I had an insight about the utility of political discussion in the wake of a tragedy. Â The point is, a tragedy tends to excite system AÂ and so almost by necessity leads to reconfirmation of existing beliefs. I thought about it and decided to write a post about it, trying to start a meta-political discussion. Â Specifically, […]
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Meta
14-Dec-12Connecticut Shootings & Politics
14-Dec-12If you had  ‘political belief X’ before a tragedy; and then a tragedy happens that reinforces your belief in X; and then you re-iterate your belief in X; then I really doubt you’re going to change anyone’s mind. Now, anyone who used to believe X and now believes Y — say, a former gun-control advocate […]
Olive the Other Ringwraith
13-Dec-12A consequence of using the Heisig system to learn the Kanji — the mnemonic “Olive, the other ringwraith” Resurrected from my facebook dustbin by request from my kids, now here in easy-to-find web-searchable format: Olive the Other Ringwraith Olive, the other ringwraith hadn’t even been a king She didn’t have a throne She didn’t even […]
Here Comes Jabberwock
13-Dec-12Here comes Jabberwock, here comes Jabberwock Right down Jabberwock lane Gyre and gimble the slithy toves The borogoves are mimsy again! Hear that sword go snicker-snacker Oh what a frumious sight So leave it dead and bring its head For it’s a frabjous night! With apologies to Gene Autry and Lewis Carrol.
Random Thought
13-Dec-12Why do they only offer *accidental* death and dismemberment insurance? What about intentional dismemberment?
Inappropriate
11-Dec-12How is a bad credit score like an ex-spouse? One a sucking FICO, and the other …
Mutual Recursion: see Recursion, Mutual
05-Dec-12Andrew Plotkin: If you already know what recursion is, just remember the answer. Otherwise, find someone who is standing closer to Douglas Hofstadter than you are; then ask him or her what recursion is. That works for now, but what are we going to do for a base case when Hofstadter dies?
Deficits and Smoking
04-Dec-12Deficit smoking. Bonus: a just-so story about how we got to the fiscal speedbump.
Not Getting the Point..
04-Dec-12OK, my inbox is empty – Now what do I do with all the crap I pulled out of it? PS This is actually a test of disabling comment moderation, since it doesn’t play well with FB/Twitter integration. PPS If you are a spambot please disregard the above.
Hey Ya Hanukkah
03-Dec-12Still makes me laugh:Â http://tinyurl.com/bs3tz22 Though I see that it’s been Bowdlerized. Â I’m curious – does anybody but me remember the bit they edited out of the video at about 1:16-1:18?