Stones Cry Out

Good morning.

• Of the generations of men and the passage of tim
  e.

• The “history”
  channel, why scare quotes? Check the link.

• So, what is Mr Rove noted for, especially by the Democrats? It seems the biggest difference
  between what they complain about regarding Mr Rove and the activities of Mr Obama is for which side on which they strive.

• More unusual campaign
  tactics.

• The SOTU speech, highlighting contradictions
  and a flowchart
  and a little highlighting of characteristic Obama dishonesty

• One more on the speech. So look at the first two quoted pieces here
  . How can a person say those things in one speech and not be termed a deceitful liar? How can Democrats defend this man regarding this sort of dishonest? I really don’t understand it.
  
     
• So, how did Mr Romney manage to pay 13% in taxes while making 20 millions? By donating 16% of his income
  to charity. Odd that both Mr Romney and Mr Buffet share the same opinion on the efficacy of government spending vs their own charitable contributions. Can we not pretend those of us who don’t make millions also
  share that same opinion about government efficiency vs our own charity?

• So many crocodile tears
  . It strikes me as very false when lots of people suddenly “like” you, praise you, and talk about how wonderful you are when you’ve been affected by tragedy … and the never even noticed you prior to the event. Seems very fake to me.

• 100% to 1000% yield
  ? Who thinks that’s a good idea? Seriously.

• This quiz has been going around
  . I scored 12-15. How about y’all?

• Geek zoooom

• Monster
  ? I’d have thought coward the better term.

James Taranto quotes from last night’s State of the Union address and ponders.

In the next few weeks, I will sign an executive order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many [federally funded] construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.

"The money we’re no longer spending at war" is a fiction. It is money that has never been collected or borrowed and won’t have to be because there is (touch wood) no war to fight. It’s like a wife demanding that her husband buy her an expensive gift with the money she saved by not buying herself something even more expensive. Does Obama really think Americans foolish enough to fall for this?

The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding "Yes" for those who voted for the man.

Well, yesterday I walked in and wham! calls and stuff started piling on just as I walked in. Links?

1. Unintended consequences of our broken patent law, that is more and more we depend on trade secrets.
2. Making the rich “pay their fair share” … hmm. Another unintended consequence on the way. With Mr Romney as an example, apparently why his taxes are lower than what you might naively expect is because he invests in tax protected bonds and such. So … if the response is to get rid of that loophole, that will make such bonds more expense. What are those bonds? Hmm, education and public works make a large part of that market. So, the consequence of killing that loophole will make school improvement and government projects harder to fund. Is that what you really want?
3. How to do bad science, a primer for the statistically naive.
4. This is not unrelated, i.e., more scarcity scares examined. Oh, from that same site … that must have made an interesting (and somewhat loud) noise when it went bang.
5. Some of us are better at learning how to do that than others.
6. Austerity, oddly enough can work.
7. A top 10 list.
8. Secular penance and repentance? How does that work?
9. The White House principal, do not interfere in family matters, i.e., which to them means allow abortion. Yet … then why have they decided to terminate farm children working on the family farm? Hmmm? Seems to me that violates their stated principal.
10. The master is surprise, pleasantly.
11. A tool for the next oil spill?
12. Belongs to the 99% … in his  own (1%) mind perhaps.
13. Seems to me that’s $100 million better spent on R&D.
14. Value? What’s that mean. Price? Utility? Purpose? The statement “cannot tell the value of X from Y” means what?
15. Someone apparently would prefer to whack strawmen. Mr Mankiw is a “conservative” economist. Read his blog, his book, his course material and then you can argue about what actual real-life “conservative” economists argue. Here is a link to Mr Mankiw’s blog.
16. “Pain killing injections” a headline noted about Mr Urlacher is more than a few places. The Tribune article I read the other day had the same headline. Reading further however, we find “Teradol” doesn’t haze (reduce) pain at all, but is an anti-inflamatory agent. I guess “multiple anti-inflamatory injections” doesn’t have the same cachet … even if that is the accurate interpretation.
17. Seems to me the first step isn’t randomly attacking the problem by fixing the “five most common problems” but get a ODB scanner on on it and read the code. Any (most?) parts stores will do that for free. Then you have a hint as to what to fix.
18. Hosanna-Tabor and consequences for foreign policy. Hey, does anyone know of any left leaning defenses (blogs?) of the President’s position on that?

What’s better than a breakfast burrito?
Nothing! But a burrito wrap around your camera lens might come close.

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Why do virtually all roadside memorials include a cross?

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Quiet
The book is out. All you introverts should give it a look see (and all you extroverts should really give it a look see).

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Google’s sense of humor
search for “askew”

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Grabbing your own photos from space
This happens a lot now… and it’s pretty cool.

This is not the Mark of the Beast. But you certainly don’t get there without something like this.

India has launched an ambitious program to fit each of its 1.2 billion residents with an Unique identification number (UID). Each number will be tied into three pieces of biometric data: fingerprints (all ten digits), iris scans (both eyes), and a picture of the face. Starting this month, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will begin processing people in various locations around the country. UIDAI aims to slowly roll out the program through February of 2011 and to ID 600 million people in the next four years!

It’s being instituted to combat social welfare fraud, but it won’t stop there.

Yet the UID is going to be used for much more than social welfare programs. The UIDAI is in discussions with many institutions (banks, local/state governments, etc) to allow them to use the UID as a means of identity verification. These institutions will pay the UIDAI some fee to cover costs and generate revenue. There seems to be little doubt that once it is established, the UID will become a preferred method (if not the preferred method) of identification in India.

It’s optional now, but how long do you think that will last? Never mind the Biblical overtones, many layers of privacy are being stripped away. And the further question is, why does the government need to know every little thing that I do?

Sounds like a power grab to me.

A Tri-Tip Sandwich, with a “side” of fries, at Firestone Grill, in San Luis Obispo, CA. Don’t know what Tri-Tip is? Go here. For those of us who have any exposure at all to California’s Central Coast, we’ve long known about the ecstasy of Santa Maria Tri-Tip. Seasoned with only garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then cooked slowly (~ 1 1/2 hours typically) over oak embers, it is sliced cross-grain, and sometimes mixed with a sweet-tangy barbecue sauce, and served on a slightly toasted french roll. As you can see, at Firestone’s, the serving size assumes you’re a linebacker. Similarly, the “side” of fries is monstrous, and sprinkled with a paprika-laced seasoning.

Enjoy!

– image © 2011 A R Lopez

Potentially good news for the defense of marriage Proposition 8

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Daytime Curfew for youth > 18 years-old;  Gov’t Protection or Big Brother interference?
In San Luis Obispo County an ordinance is being proposed for a daytime curfew for those under the age of 18. From HSLDA,

If passed, this curfew will affect the flexibility and freedom of homeschool students to be in public places during school hours. Homeschool children, even those from outside San Luis Obispo who are just visiting, could be stopped to verify who they are and that they have a valid excuse to be in a public place. HSLDA recently settled a lawsuit against Los Angeles for false arrest of two homeschool students under a similar law.

From the San Luis Obispo Tribune,

Students do have a number of valid reasons to be out and about during the day. They may be homeschooled; enrolled in independent study or work experience programs; on the way to or from a doctor’s appointment; or they may attend an alternative school that has half-day sessions.

The ordinance includes exemptions for such cases, but here’s the rub: How is a law officer supposed to know whether or not students have a valid reason for being out of school unless they stop and talk to them?

…

The fact is, California already has truancy regulations on the books. Parents can face fines and even jail time if their children repeatedly skip school. The students themselves can lose their driver’s licenses.

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Republican Latinos in California? Yes!

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Ex-wife of Los Angeles Lakers’ player gets to keep 3 mansions
which are worth $18.8 MM (approximately). Not a bad deal.

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Compare CCW Permit issuance: Urban vs. Rural
Red – Yellow = no issue; Dark Green = will issue for personal protection

Good morning.

1. Mr Paterno as confused grandpa … and why be confused about Mr McQuery? Do you think that generations of teaching moral relativism to replace “do the right thing” has no consequences?
2. Lag times in production consequences and data to prep you for Mr Obama’s campaign upcoming lies regarding oil production in his tenure.
3. Apple and OWS.
4. Grist for the education debates.
5. Some post Sanctity of Life Sunday thoughts offered. More here.
6. More Democrats misbehaving.
7. Links for the philosophically minded.
8. Hashing out Antisemitism.
9. “Fast and Furious” one of 10 (?!) similar operations.
10. The Slavery Question and the early church.
11. When  is a default not a default?
12. Going green and the oops factor.

Plugged In, and Trippin’! Literally
Study finds injuries increase with the frequency of headphone use,

Serious injuries sustained by pedestrians while listening to headphones have more than tripled in six years, according to a new study published this week in the journal Injury Prevention.

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Hey, let’s bring some MERCURY into our homes!
From the Jerusalem Post,

…from this point onward, only incandescent bulbs of 60 watts and less will be retailed. This limits our choice – like it or not – to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), those squiggly, coiled bulbs initially hailed by environmentalists as saving as much as 50 percent of energy consumption, while lasting eight times longer. In truth, some CFLs malfunction far more quickly than advertised and they remain expensive.

…

There’s more. Each CFL contains small quantities of mercury and other toxins. If a bulb breaks at home, its fragments are dangerous to bare skin and need special handling and cleaning up. Even vacuum cleaners won’t do because they might spread the contamination.

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Can Science Inform Our Understanding of God?

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Homeschooled students in university science classes: strengths, and weaknesses
The points from this university science professor (HT: Old-Earth Creation Homeschool) echo my own observations and thoughts. From the post,

Desirable characteristics:

1. They are independent learners and do a great job of taking initiative and being responsible for learning. They don’t have to be “spoon fed” as many students do. This gives them an advantage at two specific points in their education; early in college and in graduate education.

2. They handle classroom social situations (interactions with their peers and professors) very well. In general, my homeschooled students are a pleasure to have in class. They greet me when the enter the class, initiate conversations when appropriate, and they don’t hesitate to ask good questions. Most of my students do none of these.

3. They are serious about their education and that’s very obvious in their attitude, preparedness, and grades.

Areas where homeschooled students can improve:

1. They come to college less prepared in the sciences than their schooled counterparts – sometimes far less prepared. This can be especially troublesome for pre-professional students who need to maintain a high grade point average from the very beginning.

2. They come to college without sufficient test-taking experience, particularly with timed tests. Many homeschooled students have a high level of anxiety when it comes to taking timed tests.

3. Many homeschooled students have problems meeting deadlines and have to adjust to that in college. That adjustment time in their freshman year can be costly in terms of the way it affects their grades.

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The face of a Post-Christian Europe?
Rest assured, while Christian churches continue to close, the Church will not disappear (until it’s time to leave).

Good morning.

1. It’s all about focus … whaddya think of this art piece?
2. I haven’t read them all yet, but I agree, a disappointing set of answers. “Action as a principle” is the best one I saw in a quick scan of replies.
3. Build a better battery and the world will beat that path to your door. How about a better FFT?
4. Stimulus then … and now on account of decades of environmental activism and barriers to construction … that wouldn’t be possible so stimulus today amounted mostly to repaving roads that didn’t need it yet. Now there’s a legacy for which Mr Obama must be very proud.
5. In praise of really bad science, and perhaps praise is deserved.
6. A partial defense of SOPA/PIPA.
7. On those who think Mr Tebow prays for victory (haven’t apparently noticed he thanks God when he loses).
8. It’s unclear what they fear, that these two Democrat majority companies might be compared?
9. Not that’s educational, let’s have a debate … and then in the aftermath one side is termed “a bully” for merely participating.
10. Losing our edge, evidence here.
11. Drones in combat.
12. Zoom.
13. Apparently every statement made by the DNC is “officially doctrine” for every Democrat.
14. History and 4 bits.

After protesting the SOPA/PIPA bills going through Congress (rightly, in my estimation) by going "dark" for 24 hours, Wikipedia is back, to the relief of students everywhere who may have never opened a real, physical encyclopedia in this post-book world. The protest brought the issue of anti-piracy vs. anti-freedom to the attention of many people.

Now, I’d like those folks who were very concerned over those bills to look up a couple of things on Wikipedia that should also have garnered their attention recently, if they’re really concerned about what government is doing without their knowledge.

Operation Fast and Furious

Solyndra

If you’ve not heard about this in the news, that’s perfectly understandable. They’ve been nearly blacked-out themselves regarding these issues. Which is odd considering F&F is responsible for the deaths of Americans.

Are you really concerned about what your government is doing, and you’re not just jumping on the SOPA bandwagon? Read up.

Back home, whoo hoo. Links?

1. Medicare and FICA aren’t taxes? FICA is 15% and Medicare 5% … so that makes 20% to start.
2. Energy and a pipe.
3. Speaking of energy.
4. Sex and discrimination and a case of abuse ignored.
5. Speaking of sex roles, looking at advice from more than a century past.
6. If this was fiction, we wouldn’t find it credible. And … by the way … we’re all just softies and wimps.
7. Cost control failure.
8. Some advice from a noted Alexandrian ascetic.
9. More from a different one here.

Indeed.

“[W]e should allow more access to oil, natural gas and coal opportunities on federal lands,” states the year-end report released Tuesday by the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

The report does not specifically mention the Keystone XL oil pipeline, but it endorses moving forward quickly with projects that “deliver electricity and fuel,” including pipelines.

I agree creating jobs for the sake of jobs is not always desirable (i.e. make-work, do-nothing jobs, or, as an extreme example, increasing the demand for contract killers), but this is energy we have at home that does not prop up terrorism or our enemies. The result is economic prosperity, and not just in the energy industry.

Thanks to capitalism, millions of America’s poor are paying less to heat their homes this winter. The middle class and even the rich are saving money because capitalists have found a cheaper way to drill for natural gas on American soil. That increases supply, which drops the prices — by 35% this winter over last winter — but the capitalists still profit because drilling this way dropped their costs.

Not only that, but the natural gas from this drilling has resulted in cheaper feedstock for plastics, ammonia and fertilizer.

The natural gas feedstock supplants oil-based feedstock, thus reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

And, if you continue reading, the EPA is trying to scare folks with junk science so they’ll be against drilling.

I guess this will be just another panel, like his deficit commission, that he can sweep under the rug and ignore, but bring up if anyone says he’s done nothing about the problem.

Links?

1. So, a technique popularized in narratives but proven ineffective … and now encouraged in public schools. So is that “go figure” or “color me (us) unsurprised.” And “brainstorming” isn’t skunkworks. Skunkworks techniques do work.
2. The march of bad science, how it works edition.
3. Bang!
4. A question.
5. Hall of fame or shame?
6. So the Dems think that inequality is high on that list. Apparently Gallup doesn’t even find it in the top 5 (or 10?).
7. The rigors of yoga.
8. It’s not a mild winter everywhere it seems. When the cold masses don’t come south … that isn’t because they aren’t cooling someone off.
9. Disease and resistance.
10. NYT plays the straight man to great effect.
11. Faith, science and a liberal icon.
12. Should there be an agency for that?

It’s us.

The United States now ranks the highest in terms of charity in a massive global survey that put the nation in fifth place in 2010, according to CAFAmerica, a member organization of the United Kingdom based Charities Aid Foundation International Network of Offices, providing charitable financial services to individuals, global corporations, charities, and foundations.

According to those surveyed, two out of three Americans said they donated money to charity (65 percent), more than two out of five volunteered their time (43 percent) and roughly three out of four helped a stranger (73 percent).  The new “World Giving Index (WGI) 2011” report is based on over 150,000 Gallup polling interviews with members of the public in 153 countries. The 2011 report looks at three aspects of giving behavior of individuals in the preceding month, asking if they have donated money to a charity, volunteered time to an organization, or helped a stranger. 

People like former President Jimmy Carter and singer Bono used to say that the US was "cheap", but John Stossel pointed out that that was not really true, (and Arthur Brooks noted that most charitable giving comes from the religious Right side of the political spectrum). We weren’t "cheap" then, and we’ve kept rising in this particular ranking since then.

I’m proud to be an American.