Does the particular anthropological differences between our individualistic/wealth driven culture and the Honor/Shame agricultural culture of the Middle East have in reading, for example, the story of Noah and the flood? This question was asked when last I discussed the flood in another context some weeks back.

Geneticists inform us that the genes which govern the particular patterns which direct the construction of our cornea show very little variation from individual to individual. Other features, even in the eye, which are not tightly constrained in the same way vary far much more from generation to generation and in fact show mutation and changes introduced much more freely between generations. The cornea and the eye are tricky enough that any structural mistake or change will likely lead to complete failure of the organ for its intended purpose, i.e., sight. Our genetic material pays attention to those things which it has found important. Read the rest of this entry

Good morning.

1. Holy man, scare quotes?
2. Power point and the military.
3. A use for those floppy drives.
4. What? Democrats overreacted?
5. Venn and the internets.
6. On the G&S circus.
7. No death panels? Or is it a syntactic distinction that makes no semantic difference?
8. On the deficit commission.
9. Mr Paulson.
10. Arizona.
11. The left and liberalism.
12. Three months ago, I noted that Greece’s finances were more of a problem than its economic heft indicated because of connectedness. Alas, I was perhaps correct.

Good morning.

1. Math and sport.
2. Gang warfare.
3. 5000 baptized.
4. Mikhailovich Bakhtin.
5. I wonder how many “sex-scandals” in the US are the result of planned actions by the opposition.
6. I think he means “start using something like a strategy” not “revamp.” 
7. How to shake the trees and let the rotten fruit fall.
8. No. No. No. Silly. It’s the climate deniers. 
9. A taxonomy, which doesn’t fit my view of self very well at all, seeing as the first and perhaps last axis don’t mesh well with my views.
10. On the unconstitutionality of the health care bill.
11. On Confession.
12. Our Government really really really needs to spend less.

Good morning.

1. Can they? They did in the former Soviet Union … and didn’t need given new roles to do it either.
2. This piece is no longer “obscure” news.
3. Network fail.
4. Knifely advice. And yes, I know ‘knifely’ is not a word.
5. G-S and the left.
6. Sin has color? 
7. I’m stuck on “less trendy more stylish,” doesn’t trendy=stylish (asks the very much not trendy nor stylish guy).
8. A meta-comment on the new $100 bill.
9. Two drunks in a warehouse of booze.
10. Lies and the administration. One of the bigger ones.
11. Real or fiction … a quiz.
12. Defending the late Senator McCarthy.
13. Freedom of association.

Good morning.

1. I normally don’t. Do you?
2. Election blues.
3. Robotic butlers with guns.
4. Earth day … and I had trouble making sense of the first sentence. What does it mean to be a “denlalist” of a new-fangled faux holiday.
5. Heavy presence in the room.
6. Not getting the cloning thing, here and here. I suppose this would make more sense if I had any notion of who Mr Caplan might be, but sorry I’ve never heard of him and therefore the import of some dude you’ve never heard of says something silly is just a tad weak.
7. Private association.
8. Free speech.
9. A question for the libertarians against the draft … if a lack of draft meant losing the Civil war and WWII would you still be against the draft?
10. Violence, tea party, and liberal stupidity.
11. A life not wasted, and one metric.

Good morning.

1. I recommend this article from today’s WSJ about the causes of the crisis, which of course would have consequences for what to do to prevent a repeat. Another article here.
2. Of risk and the past.
3. START.
4. Risk and behavior.
5. Art.
6. Gaming two party politics.
7. My #1 daughter, when she was about 1 or so, was absolutely terrified of men with beards and yes that meant Santa was very scary.
8. GS as smokescreen.
9. I was going to tag this as gender and driving, but it looks like to me she hit the accelerator when she meant to brake. Driving off however, was inexcusable.
10. Reset relations?
11. Cuteness, here and here, but not so much here.
12. A really really long winded way of saying, none (which isn’t to day the arguments given were not bad … but the question was sidestepped).
13. Modernity … stealing your Yoga when you’re not looking.

Good morning. Short list.

1. Dogs and the court.
2. I’m pretty sure the first sentence is hyperbole, but for now I’m drawing a blank for more egregious examples. 
3. A strange state.
4. TARP.
5. Credit crunching.
6. More pictures of that unpronounceable volcano. 
7. Reading suggestions.
8. An economic question.
9. I’m thinking that’s an oversimplification.

Good, err, day.

1. A cycling chick. Cycling? How?
2. UK NHS.
3. Prince Charles … and the Holy Mountain?
4. April 18 some years back.
5. A suggestion. Duh. Yet, that notion will take decades to sink in at the beltway.
6. Of India and Maoists.
7. A reading list. Suggestions … or what would you read?
8. Public finance.
9. Somebody misses obvious use of irony … and calls it “dumber”. Yes it’s dumb to not notice irony when its being used.
10. Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike … and racing with handicap.
11. A book suggested.
12. Integration.
13. Eruption, pictures here and here and here.
14. I’m missing the “weather is not reminder” standard caveat. Oh, its missing because its a warming event. Gotcha. 
15. Mr Clinton on tea parties, here and here and here.
16. The next step in the entitlement feeding-trough development.

Good morning.

1. Deadbeat dads, a screwed up law, how about some suggestions of how to fix it?
2. Heh.
3. So, what part is adiaphora what part is dogma/doctrine?
4. So, if the EU would not survive the breaking of the Euro … a question begs, would the US survive the breaking of the dollar?
5. Strunk and White … a birthday not celebrated (HT: Dr Platypus).
6. Art.
7. On Mr Obama’s recent memo.
8. Noting the left’s penchant for literalism.
9. A cricket race and confusion.
10. Five myths regarding the abuse scandal and the Roman church.
11. Making Maxwell symmetric.
12. The Democrats, just pretend this doesn’t happen.
13. My guess it that the left’s response to this is, “so what?” Although I think it also misses the big tax hikes in the middle.
14. Mr Clinton characterizes the current Administration.

Good morning.

1. Huh!?
2. Two tracks.
3. One man’s interpretation as genius. I think that’s perhaps a stretch.
4. Hurt rider.
5. That hockey stick.
6. Libertarianism considered.
7. ID spoofing a crime? Is that warranted or necessary? 
8. When to work out.
9. OK, I’m on board with NSF increases … so what’s getting cut?
10. Tea party as enemy.
11. A bet, and the staked items are clever.
12. Somebody noticed the CBO “scoring” is less than useful.
13. Technology, economics and fantasy fiction. 
14. While we do not “owe anything to the founding fathers” in a literal sense, political philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel would argue that their authority is the basis of our state.
15. Tax game. An answer to make me shudder would be the salaries, pensions, and benefits of those ‘elected’ morons residing in the beltway and their staff. To make me smile try the Tevatron and … hmm … well, I’m still thinking about it.

Good morning.

1. Church and Institutional dangers.
2. Talking about the new Atheists.
3. Bush and Obama … some thoughts.
4. The last sentence is very cute.
5. One conspiracy theory not holding water, details here and here.
6. Praise for Mr Obama’s summit, the press not so much.
7. Academia leaning left.
8. Infection vs the mysterious.
9. Innumeracy and the pundit. Compare collateral damage during WWII and the Iraq war … order of magnitude make a difference.
10. Phenotypical differences between human cultural groups can have athletic or dietary consequences. To suggest cognitive consequences however is still right out.
11. Greece.
12. Tax day quotes.
13. A demonstration of how not to support your point.
14. Mr Beck is a fool.

A passage I read some time ago in Bruce Malina’s book (The Social World of Jesus and the Gospels) which considers anthropological research and its implications for New Testament hermeneutics and reading has been resurfacing on occasion over the last few weeks. I haven’t got it at hand for an exact quote, but basically it goes along with TANSTAAFL and some of the trade-offs we in our culture fail to acknowledge, in fact if correct, also points out some of the denial implicit in our coverage and reporting on Middle Eastern and, well, other cultures.

Here is the statement. Honor/Shame societies, which describe the culture in which 70% of the world exists today have a number of obvious contrasts with Western liberal societies. As we have seen in the last few centuries, market driven liberal societies have enormous capacity for economic growth when compared to honor/shame societies. However, TANSFAAFL comes into play. People in general are happier in an honor/shame environment. Suicide is markedly decreased and as well murder, rape and other such crimes of personal violence are far less common.

Our reporting today highlights and focuses on incidents of child marriage and abuse, the rapes and honor killings of close clan and family members over events which in our society be not an outrage. What they miss within our society (apparently) overall levels of murder and rape and likely even incest are far lower … as well as suicide and mental illnesses.

So, should I research this further? Find the quote, check his references, and dig for backup independent statistics? Or (what is more likely) even if true it wouldn’t matter. Well?

Good morning.

1. Healthcare, some glitches. Doctor shortages and a slight mistake/misreading. 
2. 10-6, an accounting dodge or was it about putting unpopular legislation into a distant (deniable) election cycle?
3. Anti-natalism discussed, I can’t think of any reason why anti-natalism is anything but really really dumb.
4. One reason why that is so … life is good -> see?
5. Coming together.
6. Mothers day (today!).
7. Being conservative, although citing 1950s isn’t helping the argument, that was over 2 generations ago.
8. A street not named desire.
9. Civil war.
10. Furry teeth.
11. For the Palin fans in the house.
12. The upside of our stupid overcomplicated tax code … voter rage. Perhaps we should move the tax deadline and elections to coincide datewise.
13. A password hint.

Good morning.

1. Christ is Risen … all together now.
2. Memory eternal .. in Poland, here and here.
3. Monkabee #2, heh.
4. Taxes too high you think? Guess what’s coming down the pike.
5. Threats on the rise … or at least reports of threats. Those who complain that the GOP is too quick to pull the victim gambit stay silent as their side does.
6. Kitty got teeth.
7. Background reading on the VAT tax.
8. One more from the Gentlemen on porn.
9. The “anti-Christian position that our beliefs are not chosen?” Huh?
10. On FDR and the actual “Great” Depression.
11. Swiss and firearms.
12. Tea party plug.
13. Planned Parenthood still spouting nonsense.
14. I would have guessed 2-4 percent.

Good morning.

1. Climate and equilibrium.
2. Napoleon and Spain (not Russia).
3. Reading the Red Wheel.
4. Death and taxes … and this?
5. Say it ain’t so.
6. Porn discussions continue, two Gentlemen posts here and here.
7. Robots and the sacred?
8. The next recession?
9. The Episcopal Barbie?
10. Poland and grief.
11. One response to the “it is a curse to speak of him” meme.
12. Spartacus!!! Cancellara wins Roubaix.