New Gift Idea

Check out this article from DiscoveryNews.com. Only July and already I know what to get my brothers for Christmas...

Noise, not Music

Some friends and I took our kids to the Harry Potter book release party in Harvard Square tonight. There was a free concert. The opening band was ridiculous. It was a three kids between 5 and 8 years old, who couldn't play any instruments. The older boy wailed on a bass guitar and sang off key to ~3000 people in Harvard Yard. I should mention that it really gave me flashbacks to the old days at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, CA. (Links to video from Fender's as I remember it and a list of shows--some of which I remember going to.)

Here's a link to their website, so you can get a flavor for their "work." Unfortunately, they were even more off-key and off-lyric tonight.

F*** Microsoft

The new "Open xml" format that Microsoft's Office 2007 uses has just stolen 40 minutes of my time. I'm adding it to the hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars Microsoft has taken from me. Like I've always said, "f*** Microsoft."

Anyway, I'm linking a useful page here, in hopes that you don't have to go through the same thing.

Is Karl Rove an Atheist? Part II

In a previous post, I quoted Christopher Hitchens saying (essentially) that Karl Rove is an atheist. In today's post, I quote President Bush (41). I know I'm crossing over from one Bush administration to another, but so have most senior advisers...

At a press conference in Chicago on August 27, 1987, Vice President George HW Bush said the following:

No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Of course, 41 wasn't just saying this out of the blue. He had been asked a provocative question by a reporter from a journal with an atheist bent. Here's the lead-up (the reporter is Robert I. Sherman).

Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

I don't want to make more of this than there might be. Specifically, I'm not interested in making some case that the Bush family are hypocrites or liars or whatever. For one thing, I have a hard time believing it to be true. The Bush family seem like perfectly normal people to me--basically good; have their own quirks; want to help people; want to be well thought of; etc. (Or maybe there's something wrong with me and/or the way I see other people.)

My view of this is that George HW Bush was being hyperbolic--and probably intentionally misleading. I don't think it's any more than what we all do on a regular basis. I know, someone more righteous than me will say, "That doesn't make it right...." But my own behavior makes me feel as if (1) it really isn't that big of a deal and (2) I certainly have no right to throw that particular stone.

For me, 41's statements are interesting because of their delicious irony, given Karl Rove's prominence in 43's administration.

WSJ Editorial--Laffable

So, maybe I'm oversimplifying things, but this graph seems ridiculous to me.

Last week (7/13/2007) a WSJ editorial used this Laffer-curve diagram to support the claim that the US needs to decrease its corporate tax rates in order to increase its revenues. I don't want to argue the merits of this view. I merely want to point out that the data on this graph would be better with a straight-line correlation--with Norway, and possibly Luxemborg, being outliers. In which case, the point would be that the higher the taxes the greater the revenue.

Is Karl Rove an Atheist?

Just found this interview with Christopher Hitchens, who seems to say that Karl Rove is an atheist (strictly speaking, Rove seems to hold a "weak atheist" view). This, if true, would be a delicious twist on this strategist's use of and connection to the religious right. What does he think of this teeming mass of believers? And why can't anyone get an interview to find out?

Link to the interview

Bring on the Aliens

A recent paper on immigration concludes that immigrants are much less likely than we native-born residents of the US to commit crimes. From the abstract, it appears that this study includes illegal immigrants as well--"deportation does not drive the results."

Link to the abstract

Bush Administration vs. Science, Again

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this article and the steadily strengthening chorus of voices complaining about the Bush Administration enforcing their views--however crazy--and consolidating their power. I've got to say, though, that the White House spin is amazing.

Background: former surgeon general tells, nay testifies, to a congressional committee that Bush administration kooks pressured him and his office to make science fit policy. They went so far as to tell him to include President Bush's name three times per page in his speeches! Knowing docs, this was likely to be the single most insulting thing for Dr. Carmona.

White House Spin: It's a shame Dr. Carmona squandered his chance to represent his views.

Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman, said the surgeon general “is the leading voice for the health of all Americans.”

“It’s disappointing to us,” Ms. Lawrimore said, “if he failed to use this position to the fullest extent in advocating for policies he thought were in the best interests of the nation.”

F*** Fruit Flies

Since I'm cursing things (see, "F*** Ketchup" below), I thought I'd add fruit flies. As summer gets into full swing, we start to get fruit flies on occasion. Frankly, they don't bother me much. My wife, however, _hates_ them. So I thought a link to how to get rid of fruit flies would be useful.

Link to How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies

Why I Have Daughters

A book (to be released this fall) explains why Heather and I have three girls and just one boy. I've wondered about this, and considered different theories of our family's gender distribution: conception dates, I'm a born sprinter, and a number of other theories.

But after all of this, it turns out that we have more girls because we're beautiful! Hooray for us.

Link to article, summarizing the book.

Best Visual Illusion, 2007

A simple illusion, comprised of two photographs of the leaning tower of Pisa side by side, won the prize for best visual illusion of 2007.

Link to the illusion

F*** Ketchup

According to research by Kristine L. Nowak and Christian Rauh at University of Connecticut, we are more likely to trust avatars in Second Life whose genders are not ambiguous.

What is even more surprising in this study is that the ketchup-bottle avatar was ranked almost near the bottom in credibility. Like I've always said, "f*** ketchup."

Link to the paper