Bandwagon Smasher

Useless Factoid of the Day: Firsts for Phones

2010-11-30T18:41:00.000-06:00

According to author Ammon Shea:

The first American president to have a telephone on his desk was Herbert Hoover, who had one installed in 1929. The White House did have a telephone well before most of the country, as Rutherford B. Hayes had had one installed in the telegraph room of the executive mansion in 1878. It received little use at first, since so few other people had telephones at that time.

Software That [Who?] Composes Like the Masters

2010-11-16T15:00:00.000-06:00

Meet the computer software that knows what's great about music and can compose original works that sound like they were created by the masters:

[David] Cope emptied Santa Cruz’s libraries of books on artificial intelligence, sat in on classes and slowly learned to program. He built simple rules-based software to replicate his own taste, but it didn’t take long before he realized the task was too difficult. He turned to a more realistic challenge: writing chorales (four-part vocal hymns) in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach, a childhood favorite. After a year’s work, his program could compose chorales at the level of a C-student college sophomore. It was correctly following the rules, smoothly connecting chords, but it lacked vibrancy. As AI software, it was a minor triumph. As a method of producing creative music, it was awful. . .

So Cope developed his own types of musical phenomena to capture each composer’s tendencies — for instance, how often a series of notes shows up, or how a series may signal a change in key. He also classified chords, phrases and entire sections of a piece based on his own grammar of musical storytelling and tension and release: statement, preparation, extension, antecedent, consequent. The system is analogous to examining the way a piece of writing functions. For example, a word may be a noun in preparation for a verb, within a sentence meant to be a declarative statement, within a paragraph that’s a consequent near the conclusion of a piece.

Finally, Cope’s program could divine what made Bach sound like Bach and create music in that style. It broke rules just as Bach had broken them, and made the result sound musical. It was as if the software had somehow captured Bach’s spirit — and it performed just as well in producing new Mozart compositions and Shakespeare sonnets.

An Amazingly Civil Discussion on Climate Change

2010-11-12T13:58:00.000-06:00

It's Matt Ridley versus David MacKay. Both parties agreed on a number of scientific issues, including that the role of clouds in warming is not well understood. Ridley makes some good overall points on skepticism of scientific consensus, pointing to his own alarmism over acid rain in the past, and the difficulty of making quality decisions to affect a technologically different future. It's nice to see a debate where constructing straw men is avoided as much as possible.

Super-Subtle Animated GIFs from Movies

2010-11-10T11:49:00.002-06:00

More here. There are some especially great ones from Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski.

Obama vs. Obama

2010-11-10T10:40:00.005-06:00

Truly a battle royale:

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/ versus http://whatinthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/.

You decide which is more representative of what our Democratic majority in Congress has actually done.

Panic Watch: The End of the Era of Cheap Chocolate!

2010-11-10T10:19:00.001-06:00

According to The Independent:

The world could run out of affordable chocolate within 20 years as farmers abandon their crops in the global cocoa basket of West Africa, industry experts claim.

The reason for this unimaginable shortage – which has been presaged by the doubling of cocoa prices in six years to an all-time high over the past three decades – is simple.

Farmers in the countries that produce the bulk of cocoa bought by the multinationals who control the market have found the crop a bitter harvest. The minimal rewards they have historically received do not provide incentives for the time-consuming work of replanting as their trees die off – a task that usually means moving to a new area of canopied forest and waiting three to five years for a new crop to mature.

I have a hunch that if sustainable forests for paper and lumber are possible, the same can be done for cocoa. But it's nice that those West African farmers have so many other profitable options that they can just abandon their crops!

If Industry Causes Cancer and Rain Causes Democracy, I Guess a Weather Machine is a Double-Edged Sword (#cancer #space #democracy)

2010-10-23T12:00:00.029-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Robin Hanson ponders the mystery of whether widespread cancer is really a result of the industrial age. Like a good skeptic, he doesn't trash the claim on its face, but rather explores all the available empirical data to evaluate the claim.
Looks like that habitable exoplanet scientists recently discovered may not exist at all. Too bad, because I was really enjoying all that "we'll probably see the colonization of space in our generation" chatter.
Is moderate rainfall the key to supporting democracy? According to economists Haber and Menaldo: "An instrumental variables approach demonstrates that while low levels of rainfall cause persistent autocracy and high levels of rainfall strongly favor it as well, moderate rainfall supports stable democracy. This econometric strategy also shows that rainfall works through the institutions of the modern territorial state borne from settled agriculture, institutions that are proxied for by low levels of contemporary tribalism."

Let's Keep Arming the Wrong People, OK? (#military #warhol #climate)

2010-10-22T12:00:00.017-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

We're sending $60 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia, supposedly to counterbalance Iran's strength in the region. Do they really think this is going to end well for us? It's like giving the Crips more guns because we're more afraid of the Bloods.
The U.K. scraps a $48 billion tidal energy project that would have supplied clean electricity to 5% of the population of the country (that would be about $16,000 per person, which seems reasonable, perhaps). This is a good example of how infighting among different kinds of environmentalists can shut down worthwhile projects -- it would have required a dam, which irked many conservationists who are more concerned about wildlife and nature than about climate change.
Coca Cola is the ultimate equalizer, according to the quotable Andy Warhol.

You and all Your Friends Could Probably Fit Inside Africa (#twitter #africa #seinfeld)

2010-10-20T13:00:00.004-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Africa is larger than you thought it was, or everything else is smaller than you thought it was. Either way, you were apparently mistaken. But seriously: you could fit India, China, the continental U.S., and most of Europe inside the borders of Africa, with room to spare for malaria-carrying insects, a few child militias and a bit of generalized misery.
Seinfeld teaches us something about economics. Maybe if our politicians do the opposite of what their instincts tell them (per George's epiphany), we can get this country's finances in order. Just keep watching those reruns, Barack.
Supposedly, Twitter activity can predict stock market behavior. If there is a lot of calm language out there in the Twitterverse instead of panicked language, it means that people who spend time on computers are calmer and less panicked. A solid hypothesis. By that I mean, "a-duh".

You Just Killed a Thousand Puppies by Avoiding the Farmer's Market! (#locavore #supremecourt #afghanistan)

2010-10-04T13:00:00.017-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Being a "locavore" and only eating things grown near you is probably not the most ethical practice.
Justice Breyer is not so sure that burning a Quran is protected speech under the First Amendment. His argument? It's more like yelling fire in a crowded theater than burning an American flag.
Afghan votes are [not surprisingly] on sale: sometimes for as little as $5. Why isn't Bill Gates buying? It seems like he could do more good owning the Afghan legislature than most charities.

Tomorrow's Shame is Today's Culturally Accepted Practice (#friedman #appiah #atheism)

2010-10-01T13:27:00.000-05:00

Assorted links for your persual:

1. What will the future condemn us for? Kwame Appiah speculates. In my unrealistic future utopia, they would condemn us for incarcerating people (and thereby subjecting them to brutal conditions) for making choices about what chemicals to consume.
2. It's (kinda-sorta) official: that atheist you despise knows more about your religion than you do.
3. David Friedman pontificates on what exactly makes someone a nut.

25% Less Rich, But Much Richer in Character (#crash #stuxnet #freespeech)

2010-09-27T13:00:00.008-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Want to explain why American investors have been so risk averse lately? How about this: during the Crash of '08, we lost over a quarter of our net worth (measured by U.S. home equity and stock market value)!
What is Stuxnet? Better question: why would anyone use Windows to run a nuclear facility?
A Muslim coalition for the protection of free speech, and the condemnation of threats of violence in reprisal for negative comments on Islam.

It's All About Comparative Advantage (#prison #eugenics #cars)

2010-09-20T13:00:00.029-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Oxymoron(ish) alert: The freest prison ever.
In defense of stupid people. In short, they allow you not to waste your talents.
SURPRISE: "Cash for Clunkers" was a lemon. Let the controversy begin.

Near Misses, Sad Pisses, and Handle Brisses (#health #accident #israel)

2010-09-17T13:00:00.038-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Get your torches and pitchforks! We need to put a stop to the murderous, dastardly [infamous!], um . . . Catheter Cartel?
Clutch moves! Just try not to cringe.
Israel is forced to purchase its twitter handle (@israel) from a porn site operator. But his claiming of the handle was totally legit (i.e., he wasn't a squatter) -- his name is Israel.

Keeping a Mummified Centenarian is the Best Form of Welfare (#carp #japan #volcano)

2010-09-16T13:00:00.035-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Introducing the People's Asian Carp Czar. I guess that means the Republicans are getting the fish vote.
Japan's population is famed for its longevity, but now the favorable statistics are in jeopardy, what with all the mummified centenarians collecting pensions.
Get your copy of Stranded, the magazine for and by victims of Iceland's Mount "Ash-hole" Eyjafjallajökull.

C'mon Guys, We All Benefit from an Asteroid-Free Workplace (#nasa #chicago #tattoo)

2010-09-15T13:00:00.037-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

A collective action problem exists with respect to asteroid detection and deflection. Do we have to do everything?
Daley's done in Chicago, and most expect his successor to be a local politician. But why bother electing someone from Chicago whose potential is questionable when you could just promote the best mayor of another city?
The wacky judges on the 9th Circuit have decided that the anchor on your bicep is now constitutionally-protected speech.

Own a Drone! (#espionnage #organic #travel)

2010-09-14T13:00:00.030-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

Yes, it's true: You can buy your own personal drone, controlled by iPad/Pod/Phone, so you can spy on (or bomb) your personal enemies on-the-go!
DID YOU KNOW that organic does not mean pesticide-free? [frownface] It never did [/frownface].
You have the right to remain silent at passport control, that is of course unless you're engaging in the CRIME OF ESCALATION!

The Brainy Boon of Nature's Survivalist (#fantasyfb, #disease, #shortfilms)

2010-09-13T13:00:00.007-05:00

Assorted links for your perusal:

A comprehensive "Who Should I Start?" tool for fantasy football that combines and accumulates sit/start information from all around the internets. Approximates a "consensus" view.
Scientists are currently digging through the brains of cockroaches to find the antibiotic molecules that will save us all from superbugs.
The full version of the excellent short film Logorama, an whimsical animated trip through branding.

Don't Let Apple Toy With Your Brain! (#apple)

2010-09-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

A great piece on all the terrible ways Apple is manipulating you.

Murder by Numbers: God vs. The Devil (#bible)

2010-09-09T22:18:00.002-05:00

Apparently, according to the Bible, God has killed approximately 2,270,355 more people than Satan.

Satan is such a pussy.

Economics, (good god, y'all!): What is it good for? (#economics)

2010-09-06T12:36:00.002-05:00

The brazen Psy-Fi Blog challenges the usefulness of economists:

Now, leaving aside the question of whether we want our professional economists to be entertaining, this opens up the question of whether untrained commentators can provide any useful insight into matters financial.

The answer, speaking as an economically untrained scribbler, is almost certainly no: the vast majority of financial blogging opinion on any matter of prediction is worthless and that which isn't is indistinguishable from the rest. Unfortunately this is a conclusion of limited usefulness, because most trained economists can't actually offer any useful predictions either and following Athreya's prescription would almost certain deny us any opportunity for useful advances in the world of macroeconomics.

A Magic Bullet Made of Thorium: The Next Big Thing? (#nuclearenergy)

2010-08-31T10:50:00.001-05:00

According to the Guardian:

There is no certain bet in nuclear physics but work by Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) on the use of thorium as a cheap, clean and safe alternative to uranium in reactors may be the magic bullet we have all been hoping for, though we have barely begun to crack the potential of solar power.

Dr Rubbia says a tonne of the silvery metal – named after the Norse god of thunder, who also gave us Thor’s day or Thursday - produces as much energy as 200 tonnes of uranium, or 3,500,000 tonnes of coal. A mere fistful would light London for a week.

Lomborg Kinda Sorta Reverses Himself (#climatechange #AGW #lomborg)

2010-08-31T10:37:00.000-05:00

Bjorn Lomborg has come out in favor of a carbon tax and additional spending to deal with climate change. Now everyone is all excited that a climate "skeptic" has made a u-turn.

But Lomborg wasn't really a skeptic on the science, he just believed that there were other environmental challenges that were more important, or at least more easily solved, that affect the lives of many more individuals than warming. I don't consider this a true reversal, as it sounds like his new book will at least consider different ways of handling the fallout from climate change, as opposed to the one way that most adherents of climate change orthodoxy espouse: a return to the pre-technological ages.

We Are All Libertarians Now [Ok, Probably Not You. But I am]

2010-08-30T16:21:00.000-05:00

In defending [distinguishing?] himself from being "the most famous liberaltarian", Reason's Nick Gillespie gives a wonderfully succinct definition of what it is to be a libertarian:

it's a belief that life is too precious to be wasted on something as stupid as politics, so let's shrink the areas in which that sort of consenus is necessary to the smallest sphere possible. And then let's let folks live their lives basically however they want as long as they're not infringing on other's people rights to do the same.

When viewed from this distilled soundbite of common sense, it's amazing libertarianism is so unpopular (from both sides) all across these United States (and pretty much everywhere else, too).

No, Hello Kitty was NOT created to reward the Devil (#hellokitty)

2010-08-30T12:18:00.001-05:00

The controversy has [finally!] been settled. Hello Kitty has nothing to do with the devil. The same, however, cannot be said for the Little Twin Stars.

LOL: "Conspicuous Conservation" Shoes Make it Look Like You Were Near an Oil Spill

2010-08-30T11:36:00.001-05:00

These shoes provide a great service. Not only do you know that the person wearing them wants to appear environmentally conscious, but you also know he or she is a narcissist.

David Friedman on Whether Obama is [even] a Christian

2010-08-30T11:20:00.003-05:00

Friedman wonders how you can really ever know, since being an atheist or agnostic is political suicide.

I totally agree. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people who voted for Obama believed that he was not actually a Christian (in the sense of believing the metaphysics of the religion, as opposed to merely being philosophically sympathetic to the teachings of Jesus), despite the fact that he attended church and practiced the customs of the religion.

Susan Jacoby on Ayaan Hirsi Ali on What's Wrong with Cultural Relativism (#ayaanhirsiali)

2010-08-26T11:57:00.000-05:00

Jacoby rightly questions, as Hitchens and Miller have, why their peers (or ex-peers) on the left think that cultures have a presumption of equality and value.

Actually Useful Link: What Can the Health Care Reform Actually do for You? (#obamacare #healthcare)

2010-08-26T10:26:00.002-05:00

The NCPA lays it all out. Take a look, just in case you haven't read the bill, or if you've just been listening to the pundits.

Why is Facebook Worth Anything? (#facebook)

2010-08-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

Apparently, some people are pricing Facebook at $33 billion. Why? Have you ever clicked on an ad in Facebook? I haven't. Do you pay Facebook any money for their services? I haven't. Who is, and why would they? As far as I can tell, Facebook offers free web hosting and almost nothing else. They generate no content. All activity is user-generated. Can someone explain this mystery to me in the comments?

A Dog in Every Office Across America (#dogs)

2010-08-24T17:11:00.000-05:00

According to some research, just having a dog around makes people more cooperative:

To reach this conclusion, they carried out two experiments. In the first, they brought together 12 groups of four individuals and told each group to come up with a 15-second advertisement for a made-up product. Everyone was asked to contribute ideas for the ad, but ultimately the group had to decide on only one. . . . Some of the groups had a dog underfoot throughout, while the others had none. After the task, all the volunteers had to answer a questionnaire on how they felt about working with the other—human—members of the team. Mr Honts found that those who had had a dog to slobber and pounce on them ranked their team-mates more highly on measures of trust, team cohesion and intimacy than those who had not.

In the other experiment, which used 13 groups, the researchers explored how the presence of an animal altered players’ behaviour in a game known as the prisoner’s dilemma. In the version of this game played by the volunteers, all four members of each group had been “charged” with a crime. Individually, they could choose (without being able to talk to the others) either to snitch on their team-mates or to stand by them. Each individual’s decision affected the outcomes for the other three as well as for himself in a way that was explained in advance. The lightest putative sentence would be given to someone who chose to snitch while the other three did not; the heaviest penalty would be borne by a lone non-snitch. The second-best outcome came when all four decided not to snitch. . . . Having a dog around made volunteers 30% less likely to snitch than those who played without one.

A Man's Eye View on Eat Pray Love (#eatpraylove)

2010-08-24T12:06:00.000-05:00

Ladies: These are the top five reactions your man will have to Eat Pray Love-- if you can force him to watch Eat Pray Love.

1. Your man will find it hard to sympathize with Liz Gilbert (the memoir's author) during the first half-hour of the movie. How depressing it is to be an attractive, likable, witty, wealthy, successful person living in New York City! And her worst problem was that she had a slightly dopey dude for a husband, who loved her and wasn't emotionally or physically abusive (from what we can tell). Gahd, can it get any worse? Yes! You can date a handsome, spiritual, charming, young actor (James Franco). That will really drive you into the depths of depression.

2. Your man will be outraged that they decided to play "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" while Julia Roberts slurped up her first magical bites of spaghetti in Italy. She's orgasmically experiencing the essential Italian food, and the movie is accompanying it with an angry aria in German composed by an Austrian! Have you ever heard of Puccini or Verdi, Ryan Murphy? Have you? There are plenty of perfectly good Italian operas you could have chosen from. Jeez. [Ed. note: No man will actually notice this].

3. Your man will wonder how Liz Gilbert could travel all the way to India to study under a guru that lives in New York City. Gilbert's a writer! Doesn't she know how to do research? This is highly unbelievable.

4. Your man will be impressed by the stand-out performance of Richard Jenkins as "Richard from Texas", the blustery bowhard with a tragic past who prods Liz Gilbert with motivational drivel during her stay at the Indian ashram. Your man will also most likely recognize Jenkins primarily from Farrelly Bros. movies, but your man might have also seen Jenkins in his understated Oscar-nominated role in The Visitor (which is kind of like the American version of Dirty Pretty Things, i.e. an emotional tale of the hardships surrounding illegal immigration).

5. Your man will grudgingly accept that Javier Bardem is a sexy, rugged, manly man, but he'll harbor the secret joyful knowledge that Bardem is not exactly handsome. The man is all face. There's just too much of it. It's like he's some strange, handsome-ish mash up of Brad Garrett, a neanderthal, and Mask.

If the Chernobyl disaster occurred in Chicago . . . (#chicago #chernobyl)

2010-08-23T15:53:00.000-05:00

. . .the whole of the continental U.S. (save Maine) would have been covered with a radiation cloud.

On the Awesomeness of Trader Joe's (#traderjoes)

2010-08-23T15:38:00.002-05:00

Best. Grocery. Store. Ever. Period.

Of Gears and GIFs (#engineering)

2010-08-23T10:30:00.000-05:00

It's like an Epcot ride through the wonderful world of everyday mechanisms!

Links for Reel Nerds (#socialnetwork #scottpilgrim #xmen #blackswan)

2010-08-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

There's major positive buzz about David Fincher's The Social Network, but none of it is coming from Facebook execs, who reportedly have some problems with the story.
Paul Sheer (of The League) explains the correct way to watch Pirhana 3D, which supposedly may be the finest film of all time.
Matthew Vaughn is playing it old school with X-Men: First Class.
Francois Truffaut's last interview, in which he discusses his first feature film, The 400 Blows, a key moment in the launching of the French New Wave.
The trailer for Aronofsky's Black Swan. Looks amusingly trippy, but my guess is that there's nothing going on here but ballet and stress.
SCOTT PILGRIM MADNESS: Michael Cera and Jason Schwartzman try their hands at meteorology; Adult Swim's Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation; Lucas Lee's fake movie posters; Reel Nerds' Allen gives it a 1 UP!
Blood Simple gets remade in China.
Conan's first promo for his TBS show. And now for something completely different.
Please, I beg you, Hollywood. Please don't ruin Bugs Bunny, too!
My views on Avatar are finally vindicated by actual jungle folk!
A eulogy for M. Night's career.
Allen from Reel Nerds backtracks on an initial dislike of Basterds.
Chris from Reel Nerds on Gary Kurtz and the tug-of-war over Star Wars.
Chris from Reel Nerds on grumbling Greenberg.

The Sane Quarter (#occult #skepticism #paranormal #supernatural)

2010-08-21T01:53:00.000-05:00

According to a Gallup poll, 73% of Americans believe in at least one of the 10 following things:

ESP, haunted houses, ghosts, telepathy, clairvoyance, astrology, communication with the dead, witches, reincarnation, or channeling.

These really encompass two large categories of paranormal activity: life after death and superhuman ability (loosely inclusive of "witches", women who have superpowers that might include ESP, telepathy, and clairvoyance). The former is merely wishful thinking and the latter is a result of the correlation fallacy.

It's discouraging, but not especially worrisome. Personally, I think the very commonly held belief in Hell and the Devil are far more ridiculous than any of the above (except for maybe astrology). The good news is that 27% of Americans believe in none of them. I hope that's accurate. I would have put it closer to 10%.

The Hindenburg Omen: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? (#hindenburgomen)

2010-08-21T01:35:00.000-05:00

The Hindenburg Omen:

Signals that point to a stock plunge, including the Hindenburg Omen, named for a German zeppelin that caught fire and crashed more than seven decades ago, have increased investors’ negative sentiment toward equity markets, Levkovich, said today in a radio interview with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance. The Hindenburg Omen, occurring when an unusually high number of companies on the New York Stock Exchange reach 52-week highs and lows, only signals a slump in stocks one in four times, Levkovich said.

The Cliche of the Death of Things Being Greatly Exaggerated is Greatly Exaggerated.

2010-08-20T13:39:00.002-05:00

Discuss.

The most innovative #welfare scam ever: the #Anchorbaby Daddy / Robin Hood of Sperm

2010-08-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

According to El Mundo, a German guy is going to poor countries (Paraguay, in one instance) and fathering as many children as possible so that each child's mother can receive a 500 euros a month subsidy from the German government. The German treasury already has paid out over three million euros to various children under his (supposed) paternity.

Come on, people: Stop propping up #housing prices, already!

2010-08-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

As Kid Dynamite eloquently observes:

The reason that people can't afford to make real (that is: in the neighborhood of 20%) down payments is because, and I've said this many times before, home prices are too high - not because home prices need more stimulus/support/propping up.

And as Karl Denninger notes:

In point of fact the government should encourage prices to contract to affordable and stable levels, from which they should not vary materially on a forward basis. This then turns homes into a place to live, instead of a speculative asset class.

Bill Gross says that the "cost" of a private system could be 300 basis points over Treasuries. So what?

He says this makes housing "unaffordable." My retort is at what price?

Notice what's not being talked about here: actually deflating the bubble, and returning homes to a price where Americans can actually afford them."

The orthodoxy on housing is, along with drug policy, one of the more irrational policies that seems to have almost impenetrable inertia. Where is the common sense?

That #Inception Score can [Almost] Make Anything Seem Serious . . .

2010-08-10T18:19:00.003-05:00

Even Dumb and Dumber?

Wait, You Mean Birthright Citizenship Isn't the Standard? (#immigration)

2010-08-10T16:58:00.001-05:00

Will Wilkinson informs us otherwise:

Other than our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, the U.S. is the only OECD country with a pure jus soli citizenship rule.

The rest of the post explores possible alternatives to our system, including analysis of the Irish, Australian, and German systems. Of course, any change would require a Constitutional amendment, but if it were a reasonable change, and not vulnerable to a charge of xenophobia or racism, it might get the required votes.

Where Does the Laffer Curve actually bend? ( #laffercurve #economics #tax )

2010-08-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

See Ezra Klein's post here. Tax experts say the Laffer Curve bends at 60-69%. Lefties say 70% or higher, and Righties say anywhere from 19 to 63%. The major issue seems to be long-term versus short-term: a very high income tax rate might be optimal in terms of revenue, but not in terms of growth, so in the long-term, the optimal revenue-producing rate might end up not being so optimal.

Here Comes Everybody, or Does Nobody Understand? ( #jamesjoyce #finneganswake )

2010-08-07T12:38:00.000-05:00

Kottke (but not Kottke) just posted on famous last words. James Joyce's last words were (supposedly):

Does nobody understand?

Sounds kind of sad, but considering that he spend the last seventeen years of his life going blind and writing Finnegans Wake, which half of the people believe is the biggest literary practical joke in history (the other half believe it's a polyglot, unreadable work of dense modern art), it seems appropriate.

Bubble of Higher-Ed, like all bubbles, is built on public policy in favor of taking on large amounts of debt ( #college #bubbles )

2010-08-05T11:14:00.002-05:00

Crossing Wall St. on the bubble of higher education: "Much like the housing bubble, the Higher Ed bubble is being driven by cheap, government supported credit. The problem is compounded by the fact that hugely important financial decisions are placed on the backs of 19-year-olds, many of whom simply don't have the life experience to weigh the implications of a gigantic, 20-year debt load. Heck, at least the irresponsible mortgage borrowers during the crazy days were adults (even though many acted like infants)."

Kudos to the Fake Bus Stop AKA Alzheimer's patient magnet ( #alzheimers #dusseldorf )

2010-07-30T18:14:00.000-05:00

More here. When they wander off (often looking for their families) they eventually forget where they are or what they're looking for, and so they will often just sit at the nearest bus stop. Brilliant move by the Benrath Senior Center and the "Old Lions" care center in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Paging Diotallevi: LeBron the Hermetic Overlord? ( #LeBron #Bosh #wade #miamiheat #NBA #hermeticism )

2010-07-30T13:07:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's true: LeBron and his cohorts are ILLUMINATI!

Massachusetts Gets the Ball Rolling on Killing the Electoral College ( #electoralcollege #Massachusetts #presidentialelection #17thAmendment )

2010-07-28T09:50:00.001-05:00

According to boston.com: "Under the law . . . all 12 of the state's electoral votes would be awarded to the candidate who receives the most votes nationally. . . Once states accounting for a majority of the electoral votes (or 270 of 538) have enacted the laws, the candidate winning the most votes nationally would be assured a majority of Electoral College votes. That would hold true no matter how the other states vote and how their electoral votes are distributed."

Obviously, a Constitutional amendment could never happen, since it would require ratification by 3/4ths of the states -- and the Electoral College benefits the individual voters in the states with smaller populations (which constitute greater than 25% of all states). But this end-around seems Constitutional, at first glance, since states can set their own rules on how they allocate electors. Now if they could only repeal the 17th Amendment, our system of representative democracy might make a little sense.

Barcelona Bans the B.S. (Bull Skewering, not Bull Shit) ( #barcelona #catalunya #bullfighting #spain )

2010-07-28T09:26:00.000-05:00

Kudos to Catalunya for banning that second most Spanish of needless cruelties (after the Inquisition, of course), bullfighting. Ostensibly, it's about animal rights, but it could be construed as another step in the nationalist movement to secede from Spain. [Potential ralying cry: "Get rowdy with Gaudi!"]

Why hasn't the suicide rate dropped? ( #suicide #health #psychology )

2010-07-26T21:27:00.001-05:00

Brendan Koerner wonders. He thinks it might have something to do with "desperate economic circumstances and poor mental health." But if that's true, wouldn't the rate be going down, with the advent of supposedly remarkable pharmaceutical anti-depressants? My guess is that suicide is mostly driven by either social alienation or shame -- you have no friends, or you don't think you deserve them. If this is the case, different cultures, with differing attitudes and values associated with social interaction, should have different rates, and they do. Maybe suicide is a cultural constant -- perhaps along with income inequality and mating patterns.

Cow Clicker is a post-post-post-modern game of time destruction ( #cowclicker #postmodernism )

2010-07-26T19:26:00.000-05:00

Ian Bogost explains his twisted, Facebook-mocking challenge-less game:

Cow Clicker is a Facebook game about Facebook games. It's partly a satire, and partly a playable theory of today's social games, and partly an earnest example of that genre. You get a cow. You can click on it. In six hours, you can click it again. Clicking earns you clicks. You can buy custom "premium" cows through micropayments (the Cow Clicker currency is called "mooney"), and you can buy your way out of the time delay by spending it. You can publish feed stories about clicking your cow, and you can click friends' cow clicks in their feed stories. Cow Clicker is Facebook games distilled to their essence.

I had formulated some thoughts about why these games bothered me. Whether or not they were "really games" wasn't the issue; I have a long history of defending all sorts of edge cases against that accusation. Nor was it the platform on which they are played; games that use friend networks as infrastructure for asynchronous, social play has long seemed promising to me. . . Rather, I found myself troubled by the way in which these games were games, the manner by which they seemed to magnify the dangerous aspects of games, making those aspects the only ones visible.

Bogost goes on to name these aspects: ENFRAMING (friends as tools to achieve some end), COMPULSION, OPTIONALISM (active effort, as in chess, for example, is optional and gameplay is rote), and DESTROYED TIME.

This Week in Reel Nerd-ery ( #lisbethsalander #chugyeogja #pekar #crazy4cult #predators #cyrus )

2010-07-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

Chugyeogja ("The Chaser"): "as thrilling as a Bourne movie and as grisly as Saw movie, yet it still manages to find humanity, and it refuses to end with a pretty bow on top.";
R.I.P Harvey Pekar;
The Girl Who Played With Fire: "Continuing the adventures of Lisbeth Salander (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) . . . Fire has neither the immediacy nor the complex murder mystery of the first film";
Lesson learned from Knight and Day: ice cream weakens the legs;
Artsy Fartsy Assorted Links: Did Han really shoot first?
Predators: "if you're a fan of Agatha Christie books, the extreme Japanese thriller Battle Royale, the television shows Mantracker and Deadliest Warrior, and naturally the original film, then this flick has your number";
A summer movie run-down.

Gary Johnson : GOP :: Life Support : Dying Patient ( #garyjohnson #immigration )

2010-07-12T13:26:00.000-05:00

Ex-governor of New Mexico and possible future Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson injects some common sense into the immigration debate:

Johnson said there were more illegal immigrants in the U.S. back when he was governor. "When I was governor, I asked for a cost-benefits analysis. Are we paying out more than we're getting in, given the fact that (immigrants) do pay taxes — income tax, Social Security, Medicare. Immigrants who have used false documents to get work don't collect tax refunds, Johnson said. His administration determined that the state got more tax revenue from illegal immigrants than the state was paying out in benefits.

Smell that fresh air? More here.

LeBron James and the Unyielding Deluge of Pressure ( #lebron #NBA #miamiheat )

2010-07-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

The Heat now have three of the top five players from the 2003 Draft. This is bigger than Kobe with Shaq, Malone, and Payton or Garnett, Allen, and Pierce. They simply cannot lose without becoming a huge embarrassment. And mark my words: If LeBroshwade doesn't win a championship next year, LeBron will forever become a punchline. And even if they do win, he'll be remembered as a player who needed two superstars as crutches. He's lost a mantle of greatness by taking this low-hanging fruit instead of blazing his own trail.

And let's also not forget the slippery slope: Do we want the NBA to permanently become a league of haves and have nots, with three or four superstar magnets like the Harlem Globetrotters, each beneficiaries of collusive lopsided trades (Gasol for Kwame? Come on!) or big-time players taking smaller contracts so they can win? I think not.

The best thing for basketball would be for the Heat to lose, sad to say. Otherwise it might just be Lakers-Heat for the foreseeable future. Why bother even having a draft?

Save Paul, the Precogctopus! ( #paul #worldcup #germany #precogctopus )

2010-07-08T21:43:00.002-05:00

People don't realize it, but Octopi are super-smart. They can shapeshift, camouflage themselves,and even solve puzzles that would make a chimp toss its feces in frustration. Paul, the "Precogctopus", who resides in a German aquarium, correctly predicted that Spain would beat Germany in the World Cup semifinals. Now Germans want to kill and eat Paul! It's not Paul's fault that his mollusk brain is so advanced that it allows him to tell the future. Don't kill the messenger. You people are monsters!

No Offsides, Two Goalies ( #soccer #football #goalkeeper #offsides #worldcup )

2010-07-03T09:55:00.000-05:00

Obviously, they'll never change soccer (le foot, football) to make it fairer or easier to referee. So I propose that we create a new sport here. This sport will be just like soccer, only there will be no offsides calls, but as a trade off, there will be two goalkeepers. The goalies would both have all the privileges of a normal goalie, and could even use their hands outside the box, as long as they remained on their half of the field.

Blackwater: Different Name, Same Game ( #military #cia #blackwater )

2010-06-27T23:23:00.000-05:00

Blackwater never went away, it just changed its name to Xe Services. Oh, nice try! You thought you could trick us, you old so-and-sos. But that doesn't work . . . oh wait, yeah, it worked. Oh life, why do you have to imitate 24?

Waterless Urinal vs. Plumbers ( #unions #plumbing #protectionism )

2010-06-27T23:18:00.000-05:00

Safety concerns over the "waterless urinal" are being used by plumbers to protect their jobs. Or at least, you could read it that way. HT: Wired.

Hey, Human Genome, What Have You Done For Me Lately? ( #genome #genetics )

2010-06-27T19:15:00.000-05:00

Happy tenth birthday, genome. Nice to see you, but I guess you can't help me out too much, huh? Too bad. Next time, maybe.

Game Theory Foils a Balanced Budget Compromise? ( #deficit #austerity #taxes #gametheory )

2010-06-27T19:02:00.000-05:00

From Arnold Kling (paraphrasing Eugene Steuerle):

Democrats think that if they agree to spending cuts to reduce the deficit, then Republicans will take advantage of that by passing tax cuts. Meanwhile, Republicans think that if they agree to tax increases to reduce the deficit, then Democrats will take advantage of that by raising spending. The equilibrium strategy is for neither party to compromise on deficit reduction.

Yuan vs. Renminbi: What's What? ( #china #yuan #renminbi #currency )

2010-06-27T18:50:00.000-05:00

Both are Chinese currency, of course, but why two names? Renminbi means "The People's Currency" and is the official name for the currency, but the yuan is the unit of measure for the renminbi. So you would never say "three renmimbi," you'd say "three yuan." But if you were talking about the appreciation of the Chinese currency, you'd say the "appreciation of the renmibi." HT: BBC

Kudos to the Berlin Slide Experiment ( #berlin #vw )

2010-06-27T18:40:00.000-05:00

Which one would you pick: a giant red slide in a subway station or an escalator?

No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk . . . OR IS THERE?

2010-06-26T15:32:00.002-05:00

According to the EPA, yes! http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1224670387/Outcry-from-farmers-over-spilled-milk-rule

Smart People Think They're More Left Wing Than They Really Are

2010-06-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

. . . according to this study: http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/lecleecon/09_2f23.htm. I haven't read the study, so I can't really approve of the results [most studies are, in my opinion, bunk]. But anecdotally speaking, based on my experiences, I think the conclusion is likely to be true.

Watch an Air Cannon Knock Shit Over!

2010-06-19T16:29:00.003-05:00

Interesting Thoughts for Father's Day: Don't Fight Your Kids' Nature

2010-06-19T16:21:00.002-05:00

From Bryan Caplan:

Think about everything parents want for their children. The traits most parents hope for show family resemblance: If you're healthy, smart, happy, educated, rich, righteous or appreciative, the same tends to be true for your parents, siblings and children. Of course, it's difficult to tell nature from nurture. To disentangle the two, researchers known as behavioral geneticists have focused on two kinds of families: those with twins, and those that adopt. If identical twins show a stronger resemblance than fraternal twins, the reason is probably nature. If adoptees show any resemblance to the families that raised them, the reason is probably nurture.

Parents try to instill healthy habits that last a lifetime. But the two best behavioral genetic studies of life expectancy—one of 6,000 Danish twins born between 1870 and 1900, the other of 9,000 Swedish twins born between 1886 and 1925—found zero effect of upbringing. Twin studies of height, weight and even teeth reach similar conclusions. This doesn't mean that diet, exercise and tooth-brushing don't matter—just that parental pressure to eat right, exercise and brush your teeth after meals fails to win children's hearts and minds.

Parents also strive to turn their children into smart and happy adults, but behavioral geneticists find little or no evidence that their effort pays off. In research including hundreds of twins who were raised apart, identical twins turn out to be much more alike in intelligence and happiness than fraternal twins, but twins raised together are barely more alike than twins raised apart. In fact, pioneering research by University of Minnesota psychologist David Lykken found that twins raised apart were more alike in happiness than twins raised together. Maybe it's just a fluke, but it suggests that growing up together inspires people to differentiate themselves; if he's the happy one, I'll be the malcontent.

And:

The most meaningful fruit of parenting, however, is simply appreciation—the way your children perceive and remember you. When 1,400 older Swedish twins were asked to describe their parents, identical twins' answers were only slightly more similar than fraternal twins', and twins raised together gave much more similar answers than twins raised apart. If you create a loving and harmonious home for your children, they'll probably remember it for as long as they live.

And, in summary:

Many find behavioral genetics depressing, but it's great news for parents and potential parents. If you think that your kids' future rests in your hands, you'll probably make many painful "investments"—and feel guilty that you didn't do more. Once you realize that your kids' future largely rests in their own hands, you can give yourself a guilt-free break.

If you enjoy reading with your children, wonderful. But if you skip the nightly book, you're not stunting their intelligence, ruining their chances for college or dooming them to a dead-end job. The same goes for the other dilemmas that weigh on parents' consciences. Watching television, playing sports, eating vegetables, living in the right neighborhood: Your choices have little effect on your kids' development, so it's OK to relax. In fact, relaxing is better for the whole family. Riding your kids "for their own good" rarely pays off, and it may hurt how your children feel about you.

Kudos to Sam Brownback For Proposing a Gov't Agency in Charge of Repealing Useless Laws

2010-06-14T00:31:00.000-05:00

More here. And here. Good for him. If there's one thing I hate, it's redundancy. I really despise it when things are repeated unnecessarily.

Don't Call Me Stupid for "Not Getting" the iPad

2010-06-12T15:42:00.002-05:00

I'm sure there are productive uses for an iPad, but converting your restaurant's menu to an iPad format isn't one of them, as Foreign Policy blogger Brian Fung boldly declares.

At the very least, "westerners" shouldn't be chided for "being confused" or "not getting it." If your business plan involves spending $500 on a substitute for an almost costless alternative that works just as well (paper, ink), then you either don't need to make a profit, or you'll be out of business quickly. The iPad starts at $500. Simply put, this technology is for people who have too much money. There is no need for it. It will change nothing. Smaller and easier is the future, and honestly, the iPad ain't small and using a touchscreen ain't that easy.

Contemplating the End of the Mortgage Interest Deduction

2010-06-10T22:58:00.003-05:00

The Hill breaks down the possibility of ending the ever-popular mortgage interest deduction. Unfortunately, Obama's proposal doesn't go far enough (it would cut the deduction rate for itemized expenses for only those making more than $250,000 to the rate paid by the middle class). From the linked article, it sounds like it's being framed as an income inequality issue, which it's not.

Dismantling the mortgage interest deduction entirely, or pairing it with a deduction for any property expenses (rent), would be a first step in taking down the system that created the housing bubble -- a system characterized by the mortgage interest deduction, the endless appetite for mortgages by Fannie and Freddie, and the widespread belief that property just automatically increases in price over time.

Carr: Non-Traditional Alignment on the Supreme Court

2010-06-01T12:51:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that legal and policy issues sometimes (perhaps, oftentimes) transcend the odd and arbitrary boundaries of the American party system. For example, the division on the Supreme Court case of Carr v. U.S. [pdf]*:

Majority: Sotomayor, joined by Roberts, Stevens, Kennedy, and Breyer

Partial Concurrence: Scalia

Dissent: Alito, joined by Thomas and Ginsburg

*FYI, the case concerned SORNA (Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act).

Giving Up on the Oil Spill is a Choice

2010-06-01T12:40:00.001-05:00

According to MSNBC.com:

The public anger and frustration over the spill poses a major domestic challenge for Obama, who has been forced to admit publicly that the U.S. government and military do not have the technology to plug the leaking well and must leave this to BP and its private industry partners.

Say what now? "Do not have the technology"? This is patently incorrect: the technology is available to the government. They should just admit that they prefer a continued spill and ensuing environmental disaster to the uncertainty surrounding a targeted nuclear blast on the ocean floor.

Obamafail? Didn't Consider Nuclear Option on the Gulf Oil Spill

2010-05-30T15:40:00.001-05:00

Robin Hanson on the possibility that a nuclear explosion on the oil leak site might have been overlooked despite serious evidence that, all things considered (even environmentally), it might have been the best option.

Extra Credit: Michigan State Legislator Justin Amash Posts All His Votes on Facebook

2010-05-29T19:01:00.000-05:00

Finally, someone is using Facebook for something useful: to enhance our sense of civil society through transparency and disclosure. See more here and here. HT to Reason.com.

Thought of the Day: Discrimination Against the Unpretty

2010-05-24T10:34:00.000-05:00

From Robin Hanson (and his quoted material from other sources):

'Unattractive people are less likely to be hired and promoted, and they earn lower salaries, even in fields in which looks have no obvious relationship to professional duties. . . For lawyers, such prejudice can translate to a pay cut of as much as 12 percent. When researchers ask people to evaluate written essays, the same material receives lower ratings for ideas, style and creativity when an accompanying photograph shows a less attractive author. Good-looking professors get better course evaluations from students; teachers in turn rate good-looking students as more intelligent. . . . In studies that simulate legal proceedings, unattractive plaintiffs receive lower damage awards. [Researchers] gave students case studies involving real criminal defendants and asked them to come to a verdict and a punishment for each. The students gave unattractive defendants prison sentences that were, on average, 22 months longer than those they gave to attractive defendants.'

. . . I despair of finding a way to see our general pattern of which discriminations we allow as an application of some general moral principle. Instead it seems more likely that recent cultural elites preferred to discourage the types of discrimination that favored their cultural competitors, while retaining the types that favored them or their allies. For example, since today’s cultural elites tend to be pretty, they have little interest in preventing discrimination against the ugly.

(Emphasis added by me).

LOST: A Report Card on the Finale

2010-05-24T00:19:00.002-05:00

First off, let me just say the finale was very touching and very entertaining. They replayed old motifs with the castaways' "flashes of memory", redeemed characters, and made use of familiar imagery for new action. I have no thematic or aesthetic complaints. It was all beautifully done, even ending with Jack's eye closing, Vincent cuddling next to him, Hugo giving Ben the attention he needed so badly, and Juliet and Sawyer having their moment.

However, they chose not to answer any questions. At all. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Let me explain:

While I have been what some might call an "answer zealot" for some time now, what I really am is a "context zealot." I didn't necessarily want to know how everything worked, but I did want to know if there was a framework in which time travel, Widmore, Eloise, Dharma, and Smokey all fit. There was not. Given that, I am actually glad that they chose not to even try to answer any questions. If they had, they would have been bad answers. What we learned from the finale is that every device used, every reference and allusion, and every strange occurrence was a red herring, meant only to keep us interested while the writers were getting us attached to the great characters they created. That being the case, I can't fault them for then choosing to ignore these mysteries in the final, and instead revisit every major character from the series (minus Eko) and letting them have some satisfaction . . .

. . . even if it came at the hand of Purgatory. Yes, folks, that's what sideways-land was all along. Purgatory. We weren't watching an alternate reality created by The Incident. We weren't watching the end result of Smokey doing anything. Just purgatory. That's fine, whatever.

Unfortunately, what that also means is that the writers chose an explanation to the sideways world that still doesn't make much sense. After all:

If it was purgatory all along, why did they feel the need to show us a sunken island in the season premiere? It had no significance.
How is it exactly that Desmond's being exposed to electromagnetism by Widmore allowed Desmond to enter purgatory temporarily before his death?

But that's not all. The show's island resolution was just not internally consistent. For example:

What was Widmore's purpose in bringing Desmond? As it turns out, his unplugging of the source does exactly what Smokey wants. Did Widmore bring him so that Desmond could replug it if Smokey managed to unplug it? It doesn't seem likely, since the show suggested that Smokey couldn't do it himself, since he probably would have done it before.
Shouldn't Jack's soul have been ripped from his body after being exposed to the Light Source, like what happened to the Man in Black in "Across the Sea"? Like MIB, he was just a man, having tranferred his Jacob-powers to Hurley before rappelling down into the cave. Shouldn't he have emerged a smoke monster himself, the fate "worse than death" that Jacob's mother describes? I mean, if you're going to attribute the origin of Smokey to magic, ought not that magic be consistently applied?

Incidentally, the only question that I would have really liked to have answered is what the Man in Black's long con actually accomplished.  Couldn't he have gotten Ben to kill Jacob in a less circuitous way? Certainly one without having anyone turn the donkey wheel (twice), going back in time, or coming back to the island. Also, why did Jacob let himself get killed so easily by Ben if it was so vital for someone to protect the island? We saw him kick the shit out of Richard, so we know he could fight. Also, who was protecting the island when Jacob was off-island molesting people and reading Flannery O'Connor novels? Also, what prevented Ben from killing Widmore when he snuck into Widmore's bedroom to tell him that he was going to kill Penelope? And who was Tall Ghost Walt (the one that prevented Locke from killing himself, getting him to kill Naomi and almost prevent the Freighter from getting to the island), since I thought Smokey could only take the form of the dead? And yeah, how did Smokey appear as Christian to Michael on the Freighter, which was outside the realm of the island (beyond the special bearing, and across the water)? Oh, and why exactly did the Ajira flight propel the Losties to 1977, except for Sun, and why not Sun (yeah, she wasn't a candidate, probably because she was a mom, which disqualified Kate, but Kate went back, and what would being a candidate have to do with going back in time anyway?)? Oh, and what about that magic box that saved Juliet's sister from cancer and made Anthony Cooper appear out of nowhere? And Eloise preventing Desmond from marrying Penelope after he turns the failsafe key? And how did Dharma know how to keep Smokey out with those pylons (and why would it work)? And what exactly made Sayid come back from the dead? And all those island fertility problems, er . . .

If they could only have answered that one question.

But hey, the show was a great ride.  The answers it did provide during the course of the first five seasons were good ones. Desmond was in the hatch. Desmond's not pushing the button caused the Oceanic 815 crash. Dharma found the island using Foucault's pendulum. The runway the Others were building in Season Three was for the Ajira flight. The castaways caused The Incident. Eloise and Widmore were Others. The Black Rock destroyed the Statue. All decent answers that will be remembered fondly before the sea change of Season Six.

However, I have but one last question for the producers:  If you knew it was going to end like this, then why limit the show to six seasons? I mean, honestly, you could have given us a purgatory sideways flash at any time, and the action of Season Six didn't really directly lead us to the final moments (all you really needed was Ben, a couple candidates, and Desmond on the island, in any capacity). A couple more seasons to explore New Otherton and Dharmaville would have been fun. Perhaps even in an unforced, non-didactic mystery-resolving way. Too bad.

Americans on Libertarianism: Pew Says We're Split Down the Middle

2010-05-20T12:43:00.001-05:00

According to a Pew Research Center poll:

38 percent of Americans view "libertarian" favorably to 37 who view it unfavorably. Democrats (39-37) and independents (44-32) view the term most favorably, while Republicans view it negatively by a 13-point (31-44) margin.

I guess that means that another 25% are indifferent to libertarianism. Perhaps they weren't given a definition of the term in the poll question. Also, Id like to meet one of these libertarian-liking Dems. Haven't seen one in a long, long time.

HT to David Weigel

David Friedman Thinks that Municipalities "Boycotting" Arizona Might Just Be Unconstitutional

2010-05-20T12:27:00.000-05:00

An interesting thought. The grounds? Any of the following:

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

Scientists Show Nonpartisan Side on the Gulf Oil Disaster

2010-05-20T11:26:00.000-05:00

According to the New York Times, prominent oceanographers are accusing the Obama administration of "failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill’s true scope." Let's give them credit for not whitewashing the government's response because of their political affinities.

I Kicked Smokey's Ass and All I Got Was an Awesome Vacation in Great Britain

2010-05-18T11:05:00.001-05:00

I just barely evaded "Smokey" twice in the past two weeks -- once to get to London and once to get out of London, yesterday. Heathrow was closed between 1am and 7am, and I was supposed to leave at 10am. That pissant ash cloud could only delay me by a mere hour and fifteen minutes. Eejit!

Anyway, here are some quick hits on the Brits:
- The Brits are unrepentant jaywalkers, and I both love them (for not obeying dumb rules) and hate them for it (almost got killed several times for being a blind follower).
- The food was great. The fried haddock and steak ale pie at World's End in Edinburgh was top notch. Don't listen to the naysayers.
- It wasn't that expensive. Transportation costs were high (get the Oyster card in London!), but you can find reasonable lodging (Travelodge) and food (pubs) if you try.
- I love traveling during elections. Saw Sarkozy get elected in Japan, Merkel get elected while in Paris, and Obama get elected while in Barcelona. This time I got to be there during the election and aftermath of a hung parliament (not as sexy as it sounds) and then watched as the the Tories and the Lib Dems eked out a coalition. Exciting stuff.
- According to British folk, I have a very strange accent. They couldn't really understand me all the time, even though I had no problem hearing most of them, most of the time. It's good to learn about how others perceive you. Now I will fashion myself a King's English the quality of which Chicago has never seen.

These Congressmen Really Need Your Money

2010-04-27T23:58:00.001-05:00

The following hubristic sumbitches in Congress voted against a pay freeze for themselves:

Rep. James Clyburn [D, SC-6], Rep. John Conyers [D, MI-14], Rep. Donna Edwards [D, MD-4], Rep. Keith Ellison [D, MN-5], Rep. Sheila Jackson -Lee [D, TX-18], Rep. Eddie Johnson [D, TX-30], Rep. Carolyn Kilp atrick [D, MI-13], Rep. Barbara Lee [D, CA-9], Rep. Gregory Meeks [D, NY-6], Rep. James Moran [D, VA-8], Rep. Donald Payne [D, NJ-10], Rep. Bennie Thompson [D, MS-2], Rep. Edolphus Towns [D, NY-10], Rep. Melvin Watt [D, NC-12], Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D, CA-6]

These [sarcasm] dedicated public servants [/sarcasm] desperately need your cash! They must, to have spent so much political capital on a piddly $1500 cost of living raise in the midst (or at the end, depending on who you talk to) of a pretty severe recession (or jobless recovery). Great Job!

Link of Note: Russ Roberts on the Goldman Case

2010-04-27T17:16:00.000-05:00

A great read on the Paulson scheme from Cafe Hayek:

John Paulson expected housing prices to go down. The ABACUS vehicle at the heart of the transaction allowed him to profit when they did go down. Who was on the other side of the transaction? Who lost the $900 million that Paulson collected?

Goldman had trouble selling the long side of the deal. Paulson was able to bet about a billion dollars that the housing market would go down by buying insurance against parts of ABACUS, insurance Paulson would collect if the housing market and therefore the underlying mortgages and therefore the underlying bonds of ABACUS plummeted, which they ultimately did.

Goldman told buyers of the package that ACA Management had chosen those underlying bonds. ACA Capital, another part of ACA, offered the insurance against losses. But ACA was only A-rated. (And ultimately grossly undercapitalized to keep all their promises.) So Goldman (I think, or maybe it was ACA) paid ABN Amro, a Dutch bank, to stand behind ACA’s insurance. For that promise, ABN Amro received $7 million. Alas, when the housing market went south, they ended up having to pay $841 million to Goldman and then John Paulson.

Roberts concludes that, because of the government bailouts of foreign banks, the "ultimate guarantors of Paulson's play were the taxpayers of Germany and the UK."

Quote of Note: McWhorter on Tea Party Racism

2010-04-27T16:53:00.000-05:00

"[T]he idea that 'racism' is behind the Tea Partiers is based on a lazy and vain extension of the term 'racism' to meaning 'that which many black people would not approve of.' . . The position that the government does too much to help black people is not necessarily one based in inherent bias against people with black skin — it can be argued as a reasonable proposition based on the spotty record of social programs since the 1960s."

-John McWhorter, courtesy of Reason Magazine.

Apple Finally Does Something to Make the Public Turn Against It (I Hope!)

2010-04-27T00:49:00.002-05:00

Rise against Apple, arbiter of hipness and savvy, wily hypnotist of the masses! For it hath beginnith its totalitarian reign of terror by going after a tech blogger from Gizmodo. First they come for thy hard drives, then THY SOUL!

SNL's (Usually Invisible) Libertarian Side

2010-04-25T20:38:00.001-05:00

There must be at least one libertarian-ish writer on the Saturday Night Live staff, judging by last night's "Public Employee of the Year Awards" skit, which lambasted public employees' lifetime job security, guaranteed annual raises, and early retirement on generous pensions, among other privileges. I must admit it gave me butterflies to actually watch SNL joke about public employee union-negotiated contracts.

The Bailout Worked, If 'Worked' Means Achieving Higher Wages for Bank Employees

2010-04-22T14:27:00.000-05:00

USA Today is reporting that "[b]anks that received federal assistance during the financial crisis reduced lending more aggressively and gave bigger pay raises to employees than institutions that didn't get aid."

I'm not privy to the data of the full study, which was conducted jointly by American University and USA Today, but the results appear to support a possible conclusion that TARP money wasn't used for its intended purpose, and that if TARP indeed was a success, it was only psychological in nature (preventing further runs in the stock market).

The most damning piece of data, IMO, is that average pay at banks getting aid rose 9.4% in the program's first year, as opposed to non-TARP banks, which only increased salaries 1.8%. This makes a lot of sense, considering that public employees always seem to get raises while the private sector is having massive layoffs. Why should bailout beneficiaries be any different?

Kudos to Dean Kamen, Who Hasn't Given Up on Changing the World

2010-04-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

More on Kamen here. Fortunately, he hasn't been discouraged by the commercial failure of the Segway, and is still attempting to innovate in a variety of areas, including robotic prosthetics and water purification.

LOST Takeaways: The Last Recruit

2010-04-21T11:45:00.001-05:00

Check out my review of last night's LOST episode at Reel Nerds.

Kudos to MIT's Danielle Zurovcik: Inventor of a $3 Live-Saving Device

2010-04-20T16:36:00.000-05:00

More here. Hat tip to Fast Company.

Link(s) of Note: Who Watches the Watchm-- Kick-Ass?

2010-04-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

A brilliant unplanned point-counterpoint on the new film Kick-Ass (an ultra-violent comic-come-to-life about kids becoming superheroes) posted by my critic colleagues, Aaron and Allen, at our sister site, Reel Nerds.

Ed. - My take here.

Free Ride (on Amercian military power)! Take it Easy!

2010-04-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

Economist blogger M.S. (sorry, unfortunate initials) says, in an article about the growing influence of the Chinese and Russian states, that he doesn't "believe the phrase 'free-riding on American military power' describes any actual countries in the world in the year 2010."

MS need only imagine a world sans-U.S. and wonder whether other countries' military might might (hee hee) put any American allies at risk. Would MS really expect the major powers of the world to be so, er, peaceful, if not for the deterrence caused by American military presence -- and its willingness to get involved?

Now I won't counter MS's absolutism by spouting my own absolutism about military "free riding" in 2010. As a matter of historical fact, Europe and Japan have been able to devote less of their economies to defense because of their post-WWII alliances with the U.S. But today, who can be sure whether they're still free riding? It might be that the international economic interconnectedness that developed in the war's aftermath was more responsible for the reluctance of major powers to attack their neighbors than nuclear deterrence. There's just no way to experiment -- maybe China and Russia and the nations of the Middle East would just be pacifist buddies to Europe and Japan. It's possible. But I don't share MS's conviction.

I Am a Prolific Blogger, Starting Now

2010-04-18T22:10:00.002-05:00

According to New Scientist, Susan Jamison-Powell at Sheffield Hallam University found that (in the universe of LiveJournal.com) bloggers find blogs with more words "more attractive," regardless of the content or tone of the blog. New Scientist translated that into the lede: "WHEN it comes to making friends online it is the quantity, not quality, of your blog posts that counts."

That's not really a correct conclusion to draw from her data. She's talking about the number of words, not posts. Technically speaking, her study produced data supporting a possible conclusion that bloggers want to signal to observers that they find wordy blogs more attractive. No more, no less.

In protest of this lazy journalism, I am going to post the ten hundred-letter thunderwords that appear in James Joyce's polyglot practical joke/diary of insanity, Finnegans Wake:

bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk,Perkodhuskurunbarggruauyagokgorlayorgromgremmitghundhurthrumathunaradidillifaititillibumullunukkunun,klikkaklakkaklaskaklopatzklatschabattacreppycrottygraddaghsemmihsammihnouithappluddyappladdypkonpkot,Bladyughfoulmoecklenburgwhurawhorascortastrumpapornanennykocksapastippatappatupperstrippuckputtanach,Thingcrooklyexineverypasturesixdixlikencehimaroundhersthemaggerbykinkinkankanwithdownmindlookingated,Lukkedoerendunandurraskewdylooshoofermoyportertooryzooysphalnabortansporthaokansakroidverjkapakkapuk,Bothallchoractorschumminaroundgansumuminarumdrumstrumtruminahumptadumpwaultopoofoolooderamaunsturnup,Pappappapparrassannuaragheallachnatullaghmonganmacmacmacwhackfalltherdebblenonthedubblandaddydoodled,husstenhasstencaffincoffintussemtossemdamandamnacosaghcusaghhobixhatouxpeswchbechoscashlcarcarcaract,Ullhodturdenweirmudgaardgringnirurdrmolnirfenrirlukkilokkibaugimandodrrerinsurtkrinmgernrackinarockar.

Take that, Icelandic volcano. Jerk.

Link of Note: The Muzzle Awards

2010-04-14T16:05:00.000-05:00

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression releases its yearly "Jefferson Muzzles," which (dis)honor the most egregious examples of the suppression or attempted suppression of free speech.

Notable examples include Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), for "urging the U.S. Attorney General to seek a monetary fine and a 5 year prison sentence against a vocal critic for alleged violations of Federal Election law that, even if true, represent minor transgressions" and Chicago Alderman James A. Balcer for "claiming the authority to destroy a work of art based on his personal assessment of the work’s content."

Quote of Note: Haiti's Unemployment

2010-04-14T12:48:00.000-05:00

David Henderson at EconLog paraphrases (I think) a quote from Tyler Cowen:

[T]he unemployment rate in Haiti is always about zero percent. Whether people are formally counted as unemployed or not, they are out working to stay alive. . . The only unemployment you find in Haiti is in the graveyard.

The Government Can Accomplish Anything, as Long as You are Willing to Give Up Everything

2010-04-13T17:03:00.000-05:00

Tyler Cowen recently posted the following, under the title, "The Chinese late Qing dynasty approach to banking regulation":

Augmented by contracts permitting the enslavement of insiders’ wives and children, and their relative’s services as hostages, these governance mechanisms prevented insider fraud and propelled the banks to empire-wide dominance.

This is illustrative of my theory that the failure of many of our rules and regulations isn't a result of people not behaving rationally, as many argue, but is rather the result of our tolerance of freedom. In a completely repressive society, where government may impose disproportional punishments, rules will be followed.

People make implicit calculations: How likely is it I will be caught? Can I live with the potential punishment? In many cases, people make incorrect decisions not because they are not rational but because they don't understand complex systems or are uninformed about the consequences of their actions. Where people have perfect information, and the government may impose highly disproportionate punishments, people will respond by conforming to the rules.

As a libertarian, I would never advise instituting the draconian measure above. But I point to it as evidence for the zero sum game between regulation and freedom. Perfectly regulating society requires disproportionate responses by government. The tension over policies can almost always be framed as a determination of whether a policy goal is compelling enough to require a disproportionate government action.

Link of Note: John Cleese on the Benefits of Extremism

2010-04-12T16:51:00.001-05:00

A cheeky lecture on the benefits of becoming an extremist, by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese.

Link of Note: Dawkins is Calling Out the Pope

2010-04-12T14:23:00.001-05:00

Awesome, or super awesome? Famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, is investigating whether charges can be brought against the Pope over the Papacy's cover-up of child abuse.

LOST RANT: Why Christian Shephard May Not Be Smokey

2010-04-12T14:11:00.003-05:00

The conventional wisdom seems to be that apparitions of Christian Shephard (Jack's dead father) are actually Smokey, who we know can take the form of the dead (e.g., John Locke, Eko's brother Yemi), and that everything he instructs people to do (as Christian) is part of his long con to trick the castaways into doing things that help him with his endgame (ostensibly, leaving the island).

I don't buy this completely, for a couple reasons:

1. In the Lost mobisode, "So it Begins" (which is canon, despite the fact it did not appear on the show), The Christian Apparition appears to Vincent (the dog) and tells him to go wake up his son, because he has "work to do." Now, why would Smokey feel the need to lie to a dog, with no one else watching? I suppose one could argue that Smokey has all the memories of the dead he occupies, but I don't think that would necessarily lead to Smokey referring to Jack as his son. Later, he refers to "his son" again when he bids farewell to Locke in the frozen wheel chamber: "Say hello to my son!"

2. In Season Four's "Beginning of the End", Hurley happens upon Jacob's cabin and looks inside. He sees The Christian Apparition sitting in a rocking chair, and then is startled by an eye that looms in front of him. Assuming this wasn't a hallucination, there were two separate beings in the cabin, or one being that could appear as two separate beings. We've never seen Smokey pull a trick like this before. He's either black smoke or one person, never two people.

3. In Season Four's finale, The Christian Apparition appears to Michael on the freighter. In the episode, Michael has been attempting to keep the freighter bomb from detonating by spraying the circuitry with liquid nitrogen. The Christian Apparition appears to Michael, and tells him that he "can go now," and then the bomb explodes, apparently killing Michael. If Smokey can't leave the island (per Season Six revelations), then how does he manage to appear on the Freighter?

4. In Season Five's "This Place is Death", The Christian Apparition appears to John Locke in the frozen wheel chamber (after the castaways had been time-skipping for awhile) and gives him instructions to turn the wheel and find Eloise Hawking (ex-other, Widmore's ex-paramour, Daniel Faraday's mother, Desmond's "course corrections" officer). As we find out in "LaFleur", this is some time in the past when the giant statue is still intact. Since we know now that the statue was destroyed by the Black Rock, which arrived in 1867, Locke must have turned the wheel sometime before then. Yet, The Christian Apparition refers to events that are happening in present day - How Ben turned the wheel, his past conversations with Locke in the Cabin, that Eloise is in Los Angeles. Furthermore, he knows the exact time to appear to John to give him these instructions. If Christian is Smokey, then Smokey has to be either omniscient across all time, or an avid time traveler himself. The Smokey we have gotten to know so far in Season Six does not appear to be omniscient (his group gets ambushed by Widmore's team while he is away, for one), and has not revealed knowing anything about the future to anyone. In some ways, he seems confused by some events (the Widmore ambush and kidnapping of Jin; the little blond boy with blood on his hands, AKA Lil' Jacob).

5. When Smokey (as Locke) happens upon Jin and Scary Claire, Jin calls him Locke. Scary Claire says, "that's not John, silly, that's my friend." Later, she says she's had contact with her dad and her friend. Yes, she's crazy, but she knows Smokey can appear as Locke, so one would think she'd be able to put two-and-two together and realize that Smokey could also be masquerading as her dad. Especially if they never appeared in the same place at the same time, like Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. But she doesn't, and that suggests that maybe she's seen them together.

None of these, on their own, proves that Christian is not Smokey, but when taken together, they produce at least a presumption that Christian is not Smokey (or at least that Smokey has not been every apparition of Christian).

I still think Lost is going to be explained by events orchestrated by Eloise Hawking and Christian Shepherd. They are the two that seem to know the most about what's going on.

Ahmadinejad is Winning the Game of Nuclear Chicken

2010-04-09T14:09:00.000-05:00

Ahmadinejad taunts: "Iran's nuclear path is irreversible. The Iranian nation has reached a new point where no power can deter it from moving full speed ahead to reach peaceful nuclear energy."

He's right, because:

1. Sanctions will fail, either (a) because China and/or Russia refuse to sign on, (b) Iran's allies in South America continue to funnel money to them through dummy corporations, thereby circumventing the sanctions, or (c) sanctions will irritate the already distressed Iranian economy and create more resentment towards the international community and more support for Ahmadinejad.

2. Obama ran against Bush's unilateral preemptive strike policy, so it would be political suicide to strike Iran to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons. Even if he only chose limited strikes on nuclear research sites (Clinton-style), Iran would strike Israel (and maybe Iraq) in retaliation. Bringing Israel into this would create a full-force war, which would be unpalatable to the administration.

In summary, Ahmadinejad has Obama's number. No viable options exist, because there is no threat of viable action. This is a game of chicken where Obama will swerve at the last second. Unfortunately, we must learn to accept a nuclear Iran.

Dissonance, Anyone? Obama Orders Official Hit on American Citizen Abroad

2010-04-07T14:42:00.000-05:00

According to the New York Times, "[t]he Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday."

The article later goes on to say: "It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said. A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush said he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president." (Emphasis added).

I'm sure Mr. Alwlaki would rather be tortured, but that would be too inhumane.