north carolina
clock | August 20, 2006Tar Heel Tavern #78: A Light, Tasty Way to Beat a Hangover is up on Scrutiny Hooligans.
clock | August 13, 2006Tar Heel Tavern #77 is up on Another Blue Puzzle Piece. The theme is "the future is now" and it creatively done.
clock | August 11, 2006Next Tar Heel Tavern will be hosted tonight (Saturday) by etbnc (one of my most frequent commenters) on My Blue Puzzle Piece. The theme is "the future":
That can include predictions, prescriptions, hopes, dreams, near future, far future, middlin' future, back to...etc.
Send your entries to: tht70 AT nc DOT rr DOT com
clock | July 29, 2006 Want this badge?
If you are hot and thirsty, come by the Tar Heel Tavern for a drink or two. This is the 75th meeting and Erin is paying the first round...
clock | July 22, 2006Today's Raleigh News and Observer has a nice article about Elizabeth Edwards (the smartest of the 2004 Democratic candidate quartet), her battle with cancer and her new book (including a couple of short excerpts):
Edwards emerges from cancer with grace:
Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Democratic vice presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John Edwards, says in a new book that she survived a harrowing battle with advanced breast cancer last year that left her too depleted for public appearances.
Largely out of the public eye since her husband's loss to the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2004,…
clock | July 22, 2006Apparently, it's not over until it's over. The removal of the cohabitation law I wrote about yesterday may apply only to a few people in NC, not the whole state: Cohabitation law ruling doesn't apply statewide:
Legal experts said Friday that a Superior Court judge declaring a law that makes it a crime for unmarried couples to live together unconstitutional doesn't apply statewide.
Judge Ben Alford's ruling affects only those involved in the litigation: the Pender County Sheriff's Office, Pender County Sheriff Carson Smith, Ben David, the district attorney in Pender and New Hanover counties,…
clock | July 21, 2006Judge rules against cohabitation law:
"Those of you shacking up, have no fear: A judge has thrown out a 201-year-old North Carolina law making it illegal for unmarried couples to live together."
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"I am absolutely thrilled with the court's decision," Hobbs, 41, said in a statement. "I just didn't think it was any of my employer's business whether I was married or not, as long as I was good at my job, and I am happy that no one else will ever have to be subjected to this law. I couldn't believe that I was being given this ultimatum to choose between my…
clock | June 29, 2006This week, it took me quite a while to figure out how to answer the Ask a ScienceBlogger question: "What are some unsung successes that have occurred as a result of using science to guide policy?"
As a relative newcomer to the United States, and even more a newcomer to American politics, I was not around long enough to pay attention to various science-driven policies of the past. Most of what I know are far from "unsung" successes - from Manhattan Project, through Clean Air and Clean Water acts, to the EWndangered Species Act, to the international Kyoto Protocol. Dealing with DDT, DES,…
clock | June 27, 2006
Thsi post (and you can always click on the icon to check out the original) was written on April 29, 2005. Those are my observation about the in-class science fair in my daughter's classroom.
Yesterday morning Mrs.Coturnix and I went to Coturnietta's school. Her class had a Science Fair! You can just imagine my excitement - a scientist's daughter's first venture into science!
For two weeks she pestered me to help her with her project, and I did a little bit here and there (using sharp objects when neccessary, for instance, or going to the store and buying supplies she ordered), but in…
clock | June 23, 2006
Since everyone is posting about spiders this week, I though I'd republish a sweet old post of mine, which ran on April 19, 2006 under the title "Happy Bicycle Day!" I hope you like this little post as much as I enjoyed writing it:
This week's theme for the Tar Heel Tavern is bicycle. I was wondering what to write about. Perhaps about crazy bicycle rides I had as a kid. Or a fun riff on "fish needing a bicycle". Then, I was saved! Because, today is the Bicycle Day! That's just great, because I can go on a scientific tangent with a local flavor.
If you do not know what Bicycle Day is,…
clock | June 12, 2006I gave the second exam today. I have not graded them all yet, but I have a feeling that the grade distribution will move from flat to bimodal: some people going up into As and Bs, others falling to Fs, and nobody remaining in the middle. Some people put an effort in it, some don't. That's life.
Since the last meeting of the class (and the Final Exam) is next week, I'll have to quickly write down the notes for my last two lectures so the students can have sufficent time to study. I will post the notes here, as usual. I hope to get both lectures written tomorrow, but life may interfere if…