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Blog archive for 2008

2008-12:
  • Detroit Lions' winless season.
  • Snow storms, Portland and Seattle.
  • Paul Krugman, The Return of Depression Economics.
  • Rabbi David Wolpe, Why Faith Matters.
  • A. Lee Martinez, A Nameless Witch.
  • Information theory textbook vs. Harry Potter.
2008-11:
  • Political humor: a bailout of the Republican Party.
  • An 11-10 score in the NFL.
  • Election results; Obama victory but Proposition 8 not defeated.
  • Richard Rhodes, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb.
  • Election prayers.
  • Rabbi David Wolpe and Christopher Hitchens debate.

2008-10:
  • I voted early, for Obama/Biden.
  • Bernheim Arboretum race.
  • Early 1980s "Paisley Underground" rock bands True West and Rain Parade back in print.
  • Worm grunting.
  • Planetarium projectors and presidential debates.
  • IU Southeast student housing dedication.
  • Frightening stock market volatility; the word "Gadarene"; Paul Krugman warning and Nobel Prize.
  • My fear of being priced out of the Portland, Oregon real estate market.
2008-09:
  • Accidental and deliberate art.
  • Stock market ups and downs; the Case-Shiller index for Portland and Seattle graphed using R. A house sells in my neighborhood.
  • Obama sign web cam.
  • Book: Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake.
  • Power back on after 4 days.
  • Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright dies of cancer.
  • Wind storm and damage; power out.
  • Lanesville Heritage Festival 8 mile run.
  • Book: Stephen Dubner, Choosing My Religion.
  • Lung association recommendations that student housing be non-smoking, and IU Southeast.
  • 40th anniversary of Led Zeppelin; 100th anniversary of the first fatal accident in aviation.
  • McCain's choice of Gov. Palin as running mate.
  • Mayor Doug England's veto of the New Albany smoking ban.

2008-08:
  • Microsoft Notepad; Microsoft document formats
  • Gov. Palin's daughter's name, Trig
  • Books:
    • Rebecca T. Alpert, Whose Torah? A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism
    • Isaac Asimov, Asimov's Guide to the Bible
    • the Lilith Saintcrow Dante Valentine series
  • Photovoltaic utility plants
  • Atlatls
  • Genesis 37 and Martin Luther King
  • More wind turbine blade sightings; breakthrough in catalyzing hydrogen from water
2008-07
  • A wind turbine blade sighting
  • Books:
    • the J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter series
    • Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials
    • Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
    • Forrest and Gross, Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design
    • Nicholas Wade, Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
    • Gerald Weissmann, Galileo's Gout: Science in an Age of Endarkment
    • Sherwin Nuland, Maimonides
    • Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great; Sam Harris, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation; John F. Haught, God and the New Atheism: A Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens
    • Jonathan Kirsch, God Against the Gods
    • Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus
    • Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman's Union
    • David Klinghoffer, Why the Jews Rejected Jesus
    • Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, The Bible Unearthed
    • Christine Wicker, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church
    • John Gribbin, The Fellowship: Gilbert, Bacon, Harvey, Wren, Newton, and the Story of a Scientific Revolution