Politics, SF

No natural harmony of interest in society, or, you’re less free than your granpa.

WendyMcElroy.com: No natural harmony of interest in society
Well I’m sure not every single one of us is lee=ss free than our grandparents (or great grandparents), but this short blog post from Wendy McElroy brings up the point that human civilization has tended toward more freedom, and the guarantee of our basic equal human rights, throughout history–until the 20th century, where rights are no longer guaranteed, but legal walls have been put up to separate classes of people–by race sex, what have you–and rights have been replace by state-imposed privilege, and entitlement.
I think that we’re definitely in Heinlein’s “Crazy Years”, he nailed that one just about right.

General, Tech

We’ve Got Big Balls

An interesting article from Natural History magazine, about perfect stone balls found in Costa Rica, in the 1950’s. The article is by an archeologist’s wife, and details the discovery, and explorations of these objects. I like that the article is from a non-scientist’s point of view, which gives us more insight into the process, than we may have had otherwise.
I’d like to know if anything else has been discovered about these in the intervening years.