Rides Again?

An X-ray generator is part of the state-of-the-art technology being used to examine the Morgan’s structure. More Photos »
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: August 16, 2010

MYSTIC, Conn. — The shipbuilders are long dead, their knowledge gone. The shipyard no longer exists. No blueprints survive, nor ship’s models.

But the Charles W. Morgan is still here — the world’s last surviving wooden whaling vessel, built in 1841. And restorers are spending $10 million to turn the museum piece into a working ship able to ply the unruly sea. They plan to sail the ship on its first voyage in nearly a century, opening a new chapter in its long career. More

Slide Show

How to Pour Champagne

To Enjoy Champagne, Treat It Like Beer, Study Says
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Published: August 16, 2010

Champagne may be a symbol of life at the top, but it is best poured into a tilted glass just like that other sparkling beverage, the plebeian beer, according to a new study. More

Now, why wuzn't there more studies like this when I wuz a chemistry major?

From the eyes o' babes & other stuff

Looking This Way and That, and Learning to Adapt to the World

Wide Variety of Breeds Born of Few Genes

A Reason for Diversity of Ants May Not Hold

Moose Offer Trail of Clues on Arthritis

Vaccination Is Steady, but Pertussis Is Surging

Coping With Crises Close to Someone Else’s Heart

Risks: A Warning on Asthma and Acetaminophen

Old Maxim of Fertility and Stress Is Reversed

Richard Cohen on the Recent Mosque Brouhaha

If it is not false analogies that pollute this debate, it is false populism. The people are opposed. John Boehner, the House minority leader, says so, and so does Rep. Peter King, the Long Island Loud Mouth who is clearly running for something. They are right -- but so what? Would they have liked Lincoln to have deferred to popular sentiment in the South regarding slavery? Would they have liked Truman to have polled the Army about desegregation? Minority rights are embedded in our Constitution. It was the perceived lack of them that caused the states to seek some immediate amendments, what we now call the Bill of Rights. King, Boehner and the rest of the GOP mob are showing a fearless willingness to pander to majority prejudice. Newt has mounted a crusade against radical Islam. No Saracen will be safe.

The inclination to go from the particular to the general -- to blame a people for the acts of a few -- is what has always fueled pogroms and race riots. History shows that it is a natural tendency and it will literally run riot if not controlled. It is the solemn obligation of elected leaders to restrain such an urge -- to be moral as well as political leaders. Obama almost pulled that off, but he flinched.

Yes, he couldn't. More

Hmm, maybe a question mark?

The Logic! It burns...

On the Recent Austerity in Ireland

Ireland: A recession of the banks, by the banks, and for the banks
by P O Neill

Some stories heard in rural Ireland this summer. A farmer goes into an embattled tractor dealer and reaches an understanding on the purchase of an expensive tractor. The farmer then goes to his local bank manager to get financing to purchase the tractor; as agriculture is not doing too badly despite the recession, there is some hope. But the bank has an unexpected response: we can’t give you a loan to buy that tractor, but we can finance one very like it — that we recently reposessed. So banks are in the farm machinery business, at the expense of actual farm machinery businesses. More

Shamelessly Stolen from Paul Krugman

w00t!

Watch on YouTube

Shamelessly Stolen from gerisullivan