if you squint hard you can see paradise, train yard, gray matter news
July 9, 2009 at 5:29 pm | In Philosophy & Religion, culture, photography, photoshop, science | Leave a Comment
Few people, regardless of political, religious or philosophical leanings walk around wearing them like a chip on their shoulder. If you get a few dozen people together at a social gathering or chatting after a business meeting, its been my experience that they will all have an a mental picture of an ideal society in their head. Some will be hardcore Utopians, others might have a more modest dream of a relatively crime free society in which everyone has food, clothing and shelter. There are other options, but two major schools of thought as to why we’re not going to get to any version of paradise. Its the fault of people and their various flaws. Flaws that become amplified when you have populations in the millions. While there is some cynicism in this view, that cynicism is one deeply ingrained in western culture – i.e. we’re all sinners. The other school is that government is at fault. In this view, government is a nebulous thing; detached, omnipresent, all powerful and always evil with endless power ups. IT is a monster that appears from points unknown. Nope, sorry dad, but that entire box of cookies must have been carried off by the cookie monster while we were asleep view of government. The only way to turn this cookie monster dystopia around is to create a place where there is no cookie monster. If one is going to immerse themselves in the magical world of government that appears out of the misty bogs then the answers must be just as misty. Those that hold such views are generally not dumb in the sense of equation solving or using the correct beam to stand the estimated stress. One could think of them as hardware that operates with buggy software, 20,000 Nations Above the Sea – Is floating the last, best hope for liberty?
And although David might be right that government isn’t even necessary, the fact remains that governments, however inefficient, control virtually every chunk of planet Earth. Winning control of a piece of land almost necessarily involves bloodshed, with very little likelihood of success. High barriers to entry, indeed. So while the libertarian movement maintained its traditional orientation toward scholarship, journalism, and political activism, governments were busy perpetrating mass murder on a scale no other institution could manage, mucking up market transactions that could improve everyone’s lives, and ruining millions of lives over private but illegal choices, such as consuming disapproved drugs.
Political affiliations aside again and sticking to generalities writ large. Everyone has a gripe with gov’mint. The particulars of what we think is wrong is where arguments begin. To say that the disembodied ghost known as government is the problem nicely side steps the reality of having some kind of order and justice among other more fundamental issues when you have more then one person on paradise island. Wherever you find more then one person there will inevitably be clashes over everything from noise, to water, to personal sensibilities. If you violate someone’s personal space you could have one of those bloody conflicts without bothering to add in ideology, religion or deciding how to divide resources. The foundations of some brands of libertarianism( such as illustrated above) is not simply shaky at the roots, it requires super human amounts of denial about humanity. They are not talking about a general inclination toward having as little and as simple regulation of society as is possible – a POV for which I have sympathies- they talking about the societal alchemy. Live Free or Drown
Friedman’s optimism is easier to buy into if you ignore the history of previous would-be nation builders. There was Operation Atlantis, created by Ayn Rand admirer Werner Stiefel in the late 1960s. Stiefel, who made a fortune selling dermatology products, devoted his life to creating a sovereign society with the freest markets imaginable. He started with a ferro-cement boat that made a single successful voyage on the Hudson River. He erected a system of seabreaks near the coast of Haiti but was run off by president Franè7ois Duvalier’s gunboats before he could put land on it. He bought an oil rig and tried to anchor it between Cuba and Honduras, where it was destroyed by a storm. Stiefel died in 2006 with little more than a sporadically published newsletter to show for his efforts.
In 1971, real estate millionaire and committed libertarian Michael Oliver dumped large quantities of sand on two coral reefs in the South Pacific and dubbed it the Republic of Minerva, a land with “no taxation, welfare, subsidies, or any form of economic interventionism.” Minerva was soon invaded by the nearby kingdom of Tonga, and it dissolved back into the ocean shortly thereafter.
Utopian libertarians only have one semi-real choice. They each live on their very own planet. A government of one. Then that civilization of one, in lonely irony or ignorant bless, will make rules for itself. A government of one. They have to live alone or create a mini-government otherwise they will have the cosmos shattering very first conflict free human relationship. Back to an excerpt from the Reason piece,
Third, seasteading isn’t just based in libertarian theorizing and hopes. Friedman knows that seasteads will need to have some business hook, and he’s busy working those angles. There’s SurgiCruise, a nascent floating medical tourism company that is seeking venture funding. If Americans will fly to Mexico, India, or Thailand for cheaper medical care free of U.S. regulatory costs, the idea goes, why wouldn’t they sail 12 miles for it?
One of those medical regulatory costs is due to a little something called credentials. While a little over rated, would you prefer treatment from someone with credentials from the Columbia School of Medicine, or Harry Lipshitz’s Medical Correspondence School.
Few people click the links, but this is interesting. Not definitive, but a quick way to see if you tend toward left or right brain thinking - Left-Right Conflict: Look at the Chart and Say the Color Not the Word
Coming Soon: Photographic Memory in a Pill? – Scientists isolate a protein that significantly increases visual recall. Probably a few years before we’re picking up a bottle with the dry cleaning and low-fat milk. Hopefully enough time to develop an photographic memory antidote. There are some things I would like to forget as soon as possible.
few words many logical fallacies, bench rest, the conversion game show
July 8, 2009 at 6:37 pm | In Philosophy & Religion, culture, photography, photoshop | Leave a Comment
Big Hollywood, along with other conservative adventures in appeals to populism is probably headed the way of Pajamas Media and Conservapedia, a destination for those have jumped off one too many roofs sans helmet. This is what you might call the kitchen sink approach. When all rational arguments fail or one is too lazy to cobble together an argument, throw the sink Victoria Jackson, Former SNL Star, Compares Obama To Hitler – this first excerpt is from the original column not the portion at HuffPo,
Down is Up, Unfair is Fair and Ignorance is Bliss
by Victoria JacksonMurdering babies is called Pro-Choice. Unfair Censorship is called The Fairness Doctrine. Outlandish Taxes and the Death of Freedom is called Cap & Trade. Sounds like Fish & Chips. You gotta figure out the trick.
How many logical fallacies can one person write in approximately thirty words. We’re all human and cannot be expected to remind readers of Faulkner with every sentence we write or channel history’s best philosophers of logic, but damn. Jackson dives in with the a appeal to anonymous authority, argument by pure assertion, appeal to pity, appeal to a common sense of which only she possess special knowledge, argument by absurd reduction, over simplification, argument by stubborn resistance to fact(appeal to pigheadedness), arguments to spurious similarity ( Obama is pro choice thus is like Hitler. In kind: Jackson is pro government control of every woman’s uterus thus is exactly like Iranian hardline Islamic fundamentalists), arguments involving concealing facts ( of history – Hitler’s death camps performed abortion – but he was against abortion and contraception for regular Germans – and science, economics, philosophy of ethics) and arguments by very selective observation. There are more fallacies, but you get the idea
Social Security and Medicare are broke. Baby boomers, like me, are getting old and will soon be asking for it. Socialized medicine makes people die. You stand in a long, long line with a breast lump, clogged artery, or sharp pencil stuck in your eye, and someone like the DMV person, who can’t speak English, has chewing gum, an attitiude, really long fake nails that curl up at the end, and is talking on a cell phone, enjoying their power trip moment, is finally face to face with you. They mumble something incoherent about paperwork. You die. One less person in line for Social Security and Medicare!
Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas!
Hitler did this. He killed the weak, the sick, the old, and babies and races/religions he didn’t like. Hitler also controlled the media. (Where’s the public debate between scientists on “Climate Change/Global Warming?”) Hitler had the VW bug invented as the state car. What will O’s nationalized car be? So… kill off the weak. That’s the plan. Tax the workers to death. Erase the middle class.
Very quickly. Social Security is not broke and though there are projected short falls, but even without some financial adjustments made by Congress, Social Security is paid up through almost mid-century. Medicare is far from overwhelmed at the prospect of her and other baby boomers retiring. Obama and Democrats are not planning on a national mandatory single payer health-care plan, they’re considering a public option – one supported by many businesses – why would so many Americans and the majority of the business sector support a public option – because it will enable big businesses and small entrepreneurs a better chance to compete globally against nations that like Canada, France and Japan. Victoria seems to have nightmares about socialism, yet does not support competition in the heath-care and insurance industry – one dominated by a few super sized corporations that operate more like money collectors then competitive businesses. While there is some positive aspects to a simple carbon tax, cap and trade is also supported by many businesses and organized labor: here and here. ( McCain, the guy one assumes Victoria voted for was pro cap and trade).
When I was back in high school I always worked during the summer and a good part of the rest of the year worked part-time. A couple of those jobs included working retail. The part of Jackson’s unintelligible column that retells her shoving her odd world view down the throats of some store employees remind me of the good old days, when I swore I would never make retailing my career.
Game show looks to convert atheists
What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?
Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as it prepares to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.
No word on whether the winner is guaranteed a first-class seat in the after life.
the mouse-deer submersion strategy, flow, nearly nano-nerve cells
July 7, 2009 at 5:09 pm | In photography, science | Leave a CommentTags: nanotech
I think about aquatic deer a lot. Probably something I should talk to someone about. That’s a lie. I’ve never thought about small Bambis and the amazing adaptation to submerge themselves as a survival strategy until I read this, Aquatic deer and ancient whales.
There are around 10 species of mouse-deer, which are also called ‘chevrotains’.
All belong to the ancient ruminant family Tragulidae, which split some 50 million years ago from other ruminants, the group that went on to evolve into cattle, goats, sheep, deer and antelope.
[ ]…Three observers saw a mountain mouse-deer ( Moschiola spp) run into a pond and start to swim, hotly pursued by a brown mongoose. The mouse-deer submerged itself, and eventually the mongoose retreated. The deer left the water only to be chased straight back into it by the mongoose.
Until this , largely based on Rudyard Kipling’s story Rikki-tikki-tavi from The Jungle Books, Volume two I actually did have a generally favorable opinion of mongooses or is it mongeese.
This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed, through the bath-rooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment. Darzee, the tailor-bird, helped him, and Chuchundra, the musk-rat, who never comes out into the middle of the floor, but always creeps round by the wall, gave him advice; but Rikki-tikki did the real fighting.
He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in his head and his habits. His eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink; he could scratch himself anywhere he pleased, with any leg, front or back, that he chose to use; he could fluff up his tail till it looked like a bottle-brush, and his war-cry, as he scuttled through the long grass, was: “Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!”
One step closer to an artificial nerve cell
The methods that are currently used to stimulate nerve signals in the nervous system are based on electrical stimulation. Examples of this are cochlear implants, which are surgically inserted into the cochlea in the inner ear, and electrodes that are used directly in the brain. One problem with this method is that all cell types in the vicinity of the electrode are activated, which gives undesired effects.
Scientists have now used an electrically conducting plastic to create a new type of “delivery electrode” that instead releases the neurotransmitters that brain cells use to communicate naturally. The advantage of this is that only neighbouring cells that have receptors for the specific neurotransmitter, and that are thus sensitive to this substance, will be activated.
This counts as the nanotech post for this week. Nerve cells or neurons have diameters in the 4 to 100 micrometer range so this plastic tubing would have to approximate that size. The devious plan is to implant a programmable device that will deliver neurotransmitters to cells whose signaling systems is on the fritz, such as those suffering from Parkinson’s disease or epilepsy, and release on an as needed basis. Difficult to tell from the news release, but I wonder if their isn’t some kind of electro-chemical tendency designed into the plastic to place itself in close proximity to a receptor on a nerve cell.
One intriguing aspect of design challenges for which, other then glasses, I had not thought that much about is where good design can help with disabilities, How art can help science augment the body, from hearing aids to prosthetic limbs
The book Design Meets Disability is “about how the worlds of design and disability could inspire each other,” Graham Pullin writes in the introduction. As a medical engineer, Pullin worked with engineers and health care professionals to develop technology to assist disabled people. Later, as a design consultant, he led designers in creating consumer products. “I am struck,” he writes, “by how distant those two worlds still are, yet how much more each could be influenced by the other.”
mid-life cognitive crisis, this way up, fighting the palin myths
July 6, 2009 at 5:49 pm | In graphic art, history, media, news, science | Leave a Comment
Middle-aged singletons at higher dementia risk: study
People who live alone in middle age face nearly double the risk of developing cognitive problems in later life compared with married or cohabiting counterparts, according to a study published Friday.
[ ]…”People living without a partner at mid-life had around twice the risk of developing cognitive impairment in later life compared with people living with a partner,” the study found.
The risk was roughly triple among those who had been widowed or divorced in mid-life and were not living in partnership in later life.
[ ]…Compared with co-habitants, men who lived alone in mid-life were two and a half times likelier to develop cognitive impairment later in life. The risk for women, though, was 1.87 times.
They also found a powerful link between Alzheimer’s, living alone and a variant of a gene called apolipoprotein E-e4 which makes a protein associated with this disorder.
Nobody wants to suffer from cognitive impairment – excepting people who drink, smoke pot, take mood enhancing drugs, people that do not like to exercise, people that are morbidly obese, people that are obsessively religious….After all the exceptions, that leaves a few librarians, health nuts, symphony conductors, professional gamblers, mathematicians and contrarians that really think or care about losing their cognitive edge.
Relationships are important, we are the social animals, few humans choose to never have some type of long term relationship. We could try to get better at relationships, but the approximately 50% chance at a successful long term relationship has remained at that level for nearly twenty years, so probably not an area that is going to improve any time soon. That Alzheimer’s-gene-protein link between one type of impairment and social environment would suggest that middle-aged singles could probably find some social activity/cognitive exercises/therapy that might make cognitive impairment less then destiny.
People that are in destructive relationships will probably find staying together just because they might lose their edge in video games less then compelling.
original star spangled banner . photolithograph from an old newspaper photo. the banner is currently in the National Museum of American History. it has 15 stars and fifteen stripes. it was the custom at the time it was made by Mary Young Pickersgill to have a star and stripe for each new state. in comparison to the now standard 13 stripes, one for each original colony and a star for every state.
It would be nice to be able to claim that never has so much typing been done on so unworthy a subject, but that wouldn’t be true. The media tends to fed the public far too much pablum. Serious news turns many people off and hurts subscriptions, ratings and clicks which in turn hurts the chances for media figures to own a McMansion in Connecticut. In keeping with recent analogies about fish it is probably swimming up river to try stopping the myths, but someone is trying - The Myth of How the Media Destroyed Palin
In fact, in the months after the November election, we heard from pundits and disgruntled GOPers that the media helped elect Obama by attacking, or mocking, Sarah Palin. These critics still allege that she had given John McCain a big boost in the polls when first named and that she would have help drive him to victory–if not for the allegeldy unfair treatment by Katie and Tina Fey and those mean bloggers and all the rest.
But this is not true. The myth should be put to bed once and for all.
In fact, Palin never really helped him except with his “base,” which he would have won over anyway.
Greg Mitchell sites several polls done during the election campaign,
In fact, men seem to be more impressed with this move than women. Just now, this seems to be confirmed by a CBS poll, showing Obama with a 48% to 40% lead overall — but with a wide lead among women, at 50% to 36%, which has only widened. Only 13% of women said they might be more likely to vote for McCain because of Palin, with 11% saying they are now less likely.
[ ]…”But McCain picked up a couple of points among men. More important, McCain solidified his party’s base with the Palin selection, dropping Obama’s share of the Republican vote six points to just 5 percent now. The Palin selection did not help among women — that may come later — but it did appeal to Republican loyalists.”
[ ]…Men have a slightly more favorable opinion of Palin than women — 41 percent vs. 36 percent. “If McCain was hoping to boost his share of the women’s vote, it didn’t work,” (Gallup poll)
Many on the far right were not that thrilled with McCain. A search for McCain+RINO ( Republican in Name Only) will return hits from sites like FreeRepublic and other extremist conservative sites. Sites that in contrast were and still are more supportive of Palin – even though McCain’s record is in fact very extreme. She got the base fired up, the type of people that cheered when she accused then Senator Obama of being somehow un-American.
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