If I Posted More Often My Posts Would Be Shorter
Those who even slightly follow congressional committee hearings know that they're a forum for political speeches and the display of ignorance on the part of the congressmen more than they are a forum for substantive inquiry. I believe that C-SPAN and C-SPAN II have contributed greatly to this. However, this stupidity was even on display during the Titanic hearings in 1912, when Senator William Smith (D-MI) asked whether the watertight chambers were intended to be used as refuge for passengers. Members of Congress should do their homework before a hearing. I also noticed that the New York Times write-up did not mention that Smith was a Democrat -- was it in the business of covering up Democrats' stupidity even then? (I kid, I kid.)
Monday marked the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition.
CBS ran a story on the earmarks of corrupt high-ranking Democrat Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). They do, of course, fail to mention that he's a Dem. My favorite part of the video is the part with Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) asking whether one of the centers receiving earmarks even exists, and the congressman (D_IN, I forget which)defending Murtha (who was not present at the time) replies "I do not know if that center exists."
In the realm of stories with internal contradictions, we hear that marriage means seven extra hours of housework for women. Early in the story, it states that marriage saves men one hour of housework, but towards the end (when readership has surely declined), it notes that married men do more housework than single men. In this write-up of the study, we find that the study did not include home repair, auto work, or "gardening" (it's unclear form the story if this means yardwork in general, or merely the gardening aspect of it) as housework, which, on average, works against men rather than women. The study does not appear to control for child care or house vs. apartment living, which would probably explain why married people do more housework than single people, or at least go a long way towards that end.
The mis-named Committee on Ethics of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued an opinion that could lead to ob-gyns losing their license if they refuse to refer their patient for an abortion, or -- in some cases -- if they do not perform an abortion themselves. In the name of not having the pro-lifer' beliefs foisted on others, the beliefs of those who believe in abortion permissiveness are being foisted upon pro-lifers. Disgusting, but predictable.
Slate has a piece on how those "promoting" health by forcing government regulations upon us, are distorting the cost of obesity. In short, while obese people cost more to treat in the near-term, their life expectancy is shorter, which saves from expensive care for diseases associated with the elderly (and also provides government savings on, e.g., the Social Security front). Similar arguments, and similar refutations, have been applied to tobacco as well. I'm certainly not encouraging obesity (or smoking), I'm just pointing out that this argument doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
Sonny Graham received a heart transplant, married the donor's widow, and then killed himself in the same manner as the donor. Weird.
Absolut put out an ad that La Raza and their fellow-travelers would enjoy. Unfortunately for the company, some other people noticed it. After trying to ignore the complaints, the Swedish company has now apologized (twice).
Ted Turner is at it again:
Wow, what can you say. All you can do is laugh that the last bit I quoted was included in the same interview.
Amazingly, Bill Cope doesn't even need to read a book to review it! I have an author-inscribed copy of the book in question -- Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg -- but I haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. I'll probably start next week. I know enough about the book, however, to know that Mr. Cope has taken a few things out of context and dishonestly distorted them (or, perhaps more accurately, since he hasn't read the book himself, he's copied from people who have done so). In short, lefties don't like it when people point out that fascism was a socialist movement.
Another instance fo blog headlines I love: Michelle [Obama] Will Steal Your Pie.
I've never been very good at the whole balancing a spoon on the end of your nose bit, so I am thoroughly shamed that a British nine-year-old has set a world record by balancing sixteen spoons on his face.
The world's fastest internet connection was used to dry laundry.
Game theory applied to drugs in sports. It's actually sort of a "well, duh" report, and much of it has been deduced by people who have never heard of game theory, but, still, it's game theory and the sports page, all rolled into one.
New Kids on the Block has gotten back together and will release a new album. No word on whether the band will take the new name Old Kids on the Block, Mid-Life Crisis on the Stage, or [insert your joke here].
You don't need college to be a billionaire. I love how Bill Gates claims he wishes he wasn't the world's richest man. There's no law making him hold onto all that money.
John Derbyshire has a nice little piece on Leonhard Euler, including the correct pronounciation of his last name, the fact that he assigned π and i their symbols, and more.
Appealing to the numismatist in me, the United Kingdom has released its new coin designs. It's an interesting concept, and, at first glance, appeals to me, but I'd like to think about it more before declaring that I like the design.
Someone took the time to create a list of seven superheroes that you won't find on the silver screen anytime soon. A few look familiar from similar lists, and were one-off characters put in a single issue rather than characters with their own comic book.
Some college students are playing quidditch -- minus the flying, of course. For those who don't know what that is, it's a sport from the world of Harry Potter, and there's really not much more I can tell you, as I have only a mild acquaintance with the movies and none with the books.
Since I need a LEGO link in each of these, here's a biochemistry lecture given by minifigs.
The Office of Spectrum Management has a nifty chart showing the allocation of various bands fo the radio spectrum in the United States.
The next time you hear a democrat complaining about how the economy is so much worse under Bush than under Clinton, send them this comparison of 1996 to 2008 (spoiler alert: the economy is better in 2008).
Monday marked the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition.
CBS ran a story on the earmarks of corrupt high-ranking Democrat Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). They do, of course, fail to mention that he's a Dem. My favorite part of the video is the part with Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) asking whether one of the centers receiving earmarks even exists, and the congressman (D_IN, I forget which)defending Murtha (who was not present at the time) replies "I do not know if that center exists."
In the realm of stories with internal contradictions, we hear that marriage means seven extra hours of housework for women. Early in the story, it states that marriage saves men one hour of housework, but towards the end (when readership has surely declined), it notes that married men do more housework than single men. In this write-up of the study, we find that the study did not include home repair, auto work, or "gardening" (it's unclear form the story if this means yardwork in general, or merely the gardening aspect of it) as housework, which, on average, works against men rather than women. The study does not appear to control for child care or house vs. apartment living, which would probably explain why married people do more housework than single people, or at least go a long way towards that end.
The mis-named Committee on Ethics of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued an opinion that could lead to ob-gyns losing their license if they refuse to refer their patient for an abortion, or -- in some cases -- if they do not perform an abortion themselves. In the name of not having the pro-lifer' beliefs foisted on others, the beliefs of those who believe in abortion permissiveness are being foisted upon pro-lifers. Disgusting, but predictable.
Slate has a piece on how those "promoting" health by forcing government regulations upon us, are distorting the cost of obesity. In short, while obese people cost more to treat in the near-term, their life expectancy is shorter, which saves from expensive care for diseases associated with the elderly (and also provides government savings on, e.g., the Social Security front). Similar arguments, and similar refutations, have been applied to tobacco as well. I'm certainly not encouraging obesity (or smoking), I'm just pointing out that this argument doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
Sonny Graham received a heart transplant, married the donor's widow, and then killed himself in the same manner as the donor. Weird.
Absolut put out an ad that La Raza and their fellow-travelers would enjoy. Unfortunately for the company, some other people noticed it. After trying to ignore the complaints, the Swedish company has now apologized (twice).
Ted Turner is at it again:
If steps aren't taken to stem global warming, "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow," Turner said during a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with PBS's Charlie Rose that aired Tuesday.
"Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals," said Turner, 69. "Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable."
[...]
Admitting that he's "always suffered from foot-in-the-mouth disease," Turner added, "I've gotten a lot better, though. It's been a long time since anybody caught me saying something stupid."
Wow, what can you say. All you can do is laugh that the last bit I quoted was included in the same interview.
Amazingly, Bill Cope doesn't even need to read a book to review it! I have an author-inscribed copy of the book in question -- Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg -- but I haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. I'll probably start next week. I know enough about the book, however, to know that Mr. Cope has taken a few things out of context and dishonestly distorted them (or, perhaps more accurately, since he hasn't read the book himself, he's copied from people who have done so). In short, lefties don't like it when people point out that fascism was a socialist movement.
Another instance fo blog headlines I love: Michelle [Obama] Will Steal Your Pie.
I've never been very good at the whole balancing a spoon on the end of your nose bit, so I am thoroughly shamed that a British nine-year-old has set a world record by balancing sixteen spoons on his face.
The world's fastest internet connection was used to dry laundry.
Game theory applied to drugs in sports. It's actually sort of a "well, duh" report, and much of it has been deduced by people who have never heard of game theory, but, still, it's game theory and the sports page, all rolled into one.
New Kids on the Block has gotten back together and will release a new album. No word on whether the band will take the new name Old Kids on the Block, Mid-Life Crisis on the Stage, or [insert your joke here].
You don't need college to be a billionaire. I love how Bill Gates claims he wishes he wasn't the world's richest man. There's no law making him hold onto all that money.
John Derbyshire has a nice little piece on Leonhard Euler, including the correct pronounciation of his last name, the fact that he assigned π and i their symbols, and more.
Appealing to the numismatist in me, the United Kingdom has released its new coin designs. It's an interesting concept, and, at first glance, appeals to me, but I'd like to think about it more before declaring that I like the design.
Someone took the time to create a list of seven superheroes that you won't find on the silver screen anytime soon. A few look familiar from similar lists, and were one-off characters put in a single issue rather than characters with their own comic book.
Some college students are playing quidditch -- minus the flying, of course. For those who don't know what that is, it's a sport from the world of Harry Potter, and there's really not much more I can tell you, as I have only a mild acquaintance with the movies and none with the books.
Since I need a LEGO link in each of these, here's a biochemistry lecture given by minifigs.
The Office of Spectrum Management has a nifty chart showing the allocation of various bands fo the radio spectrum in the United States.
The next time you hear a democrat complaining about how the economy is so much worse under Bush than under Clinton, send them this comparison of 1996 to 2008 (spoiler alert: the economy is better in 2008).
posted by DC | 5:30 AM
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