Politics

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/appel/intractability-financial-derivatives An interesting convergence of computer science and economics: researchers at Princeton studied Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), securities which combine hundreds of mortgages into a single package, which were implicated as one of the primary causes of the global financial meltdown: In hindsight, it would seem the computer models being used to understand CDOs were woefully inadequate, and worse, it may be an intractable and exploitable problem. I'm not going to go out on a limb and say the government should ban CDOs, but I think it's clear they need to be far more strin…

Fed Chairman Bernanke says the recession is likely over, and he's got some facts to back it up. His assessment is based largely on consumer spending. Let's take a look at this handy chart: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125301730771311713.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular Obviously we'll have to wait and see, and it sucks that employment is generally a lagging economic indicator, but with any luck we may be able to put this behind us soon.

Mind/Body dichotomy: Our great nemeses? Theology and philosophy are guardians of the human urge to separate itself as much as possible from its animal heritage and to move closer toward being god-like. The overt effort of theology is to accentuate the misconceived mind/body dichotomy while the covert effort of philosophy is to accentuate this same mind/body dichotomy. Theology does this legitimately because it believes that humans are both body and soul. The body is what we must put-up-with for our short stay on earth while the soul will last through eternity in an environment determined by our brief stay on earth. I claim that philosophy does this illegi…

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192 Federal agents will now cede to states on the issue of medical marijuana, thanks to new orders under Obama. This is a complete 180 from the Bush years, when the executive decided to pursue federal action against medical marijuana providers who were acting under state law. Interesting to see where this will wind up going...

This is one of the axioms put forth by objectivists, so I was wondering, from a scientific stand point if this is true. OR is anything objectivism and what Ayn Rand said, go against sociobiology and the paradigms established by modern philosophers?

Today, a Sunni group attacked the Iranian army, and killed at least 5 commanders of the Revolutionary Guards units and dozens of civilians. Iran already said it will strike back on the terrorists, and it claimed that the terrorists are backed up by the USA and UK. The rebels/terrorists (Jundallah) claim to have no ties at all with Al-Quaida or Taliban. Iran is under attack from the same region where Pakistan, Afghanistan and all western allies are fighting their war against extremist Muslim groups (mostly Al-Quaida and Taliban, but also other groups)... And all those groups seem Sunni's (I might be wrong?). Iranians are mostly Shia. Why are the Iranians and Ame…

Tradition of Change: an oxymoron? Thales, who lived around 625 BC, is called the ‘first philosopher and the first scientist’. He is considered to be the first thinker to propose a single universal principle of the material universe, “a unique substratum that, itself unchanging, underlay all change.” When we think about this problem of comprehending change we recognize that there must exist something that is essential to change that remains unchanged. When we look around us we are struck with the fact that things constantly change. Thales is said to have asked the important question does everything change or is there something that remains unchanged? If there i…

I was always baffled by this slogan. Wikipedia informs: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs) is a slogan popularized by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program. The phrase summarizes the idea that, under a communist system, every person shall produce to the best of their ability in accordance with their talent, and each person shall receive the fruits of this production in accordance with their need, irrespective of what they have produced. In the Marxist view, such an arrangement will be made possible by the abundance of goods and services that a developed communist society will produce; the idea is that there will…

Anyone here a Kiwi?!? http://www.invadenewzealand.com/

Yes, you've read that correctly. Yes, it's almost 2010 and I'm creating this thread about this article which was published today. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_re_us/us_interracial_rebuff A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. …

IMO, pharmaceutical companies should have a legal limit on their %profit. There's no reason I can see for people to suffer and/or die because a CEO wants a new Lexus. Sure, they need to cover cost of production and R&D. However, they do not need to have an extraordinary standard of living; they want to have an extraordinary standard of living. Is the fatter wallet of the CEOs worth the suffering and death that result from the lack of ability to afford the medicine? I don't think so. Thoughts?

What is the American frame of mind? I would say that a culture consists of the complex of ideas that a group of people hold dear. One can speak of the culture of a small group or of a very large group. In the United States our culture is determined to a large extent by how we hold "these truths to be self-evident"; we are held together by ideas perhaps more than other societies. Next, religion plays a great role, and in our case it is the mixture of Protestantism, Judaism, and Catholicism. Following this is our infatuation with capitalism; following that is our narcissistic view of our uniqueness and greatness. Our culture is a general attitude toward our s…

Hey! Get an Intellectual Hobby My experience leads me to conclude that there is a world of difference in picking up a fragment of knowledge here and there versus seeking knowledge for an answer to a question of significance. There is a world of difference between taking a stroll in the woods on occasion versus climbing a mountain because you wish to understand what climbing a mountain is about or perhaps you want to understand what it means to accomplish a feat of significance only because you want it and not because there is ‘money in it’. I think that every adult needs to experience the act of intellectual understanding; an act that Carl Sagan describes as “Und…

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/15/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?cnn=yes If the Dow knows all, then :D THE STIMULUS IS WORKING LIKE A CHARM :D But seriously folks... It seems Wall Street is bouncing back from the financial crisis... I wish we could say the same for the rest of America.

There seems to be quit the fear when it comes to discussing Marxism and socialism. Socialism is thought by popular belief to infringe on social rights, individual rights, and civil rights. When talking about socialism people suddenly resort to saying, "Ugh Socialism, I don't want to be part of no collective!". If you go into deeper discussion with the individual you realize that most of the information they have gathered on socialism came from news networks such as, FOX and men like Glenn Beck. It has been thought for as long as I can remember that socialism and it's ideals have failed to work. Closer examination reveals that Marxist ideals have worked in many countri…

Fox, the right-wing propaganda machine, has reached a new low... Approximately one month after running this ad in the Washington Post and two other newspapers: CNN's Rick Sanchez responded, asking if Fox really thought CNN failed to cover a massive protest in Washington. After giving you a run through of the total amount of coverage CNN had for the event, he addressed Fox directly, saying "you lie." Over the weekend, tens of thousands of gay rights protesters descended on Washington. And did Fox "WE COVER ALL THE NEWS" cover it? Kind of... they rebroadcasted ABC's footage, briefly. They didn't even send their own satellite truck. They gave it 3 minut…

All I can say is wow. It's just so bizzare that it almost has to be a Poe. The thing is, though, conservapedia is "serious" rather than parody. Could someone be pulling a prank on them? Possibly, but I don't know how likely that is. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedThe "Conservative Bible" can be found here.

I found this to be rather interesting, about Chinese ventures in Afghanistan: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/14/2098654.aspx It talks a lot about the "Global Chessboard" of influence between the West and China, and questions if the US lost out or is even getting short changed for our efforts over there. One part I found pretty telling though is how people there view the project: It strikes me as funny that it looks like "Good Cop/Bad Cop" with China as the Good Cop - doesn't bomb anyone but comes in providing jobs. I've always found it odd that nation building doesn't include local job creation from the ground up as a cornerstone el…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/12/guardian-gagged-from-reporting-parliament For the first time possibly ever, the media are being forcibly prevented from reporting proceedings of the UK Parliament. The gag order is directed at a specific question in the Commons, and prevents the Guardian from saying what the question was, who asked it, who it was directed to, or the reason for the gag order. I don't know much about British law, but a lot of people are saying it's a violation of the 1688 bill of rights, and a dangerous precedent. I hope they have a really good reason. So, all you British people, what do we think of this? Is this acceptable?

Obama has won the Nobel peace price. So, did he win it because of the foreign policies, which did change the way America acts towards other countries in the last 9 months, and admittedly improved the relations with many countries. Or did he win because the nobel prize committee wants to support Obama in a time when he is having a hard time? I think it's quite fast for him to win this prize. He's only been in office for 9 months... I think he should be rewarded after he has finished at least a 4-yera period in office.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/39362-1.html Awesome. The letter says they're looking for a "robust, Medicare-like public option". FINALLY! The Democrats grow a spine. Seriously. I was soooo worried they'd half-ass healthcare and leave us with a bill that didn't cover all Americans (or couldn't easily be expanded to in the future). It looks like half of them, but Senate representation at least, are willing to make a stand. Bravo. I would hope this sends a clear message to the Senate Finance Committee, who recommended a more expensive bill for political reasons, that a bill without a public option is not going to get the 60 vote majority needed to …

In a throw-away society is longevity of little value? For a period of some two hundred years America had an every moving new frontier. One of the appeals of this ever-present frontier was the sense that there was always a place for the rugged individualist. A place existed for the individual who was enthused about the prospect of uninhibited growth where each individual could test his or her capacity to be all they could be. No one had an edge over the other person beyond character and motivation. Darwin’s theory teaches us that mating and reproduction is the means whereby the species adapted to a changing environment and thereby created the possibility for surviv…

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003216413 Obama continues his trend of doing something that annoys me followed by dome something totally and completely awesome. After immense frustration over the effect of lobbying on the healthcare bill, this is really, really nice to see. Now granted, these seem to be executive panels. This certainly doesn't spell the end of lobbying in Washington. But it's a very nice step in the right direction.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-scarborough/thank-you-mr-president_b_308022.html I'm not typically one to say anything positive about Joe Scarborough. I really do have to wonder if he murdered his intern. And he's not the type of person you ordinarily see in the Huffington Post. All that said, he wrote a rather interesting and provocative article for the Post, lauding Obama for trying to bring the Olympics to Chicago and doting on what political polarization has done to America. Specifically, he notes concern over the Republican response to Obama trying to bring the Olympics to his hometown of Chicago. Republicans in Arlington, Virginia applauded Chicago bei…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/01/lobbyists-millions-obama-healthcare-reform ...paying 6 lobbyists for every member of Congress. Oi. I cannot help but suspect that the recent defeat of the public option has something to do with this.