Blog Jones

but I think I like it.

There’s a post over at Bill Whittle’s site that I’ve been meaning to blog for some time called Tribes. This essay came soon after hurricane Katrina hit; unlike most of Bill’s posts, this one is angry and contains strong language. So, fair warning, if strong language offends you, don’t click on the link. Frankly, I think it’s worth wading through it, because I think Bill Whittle is one of the best writers of our time, and he says important stuff in here. I’ll quote and sanitize a small portion of the essay here (his emphasis throughout):

Only a few minutes ago, I had the delightful opportunity to read the comment of a fellow who said he wished that white, middle-class, racist, conservative **** like myself could have been herded into the Superdome Concentration Camp to see how much we like it. Absent, of course, was the fundamental truth of what he plainly does not have the eyes or the imagination to see, namely, that if the Superdome had been filled with white, middle-class, racist, conservative **** like myself, it would not have been a refinery of horror, but rather a citadel of hope and order and restraint and compassion.

That has nothing to do with me being white. If the blacks and Hispanics and Jews and gays that I work with and associate with were there with me, it would have been that much better. That’s because the people I associate with – my Tribe – consists not of blacks and whites and gays and Hispanics and Asians, but of individuals who do not rape, murder, or steal. My Tribe consists of people who know that sometimes bad things happen, and that these are an opportunity to show ourselves what we are made of. My people go into burning buildings. My Tribe consists of organizers and self-starters, proud and self-reliant people who do not need to be told what to do in a crisis. My Tribe is not fearless; they are something better. They are courageous. My Tribe is honorable, and decent, and kind, and inventive. My Tribe knows how to give orders, and how to follow them. My Tribe knows enough about how the world works to figure out ways to boil water, ration food, repair structures, build and maintain makeshift latrines, and care for the wounded and the dead with respect and compassion.

There are some things my Tribe is not good at at all. My Tribe doesn’t make excuses. My Tribe will analyze failure and assign blame, but that is to make sure that we do better next time, and we never, ever waste valuable energy and time doing so while people are still in danger. My Tribe says, and in their heart completely believes that it’s the other guy that’s the hero. My Tribe does not believe that a single Man can cause, prevent or steer Hurricanes, and my Tribe does not and has never made someone else responsible for their own safety, and that of their loved ones.

My Tribe doesn’t fire on people risking their lives, coming to help us. My Tribe doesn’t curse such people because they arrived on Day Four, when we felt they should have been here before breakfast on Day One. We are grateful, not to say indebted, that they have come at all. My Tribe can’t eat Nike’s and we don’t know how to feed seven by boiling a wide-screen TV. My Tribe doesn’t give a sweet **** about what color the looters are, or what color the rescuers are, because we can plainly see before our very eyes that both those Tribes have colors enough to cover everyone in glory or in shame. My Tribe doesn’t see black and white skins. My Tribe only sees black and white hats, and the hat we choose to wear is the most personal decision we can make.

That’s the other thing, too – the most important thing. My Tribe thinks that while you are born into a Tribe, you do not have to stay there. Good people can join bad Tribes, and bad people can choose good ones. My Tribe thinks you choose your Tribe. That, more than anything, is what makes my Tribe unique.

I am so utterly and unabashedly proud of my Tribe, that my words haunt and mock me for their pale weakness and shameful inadequacy.

There’s a lot more, and almost all of it is good. Such as:

In New York, we had a governor who got every available resource on the ground as fast as it could get there, and in Louisiana we have a governor who…cried. Governor, your job is to not cry. Your job is to be strong. We have plenty of civilians crying. You want to cry, cry in the car on the way home like everybody else did four years ago. Crying Governors, race-baiting mayors and looting police do not a Finest Hour make.

Again, if you can overlook the strong language (as students in college-level modern literature courses are expected to, even at BJU), it’s well worth the reading.

Lawrence Simon at IMAO has created the Katrina Bingo scorecard:

Just print out this card and mark off each target of blame when you see them.

Get five in a row, and you can stop reading the hyperbolic, virtiolic press coverage for the day.

As always, there’s more stuff worth reading at the link.

You make arts and crafts.

Our first assignment at Harvard Law School was to make a collage. My journal from the time reflects my disgust with this absurd task:

For my First Year Lawyering class (where we learn writing and research methods), we have to make “a collage, a drawing, a crayon rendition, or any form of expression that depicts the qualities of the lawyer you most want to be.”

No joke, people. For my first assignment at Harvard Law School, I have to make a collage. Or bust out the crayons. Either way, it sounds **** silly.

(Follow the link to find a picture of her collage and for a link to a similar story about a high-school pre-calculus class)

Well, scratch Harvard off of the list of potential post-graduate institutions.

(Via Instapundit)

CNN reports on the disconnect between what federal officials are saying about the conditions in what’s left of New Orleans, and what’s actually going on. Here’s a taste:

Hospital evacuations

• Brown: I’ve just learned today that we … are in the process of completing the evacuations of the hospitals, that those are going very well.
• CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It’s gruesome. I guess that is the best word for it. If you think about a hospital, for example, the morgue is in the basement, and the basement is completely flooded. So you can just imagine the scene down there. But when patients die in the hospital, there is no place to put them, so they’re in the stairwells. It is one of the most unbelievable situations I’ve seen as a doctor, certainly as a journalist as well. There is no electricity. There is no water. There’s over 200 patients still here remaining. …We found our way in through a chopper and had to land at a landing strip and then take a boat. And it is exactly … where the boat was traveling where the snipers opened fire yesterday, halting all the evacuations.
• Dr. Matthew Bellew, Charity Hospital: We still have 200 patients in this hospital, many of them needing care that they just can’t get. The conditions are such that it’s very dangerous for the patients. Just about all the patients in our services had fevers. Our toilets are overflowing. They are filled with stool and urine. And the smell, if you can imagine, is so bad, you know, many of us had gagging and some people even threw up. It’s pretty rough.

Un-believable.

Is it God punishing us for taking prayer out of public schools, as Franklin Graham said on Fox News? (If so, God’s awfully late.)

Is it Allah, punishing us for being Western?

Or is it just nature? Hurricanes–like earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, floods, and other natural disasters–just happen. There’s no reason for it; it’s just nature, following the physical laws of nature–Laws like “water runs downhill,” which would seem to be evidence for not building a city below sea level.

If Hurricane Katrina was God or Allah or some other deity punishing us for something or another, I think that said god would be a little more specific about it. I mean, a god can call up mighty storms but can’t hijack the TV news stations to say “Put prayer back in schools, or I’ll do it again”?

No, I think we can safely just call it a terrible natural disaster–not the punishment of some god.

(Allah link via one of Jeff Jarvis’s commenters, Kat)

According to anomalies-unlimited, this is the first picture ever taken in history:

It was taken in 1826 by Joseph Niepce in France.

(Via Make: Blog)

Thanks to filosofo for pointing out that Opera is giving away registration codes as part of its 10th anniversary! Just go to the address below and give them your email address!

http://my.opera.com/community/party/reg.dml

Yay!

Hurricane Katrina is going to cost us a lot of money. Not only will it do immeasurable damage to New Orleans proper, but it’s going to wreak havoc with our refineries, which are already overtaxed: According to Hugh Hewitt:

Lousiana has 17 active refineries, producing about 16% of America’s fuel.

Total American refinery capacity utilization was at 93% in 2004.

American refineries are now operating at 97% capacity, processing 17 million barrels of oil a day (American consumes 20.6 million barrels of oil a day.)

If Katrina takes refinery capacity off-line, the effect at the pump will be immediate. Ther [sic] is no more capacity available to up output within the counry. Shortfalls will have to be made up from imported gasoline suppliers. They are unlikely to be moved by complaints of gauging from American congressmen.

Ouch.

* AT 1137 AM CDT…WIDESPREAD FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE
PARISHES ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE PONCHARTRAIN IN THE GREATER
NEW ORLEANS AREA…AS WELL AS IN PORTIONS OF PLAQUEMINES PARISH.
THIS CONTINUES TO BE AN EXTREMELY LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. THOSE
SEEKING REFUGE IN ATTICS AND ROOF-TOPS ARE STRONGLY URGED TO TAKE
THE NECESSARY TOOLS FOR SURVIVAL. FOR EXAMPLE…THOSE GOING INTO
ATTICS SHOULD TRY TO TAKE AN AXE OR HATCHET WITH THEM SO THEY CAN
CUT THEIR WAY ONTO THE ROOF TO AVOID DROWNING SHOULD RISING FLOOD
WATERS CONTINUE TO RISE INTO THE ATTIC.

A guy by the name of Chris Hackett has an interesting definition of art: A fully functional suitcase bomb, complete with enough TNT to “kill everyone in the gallery” and a working cell-phone detonator.

He claims he doesn’t plan to detonate it, but one look at the guy…

…makes me not so sure.

Today (August 15th) is my twenty-first birthday! Yay!

Today the final legal restrictions of youth fall away: I can now drink alcohol and carry a concealed weapon, which sounds like dangerous combination to me.

Now I can start shopping for my Mom’s birthday next week….

I’m glad I wasn’t on this plane. Fortunately, no one was hurt, AFAIK.

Hugh Hewitt, author of a book about blogging as a cultural phenomenon and my favorite radio talk show host, has finally gotten RSS feeds for his blog, so I’ll probably read his stuff now.

Note to all other bloggers: If you don’t have an RSS feed, you do not exist to me. Furthermore, I’m much more likely to read your content if you provide full-text RSS feeds. Your blogging software can probably automatically generate full-text RSS feeds. Just do it!

People have wondered for centuries how the ancients moved the 25 ton blocks of stone that make up Stonehenge. After all levers and simple materials couldn’t possibly move such heavy objects, right?

Wrong. The Discover Channel has a video of Construction worker Wally Wallington moving multi-ton blocks of cement by himself, without the help of motors, metals, or aliens.

(Via Brainwagon)

No seriously, it’s not. It’s “deferred success,” according to the Professional Association of Teachers. They want to avoid “demoralising” students.

I just about sprained my eye-rolling muscle.

London’s subway system has been hit by several explosions. No official speculation on who’s responsible yet, but Tony Blair is scheduled to speak sometime this morning.

My condolences to the families of the dead.

Colleges’ e-reserves making big publishers worry: That was the first headline I saw in this morning’s paper. Here’s the deal:

Universities around the country have been setting up “e-reserves” at their libraries. Instead of having a number of books that the students have to go to the library and wait in line photocopy the section of whatever book they need (a practice that is clearly legal under the Fair Use clause), they just log into the university network, give a username and password, and read the section online.

Obviously, students love it. And just as obviously, publishing companies are against it:

And publishing companies are worried precisely because of that ease and convenience — it’s another way for publishers to lose sales.

The Association of American Publishers already has contacted one school, the University of California, San Diego, claiming “blatantly infringing use is being made of numerous books, journals and other copyrighted works.”

I’m really having trouble stirring up any sympathy for the publishing companies. Maybe if I wasn’t expected to pay upwards of $300 on textbooks every semester because of price gouging from the publishers, I’d be a little more sympathetic.

As it is, nein.

I just finished reading an excellent book today entitled “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.” It’s a fascinating look at how we come to snap decisions based on very little data.

As a matter of fact, it’s helped me understand the concept of information overload a little better. In management, medicine, and military strategy, the common wisdom is that more information is better. Companies are constructing huge databases about what their customers buy and want. Doctors will order dozens of tests in an attempt to make the right diagnosis. Generals want every detail of the military situation at their disposal.

This all sounds good, until you read chapter four of this book. Turns out that when time is limited, when you need to make snap decisions, too much information is bad. You can’t figure out which data are relevant, or worse, you get so arrogant that you think you’ve found every possible option. Before long your enemy/competitor/patient will surprise you with something totally unexpected.

When time is unlimited, on the other hand, the slow, methodical, logical approach works nicely. Examine every option and study to find out which data are relevant and which are not. That way, when time is short, you’ll know which data to pay attention to and which to discard.

The book is full of neat little insights into a wide variety of topics, from interpersonal relationships and “mind reading” to product testing to implicit racism. Furthermore, it’s well written: I finished it in a weekend.

My next book: Getting Things Done, by David Allen.

E3–more formally known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo–is in full swing. The fine folks over at Engadget have been doing a great job covering it. This year is exciting because the big three videogame manufacturers are introducing us to their new systems: The X-Box 360, the Nintendo Revolution, and the Playstation 3.

The Revolution has an interesting feature, although not well explained: “All-Access Gaming, which refers to backwards compatibility to 20 years of Nintendo games, NES, SNES, N64. We don’t know particulars of how it’ll be accessed or what, if any, the cost structure might be.”

Apparently it will be able to download old games off of their network and play them, in addition to being able to play GameCube games off of the discs. This is brilliant, I say.

The Revolution also has an Secure Digital memory card slot, just like a lot of cameras and PDA’s use, and two USB ports. And wireless controllers. The bad news: It’s not coming until 2006.

Also, the other Nintendo product I really want, coming out later this year: The Gameboy Micro:

It’s basically a Gameboy Advance in a smaller package with a backlight. The unit is about the size of an iPod mini–4 inches long by two inches wide by .7 inches thick. I don’t own a GBA yet, so I might go for this, if it’s cheap enough. (I’ve just discovered the joys of Advanced Wars on my brother’s GBA, but I need a backlight.)

All kinds of neat stuff coming.

Oh, speaking of cool gadgets: The PalmOne LifeDrive comes out tomorrow. It’s a PDA running the Palm operating system (which I love)–but it has a 4 GB hard drive built in. I predict this thing will make a killer personal video player, if *someone* makes decent video software for the Palm sometime.

It also has Bluetooth and WiFi and a 416 mHz processor, which is nearly twice as fast as my Clie TJ-37 is. I’m gonna have to wait for the price to come down a little though–it starts at $500. Not an unfair price–I paid $300 for my Clie, and you’d pay in the neighborhood of $200 for a 4gb iPod mini–but I can’t see myself spending the money on something I don’t need at the moment.

So… put some money in the tipjar so I can get this stuff. Thanks!

There’s a Tech Central Station column up about how the numbers correllating obesity and early death have been very badly overstated.

But in a study released this week by the CDC and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (”Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity”), the public health community has finally owned up to their massive fib by acknowledging that the number of deaths due to obesity in the US is closer to 26,000 not 400,000 as previously reported. This means that if these numbers are correct — which is questionable — then obesity goes from being the leading or second leading cause of death to perhaps the seventh leading source of premature mortality.

Apart from this huge downward revision in the numbers of people supposedly dying from fat, there are several things in this study which signal the end of any legitimate linkage between obesity and premature death. First, for the merely overweight with BMI’s from 25-30 there is no excess mortality. In fact, being overweight was “associated with a slight reduction in mortality relative to the normal weight category.” Being overweight not only does not lead to premature death, something that dozens of other studies from around the world have been saying for the last 30 years, but it also carries less risk from premature death than being “normal” weight. In other words the overweight=early death “fact” proclaimed by the public health community is simply not true.

Of course, being fat has other disadvantages, but they’re mostly social, not health related.

Now, what motivation might the public health community have for lying about how bad fat i$ for you? I’m $ure they had the pure$t of intention$.

See, you’re better off just following my philosophy, which is captured in this little comic strip: