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Between 2009 and 2020, Josh published more than 10,000 blog posts. Here, you can access his blog archives.

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Geography is Destiny on the Nile

October 31st, 2010

My High School History teacher, Mr. Zebofsky, would always say that in the history of civilization, geography is destiny. This photo of the land surrounding the Nile River taken aboard the International Space Station proves this forcefully. Look at all of the progress and civilization surrounding the river, and the utter darkness beyond the river. Fascinating. H/T Gizmodo.

Volunteers Needed for The Harlan Institute’s Inaugural SCOTUS-Skype-Teach-A-Thon

October 31st, 2010

On Thursday November 11, 2010, the Harlan Institute will be virtually visiting classrooms across the country in the inaugural SCOTUS-Skype-Teach-A-Thon. As a complement to FantasySCOTUS.org, the Harlan Institute has trained a group of Mentors to to deliver virtual lectures to classrooms using Skype video chats.

If you are an attorney or law student interested in volunteering with us, please fill out this form. The time commitment would probably be about 1 hour on November 11. Our mentors consist of attorneys, law professors, and law students who are all committed to raising awareness of the Constitution and the Supreme Court.

I assure you it as a very rewarding experience. All you need is a web camera and a skype account. We provide guidance and lesson plans on the most fascinating cases before the Supreme Court this term, including Snyder v. PhelpsSchwarzenegger v. EMANASA v. NelsonConnick v. Thompson, and Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting.

These lectures are 100% free for all classes. Please take a look at some of our testimonials, or watch the video below.

If you are a teacher and would like to request a mentor, please sign up your class at FantasySCOTUS.org and request a mentor for your class. Please specify what time of day your class will meet on November 8, 2010, which case you would like to cover, and what grade your students are in. We have a limited number of mentors available, so please sign up soon. Additionally, before the class, please share the Harlan Institute Lesson Plans with your students.

Zombie Virus Possible?

October 31st, 2010

Scientists postulate that if someone combined rabies with an airbone influenza, it would create the equivalent of a rage zombie virus. Check out this article from National Geographic:

A faster mode of transmission would be through the air, which is how theinfluenza virus spreads.

“All rabies has to do is go airborne, and you have the rage virus” like in 28 Days Later, Max Mogk, head of the Zombie Research Society, says in the documentary. The international nonprofit is devoted to “raising the level of zombie scholarship in the Arts and Sciences,” according to their website.

To be transmitted by air, rabies would have to “borrow” traits from another virus, such as influenza.

It’s theoretically possible—though extremely difficult—to create a hybrid rabies-influenza virus using modern genetic-engineering techniques, the University of Miami’s Andreansky said.

“Sure, I could imagine a scenario where you mix rabies with a flu virus to get airborne transmission, a measles virus to get personality changes, the encephalitis virus to cook your brain with fever”—and thus increase aggression even further—”and throw in the ebola virus to cause you to bleed from your guts. Combine all these things, and you’ll [get] something like a zombie virus,” she said.

“But [nature] doesn’t allow all of these things to happen at the same time. … You’d most likely get a dead virus.”

The National Geographic Channel has a special titled the Truth Behind Zombies. This can’t be good 😉

Shrug. Death to avoid Taxes?

October 31st, 2010

Ben Franklin famously quipped that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Well, what if by dying one could avoid taxes? That would be the ultimate shrug.

A Representative from Wyoming claims that some of her “constituents are so worried about the reinstatement of federal estate taxes that they plan to discontinue dialysis and other life-extending medical treatments so they can die before Dec. 31.”

Take a look at this story from the Wyoming Tribune:

But she said many ranchers and farmers in the state would rather pass along their businesses — “their life’s work” — to their children and grandchildren than see the federal government take a large chunk.

“If you have spent your whole life building a ranch, and you wanted to pass your estate on to your children, and you were 88 years old and on dialysis, and the only thing that was keeping you alive was that dialysis, you might make that same decision,” Lummis told reporters.

The story provides no further details, so I’m not quite sure if I believe it, but this would be one grotesque way to flip Franklin’s maxim.

Don’t like Google Street View cameras photographing your house?

October 26th, 2010

Eric Schmidt recommends you “Just Move.”

Oh wait, Google is filming everyone, everywhere.  So that won’t really solve the problem.

As I wrote in Omniveillance, once Google transitioned from capturing information online to capturing information in the real world, people really cannot avoid the limelight:

Currently, people who seek to stay out of the limelight can avoid using a computer, abstain from posting to blogs, and miss out on all of the fun of social networking. However, under this new regime, you can’t run; you can’t hide; there is no escape.
Google issued a retraction, noting that Schmidt “clearly mispoke.” But you still may want to change your name while you’re at it.