On the eve of the election, I am making my prediction. It is perhaps a little hopeful when it comes to Georgia and Ohio. Those are the states that I could very well be wrong about. My gut tells me that the African American vote in Georgia is going to be the big surprise, and that the GOP GOTV efforts are going to be pathetic, leading to underperformance in Ohio and Florida, where the GOP ground game won the last two presidential elections.
****UPDATE****
I was overconfident about Georgia and North Dakota and underconfident about Indiana. I’ll gladly take those errors given the end result.
It’s always nice to see that someone who makes great music might also be a fun person to be around. I definitely get that impression from this interview with The Black Keys. I really hope I get to see them in concert again soon.
An interesting item on Drudge this morning. I hope that puts to rest any attempts to paint Einstein as religious. Those attempts are of course massive simplifications of his complicated understanding of the universe.
I just finished listening to the audiobook version of Cory Doctorow’s new novel: Little Brother. He has made it available as a free e-book download and a DRM-free audiobook, in addition to the dead tree edition. It tells the tale of a young hacker named Marcus who is swept up by the Department of Homeland Security after a terrorist attack in San Francisco. Doctorow paints a picture of what can happen when the government takes advantage of a terrified and anxious population in order to impose overwhelming but ineffective security measures. Do yourself a favor and buy the audiobook. Do your friends a favor and buy them a copy.
I have been thoroughly enjoying a couple of podcasts lately. While driving or while working, I like to have something interesting buzzing in my ears, and these two productions have been very satisfying.
Point of Inquiry: I downloaded every episode (over 100) and I have been working my way from the beginning to the present. Produced by the Center For Inquiry, this podcast features fantastic interviews with some of the smartest people in the world. So far, I have enjoyed the episodes featuring James Randi, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Eugenie Scott and Joe Nickell. I have a lot left to go, and I can’t wait to work my way through the rest.
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: Hosted by Dr. Stephen Novella, this podcast covers a lot of the same ground that POI covers. It has a bit more of a current events focus (or maybe I just haven’t gotten to the more current episodes of POI). And of course it features the witty repartee of Rebbecca Watson. So that’s worth the price of admission right there.
Here is Eugenie Scott and the National Center for Science Education’s response to the ridiculous propaganda piece featuring Ben Stein. If I had any respect for Stein, it is now gone. His association with this dishonest, malicious attempt to confuse people about the reality of science and the scientific education of children is disgusting. Good for Scott for taking these enemies of science to task.
A scathing piece from Christopher Hitchens about Hillary’s Bosnia fabrication. He makes a convincing case that her lie is deeper than I had previously understood.
One of my favorite bands, My Morning Jacket, has been hard at work on a new album. Thanks to a link from Backseat Sandbar, I found some videos of them performing a bunch of the new songs. If you don’t mind spoiling your dinner, head on over to Breakfast on Tour and indulge yourself. I like what I hear so far.
It was the last morning before heading home from a quick weekend trip to Chicago. We lost an hour due to the time change, and thanks to a call from our agent the day before, we now had to get up at 6am to make our way home in time to clean before he was to show the house to a prospective buyer.
We slept well in the plush bed at the W Hotel. We just didn’t get enough of that good sleep. Our rushed schedule and the $12 price tag on the least expensive room service breakfast item led me to procure breakfast from the McDonald’s next to the Hotel.
We were packing our bags after finishing our extremely greasy and delicious sandwiches when I noticed the picture on the side of the paper bag which previously contained our food. I grabbed the bag and held it to my chest before Medina could get a look. I asked her: “What picture do you think is on this side of the bag?” Looking at the picture of the drum set on the opposite side, she made the reasonable guess of “a guy playing guitar.” I told her she was wrong. I also told her that it was a bit unfair, because no person on the planet, (with the exception the person responsible for the creation of the be bag) could have guessed.
That’s right. It is a woman. In a wheelchair. Rappelling.
Good for her. I am proud to know that she is not limited in her enjoyment of the outdoors. But why? Why is she on the outside of my bag, the bottom of which has been made translucent by grease. Why is there a woman in a wheelchair rappelling down the side of my bag?
This is supposed to explain, but it does not. There is clearly more to be learned about this interesting and inspiring woman. Perhaps I should thank the bag. For with out it, I would never have known about Terri.
One of my favorite TV shows is Law and Order: Criminal Intent. It is a favorite because it features Vincent D’Onofrio. He is one of my favorite actors. I believe the phase “creepy mellow” was invented just for him, and his character on L&O:CI is a fantastically dense, troubled individual. It’s the kind of character which is not often portrayed on cop shows. David Caruso wishes he was half as good as Mr. D’Onofrio.
It was not long after I got into Criminal Intent that I realized Mr. D’Onofrio was also in one of my favorite movies: Full Metal Jacket. He played the troubled fatbody Private Pyle with souch vicious intensity that it is difficult to remember the entire half of the movie after he removes himself from the story.
So tonight as I was sitting in front of the TV, paying little attention to what was on, I was shocked to see that Mr. D’Onofrio has a small roll in another cinematic masterpiece: Adventures in Babysitting. That’s right. In one of that intricately crafted story’s many sub-climaxes, he makes a dramatic entry. Slowly decending on a hydraulic lift, he is revealed in all his glory. The titular head of Dawson’s garage. The sledgehammer-toting: Thor!
An interesting exercise, the Political Compass is an evaluation of your political profile, based on answers to several sets of questions. Ben was looking for his old results, and it lead me to find my previous results. I don’t have the old image, but based on the old numbers, these results seem very similar.
From the wonderful Bad Astronomy Blog, a nice concise rebuttal to the argument that science requires faith. This is an argument which is frequently put forth by persons who are threatened by science in general and evolution specifically. Phil Plait runs a great site, and this particular post is a great introduction.
My favorite line:
“it’s difficult to reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into”
The way the questions are framed in this interview makes me think the interviewer was looking to humiliate a clueless kid at an Obama rally. I can’t be sure of the interviewer’s motivations but that’s the impression I get. The subject of the interview stands his ground admirably in the face of some aggressive questioning.
This article provides a nice evaluation of where value will be created in an economy which finally accepts the reality of ubiquitous free copying. My interest in intellectual Property law has a lot to do with how our laws deal with this issue currently, and how we will deal with it in the future. (via GeekPress)
It is hard not to get excited about Obama. I am a fan, and I would be very happy to see him get elected. The operational style of The Clintons turned me away from the Democrats for a long time, and influenced my votes for longer than I’d care to admit. But The Clintons are very good at what they do. So every time I find myself thinking that Obama has a chance of winning this thing, I remind myself that anything can happen. I remain hopeful, but cautious.
My number one song of the year, from my number one album of the year is The General Specific, on the album Cease To Begin by Band of Horses. It is an amazing song and an amazing album. You deserve to check them out.
