Politics and science, humor and hypocrisy. METANOODLE
Friday 15 January 2016
Canadian example that Trump will win big
Four months ago, my colleague at work was choosing to vote Liberal or NDP. Yesterday he tells me, "Trump makes a lot sense, he's the only one who tells it the way it is". If the Canadian centre left is this easily wooed, be sure that the crossover vote from Democrats will be YUGE. Left-to-right is not the only voting dimension. Straight talk-vs (doublespeak and dissimulation) is a voting dimension. What's true and workable is a third dimension but no one appears to be offering it and I probably wouldn't know it if I tripped over it.
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Christianity Better For Atheists
Dawkins prefers Christian culture. "Christianity might be a bulwark against something worse" he says.
Monday 11 January 2016
Your Grandkids Won't Have Relatives
Big Government is baked into our future, thanks to cute babies, one per couple.
Big Government and Big Data are the new ties that bind. They will grow and not shrink and so will the dependency on support from strangers who don't love you. Politics is grooving to the left, fueled by demographics.
I don't see "The Waltons" or "Cheaper By The Dozen" making a comeback, but with pink-tinted glasses, I see networks forming through social media, networks that meet needs kin groups used to meet, networks that leapfrog right over Big Government and make such top down governance a teentsy bit obsolete.
The math isn't hard. After two generations of one-baby families, the kids of your kids will have no sisters or brothers, and no cousins, either. And no uncles and no aunts either.
Big Government and Big Data are the new ties that bind. They will grow and not shrink and so will the dependency on support from strangers who don't love you. Politics is grooving to the left, fueled by demographics.
I don't see "The Waltons" or "Cheaper By The Dozen" making a comeback, but with pink-tinted glasses, I see networks forming through social media, networks that meet needs kin groups used to meet, networks that leapfrog right over Big Government and make such top down governance a teentsy bit obsolete.Saturday 9 January 2016
Software counts emotions
EMOTIENT guesses and counts the emotions of the people being recorded in real time. Think "angry crowds" "shoppers" "students" "focus group" "negotiators". APPLE bought this startup recently and the demo is impressive.
Emotient Analytics in Action from Emotient on Vimeo.
Emotient Analytics in Action from Emotient on Vimeo.
Friday 8 January 2016
If we were out of the hole, CPP or education funding could be doubled
Don't pooh pooh interest payments on the national debt. The Fraser Institute puts the spending together for both levels of government in Canada and the debt burden is horrifying.
One infographic:
Better yet, let the people
who earned those billions blown on borrowed bucks, keep those billions.
One infographic:
Better yet, let the people
who earned those billions blown on borrowed bucks, keep those billions.
Insane crowding on earth.
People are insanely crowded into small patches of earth. See map. The north fringe of India, the environs of Beijing, southern Indonesia and a little patch at the mouth of the Nile account for most of world population. If labour is wealth, China and India are top of the heap.
Breaking: Hillary disguised email to remove security classification
Smoking gun at Hot Air.
Hillary e-mail instructs aide to transmit classified data without markings
Email conversation chain reproduced at link.
Hillary e-mail instructs aide to transmit classified data without markings
Email conversation chain reproduced at link.
“If they can’t, turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure.” That’s an order to violate the laws handling classified material. There is no other way to read that demand.
Gun deaths: Black murder and White suicide. Men first and Women last.
Culture channels violence inwards for whites and outwards for blacks.
AND
Culture channels violence from men towards men.
This story was picked up by the Washington Post but left out the sex chart. I'm guessing that deaths by gender make women look favoured and men look like victims, not the flavour du jour.
AND
Culture channels violence from men towards men.
This story was picked up by the Washington Post but left out the sex chart. I'm guessing that deaths by gender make women look favoured and men look like victims, not the flavour du jour.
Men don't like men who don't like sports.
There's an awkward hush when they learn I don't know who's playing in the Stanley or Grey Cup this year. The Power Line comment hits it:
"Here’s a fact of life, men don’t like men who don’t like sports. If you want to have influence on other men you have to be able to talk about sports knowledgeably. .. Treat it like homework." (more at the link)
Thursday 7 January 2016
Tale of Two Stacked Townhalls. UPDATE
Compare and contrast: When there's not enough seating, stack the room with supporters.
Obama is doing a town hall tonight with CNN. Admission by invitation only.Trump is doing a Vermont town hall tonight but only lets supporters in.
Re Obama: "Staged propaganda session" with enough seating for a soiree.
Re Trump: Seating in Vermont for 1400 but over 10,000 tickets given out in Bernie Sanders home town. Pick your headline: "Donald Trump Bars Undecided Voters At Vermont Rally" or "Donald Trump says he's "taking care of my people".
UPDATE: Obama said nothing but cleverly. Trump supplied red meat that addresses a problem and doesn't create more government:
From Obama's townhall, Thomas' Sowell's review:
It was beautifully choreographed, like a great ballet, and performed with consummate skill and understated eloquence. As for the substance of what Obama said, there was very little substance, and much of it false.
“I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools — you have to — and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed. My first day – there’s no more gun free zones,” Trump told supporters as they cheered wildly. Trump pointed out that gun-free zones were dangerous because they attracted people considering a mass shooting.
PS. A commenter at HotAir explains the 20,000 tickets: "When the rally was announced, protesters said they would round up all the tickets in advance and then not show up…..their goal was to make
trump look bad speaking to an empty venue. Trump responded by making 20,000 tickets available"
Moving money from poor to rich: Your Government at Work.
"The government monopoly of money leads not just to the suppression of innovation ...inflation .. but to inequality too. Opportunities in finance ripple outwards from the Treasury. The state spends the money before it even exists; the privileged banks then get first access to newly minted money and can invest it before assets have increased in cost. By the time it reaches ordinary people, the money is worth less.
This outward percolation is known as the Cantillon Effect - after Richard Cantillon who noticed that the creation of paper money in the4 South Sea Bubble benefited those closest to the source first.
Money creation by an expansionary government effectively redistributes money from the poor to the rich. "
Excerpt from The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley. A good read.
This outward percolation is known as the Cantillon Effect - after Richard Cantillon who noticed that the creation of paper money in the4 South Sea Bubble benefited those closest to the source first. Money creation by an expansionary government effectively redistributes money from the poor to the rich. "
Excerpt from The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley. A good read.
Tuesday 5 January 2016
Sin Taxes Are Just Taxes.
When booze tax goes up, problem drinkers switch to cheaper brands and keep getting drunk. Funds continue to flow to the Receiver General and the IRS. The link is to Washington Times: Targeting problem drinkers, not moderate sippers".
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| Problem drinkers or ten glasses of wine in a week? |
China Needs To Steal Those Islands
Imperial China is protected by Himalayas, jungle, desert and Siberia but the US has a lock on the ocean supply chain. There's no way in or out by sea that cannot be blockaded by the USA and allies. China must steal and fortify rocky outcrops in the China Seas for national security. George Friedman expands this radical view.
To summarize Friedman's article: Three points of China's compass are protected by inhospitable lands with subject peoples. East of the 15 inch annual rainfall line where crops grow well, the Han people dwell in tolerable third world conditions except for a strip of wealthy coastal Han oriented to the world, not the hinterlands. Apart from sea access, China is fairly secure from without but at risk from rich-poor tensions within. For the sea, they plan a great navy but it will take a generation to build the culture and the ships. Self-interest means China must protect the sea lane choke points.
Does this mean war or is there a deal at the right price?
To summarize Friedman's article: Three points of China's compass are protected by inhospitable lands with subject peoples. East of the 15 inch annual rainfall line where crops grow well, the Han people dwell in tolerable third world conditions except for a strip of wealthy coastal Han oriented to the world, not the hinterlands. Apart from sea access, China is fairly secure from without but at risk from rich-poor tensions within. For the sea, they plan a great navy but it will take a generation to build the culture and the ships. Self-interest means China must protect the sea lane choke points.
Does this mean war or is there a deal at the right price?
Smokes and dope will persist in society until being bored or depressed is illegal
Phillips Morris in a confidential 1970 memo: "We are in the business of relaxing people who are tense and providing a
pick up for people who are bored or depressed,” the tobacco memo added.
“The human needs that our product fills will not go away. Thus, the only
real threat to our business is that society will find other means of
satisfying these needs."
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| Wouldn't you like something that takes away fidgets, aches and anxiety and make you feel good too? Wouldn't you like to be taxing such a miracle product? |
Sunday 3 January 2016
Missing User Information For Perfect Soft boiled Eggs: Review of Big Boss Egg Genie Egg Cooker. UPDATE
Big Boss is one of several cookers, probably the cheapest, and reviewed by many at Amazon and Walmart. True soft-boiled eggs for breakfast are wonderful but user user info is missing. Key points are DON"T USE THE PIN and use a spoon for shelling.
1. Put a mark on the water cup so your usual amount is easy to spot. The gradations on the cup are too fine to read while filling. Better yet, choose a measuring spoon of the right size.
2. There's a pin for punching a hole in one end of the egg. DON'T USE IT. Everything that goes wrong is caused by drips of egg white coming out that hole, getting down into the water and causing the alarm to sound while the egg is still raw. The egg won't explode because the steam never gets much above 100C/212F. Microwaves are different and can explode an egg easily because the top temperature is limited by how long the heat is on, not by the heat itself.
3. Pointy end up: Whichever end you put the hole in, that end must point up for cooking. Otherwise, a small leak will trigger the problem in number 9. This only matters if you use the pin.
4. Less water cooks more eggs? How can that be? The Big Boss has
seven holes and the steam rises through the holes to bathe the eggs.
Each egg blocks a hole so the water takes longer to escape. Adding
water makes the boiling longer but, adding eggs, makes the boiling
longer too. So, you add water to get harder eggs and you subtract water
to cook more eggs. When done, there is an annoying buzz and you have to physically unplug the cooker. (Newer model has an auto switch).
5. If your fingers are dry, you can pick the egg right out of the steamer and drop it quickly in cool water.
6. The tea spoon: Use it to slip the shell off the softest egg, after
cracking a starter point open. The little spoon follows the contour
perfectly and pulls shell off in large sheets. The other things you
know about shelling eggs (don't use fresh ones, dip them in cold water,
wait a while) are less important. If you like really soft-boiled eggs, the egg will be like jelly in your hand but still will peel. UPDATE: I've had success with two sorts of brown store eggs but had trouble peeling some white ones. So, the spoon is big, but it's not everything.
7. Since you've never had soft boiled eggs out of the shell before, try sprinkling salt and pepper in a row on a piece of paper towel and roll the egg in it.
8. Stain after the water has evaporated: Reviewers seem to think the cooker makes the stain. It just reveals dirt in the water you used and will appear in every cooker. Use a bit of bottled water instead of tap water. A wipe after it cools may be enough, or brush once with a green Grillo pad. You may need vinegar for tap water residue.
9. You use the pin and you decide the cooker is no good because the buzzer goes off before the eggs
are cooked: This happens when a little egg white dribbles down from the hole while cooking. It looks like nothing but it matters. A drop or
two leaks or dangles into the water and persistent white-skinned bubbles
foam up. The bubble heats up faster than the water and the thermostat
underneath thinks all the water must have boiled away to explain the
temperature rise. The cure is to take the eggs back out. Wash the
plastic support. Clean every speck of egg off the metal pan where the
water goes. Every speck. Or try it next time without the pin hole.
10. Useless bric-a-brac: Throw away the poacher device and the veggie steamer plastic. They are next to useless. You can hacksaw the nearly useless upper knob from the dome. The plastic dome can be handled even when eggs are steaming, as long as you keep your hand off the vent hole.
Seems like a lot of user info? I like the device so much that it all comes in handy.
 |
| New model has "auto off" |
1. Put a mark on the water cup so your usual amount is easy to spot. The gradations on the cup are too fine to read while filling. Better yet, choose a measuring spoon of the right size.
2. There's a pin for punching a hole in one end of the egg. DON'T USE IT. Everything that goes wrong is caused by drips of egg white coming out that hole, getting down into the water and causing the alarm to sound while the egg is still raw. The egg won't explode because the steam never gets much above 100C/212F. Microwaves are different and can explode an egg easily because the top temperature is limited by how long the heat is on, not by the heat itself.3. Pointy end up: Whichever end you put the hole in, that end must point up for cooking. Otherwise, a small leak will trigger the problem in number 9. This only matters if you use the pin.
4. Less water cooks more eggs? How can that be? The Big Boss has
seven holes and the steam rises through the holes to bathe the eggs.
Each egg blocks a hole so the water takes longer to escape. Adding
water makes the boiling longer but, adding eggs, makes the boiling
longer too. So, you add water to get harder eggs and you subtract water
to cook more eggs. When done, there is an annoying buzz and you have to physically unplug the cooker. (Newer model has an auto switch).5. If your fingers are dry, you can pick the egg right out of the steamer and drop it quickly in cool water.
6. The tea spoon: Use it to slip the shell off the softest egg, after
cracking a starter point open. The little spoon follows the contour
perfectly and pulls shell off in large sheets. The other things you
know about shelling eggs (don't use fresh ones, dip them in cold water,
wait a while) are less important. If you like really soft-boiled eggs, the egg will be like jelly in your hand but still will peel. UPDATE: I've had success with two sorts of brown store eggs but had trouble peeling some white ones. So, the spoon is big, but it's not everything.7. Since you've never had soft boiled eggs out of the shell before, try sprinkling salt and pepper in a row on a piece of paper towel and roll the egg in it.
8. Stain after the water has evaporated: Reviewers seem to think the cooker makes the stain. It just reveals dirt in the water you used and will appear in every cooker. Use a bit of bottled water instead of tap water. A wipe after it cools may be enough, or brush once with a green Grillo pad. You may need vinegar for tap water residue.
9. You use the pin and you decide the cooker is no good because the buzzer goes off before the eggs
are cooked: This happens when a little egg white dribbles down from the hole while cooking. It looks like nothing but it matters. A drop or
two leaks or dangles into the water and persistent white-skinned bubbles
foam up. The bubble heats up faster than the water and the thermostat
underneath thinks all the water must have boiled away to explain the
temperature rise. The cure is to take the eggs back out. Wash the
plastic support. Clean every speck of egg off the metal pan where the
water goes. Every speck. Or try it next time without the pin hole.10. Useless bric-a-brac: Throw away the poacher device and the veggie steamer plastic. They are next to useless. You can hacksaw the nearly useless upper knob from the dome. The plastic dome can be handled even when eggs are steaming, as long as you keep your hand off the vent hole.
Seems like a lot of user info? I like the device so much that it all comes in handy.
Saturday 2 January 2016
Stifling Intolerance Sweeps The Land. George Wills Summarizes the Depradations of Politically Correct Thought.
And more horror stories, culled from the daily news.
"The value of property that police departments seized through civil-asset forfeiture..exceeded the value of property stolen by non-government burglars.
Florida police raided a mahjong game played by four women aged between 87 and 95 because their game's stakes allegedly exceeded the $10 limit set by state law.
A Michigan woman was fingerprinted, had her mug shot takena nd was jailed until realease don bond because she was late in renewing the $10 licence for her dog...
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be "voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest". .
Since federal food police dictated changes in school lunch programs, food tossed in the trash is up 56%, salt shakers are being smuggled into schools and there are black markets in potato chips.
A 9-year old Florida fourth-grader was threatened with sexual harassment charges if he continued tow rite love notes telling the applie of his eye that her eyes sparkle "like diamonds".
The
value of property that police departments seized through civil-asset
forfeiture — usually without accusing, let alone convicting, the
property owners of a crime — exceeded the value of property stolen by
nongovernment burglars. The attorney general of New York, which reaps
billions from gambling — casinos, off-track betting, the state lottery —
moved to extinguish (competition from) fantasy football because it is
gambling. Florida police raided a mahjong game played by four women aged
between 87 and 95 because their game’s stakes allegedly exceeded the
$10 limit set by state law. A Michigan woman was fingerprinted, had her
mug shot taken and was jailed until released on bond because she was
late in renewing the $10 license for her dog. New Jersey police arrested
a 72-year-old retired teacher, chained his hands and feet to a bench
and charged him with illegally carrying a firearm — a 300-year-old
flintlock pistol (with no powder, flint or ball) he purchased from an
antique dealer.
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The
value of property that police departments seized through civil-asset
forfeiture — usually without accusing, let alone convicting, the
property owners of a crime — exceeded the value of property stolen by
nongovernment burglars. The attorney general of New York, which reaps
billions from gambling — casinos, off-track betting, the state lottery —
moved to extinguish (competition from) fantasy football because it is
gambling. Florida police raided a mahjong game played by four women aged
between 87 and 95 because their game’s stakes allegedly exceeded the
$10 limit set by state law. A Michigan woman was fingerprinted, had her
mug shot taken and was jailed until released on bond because she was
late in renewing the $10 license for her dog. New Jersey police arrested
a 72-year-old retired teacher, chained his hands and feet to a bench
and charged him with illegally carrying a firearm — a 300-year-old
flintlock pistol (with no powder, flint or ball) he purchased from an
antique dealer.
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The
value of property that police departments seized through civil-asset
forfeiture — usually without accusing, let alone convicting, the
property owners of a crime — exceeded the value of property stolen by
nongovernment burglars. The attorney general of New York, which reaps
billions from gambling — casinos, off-track betting, the state lottery —
moved to extinguish (competition from) fantasy football because it is
gambling. Florida police raided a mahjong game played by four women aged
between 87 and 95 because their game’s stakes allegedly exceeded the
$10 limit set by state law. A Michigan woman was fingerprinted, had her
mug shot taken and was jailed until released on bond because she was
late in renewing the $10 license for her dog. New Jersey police arrested
a 72-year-old retired teacher, chained his hands and feet to a bench
and charged him with illegally carrying a firearm — a 300-year-old
flintlock pistol (with no powder, flint or ball) he purchased from an
antique dealer.
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The
value of property that police departments seized through civil-asset
forfeiture — usually without accusing, let alone convicting, the
property owners of a crime — exceeded the value of property stolen by
nongovernment burglars. The attorney general of New York, which reaps
billions from gambling — casinos, off-track betting, the state lottery —
moved to extinguish (competition from) fantasy football because it is
gambling. Florida police raided a mahjong game played by four women aged
between 87 and 95 because their game’s stakes allegedly exceeded the
$10 limit set by state law. A Michigan woman was fingerprinted, had her
mug shot taken and was jailed until released on bond because she was
late in renewing the $10 license for her dog. New Jersey police arrested
a 72-year-old retired teacher, chained his hands and feet to a bench
and charged him with illegally carrying a firearm — a 300-year-old
flintlock pistol (with no powder, flint or ball) he purchased from an
antique dealer.
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
The University of Georgia said sexual consent must be “voluntary, sober, imaginative, enthusiastic, creative, wanted, informed, mutual, honest.” - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/George-Will-A-list-of-2015s-ludicrousness#sthash.L3S6KfRL.dpuf
Twelve Predictions for 2016
1. ISIS will make a record number of bloody attacks in the west including America, grabbing headlines, while losing land in the Middle East. All politicians including Justin Trudeau, PBUH, will find a way to say they are against Islamic extremism, even if they aren't.
2. Canadians will be paying more taxes and supporting a bigger payroll in Ottawa.
3. Pundits will be wrong in record numbers this year because of accelerating change and because the accompanying political will to defer and deny amplifies the consequences.
4. Driverless cars, buses and drones will cause almost as much buzz as the Kardashian buttocks.
5. CRISPR will start transforming the future of our genes, life span and health but it won't make the headlines it deserves for a few more years. Living suddenly longer will be mainstream chatter. (15 healthy years bonus).
6. Donald Trump, POTUS will pick a strong cabinet, restore optimism to many here and abroad, and will temporarily screw up in yet un-dreamed of ways.
7. Space exploration, market-based, will prove to be the only success of the Obama presidency.
8. China will continue to ratchet up war-like positions in the China Sea and no one knows how that will turn out.
9. International alliances will re-align with unexpected speed in 2016. In hindsight, it will seem obvious. Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Germany, India and Pakistan, the Ukraine, the USA, Israel. Who goes with whom?
10. AGW people, while noisy, will be defensive. That "97% concensus", like the grin on the Cheshire cat, disappears further. Politicians will be scramble to adopt "nuanced" positions.
11. Familiy ties, culture, and traditional sexual roles will continue to trump all political movements.
12. Everyone reading this will take digital delivery for more services this year than last.
2. Canadians will be paying more taxes and supporting a bigger payroll in Ottawa.
3. Pundits will be wrong in record numbers this year because of accelerating change and because the accompanying political will to defer and deny amplifies the consequences.
4. Driverless cars, buses and drones will cause almost as much buzz as the Kardashian buttocks.
5. CRISPR will start transforming the future of our genes, life span and health but it won't make the headlines it deserves for a few more years. Living suddenly longer will be mainstream chatter. (15 healthy years bonus).
6. Donald Trump, POTUS will pick a strong cabinet, restore optimism to many here and abroad, and will temporarily screw up in yet un-dreamed of ways.
7. Space exploration, market-based, will prove to be the only success of the Obama presidency.
8. China will continue to ratchet up war-like positions in the China Sea and no one knows how that will turn out.
9. International alliances will re-align with unexpected speed in 2016. In hindsight, it will seem obvious. Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Germany, India and Pakistan, the Ukraine, the USA, Israel. Who goes with whom?
10. AGW people, while noisy, will be defensive. That "97% concensus", like the grin on the Cheshire cat, disappears further. Politicians will be scramble to adopt "nuanced" positions.
11. Familiy ties, culture, and traditional sexual roles will continue to trump all political movements.
12. Everyone reading this will take digital delivery for more services this year than last.
 |
| The automated learning environment is eerily modern in this 100 year old postcard. |
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