Innumercy writ large

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Monday July 13, 2009 · 7:42 PM PDT

2009/07/13 · 19:42

The Denver Post, today, on its editorial page, introduced the idea that the Colorado Budget was a problem. As part of the Op-Ed, they used an example about how Amendment 23 to the Colorado constitution wreaks havoc on the budget. But the example they gave is totally from left field. It exemplifies the idea that math is foreign to too many people, and that mathematical mistakes go unquestioned because too many people haven't a clue about bad computations and bad conclusions.

blindcynic

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Friday April 17, 2009 · 4:51 PM PDT

2009/04/17 · 16:51

As much as I like the ACLU for abstract reasons, I like the Electronic Frontier Foundation more, since, well, I make a living, such as it is, on the Electronic Frontier. Recently, (Ok ,an hour ago) they had an alarming piece on a dangerous Boston College student who had all his computer stuff, down to digital cameras,his Ipod and a copy of Ubuntu on CD siezed by the police. He called suspicion to himself by using

A black screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on

and

he uses two different operating systems to hide his illegal activities

He was tracked down because, evidently, he was part of an investigation into who identified another student as gay on a mailing list.

More beyond...

blindcynic

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Wednesday March 11, 2009 · 10:12 AM PDT

2009/03/11 · 10:12

Alan Greenspan just published an article in the Wall Street Journal essentially saying "don't blame me for the housing bubble". Essentially he's taking the position that "I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken". Oh, and Milton Friedman was a friend of mine...

Other financial commentators had different ideas...

blindcynic

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Friday February 06, 2009 · 9:39 AM PST

2009/02/06 · 09:39

David Harsanyi, the Denver Post Libertarian and a Maureen Dowd Wannabe, has a column today complaining about CEO Pay Caps.

Here's his lead:

Many Americans would agree that executives who accepted government bailouts should be huddled around chipped Formica tables at the Wichita Super 8 conference room rather than congregating at plush Las Vegas retreats.

But is it possible to place our frustration with corporate tone-deafness aside and be mildly troubled by the rigorous control Washington has seized by feeding on the fears and bloodlust of terrified citizens?

Why did we just allow the president to dictate the pay of private citizens working in the private sector?

He's a clever writer, maybe too clever, but he's on the Denver Post Op-Ed page to counterbalance Mallard Filmore, I guess. I sent in a Letter to the Editor on this column, below, with some additional comments that would have been too long to get printed, wherein I compare our present economic situation to a famous airline crash....(see below for Wiki link)

blindcynic

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Friday January 30, 2009 · 9:43 AM PST

2009/01/30 · 09:43

For Egyptians ‘on the street’, Obama has become exceptionally popular. Euphoric cries of "Obama, Obama!" greet this semester’s crop of students at the American University in Cairo, reflecting a popular expectation that "Obama will fix it," ‘it’ referring to anything from the global financial crisis to the recent Gaza conflict.

I have a personal correspondent in Egypt - my Daughter. She's in advanced international studies (Institut de Hautes Etudes) in Geneva on scholarship (the school that graduated Kofi Annan many years ago), and is currently working temporarily with a German "Think Tank" with offices in Cairo. She speaks English, German and French, but is completely bumfuzzled with Arabic.

blindcynic

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Tuesday January 27, 2009 · 6:23 PM PST

2009/01/27 · 18:23

How we speak says a lot about us, mostly derived from our parents, although (as actors know) you can learn a lot from a voice coach, or debate instructor. The phraseology, syntax, word selection, quirks and slang all tell the world where we came from and to some degree how we think. Good courtroom lawyers like my brother in law know how important the presentation is. Obama did good!

blindcynic

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Saturday December 20, 2008 · 12:17 PM PST

2008/12/20 · 12:17

Mike Connell, GOP Computer GURU and, apparently, a General Aviation pilot, died last night (Friday, Dec 19) in a plane crash on approach to Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. He has made depositions about possible GOP involvement in GOP election and e-mail shenanigans, and was destined to be involved in upcoming lawsuits as a witness. Larisa Alexandrovna has a piece on this as well.

There's another diary on this as well, today

This link
reports the plane as a Piper SuperCub; other notes I have seen say it was a Piper Saratoga. There is speculation that the crash might be suspicious in nature.

I'm not speculating about the political issues of this particular crash, but rather this is a diary for non-pilots about the risks involved in flying small planes and interpreting news about small plane crashes.

blindcynic

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Tuesday June 17, 2008 · 7:55 PM PDT

2008/06/17 · 19:55

Even though this is a political site. I'm sure tired of Hillary Diaries. Torture. Justice department. Constitution. Impeachment. Corruption. Election 2008. Whitey. You know, it's tedious sometimes. So this is about how to enjoy yourself.

I'm a self-employed software engineer (i.e. running a non-profit) and so I'm around the house/office all the time. My local NPR station moved its antenna, so I now have trouble receiving them. They (KUNC in Greeley, CO) played "Diverse Music", an eclectic brand of different music, and I enjoyed the idea that I might hear "another brick in the wall" only a few minutes after Vivaldi's "Spring". Also, I move around the house a lot, and might wander from the office to the kitchen to the garage and back again, and I disliked interrupting the soundscape. Especially on the weekend, I want to hear all the NPR stuff, from "Car Guys" and "wait, wait" to "splendid table" and "Weakened Condition"

And Penny Evans was a Vietnam War Widow - more below the fold..

blindcynic

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Saturday December 01, 2007 · 8:23 AM PST

2007/12/01 · 08:23

Asked at an event honoring Winston Churchill sponsored by independent Michigan school Hillsdale College if he would talk more from the bench to "give us relief" from the other chatty judges, Thomas said, "I don't think it's my job to give you relief."

http://www.usnews.com/...

Thomas doesn't think questions from the bench are suitable.

blindcynic

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Friday September 15, 2006 · 11:10 AM PDT

2006/09/15 · 11:10

In a spirited give and take during the Friday Sept. 15 2006 press conference, reporters asked Bush about passing a bill to redefine (or more clearly define) Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions. Bush asserts that it is "vague" and wants more language "spelling out the rules". My ear immediately picked this up, and I thought of at least two concerns this raises, along with underlying issues - One is that it is an attempt to purposly create loopholes, and second is that concentrating on specifics may mean that Bush and his lawyers don't understand the general.... Read More

Lebanon - Unintended consequences

blindcynic

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Friday July 21, 2006 · 10:56 AM PDT

2006/07/21 · 10:56

A story in the Washington Post (via Raw Story) essentially suggesting that Bush's (and Rice's) view of the Lebanon conflict is "more war will lead to peace" raises some interesting questions. On the surface, there is some logic on their side, if (and it's a big if) the underlying assumptions are correct. The reasoning is that, now that Hezbollah seems to have started this current altercation, for whatever reasons, Israel has free rein to go beat the crap out of Lebanon and Hezbollah, and if that takes Hezbollah down, some much the better. But, life is more complicated then that... Read More

Politicizing the Military

blindcynic

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Monday March 06, 2006 · 9:58 AM PST

2006/03/06 · 09:58

As mentioned in some detail at talking points memo
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

And illustrated by a local Story in Larimer Country, CO
http://www.coloradoan.com/...

Rep Marilyn Musgrave http://musgrave.house.gov/ held a GOP dinner featuring two marines in uniform. Nice theater, but it's Illegal (DOD directive 1344.10, August 2, 2004, Signed by Paul Wolfowitz (!) http://www.dtic.mil/...

I think I saw a piece recently that indicated the White House is encouraging this, but I don't have a link to that story.... Read More

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Innumercy writ large

Ubuntu is Muslim, isn't he? (Campus police issues)

Exuberant Irrationality and Alan Greenspan

Denver Post Complains about CEO pay caps

What they say about Obama in Eqypt

Obama, Charley Pride, and Locution, Elocution, syntax and grammar

Mike Connell small plane crash - as a pilot

Geek Diary - Your own Radio station - and Penny Evans

Clarence Thomas and the deliberative process

"Outrages upon personal dignity..." - Article III

Lebanon - Unintended consequences

Politicizing the Military