Category Archives: Cool Stuff

Cool Stuff

Monday Meme

Megan McArdle has the idea of going to your Amazon history and seeing what the first thing you ordered was.

Apparently, I did not mess around. I ordered:

Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? : Baseball, Cooperstown, and the Politics of Glory by Bill James. This is still the gold standard for HOF discussions and I re-read bits of it frequently.

The Law by Frederic Bastiat. This is one of the books that has guided my political philosophy.

The Tenth Insight : Holding the Vision : Further Adventures of the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. This was a gift for my sister, who is into new-age crap.

The Death of Common Sense : How Law Is Suffocating America by Philip K. Howard. Howard is someone conservatives should pay more attention to. He’s a progressive who believes in government and is incredibly frustrated with the way it is hamstrung by too many rules, too little authority and no accountability. It isn’t often I site a progressive as a big influence, but Howard is.

The Crying of Lot 49 : A Novel (Perennial Fiction Library) by Thomas Pynchon. Read on the advice of my English major girlfriend of the time. Not a bad read.

Lost Rights : The Destruction of American Liberty by James Bovard. Bovard is a radical libertarian even by my standard. But he has credibility on the subject since he has gone after both Democrats and Republicans. A compilation of constitutional abuses that is enraging. This is a big part of the reason I am against the War on Drugs and was instantly suspicious of the excesses in the War on Terror.

Slow Learner : Early Stories by Thomas Pynchon. A gift for said English major girlfriend.

Fear and Loathing : On the Campaign Trail 72 by Hunter S. Thompson. Kind of long but an interesting insight into the ’72 election from a radical liberal.

Looking over that list, I must say that I hit the jackpot on my first Amazon order. Of the five books I ordered for myself, all were good and at least three have been critical to my thinking.

Cool Stuff, Healthcare, Politics, Science and Edumacation

Weekend Linkorama

  • I said it before: when Tom Tancredo is the voice of reason, we’re in trouble.
  • James Bovard critiques the tea parties. When you embrace Arizona’s law and torture, you aren’t a pro-freedom party.
  • Psychic frauds.
  • A really fair and through article examines colony collapse disorder, i.e., the disappearing bees. Personally, I blame the Daleks.
  • Megan McArdle looks at some of the misaligned incentives in the healthcare bill.
  • Aww. Poor bikes. Stupid city.
  • The future is now. Star Trek scanners.
  • More picture coolness.
    • 'Culture', Cool Stuff, Humor, Politics, Science and Edumacation

    Weekend Linkorama

  • Sullivan runs down the accomplishments of the Obama Administration so far. I disagree with a lot of what’s been done. But the meme circulating in the Right Wing Echosphere that this is a “failed Administration” is bullshit. And, what’s more, the meme peddlers know it’s bullshit. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be turning around claiming that Obama is destroying America.
  • More pictures that combine past and present. I love it.
  • This cracked me up.
  • Piano tuning is more complicated than you’d think.
  • An interesting article on the pending phosphorous shortage. I’m not as pessimistic as they are; we usually find clever ways to solve these problems … if we have a free market. Phosphorous shortage create high prices create increased demand create entrepreneurs creating ways to obtain more phosphorous. The only real danger is that the government will try to fix phosphorous prices too low. A big business of the 21st century is going to be recovering materials from waste and landfills.
  • The War on Salt ramps up. Salt in our food is now a “crisis” — a word that has become so used and abused as to be meaningless.
  • Watch a stadium get blowed up. I think its Texas Stadium. If only they could have blown it up while the Cowboys were still in it.
  • The dollar redesign project. Some of these are quite good. However, Americans tends to be very conservative about our money and I’m glad the treasury has taken the more gradual approach to modernizing the currency.
  • I have got to see this documentary. As for this movie … why, God, why?
  • It begins. An American citizen is forced to “show his papers” in response to Arizona’s new immigration law.
    • Civil Liberties, Cool Stuff, Religion, Science and Edumacation

    Weekend Linkorama

  • Stunning pictures of the Icelandic eruption. Hat tip to Astropixie.
  • Part Two of the debunking of Lord Monckton. Again, notice how fundamentally dishonest he in the debate. He is one of the principle sources for much of conservative opposition to AGW. And he’s a complete crackpot.
  • Sometimes, I’m so happy I live in a country that takes the First Amendment so seriously.
  • Irony. The EPA has dangerous levels of lead in their building.
  • Color my unimpressed that NYC is planning to close their rubber rooms. They are not firing anyone or expediting the hearing process. They’re just giving them make-work jobs. Typical of the “conservative” Bloomberg.
  • A small triumph over the absurdly generous British libel laws. And pseudo-science.
  • Some sensible talk on IT security.
  • Coolness. Saving lives at $3 a pop. I love innovation.
  • An open letter to the Catholic bishops that reads more like the Declaration of Independence than anything else.
  • Cool windows.
    • 'Culture', Cool Stuff, Healthcare, Politics, Science and Edumacation

    Tuesday Linkorama

  • Sting. Hypocrite. Note also the story of the Aral Sea. The article blames its destruction on the current Uzbek dictator, but this was mostly the work of the Soviet Union — that wonderful, charming nation whose evil many on the Left (like Sting) were hesitant to acknowledge.
  • The fuck of it is that most bureaucrats won’t see this as unreasonable.
  • A blind painter.
  • Ben Bernanke fires a warning shot across Congress’ bow on the deficit. I am really beginning to wonder if a default and inflation lie in our future. Is anyone in Washington prepared to make hard choices?
  • The latest on wheat rust. This scares me.
  • The war against resistant bacteria continues. This is one of the biggest health crises looming over our heads. My biggest fear of healthcare reform is that it will hamstring the innovation we need to prevent the next plague.
  • I think this take on why liberals and atheists have higher IQs is right. High IQ makes you intellectually wander from the default culture.
  • I love this link on the sound of antique pianos.
  • It’s so true.
    • 'Culture', Cool Stuff, Law and Order, Politics, War on Terror

    Thursday Linkorama

  • This is cool. Using Facebook for research. I knew could justify my membership somehow…
  • I have to hand it to Dick Cheney. At least he is honest about his support for illegal torture. And he’s critical of Bush for not going far enough.
  • A must-read about how irrational some of Israel’s supporters have gotten. I’m a big pro-Israel guy, obviously. But what has gotten into people that they can not tolerate any criticism of their issues?
  • Radley Balko on flash bang grenades. Those things scare me.
  • A brief history of techno-panic.
  • I know it seems like I’m posting about global warming every linkorama, but that’s because the last few weeks have seen a nonstop assault of Bad Skepticism. Not a day goes by when I don’t read some smug blogger adding to the pile. They are really like conspiracy theorists. The target keeps moving. And no matter how much each bullshit meme is disproven, it never goes away. Instead, we get long long lists of every disproven anti-AGW claim as a “tidal wave” of disproof. It’s depressing.
  • A great article on not knowing what you don’t know. Thanks to Amanda.
  • You know, I can’t really disagree with the Godwinizing of Limbaugh.
    • Cool Stuff, Law and Order, Politics, Science and Edumacation, Taxes and Spending

    Midweek Linkorama

  • I am always amazed by how close the human race has come to extinction in the past.
  • How stupid are people? This stupid.
  • The logic of Pac-Man. Cool.
  • Why am I not surprised that the ACORN-busting guy got pinched for breaking the law.
  • Balko on assert forfeiture. Scary stuff.
  • It’s rare that I link to American Progress, but their guide to identifying deficit “peacocks” is very interesting. There’s simply no way we’re going to balance the budget without raising taxes. But Republicans are too wedded to mindless tax cut ideology and Democrats are too scared.
  • How dare you discriminate against the unreliable!
  • Man, do I love me some photography.