Here in the US we have a very little known right called Jury Nullification.  The right is this: a jury has the right to declare someone accused of a crime not guilty, even if they believe he did commit the crime.  Not only can they do so, they don’t have to justify why.  The Judge […]

Hey, remember playing Battleship when you were a kid?  Remember the subtlety; the intricate, complex layers; the sense of narrative?  The feeling that you weren’t just playing a game, your were telling a story – creating a world? No?  Huh.  Weird.  You remember it going a little more like this? “A8.” “Miss. C1.” “Miss.  J6.” […]

With NASA ending the shuttle program and Virgin Galactic announcing its progress toward civilian space flights yesterday, it truly seems we’re at a turning point in the development of space travel.  It seems like a good time to offer just a few reflections on space travel and its implications. I think the end of the […]

Here’s the thing about Independence Day that I love:  I love the actual day it commemorates, and its relationship to the very idea of independence and autonomy.  Here’s what I mean by that: Our independence day doesn’t celebrate the end of a war, or the day we were “granted” liberty.  It reflects instead the moment […]

The other day I got a phone call from a guy here who’s sort of a film/modeling/TV liaison, asking if I’d be interested in auditioning for a series of commercials.  Now, obviously, commercials are hardly the most riveting things, challenging things, certainly not the most dignified things.  They can be fun to do sometimes, though. […]

I went to the movies last night and when I exited – this is about 11:00 pm – the lobby of the theater was filled with people. People lining up, people getting snacks, people milling. The parking lot was a flurry of activity. And why? I finally backtracked and looked at the head of the […]

So, put yourself in this position and ask yourself what the appropriate response would be:  A friend of mine was telling me about a few years back when she and her (then) husband were at Disneyland.  They’re in line for whatever.  The husband sees an man of Asian ethnicity a few places ahead of them […]

So, I had this dream last night– no, wait! Come back!  I’m not going to go into detail about my dream, I promise.  If you read my last post (and if not, why not? ) you recall it had to do with the guy here who posted a Craigslist ad for a time-travelling companion to […]

This is a real posting on Craigslist from this weekend, here where I live.  I’ve kept it exactly as is, except for removing information which might reveal identity or contact information: In need of a time travel companion (please take this seriously) Date: 2011-06-17, 5:38PM PDT I have a functioning time machine I know it […]

Hi, Canada, come on in.  Yes, I know, I’m not dressed for the water park… we’re… we’re not going to the water park.  Have a seat.  No, no, don’t leave, no one’s judging anyone here.  You can’t really believe that we’re in a position to judge anyone’s behavior.  I just… I’m, that is we’re worried […]

News Item –  The BBC reported that nuclear physicists in the search for antimatter have had a major breakthrough.
Scientists at the Switzerland/France CERN particle collider announced the successful capture of an anti-hydrogen atom for almost 16 minutes. Dr. Skeinman: Well, we’ve come close a few times before.  Once we thought we’d captured one, but it […]