Bob Hayes Online

BUI – breasteeding under the influence.

This is just sad beyond words. The school’s genius plan for reconciling this poor child and the bullies who taunted him? Making them sit together at lunch – so they could develop a rapport.

At what point did it become a requirement that you be a complete dumbshit in order to run a school? I’m praying for this little one’s mother and family as they grieve the loss of their son.

It’s buried in the story – even the Times can feel shame – but the French are currently kicking our asses in the ass-kicking department.

That. Is. Not. Right.

Sit at your desk or in a chair. Lift your right foot slightly off the ground, and start moving it in a clockwise circular motion. Keep rotating it throughout the exercise.

Now take your right hand and draw a “6″ in the air in front of you, starting at the top of the six and moving down (the way they taught you to draw it in elementary school). If you’re like most people (everyone in my house who tried it, at least), your right foot will reverse direction, quite independently of your conscious volition, and start going counter-clockwise.

From my field notes:

It also works for the left foot/left hand. It does not work for right foot/left hand or vice versa. If you draw the “6″ from the inside out (so that the top of the figure is the last segment you draw), it doesn’t work – your foot will maintain its direction of motion. This leads me to think that each side of your brain has a rotation-direction module, which does not multitask, so that body movements on the same side have to rotate in the same direction.

Even moving very slowly and with great conscious effort, I was not able to make my same-side foot go contra-cyclically with my hand. As soon as I tried to move my hand the other way, my foot either changed direction or just spazzed out. I had no difficulty making the opposite side foot move contra-cyclically or in the same direction – it seems clear that the two brain halves have independent circuitry for this.

Another great passes from the scene – Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has died.

Update: this is a nice testimonial from OOTS.

Amanda Marcotte isn’t bitter about, nor are she and her blog buddies at Pandagon obsessed with, Ann Althouse’s impending nuptials. Not even a little bit!

What do you call it when someone attributes a common human failing – one that is universal or nearly so – to a particular group? I’m not thinking specifically of stereotypes (“Mexicans are lazy”, “white people are uptight”, “guys named Robert Hayes are amazingly handsome and witty”) which may or may not be based on observed behavior. Rather, I’m looking for something a bit more conceptually general – “Conservatives are hypocrites about their moral claims” or “Liberal politicians are dishonest and corrupt” – where the objective neutral observer notes gently that most EVERYBODY is a hypocrite about their moral claims and that pretty much all politicians are dishonest and corrupt. You could call it the “my side is full of saints and the other side is full of evil fallacy” but that is a bit wordy.

Name that fallacy and you’ll receive a plastic rocket and a pony. I swear. I’m a conservative, and we always keep our promises, unlike those lying liberals.