Kim Flournoy

Dalek Halloween Pumpkin:

I don’t know how much good ads like this do, but they do help lighten up this increasingly depressing campaign cycle:

I actually have no idea how my parents are voting this year, but they live in a heavily blue state and thus it doesn’t really matter one way or the other…

“I don’t usually bikini-wax my comments, but I will!”

Animator vs. Animated (thanks to Alaina)

In Somalia, fixing a water pump is no simple task.

And yet the Avenging Narwhal Playset from the fine folks at Archie McPhee never fails to crack me up.

This might actually be good, although bittersweet for those of us waiting (and waiting, and waiting…) for the next book the series: HBO turns ‘Fire’ into fantasy series

Also in the “please don’t let them ruin it” category: ‘Dark Crystal’ Sequel Gives Jim Henson’s Puppet Epic A Second Chance

(Thanks to Maggie):

I watched the first 15 minutes or so of the VP debate, and then just couldn’t take it anymore (I started shouting the first time Palin winked - winked! - at the camera, and just got more steamed the longer it went on). Eventually I found a few minute-by-minute commentaries, which allowed me to skip ahead to the important points and ignore most of the blathering.

Anyone else think these debate broadcasts should employ Pop-Up Video technology? Especially during the McCain/Obama debate last week, I really wished for running citations or some other method of fact-checking - perhaps a scroll at the bottom of the screen, or some kind of picture-in-picture with the debate in the top corner and the facts presented in a slideshow.

Otherwise, it’s really difficult to make an informed decision when two candidates are calling each other liars about who voted for what, and how many earmarks their district received. If you don’t feel like waiting until the next day and then wading through multiple articles trying to find something relatively unbiased, then all you’re left with is to try and read body language and listen for who makes a more persuasive argument. This unfortunately tends to reinforce any preferences you already had, so if you were leaning towards Obama, you’ll probably give his statements more credit (whether or not they are factually correct).

I think Jamie has the right idea - save yourself two hours of annoyed viewing, and just read a summary article about the debates the next morning and then go on with your life.

I am so lucky that Jamie is a stoic:

While my grade-school education was co-ed, I had to make a choice when selecting a college: would I attend an all-girls’ school or not? I thought about it, and even toured a few heavily (but not exclusively) female campuses, but finally decided that I was more comfortable in a mixed setting - not for educational purposes, but for social reasons. (This of course worked out well for me, as I met Jamie during my freshman orientation.)

However, I’ve always held the suspicion that my earlier education would have been much more academically productive and fulfilling if I’d attended a single-sex school, and perhaps more socially supportive as well. I know there is sexism and gender bias everywhere, but grade-school girls aren’t usually prepared to recognize it, to fight back against it. I know I wish I had done so.

Now we have some proof: a recent paper concluded that “boys benefit from being in a classroom with girls, but girls do not benefit from being in a classroom with boys.” Read the full article in Slate.

Somewhat related article: For Some Girls, the Problem With Math Is That They’re Good at It (free registration required)