nerdgirl

Three issues that we -- as a planet much less nation -- do not seem to be getting any better at & all relate directly to Jacoby's thesis and the decline of rationality: (1) Confusing correlation w/causation. E.g., the Biothrax (nee AVA) vaccine debate and the autism-vaccine contentions, in the news yesterday. (2) Confusing anecdote w/correlation or, worse, causation. E.g., the "I've" seen it therefore it must be true argument. Sometime we *see* what we want in single or limited cases. Sometimes we don't know the 'whole' story; sometimes we're wrong. Because math/statistics are hard and require effort to do/understand or because the data may not support the argument one is trying to make is *not* a good excuse for dismissing the analytical tool. And the whole subjectivity-v-objectivity debate, for which culpability *is* substantively in the laps of liberal academics, most egregiously the post-modern deconstructionist theorists. Roland Barthes was a philosopher not a physicist. (3) Confusing historical religious text w/causation. E.g., rise of fundamentalism: Judeo-Christian, Islamic, or Gaia-esque (whatever ELF, etc. espouses). VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Time and Mind Journal. “Biblical Entheogens: a Speculative Hypothesis,” Time & Mind, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2008, pp. 51-74. Abstract: “A speculative hypothesis is presented according to which the ancient Israelite religion was associated with the use of entheogens (mind-altering plants used in sacramental contexts). The hypothesis is based on a new look at texts of the Old Testament pertaining to the life of Moses. The ideas entertained here were primarily based on the fact that in the arid areas of the Sinai peninsula and Southern Israel there grow two plants containing the same psychoactive molecules found in the plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew Ayahuasca is prepared. The two plants are species of Acacia tree and the bush Peganum harmala. The hypothesis is corroborated by comparative experiential-phenomenological observations, linguistic considerations, exegesis of old Jewish texts and other ancient Mideastern traditions, anthropological lore, and ethnobotanical data.” Full text pdf is free. [Lawrocket & Freeflychile – 12 mushroom and 1 badger reference in the article.] ---- ----- ----- It’s like “In Search Of – the Journal.” I almost expected a guest editorial from Leonard Nimoy. Remember watching re-runs of that w/my mom as a little kid.

Link to the primary data? My hypothesis -- purely speculative -- has been more along the lines of low blood sugar while in the desert-induced visions. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Press release from Marine Corps Base Hawaii: “Internet video of Marine mistreating puppy “MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Oahu -- The video of a Marine mistreating a puppy gained widespread attention on the internet today. The video is shocking and deplorable and is contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine. "This video came to our attention this morning, and we have initiated an investigation. We do not tolerate this type of behavior and will take appropriate action. "The vast majority of Marines conduct their duties in an honorable manner that brings great credit upon the Marine Corps and the United States. There have been numerous stories of Marines adopting pets and bringing them home from Iraq or helping to arrange life-saving medical care for Iraqi children. Those are the stories that exemplify what we stand for and how most Marines behave.” Longer article from Marine Corps Times, which is a commercial publication not officially associated w/the USMC or DOD; each service has its own version. excerpt: “Marine officials on Hawaii have also been unable to confirm that the rifleman based at Kaneohe Bay is the Marine shown in the pixilated, undated video. “‘We’re still looking into it. We’re trying to confirm that this is our Marine,’ said Maj. Chris Perrine, a spokesman for 3rd Marine Division on Hawaii.” FOX News article: excerpt: “The authenticity of the clip, which has been viewed more than 145,000 times since it was uploaded onto file-sharing Web site YouTube in the last two days, has not been verified — although forum members and bloggers have been frantically trying to track down details of the soldier. “‘Certainly there's a lot of outrage and a lot of people are upset about it. I think every Marine is upset about this video,’ [MAJ Chris] Perrine said. ‘We will investigate and take appropriate action and make sure our Marine is safe as well.’ “‘That is mistreatment of a puppy. That is a violation of anybody's standards, and the Marine Corps sets extremely high standards.’ “Perrine said it appears that the man in the video is a lance corporal based with a unit in the Hawaiian islands. But his actions weren't characteristic of those of most men and women who serve, Perrine added. “‘The vast majority of Marines conduct their duties in an honorable manner that brings great credit upon the Marine Corps and the United States,’ he said. ‘There have been numerous stories of Marines adopting pets and bringing them home from Iraq or helping to arrange life-saving medical care for Iraqi children.’ “‘Those are the stories that exemplify what we stand for and how most Marines behave.’” Both the Marine Corps Times and Fox News stories provide links to the video, which is no longer available via OP YouTube link. If the video is legitimate -- beyond the objection to the behavior -- it was doubly *stupid*: (1) to do it while in uniform and (2) to ‘video’ it. VR/Marg [Edit: to correct subject line.] Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Ice-climbing - try to get out to Ouray, Colorado at least once a year. Favorite group to climb with is Chicks With Picks - 'kiss my axe.' After the Grand Teton, I came to the conclusion that real outdoor rock hurts my hands. & Hiking, back-packing, trekking, climbing Colorado 14-ers (the non-technical ones), and other non-technical peaks. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I like the quote ... a lot! Thanks. As I read it, you may (or may not?

I think you need two more "solid" references! “Why people fail to recognize their own incompetence” & “Why the Unskilled Are Unaware: Further Explorations of (Absent) Self-Insight Among the Incompetent” Sorry, w/today’s electronic search engines, it’s just so easy. If one reads the articles, particularly the first one linked in the thread -- full text version is available here -- what was found is less w/r/t unfettered ‘incompetence’ but more w/r/t over-estimation of one’s abilities. Or misplaced over-confidence. The lurking question is … how do you (general “you” not specific) or *I* know where we fall along the distribution?

Why? I'm genuinely asking. Most of the guys w/whom I've spoken from Ft Lewis & Ft Wainwright loved the Stryker. Were they just telling me what they thought I wanted to hear? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Also from SFRC on 13 February 2008, you may find interesting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s testimony w/r/t the FY09 Foreign Affairs PBR. [Edit to add: "PBR" ='s President's Budget Request.] Her official statement is available here, and was, of course, prepared before the actual testimony. At 46:45 in the SecState’s testimony (available via Real Audio), she speaks to the President’s support of increased foreign assistance like the “Millennium Challenge Corporation,” (the US Federal Government organization *not* UN) and the State Dept’s Millennium Challenge Account, which is supported by the Heritage Foundation (& for those not familiar w/DC think-tank, it’s staunchly conservative) and supports the Millennium Development Goals, the UN-initiative that President Bush endorsed. The SecState also speaks to the criticality of foreign assistance and “fighting poverty” (47:50) for national security: “foreign assistance is our most valuable tool in doing so.” Just before SecState Rice begins her testimony, Sen Lugar (R-Indiana) extols/chastises the Secretary on the need for action and execution from the State Department on reconstruction as the “R” part of SSTR, which is one of my ‘touchstone’ issues.

Have we met?

Based on what you wrote above (as there are no other references), I’m speculating that you’re confusing the House version and the Senate version and some of what is circulating in the 'blog-o-sphere.' The House version, HR 1302, was passed on 25 September 2007. It’s a bipartisan bill with almost 1/5 of the House (Republicans & Democrats) signing onto it. (Obviously, more than the original 82 bill signers supported it when it came up to the House floor for a vote). It was passed by voice vote so voting records were not kept, but it appears that it passed unanimously. A couple points to note: A previous version also bipartisan and also introduced in the House, HR 3605, never passed out of the House Committee. Bills introduced in the House have only 2 years to become law. Because this bill is so tightly linked to President Bush and his anti-poverty goals and his desired legacy, I speculate that it has mixed chances of making it forward. That’s my speculation w/r/t why it was a voice vote. The Senate version, S. 2433, was introduced on 7 December 2007. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SFRC). The bill was on the schedule for discussion in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on 13 February 2008. It was reported favorably out of committee. There was no “midnight vote” and its co-sponsors on the in the SFRC include Sen Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska & ranking minority member on the SFRC), Sen Dick Lugar (R-Indiana) & Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), so the statement “rep were able block it for now,” is also inaccurate. It has not been scheduled for full vote by the Senate nor has it been added as an amendment at this point. (The Senate is dealing with the FY09 Budget, among other legislation.) It seems that the Global Poverty Act does nothing more than support what President Bush indicated he wanted the U.S. to do back in 2000 and 'requesting' (in the way that Congress does) that the Executive Branch provide progress reports to Congress on progress, i.e., oversight, which no one likes. This Bill seems to single out just one of the Millennium Development Goals that President Bush supports. Again, all the Bill does *really* is require the State Dept, as lead, to develop a “comprehensive strategy” for inter-agency coordination (which some would argue a Bill should not be required(!)) on programs that are currently in place and to report back to Congress on the status of those efforts NLT 1 year after the bill passes. It’s fascinating from a civics perspective w/r/t legislative process and from a sociological perspective w/r/t what emerge as ‘touch stone’ issues (or one might argue “counter knowledge (sic)”). One can speculate on why this Bill has gotten traction in the ‘blog-o-sphere’ ... curiously only when it got to the Senate ... but not S. 1700: International Nuclear Fuel for Peace and Nonproliferation Act of 2007 or S. 2120: Social Investment and Economic Development for the Americas Act of 2007 or S. 2243: Saudi Arabia Accountability Act of 2007 or S. 328: Ensuring Implementation of the 9/11 Commission Report Act or S. 492: Somalia Stabilization and Reconstruction Act of 2007. This really isn’t my area of expertise ... but if I remember, I may query colleagues on SASC staff w/r/t what, if anything, they’ve heard.

I don't like sounding harsh, but no, it's not. Period. Do you understand the difference between an appropriations bill (i.e., one that had money attached to it) and non-appropriations bill (one that does not have money)? This seems to be the latest incorrect viral email circulating the web. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

One has to go no farther than the innundation of reporting on the non-newsworthy-behavior of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan to find counter-examples of visual and print deluge on young women making questionable decisions. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

NPR reported this morning that the 'leak' came via the Drudge report as well. (This morning) Drudge appears to link back to UK Sun, UK Observor, and Washington Post articles. This UK Reuters article also suggests that the Ministry of Defense is confirming Drudge as the 'leak.' Does anyone else have confirmation of the source? Is it appropriate to condem the "press" if the main stream media (aka professional journalism) had kept the 'secret,' and it was alternative/blog/web-style "journalism" that did not? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

It *could.* In addition to fewer criminals, as previously suggested, it *could* also mean that Riverside County sheriff has implemented more effective policing. They *could* be targetting one type of crime that is easier to catch or executing more 'stings.' What type of arrests? Vagrancy targetting homeless or violent felony arrests? It could be any combination of actions. They *could* have recently hired more officers or made substantive changes to tactics, protocols, and procedures that enable more arrests. They *could* also just be arresting more people; one really needs to know if convictions have similarly gone up as well as if unsolved crimes have gone down. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Are you referring to the bipartisan Global Povery Act of 2007? Do you know the status of that bill, i.e., has it passed out of committee, *and* do you know if it has any appropriations connected to it? For background see: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3124253;search_string=845;#3124253. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

When do you see that actually happening? (As opposed to the DOE's latest proposed date.) I have a bet w/a nuclear physicist colleague that the US chemical weapons stockpile will be eliminated before Yucca Mountain accepts any spent fuel. Until we -- as a nation -- effectively deal with the spent fuel storage issue, pursuing new nuclear power plants is shortsighted, im-ever-ho. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Did you realize that the school referenced in the original post and news story is *not* a traditional public school? It's a charter school: Parma Community School, run by Constellation Schools, Inc. The dress code is available online. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

No. First, I function under the assumption that he (or any other Congressional Representative or Senator) is saying what he or she truly believes is best for the nation. (And to be explicit, lest there be any confusion – I disagree with many of the positions of the Orange County Republican, particularly his acquiescence to supporting torture and extraordinary rendition, among other substantive social and foreign policy issues). Second, I think that he is genuinely frustrated … and pent-up frustration is finally being expressed because the Bush administration is ‘winding down.’ Most of the ‘big-gun’ neo-cons (Feith, Wolfowitz, etc) left at the end of President Bush’s first term or the beginning of his second term. There are lots of civil servants in “Acting” positions that should be Class A political appointees (i.e., the ones that require Senate Confirmation). That may be the "11th hour" feel. If you read the full Congressional record testimony, he details cases that he has brought to the DOJ that have gone nowhere, in his opinion/perspective. Even when I disagree with him, I acknowledge that he’s a smart guy and he’s very knowledgeable w/r/t foreign policy & counterterrorism. And, since all politics is local eventually, one of the cases which he has met resistance (he would likely characterize it more pejoratively) involves constituents from his district. Finally, the reality is that the main divide in DC politics is not Republican vs Democrat. It’s the Executive Branch vs. Congress. No one likes oversight. At a simplified level but with a critical spark of truth: the Executive Branch and Departments think it’s “their” money that Congress won’t give them (to execute programs, etc), and Congress thinks it’s “their” money that the Executive Branch won’t expend they way they want (as representatives of the American citizens). The “Beltway bandits” (i.e., contractors) play each off of the other. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

You have some, perhaps surprising, folks agreeing with you ... From the Congressional Record, (pp H1065-H1072), 26 February 2008: Excerpts: Representative Dana Rohrabacher: “Madam Speaker, I come to the floor tonight with a heavy heart. The nature of the allegations I make speaks poorly of this administration. In my heart of hearts, I have always wanted this administration to succeed, but the issue at hand is of such magnitude that the American people need to know what is being done and what precedents are being set. “In my tenure as a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, both as chairman and ranking member of an investigative subcommittee, I have witnessed firsthand behavior by the Bush administration which I find deeply troubling. “The disdain and uncooperative nature that this administration has shown toward Congress, including Republican Members, is so egregious that I can no longer assume that it is simply bureaucratic incompetence or isolated mistakes. Rather, I have come to the sad conclusion that this administration has intentionally obstructed Congress' rightful and Constitutional duties. "This administration is setting a terrible precedent. What people have to understand... is when there is a liberal Democrat in the White House, the President will have set [the precedent] that Members of Congress can simply be dismissed, and that when they are trying to do a congressional investigation need not be cooperated with, in fact, can be obstructed. Is that the type of President that we want? Is that acceptable? It shouldn't be acceptable to Democrats and it shouldn't be acceptable to Republicans. "When I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle accusing this administration of stonewalling, of coverups, or thwarting investigations, I sadly must concur with them." Rep. Rohrabacher describes a series of incidents in which the Bush Administration blocked – in his words - congressional initiatives or failed to meet his expectations. I explicitly chose not to excerpt some of the most incendiary characterizations (to put it diplomatically) that Rep. Rohrabacher used. For those who don't remember, Dana Rohrabacher was Special Assistant in President Reagan's administration and is generally credited with having been a driving force/advocate behind the "Reagan doctrine" against Communism, including support for the Afghan mujahideen. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Goes back to the joke about the evolutionary processes that have produced modern humans - the ones who were too inquisitive got eaten! We are 'naturally' suspicious of others and their ideas to a point where we often work to our own disadvantage. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

At this point, folks are just protesting, yes? As much as I may disagree with their position, I want them to have that freedom to protest verbally, to gather peacefully, and to organize whatever civil response they want (they don’t even have to buy the papers). We’re not talking about death threats (fatwas) or violence this time, correct? "Why?" -- It’s my understanding that the Danish publishers (along w/the Wall Street Journal & UK’s Observer) decided to reprint one of the cartoons this month in solidarity and a sign of not be intimidated after an attempt to kill one of the cartoonists was discovered. I don’t concur w/the Westboro Baptist (sic) analogy. IM-ever-ho, a better analogy is to contrast the response to what many considered as near-equally offensive editorial page political cartoon (depicting a limbless soldier back from Iraq/Afghanistan and SecDef Rumsfeld as doctor listing his condition as “battle hardened”) that was published in the Washington Post on 29 January 2006: “A Reprehensible Cartoon” aka the “24-star” letter (pdf attached). Six men who arguably had/have access to the world’s largest arsenal of weapons responded to something they found deeply offensive with the pen. Otoh, there was the rioting, killing, torching embassies, and calls for the political cartoonists and the Dutch publisher to be killed or otherwise subject to Sharia law in response to the 11 political cartoons of Mohammed. Contrasting the two incidents serves as an illuminating example of one response versus something I don’t want. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Interesting notional idea. Seriously, let's play it out and see where it takes us.

Similar pattern observed in China as well. Correlation btw climate change & incidence of war was reported late last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), “Global climate change, war, and population decline in recent history.” (Full text available at (free): http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/104/49/19214.pdf). The authors found correlation of historical incidence of cooling climate periods across disparate geographical and cultural areas (i.e., Europe & China) and incidence of war. The hypothesis is that long-term climate change has significant direct effects in land-carrying capacity that increases the likelihood of armed conflicts and population declines, which seems kind of obvious to me ... but need to the data and analysis to "prove" it.

Speculate it may be the camphor, which is one of the essential oils in catnip, to which the cat responded. Or maybe it's just one of the mysteries of "kittehs."