Cool stuff at the Foss Waterway Seaport!

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Two years ago, I suggested a "School of Marine Science" on the Foss. I wrote: Locate Tacoma's High Tech High in two buildings: The Foss Waterway Seaport and the Urban Waters facility. Students would learn about hard sciences with a focus on marine biology, marine chemistry, meteorology, climatology … and they could work with researchers in those fields at both institutes. They could add nautical science credits through piloting a small boat the school would run for research in Commencement Bay. And classrooms could still teach them calculus/web programming and other "tech" stuff. This was inspired by my own science Read more…

The metaphysical and theological questions raised by “Planet Earth”

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I have a strong emotional reaction while watching the wonderful show Planet Earth that is intimately tied in with my struggle with my faith and spirituality. On the one hand, watching the show fills me with awe at the beauty of creation. I get filled with an appreciation of the natural world and its inhabitants. This has long been a grounding of my Christianity, something I recognized intimately during my six weeks at sea during college. Sailing on a small ship and surrounded by the power of the ocean, I felt more sure of my faith than at any other Read more…

Steam your life

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Thanks to Aaron for pointing out that for the last two months I've had a "lifesteam" instead of a lifestream. Where were the rest of my spell-checking friends? Normally y'all would have been on that a lot sooner. Dang. Ah well. Embarrrassing typo avirted.

Can we finally get rid of phone books please?

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I don't know what the last time was I used a phone book. But every year I get at least three delivered to the door. It's driving me crazy to see that waste of paper. I know some people use them, and that's cool. But why can't I opt out of getting phone books? I don't want them, I didn't ask for them, and yet they keep coming and ending up instantly in the recycle bin. Does anyone know if it possible to halt delivery?

Obama writes on health care in the NYT

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Our reform will prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of your medical history. Nor will they be allowed to drop your coverage if you get sick. They will not be able to water down your coverage when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. And we will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. No one in America should go broke because they get sick. via nytimes.com I am Read more…