About

I'm starting this 'blog because there are often things I want to talk about in a longer format than Facebook Micro-blogging is really good for.  This should allow a convenient, searchable, easily archived whiteboard to share those kinds of thoughts on.

I'm naming it and forming it this way, on the other hand, because there are lots of subjects on which I feel most people are more than a little under-informed.

Sometimes it's technical, sometimes it's political, sometimes it's historical, or sometimes, it's just some interesting little bit of trivia.

Sometimes it's misunderstood because of linguistic drift - Quick, what's a plunger? Chances you're thinking about something to unclog your toilet with, rather than a tool, control, lever, or other part of a device or mechanism that works with a plunging or thrusting movement.

Sometimes it's misunderstood because of intentional definition assault, where, for one reason or another, one group of people has intentionally set out to redefine a word or phrase... Like "Pro-Life" (instead of "anti-choice"). Everyone's "pro-life"... Women with unwanted pregnancies who aren't "pro-life" don't get abortions, they slit their wrists.

Sometimes a word is misunderstood because of the passage of time... Like the fact that the roots of the word "vulgar" reference average (or common) people, or that the word "agnostic" was coined to have a very specific meaning (and it's not "Gee, Wally, I don't know!")

In any case, I think a collection of clearly written, easy to read, honest and unbiased explanations would be beneficial. Now, I may not ave the time or skill to be the person who writes those explanations (And, after reading the paragraph above about definition assault, you may think I'm completely incapable of impartiality :) but I think it's a valuable goal, and I'm gonna give it a shot.

Believe it or not, an unyielding bias toward clarity and factual information is the only bias I'm going to intentionally allow here. If I want to specifically push my side of something, I'll do it somewhere else.

You may not agree with the facts presented, but they'll be facts, to the best of my ability to find them.  If you have better facts, with better backing, let me know and I will publicly and happily turn on a dime, and post updates to the article to boot... But not just if the facts seem better to you or fit in better with your (or my) preconceived notions. They've got to be actual facts that are actually better, backed by actually better actual data. ;)

Blogger lends itself well to discussion, and if facts and data are arrived at through that discussion that show that there's a better answer or explanation than the one I've given, I'll edit the article, publicize the change, and credit the person who pointed it out, if they want me to.

Now... If only I can find the time to write and post... :)