FYI Former presidents not entitled to title according to Miss Manners.
Because my wife was wondering…
Archive for the 'News and Commentary' Category
Oden likely out for rookie season after knee surgery.
That really sucks. I think Oden could have been (may still be) the next David Robinson. Well, if he does come back next year, he will still be 4 years younger than when Robinson was a rookie. And that worked out pretty well.
I hope he keeps his spirits up, and that the recovery goes well.
Mark Steyn writes about one of my favorite songs, Sixteen Tons:
At the time, there was another version out by Johnny Desmond. I like Desmond’s voice but it’s too smooth and creamy. Ford’s big bass growl is just right, man enough to sound like a guy tough enough to work in a mine and thereby to underline the sense of diminishment, of a big man rendered small by his economic circumstance.
As usual, Steyn’s commentary is very interesting. He brings up how the song is so tied to Tennesse Ernie Ford’s version. Tennessee Ernie Ford’s voice is distinctive. I really like it. Especially when he sings hymns. Perhaps my favorite songs by him are Angles Have Heard On High, Hark the Herald Angel Sings, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, particularly the last.
Man Pleads No Contest In Crash That Killed Director, Son
That sucks. Hit by a drunk driver. Who was an illegal alien. Two people died. And he is only at risk of up to 6 years in jail. Wow.
Hmm, this is interesting. It is better to cooperatively retaliate than always screw the other guy or to be screwed by the other guy.
Wow. This is really weird. I can’t even really describe the article. Just go read it yourself. But here is a taste:
The Prisoner’s Dilemma, therefore, is an analogy we use to test the results of how people treat each other(emphasis mine).
Now, if this game is played one time, the winning strategy invariably is to Screw the Other Guy. If he doesn’t screw you, you get off free. If he does, you serve two years. But if you didn’t, and he decided to screw you – ten years. No one wants to risk that. Screw the Other Guy is the only smart position, and when the game is run thousands of times on computers it comes out the very clear winner.
But! What happens if the game is played again and again, against the same person? Does Screw the Other Guy continue to be the best strategy?
It does not!
The best strategy for a repeating game (called the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma) is not Screw The Other Guy, and — surprisingly at first glance — it’s not Always Cooperate With The Other Guy, either.
The winning strategy is Tit-for-Tat. That is, you do to the guy what he did to you last turn. If he cooperated, you cooperate. If he screwed you, you screw him back. Over thousands and millions of computer runs, using every strategy from complete aggression to complete forgiveness, Tit-for-Tat “wins” every time – that is, it results in the least jail time for you.
So a lot of the problems we see in other cultures is an insufficient scope of the interactions. That is, they actors focus on the present interaction, not on the ongoing series of interactions. They focus on the things that are seen (the one-in-the-hand) rather than the things that are not seen (the two-in-the-bush).
This isn’t that easy. This requires more thought…
So my general annoyance / unhappiness with parts of my existence aren’t unique.
I mean:
- I love my son, and enjoy being around him entirely too much. But can you blame me?
- I love my wife.
- I love my dog (not in that way, you freak).
- I mostly like my job (it is often fun, and I am waaaaay overpaid…not a most common admission, though probably true more than people will admit…)
- I have a nice home
- I have enough food to have to worry about weight loss.
And yet I feel less than successful. Like my life is not meeting standards. I’m not learning enough. I am not earning enough. My house is not nice enough. My dog misbehaves. My lawn is more weeds than grass. My house never stays clean. I am 50lbs heavier today than I was 5 years ago. I am worried about paying for fuel oil / gas / electricity. I am worried about saving for retirement. I am worried about my son’s education. I am worried that my employer will agree with me that I am overpaid. And so on.
I need vacation.
via Rolling Stone :
Ethanol Scam: Ethanol Hurts the Environment And Is One of America’s Biggest Political Boondoggles
(h/t: Instapundit by way of Kudlow).
I still don’t understand why the Republicans foster this farm subsidy nonsense. It is econmically (in the dismal sense of the word) silly. And apparently, it might be environmentally silly. Just the kind of repsonse from Washington we should expect: wastes money and does the opposite of what was intended. But how dare you question their love of the earth: their hearts are in the right place!!!
Barbaro euthanized Monday morning
I am not a big fan of horse racing, but this makes me sad. It seems so wrong that such a striking animal can be defeated by a broken bone. I don’t really understand why that is such a problem for horses, but it really makes me upset.
NCAA shows a heart in allowing this ‘extra benefit’
We should pray for the McElrathbey brothers. They need them… and all the other help they can get. I’m proud the other Clemson players helped out. It makes me feel good about the kind of players Tommy Bowden is recruiting.
My wife (a statistician) would probably agree with Stuart and Megan:
Stuart Buck and Megan_McArdle: Media map gives wrong directions on incomes.:
When we wrote this up on our blogs, many conservative readers attributed the misleading figures to liberal media bias. But it is more likely ignorance than malice. Every year, scores of fledgling journalists pour out of liberal arts programs. Though many will need to pick through mountains of statistics in search of the truth, few have been taught the skills to do it.
and
Americans are often too innumerate to analyze statistics printed in the newspaper. America’s schools haven’t given its citizens any more ability than its journalists to analyze the information that floods our lives.
Which may lead us to suggest a McArdle’s Law for media bias:
Never attribute to malice what can be ignorance.
Get this straight content providers: Our computers belong to us. If we’re in the mood, we might let you sell us some stuff to run on them. But they don’t belong to you, and we’re not likely to surrender control over our own bought-and-paid-for hardware, which we often rely on to do our jobs and run our lives, simply in exchange for letting you sell us something. (Honestly, most of what you’re selling isn’t all that good anyway, and you’re lucky that people buy it at all. So don’t get greedy. And while click-through license agreements may make it legal, they won’t make you any more popular.)
From http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=091306D.
But iTunes/iPod is a slightly different story. Much of what he says applies, yet I (and many others) still happily provide access and purchase items from them. The difference, of course, is the percieved benefit is high enough to justify the associated negatives.
I’m just saying…
How could a former marine (UAW Pres. Gettelfinger) forget Semper Fi?
I know Col. Rutledge won’t.
(And for the record, they say it was about ‘American Made’ vehicles…bull crap. It was about union made…sort of. I mean really, which is more American: A Ford Built in Mexico or a BMW built in South Carolina?)
I cannot begin to express my feelings of disgust at this If you don’t take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits from Germany.
Forcing women into prostitution to get the off the welfare roles? These are base and cretinous people.
And we are supposed to look at them for guidance on worldy affairs? Better that we separate ourselves from them.
No Politics. I am all politiced out, and I really don’t feel like a post mortem. See just about any Instapundit post between 11/2 to 11/10 for post election analysis.
Just can’t do it myself.
I really hope that people on all sides get their heads out of their butts and get a grip on what is really important.
BBL with more in depth thoughts.
Please, Lord, let this be over soon.
Nice ad. I really like RR. I wish he were here today and able to lead us.
There is a great audio compilation, Reagan in his Own Voice, that might sadden you to hear how …diminished… our leaders seem today.
Hmm, I wonder what my Mom thinks of this…
The priest-gods. She is a Professor of Nursing.
Direct Instruction sounds interesting. I wonder if there is a DI curriculum for home schooling?