Voting for the new 3quarksdaily contest has recently opened up, and now you can vote for your favorite blog posts. I was glad to see that Laelaps is represented by four entries, although admittedly it was difficult for me to choose which one to vote for! If you want to give me a hand head over to this page and cast your vote. The entries that receive the most votes will then go on to a final round on June 8, 2009 when Steven Pinker will hand-pick the best of the best.
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Be the change we want to see...
Today is a big day for American Presidential politics, the so-called Super Tuesday when citizens in 24 states vote or caucus with their fellows to help select the candidates of the two main political parties. I live in one of those 24 states and Mrs. R. and I vote regular as clockwork.
I've been thinking about the Electoral College, that mechanism by which voters in the U.S. indirectly elect their president.
Are you registered? Do you know where to vote? You can find information and register (if you are not) here (this is an Obama site, but it works for everyone):
Good luck!
I must admit that when I heard Steven Pinker would be the final judge, I thought about quickly putting together an essay to punch his particular buttons. You know, a little bashing of evolutionary psychology, or taking the opposite stand to his in some linguistic matter, or a scholarly snarking over his defence of Larry Summers — the field's pretty much wide open. But then a paper on which I had done some of the preliminary data analysis came back from peer review (at a comparatively influential journal which shall not here be named), and I found I had the chance to use some of the software toys I'd developed since to address the reviewers' remarks, so I had to switch my time from snark back to science.
Pity, though. I wonder who'll be in charge next year. . . .
Although Hovind's reasoning isn't exactly the same as my friend, and my friend isn't a religious fanatic like Hovind is.
Though it's amazing the similarities in "reasoning" among these fringe groups.
Blake; Thanksw3! I actually don't expect to make it to the final round, but I am glad that a few people (yourself included) liked some of my posts enough to nominate them.
I actually had the same inclination when I heard Pinker was going to be the judge. I just didn't have the time to whip something up before the deadline. I will be curious to see what he has to say about the winners, though.