Hermione and the Lack of Logic

I know everybody thinks Hermione is oh-so-smart, but she really *is* illogical. Think of how she acts to Luna! Just because there's no proof of nargles means they don't exist? Does she hear herself? There are people in the world who would say that witches don't exist, but Hermione's very existence (such as it is) is proof against that!

So here's the question. How has Hermione gone so long without learning that a lack of proof for something (say, nargles) isn't the same as proof against something? People didn't believe until giant squid until very recently, and yet they still exist.

That was short. Sorry.

Two articles from alternet

One having to do with recruiting and JROTC programs in middle schools.
And one having to do with recruiting, and protests. And school.

*hums*

Just so we're clear - who's playing Calvinball with me tomorrow? Say, noon? Where are we meeting in the park? Youse guys have equipment of some sort, right?

(Yes, I know this is less spontaneous than Calvinball is supposed to be, but I've never done this before.)

An article on the Times' series on class

Here.

A Salon article on the Downing Street memo...

Here.

( Read more... )

Why do people talk about the "radical right"?

Whatever happened to the word "reactionary"? Is there a difference that I'm not seeing?

Here's an interesting conundrum.

For the past two or three summers (not sure which), we've had a tiny insect problem on our front porch. On a specific spot on our front porch, in fact - right underneath the banister on the left of the door, immediately next to the support structure holding that banister up.

There isn't a hive directly above or beneath this spot.

Every day or so during the summer, we (or I, really, nobody else looks) will find a mound - sometimes a substantially sized mound - in that spot. The mound consists of lumps of dark red waxy stuff, lumps of bright yellow waxy stuff that smells vaguely like clover or dandelion, and quite a bit of yellow powdery stuff that might be pollen and doesn't smell like anything. It's not being built into a structure, it's just piled up. No tunnels, no rigidity, not even any distinction between "well, here is where we put this stuff, here is where we put that". It might also include dead grubs (always dead ones). Tiny black ants (smaller than the text on this page) busy themselves walking back and forth around the mound, neither adding to nor taking away from it (unless they're eating the dead grubs). There aren't very many ants, you'd see more if you dropped a little bit of sugar water on the ground and waited.

The mound doesn't grow during the day, I think. I've been checking. Whatever is building it is either doing it during the night, or during the very early morning.

Edit: And every time I see this mound, I sweep it away. Doesn't matter, it's always back within a week. Or a day, even.