] Height, while determined largely by genetics, also is
] influenced by childhood nutrition. Adults in the early
] 1960s grew up during tougher times when they may not have
] had enough to eat, Klein said.

Is this really the cause? I find it hard to beleive that baby boomers had slim pickings at the dinner table in the 50's.

Yahoo! News - Americans Getting Taller, Much Heavier

] The roots of freedom of inquiry are in the european
] Enlightenment, which shaped the intellectual climate
] of the founding of the United States. The founders'
] ancestors had fled from countries where they were
] flogged, imprisoned, or killed for merely seeking to
] learn. For seeking to learn about a religion other
] than the official state religion, for example. For
] teaching such a religion to others. For inquiring
] into physics and then stating that the Earth revolved
] around the Sun. For believing in witchcraft or for
] seeking to teach how medicinal plants could be used
] to heal. For seeking to learn the truth about the
] King, when it was inconvenient for the King.
]
] It's clear that freedom of speech also includes freedom
] to listen.

The TSA is now requiring security threat assessments for
non-U.S. citizens seeking training at U.S. flight schools. John Gillmore's discussion of this question strikes at the heart of the things that Bill Joy was talking about in his essay about the control of ideas. Gold Star.

[IP] John Gillmore: Bill Joy is Wrong!

The essential element of a democratic society -- trust -- has been weakened, as secrecy, mendacity and intimidation have become the hallmarks of this administration.

Rhetoric matters.

Freedom Is Not Just a Slogan

Colin Powell kept a set of rules on his desk. Here are a few:

Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

Get mad, then get over it.

Have a vision. Be demanding.

Check small things.

You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.

Be careful what you choose. You may get it.

I've posted these before, but it's worth reviewing them periodically.

Powell's Rules

The alternative to blind belief is not simply unbelief but a different kind of belief -- one that embraces uncertainty and enables us to respect others whom we do not understand. In a complex world, wisdom is knowing what we don't know so that we can keep the future open.

What Derrida Really Meant

] A television journalist was shot dead as he made a live
] broadcast from Baghdad yesterday when United States
] helicopters fired on a crowd that had gathered round the
] burning wreckage of an American armoured vehicle.

BBC footage of this was floating around yesterday which shows US helicopters straifing a crowd in the street that had gathered around a burning US armored vehicle. (See DrudgeReport) A very unfriendly area, but its clear that there were civilians in the crowd.

Telegraph | News | TV reporter killed by US fire during live Baghdad broadcast

Safer, more family-friendly, environmentally conscious and orderly, Black Rock City has evolved into a lovely place to live.

Burning man is a family oriented event? McDonald's cannot be far behind.

The Taming of the Burn

] There's a story of the orphaned lion who was raised by
] rangers in a South African game preserve, and who took as
] his role model their Australian cattle dog. And was very,
] very interested in wild antelope and learned to herd
] them.
]
] His interest in wild antelope was hard-wired. He had lots
] of innate behaviors, like sneaking, crouching and
] pouncing. But he had no idea at whom to direct that, so
] he pounced on his friends when he was playing with them
] -- the dog and the people. He was very interested in
] impalas, but the dog, his role model, herded them, so he
] herded them, too. Not a good way for a lion to make a
] living.

dmv says:

Excellent interview. The basic issue is that more survival behaviors that we would expect are taught rather than innate, and that the role of mimicry and education is critical for preserving wild animals as anything other than physical representations. The notion that reintroducing a naturally exitinct species may genetically be possible but without preserving their "culture" we still lose, was particularly interesting. I'll have to check out this book.

Salon.com Books | When animals go to school

This is the adult version of a test we give children in school to figure out how they learn best thus telling us how to be more effective teachers. So if you are interested take the test and see what it has to say about your learning style. This is all based on Gardner and his theory of multiple intellegences. (he recently added 1 that deals with technology)

--

This is a fun test. I'm not sure the questions are the best, and I kind of think that a graduated answer scale would be better then binary responses. I'm kind of surprised that I didn't score higher on spacial. Anyway, my results were, well, inconclusive, which is typical for me and personality tests.

The Seven Intelligence Areas:
Linguistic: 9
Logical-Mathematical: 9
Spatial: 7
Bodily-Kinesthetic: 6
Musical: 8
Interpersonal: 7
Intrapersonal: 9

Multiple Intelligence Test

] This would be interesting for those of you that oft read the
] blurt'ed pdf's off crypto.me and slashdot.

DoJ Blacks out Supreme Courts Quotes