jackdied.com http://jackdied.com Latest Posts at jackdied en-us 26 Jun 2010 14:39 EDT 26 Jun 2010 14:39 EDT http://jackdied.com/rss Your week in Quickies http://jackdied.com/article/1070
The Presidential Ham
[bobsalive]
Jun 26 2010, 14:39 EDT
An interesting, if bizarre, art project.

Grandmother, aged 37, arrested for DUI with 3 yo grandchild in the car
[jackdied]
May 15 2010, 06:09 EDT
37? I'm about that age and my grandmother was born in odd-three. We're witnessing Idiocracy unfold in real time. via

The F*ck Feelings Manifesto
[jackdied]
May 12 2010, 18:51 EDT
My family's motto is "etlay itway opdray." 95% of life deserves cheerful indifference, and doing so makes the other 5% more enjoyable [that other 5% is occupied by Joy and Vendetta]. via

We've Got Company
[bobsalive]
Apr 24 2010, 10:13 EDT
It's a popular line.

Masterpieces in 3D
[bobsalive]
Apr 13 2010, 19:17 EDT
Clever, fun marketing for new 3D televisions.

Undercroft at Wikipedia
[jackdied]
Apr 04 2010, 13:44 EDT
If you didn't have to click that link you are probably an Episcopalian; and so you already know what a narthex is too. [I grew up in a house with an undercroft -- it's where the rakes, shovels, and lawn mowers were kept]

Granite State of Mind [video]
[jackdied]
Apr 02 2010, 20:40 EDT
The "Live Free or Die" state gets some viral video love, via The Union Leader.

Smooth Jazz Metallica
[bobsalive]
Mar 30 2010, 18:46 EDT
A very interesting version of Enter Sandman.
]]> quickie@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1070 26 Jun 2010 14:39 EDT http://jackdied.com/ A Little Hayek http://jackdied.com/article/1069 The Road to Serfdom has sold out. My copy is currently lent out (I've bought a half dozen copies over the years), so I'll post a paragraph from his later Individualism and Economic Order instead.
To the accepted Christian tradition that man must be free to follow his conscience in moral matters if his actions are to be of any merit, the economists added the further argument that he should be free to make full use of his knowledge and skill, that he must be allowed to be guided by his concern for the particular things of which he knows and for which he cares, if he is to make as great a contribution to the common purposes of society as he is capable of making.
He's referring to the Socialist Calculation Problem. Knowledge and particular talent is highly dispersed in society and wishing that it can be centrally marshaled is a fools errand. You wouldn't vote for one guy on your block to spend 20% of everyone's income for them because he obviously doesn't know better than you what you like to eat, what kind of education your kids need, etc. That a Congressman can do this for hundreds of thousands of people or a Senator for millions is complete fantasy.]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1069 11 Jun 2010 07:21 EDT http://jackdied.com/ Obituaries and a Decent Man http://jackdied.com/article/1068 on a man that had an impact on millions of lives. He designed a paper coffee cup that has been in use for 60 years. He died at the age of 87.

I was irked to read his death was from "complications of Parkinson’s disease, his son Robert said" Not because of Parkinson's but because papers won't publish an obituary without mentioning the cause. The paper called his son while he was freshly grieving and asked a bunch of questions, including cause of death. When my grandmother died at 95 I answered the phone when the local reporter called and she wouldn't take "old age" as a cause of death. I wasn't in the best of moods (my grandmother having just died) so I got to say things like "if she was eaten by a shark at the age of 95 I would have told you." We settled on "complications from a stroke" which I now (many years later) dislike - it reads too softly and implies lingering. Better to have a concise fib or go big as in Died Tragically Rescuing His Family From The Wreckage Of A Destroyed Sinking Battleship .]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1068 01 May 2010 08:15 EDT http://jackdied.com/ Bar Quiz http://jackdied.com/article/1067 bobsalive had some hours to kill before he picked up his special lady friend at Logan airport so we hit the local tappy on a night that just happened to be "quiz night." Over the course of two hours we slowly increased our lead from 64-60 to 114-107 over the 2nd place team. It seemed like the game was rigged in our favor: we were the only team to correctly answer "Drudge Report" to an internet question and the the only team to go 10/10 on the bonus round of "translate British slang into US English" (I lived in AUS for a year, so this was a freebie).

The final two questions had a 30 point swing. We were up by 6 points with 114 so we couldn't not bid the highest per-question points (10 each) in the final round. We boffed both of em and another team got em both right [the cheaters]. The questions were: 1) where are MLB baseballs made? answer: Costa Rica, and 2) [I don't recall, bobsalive will edit]

We did have a little help affirming some shaky answers from the very drunk guy sitting next to us, the bartender, and the gal grading the quiz (bobsalive: did you want the character name or the movie for the 1998 Matt Lablanc movie? Quiz gal: Lost in .. shit, the movie).

I also played a losing hand at haggling over the bar tab (we had 5+ beers between us):

Bartender: That'll be 12 bucks.
Me: *raised eyebrow*
Bartender: 15 bucks.
Me: *plunks down a twenty*
Cheap at twice the price.]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1067 28 Apr 2010 23:24 EDT http://jackdied.com/ Winter Bowling: Sunday Night Mixed http://jackdied.com/article/1066 nobody - all the members of the other team were no-shows. By our league bylaws this is not a straight forfeit: their team cannot win any points but our team still has to win each game as if we were bowling against 4 players who bowled 10 pins each under their average. Yeah, we screwed up that 40 pin per-game advantage and only took 6 of 8 points.

My night was good: 168, 210, 222 for a 600 series on the nose. The oil conditions were tough. Uniformly wet in the middle with a lot of carry down, and uniformly dry on the outside (the combination meant there was no funneling effect for hook players). One of my favorite lines just happened to be in relatively good shape and I found it relatively early.

PS, the USBC has stopped issuing patches/badges for achievements like a high scoring game or series. Tonight I got a cheap pen (as opposed to a cheap patch) for a 225 game. ]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1066 11 Apr 2010 22:30 EDT http://jackdied.com/ None So Blind as Those Who Will Not See http://jackdied.com/article/1065 very surprised because the saying has a very strong KJV feel.

The first seemingly relevant link I found attributed the phrase to comic/singer Ray Stevens (author of "The Streak" and "Mississippi Squirrel Revival"). That can't be right, so a couple clicks on the "more search results" button later and I found this list of literary references which includes many paraphrases of the quote. Some more digging led to this page which gave me what I was looking for, chapter and verse: Jeremiah 5:21

Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not
The above linked page includes 15 different translations, the one I like best is Young's Literal Translation (a translation I'm unfamiliar with)
Hear ye, I pray you, this, O people, foolish and without heart, Eyes they have, and they see not, Ears they have, and they hear not.
PS, Happy Easter. I can say that without qualification because this is one of those years where Easter falls on the same day for both Western churches & Eastern Orthodox.

PPS, When asked, I describe myself as "C of E, C and E" (Church of England, Christmas and Easter). I didn't get to church today so I'll make up for it by attending a few services outside the high holy days. But of course I'm rarely asked, because no self respecting Episcopalian Yankee would broach the subject of religion (not even in the Narthex over coffee).]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1065 04 Apr 2010 13:36 EDT http://jackdied.com/ Your week in Quickies http://jackdied.com/article/1064

A Takedown of the American Right
[jackdied]
Mar 24 2010, 01:51 EDT
Hundreds of links in one post. Consider it definitive for the form.
You're going to have to come up with a platform that isn't built on a foundation of cowardice: fear of people with colors, religions, cultures and sex lives that differ from your own; fear of reform in banking, health care, energy; fantasy fears of America being transformed into an Islamic nation, into social/commun/fasc-ism, into a disarmed populace put in internment camps; and more.
It must be hard to live every day knowing that everyone who disagrees with you is made of pure evil, and that you alone are just and kind.

Henry Kissinger Hospitalized in Seoul
[jackdied]
Mar 13 2010, 12:31 EST
I have a mild interest in Kissinger: my great-aunt's husband's niece married Hank. So we aren't related unless "I know a guy who knows a guy who .." counts as a relation. And I'm pretty sure no one calls him Hank.

Cadbury Creme Eggs Benedict
[bobsalive]
Mar 08 2010, 15:06 EST
A diabetes-inducing, faux-breakfast dessert. Surprisingly hasn't made This is why you're fat. Yet.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
[bobsalive]
Mar 03 2010, 05:34 EST
From the writer of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

White Sorority Wins Step Competition
[jackdied]
Feb 28 2010, 20:54 EST
.. for about five seconds before a hasty "recount" was ordered. The resulting fark.com thread was fark at it's best/worst.

High Status Means More Brain Dopamine
[jackdied]
Feb 28 2010, 20:51 EST
Does this mean there is a physical basis to Noblesse Oblige?

Juggalo News Clip [video]
[jackdied]
Feb 28 2010, 20:49 EST
What if you married followers of the Insane Clown Posse to CNN? Wonder no more.
]]> quickie@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1064 24 Mar 2010 02:11 EDT http://jackdied.com/ House to Vote on Universal Healthcare http://jackdied.com/article/1063

The New Social Contract

My strongest objection is that the bill creates a new contract between the federal government and the people. There is only one proper way to do that: pass a new constitutional amendment. Winning one election is insufficient. An amendment wouldn't be possible because the bill is unpopular. The Dems are betting that the bill will become popular after it is passed, or at least that it will be impossible to undo once it has passed by creating special interests in favor of its perpetuation.

Once the bill is passed there will be no end of calls for regulating personal behavior in the name of efficiency and cost saving, see Jacob Sullum's 1998 book For Your Own Good: The Tyranny of Public Health. The government will take your money and then regulate your personal life in the name of saving you money. You can't opt out - there will be no exemptions for people who pay more in than they take out (i.e. you and me). The inescapable nature of the system is what makes it a new Social Contract.

We Have No Idea What Is In It

The bill is 2000 pages long. It sets up advisory commissions, discovery panels, and includes a whole host of new regulations. It only takes a single vaguely worded paragraph to make anything possible. Nancy Pelosi said "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy" and she wasn't kidding.

This will also be the begging, not the end of legislation. Pelosi has also promised the bill is the beginning of the slippery slope. Saying yes to this bill is saying yes to things that aren't even in it.

Unconstitutional

The Washington Post has a good op-ed questioning the constitutionality of the bill. In short for the bill to be constitutional congress has to have a plenary power that they simply don't have. This isn't a grey area, the framers specifically argued in the Federialst Papers 41 that the constitution didn't read like a note to your babysitter stating:
  1. Alice can only eat dessert if she eats her veggies.
  2. Alice has to be in bed by 8pm.
  3. Alice can do whatever the hell she wants.
but post New Deal this is a very popular reading of the constitution. Even the Supreme Court interprets it that way when 5 justices feel like it.

Financial Disaster

Proponents of the bill like to point out that it is "deficit neutral" - meaning it takes in as much money in taxes and fees that it will spend. Those numbers from Congressional Budget Office are a fiction. 250 billion of the Trillion dollar price tag are paid for by a scheduled cut to Medicare that will be postponed immediately after the bill is passed. To balance out the budget there is almost no spending in the first four years, just tax collection. All the money is spent in the last six years.

That spending situation is very similar to Social Security, so we know exactly what will happen. Social Security ran at a profit for decades, but the money wasn't squirreled away - it went into the general fund and was spent. Now Social Security is paying out more than it takes in. Likewise the taxes for healthcare will be spent in the first four years, and not saved up to be spent in the last six. So all that spending on the backend will be unfunded even as baseline spending (non-healthcare spending) is increased in the first four years.

Conclusion

There is a feeling among my Leftier friends that this bill is important because it gets us closer to Universal Healthcare and Universal Healthcare would be neat. Besides - the politicians mean well and are earnest. But if meaning well and being earnest were good qualities by themselves we would give civics awards to stalkers. Or as Jay Nordingler likes to say whenever a politician is praised for their intelligence "intellegent sure, but in the service of what?" ]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1063 21 Mar 2010 15:56 EDT http://jackdied.com/ Winter Bowling: Sunday Night Mixed http://jackdied.com/article/1062 The first game we smashed em. I bowled a 243 (almost 80 pins over my average). Delusions of making the men's scratch leaderboard danced in my head - you need to average 225 a game for three games to make the board. This was not to be; my 2nd game was 176 and our two big hitters were struggling with the ugly oil. The second game went to the other team but we were still up +60 pins in total pinfall. The third game was more mixed. I reverted to average (163) but Bob K switched his ball and found his mark for 205. Audrey was a bit above her 125 average all night. We lost game 3 by 15 pins but still took total pinfall for a 4-4 point finish.]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1062 08 Mar 2010 00:35 EST http://jackdied.com/ Simple Music http://jackdied.com/article/1061

I have absolutely no idea what the words she is singing are, but the result is hauntingly beautiful.]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1061 07 Mar 2010 09:55 EST http://jackdied.com/ Mark Pilgrim on Getting Rid of Stuff http://jackdied.com/article/1060 explains how he gets rid of stuff he doesn't need.

Herself: The TV doesn’t work.
Myself: I unplugged it.
Her: When?
Me: About six months ago.
I've linked to his colorful common sense before such as his review of the book "The Joy of Fatherhood"
I am not the target market for this book, because, apparently, the target market for this book is newborn dads who need to be told that fucking the babysitter is inappropriate. “Oh,” I’m supposed to exclaim, “you mean I pick them up, pay them, and don’t fuck them? Oooooh, now I get it.”
]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1060 06 Mar 2010 17:49 EST http://jackdied.com/ Money vs Stuff http://jackdied.com/article/1059 We use money as a substitute for barter: if an apple is worth the same as a banana but you don't make apples or bananas then you use money to buy an apple. Eventually the guy who sold you the apple will hand off the money to someone else and so on until it lands with someone who sells a banana. But imagine if everyone's bank balance and salary was doubled overnight. There would be twice as much money chasing the same amount of stuff. An apple would still be worth a banana so after some initial confusion all prices would be double what they used to be.

Money does matter - that "some initial confusion" could be massively destructive - but when you are thinking about "stuff" and straight barter things become clearer. For instance you can't just say "occupation X should make more money" because what you really mean is "one apple should be worth two bananas." Which means you think there should either be a law fixing the price or you are writing an appeal to convince everyone else that apples are really awesome and/or bananas are icky.

To say everyone should make more money is to say everyone should make more stuff. To say some people should make more money is to say that other people should get less stuff. ]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1059 01 Mar 2010 19:45 EST http://jackdied.com/ Winter Bowling: Sunday Mixed http://jackdied.com/article/1058 Audrey 144, 130, 127 (23 over)
jackdied 165, 180, 154 (16 over)
Kerry 147, 174, 223 (47 over)
Bob K 189, 166, 209 (51 over)

So next week we should be somewhat higher in the rankings than our current miserable 15th place.]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1058 28 Feb 2010 20:45 EST http://jackdied.com/ Ball Square News http://jackdied.com/article/1057 bought by 7-11 and the stores are being redone to be 7-11s, which means no more deli. The Ball Square location will probably be shuttered because there is an existing 7-11 just a few blocks away.

The Chinese takeout joint that closed six months back has a sign announcing it is re-opening soonish as an Indian restaurant. This makes me very happy because while the Boston area has many good Indian restaurants they tend to cluster and I have to take the T to get to any of them.

Update: Somerville City Hall wants to start a city book club, or something. In March everyone is invited to read "The Things They Carried." Thank goodness the local government is stepping up to create a book club; presumably this signals that all the important stuff has been taken care of.]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1057 28 Feb 2010 20:59 EST http://jackdied.com/ The Origins of Curling http://jackdied.com/article/1056 Chicagoboyz has the scoop

Duncan: “We’ve got naught to amuse our persons with save a frozen pond, some smooth river boulders and our wimmen’s brooms.”

Angus: “Oh, aye, and we’re drunk.”

Duncan: “And we’re drunk.”

]]> jackdied@jackdied.com http://jackdied.com/article/1056 27 Feb 2010 11:33 EST http://jackdied.com/