Who Were the Sea Peoples?

“A very small cause which escapes her notice determines a considerable effect that we cannot fail to see, and then we say the effect is due to chance.” — Henri  Poincaré, Science and Method This is something I have pointed out here repeatedly. When someone says that the cause or explanation for some event is “chance,” they have turned a word which, when properly used, should be understood to mean “we don’t know what caused that event,” into the name of a cause itself.  It is as though our ignorance of the true cause of some event is causing the event!

Science has explained some things very nicely. But scientism attempts to move from that to the claim that “the only good explanation is a scientific explanation.” It is like moving from the fact that a hammer is a good tool for some jobs to the claim that “the only good tool is a hammer.”

When writing a paper, restrict yourself to one controversial claim: the main one the paper is designed to forward. Don't throw in other controversial claims as offhand remarks! So , if you are trying to convince chemists that they have made a mistake in determining the formula for some compound, don't mention, in passing, "Oh, and obviously the moon landing was faked."

You buy into the Apple "eco-system," and wind up with three Macs, an iPhone, and a couple of Apple TVs. They are all supposed to connect to the same Apple account. And they all automatically store and use your password... until something happens. Like you get an new device, or hookup to a different cable provider... and then you need to re-enter the password you've forgotten, since it was so conveniently stored for you. LOOP: So you get the password wrong three times, so Apple forces you to change it... to something different than any of your last N passwords. Ok, so what? Well, you have to re-enter it on every device... including that one you only pull out in emergencies. But, by the time you use it again, well, you've been using your stored password for months, and so you type it wrong three times, and Apple forces you to re-set it! JUMP LOOP

Now I can see the light of day  The Verrazano Bridge so far away In the yard the machines play And I think I’m falling down Looking over that old canal Looking for just one true pal Ain’t nothing to see unusual Nine stories up but I’m gonna drown

Sometimes libertarians, such as Walter Block, suggest that if something isn't explicitly forbidden in a law (or contract), it is permitted. Why this can't work:

Black British rapper Zuby, who is “out of touch,” notes on Twitter: “ If big tech companies and media outlets were actually serious about being neutral and non-partisan then they'd hire some conservatives as part of their never ending 'diversity' initiatives. Ain't no diversity if everybody looks different but thinks the same way... ”