Good morning.
- Well, that’s not very nice.
- The upcoming genocide/murders in Libya may have a mass effect.
- Collective malaise.
- Twitter and an epicenter.
- I’m unconvinced in policy argument, but geesh what people will do to themselves is incredible.
- 2011, not a good crop year for jokes, eh?
- Religion and education.
- Standing faithful.
- Some science questions for Rick Perry. Heh.
- OOOkkay, if you make the claim that’s a hate issue then what about things like “Piss Christ?” Hmm?
- A primary opponent for Mr Obama.
- So, US sports have nominal drug testing, when will that move to the other highly paid entertainers? Question, what percentage of actors do you think would pass the drug test a pro cyclist has to pass to race? Do you think it’s more than 10%?
- An obit. Raise your girls to be like that, eh?
- Race and perception.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 26, 2011
Good morning.
- Unthinkable, means the opposite of what you expect. For example, borrowing from Hofstadter, it doesn’t typically mean for example, “How would that (scene/play/argument/event) have looked if 13 wasn’t a prime number?” Or “How would have been if instead of people in Nations on Earth, but instead we were tri-sexual liquid hydrogen breathing cephalopodoid creatures swiming in the seas of a gas giant?” That’s a little more unthinkable.
- Jesus and the bomb.
- Read. The. Book. More here. That media bias thing. Settled, with some surprises, like that the WSJ is more liberal (in the news sections) than the NYTimes.
- Libya and a bounce? On paper the Libyan exercise was done for humanitarian reasons, to prevent Quaddafyi from retaliating and killiing hundreds or thousands. We shall see how the reprisals go in the upcoming months … and whether the rebels, once victorious are kinder and gentler. If not, what impact on the humanitarian argument might that have?
- A question that makes little sense. The priest is the ikon/icon of Christ. Jesus was, you know, male. Would you complain about watching King Lear, where the King was a gal and not complain about having a woman doctor? Almost unthinkable, eh?
- Poking at print journalism.
- So, if you see the term “Dominionism” used, it’s basically used by liberals in the same way that “Sharia” is used in the context of US political dialog.
- In which the term “Lost”, alas, doesn’t mean unable to find its way home because of unfamiliar landmarks.
- Apparently Mr Biden is a consequentialist. That is, if it didn’t have unfortunate unintended consequences then coerced sterilization and abortions would just fine. What a fine set of gentlemen we have in the White House.
- Grrr.
- Good idea or not?
- On dealing with slander.
- Not proto-Krugman, pseudo-Krugman.
- Two men, at age 22.
- A serious scientific problem for AGW/climate models.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 25, 2011
Good morning.
- Don’t just stop at considering lines and planes. Consider pi. Irrational although no measurement can test that. Yet … we find pi in lots of physical situations …. Is Pi real?
- Libertarians and taxes here and here.
- Perry and the Cowboy image (or reality). Speaking of cowboys, reading books like those by Louis L’Amour are a lot of fine fun (ask in the co-box if you want some title recommendations).’
- Speaking of cowboys.
- And romance, don’t forget the romance!
- Remember Bastiat. And some didn’t ever get point of the lesson.
- Ok. I got the book and read about 2/5ths of it last night. That kinda settles the media bias question. Now, what to do about it?
- Inferior in what sense? Inferior! Grrr. Them’s fighting words.
- Inferior scholarship noted.
- Looking back at welfare reform.
- Economics and alcholism.
- 2nd Amendment worries.
- This is not unrelated to #11.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 24, 2011
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 23, 2011
Good morning.
- Talking about the early middle ages.
- A question on climate.
- Freedom, Religion and “Of vs From”.
- A photo-essay noted.
- Photo-voltaics and nature.
- Economy, jobs focus and Mr Obama.
- Marriage Minus monogamy … isn’t something that makes sense.
- An Obama joke (as told by a Democrat (?)).
- Perry and the secession remark.
- Free cooperation and a well known park.
- Ballistic clay, replica armor and some arrows.
- Freedom and the teacher.
- Regulations and a bridge.
- High Tech and US business praxis.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 22, 2011
Would a serious Democrat primary challenge for President help or harm the incumbent?
Remember it would be a platform and forum in which the general election (non-primary) would be framed and the lack of that will mean now till late spring will be dominated by the GOP primary race for which there is no corresponding activity on the Democrat side.
On the other hand, he could lose.
Posted in Politics, stupid questions.
By Mark
– August 19, 2011
Yesterday driving to a job site (24 miles) mostly on 2 lane not-limited access highway with a 45-50 speed limit (I was mostly driving 40-45) in moderate traffic I clocked 107 mpg and on the return in heavier (some stop/go traffic jam) that dropped to 94 mpg for the whole trip.
Anyhow, 107 mpg (actually 106.7) is a new record for my car although the trip was only 24 miles (94 mpg for 140 miles was my prior record).
Posted in Travel.
By Mark
– August 19, 2011
Good morning.
- Racism … this can’t be said by a non-Black person (is because of implicit racism, shouldn’t anyone be able to say anything irrespective of race, i.e., if statement X is racist depending or not depending on the race of the speaker isn’t that an implicit racist notion?).
- The writer claims the linked statement by Mr Limbaugh is racist … I’m not going to disagree, but on the other hand I have no idea what or why that statement is noted as such.
- This on the other hand, seems more clearly racist.
- On Ms Bachmann and theocracy.
- On climate and Carbon dioxide.
- And a climate question.
- A little whining from the left. Wow, that’s just completely ahistorical.
- Cinema … and liturgy in a sci-fiction movie.
- Let’s see, atheists cling to a theory that the more intelligent and better educated you are the more likely you are to be an atheist. Look at the top ten list, that second list is clearly matches the top academic institutions nationwide, or not.
- On poltical attractiveness of Keynsian economics.
- Fun with a little Zirconium.
- Affording kids.
- Mr Perry … should it? Yes.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 19, 2011
Good morning.
- Fashion, I’ll go with fabulous.
- So … alchohol involved or not?
- Noting a poor analogy made by the President.
- The legal/not-legal drug problem.
- Missing the other half of the statement. Mr Buffett when asked why he gives to other charities and not the IRS … offered that the other charities yielded more for the dollar and were far more efficient than the government. Ooops.
- Haven’t made money in decades … or not. Not this might have been a speakers gaffe, but more likely Mr Obama really didn’t go into any details over finances of moribund financially instable companies when making the decision to bail them out.
- Zooom.
- Dragons in space.
- Where are the incentives?
- Chastity.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 18, 2011
Good morning.
- Heh.
- Violence and the Interwebs.
- More on riots.
- Economic indicators.
- States and gun laws.
- No apologies for what? He also, one might note, makes no apologies for streaking. Alas, nobody is accusing him of that either.
- A narrative from Libya.
- Just to buy votes …
- Obamacare, now being sold as bait and switch. How is that a good thing?
- So, just curious. Do you get the mpg rating your car is touted to get?
- Midway and government economic interventions.
- Offender registries. Seems like a case of tried and failed … so when will they be eliminated? Likely not in our lifetime, eh?
- An academic exercise in a journalistic setting.
- Kansas preacher visits the Madison political froth.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 17, 2011
Good morning.
- What is Dominionism?
- So, the Administration now tries to optimize that which is already being aggressively optimized. And to think the difference between this admin and the prior is that the current one is alledgely smart. Perhaps a correction on that notion is needed.
- Anti-intellectualism is an American trope, not liberal/conservative.
- Not true I for example, never pay attention to Mr Buffet.
- Here’s a slightly snarky response to Mr Buffet.
- How about a cynical one?
- Our admin continues the abandonment of Taiwan.
- Duh. We’re known as a petroleum based economy for good reason.
- Guns and bars.
- Speaking of guns ….
- Global politics, networks and an interesting conversation.
- Top ten weird ideas (held by Mr Perry)… alas not very interesting or weird at all.
- Campaign paid for by taxpayers.
- 5 Questions posed by a liberal that “conservatives can’t answer” … I guess it helps to never listen to actual conservatives. Answers are to those questions are not hard to find. The first (two) are quite obvious (and alas the same question). I think I can do it in two or three sentences. Let’s consider the economy as a mountain climber … stimulus is like giving the climber more caffeine. Regulations are like additional weights holding him down. Uncertainty is like spraying lubricants on the rock. How speed his climb without giving him caffeine? Hmm. To a liberal apparently there is no way to do that. The real question on such a thing is why the liberal mind things that more caffeine is the only possible response.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 16, 2011
So, we have returned safely. Because none of my family other than myself had really any camping or canoeing experience we rented all our equipment. The outfitters at Lake Sawbill were great to work with and provided us with excellent equipment (and the food was quite the gourmet experience). Some highlights and remarks on the trip below.
We saw some wildlife, but no moose. What we did see included loon, beaver, a bald eagle, turtles, and some large fish jumping. We heard moose calling to one another late at night. While there were some clear nights, we didn’t really see the any amazing views of the sky on account of the bright full moon. The weather was quite good. Temperatures ranged from the mid 50s at nigth to the mid 60s in the day. Mosquitoes and biting flies don’t like it that cool and are less active at those temps. We had a brief rain shower after we finished canoeing on Monday, numerous showers on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday were sunny and cool, perfect weather. On Friday it was sunny and warm until a 15 minute squall moved through soaking us just prior to our return to the Outfitters (and our hot shower).
I made two mistakes at leading my family in the canoes. On the first day, it took me a little too long to realize that my wife and eldest daughter were not capable of paddling into a stiff headwind. A light canoe is difficult to keep on a straight line into or across a good breeze as the wind catches the front of the boat and wants to turn it. The solution was to tie a leader between the back of my canoe to the front of theirs to pull them back in line when that occurred. But it took 45 minutes of their struggling for me to remember that. The second mistake was on the next day when I kept pushing on to the destination I had in mind in the morning, and not stopping earlier. We were battling winds and figuring out portaging through that day and didn’t get to camp until after 4:30pm at which point we were all exhausted. We should have stopped at an earlier lake 90 minute before. The consequence of that is that we decided to take a day “off” from paddling and just parked and lazed Wednesday away instead of pushing on.
Portaging is the hard work part of canoeing. The portages were measured on the map in “rods” (320 rods to the mile or 16.5 feet per). Our first portage was short, 30 rods. We had two 140s (one flat and wet one rocky) and a 90 the second day. On Thursday we did a 285 rod portage, almost a mile. The canoes we had were Kevlar and weighed 42 pounds. My youngest and I would carry a canoe on the first leg. My wife had hurt her back just before we left, so my two daughters and I carried the four packs and the canoes and left the jackets and paddles to her. Young fit college kids can do the portages in one trip (one with a canoe, paddles and jackets and the other with two packs). We did two trips each time, which is much slower but more manageable.
Our puppy loved the woods. My wife was concerned about letting her run free at the campsite but she was just fine. She never strayed very far and loved exploring. She’d race off into the woods on one side of the camp and a few moments later come zooming back from another direction.
Both my wife and youngest are eager to return, but family circumstances being what they are, my daughter and I will likely do the camping for a bit and my wife and I after the kids move out to college and beyond. Backpacking anyone?
Posted in Current Events.
By Mark
– August 15, 2011
From Best of the Web:
Both are “diversity” pioneers. Obama was the first serious black candidate for president. Bachmann, assuming she does not fade before the nominating contests begin, will be the first serious female candidate (putting aside the nepotist Hillary Clinton). That brings both of them a certain amount of deference from guilty white males. Yesterday Chris Wallace of “Fox News Sunday” opened an interview with Bachmann by offering a groveling apology for having asked her an unchivalrous question weeks ago.
Where the parallels get interesting, though, is in considering why her detractors regard Bachmann as “crazy.” Much of it comes down to religion. “Bachmann belongs to a generation of Christian conservatives whose views have been shaped by institutions, tracts, and leaders not commonly known to secular Americans, or even to most Christians,” writes Ryan Lizza in The New Yorker. Lizza attributes to Bachmann “a set of beliefs more extreme than those of any American politician of her stature.”
He does not mention that the man she seeks to challenge had a “spiritual mentor” who described AIDS as a racist U.S. government plot, said of 9/11 that “America’s chickens are coming home to roost,” published Hamas propaganda in the church newsletter, and thundered from the pulpit: “God damn America!” Obama’s mentor’s beliefs might have seemed normal in the faculty lounge or the offices of The New Yorker, but they were not commonly known to Christians, or even most secular Americans.
Comparisons between Bachmann and Obama while there are several, e.g., both were inexperienced on seeking office and both opposed raising the debt limit, are an odd comparison. This comparison is one that will likely be made primarily by Bachmann oponents, especially in the light of the poor showing by Mr Obama. It is however, a criticism limited to being made on the right as Obama supporters will be less likely to be enthusiastic in drawing parallels between Obama and Bachmann.
Posted in Politics.
By Mark
– August 15, 2011
Good morning. Our families backwoods canoeing trip to the BWCA went well. More on that tonight. How about … links?
- Marriage and discussions of same.
- 9/11 and response.
- Motivation for research.
- Climate science and a little “follow the money” logic.
- From an adminstration that’s been just about the most anti-business anti-growth of the last 40 years … those remarks are, what, meant to be ironic?
- Exhibit A.
- Today … the Dormition of the Theotokos …. soooo what’t that about? An answer.
- Rage against the machine?
- A slug in the lung as response to riots?
- A science social matrix.
- Aquinas meets phenomenology.
- Abortion and technology …
- William and cinema. I do recall really liking the John Cleese Taming of the Shrew (which isn’t on the list).
- We actuall do “things” about the weather … they’re “things” called housing, heating and A/C.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 15, 2011
I’ll be on vacation this week … and will be completely out of the reach of all electronic devices and networks. We’re canoeing for the week in the BWCA (Mon-Fri) … and unless the local moose are wired to the net … I’ll be completely offline. Kinda like Mr Adam’s weekend WSJ article on the value of boredom. Hopefully I’ll be back with kids full of stories to tell and with my battteries recharged.
Posted in Travel.
By Mark
– August 8, 2011
Good morning.
- That (or A if you missed it) public prayer at NASCAR defended.
- Our commercial regulation is out of control, eh?
- Finding God at the Puffington Host. (HT)
- A debt milestone reached.
- Our President in response to crises … follows Ms Palin’s lead?
- Java and Oracle. Grump.
- Recession or Contraction? (HT)
- A climbing wall for real.
- If you build it, they will come … or something like that.
- Western perceptions and the anti-hero.
- College and cost. (HT)
- That Arctic “tipping point”.
- I too have had difficulty with poetry as an art form. Baudelaire was the first poet I read voluntarily. I’ve come to like Homer (and the Psalms) as well.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 5, 2011
Good morning.
- Summing up the debt/cap thing.
- The next fight.
- I’m not sure what to say about that photo … but it’s affecting.
- eCars not booming … and one reason why, heck those batteries cost as much as 2 normal cars.
- The Biden TP=Terrorist theme is not a solo. Why? What point is being made here by the left? I don’t get it.
- But, if you can’t beat it, join?
- And why, if food isn’t expensive enough … let’s make the family farm illegal, eh?
- Let’s see, three or so months ago, the President made a odd speech in which he touted his “new programs” to expand drasticly increase domestic oil production, a claim I noted as highly dishonest. Hmm, waddya think now?
- Contra America-as-evil.
- More than a little odd (or truth, stranger than fiction).
- Life and love, before the age of almost-free data exchange.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 4, 2011
Good morning.
- “Real people” as opposed to the plastic people in the Beltway? What is that?
- Those lines are in the wrong order.
- And here’s why. More on that here.
- Remember the left wingers went nuts after Ms Giffords was shot claiming the shooter was a right wing nut and politcal rhetoric was to blame? And then cooler heads prevailed showing that all to be false. The left wingers have short memories it seems.
- Racism in the (liberal) media.
- A wrap up of the Presidents negotiating strategy of demonizing the other side.
- Offence taken for the decorum at a gay pride parade picture.
- An interview, the short story of two boys at the end was interesting.
- Top automaker that you didn’t realize was out there.
- Actually “La Brea Tar Pits” is better … seeing as “la brea” means “the tar”.
- How far do you drive instead of fly? Although the length of the stay is an important factor for me at least.
- False economy in computer science?
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 3, 2011
The Greek conception of deity and eternity from the golden age of Greece through the coming of Christianity was one rooted in Eternity. Platonic notions of the Ideals, abstracted but concrete (in an idealic realm) and atomic these anchor reality. The Universe was (in their view) eternal and any creator or originator had too be as well unchanging and eternal as those ideals. The truths of these claims were established by the inexorable logic of a philosophical framework on which their civilization/culture was based. Modern deism is very close to these notions with the exception that creation is not, as the Greeks apprehended, eternal but has a beginning (and likely an end). It might be noted I’m unaware of how modern deists deal with the conflict between a God which creates a universe and is at the same time unchanging and eternal (or perhaps the unchanging part is dropped).
The Jewish concepts of deity was concrete by comparison. Rooted in history, prophecy, promise and compact. If not personal it was apprended and comprehended by persons. The history and its narrative validated its truth. A God which speaks to a people or persons in an individual way was seen as incompatible and very different in character from the Greek Ideal for God (or gods).
Modern arguments as they appear between deists, atheists and Christians bring up notions of deity that can be brought into sympathy with both of these two very different notions. That this is impossible is a common mistake that is made in the modern discussion that surround these notions which the following might be viewed as an attempt to bring the Christian viewpoint on the nature of deity into relief (and to contrast with the above). Continued…
Posted in Christian Philosophy, Christianity.
By Mark
– August 2, 2011
Good morning.
- Some advice for a young man.
- So … the bin Laden thing was an assasination. I wonder how that might go over in the land of moral war theorists and liberal hand wringers over war and method? Besides, of course denial of the obvious.
- Welcome to the Tea Party dude, didn’t Biden just call that sort “terrorists?“
- And what the heck did he mean “cracked head club?” Seriously, when you think back to the last election … how can anybody criticize Mr McCain’s choice of Ms Palin in the face of the abilities and public figure we have in the VP slot right now.
- It’s worse than you think y’know. Who do you know that gets the mileage the EPA says your car gets. OK, well I do … but I drive like a dork.
- Well that’s how you keep bike lanes clear in cities, eh?
- Libertarians amused that they are now labeled as “far right wing.”
- Unbiased media … hah!
- It’s actually much worse than that. The reason it’s hard to take Keyensians like Mr Krugman seriously is that their prescription in good times and bad is the same .. increase government is the constant recommendation, the only difference is they’d prefer to lower taxes in a recession and raise them when it’s gone.
- A really bad argument offered. “demonstrating among other things that the failure to buy insurance (on the private market) is hardly an instance of inactivity, but rather a choice to self-insure. Replace insurance in that sentence with clothing. Is a mandate for government requirements that you purchase clothing (and not privately sew) … is Constitutional?
- For your gustatory enjoyment.
- And the presentation of the same.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 2, 2011
Good morning.
- Tone deaf atheists.
- So, on the debt … the big Democrat non-negotiable item … the ball had to be kicked down the road past the elections. Now, outside of the beltway, I’m curious if any Democrats agree that was the primary thing. I’m betting not so much.
- At least for a week or so we can avoid media fraud (well, it’s a hope … if somewhat over-optimistic).
- Summer heat is relative.
- Doing calculus is harder than you thought …. oh, wait they’re not doing calculus.
- For those who haven’t figured out that government spending is a divisor not a mulitplier.
- But of course the government has more effective ways of stomping out businesses.
- I too used to drink it hot (not grape though) and really only when camping.
- Battleships and hollywood.
- Survivalism and some broken premises.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– August 1, 2011
Good morning.
- Contra finger pointing as policy.
- A similar attack on Mr Krugman here.
- Log-Log plots?
- Mr Obama’s last few weeks, allegorized.
- “CBO Scoring” … a valid point on the validity of that method, which begs the question … why even have such scoring at all?
- Of exertion and repose. (HT)
- Interesting language boundary problem.
- Foreign policy gaps the GOP might exploit in the upcoming election season.
- A different cycling Tour.
- Celebrity. Not celebrity.
- Birth control of a different, less celebrated sort. Heh.
- The AGW reporting rachet, report on side only, ignore the other. (repeat)
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– July 28, 2011
Good morning.
- What’s in a name anyhow?
- How not to make your point, really really emphatically.
- I don’t see how Congressional Democrats get a free ride here.
- Behavioral economics discussed.
- Time or money and healthcare. I wonder if the model posed by professional athletes, where “get back on the field quickly” is a primary end has its similarities at other economic strata.
- Bush and Obama, two similar situation, dis-similar quotes. Obama really really comes out bad in that comparison.
- Yippee. Bulwer-Lytton and the worst firsts.
- Zero sum … if we’re on the gold standard, which we are not. Most theories of value and currency don’t posit money as fixed quantity.
- Fast and furious continues to unfold.
- Spot the flaws.
- One reason Libya matters. Perhaps destroying US credibility and prestige was Mr Obama’s intent. After all he’s allegedly very smart.
- Corporate prayer … a bit off the beaten track.
- Consequences of choice and abortion.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– July 27, 2011
Good morning.
- Talking ABB.
- And here, and yes, ABB was right wing (but alas for the MSM theme, not a “fundamentalist Chrstian” in any sense of the word that I’ve ever heard).
- More here. ‘Nuff of that, eh?
- That errant “atheists are more intelligent and well educated” mistake. That works when you only count as atheists the intelligent and well educated ones.
- Pseudo-science and regulations.
- Our 2002 VW Golf TDI (diesel) too got about 50mpg in our recent family road trip vacation.
- Sports are global.
- Bulb talk. (HT)
- Some pro-choicers might be about choice, some not so much.
- “Debt talks have become a dangerous game” (what goes unsaid is that he’s leading that charge).
- Talking about catechesis and steaming heaps of twisted metal.
Posted in Link Roundup, Links.
By Mark
– July 26, 2011
One frequenly noted logical paradox is one typically attributed as follows:, “Epimedes the Cretan informs us vistors to the Island that Cretans always lie. He also continues, ‘I am a Cretan.’” This is amusing of course because if Epimedes is telling the truth then his two statements cannot both be true, yet if he is a liar it is also that case that both statements cannot be false.
What I’m seeking her is an attempt to understand the casual seemingly random relationship between what Mr Obama says and what is true (that is his frequenly lying).
Our President offers a interesting problem in game theory. Mr Obama of course, does not always lie, but from watching him in office he tells outright dishonest statements so frequently that no statement made by him can be taken in a normal manner … that is judge from the basis that the speaker means what he says.
It might be said that one of the most valuable things a person in his public life (and likely private … but those are normally distinct) is his honesty. When people are making statements of what they will do or what they believe in public the perception of honesty is, normally, a precious comodity, one that is (and should be) carefully guarded.
But, perhaps after a study of the Clinton Presidency and its scandal, our current President came to the realization that honesty fixed but not infinite value for the President. The President’s statements, coming from the so called, bully pulpit are not judged by the honesty of the speaker but for their ideological resonance. They are as often taken as symbolic statements first and foremost and their veracity if of secondary importance. And our President has acted with this understanding. His statements are uncorrelated with truth their value is entirely freighted as sign and symbol.
What makes this confusing, is when as now the President decides to act as mediator between the parties in Congress. This is where the game theory might return … What makes this negotiation difficult is that most of the actors are speaking directly, in normal terms of tradeoffs, compromise and give and take. Yet the mediator is not. Somewhat like the Star Trek NG episode where the aliens spoke in pure metaphor, the mediator isn’t speaking English by in sign and symbol. Apparently this particular public disfunction of Mr Obama’s has been with us for some time.
Posted in Current Events.
By Mark
– July 25, 2011
Conversation