It's true

Not really, but it's starting to feel that way. Remember the "geek code" movements of USENET days: we're going to need military-style ribbon coding for our political persuasion if this keeps up. [via Elayne Riggs]

"It Can't Be Done".... yet

Orac has posted and commented on a collection of the most popular "Galileo Moment" quotations. He's being too kind, but there's only so much time in the world....

Hypocrisy Watch Updates

In case you've not checked back, there have been a few updates to the Hypocrisy Watch. I'm trying to limit it to official mendacity, not mere rhetorical inconsistencies, so it's not a comprehensive list. But it's pretty good.

Oh, and Caleb thinks I'm doing more harm than good. He could be right. On the other hand, I'm still waiting to see if any of these inconsistencies can be reconciled.

Brandon, on the other hand defines hypocrisy -- and responses to hypocrisy -- in a way much closer to my understanding.

Hmm....

[via Sideshow]

The British, who are much less shy about talking up sex scandals among the powerful than we are (we prefer our sex scandals to be beautiful, not interesting) have taken note of Paul Wolfowitz's not-as-private-as-he-thought relationship history. It seems that he's very close to a staffer with a history of ties to Middle East anti-authoritarian activism. This might or might not have affected his views on Iraq, etc., but he clearly had some of those ideas independently before he "took up" with her. She's divorced; he's separated (over an apparently different affair).

I'm not entirely sure that I see the problem. Aside, of course, from the institutional one -- his habit of relationships with women in his own organizations is decidedly against the rules -- it's absurd to suggest that one person's influence could have pushed our government entirely in the direction of invading Iraq if there wasn't already a strong prediliction in that direction. It's not at all surprising that he's involved with a woman of strong and compatible opinions.

Sure, there's the "vengeance for Clinton" factor and the "hoist on their own petard" factor (though Wolfowitz himself has no truck with the social conservative wing, as near as I can tell), and the guy clearly should be kept on a pretty short leash. If he violates institutional policy about relationships, he should be disciplined. But I'm not sure that disqualifies him from a new position.

The fact that he's got no economic training, a deeply biased perspective, a toady attitude and no international support (unless you count the female Middle Eastern expatriate communities)... that should disqualify him.

What Fox News Doesn't Want to Know, or, Why Haven't they brought in MORE Psychics?

Fox News brought in "psychic" John Edwards, who claimed that Terri Schiavo's spirit was indeed aware of what was happening to her. Edwards equivocated on whether her soul was still within her body, and the host did not ask what Schiavo's spirit wanted. Why not? It's the obvious next question: it's the ultimate scoop -- "Terri Wants To ___!" -- and what honest reporter could not ask the question? Even if Edwards is a nut and a fraud, let's see how far he's willing to go!

Frankly, a couple of reliable psychics should have been able to settle this a long time ago. Bring in four or five, and if they all (or all but the one fraud) come to the same conclusion independently, there you have it! But then, how many psychics would agree to a properly blinded study in this fashion, and how many people would actually turn a life decision over to these people? Never mind, the second question is stupid. But the courts aren't. Not yet, anyway.

Able voices

The above link is to a very interesting argument (article and comments) about the Schiavo case from the perspective of disability: rights and treatment of persons with disabilities remains difficult for the non-disabled to really grasp in anything like a systematic fashion because so few take the time to think about or grapple with these issues in any depth. However, it must be noted that, perhaps more so than in most "communities of interest," there is a great diversity of opinions and issues among those people who have or who deal with disabilities. There are some commonalities -- and concern about euthanasia/genetic testing/abortion is one of them -- but I'm deeply suspicious of anyone who says that the Schiavo case is "simple" if taken from the "right" perspective....

"Compassionate Conservativism" or "Culture of Life"

A man was arrested by the FBI for soliciting the murders of Michael Schiavo and Judge Green (and another one was arrested arming himself to stage a violent "rescue"). Canadian Cynic wants to know how to reconcile these with "pro-life." Me, too.

In other news, the pro-life camp is trumpeting what they claim is evidence that Terri Sciavo is communicating: in response to the question "do you want to live?" she made noises that could possibly be interpreted as the words "I want...." But the pro-lifers are ignoring the possibility that, even if she is aware and is trying to communicate, and succeeding, after all this time, that she was saying "I want to die." Then, what?

I'm slow....

You are Sloth!
Lazy huh ?? You're a bit slow in getting going - and tend not to do anything unless it is absolutely necessary. You'd rather sit around, watch TV/Sleep then go out and about with friends, or take part in a sporting event. On the positive side, you tend to be quite smart, as you spend a lot of time watching the News(!!) or on the computer, Also by conserving your energy, it's right there waiting for you when it's vitally important to get going.
Consider possibly moving out of the room once in a while - and perhaps once a week trade watching TV for half an hour with a walk - and you'll be back on track.
However, Congratulations on being the most intelligent of the 7 deadly sins...

Quotations #048

[Reminder: these come out of my file of quotations in no particular order. Relevance is accidental. Emphasis is mine.]

"Man is the only animal that contemplates death, and the only that shows any sign of doubt of its finality." -- William Ernest Hocking

"On one occasion I remarked that democracy had at least one merit, namely, that a Member of Parliament can not be stupider than his constituents, for the more stupid he is, the stupider they were to elect him." -- Bertrand Russell

"It sometimes seems as though we were trying to combine the ideal of no schools at all with the democratic ideal of schools for everybody by having schools without education." -- Robert Maynard Hutchins

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -- Will Durant

"Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?" -- Ronald Reagan

Bonus: Military officers often say that "amateurs study tactics—professionals study logistics." [Philip Carter in Slate/INTEL DUMP, via War Historian]

Basic Math, Administration 101

Yes, they skipped the fact-checker, and that was bad. But how does a text prep book get to the fact-checker with dozens of basic errors? Talk about the "thin blue (pencil) line"...