DYSPEPSIA GENERATION

We have seen the future, and it sucks.

Archive for April, 2010

A woman who took up beekeeping as a hobby because she was worried about the decline in their numbers has died after being stung.

29th April 2010

Read it.

Let that be a lesson to us all.

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The Trouble with “Merit”

29th April 2010

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First, the meritocracy is based on an overly narrow definition of talent. Our system rewards those who can amass technical knowledge. But this skill is only marginally related to the skill of being sensitive to context. It is not related at all to skills like empathy. Over the past years, we’ve seen very smart people make mistakes because they didn’t understand the context in which they were operating.

Posted in Think about it. | 1 Comment »

Sheep from Goats: the rise in long-term unemployment

29th April 2010

Eric Raymond is always worth reading.

I said “Increasingly it’s not just the classic hard-core unemployables (alcoholics, criminal deviants, crazies) that can’t pull enough weight to justify a paycheck; it’s the marginal ones, the mediocre, and the mildly dysfunctional.” And I pointed at a cause: “We’ve spent the last seventy years increasing the hidden overhead and downside risks associated with hiring a worker — which meant the minimum revenue-per-employee threshold below which hiring doesn’t make sense has crept up and up and up, gradually. This effect was partly masked by credit and asset bubbles, but those have now popped.”

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US military ‘to seek death penalty over Fort Hood massacre’

29th April 2010

Read it.

It is a measure of how much the world has changed that something like this is considered news.

When I was in the Navy, he would have been tried and hanged by now.

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First Principles

29th April 2010

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A society is formed by the voluntary bonding of individuals into overlapping, ever-changing groups whose members strive to serve each others’ emotional and material needs. Government — regardless of its rhetoric — is an outside force that cannot possibly replicate societal bonding, or even foster it. At best, government can help preserve society — as it does when it deters aggression from abroad or administers justice. But in the main, government corrodes society by destroying bonds between individuals and dictating the terms of social and economic intercourse — as it does through countless laws, regulations, and programs, from Social Security to farm subsidies, from corporate welfare to the hapless “war” on drugs, from the minimum wage to affirmative action. On balance, the greatest threat to society is government itself.

And that is libertarianism in a nutshell.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on First Principles

US approves its first offshore wind farm at Cape Cod

29th April 2010

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Most of the power, of course, will be obtained from the rapidly rotating corpse of the late Liberal Lion, Senator Ted Kennedy. The wind farm is just there for cover, as in money laundering.

Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | 1 Comment »

California’s ‘Zero Energy House’ is actually massive fossil hog

29th April 2010

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‘Zenergy’ eco-home gets award from local senator anyway.

Of course. Facts can’t be allowed to stand in the way of The Narrative.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on California’s ‘Zero Energy House’ is actually massive fossil hog

Documents show Stalin signed Katyn death warrants

28th April 2010

Read it.

Not really news, but a useful reminder.

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Dating by blood type in Japan

28th April 2010

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When reading science fiction, I refuse to accept as credible any alien species that isn’t at least as strange as the Japanese.

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Disassembled household appliances

28th April 2010

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Don’t ever say we don’t have useful stuff here.

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Filmmaker Peter Jackson made knight in New Zealand

28th April 2010

Read it.

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Demonizing Goldman Sachs

28th April 2010

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Here is what really happened: there was a bubble in housing prices. The bubble was mostly the result of government policy–loose money, combined with pressure on banks to make bad loans to unqualified home buyers. It all worked for a while because Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, under the leadership of Congressman Barney Frank and others, created a secondary market for shaky mortgages. Goldman Sachs participated in this market, downstream, along with many other players. But the whole thing wasn’t an accident or a conspiracy, it was government policy. The home price bubble could have only one possible result. All bubbles burst–there is nothing else they can do–and the bursting of a bubble is always painful. The whole disaster that began in 2008 was the inevitable result of government policy, which is why Senators are so anxious to pass the buck to Goldman Sachs.

I’m not a particular fan of either Goldman Sachs or Congress, but today’s hearing confirms that, given a choice, I’d rather have Goldman Sachs regulating Congress than Congress regulating Goldman Sachs. Goldman’s employees are much smarter, considerably more honest, and far more likely to have my interests at heart.

Posted in Think about it. | 2 Comments »

Texas governor shoots dead ‘wily’ coyote while jogging

27th April 2010

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No indication of whether Perry let the coyote draw first.

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Noah’s Ark remains ‘discovered’

27th April 2010

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A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical Christians said they had uncovered remnants of Noah’s Ark on its legendary mountain resting place in Turkey.

‘Right. What’s a cubit?’

Posted in News You Can Use. | 1 Comment »

Underwater ‘safe’ protects £5m shipwreck treasures

27th April 2010

Read it.

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Declining newspaper sales threaten toilet roll

27th April 2010

Oh, no!

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Declining newspaper sales threaten toilet roll

Australian girl’s jellyfish sting survival ‘rewrites medical history’

27th April 2010

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A 10-year-old girl has stunned doctors in Australia after she survived being stung by the world’s most venomous creature.

Posted in News You Can Use. | 2 Comments »

Palin Inc.

27th April 2010

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New York Magazine has a long profile of Sarah Palin up right now. Its focus is more publicity, personality and celebrity, than politics. The profile reduces my probability that Palin will make a serious run (as opposed to a pro forma one) for the highest office in 2012. It also leaves me impressed by how quickly and efficiently she’s leveraged her celebrity and gone from moderately upper middle class** in income (and in serious debt due to legal bills after the 2008 campaign) to wealthy. Some Republicans are apparently worried about her becoming the “face of the party,” something that crops up now and then in the media, but it doesn’t seem like they really have to worry that much unless the party has no real substance and is rooted only in style and the need to get elected. As for Sarah Palin, whatever you think of her politics or personality, she’s offering a concrete product distributed through the private sector. The article mentions that her book was a major reason that Random House generated a profit last year! Whatever criticisms one might lodge, she’s not getting rich by being a rent-seeker, as so many of our public and private sector elites have become. In fact the article points to a whole industry of liberal critique which has emerged around her, so she’s not even capturing all the wealth that she’s responsible for (spillover effects).

Doing well by doing good.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Palin Inc.

From “Porous” to “Ruthless” Conscription, 1776–1917

27th April 2010

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Yes, you have to download a PDF, but it’s still worth reading. Conscription would appear to be on its face contrary to the 13th Amendment, and yet the half-dozen times it’s been challenged in the courts such challenges have been dismissed with judicial handwaving that involved no serious consideration of the issues. You can have all the laws in place that you want, but if those who are charged with enforcing the law don’t feel like it, you’re screwed.

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Spinathon!

26th April 2010

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Stephen Brust, despite being a Benighted Socialist, is one of the best writers of the English language alive today. (Read any of his Vlad Taltos books and you’ll agree. Better yet, read the brilliant fanfic Firefly episode he wrote.)

His Significant Other just had a radical mastectomy and they’re fund-raising to pay for it. Follow the link to participate.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Spinathon!

Environmentalism As a Tribal Religion

26th April 2010

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Lots of commentators, including yours truly, have pointed out the ways in which modern environmentalism is like a religion. For last week’s Earth Day festivities, economist Paul Rubin had a provocative piece in the Wall Street Journal detailing the ways in which environmentalism confers group identity on it adherents. In this way, it functions more like ancient tribal religions than like universal religions such as Christianity that transcend the tribe.

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Lord of The Rings fan makes miniature Frodo Baggins’ home

25th April 2010

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Slow news day.

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A spurned husband who stabbed his ex-wife to death on the day of her divorce party is facing life in jail.

25th April 2010

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And rightly so, I should think.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | 1 Comment »

Thief ‘stoned to death’ by South African school children

25th April 2010

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Police said the man and two accomplices had been armed with a knife and a firearm when they approached pupils outside the secondary school in Umbumbulu, near Durban in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

It is claimed the trio tried to rob the youngsters of their mobile phones and money but fled when the students began pelting them with stones.

Sometimes the old ways are best.

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The Coffee Party: It’s About Hate

25th April 2010

The Other McCain overturns a rock.

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Outfoxing the Counterfeiters

25th April 2010

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The new $100 bill is the most sophisticated attempt yet to combat forgery. Since colonial times, the U.S. has engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with criminals and foreign governments eager to pass off brilliant fakes.

You know, it’s almost impossible to ‘counterfeit’ a gold coin….

Posted in News You Can Use. | 1 Comment »

John McCain fighting for his political life in the Arizona desert

25th April 2010

Read it.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

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Exorcising “Bull” Hitler

25th April 2010

Gates of Vienna takes a fairly deep look into the way the Crust thinks.

It is not a pretty sight.

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What if I had bought Apple stock instead?

25th April 2010

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A fascinating look at where you would be if you had bought a piece of the action rather than a mere product.

Posted in Think about it. | 1 Comment »

What Police State Legislation Looks Like

25th April 2010

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There is a sugment of the population that views any attempt to deal with clear and present dangers as incipient fascism and will cry ‘Wolf!’ at the slightest opportunity. I suspect that this is one such. On the other hand, what is the position of an American citizen caught on the battlefield in arms against United States forces? That’s less clear.

Technically he could be arrested and charged with treason, but you know and I know that it isn’t going to happen, because the Crust regards treason as the highest form of patriotism. So that avenue is closed by one of those walls that mimes habitually encounter.

Also technically (considering the likely scenarios) he would qualify as an ‘unlawful combatant’ and could be held indefinitely without trial or even executed after a drumhead court martial. Leftist bloviations to the contrary notwithstanding, this is perfectly consistent with the Geneva Conventions to which most grownup nations are signatory these days. (You can look it up.)

I don’t have any problem with that except when a U.S. citizen is involved, because U.S. citizens have rights against the U.S. government that foreigners don’t. I suspect that any legislation that treats U.S. citizens in the way that international law allows ‘unlawful combatants’ to be treated would be unconstitutional.

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Jobsian drones shackle gamer with ‘lifetime’ iPad ban

25th April 2010

Read it.

I guess I won’t be buying an iPad after all. Wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the secret police.

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British model with astrophysics degree wins £1 million at poker tournament

24th April 2010

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This is the girl Prince William ought to marry.

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100-Year-Old Trick Squeezes Fiber-Optic Speeds from Copper Wires

24th April 2010

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Netizens without access to cable broadband speeds might someday get fiber optic speeds over their old copper lines. Alcatel-Lucent combined several old networking tricks to boost DSL speeds over copper telephone lines to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) at distances spanning almost two-thirds of a mile, Technology Review reports.

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China Could Wipe Out Recycled Toilet Paper

23rd April 2010

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Printer and copier paper retain the nice, long fibers that make the best recycled toilet paper. But a resurgent Chinese economy and domestic waste reduction efforts are cutting the available supply of the good stuff, said Jeff Phillips, executive vice president of operations at Seventh Generation, a major recycled toilet paper manufacturer.

Oh, no!

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Origin of Life Chicken-and-Egg Problem Solved

23rd April 2010

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Scientists have wondered how the first simple, self-replicating chemicals could have formed complex, information-rich genetic structures, when replication was originally such an error-prone process. Every advance would soon be lost to copying errors.

According to a new study, the answer may lie in the fundamental nature of those chemicals. The errors may have triggered an automatic shutdown of replication. Such stalling would allow only error-free sequences to be completed, giving them a chance at evolving.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Origin of Life Chicken-and-Egg Problem Solved

Cosmic Stool Sample

23rd April 2010

Check it out.

Well, that’s what it looks like.

Posted in Think about it. | 1 Comment »

White robber wears African-American ‘Hollywood’ mask to hold up bank

23rd April 2010

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According to police reports, Conrad Zdzierak, 30, is alleged to have used the £450 silicon mask in an audacious string of six bank robberies in Ohio.

Guess it didn’t work.

But after a tip-off, officers found Zdzierak staying at a nearby hotel.

Ah, it would have worked, but he was betrayed.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on White robber wears African-American ‘Hollywood’ mask to hold up bank

Grand Canyon tribe accepts ‘genetic piracy’ settlement

23rd April 2010

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A Native American tribe from the Grand Canyon has accepted a substantial settlement from an Arizona university after accusing its scientists of “genetic piracy”.

How magnanimous of them. (What is ‘genetic piracy’? Your guess is as good as mine. Making your Y-chromosome walk the plank?)

One subsequent research article suggested the Havasupai had originated in Asia, before crossing the Bering Sea and settling in the Grand Canyon.

That was a conclusion the Havasupai did not like as they believe they originated in the canyon and are closely spiritually connected to it.

Science gives way to myth, and the world is lessened thereby.

Posted in You can't make this stuff up. | 3 Comments »

OK Corral inquest transcript found in Arizona jailhouse store room

23rd April 2010

Read it.

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Liam Fox’s shock at burglars who armed themselves with his kitchen knives

23rd April 2010

Read it.

You can make a mainframe from the things you have at home.

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GM Uses ‘TARP Money Shuffle’ to Pay Loans

23rd April 2010

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In a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa fumes that the source of the funds for the $4.7 billion repayment is not GM earnings, but rather a Treasury escrow account. He chides the company and the administration for suggesting in recent statements that the money is coming from GM earnings.

Grassley writes that GM’s early repayment of the federal loan is aimed at diverting attention from another uncomfortable issue – the big break the car company would get on a proposed tax to recoup TARP losses. GM is expected to generate some of the biggest losses in the TARP program, but it won’t have to pay any money under the so-called TARP tax the Obama administration wants to impose on large financial institutions.

Oh, no! GM wouldn’t lie to us, would they?

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Ten Reform Ideas

23rd April 2010

Freeberg has some great ideas.

1. ILLEGAL Immigration reform. As in ILLEGAL. Did I say ILLEGAL?
2. Putting-up-with-communist-assholes reform.
3. Domestic drilling reform. Drill-baby-drill.
4. Portraying-the-military-in-movies reform.
5. Aggressive interrogation reform. Which means start doing it.
6. This-Is-Sparta reform. If our soldiers rough up terrorists we don’t throw them in the brig, we give ‘em medals.
7. Deficit spending reform. Budget deficits simply aren’t allowed anymore. Learn to deal, Congress.
8. Birth certificate reform. Just pull the thing out, President-Elect, like I have to do when I apply for a passport.
9. ACORN/Census reform. Anyone who put you guys in charge of this, is banned from public service for life.
10. You-go-first reform. Congress makes laws that affect the rest of us, Congress lives under those laws first.

Posted in Is this a great country, or what? | Comments Off on Ten Reform Ideas

Edging Back to Nuclear Power

23rd April 2010

Read it.

Faster, please.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Edging Back to Nuclear Power

Watchdog calls for Google break-up

23rd April 2010

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A California-based consumer watchdog called, er… Consumer Watchdog is calling for a Department of Justice investigation into Google.

The group, supported by mobile entrepreneur Simon Buckingham and lawyers for two price comparison websites, praised the DOJ for its action against Google Books and the FTC probe into the acquisition of AdMob.

But Consumer Watchdog said Google was unfairly using its dominance in search to the detriment of both advertisers and users.

If you get a nameplate, you can be a ‘consumer watchdog’ too. (In the Good Old Days, such people were called ‘busybodies’ and told to butt out. In these degenerate modern times, however, they are ‘consumer advocates’ and given great deference.)

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How Islam Destroyed the Literary Inheritance of the Classical World

22nd April 2010

Read it.

Thanks, guys.

Posted in Living with Islam. | Comments Off on How Islam Destroyed the Literary Inheritance of the Classical World

Australian woman jailed for cheeseball road rage killing

22nd April 2010

Read it.

‘Judge, he needed killin’.’

Posted in Dystopia Watch | 1 Comment »

South Korean ship sunk by crack squad of ‘human torpedoes’

22nd April 2010

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A South Korean warship was destroyed by an elite North Korean suicide squad of ‘human torpedoes’ on the express orders of the regime’s leader, Kim Jong-il, according to military intelligence reports.

Posted in You can't make this stuff up. | 1 Comment »

Archaeologists unearth 6th century Ikea-style temple

22nd April 2010

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Archaeologists in Italy have unearthed the remains of a 6th century BC temple-style building complete with detailed assembly instructions which they have likened to an Ikea do-it-yourself furniture pack.

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Rugby star electrocuted and hit by train on drunken night out

22nd April 2010

Read it.

Let that be a lesson to us all.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Rugby star electrocuted and hit by train on drunken night out

The Plan to Map Every Tree in San Francisco

22nd April 2010

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Yeah, that sounds like a San Francisco thing to do.

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