---SPSmith
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Fermentedly Challenged: September 2011 Colorado Beer Festivals
http://www.fermentedlychallenged.com/2011/06/september-2011-colorado-beer-festivals.html
Telluride Town Park
Telluride, CO
Cost: Fri & Sat $65, Sun $55, 3-day pass $160
---SPSmith
Ayn Rand: the Tea Party’s Miscast Matriarch » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/27/ayn-rand-the-tea-partys-miscast-matriarch/
Ayn Rand was a writer of no value whatsoever, whether aesthetic or
intellectual. The Tea Party deserves her, but the rest of us do not.
It is not less than obscene that any educational institution that
relies even in part on public funds should ask students to consider
her work. We are threatened these days by vicious mindlessness and
this is one of its manifestations."
---SPSmith
JSTOR: The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 105, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 517-526
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1422907
The average child does not come from the average family.
---SPSmith
The Dark Side of Mitt Romney | Politics | Vanity Fair
The Dark Side of Mitt Romney | Politics | Vanity Fair: "So ended the story of a deal that Romney would not be likely to cite on the campaign trail: the highly leveraged purchase, financed with junk bonds from a firm that became infamous for its financial practices, of a department-store company that had subsequently gone into bankruptcy"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Atheism IS an Identity | Richard Carrier Blogs
When I see the science showing group identity and socialization as keys to health and happiness, the latter I knew, but it's the first of those that catches my eye: human happiness depends on a feeling of belonging, of social identity, of not being the "only" one who doesn't see the emperor's clothes
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Article: The waiting room principle « God plays dice
The waiting room principle « God plays dice
http://gottwurfelt.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/the-waiting-room-principle/
Another educational example is that by simply making all classes at an institution the same size, one can reduce the average class size experienced by students without actually having to hire more faculty. Say your institution has one class of thirty students and one of sixty. Then if you pick a student uniformly at random, one-third will say "there are thirty students in my class" and two-thirds will say "there are sixty students in my class", for an average of (1/3)(30)+(2/3)(60)=50. If you rebalance the classes to have forty-five students in each class, then the average class size experienced by students is 45. (The average class size experienced by students, by the way, is always greater than or equal to the average class size experienced by instructors, with equality if and only if all classes are the same size.)
---SPSmith
How Red Hat killed its core product—and became a billion-dollar business
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/how-red-hat-killed-its-core-productand-became-a-billion-dollar-business.ars
RHEL source code is freely available under the GPL (GNU General Public
License) for those who want to compile it themselves, but the actual
finished product costs money. Yes, there is CentOS, a free-to-download
clone of RHEL compiled from the source code by CentOS developers. But
Red Hat charges a premium for RHEL because it's (theoretically)
guaranteed to work—Red Hat and third-party software vendors make sure
that applications running on RHEL are not broken when the operating
system is updated.
RHEL source code is freely available under the GPL (GNU General Public
License) for those who want to compile it themselves, but the actual
finished product costs money. Yes, there is CentOS, a free-to-download
clone of RHEL compiled from the source code by CentOS developers. But
Red Hat charges a premium for RHEL because it's (theoretically)
guaranteed to work—Red Hat and third-party software vendors make sure
that applications running on RHEL are not broken when the operating
system is updated.
---SPSmith
n+1: On Barney Rosset
http://nplusonemag.com/on-barney-rosset?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nplusonemag_main+%28n%2B1+magazine%29
In fact a certain strain of stylish smut was always one of Grove's
specialties, the proverbial "books written to be read with one hand."
---SPSmith
n+1: Would He or Wouldn't He?
http://nplusonemag.com/Hitch-Obit
Hitchens never repudiated this view, though he appeared to have
forgotten that he'd once espoused it.
Hitchens never repudiated this view, though he appeared to have
forgotten that he'd once espoused it.
---SPSmith
Regarding Christopher | The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/blog/165222/regarding-christopher
passages of pointless linguistic pirouetting
passages of pointless linguistic pirouetting
---SPSmith
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Why we need college degrees more than we need faith - Guest Voices - The Washington Post
Santorum's own choice of faith over empirical knowledge provides perhaps the best example of why blindly accepting faith as virtue is misplaced. When decrying colleges as indoctrination mills, he also described how hard he had to resist the pressures in college to question his faith. In so doing, he also resisted the opportunity to learn about how the world actually works.
As a politician on our national stage, his professed ignorance about the natural world is almost unprecedented. His statements on issues ranging from evolution to the evidence for human induced global warming, and most recently about contraception and birth control only serve to demonstrate that a worldview based on closed-minded faith rather than empirical evidence can result in nonsense as a basis of public policy.
---SPSmithArticle: Why It's So Important to Keep Moving
Why It's So Important to Keep Moving
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/why-its-so-important-to-keep-moving/
And there were changes. During the three days of inactivity, volunteers' blood sugar levels spiked significantly after meals, with the peaks increasing by about 26 percent compared with when the volunteers were exercising and moving more. What's more, the peaks grew slightly with each successive day.
---SPSmith
Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books
The finding that global temperatures are rising over the last century-plus is one of the most robust findings of climate science and statistics.
Pubget: Sanders SA. Condom use errors and problems: a global view. Sex Health 9:81 (2012)
http://pubget.com/paper/22348636?title=Condom+use+errors+and+problems%3A+a+global+view.
The most common errors included not using condoms throughout sex, not
leaving space at the tip, not squeezing air from the tip, putting the
condom on upside down, not using water-based lubricants and incorrect
withdrawal. Frequent problems included breakage, slippage, leakage,
condom-associated erection problems, and difficulties with fit and
feel
---SPSmith
Monday, February 27, 2012
Upper class people more likely to cheat: study
High social class predicts increased unethical behavior," by Paul K. Piff, Daniel M. Stancato, Stéphane Côté, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, and Dacher Keltner, PNAS (2012).
---SPSmith
Daddy Issues - Magazine - The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/daddy-issues/8890/
But it gets worse. Like an unnaturally iridescent convalescent-home
maraschino cherry atop this Sisyphean slag heap of woe, what actually
appears to take the greatest toll on caregivers is the sheer emotional
burden of this (formless, thankless, seemingly endless) project. For
one thing, unresolved family dynamics will probably begin to play out:
"Every study I have seen on the subject of adult children as
caregivers finds the greatest source of stress, by far, to be not the
ailing parent but sibling disagreements,"
---SPSmith
HP’s PC Addiction | Monday Note
http://www.mondaynote.com/2012/02/26/hp%E2%80%99s-pc-addiction/
I still think HP's initial intuition was right, that the PC business,
as driven by Microsoft and Intel, will increasingly become a race to
the bottom — with the two Wintel allies sucking all the profits.
Instead of ''rooting for a fantastic Windows 8", HP should root around
for a buyer for its PC business.
I still think HP's initial intuition was right, that the PC business,
as driven by Microsoft and Intel, will increasingly become a race to
the bottom — with the two Wintel allies sucking all the profits.
Instead of ''rooting for a fantastic Windows 8", HP should root around
for a buyer for its PC business.
---SPSmith
Bible (King James)/Matthew - Wikisource
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
| American jihadist
If you believe that contraception is immoral and any sex except conjugal attempts to procreate is sinful, he's your guy. | ||||
Article: What is the oddest book title of the year (markets in everything)?
What is the oddest book title of the year (markets in everything)?
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/02/what-is-the-oddest-book-title-of-the-year-markets-in-everything.html
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: What the World Is Made Of
What the World Is Made Of
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2012/02/26/what-the-world-is-made-of/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Teller Reveals His Secrets | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian Magazine
7. If you are given a choice, you believe you have acted freely. This is one of the darkest of all psychological secrets. I'll explain it by incorporating it (and the other six secrets you've just learned) into a card trick worthy of the most annoying uncle.
THE EFFECT I cut a deck of cards a couple of times, and you glimpse flashes of several different cards. I turn the cards facedown and invite you to choose one, memorize it and return it. Now I ask you to name your card. You say (for example), "The queen of hearts." I take the deck in my mouth, bite down and groan and wiggle to suggest that your card is going down my throat, through my intestines, into my bloodstream and finally into my right foot. I lift that foot and invite you to pull off my shoe and look inside. You find the queen of hearts. You're amazed. If you happen to pick up the deck later, you'll find it's missing the queen of hearts.
THE SECRET(S) First, the preparation: I slip a queen of hearts in my right shoe, an ace of spades in my left and a three of clubs in my wallet. Then I manufacture an entire deck out of duplicates of those three cards. That takes 18 decks, which is costly and tedious (No. 2—More trouble than it's worth).
When I cut the cards, I let you glimpse a few different faces. You conclude the deck contains 52 different cards (No. 1—Pattern recognition). You think you've made a choice, just as when you choose between two candidates preselected by entrenched political parties (No. 7—Choice is not freedom).
---SPSmithEvolution: Termite evolution: which came first?, tiny critters, ancient lineage
The type of protists you're naming in the termite intestine are flagellates in the genera Trichonympha and Personympha. They belong to a very ancient lineage that evolved long before insects were even on the planet. However, these species themselves were not present before termites. In fact, termites and their flagellate mutualists *coevolved*.
---SPSmith
Article: Bring Me An Angel Detector! | The Sensuous Curmudgeon
Bring Me An Angel Detector! | The Sensuous Curmudgeon
http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/bring-me-an-angel-detector/
A scientist may even believe that a multitude of spirits inhabit this world, but being imperceptible, they are outside the scope of his professional work. For the same reason, no scientist can embark on a scientific exploration of the anatomy of angels' wings, because there are no observable or detectable data to be examined, measured, tested, etc. This is a consequence of methodological materialism — the process of science. It says nothing at all about the existence of spiritual matters, only their inability to be scientifically studied. Methodological materialism is an operational constraint of science, not a philosophical attack on theism
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Microsoft Word - GB2012Ch9 50p Income Tax Rate - Judith final.docx
these studies suggest that those with very high incomes are more responsive to changes in tax rates than those with less-high incomes, as we would expect.2
Evil god hypothesis
Perhaps there are grounds for supposing that the universe was created by an intelligent being. But, at this point in time, the suggestion that this being is omnipotent, omniscient, and maximally good seems to me hardly more reasonable than the suggestion that he is omnipotent, omniscient, and maximally evil.
---SPSmith
Lists of Note: Thelonious Monk's Advice
http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/02/thelonious-monks-advice.html
THEY TRIED TO GET ME TO HATE WHITE PEOPLE, BUT SOMEONE WOULD ALWAYS
COME ALONG & SPOIL IT.
THEY TRIED TO GET ME TO HATE WHITE PEOPLE, BUT SOMEONE WOULD ALWAYS
COME ALONG & SPOIL IT.
---SPSmith
Friday, February 24, 2012
Positive Atheism's Big List of Richard Dawkins Quotations
If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it.
-- Richard Dawkins (attributed: source unknown)
[Excerpt]
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.
-- Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (1995), quoted from Victor J Stenger, Has Science Found God? (2001)
200Quotations1.pdf
143. Science tells us what we can know but what we can know is little and if we forget how much we cannot know we become insensitive of many things of very great importance. Theology, on the other hand induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge where in fact we have ignorance and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the universe. Uncertainty in the presence of vivid hopes and fears is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales. Bertrand Russell
---SPSmith
Quotations on Philosophy and Religion
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
"I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan is a fiction. The Christian god may exist; so may the gods of Olympus, or of ancient Egypt, or of Babylon. But no one of these hypotheses is more probable than any other: they lie outside the region of even probable knowledge, and therefore there is no reason to consider any of them."
( Bertrand Russell; from The Quotable Bertrand Russell, New York: Prometheus Books, 1993, p. 138. )
---SPSmith
Grinder pump - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Homeowners are not usually limited by what they can or can not pour down their drains because their home has a grinder pump. Sanitary napkins, diapers, kitty litter, paint, oil (both motor oil and cooking oils), etc. should not be flushed or poured down any drain, whether the home is connected to a gravity sewer system, septic tank, grinder pump or cesspool
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Article: On Cox vs. Swans
My take on it is basically the same as Tom and Jim Kakalios in Sean's comments: unless the two particles you're talking about are within about a de Broglie wavelength of each other, Pauli exclusion doesn't really matte
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Poll Results | IGM Forum
Yale researcher Dan Kahan and his colleagues set out to study the relationship between political views, scientific knowledge or reasoning abilities, and opinions on contested scientific issues like global warming. In their study, more than 1,500 randomly selected Americans were asked about their political worldviews and their opinions about how dangerous global warming and nuclear power are. But that's not all: They were also asked standard questions to determine their degree of scientific literacy (e.g, "Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria—true or false?") as well as their numeracy or capacity for mathematical reasoning (e.g., "If Person A's chance of getting a disease is 1 in 100 in 10 years, and person B's risk is double that of A, what is B's risk?").
The result was stunning and alarming. The standard view that knowing more science, or being better at mathematical reasoning, ought to make you more accepting of mainstream climate science simply crashed and burned.
Instead, here was the result. If you were already part of a cultural group predisposed to distrust climate science—e.g., a political conservative or "hierarchical-individualist"—then more science knowledge and more skill in mathematical reasoning tended to make you even more dismissive. Precisely the opposite happened with the other group—"egalitarian-communitarians" or liberals—who tended to worry more as they knew more science and math. The result was that, overall, more scientific literacy and mathematical ability led to greater political polarization over climate change—which, of course, is precisely what we see in the polls.
---SPSmith
The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science -- and Reality | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
Yale researcher Dan Kahan and his colleagues set out to study the relationship between political views, scientific knowledge or reasoning abilities, and opinions on contested scientific issues like global warming. In their study, more than 1,500 randomly selected Americans were asked about their political worldviews and their opinions about how dangerous global warming and nuclear power are. But that's not all: They were also asked standard questions to determine their degree of scientific literacy (e.g, "Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria—true or false?") as well as their numeracy or capacity for mathematical reasoning (e.g., "If Person A's chance of getting a disease is 1 in 100 in 10 years, and person B's risk is double that of A, what is B's risk?").
The result was stunning and alarming. The standard view that knowing more science, or being better at mathematical reasoning, ought to make you more accepting of mainstream climate science simply crashed and burned.
Instead, here was the result. If you were already part of a cultural group predisposed to distrust climate science—e.g., a political conservative or "hierarchical-individualist"—then more science knowledge and more skill in mathematical reasoning tended to make you even more dismissive. Precisely the opposite happened with the other group—"egalitarian-communitarians" or liberals—who tended to worry more as they knew more science and math. The result was that, overall, more scientific literacy and mathematical ability led to greater political polarization over climate change—which, of course, is precisely what we see in the polls.
---SPSmithWednesday, February 22, 2012
The Heartland Science Denial Documents and the Future of the Planet : Greg Laden's Blog
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/02/the_heartland_science_denial_d.php
whether we should accept the preponderance of evidence showing the
reality of anthropogenic climate change or whether we should deny the
scientific realities and stick with the corporate line that business
as usual (burning off tens of millions of years of stored-up Carbon to
maintain our flash-in-the-pan lifestyles of consumption and
thoughtless greed) is the best thing for our planet and/or our
pocketbooks
whether we should accept the preponderance of evidence showing the
reality of anthropogenic climate change or whether we should deny the
scientific realities and stick with the corporate line that business
as usual (burning off tens of millions of years of stored-up Carbon to
maintain our flash-in-the-pan lifestyles of consumption and
thoughtless greed) is the best thing for our planet and/or our
pocketbooks
---SPSmith
Skepticblog » The “Smoking Guns” of climate denialism
The "effort will focus on providing curriculum that shows that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain – two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science."
Not much ambiguity there. Reading the context of the entire quote, it's still clear. There it is in black and white: climate denialism is about preventing teachers from teaching science and focusing on "teach the controversy" and promoting doubt and uncertainty—not doing good science which would show that global warming isn't real. You couldn't ask for a clearer example of the similarity of strategies of the ID creationists and the climate deniers.
---SPSmithDRUDGE: SANTORUM'S SATAN WARNING
The former senator from Pennsylvania warned in 2008 how politics and government are falling to Satan.
"This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country - the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?"
"He attacks all of us and he attacks all of our institutions."
Santorum made the provocative comments to students at Ave Maria University in Florida.
---SPSmith
Intel's (latest) mobile comeback - Fortune Tech
Pairing up with the world's fastest-growing operating system is a smart move for Otellini (who has been on Google's board since 2004). But there's little question Intel has a lot of catching up to do. "The perception is that they've overpromised and underdelivered," says Raj Seth, an analyst with Cowen Group.
Meanwhile the rest of the industry has moved ahead. Processors designed using ARM Holdings' technology now power 90% of smartphones. Qualcomm (QCOM) leads the pack with 51% market share (see chart below).
Otellini insists the MeeGo debacle put Intel behind schedule by just two months. And when it comes to chip-manufacturing technology, he contends that Intel is about three years ahead of the competition.
---SPSmithTuesday, February 21, 2012
Neuroscientists identify how the brain works to select what we (want to) see
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221212618.htm
The results demonstrated that the white matter connections are mapped
systematically, meaning that direct connections exist between
corresponding visual field locations in visual cortex and parietal
cortex.
The results demonstrated that the white matter connections are mapped
systematically, meaning that direct connections exist between
corresponding visual field locations in visual cortex and parietal
cortex.
---SPSmith
Expect more Christian dominionism talk from Santorum, warns Mike Papantonio. 'Religion is a good thing for good people, a bad thing for bad people.' | God Discussion
http://www.goddiscussion.com/92344/expect-more-christian-dominionism-talk-from-santorum-warns-mike-papantonio-religion-is-a-good-thing-for-good-people-a-bad-thing-for-bad-people/
Santorum really has become the Republican version of the American
Taliban," Papantonio said. He compared Santorum's version of
Christianity, which condemns President Obama's version of
Christianity, with the Sunni killings of Shiite Muslims who they
perceive to be reading the Koran wrong. "The fundamentalist oddballs
that Santorum is talking to with this brainless biblical babble are
the dominionists; they're fundamentalists.
Santorum really has become the Republican version of the American
Taliban," Papantonio said. He compared Santorum's version of
Christianity, which condemns President Obama's version of
Christianity, with the Sunni killings of Shiite Muslims who they
perceive to be reading the Koran wrong. "The fundamentalist oddballs
that Santorum is talking to with this brainless biblical babble are
the dominionists; they're fundamentalists.
---SPSmith
David Goodhart on Immigration and Multiculturalism | FiveBooks | The Browser
http://thebrowser.com/interviews/david-goodhart-on-immigration-and-multiculturalism
One of the models we don't want to follow is that of the United
States. The US has a relatively ungenerous welfare state, by our
standards anyway. That is partly because of a historic anti-state
sentiment but it is also because of racial segregation. Too many
people on benefits are African Americans or Hispanic. That's why a lot
of the US social security budget has been very unpopular. It is seen
as funding minorities.
---SPSmith
Santorum: Liberals ‘are the anti-science ones’ | The Raw Story
Santorum: Liberals ‘are the anti-science ones’ | The Raw Story: "“Freedom isn’t to do whatever you want to do, it’s to do what you ought to do,” "
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
The Real Defense Budget - Steve Clemons - Politics - The Atlantic
The Real Defense Budget - Steve Clemons - Politics - The Atlantic: "Some may quibble with what Wheeler includes in his roster of the nearly $1 trillion the US government is spending to help Americans feel safe -- but I find it a good guide to thinking around the corners of the defense and national security budget."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Article: Neil deGrasse Tyson: Take 2
Neil deGrasse Tyson: Take 2
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/neil-degrasse-tyson-take-2/
I aver that there's precious little evidence for the accommodationist claim that one can bring religious people to science by telling them that their religious beliefs are compatible with science.
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Monday, February 20, 2012
Fischer: America For Christians Only | Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Fischer: America For Christians Only | Dispatches from the Culture Wars: "the Christian Taliban is an entirely different thing from the Muslim Taliban. Oh sure, they both hate women, gays and apostates, but at least the xtians like the Jews, so long as they’re in Israel. They want them to have their own homeland so they can all get killed and then Christ will come back."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
FACT SHEET: Women’s Preventive Services and Religious Institutions | The White House
FACT SHEET: Women’s Preventive Services and Religious Institutions | The White House: " The policy also ensures that if a woman works for a religious employer with objections to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, the religious employer will not be required to provide, pay for or refer for contraception coverage, but her insurance company will be required to directly offer her contraceptive care free of charge"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Why it matters that our politicians are rich - Boston.com
Why it matters that our politicians are rich - Boston.com: " In fact, a number of new studies suggest that, in certain key ways, people with that much money are not like the rest of us at all. As a mounting body of research is showing, wealth can actually change how we think and behave—and not for the better. Rich people have a harder time connecting with others, showing less empathy to the extent of dehumanizing those who are different from them. They are less charitable and generous. They are less likely to help someone in trouble. And they are more likely to defend an unfair status quo. If you think you’d behave differently in their place, meanwhile, you’re probably wrong: These aren’t just inherited traits, but developed ones. Money, in other words, changes who you are."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Best of Rationality Quotes
Best of Rationality Quotes: "It is a vast, and pervasive, cognitive mistake to assume that people who agree with you (or disagree) do so on the same criteria that you care about."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Religion in politics: constitutional and moral perspectives - Michael J. Perry - Google Books
http://books.google.com/books/about/Religion_in_politics.html?id=zWSN7hywx3AC
In Religion in Politics, Michael Perry addresses a fundamental
question: what role may religious arguments play, if any, either in
public debate about what political choices to make or as a basis of
political choice? He is principally concerned with political choices
that ban or otherwise disfavor one or another sort of human conduct
based on the view that the conduct is immoral. He divides the
controversy into two debates: the constitutionally proper role of
religious arguments in politics, and a related, but distinct, debate
about the morally proper role.
Perry concludes that political choices about the morality of human
conduct should not be based on religion. The newest work by one of the
most important constitutional theorists writing today, Religion in
Politics is sure to spark a new debate on the subject.
---SPSmith
87% fewer violent deaths annually in Iraq now than under Saddam Hussein
87% fewer violent deaths annually in Iraq now than under Saddam Hussein: "That would average out at about 50,000 deaths a year in a population of 25 million before the Americans got involved. In the two years since the Americans have been fighting in Iraq, 13,650 Iraqis, have been killed, many of them by terrorist attacks by their own countrymen. Others were by military action. That averages out at 6, 825 deaths per year in a population of 25 million.
So, the mostly American liberation of Iraq dropped the rate of violent deaths from 50,000 a year under Saddam Hussein to 6,825 a year with the Americans in Baghdad. What Kennedy has labeled as American "savagery" has REDUCED deaths from violence in Iraq by 87%"
'via Blog this'
So, the mostly American liberation of Iraq dropped the rate of violent deaths from 50,000 a year under Saddam Hussein to 6,825 a year with the Americans in Baghdad. What Kennedy has labeled as American "savagery" has REDUCED deaths from violence in Iraq by 87%"
'via Blog this'
History's Greatest Replies: drmardy.com
History's Greatest Replies: drmardy.com:
'via Blog this'
One day a reporter yelled out, "What do you think of Western civilization?" It was a defining moment, and Gandhi's reply instantly transformed him from an object of curiosity into a celebrity. In his heavy Indian accent, he answered:
"I think it would be a good idea."
'via Blog this'
One day a reporter yelled out, "What do you think of Western civilization?" It was a defining moment, and Gandhi's reply instantly transformed him from an object of curiosity into a celebrity. In his heavy Indian accent, he answered:
"I think it would be a good idea."
Reason Being | A Secular Humanist site for Rational Discourse
Reason Being | A Secular Humanist site for Rational Discourse: "In a critique of his book, Santorum has been called the greatest mind of the 13th century."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
The claim that 98 percent of Catholic women use contraception: a media foul - The Washington Post
"Data shows that 98 percent of sexually experienced women of child-bearing age and who identify themselves as Catholic have used a method of contraception other than natural family planning at some point in their lives."
The Associated Press: Rick Santorum questions Obama's Christian values
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hsK6sF4jemO79MnqrWvqna_VmmeA?docId=712b938f7db44d4b9c3f73719df999b6
Obama's agenda is based on "some phony theology. Not a theology based
on the Bible. A different theology." He later suggested that the
president practices a different kind of Christianity.
---SPSmith
Article: Even more about secularism - Will Hutton and Richard Dawkins debate
Even more about secularism - Will Hutton and Richard Dawkins debate
http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2012/02/even-more-about-secularism-will-hutton.html
essentially the idea that the government should not make its decisions on a religious basis. It should not do things for specifically religious reasons and should not give such reasons when it justifies its policies and actions
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Resuscitating Civic Education | Hoover Institution
The kind of constitutional knowledge required to be good citizens might be summarized in four elemental points. First, a good civic education would supply an understanding of the reasons for a separation of powers and what this means for the presidency and the courts. Too often, the separation of powers is lumped in with the catch-all "checks and balances," which are assumed to be ever-good. But dividing powers remains controversial, and introduces limitations that parliamentary systems, with their fusion of the legislative and the executive, do not face.
Second, it is fundamental to understand federalism, or the vertical division of power between the national government, the states, and the localities. Only the principle of federalism can make sense of the unequal representation of the Senate, in which citizens of Wyoming are fifty times more powerful than citizens of California. One may or may not approve of this; but approval and disapproval require consulting the reasons and principles that informed the federal design from the start.
Third, it is crucial for citizens to know the difference between representative democracy and direct democracy. Representation is not simply a concession to the difficulty of gathering all the citizens together in a vast and populous country—a difficulty more easily surmounted today by communications technology. The positive case for representation points to the most fundamental pathologies of democracy, including the elemental tendency of individuals to vex and oppress each other rather than to cooperate for their common good. One might say that the entire point of constitutional democracy is to insert some kind of distance or deliberative space between the sovereign people and the laws.
The fourth fundamental part of a good constitutional understanding is the most commonly celebrated: individual rights. The nation's struggle with itself to extend rights equally to blacks, to women, and to citizens generally is what supports American's civic pride. The story of American inclusion cannot be too familiar, nor is it complete. At the same time, exactly what should count as a "right" is itself always a matter of controversy that no excellent civics education should ignore. (Is there a right to marry? A right to strike?)
---SPSmithArticle: AMD: what went wrong? | Analysis | Features | PC Pro
AMD: what went wrong? | Analysis | Features | PC Pro
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/372859/amd-what-went-wrong
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: Santorum’s Gospel of Inequality - NYTimes.com
Santorum's Gospel of Inequality - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/opinion/blow-santorum-exalts-inequality.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: A colleague wrongfully disses modern evolutionary theory
A colleague wrongfully disses modern evolutionary theory
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/a-colleague-wrongfully-disses-modern-evolutionary-theory/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: Abortion and Premarital Sex: On Keeping Your Legs Shut
Abortion and Premarital Sex: On Keeping Your Legs Shut
http://freethoughtblogs.com/lovejoyfeminism/2012/02/18/abortion-and-premarital-sex/
You may have already seen the appalling video of Foster Friess, Rick Santorum's billionaire, explaining that contraception really isn't that expensive – in his day, after all, women just kept their legs shut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOI7fokqkFc
Here is the pertinent transcript:
On this contraceptive thing, my gosh it's such inexpensive. You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly.
In other words, women, if you really don't want to get pregnant, just keep your legs shut. End of story. Easy, right? Problem solved!
In response to this video, Jen of Blag Hag wrote a wonderfully incensed post about the hypocrisy of being anti-abortion and anti-birth control:
If you truly were against abortion, you would be fighting desperately for comprehensive sex education and easy access to contraceptives – things that actually reduce abortions. . . . If you truly were concerned with women's health, you wouldn't use HPV statistics to scaremonger young girls about sex while simultaneously fighting against a vaccine.
---SPSmith
Friday, February 17, 2012
Spending the Lord’s Money in Wyoming: How Foster Friess Decides Who Gets What | Guest Writer | NewWest.Net
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/spending_the_lords_money_in_wyoming_how_foster_friess_decides_who_gets_what/C35/L34/
Both Friess and David Wills, president of the National Christian
Foundation, say the Friess's fund at the National Christian Foundation
is being spent down aggressively. Friess hasn't calculated exactly how
grants distributed from the fund at the National Christian Foundation
correspond to the valuation of the Friess Foundation.
---SPSmith
BW Online | July 6, 2001 | "We Saved Our Shareholders About $1 Billion"
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jul2001/nf2001076_202.htm
Foster Friess: insider trading
At the same time, 61-year-old Friess devotes a lot of energy to
staying close to corporate executives, often on the golf course. This
intelligence network paid off especially well over the past year as
Brandywine escaped the slaughter in tech stocks that has wasted so
many rival funds.
---SPSmith
Article: Primal Fear: Demuddling The Broken Moduli Bug « Dan Kaminsky's Blog
Primal Fear: Demuddling The Broken Moduli Bug « Dan Kaminsky's Blog
http://dankaminsky.com/2012/02/17/primalfear/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Where Rick Santorum Fits into the American Tradition - Conor Friedersdorf - Politics - The Atlantic
A criticism I made of Rick Santorum is generating a bit of dissent. It all started when the former Pennsylvania senator pledged that if elected president he'll speak out against the use of contraceptives. In his opinion, it isn't ever okay to use condoms or birth control pills because he regards procreative sex as the most "special" kind, whereas non-procreative sex is "simply pleasure." That's problematic in his view because sex "is special, and it needs to be seen as special." He concluded his remarks by saying that "most presidents don't talk about those things, and maybe people don't want us to talk about those things... but these are important public policy issues."
Here's a part of my retort:
Any politician who regards the adult use of contraceptives as a matter under his purview cannot lay claim to the limited government label, nor can he credibly invoke a tradition rooted in the pursuit of happiness.
10.1371_journal.pmed.0050201-L.pdf
The Winner's Curse
In auction theory, under certain conditions, the bidder who wins tends to have overpaid. Consider oil firms bidding for drilling rights; companies estimate the size of the reserves, and estimates differ across firms. The average of all the firms' estimates would usually approximate the true reserve size. Since the firm with the highest estimate bids the most, the auction winner systematically overestimates, sometimes so substantially as to lose money in net terms [1]. When bidders are cognizant of the statistical processes of estimates and bids, they correct for the winner's curse by shading their bids down. This is why experienced bidders sometimes avoid the curse, as opposed to inexperienced ones [
Women should just keep their legs shut, amirite? | Blag Hag
That's the real reason Republicans care about restricting access to birth control and abortions. It has nothing to do with religious beliefs or concerns about the lives of cute little babies. It's about punishing sluts.
How else can you reconcile the platforms of anti-choicers? If you truly were against abortion, you would be fighting desperately for comprehensive sex education and easy access to contraceptives – things that actually reduce abortions. If you truly thought abortion was murder, you would never make exceptions for cases of rape or incest. If you truly were concerned with women's health, you wouldn't use HPV statistics to scaremonger young girls about sex while simultaneously fighting against a vaccine. If you truly were pro-life, you'd want improved child care, education, and family leave instead of losing interest in someone once they pop out of the womb.
---SPSmithHow Britain’s cultural revolution transformed the world - MoneyWeek
For the ordinary person, life didn't change a jot from pre-history to around 1800.
It didn't matter whether you were born in bucolic 17th century England or a Stone Age cave. Your lot in life would be hardscrabble toil, a cramped dirt-floor home and a swift death at the age of around 30. It would be the same life as your grandparents and your grandchildren.
Why didn't 10,000 years of civilisation improve people's living conditions? Because wealth comes from work per person, and work per person comes from innovation. And the process of innovation back then was agonisingly slow. Hundreds and thousands of years separated breakthroughs like stone tools, agriculture, iron ploughs and sailing ships.
---SPSmithChronic by D.A. Powell : The Poetry Foundation
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241734
were lifted over the valley, its steepling dustdevils
the redwinged blackbirds convened
vibrant arc their swift, their dive against the filmy, the finite air
the profession of absence, of being absented, a lifting skyward
then gone
the moment of flight: another resignation from the sweep of earth
jackrabbit, swallowtail, harlequin duck: believe in this refuge
vivid tips of oleander
white and red perimeters where no perimeter should be
---SPSmith
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Article: Santorum Sugar Daddy Foster Friess Gives 'Gals' Contraception Advice: Put An Aspirin Between Your Knees | ThinkProgress
Santorum Sugar Daddy Foster Friess Gives 'Gals' Contraception Advice: Put An Aspirin Between Your Knees | ThinkProgress
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/16/427233/foster-friess-contraception/
---SPSmith
Letters of Note: I love my wife. My wife is dead.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/02/i-love-my-wife-my-wife-is-dead.html
My darling wife, I do adore you.
I love my wife. My wife is dead.
Rich.
PS Please excuse my not mailing this — but I don't know your new address.
---SPSmith
Does the GOP care about Latino voters? - The Washington Post
Some spoke about transportation. Others spoke about the budget. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spoke about the wonders of his state. "The lettuce in your salad this month almost certainly came from Arizona," McCain said. "It's also believed that the chimichanga has its origin in Arizona."
The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos.
---SPSmithWednesday, February 15, 2012
Do Conservatives Understand How the Female Body Works? The Myth Fueling the Right-Wing Freak-Out Over Birth Control | Gender | AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/154142/do_conservatives_understand_how_the_female_body_works_the_myth_fueling_the_right-wing_freak-out_over_birth_control/?page=entire
When those factors are accounted for, contraceptives aren't just free
– they save money. According to a study by the Washington Business
Group on Health and the employee benefits consulting firm William M.
Mercer, "it costs employers 15–17 percent more to not provide
contraceptive coverage in employee health plans than to provide such
coverage"
---SPSmith
Article: Rick Santorum Wants to Fight 'The Dangers Of Contraception'
Rick Santorum Wants to Fight 'The Dangers Of Contraception'
http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/14/rick-santorum-wants-to-fight-the-dangers-of-contraception/?google_editors_picks=true&xid=gonewsedit
One of the things I will talk about that no President has talked about before is I think the dangers of contraception in this country, the whole sexual libertine idea. Many in the Christian faith have said, "Well, that's okay. Contraception's okay."
It's not okay because it's a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They're supposed to be within marriage, they are supposed to be for purposes that are, yes, conjugal, but also [inaudible], but also procreative. That's the perfect way that a sexual union should happen. We take any part of that out, we diminish the act. And if you can take one part out that's not for purposes of procreation, that's not one of the reasons, then you diminish this very special bond between men and women, so why can't you take other parts of that out? And all of a sudden, it becomes deconstructed to the point where it's simply pleasure. And that's certainly a part of it—and it's an important part of it, don't get me wrong—but there's a lot of things we do for pleasure, and this is special, and it needs to be seen as special.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/14/rick-santorum-wants-to-fight-the-dangers-of-contraception/?google_editors_picks=true&xid=gonewsedit#ixzz1mTfbMSVA
---SPSmith
Santorum Is Severely Wrong - Reason Magazine
"This idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do," Santorum complained to NPR in 2006, "that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn't get involved in cultural issues ... that is not how traditional conservatives view the world."
Article: Noam Chomsky: The Decline of American Empire (Part 2) | | AlterNet
Noam Chomsky: The Decline of American Empire (Part 2) | | AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/154150/?page=3
Moreover, evangelical Christianity is a major popular force in the U.S. Further toward the extremes, End Times evangelical Christianity also has enormous popular outreach, invigorated by the establishment of Israel in 1948, revitalized even more by the conquest of the rest of Palestine in 1967 -- all signs that End Times and the Second Coming are approaching.
These forces have become particularly significant since the Reagan years, as the Republicans have abandoned the pretense of being a political party in the traditional sense, while devoting themselves in virtual lockstep uniformity to servicing a tiny percentage of the super-rich and the corporate sector. However, the small constituency that is primarily served by the reconstructed party cannot provide votes, so they have to turn elsewhere.
---SPSmith
Article: The meaning of HeartlandGate
The meaning of HeartlandGate
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/02/the_meaning_of_heartlandgate.php
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: Breaking news: A look behind the curtain of the Heartland Institute’s climate change spin | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
Breaking news: A look behind the curtain of the Heartland Institute's climate change spin | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/02/15/breaking-news-a-look-behind-the-curtain-of-the-heartland-institutes-climate-change-spin/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
@MyPetGloat, 2/14/12 9:01 PM
 Gloatessa (@MyPetGloat)2/14/12 9:01 PM Dogs Against Romney has 25,000 members, funny banners, 1.bp.blogspot.com/-PY_CrJ5Hx0w/T… and a "Super Pack" masslive.com/politics/index… Americans, I love you. |
---SPSmith
Teenagers in the United States: sexual ... [Vital Health Stat 23. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22256688
In 2006-2010, about 43% of never-married female teenagers (4.4
million), and about 42% of never-married male teenagers (4.5 million)
had had sexual intercourse at least once. These levels of sexual
experience have not changed significantly from 2002. Seventy-eight
percent of females and 85% of males used a method of contraception at
first sex according to 2006-2010 data, with the condom remaining the
most popular method. Teenagers' contraceptive use has changed little
since 2002, with a few exceptions: there was an increase among males
in the use of condomsalone and in the use of a condom combined with a
partner's hormonal contraceptive; and there was a significant increase
in the percentage of female teenagers who used hormonal methods other
than a birth-control pill, such as injectables and the contraceptive
patch, at first sex. Six percent of female teenagers used a nonpill
hormonal method at first sex.
In 2006-2010, about 43% of never-married female teenagers (4.4
million), and about 42% of never-married male teenagers (4.5 million)
had had sexual intercourse at least once. These levels of sexual
experience have not changed significantly from 2002. Seventy-eight
percent of females and 85% of males used a method of contraception at
first sex according to 2006-2010 data, with the condom remaining the
most popular method. Teenagers' contraceptive use has changed little
since 2002, with a few exceptions: there was an increase among males
in the use of condomsalone and in the use of a condom combined with a
partner's hormonal contraceptive; and there was a significant increase
in the percentage of female teenagers who used hormonal methods other
than a birth-control pill, such as injectables and the contraceptive
patch, at first sex. Six percent of female teenagers used a nonpill
hormonal method at first sex.
---SPSmith
Political Ruminations: Rick Santorum Quotes
"[I]nterestingly enough, here is what they are forcing them to do — in an insurance policy, they or [sic] forcing them to pay for something that costs just a few dollars. Is that what insurance is for? The foundational idea that we have the [sic] government tells you that you have to pay for everything as a business. Things that are not really things you need insurance for, and still forcing on something [sic] that is not a critical economic need, when you have an economic distress, where you would need insurance. But forcing them even more to do it for minor expenses."
- Rick Santorum, buffoonish leader of the GOP, says birth control is cheap. You don't need no damn insurance to pay for it! And this candidate for the presidency of the United States, says it with numerous grammatical errors in his delivery.
---SPSmith
Timothy Noah: The Mobility Myth | The New Republic
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/100516/inequality-mobility-economy-america-recession-divergence?page=0,1&passthru=NjY1NzJmOGJhMzZlNGYxZDJkOWE0YTVkYjU4NDZjNzg
Or possibly: I am the master of 40 to 50 percent of my fate. In 2001,
Bhashkar Mazumder, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago, recalculated income heritability matching census data to
Social Security data, which allowed him to compare parent-child
incomes over a greater number of years. He found that income
heritability was more like 50 to 60 percent. Mazumder later
recalculated Solon's PSID-based findings applying a more sophisticated
statistical model and found that income heritability was about 60
percent. Then, in a 2004 study, Mazumder approached the question from
a different angle, examining the correlation in incomes among
siblings, using longitudinal survey data collected by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. That put income heritability at about 50 percent.
"The sibling correlation in economic outcomes and human capital are
larger than the sibling correlation in a variety of other outcomes
including some measures of physical attributes," Mazumder wrote. Most
strikingly, he found that income among brothers actually correlated
more closely than height and weight. I am less the master of my fate
than I am of my body mass index.
---SPSmith
I Pencil: A product of the mixed economy (updated) — Crooked Timber
Read's first person pencil starts the story like this
My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon.That would probably be in a forest managed by the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, or maybe a similar state agency.
---SPSmith
Responses | 2011 Annual Question | Edge
http://edge.org/responses/what-scientific-concept-would-improve-everybodys-cognitive-toolkit
Most people tend to think of science in one of two ways. It is a body
of knowledge and understanding about the world: gravity,
photosynthesis and evolution. Or it is the technology that has emerged
from the fruits of that knowledge: vaccines, computers and cars.
Science is both of these things, yet as Carl Sagan so memorably
explained in The Demon-Haunted World, it is something else besides. It
is a way of thinking, the best approach yet devised (if still an
imperfect one) to discovering progressively better approximations of
how things really are.
Science is provisional, always open to revision in light of new
evidence. It is anti-authoritarian: anybody can contribute, and
anybody can be wrong. It seeks actively to test its propositions. And
it is comfortable with uncertainty. These qualities give the
scientific method unparalleled strength as a way of finding things
out. Its power, however, is too often confined to an intellectual
ghetto: those disciplines that have historically been considered
"scientific".
Science as a method has great things to contribute to all sorts of
pursuits beyond the laboratory. Yet it remains missing in action from
far too much of public life. Politicians and civil servants too seldom
appreciate how tools drawn from both the natural and social sciences
can be used to design more effective policies, and even to win votes.
In education and criminal justice, for example, interventions are
regularly undertaken without being subjected to proper evaluation.
Both fields can be perfectly amenable to one of science's most potent
techniques — the randomised controlled trial — yet these are seldom
required before new initiatives are put into place. Pilots are often
derisory in nature, failing even to collect useful evidence that could
be used to evaluate a policy's success.
---SPSmith
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