Mainstream “news” has a problem. Reporters for more traditional big name organizations no longer need to present actual proof of anything they report.  The reason mainstream reporters do this is to feed the beast of the 24-72 hour news cycle.  The most recent “revelations” by “anonymous sources” regarding alleged statements by President Trump exemplify this issue. It is a story which fits the preconception that he does not respect veterans, but there is a huge difference between going after a political opponent who happens to be a vet and insulting dead WWI or WWII soldiers.

Standard English exist because not everyone in the world who uses English is a native speaker of English.  According to a group of English writing instructors it is racist to expect that in formal academic writing expecting standard English is racist.    In this one scientist opinion that is factually incorrect. 

This Ain't Another Statement! This is a DEMAND for Black Linguistic Justice! - Conference on College Composition and Communication https://t.co/IqZK9bmtJg

What are the best computing devices for online classes?  As an adjunct professor here is my opinion on what makes for a good computer for online courses, and a few suggestions of which computers to buy.  The key factors to consider are compatibility with commonly used software.  Flexibility in terms of input, portability, and price.   Considerations like raw computing power are not necessarily part of this calculation though more power is a plus.

Unification of General Relativity with Quantum Field Theory is the greatest mystery of physics, the holy grail of theoretical physics, and also a graveyard of theories. Everyone who has chosen has chosen poorly so far. Working on this problem from another point of view than the usual one I have been lead to the same basic insight as is found in string theory. That at some fundamental level the universe can be described exactly given either enough harmonic oscillators, or the right set of variables in which the behavior is that of a harmonic oscillator.

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo for quite a while.  While I have not read it I did watch a very long presentation by DiAngelo on the book which has to be the next best thing.  She is a brilliant presenter, and anyone be you Kyle Kulinski or Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro should at least watch her talk about it.  

DiAngelo’s basic thesis is that White people in the Americas find it difficult to talk about the historical and systemic racism that has shaped live in the Americas.    That system is, as she put it, one which placed white people (Anglo or Hispanic white people) at the center as the standard of humanity with Black people as the ultimate racial other.    

Flat earthers are a thing in 2020.  Here is a simple do at home proof it is round given a large enough area of apparently flat land. Take a tripod like one would use for a camera and mount a laser pointer on it.  Lasers have the feature of being very well collimated, so their light does not die out in the same way as that from an ordinary light.   Point it at a paper target, attached to a car, and mark where the light falls.  It can help to point a camera at the paper target and record as this happens.