Mon, 28 Mar 2005 04:16:19 GMT

Scientific American gives up [The Panda's Thumb]

This will put a smile on your face, unless you are a creationist.

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 23:18:24 GMT

The Innumerate Right (Michael Barone Is an Embarrassment to the Press Corps Edition). Why can’t Michael Barone count? Wonkette deals with his overall argument at the level it deserves. But I want to point out that only a truly mighty degree of innumeracy could have led Michael Barone to even make this argument in the first place: Michael Barone: The trustfunder left: a previously unidentified segment of the American electorate… a critical mass… a major force… the trustfunder left.æWho are the trustfunders? People with enough money not to have to work for a living, or not to have to work very hard. People who can live more or less wherever they want…. These people… very liberal… have done nothing to earn their money… elite private or public high schools… colleges and universities… propagandized about the evils of capitalism and globalization…. Patriotism is equated with Hiterlism…. [T]hey are citizens of the world with contempt for those who feel chills up their spines when they hear ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’… Where can you find trustfunders?… Places with kicky restaurants… tolerant of alternative lifestyles… art galleries… organic food stores… Starbucks competitors. The… San Francisco Bay area…. Without the Bay area’s 1.15 million-vote margin for Kerry, California would have come within 82,000 votes of voting for George… [Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal]

Of course, just remember that one of Umberto Eco’s 14 points on fascism is that 8. The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies. Conflating the 1.15 million vote margin for Kerry in the Bay Area with ostentatious trustfunder liberals (who may number 70,000 nationwide) seems like a first attempt at fulfilling point 8. Looks like it will need a lot more work, though.

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 23:00:53 GMT

The End of Broadband Service.

The FCC reached a decision this week that could effectively end broadband service as we know it. The order hasn’t officially come out yet, but the result was leaked.

The FCC granted a petition by BellSouth to pre-empt state regulators from requiring “naked DSL.” The procedural aspects are convoluted, so the effect of that action may not be clear. Here’s what the FCC is saying. The local phone companies (and, although the ruling doesn’t specifically cover them, cable companies) are free to force customers to pay for phone service in order to get broadband. Whether or not you use the phone company’s voice service is immaterial — you have to pay for it. Although there are a few telcos willing to sell DSL as a stand-alone service (notably Qwest), one wonders if they will continue to do so.

The FCC ruling makes broadband an extension of phone service, rather than the reverse. It ties the data applications of the future to the anchor of the public switched telephone network. That’s perverse. Voice is the application, not connectivity. We’ll never have real competition if the incumbents get paid even when customers want to switch to a competitor.

I want to pay someone for high-speed data connectivity, with the opportunity to use (and pay for) innovative applications on top of that pipe. To me, that’s broadband service. After the FCC decision, that may no longer be available. That’s what I mean by the end of broadband as we know it. For the privilege of buying broadband, I’ll have to buy phone service or something else I don’t need, raising the effective price. This is the way to promote broadband adoption in the US?

[Werblog]

A typically 20th Century solution. I’m willing to be that a 21st Century solution will be found, maybe something with a Wi-Fi base. It is the loss of competition that is harmful in the short term. I get a price break on DSL now because I also get phone service from the same provider. If I HAVE to have both, then why give me a price break?

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 22:53:36 GMT

How Everyone Can Get Richer as Per-Capita Income Falls, by Bryan Caplan.

When people argue about whether immigrants are pulling down our standard of living, they rarely notice a simple but deep arithmetical fact: Everyone in a country can get richer as per-capita income falls. Proof by example:

Suppose the residents of Country A earn $50,000 per year each without immigration, and $60,000 per year with immigration. They benefit from cheaper lawn-mowing. The residents of Country B earn $2,000 per year if they stay at home, or $10,000 per year if they immigrate to Country A to mow lawns.

Now what happens to per-capita income in Country A if immigrants double the population? Per-capita income falls from $50,000 to .5*$60,0000 + .5*$10,000=$35,000. The more immigrants come in, the more steeply per-capita income declines. “Immigrants hurt our standard of living. QED!”

Of course, nothing of the kind has happened. By assumption, immigration makes both natives and immigrants richer. But per-capita income declines, as a matter of pure arithmetic. The numbers don’t lie, but they are very easily misinterpreted.

There are many applications of this simple insight. It also applies nicely to the apparent effect of rising female labor force participation on the pay of the average worker. Proof by example:

Suppose in 1950 the workforce is 90% male. Men earn $10,000, women $3000. In 1975, the workforce is 50% male. Each man now earns $12,000, and each female earns $5000. What happens to average worker earnings? They fall from $9,300 to $8500.

One last example: Average earnings can rise even when they are falling for all educational classes. Proof by example:

Suppose that in 1960 15% of workers have college degrees, 85% only high school. A college degree gets you $20,000/year; a high school diploma gets you $10,000/year. In 1980, the break-down moves to 50/50. A college degree is now worth $18,000, and a high school diploma $9,000. Average earnings before: $11,500. After: $13,500.

This doesn’t prove, of course, that immigrants and women don’t reduce the earnings of other groups. It doesn’t prove that if incomes of all educational classes are falling, that the average is actually rising. What it shows, rather, is that evidence that seems rock-solid can actually be trivial and irrelevant. Before you take an average, you have to think about what you are averaging over.

[EconLog]

I don’t often find myself on the same side of things as Econolog (often simplistic ideas) but I like reading it and they generally are very good for starting a conversation, something lacking in many things of the internet. This thought experiment is very good for demonstrating how the INCREASE in wages for a changing population can give the appearance that the average wage has dropped, even though everyone’s salary has actually increased.

Of course, the real world does not really match this thought experiment. But it does represent how anyone who really wants to understand what is going on needs to examine the numbers more fully. I figure this represents less than 1% of the population. The rest are happy with the pablum that comes from the media and the politicians.

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 22:21:50 GMT

Looks like I’m in the center-right

Just for yucks, I took the
World’s Smallest Political Quiz
, just to see where I fell:

Not surprisingly, I fell on the centrist-conservative line. More surprisingly, my score wasn’t as close to the libertarian range as I thought it would be. I never thought I leaned towards the statist side…






Oh, well, it’s just a silly Internet test. I think my results on the
Political Compass
had me pegged better. Maybe I’ll post the results sometime…

– Orac [Respectful Insolence (a.k.a. "Orac Knows")]

I agree. The smallest political quiz does not do a good job, because it is too short to get many shade of gray inthere. Political Compass places me much closer to where i feel I am, right next to Ghandi!

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 04:48:06 GMT

WHILE I’M BEING INTOLERANT OF FUNDAMENTALISTS, I’l…

WHILE I’M BEING INTOLERANT OF FUNDAMENTALISTS
, I’ll note this
rather lengthy, and utterly beyond unfriendly, critique of Tim LaHaye
and his theology and enthusiasts.






Yes, you’ve read about
LaHaye before
, and far better in many a place elsewhere, but this sucker is pretty high on snark value.

In his 2002 book
The Rapture
, LaHaye indignantly defended himself against a John Birch Society critic who accused him of being in cahoots with the Illuminati. To the contrary÷LaHaye pronounces himself an avowed enemy of what he calls the ãsatanically-inspired, centuries-old conspiracy to use government, education, and media to destroy every vestige of Christianity within our society and establish a new world order.ä






[...]{snip]
Read The Rest Or Not therefore. Originally from the November 2004 issue of
Harpers
, and by Gene Lyon, by the way.

– Gary Farber [Amygdala]

A very good read and a wonderful deconstruction of a pandering series of books. Yet, many of these readers want to remove Harry Potter from libraries.

Schiavo Judge Attains New Fame, Infamy

It takes a special sort of bravery to stand up when all around you are going crazy. Read Greer’s decisions and you will read some of the best, most thoughtful and accessible words on this topic. This is a man who did hear both sides of the arguments and made a decision that has consistently been upheld by every other judge to examine it. The religious zealots would have it differently. So because he is a man who believes in the rule of law, he has been kicked out of his Baptist congregation. What a bunch of bullying cowards! And the people who send him death threats, who attempt to kill him, come from the same sort of idiotic bullies. I am sure there will be a congregation of non-Neanderthals who will be happy to accept this man. Lynch mobs are so ugly. And watching politicians and ministers cater to them makes me sad for America.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 08:53:01 GMT

I had a somewhat snarky post of about how long it was taking Bush to mention the killings in Red Lake. Clinton took 2 hours following the Columbine killings, and flew out there in a couple of days. Bush said nothing until Friday, when he made a 5 minute call to the tribe leader. I decided to remove it because it should not be surprising at all that he does not connect these things with being a leader. 150,000 people die around the Indian Ocean and nothing for days. Mass killings at a school. Nothing for 4 days. No reason to be surprised at all.

You know, I can hardly wait for the great American President who will undo all the damage done to the US over the past few years. Because, sure as we have to slog through the awful Presidents we elect (and we have had to slog through a lot of them in our history), eventually we get it right. So, in order to get out Lincolns, we have to endure our Jacksons. To get our Roosevelts, we have to have our Hoovers. I just hope I am alive when we get him/her. I just hope million of people have not died because he/she is not here.

Trail of Tears

I have heard several right wing zealots use this old quote from Andrew Jackson, as he ignored a ruling of the Supreme Court:

John Marshall has made his decision, nowæ let him enforce it!

One of those idiots is Ann Coulter, whose venomous writings serve only to divide, while completely missing any historical perspective. All as a prelude for another President to ignore the rule of law and do what he wants. It is obvious that many do not know the actual history of this quote, as it reflects a horrifying time in our history. We forcibly moved 18,000 Cherokees from Georgia to the Indian Territories, killing 4,000-8,000 of them along the way. Jackson’s flaunting of the rule of law, and his distaste for these ‘heathens’, set the stage for further genocide against the natives of this land. The Trail of Tears was a horrible thing. My wife’s side of the family can trace itself back to some of these same Cherokees that were forced out of Georgia. Yet, some imbeciles (see the ‘blonde’- headed one above) think it is okay to use a quote from this disgraceful time, spoken by a President whose overall rating was tarnished by his terrible ranking in pursuing equal justice for all in a poll of historians, that was part of a series of events that are some of the most painful in our history. Coulter followed this quote with these choice words:

The court’s ruling was ignored. And yet, somehow, the republic survived.

The Republic survived. Thousands of Native Americans died. Property was destroyed and lives ruined. Because an American President ignored our rule of law and the Supreme Court. Talk about shameless. But then Coulter and shameless do go together. It helps sell books.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 07:15:57 GMT

Octopuses dressed up as sea coconuts sneaking on two legs. Cory Doctorow:

Nature reports on findings that octopusses like to put sea coconuts on their heads pretend to be sea coconuts or pose like hunks of coral and tiptoe around on two of their legs like Wile E Coyote pretending to be a shrub. The video footage of the sneak octopi is laugh-out-loud funny!

Link

(Thanks, Kathryn!)

[Boing Boing]

These are really funny to watch. The octopus seems to act like nothing is going on, as it tries to make its casual escape, doing everything but whistling calmly.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 07:10:03 GMT

Hits of backwards masking. David Pescovitz:
An article this week in the Salt Lake Tribune about backwards masking in rock music linked to Jeff Milner’s classic “Stairway to Heaven: Backwards” site. Jeff has added a few more recent tunes to the satanic jukebox of sin, including Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time”:

Play forward: “With you I lose my mind give me a si…”
Reverse play: “Sleep with me, I’m not too young.”

and the devious “Pokemon Rap”:

Play forward: “Gotta catch ‘em all, gotta catch ‘em all (yo), Gotta catch ‘em all, gotta catch ‘em all (yeah)”
Reverse play: “I love satan, I love satan. I love satan, I love satan.”

My all-time favorite though is Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust.” As kids, MTV.com writer Gil Kaufman and I played the song backwards for my dad to prove that the rumors were true about a hidden suggestion to “smoke marijuana.” My dad shrugged and said he thought is sounded more like “go to California.”
Link

[Boing Boing]

While only one of these is obviously purposeful, hearing what the Pokemon Rap is backwards does reveal something very important.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 06:51:33 GMT

Orphan works: what’s wrong and how to fix it. Cory Doctorow:
Jamie Boyle and Duke U’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain have produced two excellent reports for the Copyright Office on the plight of “orphan works” whose rightsholder cannot be located. The reports talk about the real-world problems and suggest practical solutions to them.

“Orphan Works” probably comprise the majority of the record of 20th century culture. These works are still presumably under copyright (only works published before 1923 are conclusively in the public domain), but the copyright owner cannot be found. The default response of archivists, libraries, film restorers, artists, scholars, educators, publishers, and others is to drop copyrighted work unless it is clearly in the public domain. As a result, orphan works are not used in new creative efforts or made available to the public due to uncertainty over their copyright status, even when there is no longer anyone claiming copyright ownership, or the owner no longer has any objection to such use.

Link

(Thanks, Jamie!) [Boing Boing]

A wonderful Catch-22 our current intellectual property law has provided for us. So the creativity of entire generatons of artists disappears because of IP laws. I wonder if that is what the creators of these works really wanted. To vanish.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 06:42:01 GMT

Crooks and Liars: “Stewart brings humor to a humorless situation.” [Scripting News]

The Daily Show is one of the more incredible programs on TV. It has been able to take such a difficult, heartrending subject and place just the right perspective on it, so that we can see it with humor and move on. The best example of how important the jester really is.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 06:11:01 GMT

Two Important Articles from NEJM on Schiavo. As far as I can tell, the New England Journal of Medicine has posted two articles on its website for free download by anybody.  (I am a subscriber, so it’s possible that I am getting to them because of a… [HealthLawProf Blog]

These are very worthwhile articles, written from a medical and a legal perspective. They are free and open to everyone, indicating just how important these doctors feel. Unfortunately, most of the zeolots in Florida will be incapable of understanding the messages contained in these articles. Reason is not what we have heard much of the least few days.

Here are some reasoned words, from Annas’ paper:

‘Erring on the side of life’ in this context often results in violating a person‰s body and human dignity in a way few would want for themselves. In such situations, erring on the side of liberty Ö specifically, the patient‰s right to decide on treatment Ö is more consistent with American values and our constitutional traditions.

Too bad many do not want to err on the side of liberty. Too bad so many of our supposed leaders err on the wrong side.

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 05:45:21 GMT

Highly adaptable genome in gut bacterium key to intestinal health. A bacterium that lives in the human gut adaptively shifts more than a quarter of its genes into high gear when its host’s diet changes from sugar to complex carbohydrates. [EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health]

Everyone forgets that we have a trillion bacterial cells living in our gut. They feed off of what we eat. And if they do not eat properly, we most likely do not.