Thursday rapid fire

• The Ron Paul Blimp - really!
• Chet Richards on Decision Cycle Speed
• An online chat with Reason Magazine editors about Ron Paul, notable ending quote

  And remember as we go into that dark night that is the American election season that you can't abort a fetus with nuclear arms

• An ergonomic way to set up your computer desk
• Ottok Photography
  

Top of the world

Or the roof anyway. Somehow I managed to buy a house withe 2 fireplaces and 0 ways to close the flue. Another task for the pile I suppose. For those keeping score at home, I still have not climbed the tree that overhangs the house (it's the one in the shot)

Thoughts working their way out

Col Lang's definition of a neocon as one who "believes in a homogeneous future" has been lurking in the back of my mind for the past few days. It's one of those aphorisms that change entire viewpoints just a bit, just like Thomas Sowell's notion of the constrained vs the unconstrained view of human nature.

More thoughts later.

Band Name needed

It seems that the impromptu pairing of myself and a bass player has resulted in a gig of sorts, which means we need a name.

Any thoughts anyone?

For some people the most pleasant sound is an echo

It's easy to make fun of global do-gooders, eager to spend other people's money. And that's what I like about it; it's easy. Check out McCartney's Estranged Wife Berates Rich

Mills McCartney said she was reluctantly obliged to befriend the world's wealthy because that was the only way to maximize her power as an agent for change.

"Sadly, you have to mix at a certain level of people to raise the level of funds you need to bring about the greater good," she said. "Because people are very snobby. These people who have lots of money, they're either snobby or they're stingy. If you have lots of money, you have to be stingy — because why would you want that amount of money?"

She also compared herself to human rights crusaders down through the ages, suggesting they all had been victimized for their beliefs.

"If you look at every single person in the history of the world who has tried to make a difference, you'll find a very long section of their lives where they were treated horrifically by the government or by the media," she said.

I can't think of anything funnier than what she actually said.

Tuesday link roundup

• Advice from your public defender (best of Craig's List)
  
• Why we should hang out: a mathematical proof, this sounds like something I would do actually
• Interesting post on academic taboos from David Friedman
• Another blog post about Sarah Stever, from one of my realtors actually
• Ron Paul Facts, my favorite -

  Ron Paul has been shot at more than a dozen times, but the
  

  "pro- 2nd Amendment" bullets refuse to harm him.

The next Reagan

Via Yglesias, comes this Mike Huckabee ad



I think I'm the first to point out that he's the first candidate to good natured and likable on the stump, which is quite a bit of a change from the rest of the crowd. Clever ad too.

DC photos finally uploaded

I finally got around to posting them, they're all from my small Canon.

A weird thing in my neighborhood

So, I take a different route home from running a quick errand in the new neighborhood, and I discover that there is a numbered, named, and unpaved road in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Really strange...

An advancement in gender equality

While perusing my spam folder to make sure there were no false positives, I came across this little gem amongst the enlargement and Viagra ads

LADIES, bigger your asset now, give your mate a big surprise

SizeUpBreast is a safe all herbal formula that helps woman to increase theirBreast Size

- help with sagging problems
- has a powerful phyto-hormonal action that leads to the growth and
development of the areoli and consequently TheBreast size.

* if your are her BF/HUBBY, buy your girl this 100% safe BreastEnhancement Pill
* you will feel proud of having LargerBoobie mate

About time women got their share of annoying email.

Friday link round up

• Intown Coyotes - They're in Oakhurst, which while wooded, is certainly not a suburban area in the traditional sense. I wonder if they make fun of the country coyotes and get weird tattoos...
• A profile of the last remaining WW I veteran, here is one who passed away last year at the age of 113. To quote from the article

  "Census records show that Mr. Hardy’s father was born in the 1830s and that both his parents were slaves, Mr. Young said."

  It's amazing that the past is that close in the human chain.
• Michael Yon reviews the combat cameras
  

Rest In Peace Sarah Stever

Yesterday I received a call from a friend telling me that a friend of ours, Sarah Snow Stever had passed away at the age of 35, from a stroke apparently. It's very sad; I didn't know her that well, mostly from various bluegrass jams, and I only met her husband once, but it's shocking to realize that someone so young can be taken from us all. Sarah, we'll miss you.

Obituary here.

What I like about India

They're quite weird, but in a self-contained, needs no explanation way, asking nothing of anyone.

Case in point - Man in India Marries Dog As Atonement. If this was in Europe or America, There would be some symbolic flagellation, fake tears, and cries for understanding. In India, the guy just married a stray dog, no fuss, no muss.

Tuesday link roundup

• Google Earth and Sketch Up
• Contra Matt Stevers: A study says curvy women are smarter (anyone catch the reference?)
• TweakVista
• Patrick Lang puts it very well in a column and the fallacy of humanities "homogenous future" with Brooks and Friedman have missed something in their discussions of religion.

  They have missed a simple truth. MOST PEOPLE WHO PROFESS RELIGION ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN THE TRUTH OF THEIR GROUP'S TEACHING ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE MEANING OF EXISTENCE. They do not see their sect, denomination, church, etc. as a mere vehicle for the expression of social concern for the welfare of others.
  
  Orthodox Christian theology proclaims the majesty of a triune God. Muslims and Jews do not. Mormons believe in something altogether different.
  
  Members of those groups (if they are truly members and not just "life cycle" auxiliaries) are capable of accepting each other as "good people" and fellow citizens. They are NOT CAPABLE of accepting the truth of groups who deny the essential beliefs of their own group.
  
  That is what was meant in the recent pronouncement from Rome of the limits of Christian-Muslim dialog. Dialog among all religious groups is desirable as a means of establishing a harmony of the peoples, but there are limits imposed by THEOLOGY beyond which such discussions can not progress.

  I would have added "No matter how may of those "CoExist" bumper stickers you see."
  

Weird things on Craig's List

While I was uploading some large files I came across these two items on the "Women Seeking Men" section

Item One:

Hi. I am staying with friends outside Buckhead, BUt I have to move..I am 25 former Bad girl (was in trouble, not now)single. Looking to move in and COOK CLEAN DO LAUNDRY AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR NEEDS in xchange for rent and....I am very good looking..5'6" 111 lt brown hair green eyes. and for real...Race doesnt matter

Item Two:

I am seeking a professional man that owns his own business and calls all the shots. To describe my self a little, I am multi-ethnic, 5'5, 130lbs, carmel skin, white teeth, nice curly medium length hair, very intelligent, discrete and sweet.

I'm seeking employment, something 40 hours a weeks( I have a resume)
The beneifits are office sex with me, or a side relationship.
If you are serious respond with a place where we can interview(not a hotel or a house)and a job details.

I'm not sure which combination of sued/murdered/robbed/conned would result, but at least two of them seem certain. Does people post these things because they work, or is it just a cry of desperation?

Regaining Strength

On one of the talking heads shows yesterday I heard the oft-repeated mantra "The Taliban is regaining strength in Afghanistan". I've been hearing this since late 2002. At this rate they should have their own death star by now. They certainly have staying power at some level, but regaining strength seems to have been disproved by history.

Happy Birthday USMC

You're 232 old today, and I have to say, you haven't aged a day.

The funniest thing I saw today

From College Humor, via Coming Anarchy, check out 24 in 1994

An original Flash interface

Check out Schematic.

Quote of the day

From a phone call with a friend of mine

It's just not a Steve story without additional commentary...

The market has spoken

This editorial from the AJC is an annoying example of the current hysteria about subprime loans

Describing the wreckage of the subprime mortgage collapse as part of the normal business cycle is akin to characterizing the devastation of New Orleans as the aftermath of a seasonal downpour.

In both disasters, human blunders and government inattention played pivotal roles. And the market can no more be counted on to fix the subprime mess than Mother Nature could be trusted to fix up the mess after Hurricane Katrina.

Government must intervene quickly and firmly in the subprime fiasco, in helping desperate borrowers keep their homes if possible and, more important, in ending abusive lending practices that contributed to the national leap in mortgage defaults and foreclosures.

New federal and state laws must couple strong prohibitions against abusive lending with equally strong enforcement and consequences. The pain must be felt by the duplicitous mortgage brokers who talked the homeowners on Elm Street into loans with hidden brokerage fees and unnecessarily high interest rates all the way up to the investors on Wall Street who profited from the bundling and selling of these subprime loans.

The article then goes on to describe several cases of fraud that happened in the Atlanta area, fraud as everyone knows is already illegal. Foreclosure and the denial of credit IS the marketing working, mainly in stopping people from buying homes they can't afford. Absent fraud, no one is forced into a mortgage, and everyone knows how much they'll be paying.

I suppose I'm more sensitive to this now (having just bought a house) than most times, but it's quite maddening.

I never thought I'd say this but...

This is a Flash intro worth seeing.

A good one from the Agitator

From this Ron Paul post

So here's my question: Why do candidates who propose abolishing federal agencies get painted as fringe wackjobs, while candidates who propose we create multiple new ones are viewed as inspiring visionaries?

Candidate A says, "This cabinet-level federal agency isn't working, and hasn't in the 30 years of its existence, despite an ever-increasing budget. Let's abolish it and save the taxpayers money." Candidate B says, "This cabinet-level federal agency isn't working, and hasn't in the 30 years of its existence, despite an ever-increasing budget. Let's spend more money on it!"

Yet more DC

The guided tour of the capital was wonderful. More details later.

More DC

We were out and about today, the spy museum, bureau of engraving and printing, Holocaust museum, and a monument tour.


More photos below.

On the road

One last one before I go

Study: Multiple Stab Wounds May Be Harmful To Monkeys

Off to the capital, back on Wednesday

Random Atlanta insights

I got sick of working and went for a drive for about 40 minutes tonight. I wound up near Atlanta Federal Penitentiary and I do have to say, that place looks like a prison, it's like the dark side of Gotham City from the Batman Comics. Most of the places around it (I took an odd route home and got lost) are quite photogenic in a burned out, industrial way.

On an unrelated note, Man charged with vandalism of Tupac Shakur statue. Atlanta is home (oddly, since there's not much of a connection) to the Tupac Shakur Arts Center for some reason.

Friday recommended reading

• On a funny note, the Ladder theory
• On a serious note, a short bio of James Stockdale

  When Collins asked who didn't make it out, Stockdale replied:
  
  "Oh, that’s easy, the optimists"
  

What a crappy few days

First I find out that the "We buy ugly houses" people want a 30% discount over the market rate (I declined), a project extends by 24 straight hours, Delta won't do anything about changing my flight, and now I'm getting sick. Humbug.

Wednesday rapid fire

• Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer!
• I had an idea similar to this a while back actually
• Edison vs Tesla
• Free mind mapping software