March 2009 Archives
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March 31, 2009
The Lobbyists' Lobbyists
Yes, the American League of Lobbyists is a professional organization that among other things represents lobbyists. Here's part of what they say about themselves. Established in 1979 as a nonprofit organization, The American League of Lobbyists (ALL) is the national...Read all of "The Lobbyists' Lobbyists"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:34 PM
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March 30, 2009
Well, I'm Certainly Glad To Hear This
Boston Latin School headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta issued a notice to parents and students yesterday quashing rumors of vampires at the school. An odd move for the head of a historic elite preparatory school, but Teta and Boston public school...Read all of "Well, I'm Certainly Glad To Hear This"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:34 PM
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March 28, 2009
Analysis and Curriculum: Some Things Just Come First
Responding to additions to the Texas State Board of Education science standards, PZ Myers at Pharyngula says the following. There are other obvious problems with those additions. High school students are expect to study all sides of scientific evidence? Really?...Read all of "Analysis and Curriculum: Some Things Just Come First"
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March 27, 2009
Friday Culture Word: 'rgmn/purple, purple wool, tribute
As usual, please look over at the following list of languages and word. Luwian: arkammana, tribute Hittite: arkamma(n), tribute Akkadian argamanna, red/purple wool, (as) tribute Ugaritic: argmn, tribute Hebrew (A): אַרְגָּמָן, purple wool, thread or dye, over 30 times in...Read all of "Friday Culture Word: 'rgmn/purple, purple wool, tribute"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:29 PM
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March 26, 2009
Four Stone Hearth Is Up
I'm a little late with this but the sixty third edition of Four Stone Hearth is up at Millard Fillmore's Bathtub. Ed Darrell has done a great job bringing together the latest collection of outstanding anthropology posts. Abnormal readers will...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:51 AM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
March 25, 2009
The Rebel Job Revised
Loren Fisher has just completed and published a revised edition of his The Rebel Job. Here's what Loren has to say about his revision. The invigorating discussion of The Rebel Job at the 2007 Job Conference at The Center for...Read all of "The Rebel Job Revised"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:03 PM
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March 23, 2009
This Seems Self-evident
At least it does to me. . . . a scientifically literate person not only understands the scientific method, but also knows some science. Read Mike the Mad Biologist's whole post. I know a philosopher of science, philosopher of physics...Read all of "This Seems Self-evident"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:15 PM
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March 21, 2009
On the Role of the Head in an Argument
I've been reading Lucian of Samosata's De Dea Syria from Strong's 1913 introduction and translation with notes. It is now available from ABZU. Many of the notes and a good deal of the introduction are well out of date but...Read all of "On the Role of the Head in an Argument"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:30 PM
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March 20, 2009
Follow the Leader
At least that seems to go for some. Do you see a process for the continuance of rituals among Homo sapiens in this little experiment? I do. Please notice that I didn't ask about the origin of rituals. That's another...Read all of "Follow the Leader"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:48 PM
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March 19, 2009
An Uncertainty I Can Believe In
John Anderson has a new blog, Hesed we 'emet. Thanks Chris for pointing it out. So far, it looks like a great addition to the community. I particularly enjoyed his post "The Tenth Century Question (or, Finkelstein vs everyone else?)."...Read all of "An Uncertainty I Can Believe In"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:36 AM
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March 18, 2009
Hybrid Manuscripts
Mississippi Fred MacDowell (somehow I don't think this is his real name) is On the Main Line and has been a couple of other places too. While always interesting, today he tells of something that is abnormally interesting: "Jewish Arabic...Read all of "Hybrid Manuscripts"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:24 PM
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March 17, 2009
Three Contentious Words
The latest edition of the Oriental Institute Seminars, number 5 this time, is out. It's called Nomads, Tribes, and the State in the Ancient Near East: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives. Not counting the words ancient, near, and east, words that have their...Read all of "Three Contentious Words"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:47 PM
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March 16, 2009
Stargazing For Science
Is it dark out where you live? If not, it will be before the day is over. But just how dark will it be? Will the ambient light come from the stars, the planets, and the moon or will it...Read all of "Stargazing For Science"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:15 AM
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March 15, 2009
Plundering What Your Forefathers Built
Al Ahram reports on a recent talk by Egyptologist Rob Demaree of Leiden University at the Dutch Institute in Cairo. His talk was about the workers who built the rock-cut tombs of the Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings,...Read all of "Plundering What Your Forefathers Built"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:53 AM
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March 14, 2009
The Woman Has No Mercy
For thirty three years a large camellia bush has presented us with a magnificent display. Flowers appear at the beginning of February and last until mid March. Its abundant buds and magnificent blooms greet us just outside our bedroom window....Read all of "The Woman Has No Mercy"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:55 PM
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March 13, 2009
Goofing Around With Six Letters And A Word Divider
The other day Peter van der Veen at Cronologs defended a suggestion by an anonymous scholar concerning a fragmentary inscription discovered by Reich and Shukron in a fill near the Gihon spring in Jerusalem. There's a good picture of the...Read all of "Goofing Around With Six Letters And A Word Divider"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:51 PM
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March 11, 2009
On Interviewing
One of the funniest blogs I read on a regular basis is A Gentleman's C. The Angry Professor reports on abnormal events in academia that just may be all too normal. Yesterday she told us of a graduate school candidate...
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:22 PM
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March 10, 2009
Not Quite the 'God Spot'
I just read an article in the Independent about a paper by Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Aron K. Barbey, Michael Su, Giovanna Zamboni, Frank Krueger, and Jordan Grafman on the biological foundations of religious belief in the Proceedings of the National Academy...Read all of "Not Quite the 'God Spot'"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:45 PM
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On Having No Better Solution
Or "When Evidence Conflicts or Is Missing" I was about half way through writing a post on Hershel Shanks’s First Person column, “The Palace of Solomon’s Daughter?” in the most recent Biblical Archaeology Review when I found that Chris Heard...Read all of "On Having No Better Solution "
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:16 PM
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March 8, 2009
Ah! Bach
The Pomona College Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music, build in 1915, is a wonderful place to hear a concert. Those in the know call it Little Bridges. I was surprised to read that it seats 600 people. It seems...
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:13 PM
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Among The Lesser Reasons I Am Not A Theist
"Our great God is not surprised by this, or anything," Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, said in a statement. "That He allows evil and free will to have their way in tragedies like this is...Read all of "Among The Lesser Reasons I Am Not A Theist"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:10 PM
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March 7, 2009
Quotation of the Other Day
"Language is a slippery beast that will twist beneath your efforts to tame it" - PZ Myers on Pharyngula....Read all of "Quotation of the Other Day"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:45 PM
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March 6, 2009
Friday Culture Word: tnr oven
And I really do mean culture word. It was not only an ancient culture word, it is a culture word in many modern languages too. Take a look at these words in their respective languages. Sumerian: diruna/dilina Akkadian: tinūru Egyptian:...Read all of "Friday Culture Word: tnr oven"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:43 PM
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March 5, 2009
Statutes of Amenhotep III Found
Archaeologists found two statures of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. Reuters reports, Chief Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawaas said in a statement the first statute was made of black granite, while the second depicts the...Read all of "Statutes of Amenhotep III Found"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:50 AM
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March 4, 2009
Getting Our Haircut
This post is on an all too normal interest and I promise not to do another one like this for a while. Like most retired people who once worked in the semiconductor industry, my family's daily bread depends on a...Read all of "Getting Our Haircut"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:35 PM
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March 3, 2009
Another Irresponsible Post On Bodily Fluids
While putting the finishing touches on my משׁתין בקיר paper, I started thinking about a couple of other places in the Hebrew Bible where there might be an echo of urine divination omens. In the obligatory "further study" footnote I...Read all of "Another Irresponsible Post On Bodily Fluids"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:50 PM
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March 2, 2009
The Last Couple Standing
Saturday evening Shirley and I went to a 25th anniversary party for her brother and his wife. It was great fun. As is common at these affairs, a speaker asked all the married couples to stand. Then she asked those...Read all of "The Last Couple Standing"
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March 1, 2009
Biblical Studies Carnival XXXIX Now Available
Biblical Studies Carnival XXXIX is up at Dr. Platypus' place. Darrell Pursiful, doctor platypus himself, has done a great job of bringing last month's best posts together. Go give it a look....Read all of "Biblical Studies Carnival XXXIX Now Available"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:03 AM
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