http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2012/oct/04/dog-photographer-year-2012-in-pictures
---SPSmith
Monday, October 08, 2012
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Jack Welch: another moral midget
Jack Welsh, one of the heads of the klepto-class, who cooked his own financial books while at GE to give himself more money to fuck his whore mistress Suzy before divorcing his tired second wife....in other words a good conservative GOP family values imbecile like Newt Gingrich.., has the audacity to accuse, without an iota of evidence, the President of the United States of manipulating the current employment numbers. Experts agree this is impossible. Another good example of a conservative lying and/or demonstrating an inability to accept reality as it is instead of how the wish it were.
---SPSmith
Article: For Wingnuts, Reality is Always a Conspiracy
For Wingnuts, Reality is Always a Conspiracy
http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/10/07/for-wingnuts-reality-is-always-a-conspiracy/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
This is why Republicans are scary dangerous, and separation of church and state is so important – Greg Laden's Blog
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/10/07/this-is-why-republicans-are-scary-dangerous-and-separation-of-church-and-state-is-so-important/
Another good example why the conservative GOP is Anti-reality. Bat shit crazy.
---SPSmith
Another good example why the conservative GOP is Anti-reality. Bat shit crazy.
---SPSmith
Green jobs
Van Jones: Romney green jobs distortion
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/06/opinion/jones-romney-green-jobs/index.html
---SPSmith
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/06/opinion/jones-romney-green-jobs/index.html
---SPSmith
Saturday, October 06, 2012
You are not entitled to your opinion
theconversation.edu.au/no-youre-not-entitled-to-your-opinion-9978
Secondly, I say something like this: "I'm sure you've heard the expression 'everyone is entitled to their opinion.' Perhaps you've even said it yourself, maybe to head off an argument or bring one to a close. Well, as soon as you walk into this room, it's no longer true. You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to what you can argue for."
A bit harsh? Perhaps, but philosophy teachers owe it to our students to teach them how to construct and defend an argument – and to recognize when a belief has become indefensible.
The problem with "I'm entitled to my opinion" is that, all too often, it's used to shelter beliefs that should have been abandoned. It becomes shorthand for "I can say or think whatever I like" – and by extension, continuing to argue is somehow disrespectful. And this attitude feeds, I suggest, into the false equivalence between experts and non-experts that is an increasingly pernicious feature of our public discourse.
---SPSmith
Friday, October 05, 2012
Article: Eight Veteran Economics Reporters Dismiss "Implausible" Jobs Numbers Conspiracy
Eight Veteran Economics Reporters Dismiss "Implausible" Jobs Numbers Conspiracy
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/10/05/eight-veteran-economics-reporters-dismiss-impla/190401
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Article: Romney Has ‘No Idea’ About Outsourcing Tax Breaks, But His Economic Plan Makes Them Worse
Romney Has 'No Idea' About Outsourcing Tax Breaks, But His Economic Plan Makes Them Worse
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/10/05/968751/romney-outsourcing-tax-breaks/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Thursday, October 04, 2012
Article: 7 Best Jokes About Romney's Threat to Off Big Bird
7 Best Jokes About Romney's Threat to Off Big Bird
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/7-best-jokes-about-romneys-threat-big-bird
---SPSmith
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/7-best-jokes-about-romneys-threat-big-bird
---SPSmith
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Article: Jolla resuscitates MeeGo with 'Sailfish' OS, plans to show off new device this November
Jolla resuscitates MeeGo with 'Sailfish' OS, plans to show off new device this November
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/jolla-resuscitates-meego-with-sailfish-os-plans-to-show-off-n/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Article: The Cambridge Companion to Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame
The Cambridge Companion to Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame
http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/33890-the-cambridge-companion-to-nozick-s-anarchy-state-and-utopia/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Monday, October 01, 2012
Skepticblog » See What You Feel
http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/10/01/see-what-you-feel/
Human brains process information in a complex way, making assumptions
and adjustments that are useful most of the time, but introduce
multiple opportunities for misperceptions. This is partly why we need
objective evidence as a check on our perceptions
---SPSmith
Human brains process information in a complex way, making assumptions
and adjustments that are useful most of the time, but introduce
multiple opportunities for misperceptions. This is partly why we need
objective evidence as a check on our perceptions
---SPSmith
Article: Quoted: on Intel, Microsoft and the PC ecosystem
Quoted: on Intel, Microsoft and the PC ecosystem
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/merc-gmsv/~3/WRs6NsPz8Lg/
"The PC channel is in chaos right now. They don't know what to do. They don't know what to design for, they don't know what the consumers are going to buy. Tablets have stolen their growth trajectory, plus the macro situation, plus Wintel has made a mess of their ecosystem." — Alex...
---SPSmith
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Article: Feast of fools
Feast of fools
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/201292675035811825.html
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Article: Republicans Still Searching for Real Voter Fraud
Republicans Still Searching for Real Voter Fraud
http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/09/30/republicans-still-searching-for-real-voter-fraud/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Daily Kos: RollingStone Magazine Exposes Mitt Romney’s Real Agenda. Why Romney is Worse than Bush
RollingStone Magazine has published a great article online, by Tim Dickinson. In this article Dickinson explains why a Romney/Ryan Presidency would actually be worse than a Bush/Cheney Presidency. Those of us who lived through the Bush II era, know that it was perhaps the second worse era in the United States in our lifetime, after the Great Depression (although some may argue it was worse in many ways).
Article: Happy Blasphemy Day!
Happy Blasphemy Day!
http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/2012/09/30/happy-blasphemy-day/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Article: Opinion: Why Obamacare is a Conservative’s Dream
Opinion: Why Obamacare is a Conservative's Dream
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/why-obamacare-is-a-conservatives-dream.html
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Article: jacked-up banana bread | smitten kitchen
jacked-up banana bread | smitten kitchen
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/11/speckled-for-the-freckled/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Friday, September 28, 2012
Little Green Footballs - Video: Rachel Maddow on Romney's Incessant Lying
Rachel Maddow does an excellent job in this segment of laying out the facts about Mitt Romney's unprecedented use of deliberate dishonesty as a political tool — even after the dishonesty is exposed. There's nothing new about politicians lying, but I'd argue that there is something new about the way Romney's doing it; there's a deep, calculated cynicism evident in the way he incessantly lies long after the lies are debunked. He's aware that the Fox News-indoctrinated right wing base simply doesn't care whether he's telling the truth, as long as it feeds their anti-Obama rage addiction.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
this is exactly how not to argue a point | weird things
http://worldofweirdthings.com/2012/09/14/this-is-exactly-how-not-to-argue-a-point/
passages by pontificators who have the intellectual depth of the
shallow end of the kiddy pool
---SPSmith
passages by pontificators who have the intellectual depth of the
shallow end of the kiddy pool
---SPSmith
Terrorism US deaths
blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2012/09/27/tracking-u-s-citizens-deaths-by-terrorism
Download the official Twitter app here
Download the official Twitter app here
---SPSmith
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Skepticblog » Does Einstein threaten religion, too?
http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/09/26/does-einstein-threaten-religion-too/
He is a classic case of what has been called the "smart idiot,"
educated enough to sound convincing but not educated in the right
areas of expertise to realize he's wrong—and with strong ideological
denial filters, confirmation bias, and issues of cognitive dissonance
that cause him to perform some incredibly weird thought processes.
---SPSmith
He is a classic case of what has been called the "smart idiot,"
educated enough to sound convincing but not educated in the right
areas of expertise to realize he's wrong—and with strong ideological
denial filters, confirmation bias, and issues of cognitive dissonance
that cause him to perform some incredibly weird thought processes.
---SPSmith
Skepticblog » What is a “Fair Share” in Paying Taxes, Anyway?
http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/09/25/what-is-a-fair-share-in-paying-taxes/
Both marginal utility and the fact that the rich benefit more from the
system is why most countries have a progressive tax code, where the
effective tax percentage isn't just the same for everyone, but even
goes up with rising income.
---SPSmith
Both marginal utility and the fact that the rich benefit more from the
system is why most countries have a progressive tax code, where the
effective tax percentage isn't just the same for everyone, but even
goes up with rising income.
---SPSmith
Paul Ryan vs. The Stench - Roger Simon - POLITICO.com
A word about PowerPoint. PowerPoint was released by Microsoft in 1990 as a way to euthanize cattle using a method less cruel than hitting them over the head with iron mallets. After PETA successfully argued in court that PowerPoint actually was more cruel than iron mallets, the program was adopted by corporations for slide show presentations.
Continue ReadingConducting a PowerPoint presentation is a lot like smoking a cigar. Only the person doing it likes it. The people around him want to hit him with a chair.
PowerPoint is usually restricted to conference rooms where the doors are locked from the outside. It is, therefore, considered unsuited for large rallies, where people have a means of escape and where the purpose is to energize rather than daze.
Paul Ryan’s Promise To Make Life More Difficult For Women | Eclectablog
Paul Ryan’s Promise To Make Life More Difficult For Women | Eclectablog: "Several states have mandated that insurance include contraception for years. The reasons for this are obvious. Reproductive health care is basic health care for women. Not only does contraception save insurers and the public the costs of unwanted children, it’s necessary for many women to treat common health problems. Arguing against including contraception in insurance because it may violate an employer’s beliefs is like arguing insurance shouldn’t cover kids born out of wedlock"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Carl Sandburg Criticism - William Carlos Williams
http://www.enotes.com/carl-sandburg-criticism/sandburg-carl-vol-15/william-carlos-williams
Search as we will among them we must say at once that technically the
poems reveal no initiative whatever other than their formlessness;
there is no motivating spirit held in the front of the mind to control
them.
---SPSmith
Search as we will among them we must say at once that technically the
poems reveal no initiative whatever other than their formlessness;
there is no motivating spirit held in the front of the mind to control
them.
---SPSmith
Daily Kos: Mitt Romney wants airplane windows to roll down in case of fire so people can breathe more easily
Daily Kos: Mitt Romney wants airplane windows to roll down in case of fire so people can breathe more easily: "Yeah, great question Mitt. I mean, wouldn't it be awesome to be able to crack the window when you're at 35,000 feet? You know, get a taste of that 500+ mile per hour breeze?"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Spending tax
McCaffery: Why Romney pays little in taxes
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/24/opinion/mccaffery-romney-tax/index.html
---SPSmith
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/24/opinion/mccaffery-romney-tax/index.html
---SPSmith
Monday, September 24, 2012
Mitt Romney and the myth of self-created millionaires | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian
In 2010, the richest 1% in the US captured an astonishing 93% of that year's gain in incomes. In the same year, corporate chief executives made, on average, 243 times as much as the median worker (in 1965 the ratio was 10 times lower). Between 1970 and 2010, the Gini coefficient, which measures inequality, rose in the US from 0.35 to 0.44: an astounding leap.
As for social mobility, of the rich countries listed by the OECD, the three in which men's earnings are most likely to resemble their father's are, in this order, the UK, Italy and the US. If you are born poor or born rich in these nations, you are likely to stay that way. It is no coincidence that these three countries all promote themselves as lands of unparalleled opportunity.
---SPSmith
Coyne, evolution
---SPSmithReligion is a substitute for a real understanding of the universe; it's designed to console those who want a comforting Celestial Father who will keep them alive after they die. I accept evidence, and don't have enough faith to believe in fairy tales such as God.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Article: The ENCODE delusion
The ENCODE delusion
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/09/23/the-encode-delusion/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Friday, September 21, 2012
Article: Countering the Constitutional Crazies | ACS
Countering the Constitutional Crazies | ACS
http://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/countering-the-constitutional-crazies
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Article: Study Disproves GOP’s Only Economic Plan
Study Disproves GOP's Only Economic Plan
http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/09/20/study-disproves-gops-only-economic-plan/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Article: Take a Number — www.outsideonline.com — Readability
Take a Number — www.outsideonline.com — Readability
http://www.readability.com/mobile/articles/3g1ads5k?mobile-shortener-banner=1
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Song for the Republicans
Besides the GOPs new slogan, "We don't need the facts when we've got
the Super PACs",
Randy Newman gives them a new song:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40935_Randy_Newmans_New_Song-_Im_Dreaming_of_a_White_President
---SPSmith
the Super PACs",
Randy Newman gives them a new song:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40935_Randy_Newmans_New_Song-_Im_Dreaming_of_a_White_President
---SPSmith
On the Freedom to Offend an Imaginary God : Sam Harris
It makes Mormonism objectively less plausible than run-of-the-mill Christianity—as does the related claim that Jesus visited the "Nephites" in America at some point after his resurrection. The moment one adds seer stones, sacred underpants, the planet Kolob, and a secret handshake required to win admittance into the highest heaven, Mormonism stands revealed for what it is: the religious equivalent of rhythmic gymnastics.
---SPSmith
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Article: Forty seven percent
Forty seven percent
http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/09/forty-seven-percent/
That is how they think. I know some, and that's how they think. They think everybody who isn't rich is contemptible, and out to steal their stuff.
At the fundraiser, Romney was asked how he could win in November, and he replied:
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
You have to love the way it ticks all the boxes, and the way it ignores reality. He seems to think that 47 percent of the population is on welfare, which is never cut off. That's Romney's America! Almost half of us are beneath contempt and not his job to worry about.
---SPSmith
Thurston Howell Romney - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/opinion/brooks-thurston-howell-romney.html?_r=1
"Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing the nation,
divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the moochers.
Forty-seven percent of the country, he said, are people "who are
dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe
the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe
they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name
it."
And 47% of Romney supporters are racist a-holes...
---SPSmith
"Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing the nation,
divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the moochers.
Forty-seven percent of the country, he said, are people "who are
dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe
the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe
they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name
it."
And 47% of Romney supporters are racist a-holes...
---SPSmith
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Article: The Linux-Proof Processor That Nobody Wants
The Linux-Proof Processor That Nobody Wants
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/09/16/1317251/the-linux-proof-processor-that-nobody-wants
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Morning Quote: Bob Cesca - Political Ruminations
"They [Republicans] confuse obnoxious loudness with foreign policy expertise.
The opposite of a foreign policy neophyte isn't a scolding jerkass who pops off with saber-rattling platitudes and political attacks. Romney could have been a statesman about the events in Libya and Cairo and appeared dignified — perhaps qualified in the process, but instead he decided to be a braying dick. Anyone with a lapel pin and a pulse can do that. Braying dickishness doesn't amount to anything resembling international leadership gravitas."
---SPSmithArticle: Top 10 Important Points About Pushing Islamic Buttons
Top 10 Important Points About Pushing Islamic Buttons
http://freethoughtblogs.com/bluecollaratheist/2012/09/15/top-10-important-points-about-pushing-islamic-buttons/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Friday, September 14, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Adelson's investment in Romney
Sheldon Adelson’s Return on Investment
Billionaire Donor Could Turn $100 Million Invested in the 2012
Presidential Race into a $2 Billion Tax Cut If Romney Is Elected
'via Blog this'
Billionaire Donor Could Turn $100 Million Invested in the 2012
Presidential Race into a $2 Billion Tax Cut If Romney Is Elected
'via Blog this'
Article: Most of what you read was wrong: how press releases rewrote scientific history | Ars Technica
Most of what you read was wrong: how press releases rewrote scientific history | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/staff/2012/09/most-of-what-you-read-was-wrong-how-press-releases-rewrote-scientific-history/2/
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Monday, September 10, 2012
Science Teaching vs. Aircraft Carriers - The Daily Beast
Science Teaching vs. Aircraft Carriers - The Daily Beast: "What’s more dangerous: a nation full of science illiterates or a nation with one less aircraft carrier? "
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Damn Cool Algorithms: Cardinality Estimation - Nick's Blog
Damn Cool Algorithms: Cardinality Estimation - Nick's Blog: "Generate n evenly distributed random numb"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Movies - Salon.com
http://www.salon.com/topic/movies/page/2/
D'Souza's demented anti-Obama crusade feels personal more than
political. Early in "2016" he says that his own grandfather was an
Indian nationalist driven by anti-British and anti-white prejudice,
who urged him not to go to America. This is a man who is intimately
familiar with the seductive pull of anti-colonial thinking – the
tendency to blame the legacy of Western domination for all the
developing world's problems – and must struggle manfully against it
every hour of every day. He's cast himself as a Brooks Brothers
version of Frodo Baggins in an epic psychodrama no one else
understands, fighting on behalf of a culture he largely despises
against the power of the One Ring of post-colonial theory, forged in
secret Ivy League seminar rooms by Barack Sauron Obama. On the famous
theory expressed in David Mamet's play "Edmond" that every fear hides
a wish, I wonder which of these guys really dreams about destroying
America.
---SPSmith
D'Souza's demented anti-Obama crusade feels personal more than
political. Early in "2016" he says that his own grandfather was an
Indian nationalist driven by anti-British and anti-white prejudice,
who urged him not to go to America. This is a man who is intimately
familiar with the seductive pull of anti-colonial thinking – the
tendency to blame the legacy of Western domination for all the
developing world's problems – and must struggle manfully against it
every hour of every day. He's cast himself as a Brooks Brothers
version of Frodo Baggins in an epic psychodrama no one else
understands, fighting on behalf of a culture he largely despises
against the power of the One Ring of post-colonial theory, forged in
secret Ivy League seminar rooms by Barack Sauron Obama. On the famous
theory expressed in David Mamet's play "Edmond" that every fear hides
a wish, I wonder which of these guys really dreams about destroying
America.
---SPSmith
Batman Goes Sploosh!: The Dark Knight Socks Us in the Gut As We Hunch Over in Pain | Observer
http://observer.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rex-reed-christian-bale-michael-caine-christopher-nolan/
Turning a mosh pit of mystical comic book gimmicks into a money pit of
metaphysical mumbo jumbo, Christopher Nolan gives new meaning to both
DUI and DWI—"Directing Under the Influence" and "Directing While
Intoxicated"—while raking in millions. I'll have what he's having.
---SPSmith
Turning a mosh pit of mystical comic book gimmicks into a money pit of
metaphysical mumbo jumbo, Christopher Nolan gives new meaning to both
DUI and DWI—"Directing Under the Influence" and "Directing While
Intoxicated"—while raking in millions. I'll have what he's having.
---SPSmith
The Apparition - Film Calendar - The Austin Chronicle
http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/2012-08-24/the-apparition/
Come to think of it, it's a lot like the departed shade of a better,
longer movie, hovering in tatters before us, vanishing when we blink.
When you look into this abyss, it yawns back at you.
---SPSmith
Come to think of it, it's a lot like the departed shade of a better,
longer movie, hovering in tatters before us, vanishing when we blink.
When you look into this abyss, it yawns back at you.
---SPSmith
Romney Wants to Keep Key Parts of Obamacare - Politics - The Atlantic Wire
On the vague generalities of his tax plan: "Well, the specifics are these which is those principles I described are the heart of my policy"
---SPSmith
Friday, September 07, 2012
Thursday, September 06, 2012
Article: The racist nature of the Republican Party's most effective lies
The racist nature of the Republican Party's most effective lies
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/20129214930757922.html
Sent via Flipboard
---SPSmith
Bill Clinton DNC speech: 15 best lines - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com
Bill Clinton DNC speech: 15 best lines - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com: " “The most important question is, what kind of country do you want to live in? If you want a you’re-on-your-own, winner-take-all society, you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared prosperity and shared responsibility — a we’re-all-in-this-together society — you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
BBC News - People can be fat yet fit, research suggests
BBC News - People can be fat yet fit, research suggests: "People can be obese yet physically healthy and fit and at no greater risk of heart disease or cancer than normal weight people, say researchers.
The key is being "metabolically fit", meaning no high blood pressure, cholesterol or raised blood sugar, and exercising, according to experts."
'via Blog this'
The key is being "metabolically fit", meaning no high blood pressure, cholesterol or raised blood sugar, and exercising, according to experts."
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Henry IV Part 1 Language and Communication Quotes Page 1
http://www.shmoop.com/henry-iv-part-1/language-communication-quotes.html
Here, Falstaff insists that he and his criminal friends be called
"squires of the night's body" (a rather fun way of referring to
thieves who work at night, don't you think
---SPSmith
Here, Falstaff insists that he and his criminal friends be called
"squires of the night's body" (a rather fun way of referring to
thieves who work at night, don't you think
---SPSmith
The Invisible Man - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
Clint Eastwood's cringe-inducing performance at the RNC before posting. I think Jamelle Bouie was on to something in noting that the performance offered a perfect representation of the Romney campaign--an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama.
---SPSmith
Monday, September 03, 2012
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