Friday, March 31, 2006
What Lies beyond Damned Lies?
Statistics......
Here and here.
It is very hard to get Euros to give statistics which relate unemployment rates to subgoups, ethnic or religious. Now Steyn has written that in France, for muslim "youth", the unemployment rate is about 50%. What does he mean by "youth" exactly? Particularly as he uses the word rhetorically, not descriptively. Perhaps Pepe' Le Pew has access to some reliable government info we Yanks do not have?
For Holland, the mondediplo site has an article stating a figure just over 10% for the unemployment rate of muslims in Holland. That is presumably overall, and presumably "youth" would have a higher rate? Have not yet been able to get any official government info on England, either, for this Islam-unemployment relation. Various sites, kufr and islamic, say it is "high" or comparitively "higher", but do not quantify. A few articles stated figures that ranged from 15% to 18% for unemployment among "young muslim men" in England. None gave link to an official source.
By the way, a comment throughout, for all three nations, is that relatively few muslim women seek jobs, compared to those outside of the ummah. I have no idea if this decision to not work is counted in unemployment rates. Another comment was that the more believing the muslim population the greater its SELF-IMPOSED isolation from the surrounding nation. The more integrated muslims were, the far greater likelihood that they were without belief [self-described to interviewers, as well as using indices such as mosque attendance, regular observance of halal strictures, etc...]
Anyway, looking through this glass darkly, it does seem that unemployment among "younger" French muslim men is substantially higher than in Holland or England. Yet the fundamental problems as to how to build common citizenship between Believer and Kufr are equally vexing. Whatever differences do exist in tone seem to have more to do with relative size of the muslim population, not employment rates. So, for example, Luton is worse than London, Marseille more than Lille, Amsterdam more than Eindhoven.
Of course, how this relates to Germany, where employment among muslims is relatively high, the Balkans, where divisions are now bloody historical,etc... I dunna know.
What about Italy, JJ? Are these muslims who would Defenestrate Fallaci and chop off Rahman's noggin tending to be unemployed??
Here and here.
It is very hard to get Euros to give statistics which relate unemployment rates to subgoups, ethnic or religious. Now Steyn has written that in France, for muslim "youth", the unemployment rate is about 50%. What does he mean by "youth" exactly? Particularly as he uses the word rhetorically, not descriptively. Perhaps Pepe' Le Pew has access to some reliable government info we Yanks do not have?
For Holland, the mondediplo site has an article stating a figure just over 10% for the unemployment rate of muslims in Holland. That is presumably overall, and presumably "youth" would have a higher rate? Have not yet been able to get any official government info on England, either, for this Islam-unemployment relation. Various sites, kufr and islamic, say it is "high" or comparitively "higher", but do not quantify. A few articles stated figures that ranged from 15% to 18% for unemployment among "young muslim men" in England. None gave link to an official source.
By the way, a comment throughout, for all three nations, is that relatively few muslim women seek jobs, compared to those outside of the ummah. I have no idea if this decision to not work is counted in unemployment rates. Another comment was that the more believing the muslim population the greater its SELF-IMPOSED isolation from the surrounding nation. The more integrated muslims were, the far greater likelihood that they were without belief [self-described to interviewers, as well as using indices such as mosque attendance, regular observance of halal strictures, etc...]
Anyway, looking through this glass darkly, it does seem that unemployment among "younger" French muslim men is substantially higher than in Holland or England. Yet the fundamental problems as to how to build common citizenship between Believer and Kufr are equally vexing. Whatever differences do exist in tone seem to have more to do with relative size of the muslim population, not employment rates. So, for example, Luton is worse than London, Marseille more than Lille, Amsterdam more than Eindhoven.
Of course, how this relates to Germany, where employment among muslims is relatively high, the Balkans, where divisions are now bloody historical,etc... I dunna know.
What about Italy, JJ? Are these muslims who would Defenestrate Fallaci and chop off Rahman's noggin tending to be unemployed??
An Aberrant Steadfastness. How do you vote?
Komraden, Taheri-- in his article listed by JJ below-- spends much time painting a scenario of the "Bush is an Aberration" thesis. It seems to be such a convincing scenario that many of the players in this struggle are acting as if they are so convinced. Taheri then throws out what purports to be a "they are so wrong" line at the end, but it is so slight an effort that one has to wonder if it is more sheer hope than belief for his part. Given the devolvement of the american political scene, and we have all lived through it, I see little reason to judge the thesis as wrong. So, am curious as to your take. Please vote Yes, if you think the thesis is substantially right. And No, if you think it is substantially wrong.
Since , these days, I have been mired in pitch black despair, it should not shock you that my vote is a firm "Yes".
Since , these days, I have been mired in pitch black despair, it should not shock you that my vote is a firm "Yes".
Betting on the clever horse?
Clearly, she thinks she got a winner here. Will she now try to weasel out of it, or will she stick with her pick?
Ruitor from Crammont
Here's the big round glacier I showed you last night, viewed from the summit of Crammont, to its NNW. In the lower right of the image is the town of La Thuile.From Pre St Didier, at the Y in the Valdigne containing Courmayeur and the valleys of La Thuile and Morgex, the summit of the Crammont is about 6 hours' slog and 1700 m vertical difference. The early French alpinist Saussure considered this the badassest walk he ever took and I have the pictures to prove him right.
your research $ at work
sweet baby jaysus don't heal ? that's it - my christian coalition card goes to the shredder and i'm joining the taliban.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
...switching to Fat-Slapping: Khan sticks it to Fujiwan
After e-mailing a friend in Ulaan Bataar this, he responded today with an update:
An Update: since the time of the story you sent me, Dagvadorj has become the youngest Grand Champion in Sumo history, the fastest to win the most tournaments ever, first in most tournaments won consecutively, 3rd on the list of most matches ever won at an age ten years younger than the other ranked champions of the past, and is on his way to become the greatest Sumo wrestler ever... by far. Except, one problem: Not the Japs, no, but the other 6 Mongols in the highest echelon of Sumo, one of whom, Davaajargal, lost the tournament that ended last Sunday to Dagvadorj in the 16th round (the tie-breaking round; normally there are only 15 rounds of wrestling but the two Khans were tied for first after the 15th). Davaajargal, who recently celebrated his 21st birthday, was nevertheless rewarded with the title of ozikaio - second only to Grand Champion - for his nearly loss free record in the last 4 tournaments.
One thing is necessary to stop a Mongol from becoming the greatest Sumo wrestler in Japanese history: a Mongol.
P.S. there are now two Russians, a Bulgarian, and a Georgian wrestling in the top tier, with more Mongols wrestling every tournament: Sumo wrestling schools have recently been established in Ulaanbaatar to ensure that a thorough shaming of the Japanese people is only a matter of time. Losing face on such a massive scale may cause the Japanese to commit hari kiri en masse.
P.P.S. I watched the penultimate day of the last tournament with Sukhbaatar (Axe hero), who was, some years ago, the wrestling coach of Davaajargal. We supported the Mongols so well that day it was difficult for me to pay attention on Sunday.
Andrew
An Update: since the time of the story you sent me, Dagvadorj has become the youngest Grand Champion in Sumo history, the fastest to win the most tournaments ever, first in most tournaments won consecutively, 3rd on the list of most matches ever won at an age ten years younger than the other ranked champions of the past, and is on his way to become the greatest Sumo wrestler ever... by far. Except, one problem: Not the Japs, no, but the other 6 Mongols in the highest echelon of Sumo, one of whom, Davaajargal, lost the tournament that ended last Sunday to Dagvadorj in the 16th round (the tie-breaking round; normally there are only 15 rounds of wrestling but the two Khans were tied for first after the 15th). Davaajargal, who recently celebrated his 21st birthday, was nevertheless rewarded with the title of ozikaio - second only to Grand Champion - for his nearly loss free record in the last 4 tournaments.
One thing is necessary to stop a Mongol from becoming the greatest Sumo wrestler in Japanese history: a Mongol.
P.S. there are now two Russians, a Bulgarian, and a Georgian wrestling in the top tier, with more Mongols wrestling every tournament: Sumo wrestling schools have recently been established in Ulaanbaatar to ensure that a thorough shaming of the Japanese people is only a matter of time. Losing face on such a massive scale may cause the Japanese to commit hari kiri en masse.
P.P.S. I watched the penultimate day of the last tournament with Sukhbaatar (Axe hero), who was, some years ago, the wrestling coach of Davaajargal. We supported the Mongols so well that day it was difficult for me to pay attention on Sunday.
Andrew
More on the Revolting French
The sight of millions of Frenchmen, predominantly young, demonstrating in deep sympathy and solidarity with themselves, is one that will cause amusement and satisfaction on the English side of the Channel.
[...] Whether they know it or not, the people on the streets in France were demonstrating to keep the [predominantly Muslim] youth of the banlieues exactly where they are, namely hopeless, unemployed and feeling betrayed. For unless the French labor market is liberalized, they will never find employment and therefore integration into French society.
The rest.
[...] Whether they know it or not, the people on the streets in France were demonstrating to keep the [predominantly Muslim] youth of the banlieues exactly where they are, namely hopeless, unemployed and feeling betrayed. For unless the French labor market is liberalized, they will never find employment and therefore integration into French society.
The rest.
David Brooks (thanks A.M.)
today has a very clear-minded take on the immigration debate. Paul has given economic reasons for their value, but Brooks takes the argument directly to those most implacably opposed to immigration: social conservatives.
My first argument is that the exclusionists are wrong when they say the current wave of immigration is tearing our social fabric. The facts show that the recent rise in immigration hasn't been accompanied by social breakdown, but by social repair. As immigration has surged, violent crime has fallen by 57 percent. Teen pregnancies and abortion rates have declined by a third. Teenagers are having fewer sexual partners and losing their virginity later. Teen suicide rates have dropped. The divorce rate for young people is on the way down.
[...] My second argument is that the immigrants themselves are like a booster shot of traditional morality injected into the body politic. [...] This is evident in everything from divorce rates (which are low, given immigrants' socioeconomic status) to their fertility rates (which are high) and even the way they shop.
Brooks then goes on to give a few of the family-values kind of money-spending immigrants tend to do. Of course it is not terribly surprising that people with little disposable income spend what they have on family necessities. The government's Consumer Expenditure Survey and an outfit called Simmons Research are his sources on this. Someone want to look those up?
This isn't alien behavior. It's admirable behavior, the antidote to the excessive individualism that social conservatives decry.
He concludes with an observation I made about 20 years ago to an Texan friend of mine (whom I hope joins us):
[...] Women who have recently arrived from Mexico have bigger, healthier babies than more affluent non-Hispanic white natives. That's because strong family and social networks support these pregnant women, reminding them what to eat and do. But the longer they stay, and the more assimilated they become, the more bad habits they acquire and the more problems their subsequent babies have.
Something suspicious here: Why "...than more affluent non-Hispanic white natives"?
Please ask yourself this: As we contemplate America's moral fiber, do the real threats come from immigrants, or are some people merely blaming them for sins that are already here?
My observation to the Texas guy went something like this: Yeah the current stock of immigrants aren't the same as the group that came with my grandfather, fleeing murderous political banditry and getting here with some money, a violin, and some Bach on sheetmusic. But the America they came to didn't have rap and abortion and any number of other corruptions either.
His response? "Blame the victim!"
There is another angle of interest here. The reason A.M. sent me this is because he is European and is worried as hell about the Eurabia problem. It would be fascinating to see corresponding data for recent immigrants to Europe and to try to analyze the differences I bet there are.
My first argument is that the exclusionists are wrong when they say the current wave of immigration is tearing our social fabric. The facts show that the recent rise in immigration hasn't been accompanied by social breakdown, but by social repair. As immigration has surged, violent crime has fallen by 57 percent. Teen pregnancies and abortion rates have declined by a third. Teenagers are having fewer sexual partners and losing their virginity later. Teen suicide rates have dropped. The divorce rate for young people is on the way down.
[...] My second argument is that the immigrants themselves are like a booster shot of traditional morality injected into the body politic. [...] This is evident in everything from divorce rates (which are low, given immigrants' socioeconomic status) to their fertility rates (which are high) and even the way they shop.
Brooks then goes on to give a few of the family-values kind of money-spending immigrants tend to do. Of course it is not terribly surprising that people with little disposable income spend what they have on family necessities. The government's Consumer Expenditure Survey and an outfit called Simmons Research are his sources on this. Someone want to look those up?
This isn't alien behavior. It's admirable behavior, the antidote to the excessive individualism that social conservatives decry.
He concludes with an observation I made about 20 years ago to an Texan friend of mine (whom I hope joins us):
[...] Women who have recently arrived from Mexico have bigger, healthier babies than more affluent non-Hispanic white natives. That's because strong family and social networks support these pregnant women, reminding them what to eat and do. But the longer they stay, and the more assimilated they become, the more bad habits they acquire and the more problems their subsequent babies have.
Something suspicious here: Why "...than more affluent non-Hispanic white natives"?
Please ask yourself this: As we contemplate America's moral fiber, do the real threats come from immigrants, or are some people merely blaming them for sins that are already here?
My observation to the Texas guy went something like this: Yeah the current stock of immigrants aren't the same as the group that came with my grandfather, fleeing murderous political banditry and getting here with some money, a violin, and some Bach on sheetmusic. But the America they came to didn't have rap and abortion and any number of other corruptions either.
His response? "Blame the victim!"
There is another angle of interest here. The reason A.M. sent me this is because he is European and is worried as hell about the Eurabia problem. It would be fascinating to see corresponding data for recent immigrants to Europe and to try to analyze the differences I bet there are.
Coanda, R.I.P.
Friends, with heavy heart I must report that a previous post abusing Henri Marie [sic] Coanda (and AI for worshipping him) has been lost. My heart is not really up to the task of recreating all my jokes, but some of the links in my deceased post were amusing.
My friends are clever. They can reconstruct the jokes on their own.
About Coanda, it is asserted by Coandites that he was the one to discover an eponymous fluid-dynamical effect. This (if it can be boiled down to just one effect) seems to me to be just viscosity with a little surface-tension thrown in, but if someone were to enlighten me on this contrarily, I would appreciate it.
At one point there was a webpage claiming Coanda had invented this effect and this has always evoked in me Xerxes' scourging and shackling the Hellespont. How else could Coanda/Xerxes bend water to his will? Wretched pun, AA?
Also, Coanda has been, uh, credited with the discovery/invention of the flying saucer. This led me to a gratuitous mocking of our glorious former leader Jimmah. It was a sweet joke, really, with a reference to Area 51 and other foolishness. Lost. All lost.
In some seriousness, all in one bang, Coanda invented the thermojet, nearly built the first monoplane, and made an extensive use of metal in its construction.
It might even have flown if he had realized the reason for the rather excessive cabin warmth.
My friends are clever. They can reconstruct the jokes on their own.
About Coanda, it is asserted by Coandites that he was the one to discover an eponymous fluid-dynamical effect. This (if it can be boiled down to just one effect) seems to me to be just viscosity with a little surface-tension thrown in, but if someone were to enlighten me on this contrarily, I would appreciate it.
At one point there was a webpage claiming Coanda had invented this effect and this has always evoked in me Xerxes' scourging and shackling the Hellespont. How else could Coanda/Xerxes bend water to his will? Wretched pun, AA?
Also, Coanda has been, uh, credited with the discovery/invention of the flying saucer. This led me to a gratuitous mocking of our glorious former leader Jimmah. It was a sweet joke, really, with a reference to Area 51 and other foolishness. Lost. All lost.
In some seriousness, all in one bang, Coanda invented the thermojet, nearly built the first monoplane, and made an extensive use of metal in its construction.
It might even have flown if he had realized the reason for the rather excessive cabin warmth.
Buona Notte dal Lago di Liconi
This lake is a favorite destination for ~9-hour hikes around the house in Courmayeur. In this satellite shot, you see the lake right in the middle. I took my picture from roughly the NW, halfway up the ridge. That's about 150 m above the lake. A couple weeks later, BTORB and I walked a round trip from Courmayeur, which is visible WSW over the ridge in the satphoto. That trip didn't yield good pictures of this lake, though. Instead we got caught in snow where the clouds cover the satellite picture. I'll share those soon.
The white stuff in this picture on the north-facing slope is ice though this was taken in July. Those clouds in the distance had relatives near me that produced painful hail.
If you zoom back a couple clicks at the Googlemaps photo, the Massif du Mont Blanc will come into view and dominate the NW part of the image. Zoom out once more and S of the lake at bottom you'll see a round glacier. That's the Ruitor and I'll show it to you tomorrow night if I don't get swamped with requests for babes in unvarying stages of nudity.
PLo drops the G-bomb
I believe that George W Bush is doing something right for a change with his immigration reform proposal. Anyone from a border state can tell you two things: the borders are very easy to cross; and Mexican immigrants do a lot of hard, beneficial work for which few people in this country given them credit (agricultural work being just one example).
Bush may not be the brightest guy in the bunch, but he knows a lot more about planning immigration reform than a lot of his peers. His proposal to better document "undocumented" workers leads me to believe this.
I present for you an example:
A few years ago one of the areas on the top floor of my building was being gutted to make way for new construction. The area had been unoccupied for a few months. The labor working there was not skilled because it was demo work. I was riding the elevator with a worker who was clearly a Mexican national, and he dressed like he was right out of a Mexican border town.
I told the guy in Spanish I was from South Texas, from the Valley. He replied, "Ah, yo paso en Del Rio", translated, "I crossed in Del Rio." Del Rio is a small border town in Texas surrounded by scorched desert for 150 miles in every direction. I asked him how many days ago he passed. DEAR READERS, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS ONE: He told me he crossed five days ago.
Standing before me was a Mexican national who I'm sure couldn't speak a word of English, was probably undocumented, and who just five days ago crossed the border near Del Rio. Five days later this gentlemen had a construction gig in on the forth floor of an office building in Davis Square.
What's my point? My point is that he was smuggled, and that Big Business smuggled him.
In general, one doesn't cross the border in Del Rio (think tumbleweeds) and end up working in Davis Square five days later unless a higher power is planning your route. That just doesn't happen. I didn't ask more questions because people in his position are trying to fly under-the-radar and his employer would like it to remain that way.
People like this guy toil away behind the scenes while ignoramuses sit around and talk about "immigration reform" and how we need to "shoot-to-kill" anyone crossing the border. I'm not shitting you: I was in the office next door with my coworkers just a day later and they were talking about the need to tighten up the borders and kick out undocumented workers. I made the point that we as a society, as an economy, benefit from undocumented workers and therefore there's a strong underlying motivation to not kick them out - and why couldn't people face this fact?
In any case, GWB has hit the nail on the head on this one: To secure the borders you've got to acknowledge that undocumented works are a clear and present benefit. This concept pisses off conservatives because they like to think that America doesn't depend on undocumented workers at any level. It's a no-no to say that big business relies on them, because acknowledging that fact means companies will have to document them, and that in turn lessens the inherent benefits of them being "undocumented".
Praise to Allah and George W Bush!
(And I should note that Bush's proposal gets NO TALK in Boston at all... because people here would probably tend to agree with Bush on this one, and agreeing with, or giving credit to, GWB is tantamount to breaking the necks of children around here.)
[I have edited out the last line of Paul's post on the fear that it might be misinterpreted so as to squelch debate regarding the post. I have cleared this with Paul who has always thought of me as being an asshole anyhow. He suggested that I insert this note and I think that's a good idea. -JJ]
Bush may not be the brightest guy in the bunch, but he knows a lot more about planning immigration reform than a lot of his peers. His proposal to better document "undocumented" workers leads me to believe this.
I present for you an example:
A few years ago one of the areas on the top floor of my building was being gutted to make way for new construction. The area had been unoccupied for a few months. The labor working there was not skilled because it was demo work. I was riding the elevator with a worker who was clearly a Mexican national, and he dressed like he was right out of a Mexican border town.
I told the guy in Spanish I was from South Texas, from the Valley. He replied, "Ah, yo paso en Del Rio", translated, "I crossed in Del Rio." Del Rio is a small border town in Texas surrounded by scorched desert for 150 miles in every direction. I asked him how many days ago he passed. DEAR READERS, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS ONE: He told me he crossed five days ago.
Standing before me was a Mexican national who I'm sure couldn't speak a word of English, was probably undocumented, and who just five days ago crossed the border near Del Rio. Five days later this gentlemen had a construction gig in on the forth floor of an office building in Davis Square.
What's my point? My point is that he was smuggled, and that Big Business smuggled him.
In general, one doesn't cross the border in Del Rio (think tumbleweeds) and end up working in Davis Square five days later unless a higher power is planning your route. That just doesn't happen. I didn't ask more questions because people in his position are trying to fly under-the-radar and his employer would like it to remain that way.
People like this guy toil away behind the scenes while ignoramuses sit around and talk about "immigration reform" and how we need to "shoot-to-kill" anyone crossing the border. I'm not shitting you: I was in the office next door with my coworkers just a day later and they were talking about the need to tighten up the borders and kick out undocumented workers. I made the point that we as a society, as an economy, benefit from undocumented workers and therefore there's a strong underlying motivation to not kick them out - and why couldn't people face this fact?
In any case, GWB has hit the nail on the head on this one: To secure the borders you've got to acknowledge that undocumented works are a clear and present benefit. This concept pisses off conservatives because they like to think that America doesn't depend on undocumented workers at any level. It's a no-no to say that big business relies on them, because acknowledging that fact means companies will have to document them, and that in turn lessens the inherent benefits of them being "undocumented".
Praise to Allah and George W Bush!
(And I should note that Bush's proposal gets NO TALK in Boston at all... because people here would probably tend to agree with Bush on this one, and agreeing with, or giving credit to, GWB is tantamount to breaking the necks of children around here.)
[I have edited out the last line of Paul's post on the fear that it might be misinterpreted so as to squelch debate regarding the post. I have cleared this with Paul who has always thought of me as being an asshole anyhow. He suggested that I insert this note and I think that's a good idea. -JJ]
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Bill Gates
is doubtless losing lots of sleep over the possibility that he might lose such a big market.
Punning contest starter: The new Venezuelan computer will be called a FARCstation!
Punning contest starter: The new Venezuelan computer will be called a FARCstation!
He Dies the Deepest Who Dies Alone
Robert Lowell, the blue-blood Brahmin Poet of Beacon Hill; [born to it, at least] . He might have remained so had he made sufficient monies and attempts at the Harvard social graces to comfortably live out his life there. The chap died, miserable & reviled, having eaten his full measure of bitter, in 1977. Now he is just another dead, white, male, poet, Yankee, and so his fall into the waters of our River Lethe. Yet, for a DeWhiMaPoYa, his writing was not bereft of virtues. His eye, ever rancorous, scanned the hills of Boston, and saw Hell. Then he married, and lived Hell. Two Guidean Verities you might appreciate?
Pelosi, Reid (unison): I'm Smart!
"We need a new direction on national security, and leaders with policies that are tough and smart. That is what Democrats offer," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday.
His counterpart in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats were providing a fresh strategy _ "one that is strong and smart, which understands the challenges America faces in a post 9/11 world, and one that demonstrates that Democrats are the party of real national security."
Taranto's first item today.
His counterpart in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats were providing a fresh strategy _ "one that is strong and smart, which understands the challenges America faces in a post 9/11 world, and one that demonstrates that Democrats are the party of real national security."
Taranto's first item today.
News for Poor Typists
NEW! IMPROVED!
We have one line of html being hosted at a friend's place. This means that henceforth you just need to go to freecounterpoint.com and you'll be referred here.
We're on the map now. Come and get us you bastards at LGF!
Saving all these keystrokes should mean we will all have more time for the better things in life like scratching up soft porn, hard art, political poppycock, and pet peeves.
We have one line of html being hosted at a friend's place. This means that henceforth you just need to go to freecounterpoint.com and you'll be referred here.
We're on the map now. Come and get us you bastards at LGF!
Saving all these keystrokes should mean we will all have more time for the better things in life like scratching up soft porn, hard art, political poppycock, and pet peeves.
An Embarassment of Riches
I see that remote imaging of curvaceous forms is a specialty of me fellow Droogs. I, with my scientific eye, find the wealth of data most intriguing. Keep up the good work, lads.......Now, must confess to not having expected such visual e'lan on this blog. So, being the naive chump I am, I blithely opened up the screen to Freecounterpoint at what passes for my office, with two rather fervent and humorless feminists chatting over my shoulder. It was a lesson learnt for all of us.
Remind me to never ever access our site again other than in utter privacy, or the safe confines of a BB bar near Camp Lejeune, or anywhere in downtown Tokyo.
Remind me to never ever access our site again other than in utter privacy, or the safe confines of a BB bar near Camp Lejeune, or anywhere in downtown Tokyo.
Vicarious Posting for AI
I don't have my blogger password with me, so let me
go back to low tech, and to one of my "idees fixes,"
as you call them.
So, do you plan to follow the trend, and take your trusty brain fryer with you. when time comes to cross River Styx, just in case Charon wants to chat?
Being in Boston is already post-mortem. Are there still eschatological choices to be made or are they all scatological?
go back to low tech, and to one of my "idees fixes,"
as you call them.
So, do you plan to follow the trend, and take your trusty brain fryer with you. when time comes to cross River Styx, just in case Charon wants to chat?
Being in Boston is already post-mortem. Are there still eschatological choices to be made or are they all scatological?
democracy around the corner
W is looking for a more compliant puppet to run his new democracy. Are the evangelists opposed to the cloning of karzai ?
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Is Pop Culture Making Us Smarter?
Click here: Deeply, Hilariously Bogus
From: Steven Johnson
To: Dana Stevens
Subject: Pop Culture Is Good for Us
Thursday, May 12, 2005, at 6:14 AM ET
Dana Stevens, Slate's TV critic, and Steven Johnson discuss whether pop culture makes you smarter. In a recent New York Times Magazine excerpt from his book Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, Johnson suggested that increasingly complex narratives are making primetime television more and more challenging. Stevens, responding in Slate, argued that challenging programming is still hard to come by. Sensing the beginning of a promising debate, we asked Stevens to read Johnson's book—which claims, more broadly, that video games and TV are far better for us than we think they are. Here, Johnson and Stevens continue their debate.
From: Steven Johnson
To: Dana Stevens
Subject: Pop Culture Is Good for Us
Thursday, May 12, 2005, at 6:14 AM ET
Dana Stevens, Slate's TV critic, and Steven Johnson discuss whether pop culture makes you smarter. In a recent New York Times Magazine excerpt from his book Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, Johnson suggested that increasingly complex narratives are making primetime television more and more challenging. Stevens, responding in Slate, argued that challenging programming is still hard to come by. Sensing the beginning of a promising debate, we asked Stevens to read Johnson's book—which claims, more broadly, that video games and TV are far better for us than we think they are. Here, Johnson and Stevens continue their debate.
Geriatric Gamers
The Gaming Graybeards
Can two thirtysomethings survive on Xbox Live?
By Seth Stevenson and Chris Suellentrop
Updated Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005, at 11:46 AM ET
Excerpt from article:
Seth: Chris, I'm fresh off our initial foray into the Xbox Live universe, and I am feeling so many new feelings. Here are the moments I enjoyed most:
1) I liked how—just so we could log on and play the shoot'em-up game Halo 2—I had to spend 10 minutes downloading ancillary programs, including something called the "Killtacular Map Pack."
2) I liked how, when we finally started, I was killed within eight seconds. Then I came back to life in another part of the game … and was again killed within eight seconds. I don't think I ever survived longer than 20 seconds. At one point I accidentally detonated something (maybe a plasma grenade) right next to myself. In that instance, I committed suicide before other players had a chance to kill me.
3) I liked when I got in the driver's seat of the "Warthog" assault vehicle and one of our remote Xbox Live teammates quickly hopped onboard and manned the turret gun, as though he expected me to drive us somewhere useful. I instead drove off a cliff and killed us both. Boy, was he surprised!
How was it for you? Notice I've left out the part where we squared off in a head-to-head match. I'll let you describe that.
Chris: I believe I defeated you 7 to 0, meaning I killed you seven times and you killed me zero. That left me falsely confident when we entered our next team match, which we lost 50-11. We started with two other teammates, but they quit halfway through, presumably despondent over being paired with two aging, 30-year-old newbies.
Can two thirtysomethings survive on Xbox Live?
By Seth Stevenson and Chris Suellentrop
Updated Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005, at 11:46 AM ET
Excerpt from article:
Seth: Chris, I'm fresh off our initial foray into the Xbox Live universe, and I am feeling so many new feelings. Here are the moments I enjoyed most:
1) I liked how—just so we could log on and play the shoot'em-up game Halo 2—I had to spend 10 minutes downloading ancillary programs, including something called the "Killtacular Map Pack."
2) I liked how, when we finally started, I was killed within eight seconds. Then I came back to life in another part of the game … and was again killed within eight seconds. I don't think I ever survived longer than 20 seconds. At one point I accidentally detonated something (maybe a plasma grenade) right next to myself. In that instance, I committed suicide before other players had a chance to kill me.
3) I liked when I got in the driver's seat of the "Warthog" assault vehicle and one of our remote Xbox Live teammates quickly hopped onboard and manned the turret gun, as though he expected me to drive us somewhere useful. I instead drove off a cliff and killed us both. Boy, was he surprised!
How was it for you? Notice I've left out the part where we squared off in a head-to-head match. I'll let you describe that.
Chris: I believe I defeated you 7 to 0, meaning I killed you seven times and you killed me zero. That left me falsely confident when we entered our next team match, which we lost 50-11. We started with two other teammates, but they quit halfway through, presumably despondent over being paired with two aging, 30-year-old newbies.
Last is Least
It seems I was the last to see the invite break through the Fire Wall of my own private non-Idaho. And it is true that last is what I deserved. But , remember, better to be the last to get a seat on a lifeboat off the Titanic than the first to pay money to see the flick.
What a Drag
What a Drag
The great Powerade ad you won't find on TV.
By Seth Stevenson
Posted Monday, March 27, 2006, at 1:34 PM ET
The great Powerade ad you won't find on TV.
By Seth Stevenson
Posted Monday, March 27, 2006, at 1:34 PM ET
Monday, March 27, 2006
I'll Call it a Night
And in the interest of our fraternal harmony, to smooth over our differences, I will float two spheres on which we can all agree.
More Randi = randier?
Is this why the Brits beat the French?
Plausible, but then how come the Italians did not beat the Brits since about AD 1?
Rice Knocks It Outta The Park
Rice said on Sunday that the incident was evidence that the "birth defect" of slavery infused even mature democracies with racial tensions that took generations to heal.
Rice added that she hoped the episode inspired Americans to "be a little bit more humble" about the progress of emerging democracies such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An embarrassing episode Condi spun to her advantage admirably.
Rice added that she hoped the episode inspired Americans to "be a little bit more humble" about the progress of emerging democracies such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An embarrassing episode Condi spun to her advantage admirably.
Revolting News
One big concern is over security. During previous marches demonstrators have been attacked by troublemakers. Some students have been given the task of protecting others during the rally, Mr Vacheron says.
Violence during the protests has been blamed on various groups - far-right activists, anarchists and sundry outsiders.
Of course it's not the students. They are protesting fascist right-wing government policies.
Violence during the protests has been blamed on various groups - far-right activists, anarchists and sundry outsiders.
Of course it's not the students. They are protesting fascist right-wing government policies.
Groundhog Day recap (thank you Bill)
Phil’s Shadow
Michael P. Foley on the Lessons of Groundhog Day
Last December the New York Times ran an intriguing article about a Museum of Modern Art movie series on
film and faith. What attracted the Times to the series was not its pageant of grave Swedish cinema but its
opening feature, the 1993 romantic comedy Groundhog Day. The curators, polling “critics in the literary,
religious and film worlds,” found that the movie “came up so many times that there was actually a squabble
over who would write about it in the retrospective’s catalog.”
The movie, the article went on to observe, “has become
a curious favorite of religious leaders of many
faiths, who all see in Groundhog Day a reflection of
their own spiritual messages.” A professor at NYU
shows it in her classes to illustrate the doctrine of
samsara (the endless cycle of rebirth Buddhists seek
to escape), while a rabbi in Greenwich Village sees
the film as hinging on mitvahs (good deeds). Wiccans
like it because February 2nd is one of the year’s four
“great sabbats,” while the Falun Dafa sect uses the
movie as a lesson in spiritual advancement.
Deciphering which, if any, of these interpretations is
correct is no easy task, especially since the director
and co-writer of the film, Harold Ramis, has ambiguous
religious beliefs (he is an agnostic raised Jewish and
married to a Buddhist). The commentators also seem
wedded to a single hermeneutical lens, forcing them to
ignore contradictory data.
A more fruitful approach, I suggest, would involve
following all of the clues, clues that lead not only
to religion but also to the great conversation of
philosophy. Once we do so, Groundhog Day may be seen
for what it is: a stunning allegory of moral,
intellectual, and even religious excellence in the
face of postmodern decay, a sort of
Christian-Aristotelian Pilgrim’s Progress for those
lost in the contemporary cosmos.
Typical Modern
Article
Orig. NYT article on G'hog Day
Michael P. Foley on the Lessons of Groundhog Day
Last December the New York Times ran an intriguing article about a Museum of Modern Art movie series on
film and faith. What attracted the Times to the series was not its pageant of grave Swedish cinema but its
opening feature, the 1993 romantic comedy Groundhog Day. The curators, polling “critics in the literary,
religious and film worlds,” found that the movie “came up so many times that there was actually a squabble
over who would write about it in the retrospective’s catalog.”
The movie, the article went on to observe, “has become
a curious favorite of religious leaders of many
faiths, who all see in Groundhog Day a reflection of
their own spiritual messages.” A professor at NYU
shows it in her classes to illustrate the doctrine of
samsara (the endless cycle of rebirth Buddhists seek
to escape), while a rabbi in Greenwich Village sees
the film as hinging on mitvahs (good deeds). Wiccans
like it because February 2nd is one of the year’s four
“great sabbats,” while the Falun Dafa sect uses the
movie as a lesson in spiritual advancement.
Deciphering which, if any, of these interpretations is
correct is no easy task, especially since the director
and co-writer of the film, Harold Ramis, has ambiguous
religious beliefs (he is an agnostic raised Jewish and
married to a Buddhist). The commentators also seem
wedded to a single hermeneutical lens, forcing them to
ignore contradictory data.
A more fruitful approach, I suggest, would involve
following all of the clues, clues that lead not only
to religion but also to the great conversation of
philosophy. Once we do so, Groundhog Day may be seen
for what it is: a stunning allegory of moral,
intellectual, and even religious excellence in the
face of postmodern decay, a sort of
Christian-Aristotelian Pilgrim’s Progress for those
lost in the contemporary cosmos.
Typical Modern
Article
Orig. NYT article on G'hog Day
A Good Friend From The French Left Wrote
about this, "i say we castrate him, drill his brains with a power tool, wrap him in a pig's skin and bury him in a heap of manure."
An idea that would find support in Paris and Quetta as well as Houston.
An idea that would find support in Paris and Quetta as well as Houston.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Let's Start, Buds!
Dear e-pistoleros,
For a couple years I have thought about taking our emailing circle and making it a public blog. It seems to me that this will simplify the difficulties we have keeping track of what responses belong to what mails. It should help in reading conversations that make several bounces, or at least I hope so. Also, I think some of our old conversations were inciteful or entertaining enough to deserve rereadings and reevocations, and this is an ideal way to keep them handy and in one spot.
Several of you are in academics and probably would prefer to use a pen name, as I have. Also, as I have decided to invite people from other circles, you will see that the diversity of opinion to which you are accustomed in our discussions will increase. I hope you guys will not be overly put off by the levels of vehemence that occasionally mark these discussions. I am not a believer in Hitchens' claim that 'with heat comes light', preferring instead calm rationality. On the other hand, I think it is a natural part of disagreements that they become heated from time to time and I hope you (and I) will never get to the point that we become trolls in our own forum.
Be aware that the usual lines of communication will remain open at our usual email addresses and so private conversations will be possible still. Also, if you would prefer not to post under your own name, you may as an anonymous poster.
I find this possibility annoying, as I know all of you and so I would prefer we all chose aliases making clear at least to one another, our identities.
In closing, I hope you friends will join me in making the switch to this new venue and our discussions remain entertaining and valuable as they have been.
Best,
JJ
For a couple years I have thought about taking our emailing circle and making it a public blog. It seems to me that this will simplify the difficulties we have keeping track of what responses belong to what mails. It should help in reading conversations that make several bounces, or at least I hope so. Also, I think some of our old conversations were inciteful or entertaining enough to deserve rereadings and reevocations, and this is an ideal way to keep them handy and in one spot.
Several of you are in academics and probably would prefer to use a pen name, as I have. Also, as I have decided to invite people from other circles, you will see that the diversity of opinion to which you are accustomed in our discussions will increase. I hope you guys will not be overly put off by the levels of vehemence that occasionally mark these discussions. I am not a believer in Hitchens' claim that 'with heat comes light', preferring instead calm rationality. On the other hand, I think it is a natural part of disagreements that they become heated from time to time and I hope you (and I) will never get to the point that we become trolls in our own forum.
Be aware that the usual lines of communication will remain open at our usual email addresses and so private conversations will be possible still. Also, if you would prefer not to post under your own name, you may as an anonymous poster.
I find this possibility annoying, as I know all of you and so I would prefer we all chose aliases making clear at least to one another, our identities.
In closing, I hope you friends will join me in making the switch to this new venue and our discussions remain entertaining and valuable as they have been.
Best,
JJ
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