Back in grade school the teachers used to read to us. I'm not sure, but I think it continued into 4th grade. Is that still done?
We heard several Marguerite Henry and Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" books. There were some interesting singletons too, like "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle, and of course "Charlotte's Web".
Did this reading get kids interested in books? I think so. I know I read about everything I could get my hands on, and not just because we didn't have cable TV in those days (I still have forearms like Popeye from turning that !@#$! mechanical TV tuner). Much of it was the public domain books that were bundled with a set of encyclopedias (remember those?).
Often the books I liked were part of a series. Encyclopedia Brown was one - there have been dozens of books in this series by now. I just bought a mess of those for assorted rugrat relatives.
Then there were the Danny Dunn books, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. (Actually Abrashkin conceived the stuff, but he was almost completely paralyzed - he survived to work on the first 5 books). Danny lived with a professor and had all sorts of adventures that were high-tech by 50's/60's standards. Technology has a short shelf life, so it's no surprise that these are out of print.
Oh yes, there were the "Happy Hollisters". I thought they were great at the time - I was offended when I found that these were ground out by the yard by the Stratemeyer syndicate (Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc.). All of the HH books appear to be out of print.
On my own I found some others, like Albert Payson Terhune's dog stories like "Lad, A Dog" - the style of writing is dated and the author worries about then-current issues like vivisection, but animal lovers might still enjoy them. Once in a while Aesop's fables would show up in English books, and I sought out others - it's hard to imagine anything pithier. Of course there was Ayn Rand's Satan, Robin Hood, who I prefer to think of as robbing the govt to give to the taxpayers. All of them were about old-fashioned virtues that often are seen as utterly cornball now.
So what are kids reading today? Well, I investigated Harry Potter to see what the fuss is about, and unless you have some sort of religious issues IMO they're terrific books. What little I've seen of other series like "Captain Underpants" and "Bailey School Kids" seems harmless enough, and about anything is fair to get the kids to read.
But let's keep on pushing the older stuff too, such as "The Children's Book of Virtues" and the new release from National Review, "Treasury of Classic Children's Literature". I'm convinced that it did me a world of good.
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Harry Potter and the Delay of the Publication
I'll admit it - not only have I read all of the Harry Potter books, I've reread them and enjoyed them. And I'm waiting for the next one like a kid.
It will be a while yet though. Apparently the author, J. K. Rowling, is having a hard time with some of it. Among other things, she has to deal with 15 year old witches and wizards, who presumably are as horny as we Muggles are.
Another complication has been a lawsuit alleging that Rowling stole some of the characters. That has been settled in Rowling's favor, but it's just one more thing on top of a marriage and a pregnancy to make things harder.
But when she delivers the book, watch out. The last one had so much impact on book sales that Borders and Barnes and Noble mentioned it on their annual reports. Maybe there's a stock market play in this.
It will be a while yet though. Apparently the author, J. K. Rowling, is having a hard time with some of it. Among other things, she has to deal with 15 year old witches and wizards, who presumably are as horny as we Muggles are.
Another complication has been a lawsuit alleging that Rowling stole some of the characters. That has been settled in Rowling's favor, but it's just one more thing on top of a marriage and a pregnancy to make things harder.
But when she delivers the book, watch out. The last one had so much impact on book sales that Borders and Barnes and Noble mentioned it on their annual reports. Maybe there's a stock market play in this.
You know you've lived in St. Louis when...
You know what a billiken is.
Your pizza crust is thin like a cracker and cut into squares, and covered with a gummy cheeselike substances that locals claim is "Provel".
You bleed blue.
You know how to get to the Hill, Soulard, Laclede's Landing and Ted Drewe's, and why you want to.
You hear the name "Schlafly" and you think of beer.
You've heard of bands like Head East, Shooting Star, Colony, and Dr. Zhivegas.
You know you can go to Washington University without going to Washington.
A native might have done a better job, but that's a start. Maybe some of the usual suspects can help. Or how about that St. Louis expatriate known as VodkaPundit, or globetrotting recent visitor Tim Blair?
Addendum: How could I forget the Dirt Cheap tobacco and liquor stores? Ya gotta love a place that advertises that "the more she drinks, the better you look".
Your pizza crust is thin like a cracker and cut into squares, and covered with a gummy cheeselike substances that locals claim is "Provel".
You bleed blue.
You know how to get to the Hill, Soulard, Laclede's Landing and Ted Drewe's, and why you want to.
You hear the name "Schlafly" and you think of beer.
You've heard of bands like Head East, Shooting Star, Colony, and Dr. Zhivegas.
You know you can go to Washington University without going to Washington.
A native might have done a better job, but that's a start. Maybe some of the usual suspects can help. Or how about that St. Louis expatriate known as VodkaPundit, or globetrotting recent visitor Tim Blair?
Addendum: How could I forget the Dirt Cheap tobacco and liquor stores? Ya gotta love a place that advertises that "the more she drinks, the better you look".
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Football and management
So why do I and innumerable others watch professional football?
There are many fashionable explanations. Reliving youth. It's easier than going into the woods and banging a drum. It has commercials with great babes, and don't forget the cheerleaders. It's an established ritual. It's one more thing to gamble on. And so on.
But it does offer appeal north of the brain stem. For me at least, the major attraction is a chance to second-guess the players, coaches and management. In games you get to see a rapid succession of decisions and their outcomes. The rest of the time you can watch how the capital is used to get an optimum combination of competitiveness, profitability and return on investment.
Of course most of the fan's attention is focused on the players and coaches. But players can only do their assignments, and coaches can only use the players they have. Assembling the whole works is a challenge of its own which is developing into a discipline of sorts. Give the right general manager the authority and funding he needs and you can have a powerhouse.
Is managing a professional football franchise fundamentally different from running other businesses? There is a theory that a good manager can manage anything - is professional football an exception?
Consider Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins. He has spent a lot of money and intervened many times since he showed up about 3 years ago. Is the franchise better for his efforts?
It's up to him to round up the right personnel. How well has he done?
We'll leave discussion of the players to the rotisserie leaguers, I'll talk about the head coaches. Snyder has had 3. I didn't have an opinion about Norv Turner, but he had a gem last year with Marty Schottenheimer. Then he dumped Marty after one season for Steve Spurrier, a controversial coach who had never been in the pros. The results? The Redskins will do well to match last year's record, and Marty has revived the San Diego Chargers.
Snyder was going to establish a winning team to Washington. It seems safe to say that if winning is the measure of success, so far he has not been successful as a football executive.
Dare we infer anything broader about his talents as a businessman?
There are many fashionable explanations. Reliving youth. It's easier than going into the woods and banging a drum. It has commercials with great babes, and don't forget the cheerleaders. It's an established ritual. It's one more thing to gamble on. And so on.
But it does offer appeal north of the brain stem. For me at least, the major attraction is a chance to second-guess the players, coaches and management. In games you get to see a rapid succession of decisions and their outcomes. The rest of the time you can watch how the capital is used to get an optimum combination of competitiveness, profitability and return on investment.
Of course most of the fan's attention is focused on the players and coaches. But players can only do their assignments, and coaches can only use the players they have. Assembling the whole works is a challenge of its own which is developing into a discipline of sorts. Give the right general manager the authority and funding he needs and you can have a powerhouse.
Is managing a professional football franchise fundamentally different from running other businesses? There is a theory that a good manager can manage anything - is professional football an exception?
Consider Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins. He has spent a lot of money and intervened many times since he showed up about 3 years ago. Is the franchise better for his efforts?
It's up to him to round up the right personnel. How well has he done?
We'll leave discussion of the players to the rotisserie leaguers, I'll talk about the head coaches. Snyder has had 3. I didn't have an opinion about Norv Turner, but he had a gem last year with Marty Schottenheimer. Then he dumped Marty after one season for Steve Spurrier, a controversial coach who had never been in the pros. The results? The Redskins will do well to match last year's record, and Marty has revived the San Diego Chargers.
Snyder was going to establish a winning team to Washington. It seems safe to say that if winning is the measure of success, so far he has not been successful as a football executive.
Dare we infer anything broader about his talents as a businessman?
External combustion engines
It has come to my attention that some of you have never taken classes in thermodynamics. And in this day and age...
Thermodynamics covers a very broad array of topics, but the central idea is accounting for energy and how to make various types of "transactions" with it. This is important because often we find that the kind of energy we have isn't the kind we want. So we swap the chemical energy in gasoline for mechanical energy in our cars, or nuclear energy in uranium et al for electrical energy at our wall sockets.
There are various major laws of thermodynamics - a couple of them have been popularized as 1) you can't win (energy is conserved), and 2) you can't break even (entropy is always increasing). Futurists warn us of waning energy supplies and that entropy thing, leading to an eventual "heat death" of the universe. And you thought economics was the 'dismal science'.
But there's good news. There are ways to use existing energy supplies more effectively, even the dirtiest of them. One of those ways is something called a Stirling engine.
The Stirling engine is called an external combustion engine for an obvious reason - it typically uses the energy of combustion to drive it, but the combustion occurs on the outside. You don't have to atomize the fuel, and you can't foul the engine internals no matter how dirty the fuel is. In fact, you don't need combustion at all - this company will sell you a small demonstration Stirling engine that runs off the heat of your hands.
Here is an exposition on Stirling engines by HowStuffWorks, complete with animations.
This site also has a working model of a Stirling engine and a bunch of other neat stuff for your inner geek.
Thermodynamics covers a very broad array of topics, but the central idea is accounting for energy and how to make various types of "transactions" with it. This is important because often we find that the kind of energy we have isn't the kind we want. So we swap the chemical energy in gasoline for mechanical energy in our cars, or nuclear energy in uranium et al for electrical energy at our wall sockets.
There are various major laws of thermodynamics - a couple of them have been popularized as 1) you can't win (energy is conserved), and 2) you can't break even (entropy is always increasing). Futurists warn us of waning energy supplies and that entropy thing, leading to an eventual "heat death" of the universe. And you thought economics was the 'dismal science'.
But there's good news. There are ways to use existing energy supplies more effectively, even the dirtiest of them. One of those ways is something called a Stirling engine.
The Stirling engine is called an external combustion engine for an obvious reason - it typically uses the energy of combustion to drive it, but the combustion occurs on the outside. You don't have to atomize the fuel, and you can't foul the engine internals no matter how dirty the fuel is. In fact, you don't need combustion at all - this company will sell you a small demonstration Stirling engine that runs off the heat of your hands.
Here is an exposition on Stirling engines by HowStuffWorks, complete with animations.
This site also has a working model of a Stirling engine and a bunch of other neat stuff for your inner geek.
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Raspberry
I didn't post anything all day yesterday or today, and my traffic is up noticeably.
You guys are trying to tell me something...
You guys are trying to tell me something...
Democratizing technology
A minute ago I saw a segment on CNBC showing some measures US troops will be taking to deal with Saddam and his potentially dangerous chemical weapon or other facilities. There's no end to ingenuity, such as bombs designed to incinerate or neutralize chemical or biological weapons where they are stored without human intervention.
What really caught my eye was a special purpose robot. It appeared to be about 18" square, maybe 6" deep, and was light enough to be carried and thrown by a technician. It had treads like a tank on each side, various sensors and remote controls and could be fitted for auxiliaries such as a shotgun. And it's amphibious - it "swam" right across a stream at a decent pace.
For the demo, someone threw it in a window, breaking the glass. The robot righted itself and proceeded to crawl over debris, up stairs and around various obstacles under remote control. If I remember right it runs about $40K.
That's the kind of stuff I went to engineering school to work with. As it was, we only had one real industrial robot that I recall, a Cincinnati Milacron T3 robot arm that only grad students and profs got to play with. Nowadays some !$@$ kids can put together BattleBots that blow away anything I ever got to work with.
And the computers! My first programming class was Fortran using punched cards (or if I was lucky, an actual teletype that was slower than a typist and loud enough to make your teeth rattle). Underclassmen couldn't use CRTs, and the command languages available made today's mainframes look friendly. Computers were such an utter PITA to use that I never ever considered computer science as a major. Little did I suspect that I'd be making a living with them not so many years later.
Calculators? Less than 30 years ago a four function calculator would set you back on the order of $100, and was slow, so I learned how to use a slide rule (a tolerable 10" plastic log-log decimal trig model could be had at a drugstore for about $5). People made fun of those of us who wore calculators on our belts, but the slide rule kind like a TI SR-50 was well over $100 in its heyday in the late 70's. An HP-65, which could read and write mag cards, ran about $700.
Oh yeah, there's CAD/CAM. I learned little rules for figuring out optimal ways to configure NAND gates to implement logic, or to design a mold for a casting to prevent solidification before the mold was full, or suchlike odds and ends. Engineering drawings were rendered with T-squares by students or by drafting machines and arms. But now software does all of it far faster and more accurately, and can even drive machine tools or other devices to fabricate items with little if any human intervention.
So here it is, two decades plus after engineering school. I have stayed reasonably current, but much of what I was taught that went much beyond the fundamentals is utterly obsolete. Talented amateurs can use computer and robot technology that was the envy of engineering schools not so long ago. Technical fields have been "democratized", and the results are fascinating.
I wish this process extended further into the sciences. No matter how sharp we engineers are, we can still use more ideas and we won't recognize every valuable application of technology. Sciences can always use more observers, and amateurs can help in various ways if mobilized (such as via SETI on your screen saver).
Given these incredible widely available resources, why don't we have more amateur scientists and engineers? How did expertise or knowledge in these fields become "geeky"?
What really caught my eye was a special purpose robot. It appeared to be about 18" square, maybe 6" deep, and was light enough to be carried and thrown by a technician. It had treads like a tank on each side, various sensors and remote controls and could be fitted for auxiliaries such as a shotgun. And it's amphibious - it "swam" right across a stream at a decent pace.
For the demo, someone threw it in a window, breaking the glass. The robot righted itself and proceeded to crawl over debris, up stairs and around various obstacles under remote control. If I remember right it runs about $40K.
That's the kind of stuff I went to engineering school to work with. As it was, we only had one real industrial robot that I recall, a Cincinnati Milacron T3 robot arm that only grad students and profs got to play with. Nowadays some !$@$ kids can put together BattleBots that blow away anything I ever got to work with.
And the computers! My first programming class was Fortran using punched cards (or if I was lucky, an actual teletype that was slower than a typist and loud enough to make your teeth rattle). Underclassmen couldn't use CRTs, and the command languages available made today's mainframes look friendly. Computers were such an utter PITA to use that I never ever considered computer science as a major. Little did I suspect that I'd be making a living with them not so many years later.
Calculators? Less than 30 years ago a four function calculator would set you back on the order of $100, and was slow, so I learned how to use a slide rule (a tolerable 10" plastic log-log decimal trig model could be had at a drugstore for about $5). People made fun of those of us who wore calculators on our belts, but the slide rule kind like a TI SR-50 was well over $100 in its heyday in the late 70's. An HP-65, which could read and write mag cards, ran about $700.
Oh yeah, there's CAD/CAM. I learned little rules for figuring out optimal ways to configure NAND gates to implement logic, or to design a mold for a casting to prevent solidification before the mold was full, or suchlike odds and ends. Engineering drawings were rendered with T-squares by students or by drafting machines and arms. But now software does all of it far faster and more accurately, and can even drive machine tools or other devices to fabricate items with little if any human intervention.
So here it is, two decades plus after engineering school. I have stayed reasonably current, but much of what I was taught that went much beyond the fundamentals is utterly obsolete. Talented amateurs can use computer and robot technology that was the envy of engineering schools not so long ago. Technical fields have been "democratized", and the results are fascinating.
I wish this process extended further into the sciences. No matter how sharp we engineers are, we can still use more ideas and we won't recognize every valuable application of technology. Sciences can always use more observers, and amateurs can help in various ways if mobilized (such as via SETI on your screen saver).
Given these incredible widely available resources, why don't we have more amateur scientists and engineers? How did expertise or knowledge in these fields become "geeky"?
Monday, November 18, 2002
Genetics question
I understand that geneticists have ways to calculate the percentage of match of different species' genomes. Let's harness that wisdom for a straightforward calculation.
What is the percentage match between Osama bin Laden and a pig? As nice as it would be to have his carcass handy, we'll assume for purposes of analysis that he was a human being.
C'mon GC...
What is the percentage match between Osama bin Laden and a pig? As nice as it would be to have his carcass handy, we'll assume for purposes of analysis that he was a human being.
C'mon GC...
Sunday, November 17, 2002
A kindred spirit
After I saw it on Userland's Recently Updated Weblogs, how could I not link to "Quest for Breasts"?
Someone sent her this joke:
Someone sent her this joke:
I have to share this wonderful joke with you:
An old tarot card reader told a young woman that her deepest desires had been answered. Her breast size would be increased. However, the increase relied on the kindness of strangers. Everytime that a stranger said the word 'Pardon' to her, her breast size would increase 1 full inch.
Walking down the street, A man asked her 'Pardon me, can you tell me the way to city hall?' To her surprise her breasts immediately grew 1 inch. This happened again when a man who had trouble hearing her said 'beg your pardon?'
The unfortunate incident that occurred was at the chinese restaurant. She ordered a number 17 and they were all out of number 17. The waiter exclaimed...
'A 1,000 pardons!'
He's the one!
Herbert Hoover, Father of the New Deal
An interesting post by Orrin Judd.
Incidentally, as of yesterday OJ was the #11 reviewer on Amazon.com.
Incidentally, as of yesterday OJ was the #11 reviewer on Amazon.com.
Saturday, November 16, 2002
Food poisoning, courtesy of the United Food and Commercial Workers
Remember the UFCW? They're campaigning to unionize Wal-Mart.
They're also the creeps who endangered public health in their campaign to unionize the Food Lion grocery chain, with complicity of the ABC television network.
In view of that, shouldn't food processors that employ the UFCW be forced to disclose this fact? Perhaps we should boycott all food processing chains with UFCW labor in the name of public health.
At least we should be aware of the stakes. We know that the UFCW has shown that honesty and consumer health are secondary to their special interests, and that at least one TV network is willing to let them get away with it.
They're also the creeps who endangered public health in their campaign to unionize the Food Lion grocery chain, with complicity of the ABC television network.
In view of that, shouldn't food processors that employ the UFCW be forced to disclose this fact? Perhaps we should boycott all food processing chains with UFCW labor in the name of public health.
At least we should be aware of the stakes. We know that the UFCW has shown that honesty and consumer health are secondary to their special interests, and that at least one TV network is willing to let them get away with it.
More corruption in the Nixon administration
Old news, right? You might have thought that the corruption was mostly in the Justice Department, but it ran far deeper. In particular, it reached Nixon's own creation, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
From here:
Much more is available at Jeff Kahane's Highered Intelligence, which does so have permalinks.
From here:
DDT was banned by an EPA administrator who ignored the decision of his own administrative law judge.Wow, who would think even the Great Satan Richard Nixon would sink to this. Who did he think he was, Bill Clinton?
Extensive hearings on DDT before an EPA administrative law judge occurred during 1971-1972. The EPA hearing examiner, Judge Edmund Sweeney, concluded that "DDT is not a carcinogenic hazard to man... DDT is not a mutagenic or teratogenic hazard to man... The use of DDT under the regulations involved here do not have a deleterious effect on freshwater fish, estuarine organisms, wild birds or other wildlife."
[Sweeney, EM. 1972. EPA Hearing Examiner's recommendations and findings concerning DDT hearings, April 25, 1972 (40 CFR 164.32, 113 pages). Summarized in Barrons (May 1, 1972) and Oregonian (April 26, 1972)]
Overruling the EPA hearing examiner, EPA administrator Ruckelshaus banned DDT in 1972. Ruckelshaus never attended a single hour of the seven months of EPA hearings on DDT. Ruckelshaus' aides reported he did not even read the transcript of the EPA hearings on DDT.
[Santa Ana Register, April 25, 1972]
After reversing the EPA hearing examiner's decision, Ruckelshaus refused to release materials upon which his ban was based. Ruckelshaus rebuffed USDA efforts to obtain those materials through the Freedom of Information Act, claiming that they were just "internal memos." Scientists were therefore prevented from refuting the false allegations in the Ruckelshaus' "Opinion and Order on DDT."
Much more is available at Jeff Kahane's Highered Intelligence, which does so have permalinks.
No, I've never kippled
But I do like Kipling (and reviving ancient jokes). And this Kipling poem, posted by boy wonder Ben Domenech, is a keeper.
Art criticism
By now I suppose everyone has seen the painting of the "martyr".
Suicide killers are a legitimate subject of art of course. But they should be presented in a way that is worthy of their conduct. Say, on all fours with his head in a just-used toilet in a Jewish prison while being sodomized by a pig.
Far be it from me to advocate violence. But it wouldn't bother me a bit if someone blew that picture up.
Suicide killers are a legitimate subject of art of course. But they should be presented in a way that is worthy of their conduct. Say, on all fours with his head in a just-used toilet in a Jewish prison while being sodomized by a pig.
Far be it from me to advocate violence. But it wouldn't bother me a bit if someone blew that picture up.
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Any excuse to write about breasts
Another strange Google hit - "atomic power plant breasts". Two of my favorite things rolled into one. Hmm, maybe those nasty public relations problems would go away if nuke plants had breasts.
If you've driven through the north side of downtown Atlanta, you may have seen Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum just to the west at 10th Street. It is in the form of a flattish dome, with a cupola at the peak and another smaller cupola on top of that. Some years back the big part of the dome was painted an off-white color and the two other cupolas were a brownish color. No wonder some Tech students called it "the tit".
Woody Allen's movie "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)" had a sketch with a gigantic disembodied breast terrorizing the countryside.
Now I've provided a weird Google hit myself - I decided to see how big whale breasts are. They're mammals, doggone it, and imagine what a rack you could have with the water to support them. No luck. The closest I came was a reference to how strong the milk is - according to this a nursing calf gains 9 lbs per hour. According to a footnote in Moby Dick the stuff tastes pretty good too.
Enough - even I have to sleep sometime.
If you've driven through the north side of downtown Atlanta, you may have seen Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum just to the west at 10th Street. It is in the form of a flattish dome, with a cupola at the peak and another smaller cupola on top of that. Some years back the big part of the dome was painted an off-white color and the two other cupolas were a brownish color. No wonder some Tech students called it "the tit".
Woody Allen's movie "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)" had a sketch with a gigantic disembodied breast terrorizing the countryside.
Now I've provided a weird Google hit myself - I decided to see how big whale breasts are. They're mammals, doggone it, and imagine what a rack you could have with the water to support them. No luck. The closest I came was a reference to how strong the milk is - according to this a nursing calf gains 9 lbs per hour. According to a footnote in Moby Dick the stuff tastes pretty good too.
Enough - even I have to sleep sometime.
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Jane Galt, dominatrix?
The Blogosphere's favorite MBA could easily have turned out differently:
"It's about having a good sense of humor, no matter what the situation," said Sandi Longhurst, 28, the Arizona State MBA who became a dominatrix for nine months.If Ms. Longhurst considered blogging or the Foreign Service, apparently she wasn't prepared to tell us.
Longhurst graduated from ASU in the spring of 2001 and was set to begin her job as a business and systems analyst that July. But before she started, the company went south, laying off numerous employees and pulling offers it had handed out. Longhurst's was among them.
So she moved to New York, enrolled in bartending school and hit the pavement interviewing. When that proved fruitless, she tried something … different.
"I started joking around that I would become a stripper," said Longhurst, who now lives in Salt Lake City and works for a radio station in sales and marketing. "Instead, I became a dominatrix. I thought it would be really funny. I figured, I'll just do the trashy adult industry."
She worked at a place called the Dungeon, making $80 to $210 an hour plus tips helping people live out their fetishes and S&M fantasies – though there was no sex involved and it was more theatrics and dirty talk than anything else, she said.
"That was my post-MBA experience," she said. "It was actually a lot of fun."
Dollar games
Once in a while in my change I'll get a dollar with a message written or stamped on it. It beats a message in a bottle I guess, but I don't think it'll catch on with advertisers for a while.
Hmm. Imagine advertising on currency. I wonder how much marketers would be willing to pay for something like that. I'm sure someone would do it. I'd think the main substantive objection would be about potential for counterfeiting.
Maybe nanotechnology would provide a way around that. Imagine images changing on the currency, powered by the heat of your hand. Or have I read too much science fiction lately?
Down a few rungs on the technology/currency/entertainment hierarchy is Where's George. I found out about this one when I got a marked-up dollar bill in my change. Anyway, the idea is that you're supposed to go to the site and enter the serial number of a bill and where you found it. Then you turn it loose and see if anyone reports on it again. Don't hold your breath on that one, but the site claims that $141M worth of currency serial numbers have been recorded, and one particular dollar bill has been found and entered 13 times. If you ever run into a singleton numbered C04549318H, it was in St. Louis on 11/13/02. (You're writing that down, right?)
Other strange things get written on bills. My favorite was one that claimed that my dollar wasn't "real" money, and pointed me to the Constitution for details. There have been many others, but I can't think of any good examples right now.
Of course you can have fun with money just as it comes if you know how to play liar's poker. I learned it on construction sites - at one, the minute there was a break all the steamfitters would whip out their wallets and start playing. Some of them kept special dollars with oddball numbers around to "stack the deck".
So now you know what you can do to entertain yourself on a rainy day. May it never rain that hard.
Hmm. Imagine advertising on currency. I wonder how much marketers would be willing to pay for something like that. I'm sure someone would do it. I'd think the main substantive objection would be about potential for counterfeiting.
Maybe nanotechnology would provide a way around that. Imagine images changing on the currency, powered by the heat of your hand. Or have I read too much science fiction lately?
Down a few rungs on the technology/currency/entertainment hierarchy is Where's George. I found out about this one when I got a marked-up dollar bill in my change. Anyway, the idea is that you're supposed to go to the site and enter the serial number of a bill and where you found it. Then you turn it loose and see if anyone reports on it again. Don't hold your breath on that one, but the site claims that $141M worth of currency serial numbers have been recorded, and one particular dollar bill has been found and entered 13 times. If you ever run into a singleton numbered C04549318H, it was in St. Louis on 11/13/02. (You're writing that down, right?)
Other strange things get written on bills. My favorite was one that claimed that my dollar wasn't "real" money, and pointed me to the Constitution for details. There have been many others, but I can't think of any good examples right now.
Of course you can have fun with money just as it comes if you know how to play liar's poker. I learned it on construction sites - at one, the minute there was a break all the steamfitters would whip out their wallets and start playing. Some of them kept special dollars with oddball numbers around to "stack the deck".
So now you know what you can do to entertain yourself on a rainy day. May it never rain that hard.
Did he talk them out of it?
NRODT quotes Bill Clinton on Black Entertainment Television:"I've been terribly concerned that a lot of younger people who didn't go through the civil rights movement might have been so turned off by what happened in Florida...by all the black votes that weren't counted, that they might just throw up their hands and say 'What difference does it make?'"
Well Slick, you're part of the gang that's spreading this nasty fable. Wouldn't that be funny if the Dems talked a lot of their black voters out of going to the polls?
Well Slick, you're part of the gang that's spreading this nasty fable. Wouldn't that be funny if the Dems talked a lot of their black voters out of going to the polls?
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Snuffles the dog
A few days ago several of us were wracking our brains trying to remember this cartoon dog. All I could remember was that if you fed him a dog biscuit he would float up in the air and slowly float back to the ground.
I asked several people if they could remember the name of this character and nobody could help. I was about to ask my highly exclusive readership if they knew when I gave it one more chance. Voila - I present you Snuffles.
I asked several people if they could remember the name of this character and nobody could help. I was about to ask my highly exclusive readership if they knew when I gave it one more chance. Voila - I present you Snuffles.
We don't all have uncles, you know
If you have any money left over after visiting Bill Quick, you can check out Modest Needs. If you need a few bucks, send him an email and a story and he might send you the money. Or you can donate money for him to distribute.
Does anyone remember Percy Ross?
Sometimes a very small amount of capital can make all the difference (sheesh, I even needed a few bucks to start when I got my paper route eons ago). To address such needs there's a practice called microlending, pioneered by Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. If you're interested, there are a number of related links here.
Grameen Bank apparently is having some problems with repayments. Of course lefties are dying to prove that microlending can't help the poor, so it's no surprise if the bank is criticized. But even if they go bust tomorrow, IMO they'll still have done more for the poor with the money they lost than the same amount of govt giveaways would have.
Does anyone remember Percy Ross?
Sometimes a very small amount of capital can make all the difference (sheesh, I even needed a few bucks to start when I got my paper route eons ago). To address such needs there's a practice called microlending, pioneered by Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. If you're interested, there are a number of related links here.
Grameen Bank apparently is having some problems with repayments. Of course lefties are dying to prove that microlending can't help the poor, so it's no surprise if the bank is criticized. But even if they go bust tomorrow, IMO they'll still have done more for the poor with the money they lost than the same amount of govt giveaways would have.
Monday, November 11, 2002
This deserves a better title
The North American Wife-Carrying Championships. You can't miss the pictures.
Such a great target, and here I am without a snarky comment or even a worthy title. Help!
Such a great target, and here I am without a snarky comment or even a worthy title. Help!
Monday night isn't complete without Dennis Miller
Relax, this isn't about football:
The Weekly Standard is recognizing the elections by making all Articles and Features open to the general public for this week. If you're not a regular, you're missing something.
We gotta assassinate Saddam Hussein. Why have we taken assassination off the table as a viable political tool? And yet they'll tell you the collateral damage of civilians is acceptable. But you're not allowed to assassinate the main pain in the ass. My theory is if you have trouble with your conscience, pretend you're trying to kill the guy next to him, and think of him as collateral damage, alright?! If that will allow you to get to bed at night.From the Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is recognizing the elections by making all Articles and Features open to the general public for this week. If you're not a regular, you're missing something.
Don't take my word for it
Not if you can get the same thing from James Lileks:
I am not religious myself, but people who are don’t bother me in the least. Sometimes I envy their conviction; sometimes I wish I could lend them my doubt, and I flatter myself to think we would each profit from the exchange. I’m more comfortable on this side because the people who take emotional satisfaction in trashing religion just annoy the piss out of me, and I want nothing to do with them. I’m not talking about atheists - at least they believe in something. I’m talking about those preening sneerbots who lack the capacity for spiritual contemplation, and think that anyone given to theosophical disquisitions is akin to a small boy expecting Superman to fly through the window and help him tie his shoe.There's far more, and I didn't begin to do it justice - read it all.
Justice begins at home
William Sjostrom recalls the Emmett Till murder and says "The South needs the Klan purged" (despite the fact that there was no evidence of Klan involvement).
That's all right as far as it goes, but I have to ask: Mr. Sjostrom, have you ever lived in the South?
I lived there for quite a while - most of the 70's and early 80's. In all that time I met one person who supported the Klan (and he was a teenage wannabe). Whether the Klan has been "purged" there or not, I never saw any evidence of their influence. And I lived in a number of places in the South, including Scottsboro, AL, a fine town which was the site of a gross miscarriage of justice 70-odd years ago. And Lake County, FL, home of Willis McCall.
The Klan was found throughout the US. In the 1920's the membership got up to 4,000,000. There were even auxiliary organizations for the women and girls - see this describing New York.
Of course the Klan isn't the only hate group. Tolerance.org has maps of hate group distribution, such as this one for Massachusetts.
And where is Mr. Sjostrom writing from? Ireland. Gosh, do you suppose they have any hate groups over there?
We all need all of the hate groups purged. And we'll do a better job of it if we attend to our local problems first.
That's all right as far as it goes, but I have to ask: Mr. Sjostrom, have you ever lived in the South?
I lived there for quite a while - most of the 70's and early 80's. In all that time I met one person who supported the Klan (and he was a teenage wannabe). Whether the Klan has been "purged" there or not, I never saw any evidence of their influence. And I lived in a number of places in the South, including Scottsboro, AL, a fine town which was the site of a gross miscarriage of justice 70-odd years ago. And Lake County, FL, home of Willis McCall.
The Klan was found throughout the US. In the 1920's the membership got up to 4,000,000. There were even auxiliary organizations for the women and girls - see this describing New York.
Of course the Klan isn't the only hate group. Tolerance.org has maps of hate group distribution, such as this one for Massachusetts.
And where is Mr. Sjostrom writing from? Ireland. Gosh, do you suppose they have any hate groups over there?
We all need all of the hate groups purged. And we'll do a better job of it if we attend to our local problems first.
Mail Call
One of these days you might check out the History Channel's Mail Call series. R. Lee Ermey plays your standard over-the-top Marine DI caricature and answers emails about military topics.
Here's a sampling: Making arrows American Indian style. Semaphore flags. Shooting a mortar. Refueling an F-16. What's better - straight swords or curved swords? Personal effects carried by WWII soldiers. Land mines. Machine guns. Daisy Cutters. Crossbows. Combat rations/MREs. And about anything else you might think to ask, complete with demonstrations.
Got a question, maggot? Visit here.
Here's a sampling: Making arrows American Indian style. Semaphore flags. Shooting a mortar. Refueling an F-16. What's better - straight swords or curved swords? Personal effects carried by WWII soldiers. Land mines. Machine guns. Daisy Cutters. Crossbows. Combat rations/MREs. And about anything else you might think to ask, complete with demonstrations.
Got a question, maggot? Visit here.
Sunday, November 10, 2002
Casting call in St. Louis
From KTVI:
Filmmakers are holding tryouts right here in St. Louis for a shot at a main role in a major motion picture. The movie, "Game of their lives", is the true story of the 1950 U.S. World cup soccer team. That team consisted of just eleven players five of them from St. Louis. The producers are looking for men between 18 and 30 with sufficient soccer skills. If you're good enough, you'll be asked to come back for an audition. Tryouts are Wednesday November 13, at the Soccer Dome, but you need to register first. You can call toll free at 888-507-4263.
Another good cause
From here:
You can assist the NFL, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the Ladies Auxiliary VFW in bringing American troops around the world closer to home for the holidays.
Join the NFL in helping the VFW provide pre-paid phone cards to America's Armed Forces stationed all over the globe.
What we're fighting for...
This one probably isn't work safe. Anyway, Robyn and a number of other blogging women are raising money and more for breast cancer research. Most of them clearly don't need our support (you too, Yvonne), and they certainly aren't flat busted, but send them some money anyway.
Call me dense, but I looked in vain for a way to donate on the site. But you can donate to the designated charity, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund, right here.
Call me dense, but I looked in vain for a way to donate on the site. But you can donate to the designated charity, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund, right here.
Congratulations to Katherine Harris...
...for winning her House seat in Florida. You might recall that she was the target of a vicious slander campaign by Al Gore's goons in their attempt to steal the election in Florida in 2000. She's doing well, and you can read more about her here. Or you can buy her book, "Center of the Storm", here.
Biodegradable shape memory polymers
Shape memory alloys have been around for a while - you may have heard of nitinol.
Likewise polymers that can be absorbed by the body have been around for a while, for use in sutures.
But now we have shape memory polymers:
Likewise polymers that can be absorbed by the body have been around for a while, for use in sutures.
But now we have shape memory polymers:
It sounds like an attraction from a circus sideshow: It can morph into virtually any shape, squeeze freely into tight spaces, and even pull a disappearing act. But the miraculous performer here is not a person. It is a novel type of plastic, technically a biodegradable shape-memory polymer, which could literally change the shape of tomorrow's medical instruments.File this one away for future investment.
Materials with shape memory have been studied since the 1950s, and absorbable polymers that slowly dissolve inside the body have been approved for medical use since the 1960s. But now Robert Langer, a biomedical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his former postdoctoral student Andreas Lendlein, who now teaches at the University of Potsdam, Germany, and is the managing director of mnemoScience GmbH, have combined the two attributes into one material.
Why I need an editor, part 2409
Boing Boing is subtitled "a directory of wonderful things". And from all those, I picked these:
"Sphincterine". I wish I knew this was a put-on. Perhaps it will sell well with ex-Gitmo prisoners, who have been known for their innovative use of toothpaste.
German condom market researchers have descended upon Kenya and determined that light-brown vanilla-scented condoms are most popular there:
"Sphincterine". I wish I knew this was a put-on. Perhaps it will sell well with ex-Gitmo prisoners, who have been known for their innovative use of toothpaste.
German condom market researchers have descended upon Kenya and determined that light-brown vanilla-scented condoms are most popular there:
Standard white latex just didn't do much for his African testers, it turns out.I suppose a good lefty would say that it reminds them of their colonial oppressors. IMO it just makes them look smaller.
Saturday, November 09, 2002
Little pitchers
Long before Bill Cosby, Art Linkletter had a TV show called "House Party". Early on he learned he could get plenty of great material from kids. Some of the stuff the kids would say would send parents over the edge.
Likewise, long before Calvin and Hobbes there was Dennis the Menace (follow the link - I'll bet you didn't know Gina's last name, or that his dad was an engineer). I haven't seen it lately and I know that creator Hank Ketcham is dead, so I'm not sure if it's still around or not. Anyway, Dennis could mortify his parents at will, and he gave me lots of ideas to suggest to younger relatives.
But kids don't need any help from me. For instance, a while back I was on the phone with a woman I know. She's been having some health problems, including occasional bouts of asthma which began after some surgery about a year ago. She happened to mention that the last three bouts had begun during sex.
Unfortunately her preteen daughter was listening, and I could hear her in the background: "You had sex three times this year?". She said it as if her mother were a sex maniac. I'm sure this will all be the talk of her school.
Alright, who has some more stories like this?
Likewise, long before Calvin and Hobbes there was Dennis the Menace (follow the link - I'll bet you didn't know Gina's last name, or that his dad was an engineer). I haven't seen it lately and I know that creator Hank Ketcham is dead, so I'm not sure if it's still around or not. Anyway, Dennis could mortify his parents at will, and he gave me lots of ideas to suggest to younger relatives.
But kids don't need any help from me. For instance, a while back I was on the phone with a woman I know. She's been having some health problems, including occasional bouts of asthma which began after some surgery about a year ago. She happened to mention that the last three bouts had begun during sex.
Unfortunately her preteen daughter was listening, and I could hear her in the background: "You had sex three times this year?". She said it as if her mother were a sex maniac. I'm sure this will all be the talk of her school.
Alright, who has some more stories like this?
Avenge Woody Jenkins
Suzanne Terrell is running against incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, and there will be a runoff in December. She can use contributions - by the time you see this, you might be able to donate online here.
All contributors to candidates for federal office must confirm that the following statements are true and accurate.
* I am a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident alien.
* This contribution is not made from the general treasury of a corporation, labor organization, or a national bank.
* This contribution is not made from the treasury of an entity or a person who is a federal contractor.
* The funds I am donating are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.
* I am at least 18 years old or the funds I am donating are my personal funds and I am donating these funds knowingly and voluntarily.
* Federal statute does not allow anyone or any entity to collect personally identifiable information from minors under the age of 13 via the Internet.
* I am at least 13 years of age.
Suzanne Haik Terrell for U.S. Senate Campaign
PO Box 44298
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
(225) 218-8683
I have nothing to do with her campaign, and can't vote for her legally anyway. I'd just like to see some judges confirmed pending the day that the Democrats in the Senate start acting like adults again.
All contributors to candidates for federal office must confirm that the following statements are true and accurate.
* I am a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident alien.
* This contribution is not made from the general treasury of a corporation, labor organization, or a national bank.
* This contribution is not made from the treasury of an entity or a person who is a federal contractor.
* The funds I am donating are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.
* I am at least 18 years old or the funds I am donating are my personal funds and I am donating these funds knowingly and voluntarily.
* Federal statute does not allow anyone or any entity to collect personally identifiable information from minors under the age of 13 via the Internet.
* I am at least 13 years of age.
Suzanne Haik Terrell for U.S. Senate Campaign
PO Box 44298
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
(225) 218-8683
I have nothing to do with her campaign, and can't vote for her legally anyway. I'd just like to see some judges confirmed pending the day that the Democrats in the Senate start acting like adults again.
Bondage on a budget
Don't leave me alone on the Web or there's no telling what I'll find. Consider "Bondage on a Budget". That's a book that's available from Good Vibrations, a woman-owned cooperative that sells all manner of sex-related products. (Amazon carries the book too - I'd give you a link, but I don't want it and its brethren showing up on my recommendations for the rest of my life). Alright, let's look around a little more.
Here's another intriguing title: "Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation". Does this mean that animals have issues with sex too? We've certainly heard plenty about bonobos, and some claim that there is much homosexuality in the animal kingdom. (IMO about all the critters could learn from dogs - what with that knot thing, nobody's finished until Mama's finished.)
Ah yes, there are videos too, thoughtfully characterized as "drama", "all sex no plot", "Lesbian, bisexual, Gay male, Transgender", "Sex Education", and "Specialty" (?!).
Other than in a tasteless joke involving prominent Republican couples, I was always under the impression that the mechanics of sex were pretty much the same from race to race. But GV offers "Better Sex for Black Couples", volumes 1 and 2, so maybe there's something to those stories, eh? And there are Spanish-language movies too.
Enough media, now let's see some practical products. They don't let us down. For feminists, there's the "Jill Off" kit. Collectors might prefer the deluxe "Hello Kitty" massager. For those of you who demand more discretion, there's the "I Rub My Duckie" rubber duck - squeeze it and it starts vibrating. For a political statement you can buy the "Alabama Slammer", named in response to the recent overturn of an Alabama law against sex toys.
Products are rated thoughtfully with various icons. Some are quite intuitive - see if you can guess what * means.
History buffs can enjoy it too - there is an Antique Vibrator Museum. There you learn interesting medical facts, such as how doctors once treated "female disorders". The cure was to induce "hysterical paroxysm", aka orgasms. Allegedly doctors did this manually - a time-consuming process that probably led to carpal-tunnel syndrome. In response, an American doctor developed and patented the original steam-powered (!) massager in 1869. Relax guys - they still don't have one that will take out the garbage.
If some of the above offends you, maybe you should read this instead.
Here's another intriguing title: "Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation". Does this mean that animals have issues with sex too? We've certainly heard plenty about bonobos, and some claim that there is much homosexuality in the animal kingdom. (IMO about all the critters could learn from dogs - what with that knot thing, nobody's finished until Mama's finished.)
Ah yes, there are videos too, thoughtfully characterized as "drama", "all sex no plot", "Lesbian, bisexual, Gay male, Transgender", "Sex Education", and "Specialty" (?!).
Other than in a tasteless joke involving prominent Republican couples, I was always under the impression that the mechanics of sex were pretty much the same from race to race. But GV offers "Better Sex for Black Couples", volumes 1 and 2, so maybe there's something to those stories, eh? And there are Spanish-language movies too.
Enough media, now let's see some practical products. They don't let us down. For feminists, there's the "Jill Off" kit. Collectors might prefer the deluxe "Hello Kitty" massager. For those of you who demand more discretion, there's the "I Rub My Duckie" rubber duck - squeeze it and it starts vibrating. For a political statement you can buy the "Alabama Slammer", named in response to the recent overturn of an Alabama law against sex toys.
Products are rated thoughtfully with various icons. Some are quite intuitive - see if you can guess what * means.
History buffs can enjoy it too - there is an Antique Vibrator Museum. There you learn interesting medical facts, such as how doctors once treated "female disorders". The cure was to induce "hysterical paroxysm", aka orgasms. Allegedly doctors did this manually - a time-consuming process that probably led to carpal-tunnel syndrome. In response, an American doctor developed and patented the original steam-powered (!) massager in 1869. Relax guys - they still don't have one that will take out the garbage.
If some of the above offends you, maybe you should read this instead.
Thursday, November 07, 2002
Know-nothings
In his post I cited below, Eric Raymond invoked "know-nothings" with reference to the Republicans. Hmm. Well, the Dems are fond of referring to Republicans as "reactionaries", and that's what the Know-Nothings were.
Let's take a look at the Know-Nothings:
Then as now, political bosses knew they needed votes, and they knew how to get them. They'd extort money from criminals and businesses and use it to do favors for votes. Immigrants were a bargain compared to other groups - they were needy, and a few cheap favors could buy their votes forever. (Organized crime figures were known for doing exactly the same thing. For one, Al Capone operated soup kitchens during the Depression as part of a PR offensive to keep the heat off).
There have been some big Republican political machines, but most of them, and the most notorious of them, have always been with Democrats (Richard Daley's Chicago, Tom Pendergast's Chicago, and the New York City of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall were three prominent examples). They all had their ways of corrupting voters, especially immigrants.
And IMO, rightly understood, that's exactly what govt social programs are. Despite the claims of goo-goos and other useful idiots, they're nothing but the traditional Democrat political machine's voter corruption process gone national. Only this time they're buying their votes with your money.
Maybe they knew something after all.
Let's take a look at the Know-Nothings:
The Know-Nothing party was an antiforeign, anti-Roman Catholic political organization that flourished in the United States between 1852 and 1856. Nativism had been growing since the mid-1840s in response to massive immigration, especially from Ireland and Germany. Many of these immigrants had become part of urban DEMOCRATIC political machines, much to the resentment of non-Democratic old-stock Americans.In other words, they were a reaction to the political exploitation of minorities.
Then as now, political bosses knew they needed votes, and they knew how to get them. They'd extort money from criminals and businesses and use it to do favors for votes. Immigrants were a bargain compared to other groups - they were needy, and a few cheap favors could buy their votes forever. (Organized crime figures were known for doing exactly the same thing. For one, Al Capone operated soup kitchens during the Depression as part of a PR offensive to keep the heat off).
There have been some big Republican political machines, but most of them, and the most notorious of them, have always been with Democrats (Richard Daley's Chicago, Tom Pendergast's Chicago, and the New York City of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall were three prominent examples). They all had their ways of corrupting voters, especially immigrants.
And IMO, rightly understood, that's exactly what govt social programs are. Despite the claims of goo-goos and other useful idiots, they're nothing but the traditional Democrat political machine's voter corruption process gone national. Only this time they're buying their votes with your money.
Maybe they knew something after all.
So close, but...
Eric Raymond writes an interesting post here.
But the theophobe in him will not be denied - we have to suffer this:
In my experience Christians don't have a tremendous appetite for politics - they enter only when extremely provoked. And about anywhere you look you can see gratuitous provocations for Christians and other believers. So it's no surprise that some are politically active. Anyone who finds that scary can simply quit provoking them. That they don't suggests that the provocateurs either are stupid, or that they know very well that nothing is going to happen.
Christians certainly don't agree with each other on everything. No single group has enough clout to impose its own will, and the others will oppose any attempt to do so. So they'll always cancel each other out on all but the broadest issues, and IMO they really don't ask for much.
In short, don't fall for the Democrat propaganda - you'll never see a theocracy in the US. It wouldn't even have happened in Afghanistan without massive outside interference, and that's with a different religion that inherently fails to separate church and state.
Then there's this:
Well, the only way for the Republicans to get those extra votes they need to impose their will is to absorb a lot of people who are not theocrats or right-wing statists. In fact, expanding the Republican "big tent" can only dilute the influence of the theocrats (such few as might exist). So if you want to reduce the influence of theocrats, you might well have more influence working with the Republicans than working against them.
It's a shame these blemishes had to occur in an otherwise excellent post.
But the theophobe in him will not be denied - we have to suffer this:
[Republicans have] have their own loony fringe (abortion-clinic bombers, neo-fascists like Pat Buchanan, and the Christian Coalition) to cope withYup, those Republicans sure couldn't win an election without the abortion clinic bomber vote, now could they? Surely he knows Pat Buchanan has bolted the Republican Party, and IMO the door was locked behind him. And the Christian Coalition - horror of horrors!
In my experience Christians don't have a tremendous appetite for politics - they enter only when extremely provoked. And about anywhere you look you can see gratuitous provocations for Christians and other believers. So it's no surprise that some are politically active. Anyone who finds that scary can simply quit provoking them. That they don't suggests that the provocateurs either are stupid, or that they know very well that nothing is going to happen.
Christians certainly don't agree with each other on everything. No single group has enough clout to impose its own will, and the others will oppose any attempt to do so. So they'll always cancel each other out on all but the broadest issues, and IMO they really don't ask for much.
In short, don't fall for the Democrat propaganda - you'll never see a theocracy in the US. It wouldn't even have happened in Afghanistan without massive outside interference, and that's with a different religion that inherently fails to separate church and state.
Then there's this:
Right-wing statism is not an improvement on left-wing statism; a smug and dominant GOP could easily become captive to theocrats and know-nothings, a very bad thing for our nation and the worldIt appears that Mr. Raymond believes that the theocrats are already in the Republican Party. And IMO it's pretty clear that the Republicans can't impose "right-wing statism" or "theocracy" without getting more votes than they're getting now. Alright so far?
Well, the only way for the Republicans to get those extra votes they need to impose their will is to absorb a lot of people who are not theocrats or right-wing statists. In fact, expanding the Republican "big tent" can only dilute the influence of the theocrats (such few as might exist). So if you want to reduce the influence of theocrats, you might well have more influence working with the Republicans than working against them.
It's a shame these blemishes had to occur in an otherwise excellent post.
Time to clean up voter registrations
OK, it's about a year before the next major election in most places now. So there's plenty of time to clean up voter registration.
What would be wrong with simply destroying whatever registrations there are now and requiring picture ID for all future voter registrations?
What would be wrong with simply destroying whatever registrations there are now and requiring picture ID for all future voter registrations?
Wednesday, November 06, 2002
In case there was any doubt...
"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." ~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMCBy way of Neal Boortz.
Did we throw a tantrum again?
Was it the angry white males? Did the Republicans intimidate black voters?
The WaPo says
The WaPo continues:
Of course it's not over. The Dems are sure to turn to the courts to evade the will of the voters, just as they do when they govern.
Unless they've finally learned something.
The WaPo says
"Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence McAuliffe told the Associated Press that Bush was the critical factor in the Democratic losses. "I pin a lot of it on that this is a president who has had very high approval ratings," he said. "He's had the longest sustained approval ratings of any president in modern history."Hmm. What do "approval ratings" measure, TM? I'll bet you're trying to figure out how he did it without bribing bums with cigarettes, enlisting the dead, and suing to have them reversed, huh?
The WaPo continues:
"Republicans turned history on its head last night, thanks to an aggressive White House strategy to put the president into the most competitive House and Senate races in the final weeks of the campaign, superior financial resources in the battleground contests and, apparently to a revamped GOP voter turnout operation."I guess the WaPo thinks it's important to understand that none of this has anything to do with anyone's positions on issues.
Of course it's not over. The Dems are sure to turn to the courts to evade the will of the voters, just as they do when they govern.
Unless they've finally learned something.
Tuesday, November 05, 2002
Many happy returns
Well just look what happens when George W. Bush campaigns in the last weekend before Election Day. I guess this means Lincoln Chafee will be a Republican for a couple more years.
Keep a cell ready for Rod Blagojevich, newly elected governor of IL. He's a Democrat, and the previous two Democrats elected governor of IL wound up in prison.
Keep a cell ready for Rod Blagojevich, newly elected governor of IL. He's a Democrat, and the previous two Democrats elected governor of IL wound up in prison.
Expose yourself to Erin O'Connor
Sorry pal, I can't help you with your Google query for "Erin O'Connor nude". Although she's a blogger, apparently she's not an exhibitionist - her old blog was named "Cant Watch".
The woman is a miracle. Somehow she has emerged from the English Lit. departments at Berkeley and the University of Michigan without succumbing to political correctness, and currently she's an associate professor at Penn. To top it off, she maintains a blog with Maurice Black called "Critical Mass".
I'm not sure where the name comes from, but it sure isn't about nuclear technology. Critical Mass is a succession of observations about life in academia, with its courses in things like "Rich White Males". Good grief.
If nothing else, keep checking in with her. Maybe someday she'll post some pictures...
The woman is a miracle. Somehow she has emerged from the English Lit. departments at Berkeley and the University of Michigan without succumbing to political correctness, and currently she's an associate professor at Penn. To top it off, she maintains a blog with Maurice Black called "Critical Mass".
I'm not sure where the name comes from, but it sure isn't about nuclear technology. Critical Mass is a succession of observations about life in academia, with its courses in things like "Rich White Males". Good grief.
If nothing else, keep checking in with her. Maybe someday she'll post some pictures...
Street money
If you watch TV talking heads shows much you've probably seen Larry Sabato. He's a professor at the University of Virginia and he studies American politics. In 1996 he and Glenn R. Simpson wrote a book called "Dirty Little Secrets-The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics". It's out of print now. What a shame, because I don't know of another popular market book that assembles so much info about corruption in elections and politics in the US.
The book is about 350 pages, with another 70 of reference matter. I can't do it justice in one quick and dirty blog item, but the part that I found the most interesting was about street money.
Sabato notes that "It is no exaggeration to say that the Democrats would almost never win a presidential election, and only occasionally win major elections in many states, without minority Americans." The Dems know it, and spend a fortune to get-out-the-vote (GOTV). Allegedly Douglas Wilder spent $1,000,000 in 1989 to get the vote out in black communities in his successful campaign for governor of Virginia.
Hustlers know the game though, and demand their tribute. Allegedly black ministers and other activists are notorious for insisting on "gifts" or "honoraria" of around $3000-$5000, in return for membership lists, a few phone calls and other non-burdensome services.
The worst excesses supposedly happen in Democratic primaries. As one quote puts it, "Many times people go to both sides and say, 'This campaign has given us money to have donuts for the volunteers and we're going to work hard for them. Now if you give us money for donuts, our people will be too busy eating donuts to go out and work."
Republicans are no angels, and Dems say they catch Republicans paying to suppress minority voting. But as it happens, the most celebrated case was not true. After Christine Todd Whitman's successful campaign in NJ in 1993, consultant Ed Rollins bragged about paying off ministers to suppress the vote. Later investigations concluded that Rollins made this up.
Other Republican stunts include making bids for the black activists, who turn around and shake the Dems down for more yet - this increases the costs to the Dems. Or in SC, state vehicles were tied up with inspections on Election Day so they wouldn't be available for GOTV.
Sabato notes that much of the money supposedly does go to people canvassing voters and driving people to the polls, which is a significant cost (hundreds of "flushers" and "haulers" at $20-$50, plus supervision for every couple dozen or so of those at ~$100 each). The only case of outright vote-buying he cites in the street money chapter dates back to 1888 with Benjamin Harrison, when the going price for "independent" vote was as much as $20 (in 1888 - imagine how much that would be worth today).
There's much more in the book, if you can find it. I enjoyed it, anyway.
UPDATE: Look at what's happening in Maryland.
The book is about 350 pages, with another 70 of reference matter. I can't do it justice in one quick and dirty blog item, but the part that I found the most interesting was about street money.
Sabato notes that "It is no exaggeration to say that the Democrats would almost never win a presidential election, and only occasionally win major elections in many states, without minority Americans." The Dems know it, and spend a fortune to get-out-the-vote (GOTV). Allegedly Douglas Wilder spent $1,000,000 in 1989 to get the vote out in black communities in his successful campaign for governor of Virginia.
Hustlers know the game though, and demand their tribute. Allegedly black ministers and other activists are notorious for insisting on "gifts" or "honoraria" of around $3000-$5000, in return for membership lists, a few phone calls and other non-burdensome services.
The worst excesses supposedly happen in Democratic primaries. As one quote puts it, "Many times people go to both sides and say, 'This campaign has given us money to have donuts for the volunteers and we're going to work hard for them. Now if you give us money for donuts, our people will be too busy eating donuts to go out and work."
Republicans are no angels, and Dems say they catch Republicans paying to suppress minority voting. But as it happens, the most celebrated case was not true. After Christine Todd Whitman's successful campaign in NJ in 1993, consultant Ed Rollins bragged about paying off ministers to suppress the vote. Later investigations concluded that Rollins made this up.
Other Republican stunts include making bids for the black activists, who turn around and shake the Dems down for more yet - this increases the costs to the Dems. Or in SC, state vehicles were tied up with inspections on Election Day so they wouldn't be available for GOTV.
Sabato notes that much of the money supposedly does go to people canvassing voters and driving people to the polls, which is a significant cost (hundreds of "flushers" and "haulers" at $20-$50, plus supervision for every couple dozen or so of those at ~$100 each). The only case of outright vote-buying he cites in the street money chapter dates back to 1888 with Benjamin Harrison, when the going price for "independent" vote was as much as $20 (in 1888 - imagine how much that would be worth today).
There's much more in the book, if you can find it. I enjoyed it, anyway.
UPDATE: Look at what's happening in Maryland.
Monday, November 04, 2002
Shock treatment
I'm OK with voting Republican, but I'd like to have an alternative that didn't make me hold my nose. As long as Clintons, Terry McAuliffe, James Carville, Paul Begala, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, John Sweeney and others unworthy of polite company continue to have any influence with the Dems, I won't even consider voting for them. So I look forward to the day that the Dems clean house.
And the only way I see that happening is for them to be routed at the polls. Democrats need to pop the party leaders upside the head but good, by staying home in droves. Or by voting, but not for Dems (so the bosses know you were there and still didn't vote for them).
Am I trying to con Dems? Well, I sure don't want them to win. But really, do they need a housecleaning or not? And if so, how else are you going to make it happen?
And the only way I see that happening is for them to be routed at the polls. Democrats need to pop the party leaders upside the head but good, by staying home in droves. Or by voting, but not for Dems (so the bosses know you were there and still didn't vote for them).
Am I trying to con Dems? Well, I sure don't want them to win. But really, do they need a housecleaning or not? And if so, how else are you going to make it happen?
Election grab bag
Dean Esmay is right on here. Link stolen from Susanna, who apparently got it from The Dodd.
I am 100% for a test of voter competence. If it's discriminatory, that's OK with me.
Or at least make the stupid ones use a second-class ballot. Then in case of close votes, you throw out the ones from the stupid. (Arguably we already have that system, which accounts for Al Gore's loss in FL - just how !@#$ incompetent do you have to be to foul up punching holes in a ballot, anyway?).
What would be more fun would be to give legislators pop quizzes on legislation they voted for. I understand that when Clinton and the Dems tried to inflict socialized medicine on us, they were passing around a bill that was still marked up with yellow Post-it notes. Sorry folks, but if you haven't even had time to type up the changes, print and distribute the bill, there hasn't been enough time to evaluate it.
I am 100% for a test of voter competence. If it's discriminatory, that's OK with me.
Or at least make the stupid ones use a second-class ballot. Then in case of close votes, you throw out the ones from the stupid. (Arguably we already have that system, which accounts for Al Gore's loss in FL - just how !@#$ incompetent do you have to be to foul up punching holes in a ballot, anyway?).
What would be more fun would be to give legislators pop quizzes on legislation they voted for. I understand that when Clinton and the Dems tried to inflict socialized medicine on us, they were passing around a bill that was still marked up with yellow Post-it notes. Sorry folks, but if you haven't even had time to type up the changes, print and distribute the bill, there hasn't been enough time to evaluate it.
History lesson...
Given the >>>>>>>>>forwarded this deep email I got this from, I don't know how much I should trust this, but I like it anyway:
Alright, first I posted the above, then I decided to look this up. You know, those Snopes folks are no fun at all. They say
For one, they say they didn't find such usage in the Oxford English Dictionary. Hmm. Something allegedly dating back ~150 years ought to have made it there by now, but I wonder what Snopes would say to a claim that the OED was complete.
They offer this:
Next we get this:
Similar logic applies to this:
Actually it seems to me that they could make cannonball restraints out of wood. It would be a lot cheaper, lighter and easier to fabricate, if not as durable. I'll have to make it to Boston and tour Old Ironsides one of these days and see for myself.
In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.Enquiring minds want to know...
There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with 16 round indentations. But if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys."
Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!" (And all this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you?)
Alright, first I posted the above, then I decided to look this up. You know, those Snopes folks are no fun at all. They say
Somebody's fanciful imagination is at work cooking up spurious etymologies again. In short, this origin for the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is nonsense because:They seem awfully sure of this - why?
For one, they say they didn't find such usage in the Oxford English Dictionary. Hmm. Something allegedly dating back ~150 years ought to have made it there by now, but I wonder what Snopes would say to a claim that the OED was complete.
They offer this:
When references to "brass monkeys" started appearing in print in the mid-19th century, they did not always mention balls or cold temperatures. It was sometimes cold enough to freeze the ears, tail, nose, or whiskers off a brass monkey. Likewise, it was sometimes hot enough to "scald the throat" or "singe the hair" of a brass monkey. These usages are inconsistent with the putative origins offered here.Not really. Once brass monkeys became the standard for durability it wouldn't surprise me to see people sanitize the expressions or extend the concept in various ways.
Next we get this:
Warships didn't store cannonballs (or "round shot") on deck around the clock, day after day, on the slight chance that they might go into battle. Space was a precious commodity on sailing ships, and decks were kept as clear as possible in order to allow room for hundreds of men to perform all the tasks necessary for ordinary ship's functions. (Stacking round shot on deck would also create the danger of their breaking free and rolling around loose on deck whenever the ship encountered rough seas.) Cannonballs were stored elsewhere and only brought out when the decks had been cleared for action.OK. But cannonballs had to be stored somewhere, and this storage had to keep them from rolling around. I don't know whether sailing ships fought much in rough weather or not, but they'd still need storage of cannonballs near the guns to achieve any sort of fire rate.
Similar logic applies to this:
Particularly diligent gunners (not "masters," who were in charge of navigation, sailing and pilotage, not ordnance) would have their crews chip away at imperfections on the surface of cannonballs to make them as smooth as possible, in the hopes that this would cause them fly truer. They did not leave shot on deck, exposed to the elements, where it would rust.
Actually it seems to me that they could make cannonball restraints out of wood. It would be a lot cheaper, lighter and easier to fabricate, if not as durable. I'll have to make it to Boston and tour Old Ironsides one of these days and see for myself.
Sunday, November 03, 2002
Is it too much to ask...
...that Greenpeace and similar antinuclear idiots refrain from bitching about radiation in the environment until they cease to be radioactive themselves?
I want candy
I'm a little late, but I can't wait until next year to tell you how trick-or-treating is better than sex.
Via Spoons.
Via Spoons.
Jury nullification?
Spoons writes an excellent item against jury nullification here.
As for me, I like it that the option is available. But IMO it ranks right up there with secession as a radical thing to do. If every jury can judge laws as well as defendants, we're getting to the point where we're missing the point of passing laws in the first place, i.e. this is our social policy and it's a closed issue. And if you think our courts are backed up now...
As for me, I like it that the option is available. But IMO it ranks right up there with secession as a radical thing to do. If every jury can judge laws as well as defendants, we're getting to the point where we're missing the point of passing laws in the first place, i.e. this is our social policy and it's a closed issue. And if you think our courts are backed up now...
The American Spectator is back
Yes, the bane of the Clintons is under the original management again, in print and on the web.
I wonder what this means for The American Prowler?
I wonder what this means for The American Prowler?
Saturday, November 02, 2002
Digital Blue
On one of my very infrequent trips to Toys R Us I spotted some products from a company called Digital Blue. They make high-tech toys, and they claim to be "the antidote to the video game".
They have a number of products. The one that caught my eye was a little movie camera that can make up to 4 minute long movies and download them to a PC with a USB port. It also provides some digital editing software.
Then I saw a problem. Somewhere out there a kid will propose something to his teacher for show and tell, and he'll say he's making digital blue movies with his parents.
They have a number of products. The one that caught my eye was a little movie camera that can make up to 4 minute long movies and download them to a PC with a USB port. It also provides some digital editing software.
Then I saw a problem. Somewhere out there a kid will propose something to his teacher for show and tell, and he'll say he's making digital blue movies with his parents.
Paranoia on the left
Right here. A choice excerpt: "Dick Cheney would have his grandmother tortured to death for a dime, and for a nickle, he'd do the job himself."
There are many, um, remarkable things about this item and the rest of the blog too. But what astounds me is just how effective these various conspiracy theorists think their enemies are. To this guy it's the Republicans, to the al-Qaeda types it's the Mossad, but either way these types attribute a strange combination of omniscience, omnipotence and incompetence to their enemies.
According to this guy, apparently the Republicans decided that the greatest threat to their govt hegemony was Paul Wellstone, and they just took care of business.
But it must be so: "People are always asking why the left is in such disarray, and why the leaders of the left are such buffoons. One reason is that any leaders who have any charisma and any tendency to lead in any sort of progressive direction are simply slaughtered by the right." This guy must live somewhere where there's socialized medicine, or else maybe he'd have a prescription to control this.
I guess the part that amazes me the most is the idea that Republicans are particularly effective. Hardly. IMO most of them are a bunch of wimps. When it comes to nasty street-fighting politics, they're not in the same league with the Dems, with their Terry McAuliffes, James Carvilles and innumerable others. We'll see plenty of examples between now and Election Day.
There are many, um, remarkable things about this item and the rest of the blog too. But what astounds me is just how effective these various conspiracy theorists think their enemies are. To this guy it's the Republicans, to the al-Qaeda types it's the Mossad, but either way these types attribute a strange combination of omniscience, omnipotence and incompetence to their enemies.
According to this guy, apparently the Republicans decided that the greatest threat to their govt hegemony was Paul Wellstone, and they just took care of business.
But it must be so: "People are always asking why the left is in such disarray, and why the leaders of the left are such buffoons. One reason is that any leaders who have any charisma and any tendency to lead in any sort of progressive direction are simply slaughtered by the right." This guy must live somewhere where there's socialized medicine, or else maybe he'd have a prescription to control this.
I guess the part that amazes me the most is the idea that Republicans are particularly effective. Hardly. IMO most of them are a bunch of wimps. When it comes to nasty street-fighting politics, they're not in the same league with the Dems, with their Terry McAuliffes, James Carvilles and innumerable others. We'll see plenty of examples between now and Election Day.
Thursday, October 31, 2002
For Halloween...
I need a monster. So I stole the link to Mike the Headless Chicken from Dr. Weevil.
The text that accompanies the stolen link on Dr. Weevil's site offers further head related material.
The text that accompanies the stolen link on Dr. Weevil's site offers further head related material.
Are you sick of pumpkin yet?
You aren't the only one.
Courtesy of none other than Last Page - accept no substitutes, even if her Weather Pixie is kind of slutty.
UPDATE: Alright, I'm changing the link to this. The old one didn't work for some reason, and this way you'll miss LP's not-suitable-for-work beefcake picture. (aside to LP - you can look, but they might not let a woman touch). At least she woke up the Unablogger, who serves the kind of cheesecake you probably can't have at work.
Courtesy of none other than Last Page - accept no substitutes, even if her Weather Pixie is kind of slutty.
UPDATE: Alright, I'm changing the link to this. The old one didn't work for some reason, and this way you'll miss LP's not-suitable-for-work beefcake picture. (aside to LP - you can look, but they might not let a woman touch). At least she woke up the Unablogger, who serves the kind of cheesecake you probably can't have at work.
Hot air on climate change
David Appell is a science writer who maintains a blog called Quark Soup. He takes issue with Kim DuToit, Toren Smith and Robert Prather here about global warming.
The bloggers I mentioned are big boys and can take care of themselves. If they saw this post they probably have, but alas despite their permalinks to the left I haven't seen everything they have written. So I'll take a few whacks at this myself.
What got me were passages like this:
But let's get more substantial. OK, maybe many climate models have predicted past climates. That might be impressive until you realize that there is an infinite number of models that could do this in principle. So the existence of a number of them is not impressive in itself, and in fact makes me wonder why they can't decide among them.
Here's another item:
He's not through. Before he gets around to referring to "climate change flat-earthers", he notes the following:
Elsewhere he refers to the period from 1951-1998. I wonder why he chose that period. I will note that aboveground nuclear weapons tests were common in the earlier part of this period. These might have led to abnormal levels of particulates in the atmosphere (a miniature "nuclear winter"). This in turn would have caused the beginning of the period to be cooler than the later part entirely independently of other anthropomorphic influences. I don't know how strong that phenomenon was though, so, unlike Appell, I won't make any claims.
The problems involved with measuring and modeling the relevant parameters would make a long post in itself, but let's assume that these scientists, with their big grants from organizations that want budget increases, are immune from conflicts of interest and are in fact doing everything right. Alright, what would they have to measure or evaluate in the course of developing models?
Atmospheric temperatures. Atmospheric composition. Land temperatures. Ocean temperatures. CO2 concentrations. Ice sheet/glacier coverage/volume. Depth of permafrost. Albedo (a measure of how much solar radiation is reflected back into space). Insolation (the power from the sun, which is not constant). Large fires, such as forest fires or Saddam's stunt of setting oil wells on fire in Kuwait after the Gulf War. Volcanic activity, both atmospheric and beneath the ocean. Non-anthropomorphic biological influences (cattle, termites, wetlands, forestation...). Economic activity (affects power consumption, thus coal/petroleum burning)...
That's just a few things off the top of my head. Some could be trivial, and I could be omitting major influences. The point is that the scientists who produce climate models are biting off a big chunk, and the pressure to produce results that will keep the grants coming is huge.
Now suppose they have data for all of the relevant phenomena above - now what? They have to model more than just the atmospheric temperature - they basically have to model all of the things I mentioned above too. Why? Because nothing happens in isolation. Heat up the atmosphere, heat up the ocean. Then the ocean absorbs more CO2, which allegedly lowers the atmospheric heating effect and at least provides negative feedback. More water will evaporate into the atmosphere, lowering ocean temperatures, changing the transport properties of the atmosphere and increasing greenhouse effects. Plants will grow more, soaking up water and CO2 and changing the transport properties of the land. I'm not convinced we even know all of the interactions and their significance, yet without them how can we model accurately?
Yet the scientists build the models anyway, based on data from a 50 year period which amounts to 0.000001% of the alleged 5 billion year life of the planet. They know full well that we have had a number of major non-anthropomorphic climate changes over that period that to date have not been modeled successfully.
Yet in their vanity and greed they attempt to do their science in the newspapers instead of in the labs, as Eric Lindholm notes here. (Appell doesn't like that post much either).
Enough for now. Let's see if Appell has choice words for me too.
The bloggers I mentioned are big boys and can take care of themselves. If they saw this post they probably have, but alas despite their permalinks to the left I haven't seen everything they have written. So I'll take a few whacks at this myself.
What got me were passages like this:
You can lead a skeptic to data, but you can't make them think.It is possible to disagree with someone without crap like this.
Toren Smith repeats the flat-earther's mantra that "the whole global warming scenario scarcely counts as science and is based primarily on computer models that can't even accurately predict past climate, much less that of an unknown future."
Toren, Toren, Toren. Have you looked at the scientific studies? Have you read them? Have you read anything that doesn't agree with your ideology? As I just pointed out to Kim du Toit, many climate models have predicted past climates.
But let's get more substantial. OK, maybe many climate models have predicted past climates. That might be impressive until you realize that there is an infinite number of models that could do this in principle. So the existence of a number of them is not impressive in itself, and in fact makes me wonder why they can't decide among them.
Here's another item:
Let us continue our corrections of du Toit.Mr. DuToit said "climate change", not warming. Mr. Appell offered nothing to prove that man's impact is greater than that of volcanoes, and noted that volcanoes had impact on the climate. From this he concluded that "The global warming effect of volcanoes is not close to that of man". If he's right, he hasn't made his case in the post. I propose that he should do so before he resorts to such condescension.
He rants , "I also need to see proof that human activity (eg. releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere) has had a more profound effect on climate change than have volcanic eruptions...."
OK.
The global warming effect of volcanoes is not close to that of man:
"Volcanoes contribute about 110 million tons of carbon dioxide per year while man's activities contribute about 10 billion tons per year," according to the Volcano Information Center operated by geologist Ronald Fischer at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
That's 1%, Kim.
However, what volcanoes do do is spew a lot of sulphur aerosols into the atmosphere, but that causes cooling , not warming.
He's not through. Before he gets around to referring to "climate change flat-earthers", he notes the following:
"Several coupled models are able to reproduce the major trend in surface air temperature, when driven by radiative forcing scenarios corresponding to the 20th century. However, in these studies only idealized scenarios of only sulphate radiative forcing have been used.Interesting. In both cases he's noting known flaws in the models, yet that's what he uses for his support.
Many atmospheric models are able to simulate an increase of the African summer monsoon in response to insolation forcing for the Holocene but they all underestimate this increase if vegetation feedbacks are ignored."
Elsewhere he refers to the period from 1951-1998. I wonder why he chose that period. I will note that aboveground nuclear weapons tests were common in the earlier part of this period. These might have led to abnormal levels of particulates in the atmosphere (a miniature "nuclear winter"). This in turn would have caused the beginning of the period to be cooler than the later part entirely independently of other anthropomorphic influences. I don't know how strong that phenomenon was though, so, unlike Appell, I won't make any claims.
The problems involved with measuring and modeling the relevant parameters would make a long post in itself, but let's assume that these scientists, with their big grants from organizations that want budget increases, are immune from conflicts of interest and are in fact doing everything right. Alright, what would they have to measure or evaluate in the course of developing models?
Atmospheric temperatures. Atmospheric composition. Land temperatures. Ocean temperatures. CO2 concentrations. Ice sheet/glacier coverage/volume. Depth of permafrost. Albedo (a measure of how much solar radiation is reflected back into space). Insolation (the power from the sun, which is not constant). Large fires, such as forest fires or Saddam's stunt of setting oil wells on fire in Kuwait after the Gulf War. Volcanic activity, both atmospheric and beneath the ocean. Non-anthropomorphic biological influences (cattle, termites, wetlands, forestation...). Economic activity (affects power consumption, thus coal/petroleum burning)...
That's just a few things off the top of my head. Some could be trivial, and I could be omitting major influences. The point is that the scientists who produce climate models are biting off a big chunk, and the pressure to produce results that will keep the grants coming is huge.
Now suppose they have data for all of the relevant phenomena above - now what? They have to model more than just the atmospheric temperature - they basically have to model all of the things I mentioned above too. Why? Because nothing happens in isolation. Heat up the atmosphere, heat up the ocean. Then the ocean absorbs more CO2, which allegedly lowers the atmospheric heating effect and at least provides negative feedback. More water will evaporate into the atmosphere, lowering ocean temperatures, changing the transport properties of the atmosphere and increasing greenhouse effects. Plants will grow more, soaking up water and CO2 and changing the transport properties of the land. I'm not convinced we even know all of the interactions and their significance, yet without them how can we model accurately?
Yet the scientists build the models anyway, based on data from a 50 year period which amounts to 0.000001% of the alleged 5 billion year life of the planet. They know full well that we have had a number of major non-anthropomorphic climate changes over that period that to date have not been modeled successfully.
Yet in their vanity and greed they attempt to do their science in the newspapers instead of in the labs, as Eric Lindholm notes here. (Appell doesn't like that post much either).
Enough for now. Let's see if Appell has choice words for me too.
Jimmy the Red
Thanks to John Weidner and Bob Ballard, I found this about our latest Nobel Peace Price winner, ex-president Jimmy Carter.
Would Carter work with the Soviets against the election of Ronald Reagan? IMO there's no doubt about it. He'd tell himself that he was working for world peace, which of course would be a higher goal to him than anything so trivial as national sovereignty. Jimmy knew best.
What would you think if it were shown that Saddam Hussein were giving money to Democrats to oppose the war? IMO bringing up that possibility is no more inflammatory than the recurring chant that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are pawns of the oil companies working against our national interests. The only question is whether Saddam is bright enough to try it - the Dems would take the money in a heartbeat and bury the bodies later.
Another thing I'd like to see investigated is whether French, Russians, Chinese or others are slipping money to the Dems. All do a lot of business with Iraq. It would be worth a lot for them to influence American policy against war, especially if Saddam owes them money. And it's not as if the Chinese don't have a relationship with the Dems.
I'm betting that this guy would have been a Democrat. All he had to do was deliberately weaken his defenses, put on a show of resistance against subsequent threats or attacks, surrender, and take the money and run.
Would Carter work with the Soviets against the election of Ronald Reagan? IMO there's no doubt about it. He'd tell himself that he was working for world peace, which of course would be a higher goal to him than anything so trivial as national sovereignty. Jimmy knew best.
What would you think if it were shown that Saddam Hussein were giving money to Democrats to oppose the war? IMO bringing up that possibility is no more inflammatory than the recurring chant that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are pawns of the oil companies working against our national interests. The only question is whether Saddam is bright enough to try it - the Dems would take the money in a heartbeat and bury the bodies later.
Another thing I'd like to see investigated is whether French, Russians, Chinese or others are slipping money to the Dems. All do a lot of business with Iraq. It would be worth a lot for them to influence American policy against war, especially if Saddam owes them money. And it's not as if the Chinese don't have a relationship with the Dems.
I'm betting that this guy would have been a Democrat. All he had to do was deliberately weaken his defenses, put on a show of resistance against subsequent threats or attacks, surrender, and take the money and run.
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Attention wannabe hunters
You might want to bag an elephant or a tiger, but it's probably better if you start smaller. How about cats?
The news is telling me about a Feral Cat Initiative.
The news is telling me about a Feral Cat Initiative.
An alternative to the “trap and remove” method of dealing with the cat over-population problem is TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return). Entire feral colonies are humanely trapped, tested for feline leukemia, vaccinated for rabies, spayed/neutered and ear tipped to identify those altered. Socialized cats and kittens are put up for adoption while healthy feral cats are returned to live out their lives under the watchful eye of neighborhood caretakers. TNR is a non-lethal method of controlling cat population....TNR is making an impact. The Feral Cat Initiative has helped to significantly decrease the number of cats arriving at our shelter. Since the initiative began, more than 1000 cats have been treated, resulting in a 15% decline in euthanasia. Plus, participating neighborhoods have reported fewer problems with cat spraying, noise and number of kittens. Our program has been recognized by Alley Cat Allies, a national feral cat advocacy group.I hope the feds aren't listening. If volunteers want to do something like this, they can have a ball (so to speak). But if it polls well...
With friends like this...
Glenn Reynolds posts this about reasons why the French and the Russians might be opposing us re Iraq. It's about oil all right - for our opponents.
Dr. Khidhir Hamza's book, "Saddam's Bombmaker", has a number of examples of how Europeans and others cozied up to Saddam for big money. My favorites were the French, in conjunction with the Osirak reactor that the Israelis took out in 1981. Here's a passage from page 130 of the paperback edition:
Hamza doesn't have much good to say about the Russians either - from page 120:
Dr. Khidhir Hamza's book, "Saddam's Bombmaker", has a number of examples of how Europeans and others cozied up to Saddam for big money. My favorites were the French, in conjunction with the Osirak reactor that the Israelis took out in 1981. Here's a passage from page 130 of the paperback edition:
[Saddam] well knew, however, that we'd fought hard to put the reactor underground, where it would have been safer from attack. But the French would not agree. They were prepared to go along with our bomb deception only to the extend that they could plausibly deny it. And the only reason to put a nuclear reactor underground, considering the huge costs required, was to manufacture plutonium in secret and protect it from a military attack. The French weren't going to take the fall for that.Another passage from page 129:
...the antiaircraft unit had been taking a dinner break at six every evening, shutting down its radar. Surely it wasn't a coincidence that the strike came at 6:25....The day before the strike, in fact, I'd been walking by the facility with a colleague and noticed a closed van parked next to the tunnel. When I asked what it was, he said it contained radiation detection equipment the French had just delivered. In the aftermath of the bombing, investigators reportedly found a guidance transmitter inside.And you thought planned obsolescence was bad - these guys are the world's champion cynics.
Hamza doesn't have much good to say about the Russians either - from page 120:
To us, with a few exceptions, the Russians were a joke - badly trained, often drunk, sluggish at work, more interested in buying clothes and electronic goods unavailable in Moscow and sending them home than doing their assignments.Gosh, do you suppose Susan Sarandon knows about this?
Not the Million Man March
My kind of guy:
H.K. Edgerton is a proud black Southerner who has no grievance with the Confederate battle flag.Stolen from Chuck at Redneckin.
And he's willing to march 1,500 miles across the South from Asheville, N.C., to Austin decked out in a gray Civil War uniform and waving the Rebel flag to bring attention to the issue.
Most popular Halloween costumes
It appears that police and firefighter costumes are the winners this year. Challengers are Spider-Man, Josie & the Pussycats, Batman, the Power Rangers, SpongeBob Squarepants and Scooby-Doo.
In Brazil Osama bin Laden is winning over challengers Yassir Arafat and George Bush. Of course he has an unfair advantage, being a ghost too.
It's late in the game, but you can find lots of masks here. This outlet in the UK has a Saddam Hussein mask.
These are scary.
In Brazil Osama bin Laden is winning over challengers Yassir Arafat and George Bush. Of course he has an unfair advantage, being a ghost too.
It's late in the game, but you can find lots of masks here. This outlet in the UK has a Saddam Hussein mask.
These are scary.
Small town Halloween
Whatever happened to Halloween? Yeah, I got older. But it seems like it's not as much fun for kids nowadays either.
I was in a small town where everybody knew everybody, at least in the neighborhood. You could start a day early and keep going a day late with most houses. For atmosphere, we even had a graveyard nearby stretching for several blocks and a couple of ill-maintained houses that for our money could well have been haunted. Oh yeah, we had the scary old lady who had to talk through a hole cut in her throat.
No parental escorts for us - we just marched up and down the streets, probably covering about a 20 block area of modest single-family homes. Daylight saving time gave us plenty of time after dark, and we'd stay out pretty late for a bunch that usually had to be in bed by 8:30 or so.
For loot there were a lot of popcorn balls and fruit, an occasional grab from a bowl of hard candy, or oddball stuff from those who had forgotten or had been sucked dry already. But most of it was miniature candy bars.
Groups of kids would cross paths once in a while, but there wasn't any trouble that I recall. Until we got older, that is, and that was when you figured the harvesting was over.
But then whole new opportunities arose for mischief bordering on delinquency. We'd go to the neighbors and note that we sure could use some eggs, toilet paper, shaving cream, soap et al, noting how it would be dishonorable to use them on the people who gave them to us (they knew if they didn't supply us, their neighbors would). We figured out about how much of the stuff we could carry without attracting suspicion ("No sir Mr. Officer, we haven't seen anything"), where we could ditch it in a hurry, and where we could stash it along the route. Thus did otherwise dead-end kids learn negotiation, game theory, procurement, logistics and project management (no, this isn't on my resume).
Old-timers (other than our parents) had classic stories of mischief. About all of them told stories of tipping outhouses. Usually this was done with a Model T, which subsequently got stuck in the "honey" (it must have been honey, because the guy who scooped it out and carried it away drove the "honeywagon"). Others told us of filling a paper bag with "honey", putting it on someone's doorstep and setting it on fire, in hopes that the resident would come out and stomp it out. We loved that idea, but never had the nerve to try it.
At some point many of us were dragooned into escorting the youngest kids, who of course would try to escape supervision ASAP. For the rest of us came cars, alcohol and girls - Halloween was for kids.
Alas, Halloween just isn't the same. And probably never was.
I was in a small town where everybody knew everybody, at least in the neighborhood. You could start a day early and keep going a day late with most houses. For atmosphere, we even had a graveyard nearby stretching for several blocks and a couple of ill-maintained houses that for our money could well have been haunted. Oh yeah, we had the scary old lady who had to talk through a hole cut in her throat.
No parental escorts for us - we just marched up and down the streets, probably covering about a 20 block area of modest single-family homes. Daylight saving time gave us plenty of time after dark, and we'd stay out pretty late for a bunch that usually had to be in bed by 8:30 or so.
For loot there were a lot of popcorn balls and fruit, an occasional grab from a bowl of hard candy, or oddball stuff from those who had forgotten or had been sucked dry already. But most of it was miniature candy bars.
Groups of kids would cross paths once in a while, but there wasn't any trouble that I recall. Until we got older, that is, and that was when you figured the harvesting was over.
But then whole new opportunities arose for mischief bordering on delinquency. We'd go to the neighbors and note that we sure could use some eggs, toilet paper, shaving cream, soap et al, noting how it would be dishonorable to use them on the people who gave them to us (they knew if they didn't supply us, their neighbors would). We figured out about how much of the stuff we could carry without attracting suspicion ("No sir Mr. Officer, we haven't seen anything"), where we could ditch it in a hurry, and where we could stash it along the route. Thus did otherwise dead-end kids learn negotiation, game theory, procurement, logistics and project management (no, this isn't on my resume).
Old-timers (other than our parents) had classic stories of mischief. About all of them told stories of tipping outhouses. Usually this was done with a Model T, which subsequently got stuck in the "honey" (it must have been honey, because the guy who scooped it out and carried it away drove the "honeywagon"). Others told us of filling a paper bag with "honey", putting it on someone's doorstep and setting it on fire, in hopes that the resident would come out and stomp it out. We loved that idea, but never had the nerve to try it.
At some point many of us were dragooned into escorting the youngest kids, who of course would try to escape supervision ASAP. For the rest of us came cars, alcohol and girls - Halloween was for kids.
Alas, Halloween just isn't the same. And probably never was.
Google lust
I haven't mentioned her for months, but I keep packing them in with "Megan Morrone nude". In case you don't know, she's one of the Women of "The Screen Savers" - the darkheaded married one, probably wearing a tight T-shirt that says "got root?"
Listen, I have no problem with lay research of comparative feminine anatomy. But of the cast I'd pick Morgan Webb first, and I don't get anywhere near as many hits for her. Morgan, if you're feeling neglected, my email address is above under "Feedback".
Listen, I have no problem with lay research of comparative feminine anatomy. But of the cast I'd pick Morgan Webb first, and I don't get anywhere near as many hits for her. Morgan, if you're feeling neglected, my email address is above under "Feedback".
Saturday, October 26, 2002
This and that
Someone has hit this site querying Google for "Ann Coulter breasts". Good luck, pal.
Chris Johnson sums up the Chechen crimes in the Moscow theater. Keep going down for more.
My condolences to the Wellstones.
Chris Johnson sums up the Chechen crimes in the Moscow theater. Keep going down for more.
My condolences to the Wellstones.
Vain expression
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke
The Gene Expression crowd seems to be incapable of taking any religiosity seriously - a typical reference is to "magical thinking". And of course this would all imply that religious people just aren't too smart. Thus from Razib we get this:
What is the point of teaching evolution in schools? It depends on how it is presented. If it is presented as preempting or disproving religious faith, it has overstepped its bounds. Or rather replaced existing religion with one that denies it is a religion - atheism.
Well, what will they teach in biology classes instead? Ecology. Anatomy. Epidemiology. Public health. Agriculture. Genetics. More health-related topics that are directly related to citizenship, as opposed to some intellectual exercise in figuring out which critter allegedly descended from what by blind chance. Just what value does evolution have to offer the average citizen?
Or maybe they can teach some real science. They certainly can show that it evolves. When I took high school biology, the taxonomy of the time had only two kingdoms, the animals and the plants. Nowadays we have the same critters as before, but at last count there were 5 kingdoms.
Here's some more vanity, from the same post:
Want to hear a story about magic? One day there was nothing at all, and then the next there was a universe! It doesn't sound any the less improbable IMO if you throw in deities. But scientists cut out the deities with Occam's Razor and place their faith in things as error-prone as objective observation and reason. They have faith that they'll find the answer eventually, and in the meantime would everyone please renounce their religious faith?
Can't predict the positions and momenta of subatomic particles simultaneously? Don't confess eternal ignorance, postulate an Uncertainty Principle.
You can't predict something's behavior? Don't admit you don't know - call it "random" or "chaotic" to cover the failure.
Your physics theory upon which you built theories of the beginning and the end of the universe is failing? Postulate the existence of new phenomena like "dark matter", hold out your hand for a few $millions more, and buy time to conjure up the next story.
Science has many wonderful achievements. But it will remain useful only so long as it remains humble. Don't let anyone make it into a religion, or displace existing religions.
UPDATE: And don't...well, we'll let Quana tell it.
The Gene Expression crowd seems to be incapable of taking any religiosity seriously - a typical reference is to "magical thinking". And of course this would all imply that religious people just aren't too smart. Thus from Razib we get this:
This is a rough measure, but I think my point holds, the further you go up the bell curve the less reliance there is on magical thinking, ergo the variations of Creationism.An alternate interpretation is that the farther you go right on the bell curve (ie toward higher intelligence), the vainer the thinkers are. They don't want to be told answers or have to accept any divine authority - they figured it out themselves.
What is the point of teaching evolution in schools? It depends on how it is presented. If it is presented as preempting or disproving religious faith, it has overstepped its bounds. Or rather replaced existing religion with one that denies it is a religion - atheism.
Well, what will they teach in biology classes instead? Ecology. Anatomy. Epidemiology. Public health. Agriculture. Genetics. More health-related topics that are directly related to citizenship, as opposed to some intellectual exercise in figuring out which critter allegedly descended from what by blind chance. Just what value does evolution have to offer the average citizen?
Or maybe they can teach some real science. They certainly can show that it evolves. When I took high school biology, the taxonomy of the time had only two kingdoms, the animals and the plants. Nowadays we have the same critters as before, but at last count there were 5 kingdoms.
Here's some more vanity, from the same post:
Now, the fact remains that a large minority continue to accept Biblical literalism, but let's keep going up the bell curve. A 1996 study by Witham & Larson showed that 40% of scientists with doctorates were theists.I suppose possession of a doctorate is solely a function of intelligence? Hardly. But it does show that they have been hazed by higher-ups in their faculty, and if they deviate too much they won't get their tickets punched.
Want to hear a story about magic? One day there was nothing at all, and then the next there was a universe! It doesn't sound any the less improbable IMO if you throw in deities. But scientists cut out the deities with Occam's Razor and place their faith in things as error-prone as objective observation and reason. They have faith that they'll find the answer eventually, and in the meantime would everyone please renounce their religious faith?
Can't predict the positions and momenta of subatomic particles simultaneously? Don't confess eternal ignorance, postulate an Uncertainty Principle.
You can't predict something's behavior? Don't admit you don't know - call it "random" or "chaotic" to cover the failure.
Your physics theory upon which you built theories of the beginning and the end of the universe is failing? Postulate the existence of new phenomena like "dark matter", hold out your hand for a few $millions more, and buy time to conjure up the next story.
Science has many wonderful achievements. But it will remain useful only so long as it remains humble. Don't let anyone make it into a religion, or displace existing religions.
UPDATE: And don't...well, we'll let Quana tell it.
They all look the same!
I'm lily-white, from a largely lily-white (mostly German, Irish and a little Italian) small town in IL (around 10,000 population). There's a very light sprinkling of nonwhites, but not enough to teach us to recognize one group from another. Without external media coming in and various generations of military veterans, we'd probably do little better than to be able to distinguish blacks from Hispanics from Asians.
I've covered a lot of ground since then and I'm doing better at telling different groups apart. But it looks like I'm not the only one who has a heck of a time distinguishing Chinese, Koreans and Japanese.
Let's see how well you do. Har har - I did better than Razib...
Stolen from Gene Expression.
I've covered a lot of ground since then and I'm doing better at telling different groups apart. But it looks like I'm not the only one who has a heck of a time distinguishing Chinese, Koreans and Japanese.
Let's see how well you do. Har har - I did better than Razib...
Stolen from Gene Expression.
Wish you were here
...to behold that incredible meeting of the minds that happened in St. Louis this past Thursday. Tim Blair was passing through, and Charles Austin, Juan Gato, Chris Johnson and I were there to help spare him the torments of sobriety. We made short work of the world's problems, but I didn't think to write it all down.
Friday, October 25, 2002
Can't they do better than this?
Surely no Bush administration official gets more undeserved flak than John Ashcroft. Such as this from Robert Prather:
Listen, I'm all for state's rights. IMO people should see the Civil War as a gross abuse of federal power too. But surely there's a better case for dumping on Ashcroft than this.
Prather offers this:
Remember all the crap Ashcroft heard during confirmation? How Democrats claimed that he would impose his own views upon the law, especially wrt abortion clinics? It looks to me like he's enforcing the law just as he pledged to do when he was confirmed. If there's something wrong with the law, then let's fix the law.
Prather continues with this:
Let's hear something positive for a change. Who would have been better than Ashcroft? What should he have done differently that was consistent with the responsibilities of his job? And what is needed to clean up these rogue organizations?
Oregon voters passed an assisted suicide law via referendum -- twice -- and John Ashcroft, with no constitutional basis to do so, has tried to revoke the medical licenses of the doctor's who prescribed the lethal doses. The first judge to review the case over-ruled Ashcroft and it's on appeal.The article in question says this:
The Death With Dignity Act, which allows a physician to prescribe a lethal dose of barbiturates to a terminally ill adult patient, was first approved by the voters of the state of Oregon in 1994. Assisted suicide opponents mounted a vigorous campaign against the law, delaying its implementation until referendum in 1997, when it passed again.There's nothing controversial about the idea that causing death is a "legitimate medical purpose"?
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration immediately stepped in and sought to overturn the law on the grounds that it violated the Federal Controlled Substances Act, which prohibits the use of certain drugs except for a "legitimate medical purpose"—which, the DEA said, did not include aid in dying. Then-Attorney General Janet Reno, however, overruled the agency, and the law was allowed to remain in place.
Under Attorney General John Ashcroft, however, all of that changed. In November 2001, the attorney general took time out from cracking down on terrorists to crack down on physicians who prescribe lethal drugs to the terminally ill. He authorized the DEA to revoke their licenses.
Listen, I'm all for state's rights. IMO people should see the Civil War as a gross abuse of federal power too. But surely there's a better case for dumping on Ashcroft than this.
Prather offers this:
John Ashcroft has stretched every conceivable aspect of the constitution since his term started. The assisted suicide law is presumably being challenged using laws based on the interstate commerce clause. What assisted suicide has to do with interstate commerce is a mystery to me.The first sentence suggests that we are dealing with something other than objectivity. As for the rest, if the Reason article cited is accurate, it doesn't seem so farfetched that Ashcroft is totally within the bounds of the law. As Prather's cite shows above, the initial DEA determination predates Ashcroft. Can the DEA revoke medical licenses? Does the DEA report to Ashcroft? If so, then what is left to say? IMO the US District Court judge who made the decision (who is based in Portland, Oregon) was the one who overstepped his bounds, and my money says Ashcroft wins in a later round.
Remember all the crap Ashcroft heard during confirmation? How Democrats claimed that he would impose his own views upon the law, especially wrt abortion clinics? It looks to me like he's enforcing the law just as he pledged to do when he was confirmed. If there's something wrong with the law, then let's fix the law.
Prather continues with this:
The 4th amendment means nothing to him as well given his support for the TIPS program. I want the guarantee that I'll be secure in my person, papers and effects. I don't want it compromised for the War On Drugs™ and I don't want it compromised for the war on terror.The War on Drugs long predates Ashcroft, and it's his job to enforce the law. And he inherited the cowboys at DEA, BATF and whatever you call what we have at the FBI, who have all sorts of institutional and civil service defenses against housecleanings. And given his late confirmation, the unending personal attacks and the subsequent frenzy after 9/11, just when was he going to be able to do that?
Let's hear something positive for a change. Who would have been better than Ashcroft? What should he have done differently that was consistent with the responsibilities of his job? And what is needed to clean up these rogue organizations?
Just for the record...
I'm late to this party, but I offer the following:
idiotarian - n. 1. Anyone who would claim that Charles Johnson's site is racist.
idiotarian - n. 1. Anyone who would claim that Charles Johnson's site is racist.
Radioactive litter
Cat litter, that is.
A man who ignored a veterinarian's order to flush his cat's radioactive waste down the toilet was hit with a $2,800 bill. ...Jenness' cat, Mitzi, an 11-year-old shorthair, was treated with an injection of radioiodine after developing hyperthyroidism, which is common in cats her age.My job is looking better all the time.
The treatment makes the cat radioactive for weeks, so special care is required, including limiting snuggling time, keeping the cat away from children and pregnant women and using protective gloves when flushing the cat litter......Mitzi's mess was discovered at an incinerator in Rochester when alarms detected radioactivity. Workers traced the waste to Jenness after finding mail with his name on it nearby.
Radiocat's Web site says the amount of radiation from a radioiodine shot is probably less than the amount a person receives on a long plane flight or a day at the beach.Radwaste eventually becomes harmless, but stupidity is forever. With sensitive enough instruments, he'll find radiation in all of the trash in town.
But Thomas Burnett, a Whitman public works commissioner, said any radiation in trash is too much.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
The first rule of government
Governments don't collect taxes so they can pay for services. Governments perform services so they can collect taxes.
MisManners
I had an older relative who was fussy about manners. She would visit once in a while and I would be on pins and needles wondering what else I was doing wrong. Little did I know I could have used a dozen more like her.
Hey, we men have always been animals. Some of us believe that whenever civilization happens, it's because some women put their pretty little feet down. But women in particular, outside the South, seem to have lost most of their manners. Some of the younger ones are appalling.
I don't mean which fork goes with the salad - we're talking basics here. For instance, if you're wearing jeans there are still some ways you probably shouldn't sit, unless you want us to think your herpes is in bloom.
And if you're in a short skirt there are fewer options yet, I don't care how much you spent at Victoria's Secret. Or on depilation - I read somewhere that Hillary Clinton once caught an impromptu exhibition and issued a memo instructing White House staff to wear panties at work.
Never mind the conflict of interest - if a man points out such things he's likely to be accused of harassment just for acknowledging it. Where are the women?
Hey, we men have always been animals. Some of us believe that whenever civilization happens, it's because some women put their pretty little feet down. But women in particular, outside the South, seem to have lost most of their manners. Some of the younger ones are appalling.
I don't mean which fork goes with the salad - we're talking basics here. For instance, if you're wearing jeans there are still some ways you probably shouldn't sit, unless you want us to think your herpes is in bloom.
And if you're in a short skirt there are fewer options yet, I don't care how much you spent at Victoria's Secret. Or on depilation - I read somewhere that Hillary Clinton once caught an impromptu exhibition and issued a memo instructing White House staff to wear panties at work.
Never mind the conflict of interest - if a man points out such things he's likely to be accused of harassment just for acknowledging it. Where are the women?
Beauty from the Beast
Of the millions of things I'm not qualified to do, giving beauty tips has to be close to the top. But sometimes even I can give a hint or two.
Tip #1 is to smile once in a while. You know, a real honest smile, not one of those reflexive masks we see on politicians and spokesmodels.
Alright, some of us aren't blessed. One minor celebrity I met usually looked sultry, but when I caught her smiling once she looked kind of goofy and rustic. They can be gummy or horsy or otherwise fubar, but there really aren't so many of these.
Another minor celeb had a nice smile because I had seen it on occasion. Then she stopped. When I asked, she told me she didn't smile for cameras because it made lines in her face. Heaven forbid.
One woman who worked in the same office with me was in her early twenties, and I would have sworn she had had a stroke. She would talk or blink, and once in a while she must have eaten, but other than that her face almost never moved. Then again, with the amount of makeup she wore it probably wasn't easy - near as I could tell her skin was fine. All the obvious effort she put into her face, but in a year or two I think I caught her smiling twice.
Another was a girl who must have been about 18 at the time. This one at least would smile, and she was very pretty, but she too wore makeup as if she were on stage. At her age and with her skin, I'd think lots of foundation et al would be more likely to cause problems than to cover them. I have to wonder if it wasn't intended almost like a mask to hide behind.
What do I know about makeup, anyway? Well, I've had to wear it before. But I had to quit - those lights and cameras put weight on you, and I've been trying to lose it ever since.
Tip #1 is to smile once in a while. You know, a real honest smile, not one of those reflexive masks we see on politicians and spokesmodels.
Alright, some of us aren't blessed. One minor celebrity I met usually looked sultry, but when I caught her smiling once she looked kind of goofy and rustic. They can be gummy or horsy or otherwise fubar, but there really aren't so many of these.
Another minor celeb had a nice smile because I had seen it on occasion. Then she stopped. When I asked, she told me she didn't smile for cameras because it made lines in her face. Heaven forbid.
One woman who worked in the same office with me was in her early twenties, and I would have sworn she had had a stroke. She would talk or blink, and once in a while she must have eaten, but other than that her face almost never moved. Then again, with the amount of makeup she wore it probably wasn't easy - near as I could tell her skin was fine. All the obvious effort she put into her face, but in a year or two I think I caught her smiling twice.
Another was a girl who must have been about 18 at the time. This one at least would smile, and she was very pretty, but she too wore makeup as if she were on stage. At her age and with her skin, I'd think lots of foundation et al would be more likely to cause problems than to cover them. I have to wonder if it wasn't intended almost like a mask to hide behind.
What do I know about makeup, anyway? Well, I've had to wear it before. But I had to quit - those lights and cameras put weight on you, and I've been trying to lose it ever since.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Shut up and blog
I have a particular blog in mind, but this works in general.
If you are going to be sensitive to nasty things people might say, maybe blogging isn't for you.
And if you're going to come out and say you're gay, well, where have you been living? Fair or not, you're begging for nastiness from the "God hates fags" crowd.
Shrug it off and tell them all to go to hell.
If you are going to be sensitive to nasty things people might say, maybe blogging isn't for you.
And if you're going to come out and say you're gay, well, where have you been living? Fair or not, you're begging for nastiness from the "God hates fags" crowd.
Shrug it off and tell them all to go to hell.
The 5th wheel
Curse that recliner. I have one that points straight at the TV set, and nothing short of drugs puts this historic insomniac to sleep sooner. The result is that at odd times I wake up with the TV on. So hours after the World Series game ended, I got to watch "The 5th Wheel", from the cultural savants who brought us "Blind Date".
At the beginning of the show we're shown two men and two women (Rana and Amanda). They get a chance to talk to each other as a group, then each man is paired with each woman. Of course the voyeuristic camera following along, with goofball editing, and each gets to make comments about each of the others.
Then another woman (Angelina) is introduced, and she is paired with each guy. After this apparently no holds are barred, and at the end all five participants select which partner they'd like to keep. Pairs that pick each other apparently are the winners, and the rest are "5th wheels".
It takes a, uh, special kind of person to perform on these shows. Amanda lost her bikini top with one of the guys. Rana was into biting. Angelina was the hottest. Each guy had a turn with two girls at once, then Angelina and Andrea paired off. Finally all of them met in a small space, and as the door closed on them a graphic appeared warning of "orgy in progress".
Then the finale - the naming of partners. Both guys picked Angelina. So did Amanda. And Angelina picked Amanda. Ha! - three fifth wheels.
Alright, I did sit still to watch an episode. No voyeurism here though, nosirree - purely detached observation and intense contemplation with the intent of adding my profundities to the sum of human wisdom. Yes, this was a study in human relations, evolving social norms, game theory, TV production...
Barf.
At the beginning of the show we're shown two men and two women (Rana and Amanda). They get a chance to talk to each other as a group, then each man is paired with each woman. Of course the voyeuristic camera following along, with goofball editing, and each gets to make comments about each of the others.
Then another woman (Angelina) is introduced, and she is paired with each guy. After this apparently no holds are barred, and at the end all five participants select which partner they'd like to keep. Pairs that pick each other apparently are the winners, and the rest are "5th wheels".
It takes a, uh, special kind of person to perform on these shows. Amanda lost her bikini top with one of the guys. Rana was into biting. Angelina was the hottest. Each guy had a turn with two girls at once, then Angelina and Andrea paired off. Finally all of them met in a small space, and as the door closed on them a graphic appeared warning of "orgy in progress".
Then the finale - the naming of partners. Both guys picked Angelina. So did Amanda. And Angelina picked Amanda. Ha! - three fifth wheels.
Alright, I did sit still to watch an episode. No voyeurism here though, nosirree - purely detached observation and intense contemplation with the intent of adding my profundities to the sum of human wisdom. Yes, this was a study in human relations, evolving social norms, game theory, TV production...
Barf.
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