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March 31, 2008
It's a jungle out there
Amanda Marcotte's new book is certainly a good read. Well worth the 13 bucks it costs. Something struck me as strange, though: Amanda is much funnier and insightful in blog format than as a writer with (presumably) an editor. Perhaps it's the "first take best take" punk ethos which has made it difficult for her to improve with each draft.
Anyway. Buy the book. Read it like it's a blog...
Posted by Andrew at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2008
Some quick thoughts on race...
So: When our government conducted studies, they found that African Americans were more likely to be given subprime mortgages than whites-- even when "race" was the only difference between the applicants. At the same time, when identical resumes are submitted, the only difference being the name up top, the "African American" name tends to be a large disadvantage.
These are just 2 of the many slights African Americans put up with-- not even counting the daily slings and arrows that American society reserves specially for minorities. Viewed in that context, its somewhat amazing that race riots aren't more common than they are. Certainly, they make Rev. Wright's comments meaningful...
Posted by Andrew at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
We promise we're not wasting trees
If aliens ever land and give us, I dunno, an hour to justify our continued existence as a species, We could do _far_ worse than to let them watch some improv-everywhere.
Posted by Andrew at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2008
Another America-bashing religious event
The candidate was endorsed by yet another America hating religious figure. I don't have much faith that his candidacy can survive the slew of negative press that will be sure to follow:
The person who put on the conference which opened with this song went on to endorse the candidate. The candidate wasn't there-- just like he wasn't there for Rev. Wright's now-infamous attack on America.
The candidate, of course, is John McCain; I'm sure my circumlocution fooled no one. To be sure, McCain boycotted their event-- yet he's counting on their support. Straight-talkin' John wants it both ways. It looks like a complacent media is going to let him have it.
It seems almost unnecessary to say that I disagree vehemently with every lyric of the song. And yet I also feel that religion seems like a valid tool with which to challenge the American self-image. I'm disappointed that the challenge from the left seems more controversial than the challenge from the right.
But if you're going to vote for McCain, this is the company you're keeping. It's good to know
Posted by Andrew at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2008
Election '08
I know we're all supposed to be talking about Obama's speech
I think I'll let the man speak for himself:
It's really quite good, and there's a comment or three I've got on it. That isn't really my concern at the moment...
One of the intriguing things about the Obama campaign is how good he's been. He's taken the resources he has and applied them where they will be most usefully spent. Whereas Hillary has consistently focused on the next challenge, Obama has focused on the next two. This has put Hillary on the defensive-- before she even knew she wasn't the front runner. When things have blown up in his face (Samantha Power, Rev. Wright, etc), he has moved quickly, often within the same news-cycle to defuse the situation.
I don't know if Obama will win, and he's certainly not been mistake-free, yet it must be said, he's been the most nimble and effective campaigner we've seen in a long time.
Posted by Andrew at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2008
The 10 types of Republicans
Posted by Andrew at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)
March 17, 2008
good to know, good to know...
We've all heard about the economic collapse that would be necessarily mandated by the changes to our lifestyle that would prevent the extinction of our species. So the EPA ran the numbers. It's pretty horrifly stuff.
Basically, they found in the next 22 years we'll grow by 1% less. Instead of 81% growth, we'll only experience 80% growth. That means that I'll be giving up US$355 (at my current salary) just to make sure the planet remains habitable! That's over half of my projected rebate. By the gods, that can't stand...
Posted by Andrew at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2008
Libertarians don't know economics, part something of an ongoing series...
Draginol has another uninformed rant up at his site.
Similarly, there's an ever increasing effort to have the top 1% pay more and more of the taxes than ever before. Even today, the top 1% pay 20% of the taxes. And in a democracy, who is to argue what is "fair"? If 51% think it's "fair" that 1% pay 20% or 30% or 50% of the taxes, the 1% are basically screwed right? Not so in a globalized economy.
It truly is amazing how much "wrong" you can shoehorn into a statement where 100% of the facts are correct, and still not be right. To sum up: Draginol is claiming that it is unfair for the top 1% of wealth-earners to pay 20% of the taxes. What he fails to acknowledged, or perhaps even know, is that the top 1% of wealth-earners have over 30% of the wealth.
What that means is that America has a less-than-flat tax. The poor pay more of their income than the rich pay of theirs. Is this fair? Perhaps. After all, the government is very much willing to bail out the rich when they run into financial difficulty, and cut food stamps to do it.
Wait, that's not fair.
An argument that Draginol doesn't want to pay taxes is, well, no one likes to pay taxes. But an argument that he's overtaxed and therefore would like to flee the country just sounds odd...
Posted by Andrew at 08:45 AM | Comments (1)
March 13, 2008
A real alpha-male:
A more serious complaint than you might think...
Those new voters ticked off the first name to appear in each of the nonpresidential contests, claims Grant, lending weight to candidates whose names appear first in the alphabet. And in the end, D comes before G. Alpha-deficient Grant explains that there was a striking difference between results at those polls where the Doherty and Grant campaigns supplied literature and those that went unstaffed.
In California, we mix things up a bit. First we randomize the alphabet, and block each candidate within that group together. So, all the "A" candidates will appear together, all the "Q" candidates, and so on. But "Q" could well come before "A" depending on the randomization. Also, we have it differently randomized for each precinct-- this to ensure that each candidate gets an equal chance to appear as the "top" name.
It sounds like things are different in Texas.
Posted by Andrew at 07:55 AM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
I think this is why people run for president
This sort of weird, entertaining, fun thing doesn't happen to most people, or most of the time. Generally speaking, you need to need to be part of a flash mob to get things this cool to happen. And there's Hillary, right in the middle, huge grin on her face that only gets wider when she misses the mark on her hand-waving...
This woman could be president. I'm ok with that.
Posted by Andrew at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Compare and Contrast...
"only" 22 percent of Americans read political blogs. And only 19% approve of George W Bush.
Of course, the poll is "conducted online from January 15 to January 22 among 2,302 adults. Harris said it does not calculate or provide a margin of error because it finds such figures can be misleading." I'm not sure how accurate an online poll can be...
Posted by Andrew at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2008
Talk nerdy to me...
Posted by Andrew at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2008
Happy birthday to me!
Today I am 30 years old. I'm off to do fun and interesting things. You get a song:
Posted by Andrew at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2008
Taxonomy of hopelessness.
The old line is that "A lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math". In the social sciences we have another saying "Rational choice". It's not at all catchy.
What it basically means is that, in aggregate, people tend to do the thing which brings them the best results. That's a simplification, of course.
So, when a political scientist sees a whole bunch of people playing the lottery, we assume that this is the best investment available to them. And since the expected return is, um, poor, it points to a basic lack of opportunity to the players.
When we see people playing the lottery for health insurance, we can guess that there is something deeply, deeply, wrong with our society. The good news? At least they're able to pay for an ongoing occupation of Iraq...
Posted by Andrew at 07:36 AM | Comments (1)
I've got nothing to add:
Few people seem to appreciate it, but it's quite literally true that al-Qaeda's strategy is to cripple the U.S. economy by dragging us into quagmires abroad. Osama bin Laden himself has said this, and it's the only strategy that makes sense. A smallish number of people with no base of resources can't possibly defeat us unless we shoot ourselves in the foot repeatedly as Bush and McCain propose.
Posted by Andrew at 07:23 AM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2008
Defending marriage, one joke at a time...
Posted by Andrew at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2008
Before I turn 30...
I wanted to A) be more social, B) read the Aeneid and the Iliad, and C) lose weight.
Well, 2 out of 3 ain't so bad. Those Virgil and Homer guys sure could write. And getting out of the house is fun. Perhaps I can start walking across the bay or something...
Posted by Andrew at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2008
Your world in charts
Posted by Andrew at 04:15 PM | Comments (1)