Saturday, October 4. 2014
People taking pictures of themselves has become a kind of 'normal' thing with the advent of the smartphone. Teens seem to do it regularly, and even the president takes part (which seems to give the practice validity, though he is very consumed with himself). The term 'selfie' has been added to the the dictionary and this self-indulgent practice has spawned a number of YouTube compilations. Some really are just self-indulgent. Others are well-designed and give insight. Still others have an artistic bend to them. But each has two things in common. The first is it is taken by the subject, the second is it is about the subject as an individual.
While the concept of taking regular pictures of a subject is not new, the ease with which it can be done (particularly on an individual level) has improved. As a project for an artist, however, it can yield intriguing results. Nicholas Nixon's study of the Brown Sisters provides a tremendous view of how a subject group, in this case a family, progresses through time. I am not sensitive enough to be moved to tears, though others have been.
My wife and I had very different reactions to the pictures. She focused on the items mentioned in the article, all of which are intriguing. I looked at the individual pictures, seeking to find indications of change and age. While each picture shows differences, I was of the opinion noticeable changes started appearing somewhere around the 16-20 year mark.
Through the Jewish High Holy Days ending with Yom Kippur tonight, we search our souls and behaviors for corrections that will bring a better year. Last night before Kol Nidre, I was chatting with the new, young Assistant Rabbi. I commented that much of life is a test of how we will act and react. The Senior Rabbi’s sermon last night added depth to this. He examined a facet of resilience that is at the core of our teachings, gratitude. We begin our days with a prayer of thanks for experiencing our senses. The Rabbi added that as we face adversities, beyond just faith in our Creator or ourselves there is the strength and refocus from pain provided by gratitude for the blessings of life we have had, have now, or will have. As we always end our prayers tonight at the end of Yom Kippur services, “next year in Jerusalem,” not just literally but figuratively will we be in the land of milk and honey.
 Remember this good vid? It's not about the nail!
Ex-mayor Bloomberg was asked why he decided to go back to his job running Bloomberg. His reply: "I could stay home listening to Elaine talk about her feelings, or go back to work. Now, what would you do?"
What's a Grandma Pie? And Where Can You Find One?
How to improve your memory
Is this the baseball glove of the future?
Which sports teams should transgender students play on?
A "Misc." team? I can picture that.
5 simple ways to “age-proof” your body before it starts breaking down
A gal to avoid: I Don’t Want to Marry a Man Who Will Feed Our Kid McDonald’s
Disgusting food, occasionally necessary
‘It’s Science’ Has Become the New ‘it’s Gospel’
Five Reasons Americans Can't Find Jobs
Welcome to Illinois, the state that doesn't work
BATTERED, BEREAVED, AND BEHIND BARS -Arlena Lindley’s boyfriend Alonzo Turner beat her for months and murdered her child — so why was she sent to prison for 45 years? A BuzzFeed News Investigation.
4 Years Later, Fed Critics Explain Why Central Planning Still Doesn't Work
It’s official: no global warming for 18 years 1 month
Why That Guy Keeps Reminding You He Went to an Ivy League School
It's called marketing, branding
It's Insulting to Women to Suggest They're Interested in Weddings, Dresses, and Other Girly Things!
Modern girls love trucks, modern boys love dresses
Forget Secession. Americans Want to Boot California From the Union.
Hmmm. Expulsion?
Obama Sent Emissary To Tehran in 2008 To Assure Mullahs He Was A Friend To Iranian Regime
How Low Can It Go? Oil Benchmark Hits 28-Month Low
Labor Participation Rate Drops To 36 Year Low; Record 92.6 Million Americans Not In Labor Force
Gotta like Rand Paul
Dick Morris Tells Hannity: Obama Pushing for One-Party Rule
Isn't that power what parties strive for?
Psychologists try to figure out how to alarm people about global warming
Ebola Expert Demands Americans Die for White Guilt
Is Germany Planning to Ban Work Emails After 6 P.M.?
What a great idea - unless you're in management. Idiots.
Average IQ by nations, via Important Ebola Note
The list might explain why there are so many Singaporean software developers in the US. They are in high demand.
The President of Inequality : Policies Promoting Equality Over Growth Have Damaged Both.
Who brought the Arabs to this nadir?
An annual reposting, now at the beginning of duck hunting season.
 WHATEVER YOU DO IS WRONG
When you sit in the blind awaiting the flight
Of the white-breasted northern sprig,
While they circle high and think to light,
And they look so close and big,
You whisper your pard, as you both crouch low,
“Now! – Don’t wait too long!”
You shoot – too far – and off they go;
Whatever you do is wrong!
Then you curse yourself for a fool greenhorn,
Your pride has had a blow;
Sullen you sit and smoke and mourn,
When – in comes a bunch, fair low!
You watch them circle ‘round and ‘round,
“Just let them work along!”
When – off they swing, southward bound;
Whatever you do is wrong!
And so, through life, a poor wretch tries
To do what he thinks is right,
To place his funds so that when he dies
His family’ll be sitting tight;
To raise the young with the best in mind,
And sometimes it works like a song,
But often he finds like the man in the blind,
Whatever you do is wrong!
Still, I think that our God who sits in His sky,
And watches each man in his blind,
When it comes time for the hunter to die,
Surely, He’ll keep in mind
That each tried to do what it seemed he ought,
And He’ll put us where we belong;
For He’ll understand the fellow that thought,
Whatever he did was wrong!
L.E.H.
Friday, October 3. 2014
51% of Democrats support criminalizing hate speech
For me, speech about criminalizing incorrect speech amounts to fighting words. It provokes me towards evil, defiant ideas.
But maybe it can be taken further. Forget speech, how about criminalizing incorrect but unspoken thoughts? Government doctors and neuroscientists could decide who is guilty. "If my thought-dreams could be seen they'd probably put my head in a guillotine, but it's all right, Ma..."
Let him without thought crime cast the first stone.
 I am very much convinced of this effect, and would like to see the idea enter the lexicon. It's from this: Why ’6 Reasons I’m Happier Because I Went to War’ went viral
It's always been my view that difficult experiences can eventually result in painful psychological growth as often as they can result in lasting damage. It used to be called the School of Hard Knocks but I call it "Reality Therapy," and it's all the therapy most people ever get.
Psychotherapy, in it's most penetrating and exploratory forms, is nothing more than controlled psychological trauma, just as surgery is controlled physical trauma.
How British Snobbery Ruined U.S. Colleges: ‘Freedom From Speech’ Author Speaks
FIRE is on my annual donation list, and it's getting near that gifting time of year.
"I am stunned at the immaturity of this administration.... We elected a man as president who had no experience at anything."
Steve Wynn
Thursday, October 2. 2014
Time to pick up the dekes and head back to the lodge for cocktail hour
Chart below via The Truth Behind Warren Buffett's $31,500 House
Can this be accurate? And how does inflation fit in?
From The Closing of the American Mind Revisited:
Every Catholic university has its own story. But the basic dynamic tends to be the same. For all their good intentions, most Catholic administrators are hopelessly confused and inconsistent when it comes to the goals of education. Just talk to a Catholic dean or college president. They do not want non-Catholic students to be “uncomfortable,” and they want everyone to feel “included.” Then, not a minute or two later, the conversation shifts, and the very same proponents of inclusion will insist that we need to challenge our students with critical thought and diverse perspectives. Hello! You can’t have it both ways—making students comfortable and challenging them.
Louisiana Is Disappearing Into the Sea - And guess who's blocking efforts to save the land
Political disputes in ancient Athens 
I like this term "knee-pad journalism"
Lena Dunham Warns Women GOP Could Affect Your Sex Life
Romney on 2016: “We’ve got a lot of people looking at the race. We’ll see what happens.”
Navy sailors distrust commanders, fear crippling political correctness
University of New Mexico to Host ‘Threesome’ Sex Workshop for Sex Week
Why stop at 3?
Top US Doctor: Illegal Immigrant Children May Be Spreading Mysterious Respiratory Disease
California Sends in the Sex Police
Vermont: Job Losses Adding Up in America’s Most Liberal State
Liberals Call for New Constitution
How Liberals Became the New Book Banners - The First Amendment is under fire from the progressive left.
Government Desperation Is Increasing
The silly, selective ‘war on women
A decade after welcoming wind, states reconsider
Slow But Certain Integration in Israel - There's more promise for improved Arab-Israeli relations than you think.
Why State Dept. Defends UNRWA's Artificial "Refugee" Designations
Why Is America Wasting the F-22 Raptor on Bombing ISIS?
Germany's military doesn't just choose not to act. It can't act.
Islamic State Using Human Shields
America's Big Military Mistake: Cutting Land Forces Too Quickly
Wednesday, October 1. 2014
A (very) Liberal/Progressive friend of mine sent me this article to get a rise out of me. I sent him a quick response, pointing out it would take more time to explain why this author is so terribly misguided. Thankfully, that's why blogs exist.
The author, Eduardo Porto, makes the claim "Elected governments are certainly imperfect. But to address our most intractable ills, they are the better tool." I wonder if this is something he'd have written if Bush were in the White House? Doubtful. More importantly, it's worth noting 'government as a tool to fix ills' is a common Progressive claim. It's also one which is completely misguided since it relies on having 'the right people' in office. If the wrong person or people are in charge, Progressives (and Conservatives) who believe government is a 'good' claim "government is broken" or "the wrong people are in charge." The first claim is most likely true regardless of who is in office. But if these claims are true, does government suddenly get fixed when the 'right' people are in charge? Certainly not!
If your system of righting perceived ills requires having 'the right people in charge', you have devised an awful system of governance. It's unlikely the right people can ever be in charge.
What really galls is his belief that an imperfect elected government is the best resource for fixing any perceived ills. Porto seems to have no problem with the 'right' politicians getting wealthy as long as they strike a stance which he support - opposition to businessmen getting wealthy because they provide consumers with beneficial products. It's easy to ignore that, for the last 6 years, with people I'm sure he considers 'right' being in place, Porto's perceived societal ills caused by business have gotten worse. After 6 years of His Wonderfulness being in charge, this journalist is still writing diatribes about how awful things are, or how awful they are becoming. Why has he not stopped to consider the complete and utter uselessness of our Empty-Suit-In-Chief? The 'fix' he voted for has failed him miserably, and he is miserable because he knows it, so he's complaining that the 'fix' was improperly applied. In fact, it was applied properly and it's just plain unworkable. Government is an ineffective method of generating social change, regardless of the 'right people'.
Continue reading "Capitalists are Socially Aware"
 I was recently driving from New Haven to Boston and picked up the first hitchhiker I've seen in quite a while. He was hitching to Augusta, Maine, a Navy guy on leave.
I asked him why he did it. He told me had hitched since his early teens, and just liked it. I told him I used to hitch all over the Northeast, mostly going to see gals. Nobody gave me use of a car when I turned 16, or even when I graduated from college.
It seems to me that hitchhiking in the Northeast is a disappearing tradition. Too bad - it was a good thing, always interesting, but maybe that was a more innocent era.
Seen any lately? Given any a ride?
Bulldog and I have been working on this for a while.
The plan is to hike from the Battery - South Ferry - to Central Park South. Or maybe vice-versa - we'll let you know details. However, it will be a somewhat meandering route so as to capture some fun sights and neighborhoods, and some cool locations, and for some fun beer/water and/or bathroom stops. We'll post a map of our route in advance.
As a result, it could be a 7-miler, a bit tiring for some but it's mostly all flat. We have no time frame for the hike (maybe 10 AM, until done). Totally doable in comfortable shoes. Cameras are good. If needed, we'll have a leader with an ISIS Sicilian Mexican American flag! Nobody to give talks, though.
Be there or be square. It's like, you know, like totally worth a trip to the city. Grab a hearty breakfast, because we aren't stopping for food. Backpack snacks if you need 'em.
Rain, snow, shine, or fire-and-brimstone. Bulldog and I will be there, News Junkie, family members, friends, and whoever, at the start. Join us, whether a Maggie's reader or not. We are friendly (and we do not care about your politics or your religion).
Details to you if interested in a group hike - just leave your contact info in the comments below, or we will post further details soon. Yes means Yes, but not maybe.
Should Girls Ask Guys Out?
Of course - especially shy guys
Where's the Proof in Science? There Is None
Why Eating McDonald's Is Completely 'Natural'
5 creatures you never want to meet on your run – and what to do if you do
Is the college diploma a sign of advanced skills or just a screening technique?
How Not to Be Poor
Northeast loses 40% of House seats as people flee high-tax states
The Gelded Age - The inequality bed-wetters are misleading you.
NYT: To Solve Climate Change, The Economy Must Change:
Klein argues, we need to break free of market fundamentalism and implement long-term planning, strict regulation of business, more taxation, more government spending and reversals of privatization to return key infrastructure to public control.
Jay Carney May Be Off the White House Payroll, But He’s Still on the Team
My Aggravating Year With Obamacare
Carpe: Some commentary on campus sexual assault
Abbas incites, and we're to blame?
The last mile of our long drive from Winnipeg north to the lodge. Plenty of Ruffies in those woods.
Photo below the fold of the same driveway in an Oct snow
Continue reading "Final mile"
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