Recommended viewing

The stuff of thought, an interview with Steven Pinker. It's a lovely interview with braniac Steven Pinker on the development of language. Not safe for work, surprisingly.

John Mayer supports Ron Paul

Sorority hearththrob John Mayer seems to be a Ron Paul supporter. I suppose he'll make inroads in new arenas now Some friends of mine used to play with him many years ago at open mics here in Atlanta.

If only he could get Merle Haggard, he'd be set.

Toil and trouble

Since the internet was down most of the day, I decide to do some more stuff around the house. I take advantage of a short break in the rainfall to apply some quick drying concrete to some areas between the driveway and the foundation. I find that it really does dry in 10 minutes or less. Happily I'm able to finish before then. That does not seem to solve all of my basement moisture problem.

Since it started raining shortly after the cement was dry, I opt to install outlets in the basement. For some reason, all but one of the junction boxes do not match the descriptions in any of my wiring books. The ones that does does not seem to be connected to the circuit box in any findable way. Being a coward when it comes to live electricity, I opt not to install the outlet in that box.

Happily, while looking for further junction boxes, I come across a working outlet set up to the furnace! I count the day a win.

A late Christmas present from the War Nerd

He has a very interesting article on the War of the Triple Alliance. RTWT.

Your Friday links

As the implications of the Bhutto assassination are too scary to think about, here's some links for you.

• Via ZenPundit, check out this time lapse mural
• Jack Nicholson on Politics, he usually doesn't talk about it, and judging from the statements in this interview, he knows very little. It's nice when that happens.
  

Civil Rights at work

This is a good thing

NRA seeks hundreds whose guns were seized after Katrina
The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to find hundreds of people whose firearms were seized by city police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week.

The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city's seizure of firearms after the August 29, 2005, hurricane.

In the lawsuit, the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation claim the city violated gun owners' constitutional right to bear arms and left them "at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals" after Katrina.

It's nice they're doing it for everyone, not just their members.

Merry Christmas 2007

A Merry Christmas to all. I don't think I've posted this image before.



And of course, it's just not Christmas without this...



Update: It's snowing! Actually it's sleeting, but I think I'll take what I can get.

The Christmas meme

Soob (using a Christmas picture I used a while back) has tagged me with the Christmas meme, here we go...

1. Wrapping or gift bags? - An even mix of both
2. Real or artificial tree? - Real, no question, it's just not Christmas without a fire hazard somewhere
3. When do you put up the tree? - Actually I haven't had a tree in years. I do have a Festivus pole.
4. When do you take the tree down? - It used to be new years day, not it's not that relevant
5. Do you like egg nog? - a little bit on Christmas Eve and Day
6. Favorite gift received as a child? - Probably an erector set. That was a long time ago though.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? - Hah, no.
8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? - There are no bad gifts, but "Poisonous Plans, the book" comes closest. The Hustler trading card set I got one year was probably the most inappropriate. Fortunately I was advised to open that early.
   
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? - Neither. I 've never sent those out
10. Favorite Christmas Movie? - The Wild Strawberries, I don't know why, but it gives everything a sense of contrast.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? - Usually the last day I can get free shipping on things.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? - Corn pudding and broccoli casserole, by a substantial margin
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? - Colored
14. Favorite Christmas song(s)? - This one - also the Tom Lehrer Christmas Carol and Sorriest Christmas by the Diggers
15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? - I usually travel about 20 miles to be with family.
16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? - Probably, but I choose not to.
17. Angel on the tree top or a star? - Star
18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? - Morning
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? - Hearing baby boom generation pundits talk about a "War on Christmas" because the holiday isn't exactly how they remember it when they were twelve.
20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? - Invisible!
21. What do you leave for Santa? - A copy of Atlas Shrugged
22. Least favorite holiday song? - No idea
23. Favorite ornament? - One that doesn't fall
24. Family tradition? - The weird round robin phone calls with distant relatives. And the togetherness.
25. Ever been to Midnight Mass or late-night Christmas Eve services? - Every Christmas actually.
    

I think everyone else has been tagged.

Monday links

• Fertility rate in US on upswing
• This post on Ron Paul from Col. Lang, featuring the lovely line "citadels of exalted brooding". I saw the interview he mentions as well and got the same impression; namely that Russert was trying to rapid fire the questions enough to get him to trip up and say something that could be easily misinterpreted. It's not like Paul is hiding what he believes, or that it's not controversial in his version. Lame. A bit reminiscent of Ace in the Hole.
  
• This Matt Yglesias post on the same interview
• This is a nice web app
  

This is an insightful post

From an Econolog post about raising children

Laugh if you like, but I want to give me kids a better life than I had. I don't want them to be bullied or mocked by teachers or other kids. Since adult life is far more civilized than childhood, sheltering your kids is not "delaying the inevitable"; it's skipping pointless suffering.

That strikes a chord with me. People have been much nicer in adulthood than in school. Civilization begins with voluntary association I suppose. If I were feeling hyperbolic, I would say that the only thing forced association in the form of mandatory schooling prepares you for is prison, but that's not accurate. It's certainly not the only thing anyway.

Quote of the morning

From Despair.com

When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.

Solar power makes a step

The much touted Nano Solar corporation, seems to be ready to actually ship it's first product. Supposedly it makes it cost competitive with coal. A welcome development.

A good Ron Paul interview

Ron does well in extended interviews. Here is one with Glenn Beck (who doesn't know the difference between a debt and a deficit, fyi).

Incidentally, Andrew Sullivan has endorsed Ron Paul also.

I play a different venue

In this case, Blind Willies in the Highlands on Sunday night. Judging the reaction of the small but appreciative crowd, it sounded good.

Throwing stuff to the wall

Via Marginal Revolution, here comes today's quote of the day

Trying stuff is cheaper than deciding whether to try it. (Compare the cost of paying and feeding someone to do a few weeks of [Perl or PHP] hacking to the full cost of the meetings that went into a big company decision.) Don't overplan something. Just do it half-assed to start with, then throw more people at it to fix it if it works.

The market is a discover process after all.

Freedom house and the basement of adventure!

As those of you who know me in the flesh have been told endless times, I'm still doing lots of work around the new house. My current mania is leveling out the floors (I'm almost done) via the use of a system of jacks.

On Saturday I was installing a new jack and was tilling the dirt floor of the basement to create a level spot for the jack. I came across what could have been a bone, and then the shovel struck a hard surface. I decided to dig out whatever it was while saying to myself "Please don't be a body, please don't be a body". Did I mention that my basement bears a strong resemblance to the basement in Silence of the Lambs?

Happily it was only a lump of old concrete with nothing underneath. Later it occurred to me that if it were a body the police would have to dig out the entire basement to look for more, which would save me the trouble of doing it later.

Last night I was adjusting one of the jacks (the initial setup by a previous owner was done poorly) when the ladder turned on a piece of soft ground and I fell off the thing. The support jack I was adjusting then had no support and fell on my neck as I lay on the ground. Happily it didn't land that hard and I'm just a little sore.

And that's what I've been doing lately.

It's been a light blogging week

But a heavy work week. For your reading pleasure, check out

• An NYPD detective commits perjury for no obvious reason, the matter seemed inconsequential. It's a bad omen for the current state of law enforcement.
• Check out this Ron Paul post, featuring the interesting line, "Rubble doesn't make trouble"
  

X-Sql, welcome to the Blogroll

I have recently discovered that my friend Naim has recently started blogging about software matters and such at http://xsqlsoftware.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the blogsphere!

Tuesday links

• Iraq vets take lemons and make.... something.
• Delphine LaLurie - very creepy
• Time management
• I do believe I'll be building these bookshelves
• Ron Paul - comic book president
• Putting Bush on Mt Rushmore - be sure to read this one from Scott Adams
  

Random Photo

From my visit to the Commuter Art Gallery

The sounds of silence

While I've been thrilled with the new place so far, one thing that's been amiss the the fact that the State Patrol (headquartered behind my back yard, about 200 yards away) has run a generator every minute of every day since I moved in. The generator was not running when I looked at the house.

For the first time it has stopped. The silence and the other noises are kind of eerie.

For a historical trivia, the Georgia State Patrol building used to be the local Confederate widows home for Atlanta. The Atlanta Time Machine has a photo.

Ron Paul Spam

Check out this article from Ars Technica on the source of all the Ron Paul spam you've probably been getting.

Friday morning rapid fire

• The rules on using the names Mohamed and Jesus
• How to hold a digital camera
• This collection of anti-drug commercials. It certainly makes me never want to cook.
• Film Noir Lighting
• The marines and laser guns, it has the memorable line - "Photoshop can quickly solve all engineering challenges."

Patrick Lang smacks generation warfare theory

From this post about the French experience in Vietnam

There is a lot of talk these days about "generations" of warfare. Pay it no mind. The concept of "4th Generation Warfare" is a fraud perpetrated as a marketing device by scholars of warfare for the purpose of assuring senior officers that they are not to blame for their ignorance of military history. The various kinds of warfare (generations) have always existed on a contemporaneous basis (at the same time).

Me and MasterChief

My visit to MicroSoft was interesting.

Van Halen

Van Halen (featuring David Lee Roth but not Michael Anthony) is coming to Atlanta next year. Surprising.

Amazing Time Savers!

I've been looking for this clip online for years now, and it finally made it's appearance. Check out Amazing Time Savers. You do have to watch it till the end.

Amazing Time Savers

Sorry for the light blogging

Work has been quite hectic lately.

By means of contrition, check out The Bar Fight Primary.