Peking Dork

Making schools effective

2012-01-30T21:23:00.001-06:00

Getting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York CityWe find that traditionally collected input measures--class size, per pupil expenditure, the fraction of teachers with no certification, and the fraction of teachers with an advanced degree--are not correlated with school effectiveness. In stark contrast, we show that an index of five policies suggested by over forty years

Spot the difference

2012-01-25T16:23:00.000-06:00

This is the first comment I tried to post: This is the second: The only thing omitted was "(sorry, NYT)". I suppose we should give the NYT credit. The comment should be posted here. Anyway, a lot of these people truly are the world's 1%.

The reason Tsai lost?

2012-01-14T19:17:00.000-06:00

DPP reiterates denial of '92 consensus'Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) The "1992 consensus" espoused by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China does not exist, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said at an international press conference in Taipei on Thursday. Speaking on behalf of DPP Chairwoman and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen who was on the campaign trail in

The crappy Taipei Times

2012-01-14T18:55:00.000-06:00

Writing of the 2012 election, the Taipei Times shows its partisan character by speaking of the "Chinese" Nationalist Party.I can't believe how anyone takes this rag seriously as anything other than a mouthpiece for DPP propaganda.

Numbers are hard

2012-01-08T15:12:00.000-06:00

Americans Stumble on Math of Big Issues Many Americans have strong opinions about policy issues shaping the presidential campaign, from immigration to Social Security. But their grasp of numbers that underlie those issues can be tenuous.Here are some figures that I found: percentage of fellow residents who are foreign-born: 12.4% (37,049,464) percentage who are in the country illegally: 4% to 7%

Not Mildred Edith Brady

2012-01-05T10:45:00.000-06:00

James M. Murphy's The man who started the sexual revolution gives the wrong name to Mildred Edie Brady, the journalist whose article led to Wilhelm Reich's downfall. Her daughter has a picture here.

Warning labels on lottery tickets

2012-01-02T21:30:00.000-06:00

Obama ends habeas corpus

2012-01-02T20:25:00.000-06:00

Obama ends habeas corpus, but it's no biggie.

毛澤東 Zombie

2012-01-02T11:15:00.002-06:00

Mao Zedong never dies.

Donald J. Boudreaux has many good questions

2011-12-31T08:36:00.000-06:00

Questions for liberals and conservatives both, starting with: Why are the pundits and politicians who most fear the motives and the power of private corporations typically also the most strident advocates of higher tariffs to protect these corporations from competition? Read more: And the answer is? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Can I get both?

2011-12-25T21:29:00.002-06:00

Come With Me to Taco Bell Girl #1, dramatic: Would you rather be burned alive, or forced to eat human excrement?Girl #2: Can I get both?--Queensvia Overheard in New York, Dec 25, 2011

Bruce Schneier

2011-12-22T22:38:00.000-06:00

On T.S.A. security theater: “We’re spending billions upon billions of dollars doing this—and it is almost entirely pointless. Not only is it not done right, but even if it was done right it would be the wrong thing to do.”

Nobel peace prize winner Obama keeps on killing

2011-12-21T20:17:00.001-06:00

The Obama administration has carried out hundreds of CIA drone strikes, resulting in an estimated 1,350 to 2,250 deaths in Pakistan alone. Because the names of the dead and the threat they were believed to pose are secret, it is impossible for anyone without access to U.S. intelligence to assess whether the deaths were justified.That's not nearly as many as Bush is responsible for, but still....

He is Full of Nice yellow Custard

2011-12-17T18:27:00.001-06:00

THE CATERPILLAR. The Caterpillar is Crawling along the Fence. He has Pretty Fur all over his Back, and he Walks by Wrinkling up his Skin. He is Full of Nice yellow Custard. Perhaps you had better take him into the house, where it is warm, and Mash him on the Wall Paper with Sister Lulu's Album. Then the Wall Paper will Look as if a Red Headed Girl had been leaning Against it. --Eugene Field

Unravel the elite faux-consensus in favor of bailout economics

2011-12-12T12:23:00.000-06:00

Matt Welch suggests that one....measure government intervention against the claims made while selling it, marshal as much historical data as one can find, and try to fact-check policy discussion as it happens. This is where the elite faux-consensus in favor of bailout economics begins to unravel.He notes,Not a day goes by when George W. Bush’s deregulation is not blamed for the financial crisis,

2011-12-11T08:42:00.001-06:00

With regard to The China Premium Years ago, (before China's "reform and opening"), Johnnie Walker Black Label (more expensive than red label) was a standard gift in Taiwan. I heard that Johnnie Walker decided to lower the price to gain market share. Big mistake: sales plummeted. (Now they've got Blue Label as their premium brand.) Years later, XO cognac became the standard, and you still see it

Americans prefer freedom to equality

2011-12-02T19:39:00.001-06:00

A majority of Americans oppose interference from the stateNearly six-in-ten (58%) Americans believe that it is more important for people to be free to pursue their goals without interference from the state; just 35% say it is more important for the state to play an active role in society so as to guarantee that nobody is in need. In contrast, at least six-in-ten people in Spain (67%),

It makes no sense

2011-11-29T18:55:00.001-06:00

Some people fret that China will reap the green jobs of the future, but no economically viable green-energy product exists. It makes no sense for the U.S. to try to dominate a money-losing industry, especially by guaranteeing profits to inefficient power plants for 30 years.

2011-11-28T18:12:00.001-06:00

sheer nasty hypocrisy masquerading as journalism

2011-11-28T15:38:00.001-06:00

The myth of renewable energy

zodiac signs as job criteria

2011-11-27T14:03:00.001-06:00

It appears that zodiac signs – what most people would agree to be an arbitrary aspect of an applicant’s profile – have in fact become significant criteria for many companies. In China, at least.

Megan Mcardle reviews Shiny Objects

2011-11-27T13:00:00.001-06:00

Megan Mcardle reviews Shiny ObjectsHere are some of the things that upset [James A. Roberts] and that "document our preoccupation with status consumption": Lucky Jeans, bling, Hummers, iPhones, 52-inch plasma televisions, purebred lapdogs, McMansions, expensive rims for your tires, couture, Gulfstream jets and Abercrombie & Fitch. This is a fairly accurate list of the aspirational consumption

Share the Wealth!

2011-11-27T08:20:00.001-06:00

The Inefficiency of Local Food

2011-11-25T21:44:00.001-06:00

The Inefficiency of Local Food Dumb locavores.

FishBarrel

2011-11-09T22:37:00.000-06:00

A chrome extension for reporting misleading health claims found on the web to the FDA. (The link is for the British version, but it works for some other countries, too). I'm wondering if Lifehacker will promote this.

2011-09-22T18:22:00.001-05:00

The Progressivity of the Tax System

2011-09-20T18:34:00.000-05:00

The Progressivity of the Tax System: With all the rhetoric floating around regarding the "Buffett rule," it might be worth trying extra hard to keep an eye on the facts. Here is the progressivity of the current tax system, according to the Tax Policy Center. If you can remember only one fact, make it this one: The middle class (middle quintile) pays 14.1 percent of its income in federal taxes,

Can this marriage be saved?

2011-08-23T10:04:00.000-05:00

You’re at a dinner party. Your hostess regales you with a long, meandering tale of her recent back surgery. It ends with attempted humor: she laughs and glances at you. You laugh in response, trying to convey an appreciation for her humor that you don’t actually feel.... With your spouse of 25 years, you can simply stare at him stony-faced when he tells you his favorite “funny” story yet again.

The middle class is...

2011-08-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago, Megan McArdle said she'd prefer a single entitlement system that takes care of people who are actually destitute and unable to work, not this mad scheme whereby America's middle class is supposed to get rich by picking its own pockets. Conn Carroll chimes in,In order to pay for all their entitlement programs, the middle class is going to have to pay more, too.

"Marquee", not "marquis"

2011-07-27T06:34:00.001-05:00

Evan Osnos writes, The Murdoch-mania is so conspicuous that some Chinese viewers are asking if it has anything to do with the fact that it coincides with the moment that Party leaders are struggling to quell criticism over a train crash that casts doubt on the safety of a marquis political symbol, China’s high-speed rail network. He means "marquee", not "marquis".

Fukushima as it was

2011-07-25T06:21:00.002-05:00

This was mounted on a piece of plastic and given to me many years ago by an American who worked for a company building another reactor in Japan. 福島第一原子力発電所

France is not exactly libertarian

2011-05-27T11:11:00.000-05:00

Speaking of French the "second family" of François Mitterrand and the "nocturnal escapades" Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Chirac, Xavier Durringer claims,The French people are quite willing to accept that politicians lead double lives, that they have affairs and mistresses. Infidelity and extramarital affairs are normal parts of life. France is a libertarian society; we have politicians who are a

Insider trading among members of the House of Representatives

2011-05-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

A study released Wednesday in the journal Business and Politics by Alan J. Ziobrowski of Georgia State University, James W. Boyd of Lindenwood University, Ping Cheng of Florida Atlantic University and Brigitte J. Ziobrowski of Augusta State University found “...strong evidence that members of the House have some type of non-public information which they use for personal gain,” according to four

A niche that no one else has explored

2011-05-25T11:41:00.000-05:00

David Rubinstein writes of the life of the college professor, and notes,As Thomas Sowell has argued, building a scholarly reputation requires finding a niche that no one else has explored—often for good reason. I am hard pressed to explain why sometimes exquisitely esoteric interests should be supported by taxpayers: This expertise certainly does not match the educational needs of students.

The U.S. didn't reach per capita GDP of $16,740 until 1963

2011-05-20T16:56:00.001-05:00

In the 1970s growth rates in western Europe and Japan cooled off at approximately the $16,740 threshold. Singapore’s early-1980s slowdown matches the model, as does the experience of South Korea and Taiwan in the late 1990s.

E.J. Dionne, political hack

2011-05-14T06:03:00.001-05:00

Yuval Levin points this out:First:The passage of health care reform provided the first piece of incontestable evidence that Washington has changed. Congress is, indeed, capable of carrying through fundamental social reform. No longer will the United States be the outlier among wealthy nations in leaving so many of its citizens without basic health coverage. In approving the most sweeping

Cost of Illinois State Employee and Retiree Health Insurance

2011-04-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

The table below shows average monthly retiree health costs for members and for the State in FY2011 and total state costs. These figures do not include the cost of coverage for retirees’ dependents; retirees are required to pay premiums for their dependents. When people don't even have any idea of how much their benefits cost, much less have any responsibility for paying for them, is it any wonder

Blame the "speculators"

2011-04-22T10:51:00.000-05:00

Here's your federal energy policy: Do nothing significant to increase domestic supply, create mandates to have XX% of future supply come from magical green leprechauns, then when prices (surprise!) go up, you know what to do: Blame the "speculators"... It says a lot about how debased our politics have become that we could have expected this kind ofaggressive economic ignorance had the other party

Where the Tax Money Is

2011-04-22T10:42:00.000-05:00

Why is it so hard for government to have the budget it had in 2007?

2011-04-22T10:41:00.000-05:00

If government agencies and programs functioned with 19% to 20% of GDP in 2007, why is it so hard for them to function with that percentage in 2021, when GDP will be substantially higher and with many opportunities for reforms and increased efficiencies? And if GDP and employment grow more quickly, as they would if private investment increased as a result of lower government spending and debt,

The real "subsidies to the affluent"

2011-04-17T15:08:00.000-05:00

In response to Ross Douthat's criticism of policies that "subsidize the affluent", Mungowitz at Kids Prefer Cheese writes, the real "subsidies to the affluent" are cutting subsidies to sugar, corporate farms, oil companies, and big fat defense firms. The problem is not a misallocation by ability to pay, but rather straight up subsidies to war pigs, farm pigs, and the prison-industrial complex

Volkswagen manuals suck

2011-04-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

So I wrote to them:Give me information pertinent to the vehicle I bought! Instead, you provide a manual filled with irrelevant descriptions of features that mine doesn't possess, typically describing them as if they're present in all vehicles. It's simply infuriating. Incidentally, the dealership was of no help in this matter either.The dealer was in Kirkwood, btw.

Not bottled unicorn farts

2011-04-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

From either Walter Sobchak or Fat Man (possibly the same person?) ..."visionary" politicians who think an industrial economy can be run on unicorn farts and bottled rainbows....

What Ever Happened to the Antiwar Movement?

2011-03-21T09:11:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to escape the conclusion that antiwar activity in the United States and around the world was driven as much by antipathy to George W. Bush as by actual opposition to war and intervention.

Which energy source is the most dangerous?

2011-03-20T06:35:00.000-05:00

Which energy source is the safest? Chart above from Mark J. Perry (Carpe Diem); data from Next Big Future.

Largest unions pay leaders well, give extensively to Democrats

2011-03-06T06:21:00.002-06:00

On the surface, the fight between the governor of Wisconsin and organized labor is about balancing state budgets and collective-bargaining rights. Behind the scenes, hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to top labor leaders as well as campaign contributions to Democrats could be in jeopardy.

The European Union’s fruit and vegetable standards

2011-03-01T17:01:00.000-06:00

EU bureaucrats and USDA officials alike measure whether cucumbers are cucumbers based purely on visual qualities — appearance and form — rather than taste.

Watch out, capitalism!

2011-02-04T10:32:00.000-06:00

Potlatch writes:Capitalism depends on frustrated yearning to persist, as both Marx and Keynes recognised. Its gravest danger is that people get enough of something....I've already got pretty much all I want. Watch out, capitalism! (Actually, no worries: I seem to be pretty much an outlier).

Obama is an establishment figure

2011-02-01T11:22:00.000-06:00

Tim Cavanaugh writes,The president routinely depicted by detractors as the demon seed of the ’60s counterculture is in fact an establishment figure who blocks efforts to end federal discrimination against gay people, supports immunity for federal agents who illegally engaged in warrantless wiretapping, declines to withdraw on any front from either the war on drugs or the war on jihad, made

Artists never got money

2011-01-30T17:09:00.000-06:00

Francis Ford Coppola, interviewed by Ariston Anderson, arguesYou have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do.

Just because you mean to do good doesn’t mean that you will actually do good.

2011-01-30T11:28:00.000-06:00

“Snail” does not mean “slime cow”

2011-01-26T11:48:00.000-06:00

Tim Flannery claims The Chinese characters for “snail” read as “slime cow”If he means the characters 蝸牛, the most common word for snail, he's wrong. While 牛 ("niú") does mean bovine (bull or cow) 蝸 ("wō" in China, "guā" in Taiwan) means "snail". And anyway what's the significance of what it means in Chinese?

Yikes: Chen Kuiyuan (陈奎元)

2011-01-17T11:54:00.000-06:00

A vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and dean of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chen Kuiyuan is strongly associated with China’s hardline left, and his presence in the official news photo from Xinhua is for media insiders in China a tangible sign — a flesh-and-blood cautionary note about the need for media to fall into line in 2011. It

Mindfulness

2011-01-14T16:53:00.000-06:00

From Conquering Fear in the WSJ "Part of what mindfulness does is get to you to recognize that these critical thoughts are really stories you have created about yourself. They are not necessarily true, but they can have self-fulfilling consequences," says Zindel V. Segal, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto who devised Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to help depressed

Locavore idiocy

2011-01-09T05:40:00.000-06:00

[N]o agricultural economist has informed the public that a key claim of local-food advocates—that local-food purchases enhance the local economy—violates the core economic principles taught in every introductory economics class. Until now.

Spending other people's money

2011-01-09T05:35:00.000-06:00

It's presented as a test, but here are the answers:1) Total spending for the federal budget for 2010 is projected to be approximately $3.6 trillion. The budget comprises total expenditures and total receipts by the federal government. 2) The federal deficit for 2010 is projected to be approximately $1.2 trillion. However, note that in 2009, the deficit was projected to be $407 billion but ended

Some needed context

2011-01-02T17:26:00.001-06:00

Jonathan Mirsky writes,[Susan Greenhalgh, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine] herself refers to the years from 1980-93 as a time of "human and natural catastrophe," of "bad governance, even by the regime's own standards, which have consistently rejected the use of what in party-speak is called 'coercion and commandism.'"In fact, on p. 56 she writes, In the 1980s and

What does she want for Christmas?

2010-12-25T10:31:00.001-06:00

I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY, said Death.'Ah, well, yes, you see, one of the things that makes folks even more jolly is knowing there're people who ain't,' said Albert, in a matter-of-fact voice. 'That's how it goes, master. Master?'

So sue me.

2010-12-23T11:12:00.011-06:00

Distinctions between "highbrow" and "middlebrow" are formulated by self-anointed cultural snobs who denigrate those they label "middlebrow" to re-affirm their identity by labelling themselves as "highbrow". Anything that originally started out favored by the cognoscenti that becomes known by those outside their clique is in a way contaminated, and no longer worthy of "highbrow" appreciation.

Did Mao know about the famine?

2010-12-19T08:25:00.002-06:00

Frank Dikötter, author of “Mao’s Great Famine”, recently wrote, At a secret meeting in Shanghai on March 25, 1959, he ordered the party to procure up to one-third of all the available grain — much more than ever before. The minutes of the meeting reveal a chairman insensitive to human loss: “When there is not enough to eat people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that

We're like a hot dog on two legs

2010-12-19T07:07:00.000-06:00

People are a readily available source of high-quality protein. We eat too much and exercise too little. We're like a hot dog on two legs.said Chuck Neal

Leftists as conservatives

2010-12-18T09:08:00.001-06:00

Unlike his father, former vice-premier Xi Zhongxun, who is a bona fide “rightist” and ally of the late party chief Hu Yaobang, [Xi Jinping] is believed to harbor much more conservative views In China, anyway.

The internets don't know everything

2010-12-12T11:25:00.007-06:00

Case in point: over the last few weeks, the local Aldi's has had limited supplies ("special purchase") of Witor's Pralines (the dark chocolate variety sold out quickly) and Benton's best Dark Chocolate Covered Candy Cane Cremes and Benton's best Dark Chocolate Stars. But Aldi didn't mention the former on their site, and only Aldi mentions the latter two.updateThe Candy Cane Cremes are delicious,

Sex is shameful, but money isn't

2010-12-10T09:43:00.003-06:00

Perhaps nothing but a piece of news about money would have made Mrs. Wither so far forget herself as to shriek in front of the maids, who were putting the last touches to the cleared tea-table and setting it for dinner. There was nothing shameful about somebody getting a huge sum of money, and Mrs. Wither instinctively felt this. Sex was shameful, and any bit of news about it must be hidden, but

An excruciating bore

2010-12-10T09:24:00.005-06:00

He could not help feeling a satirical pity for Mr. Spurrey, either; all that money (and not a tightwad, either) and no idea how to spend it. Mr. Spurrey had always been suspicious of women and rather afraid of them, so he had not had any fun there; and men only tolerated him. Fun and jollity had a way of quietly going off the boil when he came up, even if he did not say a word. He was too sharp

I wish I was dead

2010-12-05T17:58:00.005-06:00

"All right then, I'll come, but I don't want to a bit and I wish I was dead." "Well, one day you will be, and so shall I; but meanwhile we may as well behave with courage and common sense..."

An elegant printed invitation

2010-12-05T17:29:00.003-06:00

It looked exciting. It made you think "Now why didn't we splash a bit and have our cards done like that?" It was only later that you realized that the party itself, the house it was given in, the food and the drink, would have to be even more exciting than the card, in order to justify the excitement the card had raised. Then, of course, you gave up the whole idea and bought ordinary cards as

Some dogs are hard to like

2010-12-05T16:44:00.005-06:00

Chappy was an enormous great dog, of extraverted temperament and seething energy, disliked by the entire neighbourhood. He was not vicious: everyone wished that he were, and then there might have been a chance of getting rid of him. He was only too much; too large, too friendly, too energetic. He was also He was also a barker, delighted with any excuse — or without any excuse — to bark for an

How to be happy

2010-12-05T16:09:00.003-06:00

The Hermit was happy too; but then he always was. He had no inhibitions, and a sense of his own importance that was never shaken no matter what anyone said or did to him. Small wonder he was happy.

Poppy or sesame

2010-12-05T11:43:00.001-06:00

Or plain: these are the only ones that I managed to slash:

They deal with us because it’s in their interest

2010-12-01T09:14:00.000-06:00

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates:The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets. Many governments — some governments — deal with us because they fear us, some because they respect us, most because they need us. We are still essentially, as has been said

Civilization As We Know It Is Corrupt

2010-11-30T17:38:00.005-06:00

Civilization as we know it is corrupt. It may be doomed; there are plenty of omens. Its foundations are rat-eaten, its towers go up unsteadily into lowering clouds where drone the hidden battleplanes. But it can, and does, supply its young daughters with luxuries at prices they can afford. No woman need be dowdy, or shabbily genteel. While she has a few shillings to spend on clothes, she can buy

Shut Up

2010-11-30T17:26:00.004-06:00

The truth always sounds fantastic. The Hermit, with his lack of responsibilities, his interest in everyone's affairs, and his admiration of himself, was the happiest person in the neighbourhood. If only it weren't for them bloody birds. 'Ow they did go on, waking you up at five o'clock in the morning, shrieking and hollering after dinner when you wanted a doss. Then there was that one that went

Subtle Chekhovian Currents

2010-11-30T17:02:00.006-06:00

As for Hetty, she was wondering if she should ask Viola what it was like to live at The Eagles? but she decided not to, because it was plain that although Viola was a girl with much natural charm, she was also a girl with much natural silliness, who would think The Eagles a boring place and be quite unconscious of the subtle Chekhovian currents that moved sluggishly through its dark silent rooms.

You Just Wait

2010-11-30T16:58:00.004-06:00

Viola:like most very young people, she found it difficult, almost impossible, to admit that she was unhappy to somebody old. Old people (she dimly felt) were so beastly pleased when you said you were fed-up. Ah, their faces said, so life isn't all roses and honey, after all, you see! Just because you're twenty-one, you needn't think you'll escape. You'll learn. You just wait.

Betrayed By What Is False Within

2010-11-30T16:37:00.009-06:00

When Viola remarks that it's difficult for the old Hermit to carve well, Hetty responds:"Oh, he actually sells his carvings sometimes to motorists, so it is not so funny as it appears. He stands at the crossroads on Sundays with a tray from Woolworth's round his neck and the carvings on it, and the motorists, lured by his unusual appearance, pause, and are betrayed by what is false within —

Worn Paths

2010-11-29T15:55:00.009-06:00

Thoughts, quietly sad as she imagined the thoughts of the old must be, rose uselessly in her mind. They were all familiar to her, like worn paths; she experienced anger and boredom even while the well-known train unfolded.after her mind wanders down the "worn paths" of having a career or of loving one's family:I wonder why (this path was so worn that she turned from it, in sick impatience, even

Rubbishy Books By Immoral Highbrow Authors

2010-11-28T08:52:00.007-06:00

Mrs. Spring reflects on her niece, who lives with her:...Hetty had taken after her father's side, the unsuccessful (that is, poor) Franklins who were all teachers and parsons and librarians, and as dull as ditch-water, with their noses in books, their socks in holes and their finances in muddles. Hetty was a disappointment. All that Mrs. Spring could do with Hetty was to let Victor see that her

Having one's nature deepened by tragedy

2010-11-28T06:30:00.010-06:00

In Nightingale wood, Stella Gibbons writesI must get a better job, thought Saxon, running lightly downstairs with his waisted jacket over one arm, but he did not think it dramatically or tragically; he thought it with impatient common sense. Neither he nor his mother were tragic people; tragedy overtook them, but it did not deepen their natures, because it found no answer therein. The long-drawn

How to make more people die

2010-11-25T15:32:00.003-06:00

On November 23, Michelle Higgins wrote, The Federal Aviation Administration agrees with the safety board that a child is safer when belted into a child restraint system, or CRS, and states on its Web site that “keeping a child in a CRS or device during the flight is the smart and right thing to do.” But the F.A.A. continues to turn down the child seat request. The rationale? It

At a certain university...

2010-11-25T14:58:00.005-06:00

An administrator suggested that courses should have no more than 20% of students who failed, withdrew, or even received Ds or incompletes. Meanwhile, according to a review of "The Five-Year Party", Craig Brandon...describes the vast majority of colleges as "subprime," which he defines as any school that has lowered its standards to the point at which almost anyone can pass. There's a college

A diet of worms

2010-11-23T09:30:00.005-06:00

Thinking about the taste of a dirty worm squishing around in your mouth when you bite into an apple, do you think pesticide use should be increased or decreased? Increased. Maintained at current levels. Decreased.Inspired by Jim Harper

Brandenburg Concertos free downloads

2010-11-22T17:31:00.000-06:00

Check it out.

Free downloads of Bach's complete organ works

2010-11-22T17:27:00.001-06:00

Free downloads of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, recorded by Dr. James Kibbie on original baroque organs in GermanyHere.

Security theatre comedy

2010-11-22T17:12:00.001-06:00

We took our shoes off and placed our laptops in bins. Schneier took from his bag a 12-ounce container labeled “saline solution.” “It’s allowed,” he said. Medical supplies, such as saline solution for contact-lens cleaning, don’t fall under the TSA’s three-ounce rule. “What’s allowed?” I asked. “Saline solution, or bottles labeled saline solution?” “Bottles labeled saline solution. They

Heah me talkin' to ya

2010-11-22T16:40:00.002-06:00

Heah me talkin' to ya 03:24Okeh # 8649 Louis Armstrong and his savoy ballroom five -fox trot - issue date: 12-12-1928. From The Internet Archive

Thanks for nothing, Al

2010-11-22T09:28:00.003-06:00

Former vice-president Al Gore said support for corn-based ethanol in the United States was "not a good policy", weeks before tax credits are up for renewal....He explained his own support for the original program on his presidential ambitions."One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness

Illinois Will Get Murdered If China Slows Its Imports

2010-11-20T17:30:00.002-06:00

$2.5 billion of exports to China last year363% growth over decade--machinery (except electrical) worth $508 million--crop production worth $406 million--waste and scrap worth $365 million--computers and electronics worth $330 million--chemicals worth $239 millionMajor state employer Dyncorp might get screwed.

TSA Scans "Won't Catch Anybody"

2010-11-20T16:57:00.001-06:00

With regard to our ongoing security theatre, Bruce Schneier says:You have to be seen as doing something, even if nothing is the smart thing to do. You can't be seen as doing nothing.

HAL was a 'straight' computer

2010-11-19T14:53:00.002-06:00

How can we be so sure?If "he" was straight, what would his ideal match be? Could "he" have been set up with a "female" counterpart? What would a "female" computer be like?

Pain can make you feel better

2010-11-16T16:15:00.004-06:00

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) (most commonly in the form of cutting or burning the skin) can lead to feeling better. Research suggests that it's because of the relief that occurs when something that causes acute, intense pain is removed.Not unlike acupuncture and Beckett's Lemuel.

As long as we know where political contributions come from, it's OK

2010-11-16T05:38:00.001-06:00

Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2010from OpenSecrets.org.

I solved the deficit!

2010-11-15T09:32:00.001-06:00

74% savings from spending cuts; 26% savings from tax increases. And here I thought I was against raising taxes.

Do you have your spoon?

2010-11-13T16:26:00.001-06:00

Someone has escaped from Jasper Fforde's Shades Of Grey.

85% of Chinese believe in religion or the supernatural

2010-11-07T16:44:00.001-06:00

Now, with three decades of prosperity under their belt — the first significant period of relative stability in more than a century — the Chinese are in the midst of a great awakening of religious belief. In cities, yuppies are turning to Christianity. Buddhism attracts the middle class, while Taoism has rebounded in small towns and the countryside. Islam is also on the rise, not only in troubled

I laughed out loud

2010-11-04T08:49:00.004-05:00

In a discussion of Lisa Murkowski's write-in candidacy, James Taranto writes,...she has a somewhat difficult name to spell. It's M-U-R-K-O-W-S-K-I, just so you know, and it's very important to get it right. According to the New York Times, even her husband, while voting, asked her, "Hon, how do you spell your last name?" (Her lesser half is named Martell; she uses her father's surname so as to

Carpe diem

2010-10-30T08:38:00.002-05:00

flatulence = divine inspiration

2010-10-21T11:19:00.002-05:00

It is not the first time that melancholy enthusiasts have taken their flatulence in retrospect for devilish assaults or for divine inspiration--Friedrich Nicolai, on the 18th-century sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

Great examples of negative externalities

2010-10-18T17:44:00.002-05:00

If you're looking for a great example of a negative externality, an act, remember, that comes about because the decision maker doesn't bear a large percent of the cost of his decision, look no further than Bush's Iraq invasion or Obama's "stimulus" package.

The Most ‘Chinese’ Chinese Characters

2010-10-15T17:12:00.039-05:00

From hereCharacters representing Chinese society & civilization:耕、禾、农、家、田、丝、工Characters related to Chinese philosophy, religion, society & thought:儒、道、佛、悟 (probably concepts like 顿悟)、戒 (三戒 and 八戒 eight precepts1)Characters representing Chinese feelings:中、东、北、土、社、九、鼎、国Characters representing key Confucian terms:天2、和 (harmony)、礼3、道4、德、仁5、义、忠、信Characters related to Chinese folk culture:龙、凤、宝、玉Others