Shoulda Seen It Coming
by Scott Hardie on February 19, 2007
The news that Princeton's infamous ESP research lab is soon to close (link) is both heartening and a little disappointing. On one hand, if there's anything at all to ESP, then skeptics should have no objection to private donations funding some bonafide scientific research into it – no harm done except for a hint of legitimacy. On the other hand, this lab was a black bruise for Princeton and its "findings" were routinely debunked, and a facility investigating exceptional claims must have exceptional adherence to scientific standards. Good riddance.
All that said, there's still plenty of stupid in the world. Ethiopia is about to celebrate their millenium amid celebrations about the symbolic dawn of a new morning in a country that needs to move on from its past. (link) You'd think that after all of the doomsday predictions about our own year 2000 failed to come true, nobody in Ethiopia would make the same mistake, but nah.
"When everyone else celebrated their millennium, they said all sorts of things were going to happen, but nothing happened," Addis Ababa-based film director Tatek Tadesse said.That's logic in action, folks. I can't wait until the doomsday predictions about our December 2012 fail to come true and Ethopian doomsayers offer that as proof that the world will end in their December 2012.
"Now all the prophecies they made about 2000 will happen this time round on the true millennium. It will be a new age for Ethiopia," said Tatek who is putting the final touches to a film inspired by the historic event.
Two Replies to Shoulda Seen It Coming
Amy Austin | February 21, 2007
Yeah... fortunately for me, my Y2K compliance allowed me to simply recognize that, all other things being pretty much equal, I was only going to keep advancing one more year in age, one day at a time, just as I always have.
Now, Y3K on the other hand... well... let's just say that I'm not at all prepared to deal with *that* fiasco -- but I'm fairly confident that there will be plenty of time to work out the kinks.
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Cold Turkey
Last night, we visited friends to celebrate "orphans Thanksgiving," for those of us who don't travel north to see our families. My family lives right here in Sarasota and we already had a nice holiday dinner on the beach (mmm grouper), but I wasn't about to miss a gathering with friends. The food was good and the company was great, but what I didn't expect was the cold, or I'd have put on more than a t-shirt and light slacks. Go »Illinois 2013
Ten highlights of my just-concluded road trip to northern Illinois with Kelly, in chronological order: - Seeing lots of friends and family at our engagement party in St. Charles, our old hometown. I was glad to be able to talk to everyone there, and also glad that I now recognize almost everyone in Kelly's large family on sight. Go »Tom's Ball Smells Like Apple Pie
For the last four months, I've spent Tuesdays at a bowling alley playing in a just-for-fun league. Score was kept, but the mood was friendly and non-competitive, except for one of my teammates who kept competing with us instead of the other teams. :-) I struggled with it at first, partly because I thought I was signing up for a six-week league and it turned out to be a sixTEEN-week league, and partly because my skills had somehow diminished even though I'm in better shape now. Go »Operation Git-R-Done
This past weekend, I explored my inner redneck in a NASCAR-centered visit to Charlotte with Steve Dunn and my family. Here are the highlights, good and bad. Thursday: Very little sleep before the trip: The Jeep parked outside my window sounded off its car alarm every five minutes (I timed it) from 10pm to 10am. Go »De-Gifting
I'd like to think I'm getting better at white elephant games since I play them every December, but evidence proves otherwise: After losing out on a crock pot, a board game, a video game, a sushi kit, a yoga mat, and a nightrobe, I finally took home a Z-grade zombie movie on DVD, and a Ben Franklin t-shirt. Woo! On the other hand, I scored a quesadilla maker at another party that has been pretty good so far. Go »
Kris Weberg | February 20, 2007
Pretty much every major calendar change in human history has provoked crazy millenarian thinking; it may just be somethign hardwired into our societies or our brains.