Tag: sociology
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politics and meat
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks buried in my research (some of which is getting published, but I’ll post about that when it actually comes out, which will be in a few months), so I haven’t had much to blog about on here. But two news stories caught my eye today. First is this…
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why John McCain will probably win…
I have an aunt and uncle who are super nice and really great people. But they also happen to forward to me (or Debi) every political email they receive. They are pretty conservative, so the emails tend to be on things that I disagree with (as a liberal independent). I’ve probably received close to 10…
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you need worms
I read a lot of science news. Much of it is very cool, but only occasionally do I read something and find myself saying, “Holy Crap! I never thought of that and it makes perfect sense! Genius!” I did when reading this NYTimes article on parasitic worms. The article basically explains that, in our evolutionary…
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the latest Steve…
In case you’ve never heard of “Project Steve” of the National Center for Science Education, here’s a quick recap: NCSE’s “Project Steve” is a tongue-in-cheek parody of a long-standing creationist tradition of amassing lists of “scientists who doubt evolution” or “scientists who dissent from Darwinism.” (For examples of such lists, see the FAQs.) Creationists draw…
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Workers of the World Unite! (on Sunday… in Church?)
I’m adding this sentence from a paper to my list of memorable student quotes, The religious affiliations of the United States as a whole are that 77% of people are Christian (which includes Catholics, Baptists, Protestants, Methodists, Lutherans, Christians, Proletarians, Episcopalians, Mormons, and others), 1% are Jewish, 1% are Muslim, 1% are Buddhist, less than…
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economic downturn and social stratification hit close to home
When we moved into our house almost 9 months ago, it didn’t take me too long to meet the neighbors. To the west live a tile layer (the husband) and a financial secretary at a construction company (the wife). To the east live a granite countertop installer (the husband) and a school counselor (the wife).…
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Tampa in the News
I’ve found since I started teaching Sociology that being up-to-date on local news can be useful (though it is less useful at my new school where many of the students are from other cities). This leads me to read the local paper, which is often relatively quotidian – thefts, car accidents, political debates, etc. Occasionally,…
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I miss all the “fun”…
I’m here prepping a lecture on racial/ethnic stratification for my class on social stratification when I read about a case of racial profiling in Tampa in my textbook. Apparently Reginald Pitts, a human resources manager for GAF Materials Corporation, was harassed and accused of trying to forge a check at a Wal-Mart. Pitts had phoned…
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the current zeitgeist – “Zeitgeist, The Movie”
A student of mine recently asked me my opinion on a movie making the circuits online called “Zeitgeist, The Movie”. He was smart enough to recognize that most of it is conspiracy theory (the movie mostly focuses on 9/11 conspiracies, which are crap, and banking conspiracies, which are also crap), but was interested in the…
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Iraq and life update
I got my dissertation defense date – May 4. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but it will be good to have it done. It’s kept me pretty busy lately. I also need to recommend a new local restaurant to my fellow Cincinnatians – Mama’s Hot Pot (8372 Reading Road). It opened up about a month ago…