links adspar likes 7

I'm getting more and more pissed off everyday. Here are a few things that piss me off. I'm not bothering with my standard introduction or wrap-up any more because I'm too pissed off.


Legislating Violations of the Constitution
by Erwin Chemerinsky
(link might require registration after a few days, bust just use BugMeNot.com)

adspar's quick summary:
The House of Representatives quietly passed legislation that wouldn't allow plaintiffs who successfully sue for Church/State violations to recover attorney's fees, effectively making it far more difficult to legally challenge something like prayer in schools.

why you should read it:
The author argues that since the Republican majority knows they can't amend the Constitution, the sole intention of this legislation is to make it harder to enforce the establishment clause. I'd like to hear any other possible explanation for this passing, because I can't think of one.


They Cry, Pray to Bush and Wash out the Devil - Welcome to Jesus Camp
by Dan Glaister

adspar's quick summary:
A new documentary follows kids through Jesus camp.

why you should read it:
You've probably heard of this by now. It should be a crime to brainwash kids like this.


How would ID have contributed?
by PZ Myers

adspar's quick summary:
I'm posting this mostly because I liked the comment by Qrazy Qat, about half a dozen comments down the page. The rest of the discussion, about breakthroughs in using genetic studies to understand human evolution and the distortion of that science by ID clowns, is interesting too if you follow the links and read them and their links.

why you should read it:
The comment I like makes the simple point that it takes longer to refute a nonsense claim than to generate one, something that bullshit artists have known since the beginning of time. In fact this cuts to the very core of what science is all about. It is much easier to generate a plausible-sounding hypothesis that it is to rigorously test it. This is why it takes a lot of education and training to really understand basic science ideas, and decades of education to master a tiny area of expertise. Our brains are really good at coming up with simple theories that might explain things, but going through the pain of proving something is decidedly un-natural. If people woke up and realized that, lots of good things would happen, like good science would be respected again.


Ann Coulter on Newsnight (youtube video)

adspar's quick summary:
Speaking of bullshit artists, Ann Coulter is interviewed by A BBC anchor, and she says things that are so ridiculous that he stops bothering to challenge them.

why you should read it:
The British are way more sensible than Americans. His whole attitude from the introduction seemed to say "how can you possibly sell books?"


"... So Help Me God"
by The Republican Party of Texas

adspar's quick summary:
Anti-atheist bigotry is explicitly part of the Texas GOP's platform.

why you should read it:
Because it is so hard and yet so easy to believe this shit. These are actual politicians running for actual public positions. Fuck these ignorant assholes.


Intelligent Design is Scientific
from the Detroit Free Press

adspar's quick summary:
Let's keep rolling with the ignorant assholes. In the midst of a heated Michigan election that includes a debate over teaching ID in public school, here is a flood of ignorance in the 'letters to the editor' section.

why you should read it:
Presumably these people write in to the paper because they are politically active, which means these are the people that are voting. My favorite is towards the end:

My 4-year-old son said, regarding evolution: "Momma, that is the funniest thing I have ever heard."

Out of the mouths of babes.

Alice Benbow

Rochester Hills

Alice Benbow writes to the editor and votes in Rochester Hills, and not only is she ignorant, she is militantly ignorant. And her son is most likely going to grow up to be ignorant too, thanks to her terrible ignorant parenting. Do these people expect that all scientific phenomena are going to be able to be understood by a 4 year old? Do they themselves ever get beyond a 4-year old level of thinking? NOT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE EASY! SOME IDEAS ARE GOING TO TAKE MORE THAN 3 SENTENCES TO EXPRESS! TURN OFF YOUR FUCKING SOAP OPERAS, PUT DOWN YOUR BAG OF BITE SIZE SNICKERS BARS AND READ A BOOK, ALICE BENBOW OF ROCHESTER HILLS! And please, for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, stop reproducing.

books, no blog

I haven't been doing much blogging lately. My small but dedicated group of readers at MBB are starting to mourn. Working cuts into my blogging time, plus I've been having a lot of political conversations on email lately, so that occupies a lot of my desire to write.

I've been reading a lot too. Recent titles include:

assholes

I'm still furious beyond my ability to articulate about this shameful bullshit that Congress let happen Friday. One of many thoughts about this is that I agree with Ed Brayton that we need to pass the Read the Bills Act.

still so mad

George Bush is going to torture you if you play online poker because that's what Jesus would do.

What the fuck is wrong with our country

America is a fucking joke right now

Every day I'm more embarrassed to be an American.

They slipped online gambling into this bill, the Safe Port Act of 2006. It seems to say that financial transactions to fund a gambling account are now illegal and will be blocked.


I don't even know what to say. This is a disgrace.

If I go back to school

9/27:

I need to update this. I've put a lot of thought and effort into this subject, especially over the last few weeks. Writing about it all should be good to help get my head together and also to get advice from people. The very short story is that I'm leaning away from Economics and towards Anthropology, and considering trying to get an application together in the next few months to start in fall 2007.

---

update April 15: leaving for Vegas in about 12 hours, but wanted to get a few ideas down. I'll fit them into the rest of this later.

• One thought that has occurred to me over the last month or so is that I've never been a "motivated self-starter," which is mentioned somewhere below as important for a career in academia. How much does it matter that I never have been? Could I be? What happens if I can't be? On the other hand, when I was working and I had stretches where I was really busy for a while, I started to feel antsy when I finally didn't have much to do. So maybe once I got used to being busy all the time, I'd keep up that inertia?
  
• A PhD in psychology or economics seems more widely marketable outside the academic world than philosophy or anthropology, at least in areas that interest me or that I have some experience with. I think it would also be easier for me to get into an economics or psychology program than something else.
• The comment conversation that developed in this post was very interesting I thought. Thanks to steak for his input. The idea I came up with at the end intrigues me, and seems like the kind of idea I could take and make a thesis out of. That would probably fit best into an economics program, but I could probably make it work somewhere else as well.
• I still don't really know what I'm talking about, because all these ideas are mostly just in my head. I don't have much idea how anything works. If I want to make something happen it is going to require me breaking out of the protective cocoon I've built around myself over the last year. I'll need to actually talk to people. I don't really like talking to people. I hate picking up a phone and calling anyone. This is a hurdle I'll have to get over.
  

---

I don't expect that I could indefinitely make a living playing poker, which is convenient because I don't want to. I'm considering going back to school to pursue a Ph.D.

I'm going to use this entry to keep track of my thoughts on the matter. I'll keep updating it as I think about and research things.. I'd much appreciate any comments on any of it - ideas for how I should approach the decisions, questions I should ask, reasons why this is a terrible idea, programs I should consider, etc.

So you want to do a PhD? (funny)

What can I get from a Ph.D.?

I got this from here.

The Ph.D experience is about much more than learning to do deep work in some technical area. Here are some of the more general things I expect you to get.

You should get a sense of confidence in the power of rational thought and the range of its applicability. Everything in life is a problem of some sort of the other. How often do we think about it that way, and approach methodically the job of solving it? After a Ph.D you should have the inclination and ability to research anything, whether it be mortgages, biology, cooking or Toyota engines, and the expectation that you will understand it.

You should get the confidence and inclination to question all that is around you and seek out new ways of doing it or seeing it. You should be more likely to ask why things are done a certain why, and how it could be made better.

A Ph. D should give you the confidence that you can jump into a new area, pick it up quickly, and have something interesting to say about it, even if other people have looked at this area for a long time. More than depth in any one area it should give you the courage to jump from area to area.

You might increase your appreciation for creativity, in other people and in all areas of life. You might view art differently, or think differently about music you hear, more appreciative of what it took to do this and how it departed from the previous works. You should learn to value creativity and seek it out.

It will install a sense of taste and a critical sense. It should make you unwilling to accept the common standards and norms, and to put them to the test of your own intellect and opinions. You should naturally find yourself questioning things. You should be willing to contradict conventional widsom. That doesn't mean being a rebel just for the sake of it; you are too mature for that. It just means being constructively critical.

Sounds pretty good, right?


What do I do with a Ph.D.?

The most obvious career path is being a professor.

• On Being a Professor
• Teaching, Scholarly activity, Service
  
• Career Profile: Professor -
  
• "a professor’s time is largely spent on research, preparing class material, meeting with students, or however else she chooses"
• "this profession is thus best suited for motivated self-starters"
• "The most difficult years of being a professor are the early ones, when there is great pressure to publish a significant body of work to establish the credentials that lead to tenure."
• "the profession offers intellectual stimulation and freedom to all its members."

Other options? I imagine they depend on the type of study...

What should I study?

Ok so I think I'm more likely to enjoy an academic career than any of the careers I've tried so far, and I believe in the power of rational thought, questioning and creativity. Now I need to figure out what to study. And I'm not sure how.

I know I want something scientific and focussed on people. I think I want interdisciplinary freedom. I want a central goal of my career to be encouraging people to think and act rationally - probably not just through teaching but through the research I do as well..

I have a broad idea of the kinds of programs that interest me - anthropology, psychology, philosophy, economics...

I know some slightly more specific topics that interest me - evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, consciousness, belief, science education, game theory...

I don't really know very what very specific topics interest me enough to do my doctoral thesis, but I don't imagine I have to figure that out yet.


Where should I study?

It will depend on what I want to study probably. How much does a prestigeous name matter? Where would I like to be geographically?

How does this fit in with the reality of my life?

My girlfriend? Money? Relocation?

Mark Cuban feels FANTASTIC

Maybe I need an entire section of this blog dedicated to Mark Cuban.

Procrustes and Eden 2

Eden

My list of distractions included things like video games, junk food, fantasy sports, and alcohol. They keep me away from my priorities. Last time I wrote about how the only reason my list of priorities looks like it does is because we've made so much progress that our lives have changed into something we aren't built to handle. We make all of our technological and cultural advances and for what?

XBox. Text messaging. Terrell Owens. CSI: Miami: Brazil: Round Brown Asses. Cheetos. MTV. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Lazy Boy. Coors Light. McDonalds. Marlboro Reds. Prison Break. Pro Wrestling. Soap Operas. Girls Gone Wild. Las Vegas. Diet Coke.

Cheap thrills. Empty enjoyment. Artificial stimulation.

Our minds and bodies evolved pleasure mechanisms to reward behaviors that increased our chances of survival and reproduction, the prime example being the orgasm, the ultimate physical pleasure payoff moment, so pleasurable that men spend all of their waking (and many of their sleeping) hours trying to get to their next payoff. But nature made that payoff so strong that we found a way to trick our bodies into giving us that pleasure payoff without earning it by successfully finding a reproduction opportunity.

All of our distractions are various forms of masturbation. We evolved a taste for sweet and fatty foods because such foods were rare enough that they were nutritious for us in the quantities that we were likely to encounter them. Now we can pick up a Big Mac on every street corner and take 12 days off our life expectancy. We enjoy exchanging tidbits of news about the personal lives of the people around us because that information was valuable to our decisions about who to trust or be wary of in trade, battle, or sexual situations. Now we have tabloids and The Real World. We use drugs and video games and online chat rooms to stimulate some pleasure center in some way that is easier to achieve than nature intended.

Eden is of course a reference to the biblical garden of Eden, specifically the story of the 'apple' and the fall of man. The story more or less goes that God creates the first people - Adam and Eve - and gives them a wonderful place to live where they'll be quite happy. He specifically tells them not to eat fruit from one tree, a simple instruction that Adam and Eve ignore. Once they eat it, all hell breaks loose and God kicks them out of paradise and dooms them and all their descendents to a life of pain and inevitable death. All because of a stupid apple. And the thing is, Adam and Eve were perfectly happy before they tried that stupid fruit and realized how much else they were missing.

I've never smoked, but that's the best example of a behavior that gives people pleasure while inflicting damage upon them. And the weirdest thing is that smokers never knew they liked or needed cigarettes until they tried them. They could have gone their whole lives never needing a cigarette if they just didn't have that first one. Adam and Eve could have gone their whole lives happy as pigs in shit if they never tried the damn apple.

And the real beauty of the Eden myth is that the tree they got the fruit from was the "tree of knowledge." It opened their eyes and showed them that there was more to the world than their little garden, but that also opened up pain and suffering and poisonous snakes. I've written before about how freedom to choose isn't always such a good thing. Often times people are a lot happier if they don't have choices.

But I can't let go of the simple economic concept that options have value. Choices are supposed to be good! Where is the disconnect? I think it is that people don't usually understand the full meaning of the choices in front of them. If I've got the option to read a book that would educate me on the legal system or to sit in front of my TV and watch 4 straight Law & Order reruns, I reach for the remote control. TV is more entertaining. It is easier.

But what if I didn't have that choice? What if my options were to read the book or to stare at my wall? Now the book looks like a lot more fun. Plus I'd learn a lot more and be better for it. But when I'm confronted with the choice of how to spend my time, my stupid stone-age brain chooses the TV. Our fucking genius space-age technology is built for the specific purpose of tricking our minds into making us completely worthless.

We as a society are so damn good at producing highly effective entertainment. We make booze and reality TV and video games. They all push our pleasure buttons more effectively than the stimuli by which our pleasure buttons were made to be pushed, except we don't get the same rewards. Pretty much everything on my personal list of distractions is man-made, fake pleasure, cheap thrill, Garden of Eden fruit, masturbatory emptiness.

So my hope is that by realizing and openly acknowledging the problems these distractions cause, it will help me to be at least somewhat less distracted by them. By fully calculating the costs and benefits of my decisions, I'll be able to happily chose the more valuable option, even if it isn't as immediately gratifying. So that is my hope.

But my concern is that those calculations in the rational part of my brain won't be enough to override the other pleasure mechanisms already in place. That ends up sounding a lot like addiction, which is why I've cross posted this entry to my laziness addiction support group.

quote

"There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not real, he becomes furious when they are disputed."

- Bertrand Russell, "Human Society in Ethics and Politics"

Gays in the Military

Eden part 2 is almost ready, but until then, enjoy this.

H.L. Mencken

Wow this is an awesome Baltimorean.

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind--that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious. . .

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech . . .

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

-- Mencken's Creed, cited by George Seldes in Great Thoughts

I found this at GifS.

PZ about science and religion. Read it!

He's baaaaack!

The legendary commenter of badassdom, NostalgiaDrag@gmail.com, is back commenting on my badass movie thread, and living up to his reputation. Check it out. Feel free to chime in the discussion.

Procrustes and Eden 1

Lists

In an effort to organize my life and make some changes for the better, I just sat down with a pen and paper and made some lists. The first list was of my priorities, and the second was a list of my distractions. After thinking about those two lists I made a third list of comments and observations about the first two, and the last items on that third list were "Procrustes" and "Eden." I want to write about those. It will take at least 2 entries. Here is the first.

Procrustes

My list of priorities broke down into 5 major categories. In no particular order they were: Making a living, relationships, health, enjoyment, and education. Each had several subpoints, for example health broke down to include sleep, diet, and exercise. Looking at my list of priorities reminded me of my favorite word: procrustean.

Procrustes was a bandit in Greek mythology who invited travelers into his roadside house, offering to let them use a bed that he claimed would precisely accommodate anyone regardless of their size. His invitation didn't mention that Procrustes guaranteed the bed's perfect fit by mutilating his guests - chopping off legs if they were too long, or stretching his short visitors on the rack. In modern English, "procrustean" is an adjective defined here as "producing or designed to produce strict conformity by ruthless or arbitrary means."

For the overwhelming majority of human history, defining one's priorities like I did (making a living, relationships, health, education, exercise) would have been preposterous, because they all were so interwoven that separating them would be silly. People made a living by doing whatever their parents did, usually hunting and gathering, in recent history farming, and very recently by specialized trades. They worked with the small tribe of family and friends that they spend their entire lives with, and they got their exercise from the work they did to put food in their bellies. Almost everything they learned was from watching and listening to elders and observing the world around them as they lived. Maybe if they were lucky they had some free time to sing songs or carve some wood, which was probably great fun they wished they could have more often.

Our world is bizarre compared to that. We can choose from almost unlimited ways to make a living. We can spend our lives with anyone we want (who will agree to it) and not necessarily anywhere near the family and friends we grew up with. Most of our career options won't involve much physical labor, so we'll have to get exercise another way if we want to stay in good health. An astonishing diversity of food is widely available for relatively little cost. The education that is emphasized is highly formalized, the education that is most valuable is ridiculed, and entertainment is at our fingertips any time and fully customizable to our every whim.

My point making this contrast isn't to romanticize and glorify my imagined version of primitive life, though I am tempted to do so. I know enough to realize that the vast majority of human existence is a violent, cruel and painful story and I wouldn't want to give up my place for that. Nor is my (main) intent to criticize our world, though I certainly tend to do that as well. And it would also be terrible to overlook that fact that most of the people alive today are struggling just to survive, and that the silly problems I'm writing about are nothing compared to their struggle.

My point is that we were built for the primitive world, not the First World, and that's why it is so easy to lose track of our priorities. In the primitive world, all of those priorities were mashed together in a daily struggle for survival, so it wasn't important for evolution to weave into our minds a specialty to prioritize our lives the way I did with that list. In modern times we've made so much progress in so many real ways that daily survival isn't a struggle, but an inadvertent cost of that progress is that we're confronted with problems we aren't good at solving. Those problems aren't as bad as Procrustes cutting off my feet, but I still feel like I'm being forced to fit where I don't quite belong.

Religion Explained and the crazy pills

Most of the world is obsessed with superstitions about imaginary invisible friends and enemies. Watching people, friends and loved ones, contort their minds around inane delusions can sometimes be enough to make me feel like I'm on the same drug as Mugatu:

Who cares about Derek Zoolander anyway? The man has only one look for Christ's sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They're the same face! Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

To answer the question of why religion is such a part of humanity, I just finished Pascal Boyer's Religion Explained, an examination of religious beliefs through the lens of evolutionary psychology. I can't recommend it strongly enough. This is exactly the kind of work people need to be doing, and the kind of book you should be reading.

Denver

I was in Denver from Sept 10-13. Denver is like a ghost town. There is nobody anywhere. I don't get it.

Highlights:

• Tour of the Flying Dog brewery and the Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey distillery next door. Including Kira and myself, there were 3 people on the tour. We learned a lot about making booze, and they were generous with free samples. I'd highly recommend checking out this tour if you ever get a chance.
• The Dave Matthews Band setlist that included Last Stop. I've seen this band probably 20 times now and The Last Stop had been #1 on my list of songs I've never seen them play that I want to hear. Now I just need to see Halloween.
  
• Tigers at the Denver Aquarium. I like tigers.
• 16th street is pretty cool.
• Being awoken at 7am by a Mexican construction worker perched outside our open 2nd story window yelling something to his buddy. That was awesome.
  

Dave wearing Robert Randolph's hat during All Along the Watchtower

Boyd and Dave dancing

Nice picture of the full stage.
Rashawn Ross is the biggest man in the world.

I think this looks pretty realistic

Where is everyone? This was like 12:30 on a Tuesday.
Denver is a weird ghost town.

Mile-high adspar on the steps
of the state capitol

I just like this picture Kira took
of the sweating beer taps

Dave Matthews Band
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

One Sweet World
Proudest Monkey ...>
Satellite
Dreamgirl
Big Eyed Fish ...>
Grey Street
The Idea Of You
Loving Wings
Crash Into Me
The Last Stop
Can't Stop
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
You Might Die Trying
Hunger for the Great Light
All Along The Watchtower

Encore:
Sister
So Right
Ants Marching

just now

me: I'm lovable
her: No, you're barely tolerable

So much for school

It seems like I haven't been posting my own thoughts on here very much the last few months. I kind of feel like for any thoughts I have, there's always somebody who has already said it better, so I just link to them. Bleh.

I decided to drop my class. Success in that course depends on a comfort level with math that I just don't have right now. To illustrate consider this excerpt from some class notes:




I can understand that, but just barely. It takes me a long time to read it and make any sense of it, but in class they fly through it in less than half the time it would take for me to understand it. (By the way, if you're actually trying to understand it, there's some information missing that was on another page of notes, so don't go crazy.)

It's kind of like a foreign language that I used to speak reasonably well, but it has been years since I've used it. And I could probably pick it up again fairly quickly in the right setting. But instead of being in the right setting, I'm thrust into some French government meeting and asked to report on the proceedings. It is just too much to try to relearn the French language while using it to try to understand other advanced concepts.

I decided to sign up for it in the first place for two reasons. One, to get a flavor for what the first year in an Economics PhD program would be like and see if I'd want to do that. And two, by getting an A in this class I'd greatly improve my application to such a program. But after a couple lectures it was obvious to me that getting an A would be probably the most daunting academic challenge of my life, and I'm just not willing to pay $1500 on such a gamble, especially on the first class I've taken in over 4 years. And to the first point, I'm not positive that I'd want to do this anyway.

To get an A in this class I think I'd need a refresher on calculus, linear algebra, and statistics. Then I'd need to probably learn a lot more about multivariate calculus and real analysis than I ever learned. I suppose it might have been possible for me to try to struggle through this class, study the math on my own and try to apply it as I go. I really hated dropping it. It wounds my pride. I liked being in a class, if only for a week. I'm hoping I can find a way to take some other class that won't be so overwhelming.

I start my new job tomorrow. I'm going to have to somehow wake up at like 7:30am, which won't be fun.

Yup

Ed Brayton:

Our government has arrested yet another executive from an online gaming company, this time Peter Dicks, chairman of the board of Sportingbet, a British company. Jacob Sullum, writing at Reason.com, captured this whole situation perfectly a few weeks ago:

If an executive of a U.S. media company were arrested in Beijing for violating a Chinese law against "subversive" online speech, or in Tehran for creating "indecent" Web content viewed by Iranians, Americans would ask what right these countries have to impose their illiberal policies on us. Sadly, our government is giving people in other countries good cause to wonder the same thing about the United States.

This whole thing is becoming insane. I've reached the point where, for the first time in my life, I'm ready to vote for one of the major parties. I'm thinking seriously about voting Democratic this fall and in 2008, regardless of who is actually running, simply because the constituent groups that the Democrats have to please are less frightening to me than the constituent groups the Republicans have to please.

sad

Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin's death makes me sad.

And this asshole pisses me off. "Make sure to use this evolutionist's death as an opportunity to spread creationist lies!!"

wow

impressive



edit: since there's been some discussion about this topic, here's 2 more relevant links. The text of Rumsfeld's speech. The text of Olbermann's commentary on the Rumsfeld speech.

god damn jopke

Poker player busted for gambling. I hate the world.

Transitions: education

I got that job. The job is a project with the goal of spreading awareness about the vast amount of money that is available to help kids pay for college. And my first day of class is tomorrow. I'm taking this class with the idea that it might put me on a path to going back to school full time next fall. So I'm at a transition point in my life and the theme is education.

Inspired by the moment, here is a list of things that everyone should learn in school that few people do.

1. How our federal, state, and local governments actually work. Why they are set up that way. How they are different than other current and past systems. What are strengths and weaknesses of those systems, and how different people and organizations contribute. I think this used to be covered in "civics" class. I had the option of taking Government as an Advanced Placement class my senior year but I picked economics instead.
   
2. That the human mind is a product of evolutionary biology. This would require that students have close to a decent understanding of evolution, which is clearly not the case in America. So once you somehow clear that biology education hurdle, you get to use it to answer the really interesting and very useful questions. Why do people act the way they act? Why do they think the way they think? Why do they believe what they believe, and why do they feel the things they feel? I last look a biology course my freshman year of high school. I didn't like dissecting things, and so I never took biology again. I don't think evolution was covered in any academic course I've taken since then, and I was certainly never exposed to ideas from evolutionary psychology. I'm very glad I stumbled upon it on my own. Learning to see human behavior through that lens has probably been the most satisfying intellectual experience of my first 25 years.
   
3. How to win friends and influence people. There's a playbook on how to interact with other people to get what you want from them. Everyone should read it. Social interaction is just one of those things we figure that everyone has to figure out for themselves. And to some extent, most of us do. But considering how important our social lives are to our emotional, financial, and ultimately our physical well-being, shouldn't we address this kind of subject matter in basic education? Absolutely everyone would benefit from reading this book.
4. That observation and sound reasoning are the source of knowledge. Basically we need to train people how to think skeptically. It is much much harder to write a single page of useful, accurate information than to write a volume full of bullshit. And it can take a volume full of accurate information to fully debunk a single page of bullshit. The information we all encounter in our daily lives is fully reflective of that imbalance, and people need to know how to tell the difference. My first semester at UMD I randomly signed up for an honors seminar called "Science and Pseudoscience." I had no idea what I was going to get, but that best I could figure was that we'd be like Dana Scully debunking Fox Mulder's crazy theories. The course was taught by a statistician named Chip Denman, and it was my favorite class I've ever taken. It introduced me to skepticism as a way of approaching the world and gave me some powerful bullshit-detection tools.
   

That's all for now. I listed those off the top of my head, but the thoughts have been building up for a while. I might expand on some of this if I have time in my newly busy schedule.

progress?

I still don't have a job, but now I'm officially a part-time graduate student. I'm registered to take this course at the University of Maryland College Park starting Thursday.

My schedule now looks like this,

TuTh......11:00am-12:15pm
F.........12:00pm- 1:45pm

which is going to make getting a "real" job impossible. I interviewed for an internship at a marketing company in Chevy Chase that looks interesting and would provide some desperately needed income and allow me flexibility to work 20~35 hours/week on my own schedule and often from home. I hope that works out, otherwise I might have to deliver pizzas or something.

Denver's strange ambitions

I saw these two stories at my new blog obsession, Orcinus.

Denver wants to host the 2018 winter Olympics.

A Denver geography teacher has been suspended for refusing to remove a classroom display that includes Chinese and Mexican flags, based on a state statute that says, "Any person who displays any flag other than the flag of the United States of America or the state of Colorado or any of its subdivisions, agencies or institutions upon any state, county, municipal or other public building or adjacent grounds within this state commits a class 1 petty offense."

In related news, I'll be visiting Denver in a few weeks.

Prison Break!

Whoa, the new season of Prison Break started and I didn't even realize it. I saw that my tivo recorded a show and I foolishly assumed it was a repeat and deleted it. Luckily the first 3 episodes of the season will be available for a week after their initial air dates, so I just got caught up here. Pure escapist joy.

I might be up to something else. More info later.

Snakes on a Man Beard

[copied from Man Beard Blog]

A Man Beard doesn't sneak around and try to be something he's not. He just comes right out and tells you what he is, usually by way of the visual spectacle adorning his face. After all, a beardless man can always wear a fake beard, but it is pretty damn hard for a Man Beard in full regalia to appear clean-shaven.

And a Man Beard doesn't apologize for what he is either. He doesn't give a shit if you like him or not. A Man Beard is comfortable in his own skin (unless his skin is surrounded by poisonous snakes). A Man Beard is always rated R, even when its production studio tries to make it into a PG beard, because a Man Beard will get all the beard blogs to rally for more T&A and profanity. Man Beards love T&A and profanity.

Snakes on a Plane is like the Man Beard of movies. Aside from its in-your-face beardesque title, SoaP has everything a Man Beard wants in a movie: snakes, planes, Samuel L. Jackson, as well as beardloads full of gratuitous nudity, violence and F-Bombs.

Plus at the end there's a music video featuring Sam Motherfuckin' Jackson with a sweet black and white beard. Oh and Julianna Margulies is on the plane too. She's ok I guess.

links adspar likes 6

Here is the 6th installment of a recurring feature, creatively titled links adspar likes. These should keep you busy with good reading material while you're bored at work, and it makes me feel productive because most of the links are educational and/or thought-provoking.

This is the Church-free and State-free edition of links adspar likes.



Felicia Lee
by Felicia Lee

adspar's quick summary:
Poker blog of Felicia Lee.

why you should read it:
This is a great poker blog for people who love poker but are sick of all Hold'em all the time.


Wearing blue-blocking eyeglasses a few hours before bedtime resets the internal clocks to an earlier hour.
by Coturnix

adspar's quick summary:
Article suggests the blue light causes suppression of melatonin, a chemical that is important in sleep regulation, and that blocking blue light in the evening might help you fall asleep earlier.

why you should read it:
I have a terrible time falling asleep, so this might be worth trying.


It's a nursing thing
by Intelinurse2B

adspar's quick summary:
Some blog by someone in nursing school.

why you should read it:
Because you're in nursing school too... aren't you?


Peanut butter concoction reverses malnutrition one spoonful at a time
by Science Blog

adspar's quick summary:
Meds and Food for Kids (MFK) uses a "a nutrient-rich mixture of peanuts, sugar, oil, vitamins, minerals and powdered milk" to help nurse chronically malnourished children back to health. "If we dig the children out of the deep immunologic and nutritional hole they are in, they are not very likely to fall back in," Wolff said. "We can't treat all of the congenital diseases they have, but we can treat malnutrition, which makes the kids healthier, smarter, taller and better able to contribute to society."

why you should read it:
A 6 week course of treatment with this stuff, which seems to be enough to get them back in shape to develop normally, costs less than $100. Interesting thought for the charitably inclined.

That's all for links adspar likes 6 (Church-free and State-free edition). This turned out pretty boring. Links for 6. Preview of 7.

I'll end with a video that is just very very cool. Messing with intuitive physics makes weird things happen.

Faith vs Reality: The Poison Challenge

In a sad but amusing rant, Alonzo Fyfe suggests that if his gut told him to, President Bush would drink a glass of liquid that scientists say probably contains poison.

In sad but amusing real life, thousands of people in India drink toxic seawater because it tastes unusually sweet and they believe it will cure illnesses.

I noticed this story here.

god's tree water

8/12/06 Woman finds "God's water" gurgling from tree:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- Is it an artesian spring, a broken water pipe or an abandoned well?

Lucille Pope's red oak tree has gurgled water for about three months, and experts can't seem to get to the root of the problem.

Pope, 65, has sought answers from the Texas Forest Service, the Edwards Aquifer Authority and nurseries.

They have taken pictures and conducted studies, but none have arrived at a firm answer.

"I got a mystery tree," Pope said in Friday editions of the San Antonio-Express News.

"What kind of mystery do I have where water comes out of a tree?"

Her son, Lloyd, 47, discovered water leaking from the tree in April. He said it was cool, like it came from the tap.

The only damp spot around the tree trunk is where the water lands.

Mark Peterson, a regional community forester from the Texas Forest Service said he believes it could be a spring, but pointed out that would be rare with the drought conditions this summer.

"If it is a burst pipe their monthly bill would be enormous," Peterson said.

Lucille Pope has started to wonder if the water has special properties.

Her insurance agent dabbed drops of the water on a spider bite and the welt went away, she said.

"I just want to know if it is a healing tree or blessed water," she said. "That's God's water. Nobody knows but God."

8/17/06 Tree's real miracle now can be seen:

Curiosity seekers flocking to water bubbling from the tree in Lucille Pope's East Side backyard are getting a warning from her son before they pass through the chain link fence.

San Antonio Water System workers turned off the water to his house at the street Wednesday morning, and when they did, the flow from the tree ceased, he tells them.

The tree tapped into an active water line that runs to a sink in a shed in their backyard, SAWS spokeswoman Anne Hayden said. The water also tested positive for chlorine residue.

"I tell them all how it is, and they still want it," Lloyd Pope said. "I figure if they are still that strong in their faith, knowing all that, then go on."

Despite the logical explanation of why the tree started spouting water three months ago, many visitors still hinge hopes on water they say touches their soul.

Linda Cortinas, 56, soaked her hands in the streaming water after hearing the disclaimer, hoping for a miracle. Cortinas is legally blind, a result of leukemia that damaged her optic nerve.

She hugged Velia Garza, 59, like a long lost sister in the driveway before her sister Trini Ramon, 55, drove her back to the Northwest Side of town. It was the first time that the women had met. They prayed side by side under the sprawling branches of the great red oak.

"I pray it's from God," Garza said. "And nothing will be false here. How can water go up a tree?"

The faith that Garza and other visitors displayed is an essential component of the human condition, said Oswald John Nira, an instructor of religious studies at Our Lady of the Lake University.

"Everybody hungers for something to believe in," Nira said. "They're looking for answers to ultimate questions. This is just one little aspect of it."

Nira said according to Catholic tradition, there's a push to stay away from trying to determine miraculous phenomena, placing more focus on the individual.

By midday Wednesday, the stream of people continued, undaunted by the scientific explanation. They arrived with grandchildren in tow. Some came on their lunch break and for others it was part of a private pilgrimage.

"Do Not Enter" was spray-painted in black on a piece of plywood and propped against the chain link fence to the Pope's driveway.

The Popes say the steady stream of visitors usually starts about 7:30 each morning, when the water flow is stronger. But first they have to pass Lloyd Pope and Bubba Younger, a hulking ex-Navy SEAL sitting in folding chairs at a white, plastic table. Younger, 59 and Pope, 47, read scripture as the faithful make their way to the back of the property.

Maria Martinez of San Antonio made her second visit to the tree, hugging it and filling small perfume vials with its water.

"I could feel it, that it's about ready to bust," Martinez said.

At last count, the names of 100 people coming to see the tree were logged on a yellow legal tablet.

People who did an Internet Google search for "gurgling tree" found 606,000 results ranging from China to New Zealand. Opinions on blogs have numbered in the thousands.

For the sake of the family's privacy, the San Antonio Express-News is not publishing the address.

But as the story of the weeping tree made the rounds across the country, in newspapers and online, more and more people are doing what it takes to find the Popes' home.

Pope doesn't mind the visitors, so long as they steer clear of the histrionics. He won't tolerate fainting, shrine building or keeping a vigil.

"It ain't happening," he said. "You give God's credit or honor to no other."

Lucille Pope, 65, said the tree has been credited with healing everything from heart disease to a bad neck to her own ankle.

"They had put me in an air cast, then in a brace, with a cane," she said. "Since I've been drinking from the tree I've been fine."

Gone are the cane and therapy sessions — in their place are three daily glasses of water, straight from the tree.

The phone rings from morning until 9 p.m. when she stops taking calls from nearly every state in the union.

The first person to taste the water was Mary Barbara Todd, a friend of the family. She told the Popes it was good and cool to the taste.

The Popes have been flooded with out-of-state calls to ship individual orders to people looking for hope in a bottle.

Lucille Pope said shipping is not an option because of recent anti-terrorism restrictions.

At dusk, Maria Castanon, 46, and her sister Oralia Sanchez, 41, led their 81-year-old mother down the driveway arm-in arm.

Maria Sanchez said she doesn't venture from her South Side home these days, bound by her arthritis. That was until her two daughters saw the mystery tree on television and told her about it. They held her thin arms as Sanchez tipped her head back to look the oak over.

"You live by faith, not by sight," Castanon said. "If they shut it down tomorrow, that's fine. But it's faith that moves you."

My favorite part is this:

"Everybody hungers for something to believe in," Nira said. "They're looking for answers to ultimate questions. This is just one little aspect of it."

Nira said according to Catholic tradition, there's a push to stay away from trying to determine miraculous phenomena, placing more focus on the individual.

What ultimate question is answered by a tree that spits water at you? This is an aspect of what? What exactly does this tree make you believe? And then apparently Catholics don't want you to investigate anything unusual, prefering to let individuals make up whatever insane conclusions they want.

Something weird happens, and people turn into religious retards. Praise god!

Random Quotations Meme

I saw this a few places, so here is mine. The rules: "Go here and look through random quotes until you find 5 that you think reflect who you are or what you believe."

I spent way too much time on this. I probably read 300 quotes before deciding on these 5.


A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.
- William James (1842 - 1910)

One can always be kind to people about whom one cares nothing.
- Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.
- Ben Stein

I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.
- Leo Rosten (1908 - )

Poker on a resume

As I've pursued gainful employment the last few months, I've mostly used a resume that includes poker as work experience. As far as I'm concerned I was running an internet small business out of my home. I had to make instant high-pressure strategic decisions, perform in-depth statistical analysis, and make capital allocation decisions based on trending and forecasting. These are experiences and skills that I think a smart employer should value.

However according to a recruiter specializing in Montgomery county finance positions, a gaping hole in my resume is much better than mentioning poker. Poker, he claims, evokes images of "gambling, cocaine, and tattoos. Maryland is still in the Bible Belt you know." The Bible fucks me yet again.

The job search process has taught me that appearances are more important than honesty, so I'll be downplaying my poker career in all proceedings henceforth.

I am unfit for service in my home state.

Looks like I'm going to have to cancel my plans to run for office in Maryland. Apparently I am also incompetent to be a witness or a juror.

This is directly from the Maryland Constitution.

Art. 36. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him ... nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefor either in this world or in the world to come.

Nothing shall prohibit or require the making reference to belief in, reliance upon, or invoking the aid of God or a Supreme Being in any governmental or public document, proceeding, activity, ceremony, school, institution, or place.

Art. 37. That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution.

links adspar likes 5 (Church and State edition)

Here is the 5th installment of a recurring feature, creatively titled links adspar likes. These should keep you busy with good reading material while you're bored at work, and it makes me feel productive because most of the links are educational and/or thought-provoking.

My blog energy is being spread over a greater area these days, so I guess I'm slowing down a bit here. Man Beard Blog and Inertia Anonymous are occupying the bulk of my creative goofiness and self-loathing, respectively. My poker hiatus has limited my poker writing here and at Donk Bet, so that pretty much leaves politics and religion as the remaining focus here at See For Yourself. So, here is the Church and State edition of links adspar likes.



Non-Christians need not apply
by Robyn E. Blumner

adspar's quick summary:
The Bush administration is committed to reallocating social services funds from secular agencies to faith-based groups, including groups whose employment practices include discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs and sexual orientation.

why you should read it:
I found this article filed under Theocracy Watch over at God is for Suckers. Forget separation of church and state, this is church and state working hand in hand. The last sentence really got me: "Just another example of how, under this president, I hardly recognize my country anymore." I want to move to Antarctica.


Jesus Portrait Case to Go to Court
by Ed Brayton

adspar's quick summary:
A West Virginia local school board is fighting the ACLU in a lawsuit over a portrait of Jesus in a public high school. The locals are outraged at the ACLU trying to take away their precious Jesus, and Brayton shows how they make ridiculous arguments in support of their ridiculous position.

why you should read it:
This once again exposes how little respect the Christian community has for the establishment clause, and Brayton brilliantly demonstrates their hypocrisy by imagining how the same people would feel if the portrait was of Muhammed instead. These assholes are probably in Antarctica too, huh?


Christian Critic Blasts Talladega Nights' Anti-Christian Content
by Jenni Parker

adspar's quick summary:
Parker reports that Christian movie reviewer Ted Baehr didn't like Ricky Bobby, equating satire of in a comedy to Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic rant.

why you should read it:
Baehr goes on to predict that the World Trade Center movie will overtake Ricky Bobby at the box office, and that movie will be "more meaningful and faith-affirming." Yeah, nothing like a story about a small group of terrorists killing thousands of people in the name of god to affirm my faith in god. Maybe in the movie, god comes down from heaven and cuts off the terrorists' heads before they hijack the planes. That would affirm my faith in god. Ok I'm not really going to move to Antarctica but can we send Ted Baehr there?


The moral imperative against intelligent design
by Ed Darrell

adspar's quick summary:
In response to a series of specific back and forth arguments, a Christian blogger writes why Creationist/ID arguments against evolution are dishonest.

why you should read it:
You don't need to read all the background to understand his point. Lies and deception don't help your cause. I wish more religious people were like this guy:

It's a sad day for the church when atheists are leading the way to ethical behavior, and Christians resist. We have a duty to other people to stick to the truth. We have a duty to the integrity of the church not to advocate untruth in the church'’s name. We have a duty to God to get the facts right. [his emphasis]

The Pinkoski files
by PZ Myers

adspar's quick summary:
A collection of scathing rebuttals of the astonishingly illogical creationist nonsense flowing from this Pinkoski character.

why you should read it:
Pure train-wreck value. For example, in this one Pinkoski claims that biblical Adam was 15 feet tall and that Noah was 12 feet tall, and notes that modern man is only 6 feet tall. He backs this up with:

NOTE: If you doubt this is possible, how is it there are PYGMIES + DWARFS??

Viruses of the Mind
by Richard Dawkins

adspar's quick summary:
This essay examines the spread of faith by showing how religious ideas are very much like computer viruses infecting the computers between our ears.

why you should read it:
This was written in 1991, so the ideas here aren't new, but Dawkins is brilliant as usual. It is pretty long, but if you ever stop and wonder how religious delusion is so widespread, it is worth the 30 minutes to read this.


That's all for links adspar likes 5 (Church and State edition). Links here. Preview of 6 here. If anyone actually goes through the trouble of checking the preview, they'll note that I have like 4 or 5 links I've pushed from 3 to 4 to 5 and now to 6. I should get to them some day.

Analysis of religion, embracing reality

I've been thinking a lot about religion even more than usual lately as I read Pascal Boyer's Religion Explained. I'm not very far into the book yet, but an interesting approach the author seems to be using and that I've been contemplating is to break religion down into component concepts for more useful analysis.

Off the top of my head (the book might mention some or all of these, but these are my own thoughts here, not a summary of Boyer's approach), what we commonly call religion usually incorporates some or all of the following:

• superstitions - belief in supernatural forces or beings, like god(s), angels, voodoo, ghosts, ancestor spirits, reincarnation
• culture - ritual, literature, art, music, food
• ethics - a system of morals, right/wrong, laws, punishments
• explanation of the unknown - creation myths, afterlife (heaven and hell), cosmology, medicine, hygiene
• politics - social hierarchies, governments, taxes/tithes, compromises, wars
• sexuality - gender roles, rules about sexual behavior, marriage/reproductive practices
  

A religion that doesn't incorporate most of the major items on that list wouldn't really make much sense as a "religion." There's probably a few more categories I could list, but you get the point. "Religion" is a very complicated and muddled notion that combines most or any of a number of human interests and behaviors.

Looking at the religion I'm most familiar with, modern Catholicism, that framework might look a bit like this:

• superstitions - belief in an all-knowing and all-powerful deity who hears our thoughts and words, belief in a virgin birth and resurrection of a dead man
  
• culture - large cathedrals, stained glass, hymns, Sunday gatherings, Easter and Christmas holy days, self-loathing
  
• ethics - 10 commandments, "do unto others", anti-abortion, anti-stem cell research
  
• explanation of the unknown - Creation myth as allegory, Afterlife based on earthly merits, scattered belief in miracles and haunting, otherwise fairly extensive embrace of science
  
• politics - Vatican, rankings: pope/cardinals/bishops/priests/others, lots of money and political power, abuse of authority (sex scandals)
  
• sexuality -male priests, taboo on sex outside of marriage, anti-homosexuality, encourage reproduction, discourage birth control

Anyway it isn't any big deal to suggest that breaking something down into component parts can be a useful tool for analysis. Its kind of like how the accounting concept "Net Income" can be useful in some very general kinds of financial analysis, but to really understand how that number reflects on a company's financial health you have to look at all the other items that add up to "Net Income." I almost see "religion" as totally devoid of meaning in and of itself. It is just a sum of much more meaningful parts, at least when it comes to understanding human behavior. Understanding people's religious behavior requires understanding the right combination of psychology, sociology, ethics, political behavior, and sexual biology.

But someone deeply indoctrinated in their religion could never see it that way, because for them their religion is actually their understanding of reality. They don't see their belief in a god as a superstition, a cute anthropological oddity. To them, their god is reality. He exists just as much as you or I do. There is no attempt to explain the unknown in their religion, because the Bible explains how the earth was made, so it isn't an unknown. They haven't made decisions about sexual behavior in any strategic way (to make more baby Catholics, for example), they're living the only appropriate way and anyone who does it another way is just wrong.

People operate as if reality is a subjective thing and anyone's opinion is just as valid as anyone else's. What do I mean by "valid" in that context? Well, especially in America, we've got this attitude that basically says "I can believe whatever I want and that's my right, so screw you if you disagree." And if people think that way, there's probably nothing that could change their minds. But that doesn't mean their beliefs are reflective of reality. Reality isn't subjective, even if our perceptions of it are. Religious beliefs might be valid in the sense that people have a right to their own mind, but they aren't valid as an accurate understanding of how the world really is.

An example of this whole relativist approach, and something that annoys me is when a person of faith engages an atheist in debate and makes the claim that atheism is just another religion (like in the comments here). Aside from usually being irrelevant, it just doesn't make any sense to me. What would be the Atheist religion, broken down like I just did for Catholicism?

• superstitions - none, by definition atheists don't believe in god(s)
  
• culture - there is no atheist culture, they blend into their local cultures and just avoid the religious aspects
  
• ethics - there is no set of ethics that all atheists follow, but most have a strong sense of secular ethics
  
• explanation of the unknown - most would say to use the scientific methods to solve mysteries
  
• politics - no organization, just a strong support for the separation of church and state
  
• sexuality -no unified stance, although there is a tendency towards support individual sexual freedom and rights
  

Clearly its pretty stupid to call atheism a religion since most of those categories have no real answer, and it would be easy to fill them up with Hindu or Islam or any of thousands of other religions. Atheism just isn't a religion by any reasonable understanding of the terms.

After being rebuffed, they'll usually say something like the guy in that link:

Let me make it clear, that I did not mean that atheism is a religion by definition. Call it a belief, call it whatever you like, but don't ignore the fact that every time you relate to something, it is because of your personal belief system.

According to dictionary dot com, atheism is, a "disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods". When you disbelieve something, that means you BELIEVE IN something ELSE.

YOU believe in atheism, you BELIEVE in the evidence againsts the existencence of God, how are people who believe IN God any different?

First of all there IS a difference between saying "I don't believe in God" and saying "I believe there isn't a God." Atheists don't necessarily "BELIEVE in the evidence against the existence of God," rather they don't believe there is evidence for God. It is a burden of proof issue.

Regardless, even if we ignore all that and get to his question - what makes atheists and believers different? Evidence does. Logic does. Commitment to reality makes us different. We go out in the world and figure out what is real. Believers make up a story or read something in an old book and accept it without testing it against reality.

He goes on to answer his own question in his own way:

Well I can answer my own question. They differ because their views don't agree with yours. You can't accept the idea that people believe in something else. So what does it make people like YOU then?

No matter what you believe, there is somebody out there who would be considered an "atheist" to you, a non-believer.

He's basically saying that because people will always disagree, that means all views are equally valid, which is just relativistic nonsense. In some disagreements there is a wrong side.

Some people just literally don't understand reality. They are incapable of logical thinking, either because of limited cognitive ability, or because they've been so brainwashed by decades of relativistic and anti-science propaganda that they just aren't able to see reality.

I acknowledge that it is possible that it is I who can't understand reality and I've got the limited cognitive ability. Maybe the right way to understand truth is by ignoring what I swhollyd wholy embracing dogma. But I'll never believe that. I don't even have need of the concept of "belief" because I don't really form definite conclusions. I just have tentative ideas that seem to work well in predicting what is going to happen.

It is 3:30am and I've been writing for almost 2 hours now. I'm not sure if I made a coherent point overall, but I've touched on a lot of topics that I've been wanting to address. I'd welcome intelligent feedback on any of it. By the way if you click that book link and buy it, I get 4% of the price I think, which would feed me for an hour.

Americans are ignorant fundamentalists

"Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals."




Ugh.

go

http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

Beware the wrath of Cuban

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but I love Mark Cuban. His enthusiasm might sometimes cross the line into obnoxiousness, but so would yours if you were a billionaire. Mine does and I'm barely an $11,000aire. If I gave out high honors on this blog, Mark would be the See For Yourself equivalent of a Man Beard.

My latest source of Cuban-love is a project of his, Sharesleth.com. Basically he's trying to find a way to take down corporate crooks and make money while doing it.

This post tells you what they're all about:

• "independent Web-based reporting aimed at exposing securities fraud and corporate chicanery"
• "looking for companies that were built for fraud, for executives who are enriching themselves at shareholder expense, and for businesses whose behavior runs counter to their stated objectives or to the public interest"

and best of all:

Unlike mainstream media outlets, we'’re going to have a clear bias -– against deception and corruption. We'’re going to depart from the traditional "“he said, she said" model of journalism, with its false balance and toothless objectivity. We'’re going to name names and show our evidence, by linking to documents, photographs and other information. We think that approach provides greater transparency than most newspapers, broadcast outlets and Internet news sites currently offer.

Their first investigative piece is out. Check it out for yourself, but it sure looks to me like Xethanol Corporation is a huge scam.

If you ever invest money in the stock market, you really ought to take a glance at the story. There are tons of people out there trying to rip you off (and then after you pick your broker there are tons of companies like Xethanol).

15 Zs

Slept from 8pm to 11am last night.

MAN BEARD BLOG

MAN + BEARD + BLOG = MAN BEARD BLOG


I seriously get dozens of hits every week from people searching for "beard growing" on Google. So I might as well run with it.

links adspar likes 4

Here is the 4th installment of a recurring feature, creatively titled links adspar likes. These should keep you busy with good reading material while you're bored at work, and it makes me feel productive because most of the links are educational and/or thought-provoking.


The Ten Commandments of the Ethical Atheist
from The Ethical Atheist

adspar's quick summary:
1. Thou SHALT NOT believe all thou art told.
2. Thou SHALT seek knowledge and truth constantly.
3. Thou SHALT educate thy fellow man in the Laws of Science.
4. Thou SHALT NOT forget the atrocities committed in the name of god.
5. Thou SHALT leave valuable contributions for future generations.
6. Thou SHALT live in peace with thy fellow man.
7. Thou SHALT live this one life thou hast to its fullest.
8. Thou SHALT follow a Personal Code of Ethics.
9. Thou SHALT maintain a strict separation between Church and State.
10. Thou SHALT support those who follow these commandments.

why you should read it:
People associate atheism with immorality or amorality. But I can't imagine a more respectable and moral way to live than suggested by this list. Aside from explaining this list, there's a lot of other good stuff at this site.


Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job
by Louis Uchitelle and David Leonhardt

adspar's quick summary:
Some dudes don't want to work.

why you should read it:
I guess I'm not the only one! If you ever thought maybe you'd be happier not working and just being poor, check it out.
The link requires a login, but you can use bugmenot.


Two Plus Two Internet Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 8
by Mason Malmuth and David Sklansky

adspar's quick summary:
Ed Miller unexpectedly quit as editor, so Mason had to throw together an issue with a bunch of essays from him and David.

why you should read it:
Lots of good essays. I liked "Why (Some) Morons Do Better Than You" because all the morons did better than me. I suck.


The Self-Perpetuating Cycle of Smoking and Drinking
by Emily Anthes

adspar's quick summary:
Cigarettes may dull you to the effects of alcohol. Also, there is some evidence that smoking is more rewarding when you've had alcohol.

why you should read it:
Its funny to read about research that confirms what everyone who's ever been in a bar already knows.


Ramen, Pastor Boyd!
by Raindogzilla

adspar's quick summary:
The God is for Suckers blogger gives props to a evangelical reverend who said that "the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a 'Christian nation' and stop glorifying American military campaigns."

why you should read it:
Crazy religions are a whole lot more tolerable when they don't try to force their crazy beliefs on others. (Still crazy though.)


Can Wikipedia Conquer Expertise
by Stacy Schiff

adspar's quick summary:
The New Yorker on Wikipedia.

why you should read it:
I'm just including this because I'm fascinated by Wikipedia. I like the anecdote about Congressmen being blocked from the site because they keep altering their own entries.


Inanity Squared
by PZ Myers

adspar's quick summary:
PZ looks up a bible passage and finds that god says that loving nature is evil and gay.

why you should read it:
PZ: "You know, I really don't need to compose arguments against religion: just quoting scripture is damning enough."


Phony Outrage and Senator Schumer
by Jason Rosenhouse

adspar's quick summary:
Jason documents how the religious right-wing is "frothing at the mouth" in response to statements made on the Senate floor by Senator Chuck Schumer.

why you should read it:
I'm shocked at how flagrantly the Catholic website Fidelis misrepresented Schumer's remarks, describing them as a "hate filled attack on religious Americans." You can read them for yourself, and if ANYONE thinks his remarks can be reasonably interpreted that way, I'd like to hear how. I don't know why I'm so surprised that these people are so willing to lie to cast their political opponents in a negative light. I guess I just expect better from the Catholic community I grew up in.



Thats all for links adspar likes 4, which is fast becoming all I do.

Today's links saved here. Preview of 5 here.

original content

I haven't felt much urge to write anything lately. I've been reading a lot online, hence all the links.

• Monday I went to the Legg Mason Tennis Classic and watched Agassi tank his match. We actually showed up without tickets only to find the event unexpectedly sold out, but Cliff Donkey used his mad tennis connections to somehow hook up 2 free passes. Deus ex machina!
  

• On the job front, I've had 3 interviews but none of them have gotten back to me, not even to say no thanks, which I find rather strange. I would think most companies would have some common courtesy. I guess it is possible that they're taking a long time to make hiring decisions. Maybe there's a typo on my resume and they've been trying to call me at the wrong number. Anyway, I'll have to step up my job search efforts, or lower my standards, because this isn't progressing at the pace I had imagined it would.

• In a couple weeks I'm seeing Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, which I'm pretty excited about.

links adspar likes 3

Here is the third installment of a recurring feature, creatively titled links adspar likes. These should keep you busy with good reading material while you're bored at work, and it makes me feel productive because most of the links are educational and/or thought-provoking.

I feel like if I was more ambitious I could form some grand thesis with all of these. Maybe someday it will turn into that. But for now I'm just linking up some cool shit for anyone who cares. On to it...


Freedom to choose won't make you happier
from Science Blog

adspar's quick summary:
Research shows that there is often no difference in how happy people are when they choose between options versus when the option is chosen for them.

why you should read it:
This is an idea I encountered recently in Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness. He actually takes it a step further and cites studies that indicate in many situations people are less happy when they have a choice than when a choice is made for them. This has important implications for the standard idea that an option is valuable by definition. Anyway, maybe next time you go out to dinner, just have someone else pick your meal for you.


How Cooperation Can Evolve in a Cheater's World
from Terradaily

adspar's quick summary:
Evolutionary biologists have developed a model that can theoretically explain how cooperation behavior can evolve.

why you should read it:
I'm not really sure that this is anything new. It reminds me a lot of the iterated prisoner's dilemma games that game theorists have played with for decades. But this study is applying it to biology instead of economics, which is useful to reference the next time I hear someone suggest that human altruism/cooperation is a challenge to the theory of evolution, which people often mistakenly see only as a "dog eat dog" kind of system. While eating your neighbor can be a good evolutionary strategy, teaming up with him can sometimes be better.



Government funding of studies you don't agree with
by Tara C. Smith

adspar's quick summary:
This is a good conversation about a general problem raised by the stem cell research debate. Should the government be conducting research that some people find objectionable?

why you should read it:
Some have made the point that people shouldn't have to see their tax dollars spend on something they find objectionable, excluding cases necessary for the maintenance of a well-ordered society (like military action). That sounds reasonable at first, until you consider that almost ALL scientific research is bound to piss off some tax-payer. How then should the government make its scientific funding decisions? Great discussion in the comments here.



Not cool: a brief rant
by Hume's Ghost

adspar's quick summary:
MTV's show My Super Sweet 16 is the most offensive show on television.

why you should read it:
I completely agree.



The Example of Fairness & Equality Being Exhibited by Representing Them at All Is, Of Course, Completely Lost of Them
from Godless Wonder

adspar's quick summary:
There is a church group that protests at military funerals. They say that God hates America because we're tolerant of homosexuality, and that death of troops is God's revenge on us. But there are laws that prevent picketing or protesting near funerals or cemeteries. The ACLU is representing this group in a lawsuit, claiming that such protest is protected free speech.

why you should read it:
First of all, those church people are scumbag bigotard assholes. I wish impotence upon them all. However I don't know what to think about the ACLU's position here. I'm generally supportive of the Voltaire (mis)quote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." But shouting hateful insults at funerals crosses some line of decency that I just can't agree deserves free speech protection. One of them had a sign that said "THANK GOD FOR 9/11." How do people become so twisted?



They make me feel like this angry German kid. Seriously, you need to watch that video, which contains insane displays of profanity.




Thus ends links adspar likes 3. All of the links for it are neatly available here. I actually had a lot more content, but I'm tired so I'll just push that all into link4.



RIP: APA