Category Archives: Blogs' Archive

I often tease my wife when she reminds me to lock the door, or to shut the door to the balcony, as if she expects burglars to come rappelling down from the roof, or when she calls me to come down and meet her at the Metro Station after dark. I tease her, but I do go.
We live in a safe building in a safe neighborhood in a safe city, I say. Certainly, compared to any city of the same size in the U.S., it’s true. The night time streets of Prague are filled with drunks, rampaging mobs of Italian tourists on school trips and English guys on stag nights, but actual violence is rare.

As far as the neighborhood goes, that’s why we chose it. As soon as Helena found out she was pregnant with Sam, we left the wild streets of Zizkov and settled here, in this quiet, family oriented neighborhood.
This morning, I took Isabel to school, so we were at Invalidovna Metro station about 7:15 a.m. This afternoon, Helena called me to ask if I’d heard the news. At about 7:30 a.m., a guy got on the Metro at Invalidovna, stabbed a man in the neck, and turned and ran off. The victim is in hospital, in critical condition.
The assailant hasn’t been caught yet, but the security cameras got a pretty clear shot of his face, so I expect he will be. Kind of an ordinary looking guy. Young. Pale complected. Looked like short hair, but he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. I wonder if he is from the neighborhood, or works nearby, if he uses that station frequently. Because, if so, I’ve probably seen him hundreds of times. Just a face in the crowd.
I don’t think this means the neighborhood is changing, or that it’s less safe than I thought. I see it more as a reminder that bad stuff can happen anywhere.
Still, I won’t be so quick to laugh at my wife the next time she asks me to meet her at the Metro.

In other news, RIP Terry Pratchett. Thanks for all the books. They are unique and your legacy will last forever.

I’m not even going to link to the article because I didn’t even read it, the premise (as stated in the headline) was so stupid. “Easily Distracted? You might be a creative genius.” I saw an article the other day that said if you are easily annoyed by people making slurpy noises when they eat, and farting and stuff like that, you might be a creative genius.
They come up with a new version of that every now and again; if you’re left handed, if you like to sleep late, or whatever. It’s bullshit.
Do you want to know how to know if you’re a creative genius? Ask yourself this: have you ever created something that was genius? If so, you are a creative genius. If not, probably not so much.
It’s cool. In addition to that sizable portion of the population who are neither creative, nor geniuses, there are plenty of geniuses who aren’t so creative. Without them, society wouldn’t function. There are also creative people who are a bit short of what most people would describe as genius. That’s O.K., too.
Keep creating, keep piling up the art, keep writing those novels that nobody reads, and maybe some day it will all click and you’ll be a creative genius. Or maybe not. The world needs crap art, too. Otherwise, how would we know that the good is good?
One thing is for certain. Reading articles like that, even if you fit all the qualities on their list, is not going to make you a creative genius. Adjusting your lifestyle so you fit the criteria in the article and hoping that in that way, you will eventually be recognized as a creative genius is not going to work, either.
Go forth and create. And good luck.

I’ve seen this headline before, but today I decided to read the article. Apparently, there is actually some statistical research behind it, and it has a name and all; it’s called the Flynn effect, which is probably not named after Phineas Flynn, although it should be.
The idea is that IQ scores are rising, across the globe. People are getting smarter. I take it with a bit of skepticism. As anyone who follows politics and current events closely could tell you, it seems like the trend is in the opposite direction.
Also, anyone who, like me, teaches, at times despairs of the future. When I asked a junior high school class when Columbus discovered America, they were off by centuries. Sure, they’re Czech, but they didn’t do much better when asked about their own history.
On the other hand, when my son brings home math homework, I can’t help him because it’s over my head, and he’s only 12.
I suspect it’s like this: You’ve got 7 billion people in the world, which is a pretty large gene pool. People with IQs of 80 and 90 are going to marry other people with IQs of 80 and 90, and they’re going to have kids who are dumber still, so you’ve got the idiocracy thing happening. On the other hand, people who have IQs of over 140 or so are likely to marry each other as well, because that’s who you meet, that’s who it’s easy to talk to, and their kids are going to be smarter still. So, there’s a bit of movement in both directions.
To paraphrase Walt Whitman: We are vast. We contain multitudes.

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. -The Logan Act

47 Republican Senators just sent a letter to the President of Iran. In it they said that Iran shouldn’t sign any treaty suggested by Barack Obama, because they’re going to do every thing they can to sabotage it.
First, I can’t see why they think that will be a convincing argument. “Don’t sign this treaty because we really, really want to make war against you.” It’s not very persuasive, is it?
Now, I’ve seen a lot of people on facebook (and I’ve been one of them) accusing these 47 Republicans of treason. Maybe that’s putting it a little bit strongly. It’s not as if they are actually selling weapons to the Iranians, as Oliver North did on behalf of Ronald Reagan while Jimmy Carter was president.
It’s not as if they conspired to pull off simultaneous terrorist acts in New York City and Washington, killing 3,000 people and galvanizing the American public behind totally unnecessary wars in the Middle East, as I’m fairly certain members of George W. Bush’s administration did.
Those acts were even more treasonous than this.
But it’s obviously a violation of the Logan act (see above) The Logan Act dates back to 1799, and was inspired by some guy named Logan, who went to France and was doing some private negotiating.
President Adams (2, not 6) was pissed.
Of course, Logan couldn’t actually be prosecuted under the Logan Act, because it wasn’t the law at the time he went. He even got himself elected to the Senate, and tried to have it repealed, with no luck. But, despite the fact that it’s never been repealed, it’s never resulted in a conviction, either.
Nonetheless, there it still is. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to negotiate with foreign leaders behind the president’s back; punishable by 3 years in federal, pound-me-in-the-ass prison, and/or a fine. I’d be very much in favor of giving these 47 Senators both.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, winner of 2014’s ‘Governor Who Looks Most Like Voldemort’ award, apparently doesn’t like phrases like ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’ and has ‘discouraged’ state officials from using them in official correspondence, which could make things difficult when discussing issues like global warming and climate change.

No matter. Languages adapt, and ways are always found to express the unexpressable. Even Voldemort himself (who bears a strong resemblance to Florida Governor Rick Scott, as I may have mentioned) was generally referred to as ‘he who must not be named’ and everybody knew right away who everybody was talking about.
So, here are a few suggestions for Florida officials who need to discuss these issues, without offending their boss.
1. Oceanic embiggenment. It has a pythonesque sort of ring to it.
2. The New Atlantis Project. That’s not saying Florida is like Atlantis. Maybe so, maybe no, since we know so little about that lost civilization. But Florida will be, if oceanic embiggenment continues unchecked, very like Atlantis in the sense that both will be lost under the waves.
3. Hurricane enhancement program. Florida has as many hurricanes as anyplace else in the United States, perhaps the whole world. They should be proud.
4. The current climatological unpleasantness.
5. Liberal weather. There is nothing you can’t blame on the liberals, after all.
6. Obama Air. See above. Also, rhymes with Obamacare.
7. All that science mumbo-jumbo. This has the advantage of being what they already say anyway.

That’s about it for now. Feel free to leave more suggestions in the comments.