Monday, December 13. 2010
Scroll down and catch up on our posts over the past few days. Some meaty stuff there.
Quite amusing: The 12 days of Winter
QUO VADIS FIDEL? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
The Leftist World Council of Churches and the Jews:
Get used to it my fellow Jews, the World Council of Churches hate you. These empty-church clergy with their theology that turns Jesus into a mere symbol, they hate you
Sunday, December 12. 2010
No recruited athletes, no legacies, no ethnic or sex balancing. Why Caltech Is in a Class by Itself. A quote:
All recent Caltech undergraduates have scored 700 or above on the math SAT, and far from being a bunch of inarticulate science and math geeks, the vast majority have scored over 700 on the English verbal SAT as well.
Caltech is interested in enrolling only the academically most accomplished and advanced students, who have a genuine passion for the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), and virtually all of its entering students have achieved at the 98th or 99th percentile in terms of their scores on competitive national exams.
What this means is that at Caltech, there are no dumb jocks, dumb legacies, or dumb affirmative action students. It is clear from its published statistics that the non-academic criteria that preoccupy admissions committees at all other elite universities count for little at this beacon of pure meritocracy.
Excellent summary of the topic at The American by Arthur Brooks and Peter Wehner.
Perhaps I like it because it confirms my line of thinking, but says it better than I can. They begin:
The model of human nature one embraces will guide and shape everything else, from the economic system one prefers to the political system one supports.
At the core of every social, political, and economic system is a picture of human nature (to paraphrase 20th-century columnist Walter Lippmann). The suppositions we begin with—the ways in which that picture is developed—determine the lives we lead, the institutions we build, and the civilizations we create. They are the foundation stone.
It's one of the biggest topics on earth. Good job, guys.
 Off to NYC for the day. Will bring camera, just in case.
Warren Buffett, Robber Baron?
A very sly dude behind his folksy persona.
Lord Monckton does the simple math.
Nobody else in Cancun could do math. How did they get through college?
Ron Radosh takes a look at that Mead article we posted: TNR and the Crisis of The American Intellectual: Can the Old Liberal Stalwart Play a Role in Today’s World?
No, not really. And I grew up on TNR, The New Yorker, and the NYT. I think I have learned more, over time.
The Leftist war against doctors: Asclepius Shrugged
Why do they hate docs? They sure like them when they need them. Maybe, like children, they want love and care for free. Well, who doesn't?
Everyone Hates Ethanol Subsidies. Why Can't We Get Rid of Them?
I think the reason the O put Clinton on stage was because the O doesn't understand Econ 101 well enough to talk about it without a teleprompter. And I think the O left because he didn't want to feel upstaged by Slick Willy. Just my opinion. The O needs to learn more, study a little, get eddicated.
Gov. Awesome goes after tenure
He cracks me up, but he's too skinny to be President.
Bernie Sanders is a classic New England crank, a perennially disgruntled nut. He thinks people who make money have a "sickness of greed." I think he has a sickness of power, and maybe a sickness of envy. And a sick greed for my income, which I mainly use for tuition payments. Does Bernie want to throw my kid out of her college? Furthermore, I don't know hardly anybody who could not use a few more bucks. Hey, Bernie - the "rich" already pay almost all of the taxes in the US. That's not right. We think every citizen who benefits from living in the US should pay his dues, and all at an equal rate. That's what I said - all income, no deductions, equal rate. No death tax. Death tax destroys family farms and family businesses - and taxing cadavers just doesn't seem fair. Not fair to pick the pockets of those who cannot fight back - especially when the wealthiest cadavers have ways around it.
Amusing, at Insty:
OH, ABSOLUTELY: Democrats hurl f-bombs at Obama. Are they racist now? Racist, racist, racist. Also, racist. And there’s nothing worse than being racist, believe me. Stupid Democrat racists.
Matthew 11:2-11
11:2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples
11:3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
11:4 Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:
11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
11:6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
11:7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
11:8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.
11:9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
11:10 This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Saturday, December 11. 2010
Coolest version of this dumb song ever made. That's New Orleans, or meant to be, I suspect. Minnesota accordion plus New Orleans. Only Dylan would do that.
 While the rest of the world was shopping or wrestling with fir trees or hunting, the Mrs. and I slipped in to see Dawn Treader.
All 20 theaters at our megaplex were empty this afternoon. If you haven't read this book in the Narnia series, you should. It's sort of a Christian version of Jason and the Golden Fleece tale with the theme of spiritual warfare and redemption.
It would take me an hour to write a half-decent review, so I'll just say that it is faithful to the book, and the special effects do not overwhelm the story. I passed on the 3-D glasses. There is no sex, good clean righteous violence, and neither the name of God or Christ are mentioned once. Eustace is good. Aslan seems a tamer God than usual.
You don't get to see heaven, but Reepicheep travels there at the end.
From Prof. Sean Kelly's Navigating Past Nihilism (h/t, reader BL):
“God is dead,” Nietzsche wrote in a famous passage from “The Gay Science.” “God remains dead. And we have killed him.”
There is much debate about the meaning of Nietzsche’s famous claim, and I will not attempt to settle that scholarly dispute here. But at least one of the things that Nietzsche could have meant is that the social role that the Judeo-Christian God plays in our culture is radically different from the one he has traditionally played in prior epochs of the West. For it used to be the case in the European Middle Ages for example ─ that the mainstream of society was grounded so firmly in its Christian beliefs that someone who did not share those beliefs could therefore not be taken seriously as living an even potentially admirable life.
For wristwatch hoarders and collectors, a 6-watch watch winder. I didn't know such things existed, but I did not need to know.
So, guess where I spent Election Eve?
In the Tea Party Ballroom in Washington, D.C.
That's ol' Doc, the party hound.
A few days before I was giving 5-minute lectures at an energy expo on the perils of Cap & Trade and scaring the holy bajeepers out of everybody.
A few days before that I attended Jon Stewart's inspiring "Let's Save America From The Racist Homophobic Teabaggers" rally. Luckily, I still had my love beads from the 60's so I fit right in.
More on all that later.
 Bird Dog raised the question of transferring vinyl record albums to CD a while back, and an excellent question it is. While most old albums have been put on disc, certainly not all have. And the impracticality of keeping a record player hanging around is obvious — and that's assuming that slick new 'home entertainment center' you just bought even has a 'Phono In' jack to begin with.
Why would it?
And there are 'custom' albums that were never commercially pressed, like the old 'pirated' releases of the Dead, Dylan, et al, as well as albums cut in private studios.
And yes, those old vinyl albums of yours are disintegrating as we speak. From a modern, digital perspective, they simply couldn't have picked a worse, more fragile medium for long-term data storage. In all fairness, though, I suppose it beats using tin foil cylinders.
Below the fold I'll elaborate on the two common methods to transfer albums to CD, as well as the pitfalls of each, including one interesting problem using the 'automatic' method that people usually don't think about until it's too late.
Continue reading "Doc's Computin' Tips: Copying records to CD"
At Legal Ins. Where's the change?
 Saw a Hermit Thrush hopping around my shrubs yesterday. Unmistakable with his chestnut tail and spotted breast. A few years ago I had one over-winter here. He would roost each night under a bush next to my chimney.
They are the only Thrush which winters in North America (unless you count Robins, which are in the Thrush family).
I am not being an internet hermit this season. We hit two very nice Christmas parties last night, another one tonight, and tomorrow we are taking my in-laws to a nice lunch and a show down in NYC. (Gwynnie always tells me I need to get out more, so I do.)
 Pic: The O walks away, leaves presser to Clinton.
WHT? Something weird
The most expensive gift at 12 American retailers
True Loves Will Have to Dig Deeper This Year
News to me: You can get high on Salvia
We have Salvia in one of our borders
Judgment Day for Climate Change Litigation
What the teachers are learning.
Good grief.
LA bans new fast food restaurants in poorest area of the city
Let them eat cake.
Krauthammer says the tax deal was the O's best swindle of the year:
Obama is no fool. While getting Republicans to boost his own reelection chances, he gets them to make a mockery of their newfound, second-chance, post-Bush, Tea-Party, this-time-we're-serious persona of debt-averse fiscal responsibility.
And he gets all this in return for what? For a mere two-year postponement of a mere 4.6-point increase in marginal tax rates for upper incomes. And an estate tax rate of 35 percent - it jumps insanely from zero to 55 percent on Jan. 1 - that is somewhat lower than what the Democrats wanted.
Rope-a-dope?
Read the Mead piece that we posted last night. Please.
Dawn Treader: Potemra enjoyed the movie more than the book.
OK, I'll go see it.
Global cooling killing Manatees
Use more oil - Save a Manatee
NY Post: A recent survey finds that countless MDs will respond to ObamaCare by limiting which patients they'll see.
At Driscoll:
For 30 years the Democrats have refused to think “dynamically” about the connection between tax rates and economic behavior (or, for that matter, between regulation and business activity). It is precisely because liberal Democrats (who are particularly well represented in Congress) have rejected dynamic tax policy for so long that they are now experiencing a spasm of frustration and anger.
It’s not easy coming to grips with the 21st century, when your view of taxes, labor and the economy is permanently stuck somewhere between the years of FDR and Harry Truman.
h/t, Vanderleun - Richard Burton reads Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem 'The Leaden Echo & The Golden Echo'.
Friday, December 10. 2010
The 1920s Christmas pics on this site are great fun. Some can be embiggened, with wonderful detail. (I don't know how to enable embiggening on our site.)
I notice that Santa did not seem to use wrapping paper back then.
At Insty. One quote that he quotes:
...approximately 60 percent of the increase in the number of college graduates from 1992 to 2008 worked in jobs that the BLS considers relatively low skilled—occupations where many participants have only high school diplomas and often even less. Only a minority of the increment in our nation’s stock of college graduates is filling jobs historically considered as requiring a bachelor’s degree or more.
The error is in considering a BA as job training. It is not. It is a paper credential for sure, but I am not sure it makes sense to view it as an investment. America needs more gunsmiths and plumbers and software developers and small business creators, not more BAs in Anthropology.
A skilled gunsmith makes more money than any anthropologist - if income is what one wants. My gunsmith charges $170/hr for metal work, a bit less for wood work, and leads a fun, interesting, and adventurous life and gets to meet and befriend all sorts of fascinating people (like me). My local digital equipment repairman charges $175/hr. Scholarly types go to college for spoon-fed intellectual nurturing and development, but I am not convinced that those things "pay off" very much in a financial way - especially nowadays, when anybody can go to college. There are plenty of schools eager to accept a fat check from anybody who can sign their name.
"Twenty years of school and then they put you on the day shift..."
When people are curious and want to learn everything, they will do it with or without a BA, and they will never quit doing it until they die even if they never make a penny from it. Real learners never quit reading and learning and trying new thoughts. It's easy to identify real scholars - after they finish whatever formal schooling they do.
 A good pal and his charming and lovely missus recently moved to Austin, but stopped by up here this week for a hello and for a sentimental taste of our Yankee chill.
I advised a gun rack for his Porsche, and alligator boots (When in Rome, etc.).
The Lucchese customized gator boot pictured here is nice for formal wear. Better, of course, to get a pair made for your own feet like the stars do.
Put something like this on your list, old buddy. Might need something to put on that gun rack, too. We can offer advice on that.
Still driving the Iranians nuts. This is not your ordinary worm.
 Need this? I need it: Pray on the Full Armor of God.
Also this one: The Spiritual Warfare Armor Of God
Prayers of comfort for Aretha Franklin. Went to see her at a benefit performace a year or so ago. Gotta love her. She has added lots of beauty to my life.
WSJ: The Grapes of Wrath Democrats: For Obama and the Democrats, the new economic royalists are anyone with a taxable income over $200,000.
Around here, those royalists could be a cop married to a grade school principal, or a middle-manager married to a nurse, or the guy who owns my dry cleaners.
Is SAC in the SEC's crosshairs?
SAC is a biggie. However, the SEC seems to be expanding the definition of insider trading to the point of good, aggressive research.
What Congresscritter Fred Upton (R - Middle America) will be up to in January
Sounds good to me.
Greg Sullivan: The Copper Thieves Are Back - The current government is not sweet, is anything but clueless
Ron Paul, Author of `End the Fed,' to Lead Panel Overseeing Central Bank
Imagine that.
Am. Thinker: Class Warriors Got What They Wished For:
A funny thing happened on the way to spreading the wealth: wealth dried up.
That caribou was organic. All natural, like at Whole Foods.
WaPo: Wasting tax dollars on ethanol. A quote:
...the policy directs cash to farm states that are rich in political influence, lawmakers are rallying to save this payoff from expiration. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who insisted Sunday that President Obama's fiscal commission didn't go far enough in its deficit reduction plan, has paired with Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) to press for renewal of the gratuitous corn ethanol tax credit and the ethanol tariff through 2015. Typically, the farm lobby has won out on such issues. But this year it's meeting stronger than usual opposition from a bloc of fiscal conservatives and environmentalists, backed by such strange bedfellows as Tea Party organizer FreedomWorks and ultra-liberal pressure group MoveOn.org - even Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Al Gore.
Thursday, December 9. 2010
States and government employee unions are united to hide the true extent of the cost of pension promises, and the impacts on other basic government services. Leading Republican congressmen have introduced legislation to shine light on these costs.
The Pew Center On The States reported last February that:
$1 trillion. That’s the gap at the end of fiscal year 2008 between the $2.35 trillion states had set aside to pay for employees’ retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises.
Why does it matter? Because every dollar spent to reduce the unfunded retirement liability cannot be used for education, public safety and other needs. Ultimately, taxpayers could face higher taxes or cuts in essential public services.
Actually, the gap may be closer to $3-trillion, as this National Bureau of Economic Research study lays out. In April, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study reported a $3.04-trillion shortfall in funding. The AEI recommended that pensions must disclose greater detail regarding investment risk and pension plans should reform their accounting methods to include the market value of plan liabilities. Then, legislators could have a better idea of how to reform and plan.
Continue reading "Republican Pension Reform Vs The States And Unions"
Reversing aging in mice.
I can tell you one thing: those researchers are having a lot of fun in their lab, inserting genes and turning genes on and off. You can term this level of genetic engineering Playing God if you want to. I say Forget any practical application - this is fascinating basic biological research, and it is just cool as heck.
One of the sectors who won’t directly benefit from the tax deal -- which evicted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding revisions even though it hasn’t even been written – is about 5.7 million state and local government workers and about 600,000 federal workers. They don’t pay Social Security taxes, as they contribute to government pension plans, so they won’t benefit from the proposed 2% reduction in employee Social Security tax.
The New York Times reports, “’We are aware of it,’ said Gregory King, a union [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees] spokesman, ‘and we are discussing it with the appropriate leaders in Congress.’” The NYT mentions that union alone “spent $90 million to help elect Democrats during the last election cycle.” Add in the other campaign spending by other government employee unions, like about $50-million from the SEIU, and the grand total is in the hundreds of millions, almost all to Democrats.
Hey, I’ve got an idea: Let the government unions cut their dues from government employees, instead of spending the dues on electing Democrats, even though many of the unions' members vote Republican.
 Prof. Cass Sunstein is one of them. As Scott at Powerline notes,
By contrast with the doctrine of rights conferred by God and nature set forth in the Declaration of Independence, Sunstein holds, in Tom Palmer's words, "You owe your life -- and everything else -- to the sovereign. The rights of subjects are not natural rights, but merely grants from the sovereign. There is no right even to complain about the actions of the sovereign, except insofar as the sovereign allows the subject to complain. These are the principles of unlimited, arbitrary, and absolute power, the principles of such rulers as Louis XIV."
Having his own view of things is fine, but his views are profoundly un-American. He doesn't get what America is about. The American ideal is - or was - that we are born with freedom, and granted a tiny bit of it to the State for specific, limited purposes. For heaven's sake, Prof. Sunstein, we created the State in 1787 - it didn't make us, or give us anything.
Mind you, this guy is the Regulation Czar in the White House.
Furthermore, his arrogance is unbelievable. A 56 year-old University of Chicago Law Prof who probably never held a real job in his life wants to structure how I live? He knows more about life than me? Has deeper wisdom than I have? Give me a break. That's a bad joke. He's just a control freak - with power.
I have a much better idea: How about I tell him how to live? For his own good, of course.
Watts: More Than 1000 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims – Challenge UN IPCC & Gore. One sample - from a member of the IPCC:
We’re not scientifically there yet. Despite what you may have heard in the media, there is nothing like a consensus of scientific opinion that this is a problem. Because there is natural variability in the weather, you cannot statistically know for another 150 years.” — UN IPCC’s Tom Tripp, a member of the UN IPCC since 2004 and listed as one of the lead authors and serves as the Director of Technical Services & Development for U.S. Magnesium.
Let's have a worldwide debate. I think it's all about money and power and politics, and that science has little to do with it. The Wikileaks confirm that. Over my years here at the Farm, I have become convinced that 99% of "crises" are trumped up. Always ask "Cui bono?"
That I believe that some warming would be great for the planet and for mankind has nothing to do with it. It's too cold in NYC today, and I don't have 150 years to wait and see.
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