Australian government spending as a percentage of GDP
That's quite a graph Daly has got there. I hope it's right.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Meanwhile, in one of the most ridiculous nations on the planet
Teacher suspended after playing violin for young women | GulfNews.com
In other news from that country where the heat seems to addle minds:
A university in Saudi Arabia has suspended a foreign teacher after he played the violin in front of a class of young women.Good grief. Was he doing it nude? (No.) Is it meant to be seductive? (Ha.) Does a bow carry some sort of phallic symbolism? Who knows?
Dr Eisa Al Ansari, the rector of Prince Mohammed University (PMU), one of the largest private universities in Saudi Arabia, said that an investigation had been launched into the incident.
The rector said that the teacher was new at the university and that he was recruited two months ago.
The incident was a personal behaviour by the teacher and violated the formal policy of the university aligned with the systems and regulations of the Ministry of Education that are endorsed and applied by all universities in Saudi Arabia, he added, Saudi news site Sabq reported on Thursday.
In other news from that country where the heat seems to addle minds:
A huge family dispute erupted in Saudi Arabia after a man’s wife kissed a camel.Mind you, this story is not sourced, and sounds the equivalent of tabloid gossip, but still...
The man’s mother accused her daughter-in-law of breaking religious and social traditions and pressured her son to divorce his wife.
The wife insisted that the kiss was innocent and spontaneous.
She also accused her mother-in-law of using the kiss as an excuse to attack her because she had not yet given birth to a baby.
My new found respect for the sea monkey
BBC - Earth - The animal that lives for 10,000 years
Perhaps that should be "lives" (in inverted commas) because what they are talking about is the larva cysts, which can dry out yet appear to be viable for 10,000 years. (They know this because they got some to hatch from old salt layers of that age.)
Still, that is very impressive. It sounds as if it won't be cockroaches that inherit the earth, after all.
Perhaps that should be "lives" (in inverted commas) because what they are talking about is the larva cysts, which can dry out yet appear to be viable for 10,000 years. (They know this because they got some to hatch from old salt layers of that age.)
Still, that is very impressive. It sounds as if it won't be cockroaches that inherit the earth, after all.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
What about the Pelagians??
Would you believe it? A selection of ancient faiths ripe for revival � The Spectator
As far as heresies go, the Pelagian one seemed pretty inoffensive, and, indeed, somewhat more attuned to modern thinking.
As far as heresies go, the Pelagian one seemed pretty inoffensive, and, indeed, somewhat more attuned to modern thinking.
A topical slur
Steve to young monty, looking over at Catallaxy Files:
"You will never find a more wretched hive of dumb and villainy."
"You will never find a more wretched hive of dumb and villainy."
Another global warming problem in the making
Climate change rapidly warming world's lakes
Algal blooms, which can ultimately rob water of oxygen, are projected to increase 20 percent in lakes over the next century as warming rates increase. Algal blooms that are toxic to fish and animals would increase by 5 percent. If these rates continue, emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide on 100-year time scales, will increase 4 percent over the next decade.Another article at phys.org indicates this is a real problem even for North American cities:
By the latter half of this century, toxic algal blooms like the one that cut off drinking water to the city of Toledo in 2014 will no longer be the exception, but the norm, a study suggests.
Wondering about Lawrence
I wonder how much credit for the apparent success of the new Star Wars is due to Lawrence Kasdan's involvement with the script? I always thought he was largely credited with the good script for Empire Strikes Back. (Then again, he also worked on Return of the Jedi, which I thought was a very weak script and story in comparison.)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Warm up north
Record US temperatures are work of El Nino and polar vortex, experts say | US news | The Guardian
It can't be helping the Republican PR cause, having some cherry blossoms in December....
It can't be helping the Republican PR cause, having some cherry blossoms in December....
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
German coco nut
Death By Coconut: A Story Of Food Obsession Gone Too Far : The Salt : NPR
Now if only it had been parsnips, on the other hand....
Born in Nuremberg in 1875, August Engelhardt was among the disaffected youngsters drawn to the back-to-nature Lebensreform (Life Reform) movement sweeping through Germany and Switzerland at the time. Its proponents yearned after an unspoiled Eden where people ateSo he goes to an island in New Guinea with a coconut plantation, 15 young Germans join him, they die or catch malaria (which Engelhart claimed wouldn't happen because of the power of the coconut) and his cult ends. Engelhardt himself dies at 44 as a skinny and very unhealthy man.
vegetables and raw food.
Engelhardt was especially taken by Gustav Schlickeysen's 1877 dietary treatise, Fruit and Bread: A Scientific Diet. Influenced by Darwinism, the book claimed that since the natural food of apes was uncooked food and grain, that was also "the proper food for man."
Engelhardt took it even further: For him, even bread and fruit were tainted. In his mind, the only immaculate and mystical fleshpot was the coconut, with its snowy white meat and translucent water.
In 1898, he and fellow vegetarian August Bethmann laid out their vision in a pamphlet called A Carefree Future: The New Gospel. As the pamphlet's grandiose subtitle makes plain, Engelhardt's ambitions of a Coconut Camelot, with himself as a nude King Arthur, were driven by much more than dietary compulsions: His was a spiritual quest.
"He believed that since the coconut grew high up in the tree, closest to God and closest to the sun, it was godlike," says Kracht. "And since it had hair and looked like a human head, he thought it came closest to being a man. According to his rather crackpot theory, to be a cocovore was to be a theophage — or eater of God."
Now if only it had been parsnips, on the other hand....
Fundamental mistake
What??? I, as a Spielberg nerd, and no doubt thousands of Star Wars nerds, am shocked at the caption beneath this report on The Australian:
Kate's looking nice, in an Annie Hall kind of way, but Spielberg has never been "an original director" of anything Star Wars.
Whichever wet behind the ears journalist who wrote that deserves the sack.
Kate's looking nice, in an Annie Hall kind of way, but Spielberg has never been "an original director" of anything Star Wars.
Whichever wet behind the ears journalist who wrote that deserves the sack.
How did the Right get so stupid and nasty, Part 2
For no particular reason, via Tim Blairs blog (which still lists me in the blogroll, as it appears not to have been updated for 8 years or so), I dropped in on the long running American right wing comic Day By Day. A couple of recent entries:
Yeah, the first one is meant to be (I think) from a DVD the characters are watching. Cos, you know, there's nothing the paranoid gun owners of America would like more to watch than a black president (is he meant to be a zombie too?) being blown away over gun rights.
The second one again shows the "don't worry, if he tries that he'll be shot" philosophy of the cartoonist.
This cartoon is still linked to by the half respectable Hot Air conservative site (which seems to have a lot of Catholics amongst its columnists). Perhaps they don't read it, too.
Yeah, the first one is meant to be (I think) from a DVD the characters are watching. Cos, you know, there's nothing the paranoid gun owners of America would like more to watch than a black president (is he meant to be a zombie too?) being blown away over gun rights.
The second one again shows the "don't worry, if he tries that he'll be shot" philosophy of the cartoonist.
This cartoon is still linked to by the half respectable Hot Air conservative site (which seems to have a lot of Catholics amongst its columnists). Perhaps they don't read it, too.
Monday, December 14, 2015
How did the Right become so stupid and nasty?
The nastiness is not confined to one side of politics: if anything, the Left used to pretty much have the market in asinine, ridiculously over-simplistic yet rudely and aggressively stated views to itself.
But why did the American Right decide to go that way too? Seems to me to be a major socio-cultural question that I really haven't seen properly explained, yet.
This was brought to mind by noting on the weekend the American Right blogosphere (and their Australian numbskull followers) high-fiving themselves over convicted criminal and Obama hyperventilator Dinesh D'Souza getting nasty with a college student in America (while simultaneously not listening to him.)
To paraphrase the exchange down to its key parts:
Privileged white college student: Don't you think you should acknowledge that black disadvantage is ongoing not only as a result of the slavery era, but even from the well documented modern financial discrimination such as how veterans after WW2 were treated?
D'Souza: well, why don't you give up your rich white-ass seat at this college to a black person?
PWCS: hey, I didn't say I supported Affirmative Action..
D'Souza: well if you're serious you would
PWCS: hey, if you're saying I'm a hypocrite - we're all a bit hypocritical in the way we don't all do the maximum thing that our concerns indicate we could, in theory, do; but you know, I've tried to help in some ways....
D'Souza: so you support Affirmative Action.
PWCS: I just told you I didn't. I'm talking about effective social security -
D'Souza: You massive hypocrite - you make me sick - yes, you personally. We can deal with the historical injustices either by ending discrimination (which we did in the civil rights movement) or you can be a Leftist thieving scumbag, like you, who wants to steal from others to give it to the underprivileged, but won't give up your own seat in this college.
......
I don't think I'm exaggerating much...
Now, I've left out the bits about D'Souza saying how if you want to look far enough back in history, lots of people confiscated lots of stuff from lots of other people, so rectifying all historical injustices could be a never ending exercise (true). But he ends up in such an over the top position of his own that is only defensible if he's a "all tax is theft" twit.
I see that The Atlantic took a look at his decline from relatively credible conservative commentator to over-the-top, irrationally Obama hating darling of the Tea Party. (The article notes that critics say he likes to attack straw men - a tactic used in abundance in the video above. Surely people can see that? Oh, that's right, these are the same people who can't believe thermometers, either.) For a more acerbic attack on D'Souza, you can't go past Bill Maher interviewing him in 2012.
I hadn't paid attention to him much til this weekend, but it seems he may well be emblematic of the decline of American Right.
Update: I meant to add that D'Souza's story seems similar to Niall Ferguson - formerly somewhat interesting conservative writer capable of making decent argument becomes mere hyperbolic shadow of his former self in playing up to the Tea Party wing of the Right. Both are divorced too, in what I think were unhappy ends to their first marriage. Niall Ferguson got much publicity a couple of years ago by arguing Keynes didn't really care about the future (and the effect of his economics on it) because he was gay. Perhaps conservative extremism in academics is exacerbated by adultery and divorce, hey Niall?
But why did the American Right decide to go that way too? Seems to me to be a major socio-cultural question that I really haven't seen properly explained, yet.
This was brought to mind by noting on the weekend the American Right blogosphere (and their Australian numbskull followers) high-fiving themselves over convicted criminal and Obama hyperventilator Dinesh D'Souza getting nasty with a college student in America (while simultaneously not listening to him.)
To paraphrase the exchange down to its key parts:
Privileged white college student: Don't you think you should acknowledge that black disadvantage is ongoing not only as a result of the slavery era, but even from the well documented modern financial discrimination such as how veterans after WW2 were treated?
D'Souza: well, why don't you give up your rich white-ass seat at this college to a black person?
PWCS: hey, I didn't say I supported Affirmative Action..
D'Souza: well if you're serious you would
PWCS: hey, if you're saying I'm a hypocrite - we're all a bit hypocritical in the way we don't all do the maximum thing that our concerns indicate we could, in theory, do; but you know, I've tried to help in some ways....
D'Souza: so you support Affirmative Action.
PWCS: I just told you I didn't. I'm talking about effective social security -
D'Souza: You massive hypocrite - you make me sick - yes, you personally. We can deal with the historical injustices either by ending discrimination (which we did in the civil rights movement) or you can be a Leftist thieving scumbag, like you, who wants to steal from others to give it to the underprivileged, but won't give up your own seat in this college.
......
I don't think I'm exaggerating much...
Now, I've left out the bits about D'Souza saying how if you want to look far enough back in history, lots of people confiscated lots of stuff from lots of other people, so rectifying all historical injustices could be a never ending exercise (true). But he ends up in such an over the top position of his own that is only defensible if he's a "all tax is theft" twit.
I see that The Atlantic took a look at his decline from relatively credible conservative commentator to over-the-top, irrationally Obama hating darling of the Tea Party. (The article notes that critics say he likes to attack straw men - a tactic used in abundance in the video above. Surely people can see that? Oh, that's right, these are the same people who can't believe thermometers, either.) For a more acerbic attack on D'Souza, you can't go past Bill Maher interviewing him in 2012.
I hadn't paid attention to him much til this weekend, but it seems he may well be emblematic of the decline of American Right.
Update: I meant to add that D'Souza's story seems similar to Niall Ferguson - formerly somewhat interesting conservative writer capable of making decent argument becomes mere hyperbolic shadow of his former self in playing up to the Tea Party wing of the Right. Both are divorced too, in what I think were unhappy ends to their first marriage. Niall Ferguson got much publicity a couple of years ago by arguing Keynes didn't really care about the future (and the effect of his economics on it) because he was gay. Perhaps conservative extremism in academics is exacerbated by adultery and divorce, hey Niall?
Another good Marvel comedy
As readers will recall, the genre of science fiction comedy is one that I particularly enjoy, and while I regret the huge amount of Hollywood time now devoted to comic book material (in the form of Marvel or DC Comics characters) played seriously, I can enjoy it if it is used primarily for humour.
Hence I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy, and this weekend, very much enjoyed Ant-man, too.
It's a terribly witty script with (of course) very silly and inconsistent physics. But it is funny, fast, nicely acted, and features the best role for Thomas the Tank Engine ever written.
Hence I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy, and this weekend, very much enjoyed Ant-man, too.
It's a terribly witty script with (of course) very silly and inconsistent physics. But it is funny, fast, nicely acted, and features the best role for Thomas the Tank Engine ever written.
I suppose I should say something about Paris...
For a short, sharp take on the outcome of Paris, I think James at his Empty Blog is probably as good as any - as long as you read the comments too.
As I try to be a "glass half full" type of person, generally speaking, I find myself somewhat encouraged to read about the shocking pollution in China last week (and, perhaps, the incredible smoke problem stemming from Indonesia that blights neighbouring countries too) as giving reason for at least those countries to get serious about not burning carbon for reasons other than mere temperature rises and climate change. But then again, maybe I am being too optimistic (see The Economist's short take on the Chinese air pollution problem.)
I see that Lomborg has been The Australian's go-to boy for commentary on how the Paris meeting was all for nought. I see that Senator for Guns, Soccer Fans (but not Bicycle Helmets) Leyonhjelm tweet-cites him, which is a bit odd, given that Lomborg actually advocates a $100 billion to be spent on clean energy research. I thought small government types didn't trust governments to back winners.
By the way, Lomborg's website seems to contain even more selfies than Tim Wilson's twitter account, if that's possible. Wilson: "Oh look, here I am, in one of the crucial historical and cultural centres of the world, so let's take up half of this shot with my beaming face!":
And what the heck is he doing there at a meeting with the Palestinians and Bronwyn Bishop and Christopher Pyne?? See his twitter account, if his visage doesn't give you hives.
Update: John Quiggin's cautious optimism seems about right, too.
As I try to be a "glass half full" type of person, generally speaking, I find myself somewhat encouraged to read about the shocking pollution in China last week (and, perhaps, the incredible smoke problem stemming from Indonesia that blights neighbouring countries too) as giving reason for at least those countries to get serious about not burning carbon for reasons other than mere temperature rises and climate change. But then again, maybe I am being too optimistic (see The Economist's short take on the Chinese air pollution problem.)
I see that Lomborg has been The Australian's go-to boy for commentary on how the Paris meeting was all for nought. I see that Senator for Guns, Soccer Fans (but not Bicycle Helmets) Leyonhjelm tweet-cites him, which is a bit odd, given that Lomborg actually advocates a $100 billion to be spent on clean energy research. I thought small government types didn't trust governments to back winners.
By the way, Lomborg's website seems to contain even more selfies than Tim Wilson's twitter account, if that's possible. Wilson: "Oh look, here I am, in one of the crucial historical and cultural centres of the world, so let's take up half of this shot with my beaming face!":
And what the heck is he doing there at a meeting with the Palestinians and Bronwyn Bishop and Christopher Pyne?? See his twitter account, if his visage doesn't give you hives.
Update: John Quiggin's cautious optimism seems about right, too.
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