Random Notes from a Crank

One of my FB friends shared this article by RawStory the other day that I found interesting. It's written by a neuroscientist: "Link between Religious Fundamentalism and Brain Damage Established by Scientists." 

The gist is that in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that does critical thinking, religious fundamentalist don't have a propensity for "cognitive flexibility and open-mindedness." 

As the author states, "Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge." 

They're not open to change: "Fundamentalist groups generally oppose anything that questions or challenges their beliefs or way of life. For this reason, they are often aggressive towards anyone who does not share their specific set of supernatural beliefs, and towards science, as these things are seen as existential threats to their entire worldview."

Religious fundamentalism is one of the things wrong in this world. 

And this all reminds me that I need to reread Mencken's Treatise on the Gods. 

Wales made the World Cup for the first time since 1958. So the group the US is in includes England, Iran, and Wales. 

This fine article from The Onion hits a little close to home since I'm usually geeked up when blue jays and woodpeckers show up: "Area Bird Creeped Out by Bird Watcher.

I need this notebook.  

Random Notes from a Crank

After doing some reading and some research, I'm moving to using avocado oil as my high-smoke-point and relatively flavor-neutral cooking oil. 

Mash the title if you want to know about "9 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Avocado Oil." 

It's been a rough week for the Premier League. Manchester City got humbled by Lyon in the Champions League, which means there are no EPL teams in the quarterfinals. And on Sunday Manchester United lost to Sevilla. 

Speaking of football, I discovered a Netflix series about the eight national teams that have won the World Cup. The opening episode about Uruguay was fascinating. 

Because I planted pickling cucumbers, I've been making pickles. In addition, I pickled some hard-boiled eggs. A bar I used to frequent during my college days always had pickled eggs on hand, and I was one of those guys who acquired a taste for that odd foodstuff. 

Random Notes from a Crank

A week or so ago a fraternity brother of mine bought the cardboard sign (below) from 1969 for me. I collect Schlitz memorabilia, and I found this piece wonderful. First, a beer company/distributor created a sign for teachers for some reason. Second, I am amused by the unnecessary quotation marks. This is going in my office. 

On July 1 my son and I are going to a Braves-Cardinals baseball game at Busch. My son is going with his travel team, which is the damned Redbirds. I'm a Cubs fan, and I throw up a little in my mouth when I see my son in his Redbirds jersey. For the game we're going to, I purchased a throwback Braves cap. I'm not a Braves fan, but I like the retro cap. 

So I wonder which team Moscow Don is rooting for in the World Cup? My bet is on I Russia. 

I enjoy watching the World Cup. There are certain teams I'll root for. I've always liked Spain. I like Spanish culture, and they usually have a solid team. As I type this though, Ronaldo just tied up the game with Spain. That dude is incredible. 

I'll cheer for Denmark because I'm part Danish. I'll also root for the African countries in the Cup: Egypt, Nigeria, and Senegal. I also like the underdog Latin American countries: Uruguay, Peru, and Costa Rica. France and Mexico's teams interest me too.