Copyright notice
All text and original images in this blog © 1990-2010 by William P. Coleman. Some rights reserved. You may reuse only as specified in the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License or by written permission.About me
If you'd like to know more about me, please see the About page. My qualifications for the scientific entries are in my CV.
I see no reason to segregate scientific and technical posts from humanistic ones. In my life, scientific concerns mix with ethical ones, and they shade into a philosophical interest in the nature of cognition and the nature of people. Doing science is as creative as writing fiction, and I get inspiration for both from the same gods.
You will find little here on current politics. I'm an activist, but not in symptoms. Experience in martial arts shows me that the sure way to lose is reactivity; but if you stay cool and remember your training and what you're there for then you achieve goals and, when conflict is unavoidable, you fight and win. The idea of the liberal arts I was brought up in is that broad understanding of cultures and ideas gives you deeper, better goals -- making success more likely and more satisfying. Negatively, the hysteria since 9/11 shows how a country frightened and reactive can destroy itself more than an enemy can. I'm trying to contribute by changing the terms of discourse. . . . As Allen Ginsberg wrote, "America, I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel."
One fact shouldn't require special mention, but it sometimes does: namely that I'm gay. This blog is not primarily about being gay, but the topic sometimes comes up. I'm proud of being gay and do not hide. Muse
Category Archives: America
Kai Wright’s “Drifting Toward Love”
Book Review Kai Wright, Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay, and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York Beacon Press, Boston, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8070-7968-3 This is an important book. Why would I — a dead, white male, a … Continue reading
Buffalo — Nighttime snow
View the other photos in this gallery: Buffalo — Nighttime snow. “Snow at night — phantasmagoria.” It’s part of a series on Buffalo, NY. My photos are at Smugmug.
Buffalo — snow on Delaware Avenue
“What,” you exclaim, “still more photos of snow in Buffalo?” “Well,” I reply, “that’s reality.” The fact is that I love it here and returned after 20 years of what I regarded as exile in a place that didn’t have … Continue reading
Buffalo — snow on Anderson Place
View the other photos in this gallery: Buffalo — snow on Anderson Place. ” Deep, quiet snow, late one night, on Anderson Place in Buffalo, NY.” It is part of a series on Buffalo, NY. My photos are at Smugmug.
Al Gore — on gay rights and gay marriage
I have no comment on this. There’s no way I could improve it. It says just what needs to be said — succinctly. precisely. I am preparing other posts about being gay, including analyses of recent scientific work whose authors … Continue reading
Blue-green winter evening
View the other photos in this gallery: Blue-green winter evening. “Pictures taken, one blue-green winter evening, of a boy and his dog in the snow. Pure west side: Buffalo, NY.” It is part of a series on Buffalo, NY. My … Continue reading
Healthcare Systems Process Reengineering, I: Vision
In two previous posts, I’ve discussed a vision of longitudinal healthcare responsible for people, rather than illness — and for the role that computers and medical informatics could play in making such systems possible. Those two posts discussed the ideas … Continue reading
Snow in the Bronx and Manhattan
View the gallery containing this photo: Snow in the Bronx and Manhattan. “The walk when these pictures were taken started, after a winter snow storm, near the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. I walked down Jerome Avenue to the … Continue reading
Peace Bridge
View the gallery containing this photo: Peace Bridge. “The Peace Bridge spans the Niagara River, just at its source in Lake Erie and about 15 miles above the falls. It connects my home, Buffalo, NY, with Fort Erie in Ontario, … Continue reading
William P. Coleman 