Open Thread X
by tdaxp ~ November 5th, 2007
Open your mouth
and the ears will come
tdaxp, Ph.D.
High-minded, fanatically malthusian perspectives
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Recent Comments
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- Review of “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China” by Ezra F. Vogel (14)
- > tdaxp: Larry, This is an interesting discussion! Agreed that the Tea Party wanted less democracy. Vogel implies the...
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- > Richard: Biggest issue would be privacy. I could have got some bad reports on such a system because in some classes I was...
- > tdaxp: Very true, Michael. Teachers are facing a fork between being professionals [1] and being drones [2]. Both cases...
- > Michael: About half-way through that essay I mentioned in my last comment on the testing thread. Had this quote from an...
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- > tdaxp: Bruno, Excellent comment! Thanks for sharing! I agree that the cost of transforming teachers into professionals is...
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- > tdaxp: Hey Cosmic Tinker, Thanks so much for your comment. I agree that it seems unlikely many teachers are making...
- > Cosmic Tinker: The NYT article clearly states, “School teachers don’t earn enough to make the top 1 percent on...
- > tdaxp: Yeah, the legend is a bit confusing.
The New York Times uses top 1% of income, not wealth. From the legend:... - > Tyler: Okay, so I just read the figure caption more closely. It explains that teachers become the 1% primarily through...
- > Tyler: I think one of us may be misinterpreting this figure-chart-table. The way I understand it is that very few (0.9%;...
- > tdaxp: Hey Tyler, Thanks for the awesome comment. There’s far fewer retail sales clerks than teachers in the top 1%,...
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- > tdaxp: Michael, Interesting article! The benefit of the national exam system is that you can objective measure everyone in...
- > Michael: The anecdote at the beginning of this essay suggests a rough-and-read test for secondary and tertiary schools:...
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- > tdaxp: Interest link, thanks! This actually does a good job of showing the difficulty of the discussion — the...
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- > tdaxp: Kim, Thanks for sharing your essay with me! I look forward to reading it. Here’s the paragraph where tdaxp is...
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- > tdaxp: Kim, Awesome! Glad for the press, of course. What will be the publication outlet for your paper. I can’t...
- > Kim Krostue: will attempt to read in the next few days. you are now a reference in my paper: US public schools: the crisis...
- > Kim Krostue: I will attempt to read over the next few days. You are now added as a reference in my 9000 word paper. thanks...
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November 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Everyone!
http://www.youtube.com/user/patcondell
No matter who you are, you need to listen to this man!
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jeffrey, why?
Jayson, fascinating!
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
The Cedar Revolution may be about to burn:P
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21940024/
November 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Michael,
Nothing positive about another country having problems, whatever ones political background or “nationality” if one is into such things further instability is the LEAST one should wish for in ones own region or in other parts of the world.
PEACE!
The VoidMan
The World Would have BEEN a better place without NATIONS, TRIBES, RELIGION and whatnot!
November 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I wonder if not taking out Syria wasn't as much of a mistake as trying to prevent federalism in Iraq…
November 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Voidman, I'm not rejoicing in Lebanon's difficulties.
November 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dan,
interesting question. It'd cast a pall on the Iranian influence in the Levant, certainly.
Though I wonder if an Aoun/Nazrallah political “unity” hasn't proved to be a lesson in the complexity of the situation for the US. By looking and learning rather than exacting (or encouraging) a military action perhaps we'll begin to understand the region. Lessons from the PA Hamas bit, I suppose. And hope.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lopez_Watson
Is this the Watson you are talking about?
“Ignorance of science and the preference for confirming “evidence” is widespread.”
Of course, but this case is one of a kind since Thorpe managed to catch these guys red handed when a simple Google search to confirm the names of people and institutions alone could have sufficed to disprove the paper.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Nope, another James Watson… (Dewey by middle name, a Nobel prize winner)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Watson#Statements_about_race_and_intelligence
November 12th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Tell me this ain't agreat idea!
http://www.tankmagazine.com/tankbooks/
Via
http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Marketplace/these_can_be_yours_007
November 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“Still Scrambling”
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10170440
EXCERPT:
[...]
All of this begs one of the great questions in international relations: how far will Chinese policy evolve as it gets further entwined in Africa? Will it participate more in UN peacekeeping operations? Will it give direct aid rather than soft loans? Will it start to take sides in African politics, as has happened in Zambia? Africa could be the anvil on which a new Chinese foreign policy begins to be forged.
Mr Alden is also good on some of the more obscure aspects of China's engagement with Africa. It is, for instance, not just big state-owned companies that are piling into Africa: small and medium-sized ones are there too. Much of the investment and trade is directed from the government in Beijing, as one would expect. But individual Chinese provinces have also been forging their own ties and doing their own deals with African countries or regions. Fujian and Zhejiang have been encouraging emigration to Africa as a source of remittances and of new jobs.[...]
Folks, when reading about the “emigration,” don't “Texas” or “Hawaii” come to mind? Massive foreign investment and trade is one thing, but emigration?
I couldn't help but recall how Texas and Hawaii became American. In the same way, might at least some African countries become Chinese?
Is there a Chinese Stephen Austin on the horizon? Maybe even, in an extreme case, a Chinese William Walker?
November 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Yeah, the micro-posts on the RSS feeder are annoying. Your articles are always thought out, but the two sentences don't reflect this at all.
November 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi mike,
political legitimacy may push Hezbollah beyond it's current militant operational core. Think Sin Fein and IRA. The pivot point for this, however, will likely be a semblance of political cohesion in Lebanon.
November 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
@Dan, re: rss feed and links.
Damn but what a runaround! I've contacted Feedburner and have, through correspondance, narrowed the problem down to that of blogger. Via feedburner, my feed setting was set at “partial” so only a paragraph (and no links) shows up in a reader. The pain here is that the feed has always been set to that of full. So now I await the blogger Gods almighty advice.
November 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
BTW, on the off-chance I'm not the only fanboy on here, I found this collection of Evanescence videos viewable for free- no scrounging through YouTube.
http://www.rhapsody.com/evanescence/videos/goodenough
November 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I wonder what effect a promise of citizenship to Palestinian refugees would have on the stalemate?
One the one hand, it would legitimize Hezbollah as a political party. On the other, the militancy of Hezbollah wouldn't be as needed because the Lebanese state as a whole would protect them against Israel– room would open for other parties to represent individual Lebanese Palestinians, notably the parties pushing for the citizenship.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Canadian public service announcement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noFCekWiUGE
Warning: Graphic Content
November 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jeffrey,
Certainly a striking ad…
To tie it back to a focus of this blog, we need some form of universal health insurance. A major function of government is pooling risk. This is the whole idea behind having a police and army, for example. That we do not pool risk against health mishaps makes little sense in this day…
Jayson,
While I don't smoke, the “Truth” ads are so poorly done, that I imagine getting addicted merely to foil their clumsy propaganda campaign…
November 14th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dan, I think you misunderstood the Tankbooks….
November 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
For those of you whose psyches were irretrievably shattered by Black Eyed Peas “My Humps”, healing is at hand: Alanis Morissette did a parody.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g
On the Pakistan article: I think I was intrigued more by the audacity than the potential. I agree with making peace with India, but the others assume more power and/or more benevolence than most dictators have.
November 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I loved that video the first time around
http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/04/16/alanis-morissette-my-humps-cover-video.html
November 17th, 2007 at 12:00 am
D'oh! I totally forgot you'd already seen it– probably because I wasn't in a position at the time to see it myself:P
November 10th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Life consultant: I'd hire her, but a) I don't live in NY, b) I probably can't afford her, and c) I'd probably burn her out trying to get me life:P
Unqualified reservations: Interesting approach to things. I'm in the process of reading more of his stuff.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/10/160/92202
http://www.desmogblog.com/spoof-website-touts-global-warming-death-were-you-duped
http://lowcarbonkid.blogspot.com/2007/11/that-geoclimatic-studies-hoax-and-what.html#links
What can I say? LOL and LMFAO! This is just pure fucking genius.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“Social Change Relies More On The Easily Influenced Than The Highly Influential”
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ysfklg
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112133759.htm
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2007) — An important new study appearing in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research finds that it is rarely the case that highly influential individuals are responsible for bringing about shifts in public opinion. [...]
by way of Evangelical Outpost's “33 Things” post for 11/19/07:
http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004092.html
November 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Whaaa…? Where did you see that?
November 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“As a current paid Xbox LIVE member using an original Xbox console (not Xbox 360), you're more than ready for Halo 3, and here's a great reason to step up. Buy your Xbox 360 between November 21 and December 21, 2007, move your existing paid Xbox LIVE account to an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription and then register on this site, and we will send you a copy of Halo 3*. Finish the fight in high definition, with new weapons and challenges.
Free Halo 3? It doesn't get any better than that.
Current Paid Xbox LIVE Members on the original Xbox console (not Xbox 360), here's how to get your Halo 3 game:
1. Buy an Xbox 360 console between November 21 and December 21, 2007.
2. Convert your current paid Xbox LIVE account to an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription.
3. Register here between November 21 and December 21, 2007 with promotional code XBX7777, with your new console serial number, and a valid mailing address.
4. Look for your copy of Halo 3 in your mailbox! “
http://kotaku.com/gaming/halo-3/buy-a-360-get-halo-3-for-free-323892.php#c3011698
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo3/promotions/buyxboxgethalo.htm?WText.camp=Games&WText.campSrc=RSS
November 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
http://kotaku.com/gaming/halo-3/buy-a-360-get-halo-3-for-free-323892.php
November 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Sadly, the XBOX 360 + Halo 3 bundle is only good for those with xbox live classic accounts
November 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jeffrey,
Ignorance of science and the preference for confirming “evidence” is widespread. We saw that during the attack on James Watson, where ludicrous claims on racial identicality were made in the mainstream media. We see a more fringe version of this in the story you link to above.
(A note: I realize that profanity is used as a rhetorical device on Kos and other blogs. I discourse such discourse.)
Michael & Jayson,
The collapse of Islamic civilization, which appears to be occuring in the continuous belt from the Pillars of Hercules to Turkestan, is a problem I do not know how to fix.
Catholicgauze & Jay,
To the extent that Islamabad focuses on stability, it needs to re-establish the status quo ante of “home rule” in the tribal areas. To the extent that it is an ally in the war of al Qaeda, it needs to route al Qaeda out of those areas. The Pakistani Army, an arrogant but thoroughly defeated force on every other front, may not be up to the task.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:00 am
” UR's advice for President Musharraf”
http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2007/11/urs-advice-for-president-musharraf.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3bjey9
And what contrarian advice it is! IMSHO, remarkable stuff. Any particular reason why Mr. Moldbug's suggestions should be considered *particularly* absurd?
And check out the essay before that:
” Musharraf's rebellion, or: how to read a newspaper”
http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2007/11/musharrafs-rebellion-or-how-to-read.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qanza
November 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jay@Soob,
Warizistan may not have a history of being controlled by the Pakistani government, but there is a huge difference between local tribal control and one of a Taliban and al Qaeda (expansionist) control.
November 9th, 2007 at 12:00 am
An interesting profession:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/fashion/08storr.html?em&ex=1194757200&en=d9e94cfd8f38ca70&ei=5087
November 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dan, the “funny” thing (well, at least *one* of them) is that the “memory palace” is an old thing that has a strange kind of cultural staying power, even though the concept has rather declined since the advent of the modern age.
Partly, it's because of what you said–it “works”; but there seems to be more to it.
My interest was re-awakened by mention of “augmented reality” during a discussion of future technology on a sci-fi list.
On a whim, I googled around for memory palace, and came across this *recently* published novel:
http://www.seasonofthewitch.com/books/sotw/synopsis/index.php
Haven't had a chance to read it yet, but its premise seems interesting….
November 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
So, what do you all think of recent events in Pakistan?
November 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hmm….Well, I got dozens (maybe even hundreds!) of things to say, but, one must be orderly about it. There's only so much one can ask/answer/opinionate/bloviate/etc.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I will tell you this much though–for some reason, I've felt compelled to re-visit the notion of “memory palaces.”
Google or Ask it.
November 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jeffrey,
Catholicgauze has an excellent summary. [1] Pakistan's two westernized factions, the elite and the military, are turning on each other at their weakest moment while the Islamists sit back and see who remains. The collapse of Islamic civilization generally since the World War, and of Pakistan particularly, is breathtaking.
Jayson,
Remembering is improved the more mental structures are related to each other. Memory palaces, which also enable the use of the visuospatial sketchpad of working memory [2], would seem to be a neat trick to do this.
[1] http://catholicgauze.blogspot.com/2007/11/martial-law-in-pakistan.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baddeley's_model_of_working_memory
November 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Heck, I'm still trying to understand why Pakistan even WANTS Waziristan! Or why Sudan wants Darfur. Or. . .
How much blood d'yall suppose has been spilled the past few years alone in the name of territorial integrity for its own sake? Blech!
November 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“…Islamists sit back and see who remains.”
Somehow, I thought this would all work out to be in Waziristan's favor. So, what to you think about the present security and future security of their nuclear stock?
November 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
When has Waziristan been an area of governmental control in Pakistan?
I think the alarmist “fundies git da nukes” bit is a tad overplayed and ignores the more realistic event that should Mushi fall the military won't. Additionally it assumes that the healthy opposition we're seeing now (which extends from the Supreme Court to various non-fundamentalist elements of the populace) will somehow fold should a fundie platform gain any ground.
Sidenote:
If I were India I'd shake up Kashmir (in a small sense) for the sake of regional stability. Though I don't believe it will be necessary. But it'd be a nice insurance policy.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Getting the Chinese into Africa in a political way is the one thing I would change for Africa…. [1]
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/11/28/if-i-could-change-just-one-thing-per-continent.html
November 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“America's Creativity Conceit”
by Eamonn Fingleton
11/21/2007
http://fingleton.net/view_art_un.asp?Prod_ID=18
Agree? Disagree? Opinions/comments being sought…
November 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am
The author describes inventiveness in the narrow terms of engineering. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but it is deceptive. Take America and Japan. For a variety of reasons, including a more open economy and greater tolerance for failure, the U.S. is the undisputed leader in business process innovation. Whereas, Japanese creativity (outside of consumer electronics) is largely focused on quality improvements. Both of these are forms of creativity, but insisting that only R&D focused on engineering leads to innovation is odd.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“I couldn't help but recall how Texas and Hawaii became American. In the same way, might at least some African countries become Chinese?”
Seems possible to me– IF enough Chinese move to one part of Africa to become a dominant power in that region. If they scatter over the continent, taking over becomes much harder, if not impossible.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Why is it, with so many people giving up landlines altogether for cell phones, that my provider no longer carries phones with batteries that can be charged separately from the phones?
December 1st, 2007 at 12:00 am
Recall mass emigrations, such as the violent removal of Indians from Uganda, the softer cleansing of Afrikaners from South Africa, etc. Even a significant presence does not guarantee that presence remains.
I'm sure you can pay more for a battery charger… seems like market segmentation to me
December 1st, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dan,
Seeking opinion:
http://feedjit.com/
Would like your opinion on this; was actually thinking of trying it. What do you think?
Would it be something you'd try?
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Generally, I stay away from widgets after removing sitemeter and technorati from my pages (they increased the time it took a page to load).
December 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hey Dan, here's something up that might be up your alley–
ANNEXING MEXICO Solving the Border Problem Through Annexation and Assimilation
by Erik Rush
http://www.erikrush.com/booklink2.htm
Only stumbled across this site recently.
Looks like you're not alone.
Apparently a new book–Amazon only carries 3 customer reviews, but at least they're all positive.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Trick is convincing Mexico to be annexed:P 40% wanting to live in the US is still 60% that doesn't.
That could change, though. NAFTA and other cooperative agreements could swing the numbers in annexation's favor. Or the 40% could gradually concentrate in the maquiladora, creating a geographical split in Mexico and resulting in the north seceding and joining us.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“That could change, though. NAFTA and other cooperative agreements could swing the numbers in annexation's favor. Or the 40% could gradually concentrate in the maquiladora, creating a geographical split in Mexico and resulting in the north seceding and joining us.”
I think that would be smart. The EU is expanding into the former communist countries state-by-state… no reason the Constitution can't absorb Mexico the same way.
Excellent catch, Jayson!
December 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Sad day for Eastern Nebraska.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/05/mall.shooting/index.html
December 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/watch-3000-barrels-fall-down-in-crysis-333902.php
Hey Dan, check out this demonstration of the Crysis physics engine. The explosions at the end are a sight to behold.
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2007/12/blog_advice
Advice on blogging from the guy who invented the term weblog. So what do those of you who actually blog think?
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I read some advice for new bloggers just before I started tdaxp. I wish I could find it again. But I really remember was “post every day.” I have tried to follow that line.
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I guess it depends on what you want out of blogging. Personally, the “traffic aspect” is great but the best element of blogging is connectivity and the sharing of ideas. To this extent I'd say participation in commentary is paramount to invite and build a sound intellectual framework. Find those that entail a semblance of your message and get involved and soon you'll find yourself quite busy interacting.
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jay,
/Excellent/ comment.
My goal has been to find where I'm wrong, both where I contradict myself (which I was certain I was doing) and where I'm simply wrong, as well.
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“I think that would be smart. The EU is expanding into the former communist countries state-by-state… no reason the Constitution can't absorb Mexico the same way.”
Start with Baja California. The rest of Mexico doesn't really care about it anyway. You've got 2000 miles of beach front property that would suddenly be a lot more valuable if it were in the United States. The lessons learned integrating Baja into the US could be useful later.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Although “where he's wrong” is usually accompanied with such a bewildering amount of caveat and arm-waving as to make the first President Clinton appear direct.
BTW, reception details posted.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark, I can see where you're coming from after reading that FT coverage Barnett linked to. And I can see where the increased demands for better services could conceivably lead to Baja switching to the US; if the Mexican government becomes an insurmountable obstacle to the service and security improvements the residents (Anglo and Mexicano alike) want, secession might be attractive.
I'm doubtful, though, about the notion that the rest of Mexico doesn't care about Baja. No insult to you, just cynicism about human tribalism on my part; care to elaborate?
December 27th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Regarding groundrocket:
The blog that tdaxp spun off from is gone?!?
Regarding Mexico:
A piecemeal integration of Mexico would be helped if the residents of the northern Mexican states felt more secure in their property under the US Constitution than in the Mexican political system. This can be achieved through political instability in Mexico, either through large differences in growth rates between the north and the south, or other mechanisms.
December 30th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Yeah, it got to be too much of a hassle not updating it. I don't have things to say, so I feel a blog is unnecessary. Pretty much the reason for abandoning MySpace, etc. as well. If I have a particular topic, I'll post a guest editorial, but when no one replied to my “I lost my cell phone, please email me your phone number” post, I figured it was a lost cause.
BTW, back from DC. The Pentagon after hours is pretty boring. Lots of doors, lots of hallways. Lots of walking. I'm not at liberty to say how I was in the Pentagon after hours, but let's just say it involved attempting to fly with an expired driver's license.
Unrelatedly, Bush is the greatest President, ever.