therandomtexan
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Whether to ask the question invites an answer
The Justice Department and the Census Bureau are engaged in a kerfuffle over the 2020 Census. It’s all about a question of citizenship: “What country are you a citizen of?” With the inevitable congressional reapportionment that occurs based on the Census, this is a question that many states really don’t want to know the answer Read more
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To tattoo or not tattoo?
Young, and looking to get a great job? You might think twice about getting a tatto and sending the world the wrong message: We collect numerous measures of time preferences and impulsivity of tattooed and non-tattooed subjects and find broad-ranging and robust evidence that those with tattoos, especially visible ones, are more short-sighted and impulsive Read more
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Today I learned some new phrases
Say what you will about mindlessly surfing the Internet, I’m always learning something in my semi-random virtual peregrinations Those places aren’t sh!th*les, they’re “fecalized environments,” I had no idea the urge to knock 20 pounds off my lazy ass was “healthism,” and Skipping the purchase of a shooting vest kept me from becoming a “tactical Read more
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The Feds are not your friends
Writing in the New York Times Magazine, Jennifer Percy describes Fear of the Federal Government in the Ranchlands of Oregon. Try though she might, her east coast acculturation won’t let her quite get into the heads of the folks in towns where she spent her childhood. They visited Yellowstone Nation Park and saw, they said, Read more
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Me gusta tomar Tequila
Holy hellfire sh*t! It turns out tequila is a health food! It’s a probiotic, no less. I say ¡Salud! Read more
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Private Charity? No way!
Michael Tanner, writing for National Review online, attempts to answer the question “Why Is There So Much Government Hostility to Private Charity?” The answer is simple, once you understand this guy’s fundamental message Read more
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Our National Blind Spot
Want to save the planet? How about starting by saving the birds. Here’s a Pareto graph that gives a strong hint of where to start: That’s right, get the cat population under control. Eradicate feral cat colonies, and euthanize cat collections (oh, and institutionalize obsessive cat ladies). The whole country needs to grow up and Read more
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Go read Sarah Hoyt
Chatty stuff about writing indie SciFi, with snarky political and cultural commentary. Oh, and a great geeky sense of humor: Update: Francis turner says that cat complains too much Read more
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Science is getting exciting!
Five very interesting articles recently popped up on the web, suggesting that current science is much more interesting than the average Joe might think: At FiveThirtyEight*, Christie Aschwanden’s Science Isn’t Broken gives a great exposition on scientific fraud, p-hacking, and why science is much more difficult than most folks realize. Robert Matthews, writing in UAE’s Read more
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Artichoke and Shellfish Soup
So I was suddenly confronted with a windfall of canned shellfish when our local WalMart Neighborhood store closed this month. I decided to get even more serious about recipes based on McIntosh’s Tin Fish Gourmet. She gives a simple recipe for Oyster and Artichoke Stew, which I embellished beyond all recognition into this rich, creamy Read more
The Random Texan 