Tag Archives: avengers

The Warrior Passes On, Neanderthal Interbreeding, Black Boxes Deep Beneath the Sea, and a T-Rex Heads to DC

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This entry is part 3 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’m kind of excited about the Smithsonian finally getting a real T-Rex. It’s even more neat because I know one of the people out in Colorado who’s on the team that’s picking it up. People I know have incredibly interesting jobs and I dig it. 🙂

In other news today, one of the classic WWE (nee WWF) wrestlers of my childhood, The Ultimate Warrior, died suddenly and unexpected, just days after being inducted into the WWE hall of fame. I haven’t watched wrestling in decades, and the Warrior has been a little “off” over the years (seriously, dude seemed pretty crazy often after he left wrestling), but he was still an impressive and driven individual who made quite the impact on the world around him.

Finally, I feel really bad for you if you didn’t make it out to see Winter Soldier (the second Captain America movie) this weekend but did watch yesterday’s episode of Agents of SHIELD. I’ve never seen a TV show so directly tied into a movie… in the middle of its first season. It managed to spoil pretty much every plot twist of Winter Soldier. Granted, it made for the best episode of the series yet, but only if you saw the movie or don’t care about spoilers.

The Last Code Talker, Some Classic Confessional Humor, a Catchy Video Tune, and the Culture of Shut Up

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This entry is part 2 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

There were also cool amphibious ATVs and not so cool allegations that USAID created a social network in Cuba to spy on people.

Yeah, I run the gamut on things. I kind of pride myself on the variety of stuff I share out and the diversity that becomes apparent in some of the discussions that go on. It’s good to know that I can always count on my friends to always keep me on my toes and leaning new stuff.

And that’s why that “Culture of Shut Up” situation bothers me a bit. In no small part because, try as I might to avoid it, I know I’m guilty of fueling it sometimes.

I’m still not sure how I feel about the Mozilla CEO being forced to resign by public opinion. I did feel that the Duck Dynasty guy got a raw deal when the Internet went apeshit over his comments (though it seems that turned out a net positive for the DD crew… tons of publicity at a low, low cost). I don’t feel bad about taking geocentrists to task for their utter refusal to accept just how nonsensical their view is… just like I don’t feel bad about taking those who put science and religion into a mutually exclusive equation. (They’re not, plenty of scientists with faith and plenty of faithful who don’t scoff at science.)

I do try to stay aware of where I stand in all of that. Of when I encourage others to speak, discourage them to do so, remain silent and just let things play out. Without question, I do try to facilitate more than shut down lines of discussion. But it’s a tough line to walk sometimes… and it leads to a lot of uncomfortable internal dialogues.

Which side of things are you on? Do you pay attention to how your words and action impact others?