.256-04:00How Bathroom Bills will NORMALIZE the presence of men in women's bathroomsThe so-called bathroom bills that specifically state that transmen and transwomen are required to use the bathroom that matches their sex registered at birth rather than the gender that the individual identifies and presents as. The rhetoric so often seems to be based on the idea that this will protect girls and women from harrassment (often portrayed as sexual harrassment) in women's bathrooms Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-68654215695641092622016-05-12T14:25:00.000-04:002017-01-09T08:42:13.164-05:00America and América are false cognatesLiving in Chile has brought about some additional awarenesses of false cognates between English and Spanish, and one that I have encountered a number of times is that between "America" and "América."
In Spanish, "América" refers primarily to the single continent in the Western Hemisphere that stretches from the Arctic to the Antarctic. This means that in Spanish, there are five populated Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-38619074272620472302016-04-25T12:22:00.003-04:002016-04-25T12:25:25.069-04:00Random health assessment: Resting heart rateJust for shits and giggles, I decided to check my resting heart rate. I had been riding my bike as a daily commute, averaging 25kph to work and 22kph from work, and I wanted to see if there was a benefit to all this bike commuting.
According to topendsports, an average resting heart rate of someone 35-40 years old is 71-75 bpm.
My resting heart rate prior to re-starting my bike commute was Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-13816766004956266062016-04-22T11:42:00.000-04:002016-04-22T11:42:37.784-04:00No, socialism almost certainly isn't what that anecdote on Facebook wants to scare you to think it isRecently, a friend of mine posted a story about an economics professor failed his class, because the students gave a misguided understanding of a socialist nation that Obama would bring, and because - as you follow the story - of the professor's own complete lack of understanding of what socialism is (beyond an equivalency between socialism in general and a hyperbolic representation of Stalinism Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-29332061391611882822016-04-22T10:45:00.000-04:002016-04-22T11:21:04.476-04:00When do you translate a name?This morning, I was listening to the morning 24horas broadcast, and listened to the story about the 90th birthday of Reina Isabel (Queen Elisabeth). The next story was about a book fair where people could buy books from great authors, including William Shakespeare.
Waitasec... Why translate "Elizabeth" into "Isabel" but not "William" into "Guillermo"?
I already knew that European explorers Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-53454505500707367172016-03-04T13:44:00.001-05:002016-03-04T14:07:51.805-05:00Another example of a parent showing how little they understand basic arithmetic concepts (aka: this isn't an example of Common Core being wrong)I saw another example of complaining about the mathematics Common Core by a parent whose grasp on mathematics wasn't as strong as they thought it was:
The "brilliant" commentary from the page is: "Imagine how confused this kid is now when teachers are telling him "Yes, you can get 10 when you add 8+5." It's almost like we are intentionally and structurally trying to make kids less intelligentUmludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-73760218622343998472016-02-09T07:42:00.001-05:002016-02-09T11:21:56.678-05:00The Michigan Senate passed an anti sodomy law. WTF?
So apparently the Michigan Senate just passed an animal rights bill. This would prevent people who have being convicted of animal cruelty from owning pets for handling animals for several years as punishment of their animal cruelty and to potentially save the lives and dignity of animals from these people. However, one state senator decided that it would be a great idea to also include in this Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-52546680618282603532016-01-11T18:26:00.002-05:002016-01-11T18:26:26.299-05:00Arguing with someone who sees the world fundamentally differently than you doA friend of mine recently posted a link to a great article, "The 'Other Side' Is Not Dumb", which makes a very valid point:
What is emerging is the worst kind of echo chamber, one where those
inside are increasingly convinced that everyone shares their world view,
that their ranks are growing when they aren’t. It’s like clockwork: an
event happens and then your social media circle is shocked Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-46150567128670697302015-11-23T21:38:00.002-05:002015-11-23T21:38:58.868-05:00Facts about the human body. Did you find them as (un)fascinating and (un)weird as me?A friend posted a link on his FB wall whose click-bait title blares, "23 Fascinating and Weird Facts About The Human Body. Wow."
When friends post these sort of fact lists, I often like to go through them to challenge their initial premise (usually that I will be shocked, amazed, fascinated, tickled, or some other sharp reaction). I have yet to find a list that actually I actually found livedUmludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-35922526408566910552015-11-04T09:49:00.000-05:002015-11-04T09:49:15.733-05:00How I think about the question of bathrooms, changing rooms, and transgender students in schoolLooks like I am again on a different side of another social issue from a friend of mine. And potentially many of their friends and family. This time, it's about whether transgender kids can use the bathroom of the sex they identify as (as opposed to the one they were assigned at birth.) As a preface, I don't know how my perspective stacks up with that of the "social justice warrior" types which Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-32963782667769688412015-09-28T09:36:00.002-04:002015-09-28T10:16:50.659-04:00Was Castro being prescient when he said this?Recently, I saw a meme going around Facebook about Castro saying, "The US will come to talk with us when they have a black president and the world has a Latin American pope." (Well, he probably actually said, "Estados Unidos dialogará con Cuba cuando tenga un presidente negro y haya un Papa latinoamericano," but it's basically the same thing.) That was in 1973.
Now, in 2015, it turns out that Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13726681.post-4261844945662305922015-09-21T10:37:00.002-04:002015-09-21T10:38:24.219-04:00AZ congressman thinks he's a better Catholic than the Pope (and a better climate scientist than all climate scientists)Apparently, the Pope isn't Catholic or Christian enough for AZ Congressman Paul Gosar, who wrote an open letter to TownHall.com. In it, he tells why he is "boycotting" the papal address to the US Congress. And in it, he also shows himself to be incapable of making a logical argument. (Either that or I can't follow his logic.) So here's his letter (along with my comments).
(tl;dr version: Gosar Umludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975670307431521495noreply@blogger.com0