Random John

Stuff's a movin'

2004-11-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I think I can finally move away from Blogger. Though Blogger has a lot of nice features, I really prefer a system where I have a little finer control, categories, and, well, how do I put this, I guess I want less of a "black box." Well, I found Pivot, and installed my new blog over over at iBiblio.

Cereal killers

2004-11-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

Fark has some ideas for new Wheaties boxes.

When you vote alone, you vote with bin Laden

2004-11-01T11:56:00.000-05:00

Neal Boortz goes off the deep end. I'm sad to see this happen. Boortz was a pretty good force for libertarians (and Libertarians) until those jet airplanes crashed into his head. Now he's become one of those "nothing else matters because of the war in Iraq" conservatives.

One of the "holiest" of the holy months

2004-11-01T09:09:00.000-05:00

Zeyad of "Healing Iraq" reports on the holy executions and assassinations in the month of Ramadan. Also covered are the hijab, Christian Iraqi women, the ban in France, and the hypocrisy in Iraq.

Some insight is given into the attacks in Iraq. Note that most of the attacks are against Iraqis, not coalition forces. At least for now. Why would the Ba'athists and Zarqawi want to do this? To delegitimize elections in two months, of course.

And more. Healing Iraq is always a good read.

Open questions, closed minds on global warming

2004-11-01T08:40:00.000-05:00

With reports like this, I wonder how people can decide that the question on "global warming" and its origins (if such global warming exists) is closed.

Tobacco and heroin apparently target the same areas of the brain

2004-11-01T08:30:00.000-05:00

This may explain why quitting smoking so hard. (Or easy, if you're Mark Twain and give it up thousands of times.)

For once I support Eminem

2004-10-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

Eminem wants less fame.

The involvment of truth in this election season has been merely coincidental

2004-10-31T19:46:00.000-05:00

Factcheck.org recounts the falsehoods made by both sides in their final flurry of ads of the election season. To Bush and Kerry (and the major parties in general), nothing matters more than being in power. Certainly not the truth.

Scary stuff for Halloween

2004-10-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

I saw an NBC news report on the lost ballots in Florida. What service did the Election Board workers use to get the ballots out this time? FedEx, of course! I love competition. (Thanks to my wife Alana for pointing this out.)

In other scary news, UNC stuns Miami! Not bad for a team who was expected to beat William and Mary, and that's it.

Because he is that bad

2004-10-30T15:25:00.000-04:00

I used to make fun of the "anybody but Bush" crowd. After all, the President can do a lot of damage, and most candidates pretty much would do the same damage to the country, maybe in different ways. However, Bush Jr. seems to be the worst of all. His DoD has screwed up the military until it's in the shape it was after Viet Nam, civil liberties are as low or lower than any other war time (don't forget under Wilson it was illegal to criticize the government at various times, especially of its involvement in WWI), we are faced with a perpetual war with truth being dead a long time ago, and the list goes on.

So I hold my nose and vote for Kerry. And may Badnarik make enough of a difference in the swing states (I'm not thinking that he will, but I am hoping).

Then I'll start my four-year campaign to get rid of Kerry.

North Carolina Dept. of Transportation Standard Operating Procedures

2004-10-29T12:30:00.000-04:00

Page 1, Paragraph 1: All projects shall take 10 times longer than any reasonable effort should require. It happened with 54, it's happening with 15-501, and it is the past, present, and future of I-40 in the triangle area.

Bush gives the one-fingered salute

2004-10-29T01:54:00.000-04:00

Here it is (Quicktime required).

via boingboing

On this day in history ...

2004-10-28T11:21:00.000-04:00

The Statue of Liberty was born. Harry Browne compares America when the Statue was erected and America today. I think he sensationalizes America 1886 a little bit too much, but, as always, he gives food for thought.

Were Russians in bed with Saddam?

2004-10-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

Michelle Malkins reports. I'd normally link to the Washington Times article, but it was only showing a picture of Al Qaaqa when I visited it. However, Malkins has an excerpt of the article.

I hope America is doing a lot of back room diplomacy. If Bush is stupid enough to lose America's respect in the eyes of the world then he needs to be kicked to the curb, and more. If leaders of the world are rallying around a dictator who uses rape rooms and torture to advance his politics and whims, then we need a different strategy for dealing with the world. France included.

Alternative energy sources

2004-10-28T08:23:00.000-04:00

Some snippets from here and there:

Factcheck.org sent out the following this last night/this morning:

Both John Kerry and President Bush have promised voters that they will make America "energy independent." But experts say both sides fall far short of what is necessary for energy independence in the next few decades.

New device produces power while treating sewage

I hear the new hydrogen fuel cell technology still requires crude oil. I don't know much about the technology, but it looks like that our dependence on crude oil is here to stay for a while. Maybe this is why Bush is promoting hydrogen rather than other sources.

Another missing link

2004-10-27T17:29:00.000-04:00

Another (extinct) species of human has been discovered. Also, a firm seeks to create a new "species" of cat.

Early Friday yoga blogging: finding sukha

2004-10-26T23:06:00.000-04:00

I had my weekly yoga class tonight, and I had some thoughts I wanted to get down anyway, so Friday blogging comes on Tuesday night this week. What was really cool was that some of the ideas I had about blogging came out in class today. So here goes.

After a hard workout, it feels good to rest, cool down, and get calm. And, for a long time, I viewed yoga as a hard workout, and in savasana (relaxation pose), I could "get calm," or find sukha (literally, bliss or happiness). Lately, however, I've been looking for this in every pose, including the ones you'd think would be the most difficult.

Take utkatasana (aka "chair pose" or "powerful pose") for instance. In this pose, you sit in a pretend chair, with your upper body at an angle and your arms stretched out high above you. You also keep your legs in parallel planes, so that they do not collapse inward or outward. It helps to scoop your tail bone downward toward your heels. Now, a couple of years ago, I just tried to maintain this pose, working like a dog. These days, I try to expand up through my arms on an inhale, and settle back on an exhale. At the bottom of the exhale, I try to find sukha, even though my legs are working hard. In fact, utkatasana seems to be one of the first poses that yogis use to find sukha during fiery poses.

Today in class, we looked at another aspect of finding ease. In the philosophy of my teachers (Anusara yoga), the front body is our expression of ourselves, our individuality. Our back sides are our support, our source. By paying attention to our back sides, and by making sure it's aligned properly, we can "fall back" onto the divine for support, so we can find ease in our poses.

Of course, this is all fine and dandy on the yoga mat, but the principle applies more generally. There's a reason we tend to think about our back sides being covered in a threatening situation. When we can't do it alone, when we can't find sukha through solely our own efforts, we must be willing to fall back on our source.

Another act in Bush's tragedy of errors

2004-10-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

Crooked Timber asks why not Zarqawi? And here is more on the matter.

So, the essential question is, if Bush knew that Zarqawi was operating freely in northern Iraq, why didn't we just take him out. The Pentagon had the plans drawn up, and he was under no-fly zone territory. One smart bomb, (assuming it hadn't gone dumb) could have rid the world of Zarqawi's scourge forever. However, the camp wasn't bombed until hostilities began during the Iraq war.

All together now (Sen. Luger included): Incompetence.

Update 10:55pm: Apostropher tells me this is old news.

Microchips and medical records

2004-10-26T10:47:00.000-04:00

More from Shrinkette: the use of implantable microchips to access medical records.

A double-edged sword, indeed. Let's come up with something a little less invasive, shall we?

Medical marijuana update in Oregon

2004-10-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

Shrinkette reports on a new medical marijuana measure in Oregon.

Funny thing, the Libertarian Party in OR doesn't support it. Apparently, they think that it allows too much government control over MM prescriptions, or something. At this point, any regulation of MM which allows any dispensing to patients whatsoever is a step down from the current regulation. Maybe OR has loosy-goosy laws on prescribing MM.

Fair taxes again

2004-10-26T09:22:00.000-04:00

Everybody who files their own return or pays an accountant to do it knows our tax code is broken. I've probably mentioned it on this blog before, but I support the Fair Tax, which replaces our whole tax system with a national 23% (or so) retail tax. Most politicians are, of course, against this proposal. Democrats in several races are using their opponents' support of this proposal as a campaign issue (scroll down to "LET'S DEMAGOGUE THE FAIR TAX"--Neal usually has page anchors for his sections but not today). Apparently, these candidates are trying to say that their opponent supports a 23% tax in addition to current taxes, which is a blatant lie.

I supported their petition, and I really hope this movement gains some traction. I think it will do more to bring a close scrutiny of our tax code to the public than "property taxes are inherently evil."

On the missing explosives

2004-10-26T08:46:00.000-04:00

Apparently there is some contradictory information on the missing RMX and HMX explosives issue. CNN reports also.

So, the large amount of HMX and RMX were probably already missing. What is unknown (to me) is whether terrorists seized further explosives from Al Qaqaa.

Update 9:33 am: Belmont Club says there were 600,000 tons of explosives distributed throughout Iraq, including 100,000 throughout the "Sunni Triangle." If so, then worrying about 380 tons truly is like worrying about a toothache after having been diagnosed with AIDS and Ebola.

Feelin' good about your job

2004-10-25T13:41:00.000-04:00

So, what really does go through comment spammer's head. (Or the bot's creators.)

Either Haloscan has a really good comment spam filtering system, or, as I more closely suspect, Random John is under their radars.

Maybe comment spamming is one of those "Make 1000's from home!" classified ads.

(via Modulator)

Incompetence, part the second

2004-10-25T11:59:00.000-04:00

The Peking Duck notes that 350 tons of explosives are missing. This is not your conventional high school chemistry lab bomb, but military-grade RDX and HMX. Sen. Luger has many more opportunities to utter the word Incompetence.

Apparently, the IAEA had this stuff locked away and accounted for before the Iraq invasion. So, not only have we not confiscated any WMDs, we let some pretty nasty conventional weapons slip to the terrorists. And, since this occurred last year, speculations of government coverup are waiting to be made.

See also the TalkingPointsMemo entries on the matter.

Sometimes I post good news about Iraq. Today I do not.

2004-10-25T09:31:00.000-04:00

It's a little belated, but here's a Healing Iraq entry about how armed criminal gangs move about in Iraq without interference from police or soldiers. Among the stories: a pharmacist and accompanying doctor were killed because they sold some drugs to the U.S. Army.

Incompetence

2004-10-25T07:33:00.000-04:00

Sen. Lugar (Indiana-R) has a problem. Despite being one of the most conservative senators, he uttered one word which Kerry has "exploited:" incompetence. This was in reference to the $1 billion out of some $80 billion being spent in Iraq reconstruction after several months. Novak claims this word is "correct, but injudicious."

Yes, we must never appear to criticize the current administration. Ever. Under any circumstances. Keep our own puny mortal opinions to ourselves.

The real story behind Bush's bulge

2004-10-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

It's the iDebate edition of the iPod.

(via, circuitously, bOINGbOING)

Inaugurate the pajamas

2004-10-23T20:20:00.000-04:00

So, today I got my new pair of pajamas. So guess what I'm doing to break them in? I'm blogging, of course!

Friday yoga blogging: pose of the laughing god

2004-10-22T09:01:00.000-04:00

Hamunasana is a pose dedicated to the laughing god, who is represented as a monkey. It is also an advanced split, so laughing is not the first thing I think of in this pose. I usually wince.

I can't go into the whole pose, since I'm not terribly flexible. However, by using the "less is more" idea to some extent, I take an intermediate pose, and intend myself toward the full pose. I usually use blocks or blankets to help me stay in the intermediate pose. It's pretty humbling, and shows me how much growth I have ahead of me, and is a reflection of the mental and emotional development that I also need--and that yoga has to offer.

He died a horrible death, being excommunicated by a papal bull

2004-10-20T12:53:00.000-04:00

John Kerry is still Catholic, as far as we know.

Tee-Vee? No No No!

2004-10-20T10:02:00.000-04:00

Geek invents keychain remote control that turns off most TVs. I want one!

A small example of how the Army's mistreating our soldiers

2004-10-19T18:57:00.000-04:00

My wife has a friend whose husband is in the Army. This friend is also pregnant, due in a couple of months. First, the Army told them that the husband would not be deployed to Iraq. Then they decided he would be deployed, but a month after the birth of their son. Then they decided he should be deployed 10 days before the due date.

Political diversity in blogrolls

2004-10-19T16:48:00.000-04:00

ZenPundit writes on the usefulness of having some diversity in your blogrolls.

I personally read blogs from the left, right, and middle. And I try to keep an open mind. For example, I enjoyed the words of Neal Boortz for years, but lately I've had to strongly disagree with him. Michelle Malkin likewise has had the guts to say the unsayable when the unsayable needs to be said. That said, she's very hard to stomach sometimes. The folks at Federal Review are often quite reasonable, and engage in less hackery than Malkin or Boortz. And, of course, the ZenPundit, who inspired this post.

Meanwhile, the Apostropher is just as reasonable a person as anyone I've met, and leans strongly to the left. (Sometimes he falls down.) The Modulator and Crooked Timber usually make fairly well-reasoned arguments usually to the left, though closer to the center. And don't forget Arnold Kling, the libertarian economist who usually comes out with thoughtful pieces. Finally (at least on my blogroll), Derek Lowe, the pharmaceutical chemist, provides a balanced view from the inside of the pharmaceutical industry, which is related to my own (clinical research).

Occasionally, I'll skim Atrios/Eschaton, but the Media Matters really engages in too much partisan hackery for my taste. I feel the same way about AMERICABlog as well as any of the hackery of Rush Limbaugh.

From the I-could-have-told-you-that-ten-years-ago dept.

2004-10-18T16:33:00.000-04:00

Scare tactics don't prevent violent behavior in adolescence. In fact, they make the problem worse.

Vote Wars: The Real Menace. The saga begins.

2004-10-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

Early polls in Florida have opened, and there are already problems.

This election will not be decided on Nov. 2. Lawyers, start your engines.

More evidence of our nation's failed vaccine policy

2004-10-17T09:43:00.000-04:00

NC doctors are now threatened with a misdemeanor if they give flu shots to someone not defined as "high risk" by CDC.

Ridiculous. Thanks, Bill and George. Thanks, CDC. Thanks, FDA. If there were any justice, the decision makers in this fiasco would be banned from public service for life and have all their credentials stripped.

And now: a completely new type of somnambulation

2004-10-17T07:18:00.000-04:00

Doctor claims a sleep disorder causes patients to have sex with strangers.

Some good news for someone who was woken up WAY to early

2004-10-17T07:14:00.000-04:00

Court says "non-specific" fears of terrorism are not a reason to institute general searches.

Look for more of this if John Kerry's dream of a prescription drug monopsony comes true

2004-10-16T17:43:00.000-04:00

Price gouging is the use of market pricing in an economic situation where normal supply has been interrupted. In this case, we can trace to the government's failed vaccine policy. Read more pathetic flu clinic stories here, including a case where police shut one down. At least the large line I went through this morning to get my daughter vaccinated (while myself rather sick) was merely a major inconvenience.

America's reputation lower in eyes of world

2004-10-15T11:43:00.000-04:00

A survey conducted in 10 countries suggest that America's reputation is suffering and that the Iraq war isn't helping the war on terror.

This is something to keep your eyes on, but not lose sleep over. However, it's more evidence that our Iraq efforts are failing.

Friday yoga blogging: injury

2004-10-14T22:04:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I was in this nice handstand, legs spun inward, extending up through my feet, and then it happened. I tried to rotate out of the fall, but my hand wouldn't go. I ended up twisting my shoulder out of its socket (momentarily) and slamming my bony hip down on the floor.

The rest of the practice (about another 45 minutes to an hour) was interesting. For the most part, I was able to protect the bum shoulder and hip (except I forgot once and rolled onto the right hip). I didn't do any of the bound poses (locking my legs with my hands and arms behind the back), and I substituted a nice shoulder-friendly headstand for a more intense forearm stand, but I did fairly well. I even was able to do another handstand (this time with a spotter!) and did a controlled fall into a backbend.

Then I got back to work. After an hour of sitting, OUCH! I started limping and my shoulder became really tight. Time for some movement.

Part of yoga deals with working with our limitations. We have to accept them and even use them as learning opportunities. Eventually, we can move beyond most of them. This includes our injuries (even minor ones, as I think these will turn out to be). My hats are off to people with scoliosis (as in this month's Yoga International) or other difficult conditions who work through them.

How to use email

2004-10-14T21:10:00.000-04:00

Here's a delightful article on how to use email. I also like the W=UH (Wrongness=Ugliness*Hardness) rule.

Dealing with poverty - first step: identify the problem

2004-10-14T16:25:00.000-04:00

Marginal Revolution suggests that because we haven't made the connection between immigration and poverty, we can't deal with either effectively. No solutions are offered, but I imagine that once we get some of the brilliant minds in this country actually thinking about the issue, we can make progress.

Flu vaccine 2004-5 and commentary

2004-10-14T16:19:00.000-04:00

Marginal Revolution: Vaccines: The Short Run describes some regulatory, legal, and economic issues surrounding the production of vaccines, and a suggestion of how something like this year's flu vaccine shortage can occur.

Take this as a possibility of what might happen if we institute price controls or effective price controls such as monopsony leverage on pharmaceuticals.

Delightful Bush/Chimp collage

2004-10-14T15:23:00.000-04:00

The Peking Duck has a fabulous collage of Bush-chimp pictures.

BTW, Atrios needs to leave retarded chimps out of the discussion. Given the poor taste campaign flyers going around, someone who's supposed to be a watchdog for the media ought to have his head out of the gutter.

Mathematics and psychology meet

2004-10-14T14:34:00.000-04:00

Two neurologists discover neurological basis behind the 'Nash Equilibrium,' which is, in the context of a (possibly positive-sum) game of two or more contestants, a collection of strategies whereby no person can alter the strategy and get a better outcome. The fundamental theorem, which extends the theory of the two-person zero-sum game of von Neumann and Morgenstern to any number of contestants and any type of outcome, was part of John Nash's doctoral dissertation in 1949-50 (or so) and earned him the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994. The advance of this study is that it provides evidence that somehow primate brains (at least those of the primates and humans involved) are somehow 'hard-wired' to discover this equilibrium through repeated play of a single type of game.

I don't know whether the genius and the tragic illness that plagued John Nash had to go hand-in-hand, but I think we should all be thankful for the contributions he made. Maybe his later efforts with the Riemann hypothesis^*, had they borne any fruit, might have been more fundamental to pure mathematics, but to have such deep insight into how humans behave (even while quite erratic himself) would still probably be a more important contribution to understanding humans. Thanks, John Nash.

Jobs again

2004-10-14T13:22:00.000-04:00

Here's an uncorroborated breakdown of unemployment figures. While I'm not going to place full faith in these numbers yet, it does raise a few questions:

Politicians evoke the image of poor destitute children and a family of four when they talk about minimum wage. John Kerry mentions that the jobs that have been created in general pay $X thousand (X=8? 9?) lower than the jobs that have been lost. Question: how many of the lowest wage jobs (wage < $8.20 an hour, say, to use a figure around that quoted as the poverty line for a family of four) is held by teenagers, college students, dropouts, and people holding another job?

How long do people with a college education or community college education stay at minimum wage?

If we're outsourcing so many jobs, including high tech ones, why are we creating minimum wage jobs?

The fact is we live in a time of flux. Our job skills have to develop to keep up with the pace of new demands. I like the president's rhetoric here: training is better than protectionism. I wish his actions would match. However, I also think that education is not the domain of the federal government, and would rather see more local efforts in this regard (with commensurate tax shifts).

I've been showing lots of negative examples of Libertarian campaigns. Here's (nearly) a positive one

2004-10-14T08:24:00.000-04:00

Here it is. Granted, the article itself seems to be positive, and that certainly colors opinion. Betsy Summers explains her position in terms of liberals and conservatives so people can understand. And she explains one of the more controversial Libertarian positions (avoiding subsidies, bailouts, and protectionist trade policies) in probably the best way I've seen in three sentences. Finally, she makes a challenge to all her opponents.

To bad she's running for U.S. Senate. She might have a shot at a state seat.

More Libertarians shoot themselves in the foot

2004-10-14T08:13:00.000-04:00

This one is in my own backyard. A liberterian declines an interview with a newspaper. The News and Observer is a pretty big newspaper in this part of the state, and a significant number of people still read it. For all of the effort (ridiculous ballot access requirements in NC, difficulties getting media time, expense of ads, and so forth) that third party candidates have to put into starting a campaign much less gaining media attention and public support, you'd think a half hour interview would be an offering of gold. At least get a palatable, reasonable libertarian position out there.

And this is a two-way race, even.

Debate liveblogging

2004-10-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

I think I've counted at least one factual error in nearly all times each person spoke. Tora Bora "outsourcing," number of jobs lost due to 9/11, number of jobs lost during Bush's watch.

I'm starting on immigration. This is the first time, I believe, this has not been addressed before in the debates. To bad the extra border patrol, unmanned vehicles, and so forth didn't catch 35 Chechen terrorists crossing the border.

Kerry plays the class warfare card with minimum wage.

Bush uses jobs to pump up "No Child Left Behind." Great. Jobs and education are of course related, and I do think that training is a good solution to wage issues, but "No Child Left Behind" is based on a system from Texas that encourages cooking the books.

Will someone tell our candidates that there is more to the Supreme Court than Roe v. Wade? Bush seems to understand this better.

Kerry uses local statistics for Arizona. (And hammered stats for the battleground states earlier.)

Kerry says measure by results. Well good. Do it!

Oh. good question on the "backdoor draft." However, it seems set up to make Kerry look good. I'm not clear on how Kerry's "plan" for the military is useful. More foreign policy discussion.

Another factual error by Bush - 125,000 Iraqis might undergo minimal security training, but will not be fully trained.

Kerry explains the "global test." Still not sure what he's saying. Bush's rebuttal was equally weak.

Futile assault weapon ban was discussed. Mr. Kerry, the second amendment was not for hunters. AK-47s were not covered under the assault weapon ban of 1994 (the automatic version was banned long ago, and the semiautomatic version in 1989).

Bush: from racism to Pell Grants in no steps! Are the minority business and home ownership claims true?

Oh, sheesh, the "armies of compassion." Oh goody. Freedom is a gift from the Almighty. Yes, and no thanks to Bush. Or Kerry.

Kerry pledges transparency. Nice job.

Oh great, more campaign finance reform. Tell us you're involving us while you slam the door in our faces.

More waffling on how divided our nation is. Bush is right, though. We were pretty divided in the 1990s.

Bush is self-effacing about his English. Nice touch.

Kerry is self-effacing about his marriage into a fortune.

Kerry's close: let's colonize Pluto, too! Good, reassure that you won't give another country a veto over our foreign policy. A lot you promise, my friend.

Bush's close: the painting start was weak. More armies of compassion. Sheesh.

Bush and Kerry: B+B-. Update 10/14: I decided that there were way too many factual errors to warrant a high B. I give a low B because both kept their composures and argued against the others' positions fairly well. But there was just too much freedom with the facts.

Other observations:

Not sure about the difference on gay marriage, except for the Constitutional amendment (yuck). The line about Ted Kennedy being the conservative senator from Massachussetts was classic. The whole line about Kerry being on the "left bank" made Bush look bad.

Kerry's take on Social Security: more of the same. Bush's take: talk nice and then give us more of the same.

Bush almost screwed up big time on the whole trusting major news sources's characterizations of his stances on health care. You must have seen the neon Ra^thergate sign above his head, but then thought better of it.

Bush and Kerry still have some hard questions to answer. Bush: how to get the troops back home and why the hell are you such a spendthrift. Kerry: how to get the troops home and how are you going to pay for all of it.

Now we wait for the spin.

Update 10/14: John Kerry's exploitation of Mary(?) Cheney was a disaster. Leave the VP's daughter alone. It came up and I think Edwards and Cheney handled it gracefully during the VP debate, but here it was out of place and in poor taste. Both of Bush and Kerry need to admit that, aside from the Constitutional Amendment, both of you differ very little on the issue.

Oh yeah, Kerry, BTW, as Neal Boortz says, the purpose of the Constitution is not to grant us rights. As set forth in the Declaration of Independence, I believe that our rights and freedom are here by our very existence. Some governments (almost all, really) choose to violate those rights. Our Constitution protects those rights by defining the powers and limits of government. God grants those rights; they are part of the package. You do not. Of course, by speaking you managed to open yourself up to this criticism. Bush opens himself to an equivalent criticism by supporting stupid amendments.

Do you feel any safer in the skies?

2004-10-13T11:50:00.000-04:00

Read the article - Terror in the Skies, Again?

Do you feel any safer as a result of the security measures put in place after 9/11? As Tom Daschle puts it, "You don't professionalize unless you federalize."

Election strategy

2004-10-12T19:54:00.000-04:00

So, what's a Libertarian to do this year. Given that Bush, under the guise of being a 'small l libertarian,' mind you has presided over some of the biggest budget increases in history (including those counting only non-defense spending), and Kerry has his own plans for basking in the glory of monolithic government, and Badnarik is the embodiment of the lunatic fringe of the Libertarian Party, I've had real problems deciding the candidate for whom I wanted to vote. (No, Neal, I'm not staying away from the polls.)

So, here's the strategy I've settled on. I'm going to hold my nose and vote for Kerry. Since NC is a swing state, it might make a difference. I'm also going to hope that Republicans keep at least one of the houses, and that neither party gets more than 2/3 majority in either house. I'm going to vote Libertarian down the rest of the ticket. We seriously need to get Libertarians in state posts, so they can start making a difference and start getting their teeth cut for federal government positions.

The rationale for this is that we need to hold the damage done by the two major parties to a minimum, at least while Libertarians and Greens can get some local offices and enough political savvy to pull off an effective House campaign. The best way to do this is gridlock.

Here's hoping.

Odd comfort

2004-10-12T16:58:00.000-04:00

Today I came home from work to find my wife playing a Stereolab CD I haven't listened to in years. The lyrics of the current song amount to, "If there's been a way to build it, there'll be a way to destroy it. Things are not all that out of control."

One reason why we need "me-too" drugs

2004-10-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

Flu vaccine is very short supply because one company's plant was shut down for three months.

Bush and discretionary spending

2004-10-12T13:27:00.000-04:00

Bush is a spendthrift.

On nondefense discretionary spending, Reagan has the best record. But other than that, Democrat administrations are uniformly much better about spending increases than Republican ones.

Missing job statistics

2004-10-12T10:57:00.000-04:00

The cat is out of the bag: 1 in 5 jobs pay "below-poverty wages" (less than around $8.84 if you have a family of four).

What is left unknown: what proportion of entry level jobs is taken up by high school or college students or recent graduates (who shouldn't have as serious a financial burden as a family of four), how long people spend in minimum wage jobs before finding a better job or a promotion, and how many families have supplemental income (via renting property on the side, a second job, or some other strategy). Before Congress passes the "The Other 1 in 5 must make a living wage" Act of 2004, I hope they pause and consider the deeper issues.

I'm not holding my breath.

Another Jib-Jab video

2004-10-11T17:55:00.000-04:00

It's good to be in DC!

I wonder how long until John McCain sues.

Primer on "off-label" uses of prescription drugs

2004-10-11T15:16:00.000-04:00

"Off-Label" -- And Out Of Bounds?

"Off-label" is a term you're going to hear more and more as political posturing on pharmaceuticals continues. The link contains a primer on the basic issues and facts.

When a drug is submitted for approval, a "label," detailing the uses, potential side effects, contraindications, and known drug interactions, is submitted along with it. If the drug is approved by the FDA, that means the label is approved. The uses section of the label can only contain what was confirmed in (usually) two large Phase III trials. For example, the uses section of the Rituxan drug in the referenced article contains "slow-growing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who have relapsed or failed to respond to other drugs." And Genentech can only disseminate literature that promotes Rituxan for this use. However, if Rituxan can be used to treat other conditions, or may help suffers of slow-growing non-Hodgkin's in other phases, doctors might be interested, and Genentech would certainly be interested in disseminating this information. Unless there is an article in a peer-reviewed journal saying as such, Genentech's lips have to be sealed. The only other option is to submit an application for a supplemental approval, which is an expensive process (it involves well-controlled clinical trials, a lot of paperwork, and quite a bit of time).

Now is the time to start with this primer and absorb more information before the accusations start flying.

How far should the FDA go in protecting us?

2004-10-11T13:31:00.000-04:00

Now all of the -coxib (Cox-2 inhibitor) drugs are getting scrutiny for their effect on cardiovascular problems. It seems that there's a delicate balance between vasoconstriction and platelet-coagulation (associated with Cox 1 production) and vasodilation/blood-thinning (Cox 2). NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen inhibit both enzymes (with aspirin showing some blood-thinning and cardioprotective effects). If you inhibit Cox 2, so the theory goes, you take away some of the checks and balances on vasoconstrictive effects, thereby allowing situations where blood thickens and has to pass through a smaller opening when there really should be thinner blood or larger vessels. This of course is bad news for Pfizer (maker of Celebrex) and Novartis (who has a Cox-2 inhibitor under review at the FDA right now).

What struck me the most was a comment on the article I linked to by a man named "Old Patriot." He brings up the quality of life argument, and I don't think it's one that has been adequately addressed. Even with the conservative safety protections in place, no prescription drug, or even OTC drug, is completely safe. As consumers, we deserve to know the safety information. But who is to tell us which drugs we can or can't take based on the safety profile? Who is to judge that a longer life of pain is better than a shorter life where movement is manageable?

Why isn't a black label on Vioxx (and other Cox 2 inhibitors, if warranted) enough?

(Note: in all fairness I should say that it was Merck that removed Vioxx, not the FDA. However, there is a climate in regulatory circles that "unsafe" drugs should not be on the market unless there's no alternative.)

A Drug War interview you should read

2004-10-11T12:08:00.000-04:00

First, read it: Reason: Tripped Up: Joel Miller's Bad Trip kills the government's anti-drug buzz. A Reason interview

The drug war has sent a lot of creative minds thinking. I couldn't have even imagined some of the ingenious ways people have invented to smuggle drugs. It's absolutely insane. (Earlier, I noted an article on highly fit drug runners.)

Miller starts to explain the federal government's role in the black market and how the Drug War has encouraged corruption on down to the police officer. He goes into the connection between drugs and terrorism. And he argues that ending the drug war will end all of these terrible things. Finally, he explains why we probably won't be seeing a substantial change in prohibitionist policy any time soon.

I plan to read his book (not only the interview) and post a review.

The abominable Republican tax break strategy

2004-10-11T09:57:00.000-04:00

Republicans who are for tax breaks have come up with even more loopholes, which Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein calls
so laden with with subsidies, and so infused with government industrial policy, that any Eurocrat would be proud to call it his own.

To me, such "tax breaks" are really a backhanded form of income redistribution. As I've stated before in this blog, I prefer the Fair Tax proposal, if for nothing else other than its simplicity and transparency. I abhor the use of the tax code to benefit powerful companies or penalize critics of any particular politician.

Arnold Kling of Econlib has started a good discussion.

Check the facts

2004-10-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

Call me an idealist, but I prefer to base my vote on the truth. While distortions, understatements, exaggerations, and downright lies may be part of "good politics," they decrease my desire to vote for a particular candidate. I don't care how well they can lie or put down their opponent; I care about how well they fulfill their role in the federal government. At this rate, both Bush and Kerry stink. FactCheck.org has the latest distortions from the second presidential debate.

It's good to be home

2004-10-10T16:46:00.000-04:00

From Wednesday at about 1 until just about an hour ago, I was on a half business half pleasure trip. After 12 hours on the road in 5 days and flaky intermittent internet access, I'm glad to be back on my own couch with a nice cable internet connection and a real web browser.

I've never been invited to speak before, and I'm honored to have addressed the Department of Statistics at Virginia Tech this past Thursday. They showed me great hospitality, and they're a good group.

On Thursday, I gave two seminars: one for careers and one on my dissertation research.

Then it was off to Hendersonville, NC so that my wife's grandmother could unveil her memoirs. It was a wonderful excuse for a family reunion and lots of food. I got to visit with my brother and sister in law, who graciously hosted me for a week back in April when I attended classes out of town.

Tomorrow it's time to put the nose back to the grind. There's a lot of statistics to do.

P.S. No, I didn't watch the debate. I hear Bush did a lot better. I still don't like any of the candidates, Libertarian candidate included.

Friday yoga blogging: confidence and humility

2004-10-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, our class was directed to do a sequence of poses I never thought I could do. The first pose was easy enough: I put my hands on the floor, walked my legs around the outside, and lifted my feet off the floor together in front of my body (so my hands are the only things on the floor). The next pose (called the firefly) involved extending my legs. The next pose involved bringing my legs to the outside of my arms (with the hands still the only things touching the floor) and placing my knees on the backs of my arms (this is called the crow). Finally, the legs shoot out all the way behind me so I jump into a low push-up pose.

When I first tried this sequence two weeks ago, I fell flat on my butt when I tried to extend my legs. In fact, it seemed impossible. However, t his past Tuesday, I did it, although it was regular ugly.

Then, this morning, I was playing with my baby and pulled a little muscle in my back.

There are two lessons in this. First, things that seem far too difficult can be done if you have courage, and doing this builds confidence. Second, there is danger in even the simplest things, so everything should be approached with humility and care.

Vice presidential debates: tie

2004-10-05T23:51:00.000-04:00

John Edwards was up against a much more difficult opponent tonight than Kerry was last Thursday. It's a win for the Kerry campaign that Edwards was able to hold his own. This debate was much more substantive than the ~~joint press conference~~ debate held on Thursday.

Though the VP debates in 2000 and 2004 both contained a lot of substance, this was a lot different in nature. Edwards is Kerry's attack hound (when Kerry isn't on the attack himself), and Cheney put away the nice old uncle suit and brought his Darth Vader outfit.

The debate covered a wide range of issues, including gay marriage, Iraq, and AIDS. Especially telling was the issue of Cheney's lesbian daughter and the topic of gay marriage, where Cheney had to reconcile his love and respect for his daughter while saying she doesn't have the right to marry. Edwards was equally weak on the topic when he said that gay couples should have the same potential privileges of married couples (e.g. arranging funerals, visiting in hospitals), but not be "married." I'm still trying to figure out where the candidates stand on that one. The only real thing I got is that Cheney is begrudgingly for an amendment banning gay marriage and Edwards is against it. I liked Edwards statement that the Constitution should not be used to divide people.

On Iraq, Edwards was more substantive than Kerry was last Thursday. However, I'm still unclear as to the difference between the two contenders in their plans on handling Iraq.

The issue of tax cuts is where the campaigns seem to have the starkest contrast. Cheney continues to defend the borrow-and-spend strategy of the "compassionate conservatives" of the last four years. Edwards mentioned rolling back tax cuts for those who make >$200K per year and closing loopholes for companies that outsource jobs overseas. This really seemed like playing the class warfare card, but it at least addresses the budget. The problem with Edwards' argument is that the government never creates jobs in the private sector. The private sector does, if it can. I'd like to see where the Edwards campaign cuts spending.

On healthcare, Cheney defended the biggest disaster (Medicare reform) since regulation began. Edwards responded by villianizing drug companies, but he used his rhetorical devices effectively. I'm not clear on the differences in the candidates in tort reform and the right to sue; it seems that John Edwards thinks that's not too much of a problem. I don't work in that sector of healthcare, so I couldn't tell you. The anecdotes sure do make the problem sound huge, though.

Critiques: Cheney was there to defend Bush and attack Kerry. He did so with a sneer most of the time. Edwards was there to hype up Kerry, and at times went overboard. This was especially comical when the moderator asked for differences between the candidates without mentioning the top of the ticket. Edwards mentioned Kerry at least twice, and then laughed each time.

Brilliant strategy of the evening: Edwards kept reminding the audience of Kerry's solid win last Thursday.

Cheney: B
Edwards: B
Advantage: Kerry/Edwards

Democrats in pajamas

2004-10-05T08:39:00.000-04:00

Kerry supporters flood inboxes with Democrat talking points. (Free registration required, get around it with Bugmenot).

You know, I gotta hand it to the people who coordinated this. Democrats have been good at grassroots activism for a while, and Republicans have only caught on in the last decade or so. Unfortuately, it was the extreme nutcase-Christian right that had the monopoly on Republican grassroots activism for most of that time.

I'm still looking for someone to earn my vote.

Anyone?

Vote Bush and die!

2004-10-05T08:14:00.000-04:00

The left was all over Cheney's statement that we face another terrorist attack if elect Kerry. They really didn't like the "Vote for me or die!" message. Now Kerry says the same thing: if we elect Bush we'll stem funding for science so badly that we'll put lives at risk. Where's the complaining?

Anyone?

Whether Kerry or Bush gets in, this country is in serious trouble. If you believe both campaigns, there's no way around dying, so pick your poison: terrorists or no science.

Cyberchondria

2004-10-05T08:01:00.000-04:00

What happens when you take three parts hypochondria and one part internet? Cyberchondria.

Perhaps the saddest part of this is that people diagnose themselves with diseases they can't get. The second saddest part of this is that The Onion posted a satire piece on this back in 2000.

Good issue, Senator. Now give us an alternative.

2004-10-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

Kerry hammers another good issue, but again fails to provide an alternative.

I've said before that Kerry is good at attacking Bush for being right, but then fails to offer a viable alternative. What, specifically, is Kerry going to do about stem cell research if he reaches the Oval Office. Can he simply reverse an executive order or two and all will be well. Will he have to haggle with what will almost surely be a Republican congress?

Again, you've given us reasons not to vote for Bush. Now give us reasons to vote for you.

Dog gets grizzly now, eats man's cut-off penis

2004-10-04T13:06:00.000-04:00

Another Reuters.com notes how a man, mistaking his penis for a chicken neck, chops it off. His dog rushed over and ate it.

I can only feel bad for the man. But I really have to wonder, with the possibility of at least two senses feeding back on this, exactly what went through the man's head to have him mistake his penis for a chicken neck.

And what went through his dog's head to make him think that an appendage coming off his master was a good thing to eat while his master was screaming in pain.

And finally, what was the penis doing out while the man was cutting things off?

Questions, questions.

Polls start to reflect Kerry debate win

2004-10-04T12:56:00.000-04:00

This Reuters.com article notes that the polls are beginning to reflect the Kerry debate win. Read more for analysis...

This page (scroll down to "Who, in your opinion, won the debate?") along with the latest polls suggest that Kerry is picking up undecideds and independents. It's been said that debates do little to peel off the other candidate's support, and the fact that neither candidate scored a coup de grace probably means that the voting bases are secure for now.

What surprises me is that more people think that Kerry has a plan on Iraq. I wonder if there's a poll comparing what people think that plan is compared to written statements by the Kerry/Edwards campaign.

As for me, I think that John Kerry has done a pretty good job of telling people why George W. shouldn't be president. Now he needs to tell people why John Kerry should be.

These could get ugly

2004-10-04T10:12:00.000-04:00

I'll say up front that I really don't like the UN. While nice in concept, from my point of view it's an opaque organization that supports forced abortions in China, places Syria at the head of a committee on human rights, and exploits the goodwill of nations for corrupt projects. Just a couple of more stories have come out recently:

Oil-for-food scandal: could it have influenced nations' positions on Iraq? (Also Fox News story here.)
UNRWA, the relief workers organization, employs Hamas members
UN ambulances may have been used to transport Qassam rockets

Stress and aggression reinforce each other

2004-10-04T09:50:00.000-04:00

I really wonder what the advantage of this feedback loop is. It seems that stress leads to aggression, which leads to more stress, etc. While anyone with have a thought about human behavior could have told you this, the novelty is that the biochemical mechanism behind this positive feedback loop is so tight. That explains why the "cycle of violence" is so hard to break.

Question: how does this affect aggregate or social behavior? How does this revise our prediction of behavior on a mass scale in the midst of war or terrorism?

Why don't you try staying away from the polls, Neal?

2004-10-04T09:28:00.002-04:00

More voter elitism from Boortz:

UNDECIDED VOTERS --- JUST FORGET IT
If by this time you haven't figured out figured out who you're going to vote for in 31 days, do us all a favor and stay home. The issues are so clear and the dangers facing our country are so obvious that you constitute merely another threat. Find a good escapist movie and gobble a few bags of popcorn while the rest of us do the heavy lifting on Election Day.

Given that none of the candidates (including the Libertarian candidate) offer me nothing, even on the War on Terror, I can't really help being a little undecided. And yes, I will go to the polls and yes, I will vote my conviction. Neal Boortz has been flying high with his "not everyone needs to vote" crap. While I agree that fraud is rampant and both sides of the aisle want to benefit from the zombie and ghost vote, giving voting tests and curtailing the vote is not the way to deal with it.

More fallout from the children on antidepressants imbroglio

2004-10-01T14:01:00.000-04:00

Since 1997, companies could extend their patent for six months if they do pediatric testing. That practice will certainly be modified, according to this article.

Factcheck.org - bookmark the site until November

2004-10-01T13:54:00.000-04:00

Factcheck.org has posted some factual errors made during the debate.

Dog shoots man II

2004-10-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

Those mutts really need to be careful. Now, it's happened in Croatia.

Friday blogging: Yoga

2004-10-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

So, I've been taking yoga classes, off and on, for two and a half years now. I started out with yoga nearly three years ago with Richard Hittleman's 28 Day Yoga Plan, but I only practiced at home and didn't have anyone to correct me.

When Alana was pregnant with Abby, she wanted to try a prenatal yoga class, and there was another class going on at the same time so I went to that. (I wasn't allowed in the prenatal class, since I wasn't carrying a baby.) It was an intermediate-level Dynamic Flow class, which emphasized controled movement into and out of poses. The teacher was strongly influenced in the Ashtanga tradition (Ashtanga comes from Sanskrit for "eight limbs" -- I think talking about the 8 limbs of yoga). I put forth more sweat that day than I had in years, and after the class I was high as a kite. Later I learned it was because I had suppressed cortisol production, but whatever I did, it felt great. I probably also had no business in the class, but hey I had a full-time job and a pregnant wife, so which class I "belonged" in only had a small bearing on what class I would actually take.

I showed up weekly for the next few weeks, much to the surprise of the teacher. Then she quit and another teacher out of the Anusara tradition took over the class. For the next six months I kept hearing "inner spiral your legs" until I had to give up classes when my daughter was born.

However, by then I had a fairly consistent home practice going on, and had a couple of DVDs to help me practice. So I continued (taking month-long hiatuses here and there when the situation got extremely hectic) the home practice for another year.

This past summer, I decided to start classes again, and a new husband/wife team from the Anusara class rolled into town. I decided to take a couple of their classes on Saturday mornings, and learned a lot just from those two classes about how to align my body.

A month ago, I started having an obligation on Saturday mornings, so I decided to try the advanced class on Thursday late mornings. The teachers decided to turn this into a session class, rather than a drop-in class, because they thought they needed to provide a coordinated sequence of classes that build upon previous classes. So now I'm doing the advanced class for twelve weeks.

As you may guess, this is probably one of the biggest physical challenges since I played sports in early high school. The class has us go through lots of advanced poses, and I'm certainly not there on all of them. However, I do like the fact that we are doing lots of inversions (handstands, forearm inversions, and headstands). Not much beats hanging out upside-down for 30 seconds, as long as you're graceful (which I haven't always been). We also do lots of arm balances for upper-body strength, leg builders, and back work. My posture has improved greatly. I think I'm growing into the class nicely.

Perhaps the greatest part of the experience is that I'm able to forget neck pain (resulting from poor sleep in recent past), stresses for the day, and worries that I have. I also know how to better protect most areas of my body from poor alignment now, at least when I'm conscious of doing so. (The next step is to take these measures unconsciously.) All this, along with the natural cortisol suppression, lead to a wonderful feeling after the 1:30 class. More than a simple high or feeling, this state of mind helps medeal more calmly with stressful situations and so cuts down on the cycle where my stressful reactions create worse problems. Finally, I'm more mindful of different areas of tension in my body, and can relax these parts (mostly my jaw) more often.

In short, the practice of yoga has been a positive influence in my emotional and physical health.

Merck should invest in Rolaids

2004-09-30T22:51:00.000-04:00

Merck's product pipeline has been rather weak, which in drug company terms means several years of hard times when the patents start expiring. Now Merck is pulling Vioxx from the shelves effective immediately because of increased risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months on the drug.

Tonight's debate

2004-09-30T22:36:00.000-04:00

Well, looks like the expectation-lowering machine of the debates, and especially of the Bush campaign, worked pretty well. Kerry carried himself very well, but we knew he would do that anyway, right? Being the master debater that he is.

Bush did what he needed to do: separate himself from the Swifties (by commending Kerry on his Viet Nam War service) and show Kerry as someone who can't lead because he sends "mixed messages." He brought up the myriads of Security Council resolutions against Saddam Hussein and correctly points out that another round would have been fruitless.

However, I think it's Kerry that came out on top. He needed to show the common thread of his talk about the "wrong war at the wrong time," and I think he did a pretty good job. He certainly has a long way to go in repairing his image, but he got off to a good start tonight.

It was good to see some discussion of North Korea and Darfur, though I'm not sure what is going to be done about Darfur. I believe that the U.S. is obligated under treaties to put pressure on the Islamic government of Sudan and possibly commit troops, but I still don't know what the policy differences are. I guess at this stage we shouldn't, though Bush did a good job stating that we were already putting humanitarian effort in. Kerry mentioned something about logistical support; it would have been nice to hear an elaboration.

Kerry is the clear winner when it comes to debate style. Given what I thought each needed to do, I give Bush a C (did what he needed to do and nothing more) and Kerry a B- (started doing a lot to repair his image as a flip-flopper, could have done even better).

Clueless in America

2004-09-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

This scares me. But I must admit, it doesn't surprise me. Wasn't there a study recently that suggested that looks had a stronger than expected influence on elections?

Break more of the rules

2004-09-29T14:28:00.000-04:00

Glad to see somebody's got the gall to break some of the petty rules for the ~~joint press conference~~ debate on Thursday.

Our next smog-reducing policy: deforestation

2004-09-29T13:27:00.000-04:00

As Reagan pointed out in 1980, trees really do cause smog. Maybe.

Before we jump on an environmental policy bandwagon, we have to examine facts carefully. Global warming from man-made sources seems to be as accepted as the theory of evolution. The fact is our ecology is complex and poorly understood. Expect surprises such as the tree-smog connection and this surprise to crop up and remind us that environmental policy will never be straightforward.

My own polls study

2004-09-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

I've been tinkering around with polls.

I came up with the following nifty graphic (click to enlarge):

The are above the zero line indicates support for Bush, and the area below the line indicates support for Kerry. Points in gray indicate polls of registered voters, while black points indicate "likely" voters.

Since I have a job unrelated to polls and a family (also unrelated to polls), I assumed the polls are comparable and so included every one in the analysis. Here's a few thoughts.

It looks like Bush is gaining support over time, although there is so much noise I'm not sure what confidence I'd put in any lead at this point.

Fox polls, which I comment on because Fox News seems to be a favorite whipping boy of the left, somewhat consistently showed more favor for Kerry than average. Gallup consistently showed more favor for Bush, sometimes significantly more so as in the recent poll showing Bush with a double-digit lead.

The datasource is PollingReport (updated 9/27). After copying the numbers (Bush/Kerry numbers only) into a spreadsheet, I loaded the data into the R statistics program. It took a little manipulation to turn the dates from character strings into date objects, and I subtracted Kerry's support from Bush's to create a margin of support (with positive numbers favoring Bush). I then created a scatterplot using a different letter for each poll (as indicated in the legend). The curve through the data is created using lowess. (Lowess is like a weighted moving average, which weights "the data point you're on" the highest and those farther away lower. It's similar in spirit to the linear regression you do in basic statistics, except it does curves.) The smoothing parameter was 0.5.

The loss of Big Pharma on the drug reimportation issue

2004-09-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

Derek Lowe explains why the pharmaceutical industry will lose the reimportation battle.

Safety and counterfeiting issues, while a big problem, can be addressed. Their arguments about R&D costs have the potential to be the strongest argument, but that potential isn't going to be fulfilled. What pharma companies need to do is tell the truth:

Drugs typically take 8-12 years to develop and a lot of money. (The $800 million figure ought to be vigorously defended, or a defensible figure needs to be put forth. Transparency will be helpful here.)
Advertising budgets can't simply be moved over to R&D. If no one hears of the drug, then no one will buy it.
'Me-too' drugs are important because people's bodies may respond more to one member of a class of drugs over another, or side effects of one may be better than another on an individual basis. The competition aspect of me-too drugs is also helpful.
Each of these problems might be addressed by further regulations which will open up other problems and produce further waste in the system.

In short, the pharmaceutical industry has a lot of valid points it can put forth. Perhaps it's out of fear (or arrogance) that people won't understand the nuances of the economy of drugs (which is pretty much like the economy of any other good which is hard to research and usually easier to manufacture) and the nature of applied research and development that they hide behind simple (and intimidating) explanations.

Churches and criticisms of human rights abuses

2004-09-29T10:31:00.000-04:00

The Institute for Religion and Democracy has released a report analyzing the criticisms of human rights (pdf) abuses in four mainstream Protestant churches. It turns out that the U. S. and Israel received the lion's share of criticism. The report also notes the lack of criticism for expansionist policies in the former Soviet Union and Leninist-Marxist movements in Africa and Asia.

Question: I wonder if this comes from the old adage "familiarity" breeds comtempt, or we are simply more familiar with the nuances of our foreign and domestic policies (and those of Israel, since Christians generally take a keen interest in the land). I mean after all, we are not familiar with the ins and outs of East Timor, Indonesia and Darfur, Sudan.

(via The Volokh Conspiracy)

Hey Apostropher, put DOWN that cup of coffee!

2004-09-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

Shrinkette says that you'll start to ramble.

One to add to the collection

2004-09-29T08:46:00.000-04:00

Very old coin bearing an image of the Buddha fetches $27,000. And I thought my buffalo nickel was cool.

One reason why Libertarians don't get elected

2004-09-29T08:14:00.000-04:00

After meeting ballot access requirements, fending off challenges to ballot access, and increasing mindshare, you'd expect a Libertarian candidate to come up with something more intelligent to say than the following (from Ball State Daily News):

"Property taxes are inherently evil ... immoral and wrong,"Gividen said. To make up for the loss in tax money, he would eliminate the school board and appoint student parents to take care of the school system.

PBS special on third parties

2004-09-28T15:33:00.000-04:00

PBS is running a special on the influence of third parties, with a view toward the 2004 election. What's more, in some areas, the program will be a lead-in to the first Horse Race debate on Thursday!

This is a much better protest than going into a cow pen in Winston-Salem in 2000.

Thoughtful analysis of undecided voters

2004-09-28T11:33:00.000-04:00

FederalReview.com looks at undecided voters. A neat meta-analysis of polls with a useful application.

Other meta-polling links (and one general EC page):

pollkatz

Polling bias (includes thoughtful discussion about why polling bias exists)

Polling report (clearinghouse for data, but the really useful raw data is accessible only through $95/yr subscription)

Election prediction based on meta-analysis of state polls

Daly thoughts looks at the history of job approval and second-term elections

Federal Election Commission's pages on the Electoral College

Kerry hypocrisy

2004-09-28T08:31:00.000-04:00

Jokes for me but not for thee.

Kerry's right: lives are on the line. To both of our illustrious candidates: put up or shut up.

Polls, Poles, Polz

2004-09-28T08:14:00.000-04:00

Somebody studies which way (Election 2004) polls lean.

Something to get excited about in Tibet?

2004-09-27T14:01:00.000-04:00

There may be some good news on the Tibet front.

However, there is a storm cloud on the horizon. (Xinhua article here.)

Statistical analysis of terrorist attacks in Israel

2004-09-27T13:44:00.000-04:00

The MidEastWeb has some statistical analyses on terror attacks in Gaza, Isreal, and the West Bank. A statistician myself, I was curious about how to interpret these. The answer: you can guess at an increase or a decrease, but they're only a small part of the big picture.

Here's a thought: Israel, using methods we probably couldn't get away with, is having problems winning its war on terror, despite great success in thwarting attacks. While "away games are better than home games in war," this makes you wonder about the prospects of peace in Iraq. At the same time, the IDF isn't (correct me if I'm wrong) trying to rebuild the infrastructure in Gaza.

Entertain us, O Great Spirit

2004-09-27T09:59:00.000-04:00

Psychologists study the power of suggestion at Victorian scéances, but didn't detect any spirits.

BTW, exactly how does one take pictures of spirits. The article says the researchers used infrared cameras, and I've heard of Kirlian photography, but if our senses are inaccurate on the detection of spirits, how is equipment going to be any better?

When your health club fee is a "business investment"

2004-09-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

I wonder how much these guys make.

Some good news from Iraq

2004-09-27T08:42:00.000-04:00

No matter what your political affiliation is, we have to remember that there are millions of people who live in Iraq, and what is a political hot topic for us is life to them. I'm glad for them that they have some good news, even if the good news challenges their old notions about life and citizenship. The link even has a couple of links where you can help.

Money <> happiness, part the millionth

2004-09-24T16:22:00.000-04:00

Now psychologists are saying it. Again.

As if rape and murder weren't enough

2004-09-24T16:16:00.000-04:00

Syrians and Sudanese government are cooperating to test chemical weapons in Darfur (you may have to hit reload a minute or two after clicking the link).