http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-31/1225171460189970.xml&coll=1
http://docbrite.livejournal.com/641798.html
Apparently, there are several churches in Boston that have been doing this for four years.
New Orleans, meet Henry VIII.
As an atheist, it further confirms the current research on the evolution of established religion as a self-preserving and reproducing meme.
I guess sometimes the symbiotes revolt and have to be repressed.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Political Compass
My political compass, apparently. I have some issues with the test. There are questions where it can be treated as a factual question and the question is simply false - would I strongly disagree or just disagree? There are cases where I would also disagree with the opposite of the question - "is it better to control inflation over unemployment?".
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Somehow this other fruit-bearing passion vine sprouted in our yard
It will be awesome if we get passion fruit off this (it's competing with a monster ginger, papyrus and a clematis!). The flowers are tiny, pale, but unmistakeably passion flowers.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Joe the Plumber has Palinitis - Not Smart Enough to Keep His Mouth Shut
Proverbs 17:28: "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive."
"Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/us/politics/17joe.html
So now he has the media attention all over his ass (and we all know how unpleasant plumber's crack can be) and everyone knows:
He's not even a licensed plumber, nor has he completed an apprenticeship. (I hope he doesn't lose his job)
He has no clue about small business accounting or taxes. (The business is not likely to be making $250,000 profit - taxes are paid on profit - after expenses, not revenue, so all these expenses you can't afford because of taxes - natch - nothing to do with that!).
He doesn't even pay all the taxes he owes - he has a tax lien.
He doesn't understand enough about government policy to vote in his own interest (to avoid electing someone who dances as well as Sammy Davis, Jr. - I'm sure the next words out of his mouth will be - I'm not prejudiced/a racist).
Despite the pundits who think this is not working for McSame, I think this plays perfectly into the Bush - Cheney - McSame - Pain campaign to allow anyone to do anything, whether it is a small-minded, self-serving, small-town mayor (who overthrew one network of self-dealing to create her own) being (Vice) President of the United States, or a Generation Kill Iraqi veteran who can teach our children without taking any of those annoying tests. It is clear there is a demand out there for unqualified teachers, plumbers, etc because like Palin says - we need to feed our hungry markets with crap.
"Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/us/politics/17joe.html
So now he has the media attention all over his ass (and we all know how unpleasant plumber's crack can be) and everyone knows:
He's not even a licensed plumber, nor has he completed an apprenticeship. (I hope he doesn't lose his job)
He has no clue about small business accounting or taxes. (The business is not likely to be making $250,000 profit - taxes are paid on profit - after expenses, not revenue, so all these expenses you can't afford because of taxes - natch - nothing to do with that!).
He doesn't even pay all the taxes he owes - he has a tax lien.
He doesn't understand enough about government policy to vote in his own interest (to avoid electing someone who dances as well as Sammy Davis, Jr. - I'm sure the next words out of his mouth will be - I'm not prejudiced/a racist).
Despite the pundits who think this is not working for McSame, I think this plays perfectly into the Bush - Cheney - McSame - Pain campaign to allow anyone to do anything, whether it is a small-minded, self-serving, small-town mayor (who overthrew one network of self-dealing to create her own) being (Vice) President of the United States, or a Generation Kill Iraqi veteran who can teach our children without taking any of those annoying tests. It is clear there is a demand out there for unqualified teachers, plumbers, etc because like Palin says - we need to feed our hungry markets with crap.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Adam Smith - Great Blog - and The Concept of Delegation
Pedantic and obsessed with objective truth as I am, I am totally in love with the Adam Smith's Lost Legacy blog.
In a world of sound bites and misrepresentations and folksy concepts with no basis in reality, I often get extremely frustrated. Modern people are so obsessed with delegation - we delegate our political decision-making, we delegate our childcare, we delegate our manufacturing - at some point one has to wonder what exactly we produce.
I also like The Simple Dollar blog, and the primary reason I decided to fix up my blog and start writing is that he points out that creating value, actually producing is the only true growth. I think that at some point along the way in the dotcom boom and the economic miracle of Clinton capitalism, we lost sight of the fact that the value of something is still independent of its monetization via Google AdSense or some IPO.
In a world of sound bites and misrepresentations and folksy concepts with no basis in reality, I often get extremely frustrated. Modern people are so obsessed with delegation - we delegate our political decision-making, we delegate our childcare, we delegate our manufacturing - at some point one has to wonder what exactly we produce.
I also like The Simple Dollar blog, and the primary reason I decided to fix up my blog and start writing is that he points out that creating value, actually producing is the only true growth. I think that at some point along the way in the dotcom boom and the economic miracle of Clinton capitalism, we lost sight of the fact that the value of something is still independent of its monetization via Google AdSense or some IPO.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
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