It's been quite a while (4 or 5 years?) since there's been any news of interesting research results in parapsychology studies done by proper researchers. It would seem the field has diminished in effort over the last decade or so, and regrettably, it probably suffers reputational damage from the crappy and unwatchable "ghost investigators" shows made for American cable TV.
But someone, somewhere, is still doing useful work on it, I trust?
Thursday, April 14, 2016
The cost of rapid economic growth
Counting the cost of China’s left-behind children - BBC News
Here's a problem that doesn't get much publicity - the huge number of Chinese kids who are growing up without one or both parents due to work.
Here's a problem that doesn't get much publicity - the huge number of Chinese kids who are growing up without one or both parents due to work.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Warming on the plateau
From the abstract of an article looking at the changing climate on the Tibetan Plateau (TP):
The TP is overall getting warmer and wetter during the past decades. Temperature is significantly increased, especially since the 1980s. The overall warming rate ranges from 0.16 to 0.67 °C decade–1 since the 1950s during different periods. The TP shows a uniform warming trend with the most significant warming in the northern part.Sure sounds like a rapid warming rate for some parts of Tibet, then...
The Handel (sort of) scandal
Inspired by a radio announcer (ABC, of course) informing me today that it is the 275th (I think) anniversary of the first performance of Handel's "Messiah" in Dublin, I decided to Google "Handel scandal" and see what popped up.
Indeed there was a bit of associated scandal around this production. A short summary is given in this NYT review in 2000 of a (apparently, not very good) play about the oratorio:
As for Handel himself, it sounds like he was a mix of physical greed and generosity:
Indeed there was a bit of associated scandal around this production. A short summary is given in this NYT review in 2000 of a (apparently, not very good) play about the oratorio:
In 1741, Handel, then 56, was in debt and in crisis. His royal patron and ardent admirer, Queen Caroline, the wife of King George II of the House of Hanover, had died in 1737. His Italian operas were losing popularity. He was suffering from the aftermath of a partial stroke. In the summer of 1741, Charles Jennens, a wealthy squire and music connoisseur, who had written the libretto for Handel's oratorio ''Saul,'' sent him a new script. It had no characters; it simply told the story of the Messiah using biblical scripture compiled by Jennens. At first Handel was baffled by it. But when a performance opportunity arose in Dublin, he composed a score in three weeks.
Wait a minute: three weeks? He composed it in 3 weeks? They don't make composers like they used to. Let's look more into that (at Wikipedia):All the characters in Mr. Slover's play are based on historical people, and they are quite a gallery. Susannah Cibber (performed by Mary Miller), was a singer and actress who had married the co-manager of the Drury Lane Theater to assist the flagging career of her brother, the composer Thomas Arne. She was ruined by her part in an adultery scandal, the salacious details of which were circulated in a best-selling book at the time, the Starr report of its day, as Mr. Slover has called it. The play includes quotes from the book and the trial transcript. The Dublin and London premieres of the ''Messiah'' were Cibber's comeback.
The music for Messiah was completed in 24 days of swift composition. Having received Jennens's text some time after 10 July 1741, Handel began work on it on 22 August. His records show that he had completed Part I in outline by 28 August, Part II by 6 September and Part III by 12 September, followed by two days of "filling up" to produce the finished work on 14 September. The autograph score's 259 pages show some signs of haste such as blots, scratchings-out, unfilled bars and other uncorrected errors, but according to the music scholar Richard Luckett the number of errors is remarkably small in a document of this length.[26] The original manuscript for Messiah is now one of the chief highlights from the British Library's music collection.I really like The Messiah, but have never read much about Handel. There's a short but entertaining account of him and, the music scene in London in which he worked, to be found at Smithsonian.com. Here are some of my favourite parts:
At the end of his manuscript Handel wrote the letters "SDG"—Soli Deo Gloria, "To God alone the glory". This inscription, taken with the speed of composition, has encouraged belief in the apocryphal story that Handel wrote the music in a fervour of divine inspiration in which, as he wrote the "Hallelujah" chorus, "he saw all heaven before him".[26] Burrows points out that many of Handel's operas, of comparable length and structure to Messiah, were composed within similar timescales between theatrical seasons. The effort of writing so much music in so short a time was not unusual for Handel and his contemporaries; Handel commenced his next oratorio, Samson, within a week of finishing Messiah, and completed his draft of this new work in a month.
Increasingly elaborate opera productions led to rising costs due, in part, to hiring musicians and singers from Italy. "It was generally agreed Italian singers were better trained and more talented than local products," notes Christopher Hogwood, a Handel biographer and founder of the Academy of Ancient Music, the London period-instrument orchestra he directs. But beautiful voices were often accompanied by mercurial temperaments. At a 1727 opera performance, Handel's leading sopranos, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, actually came to blows onstage, with their partisans cheering them on. "Shame that two such well-bred ladies should call [each other] Bitch and Whore, should scold and fight," John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), the mathematician and satirist, wrote in a pamphlet describing the increasing hysteria of London's opera world.
Despite his fame, Handel's inner life remains enigmatic. "We know far more about the environment in which he lived and the sort of people he knew than about his private life," Keates adds. Part of the explanation lies in the dearth of personal letters. We must rely on contradictory descriptions of Handel by admirers and detractors, whose opinions were colored by the musical rivalries of 1700s London.
Although he neither married nor was known to have had a long-lasting romantic relationship, Handel was pursued by various young women and a leading Italian soprano, Vittoria Tarquini, according to accounts by his contemporaries. Intensely loyal to friends and colleagues, he was capable of appalling temper outbursts. Because of a dispute over seating in an orchestra pit, he fought a near-fatal duel with a fellow composer and musician, Johann Mattheson, whose sword thrust was blunted by a metal button on Handel's coat. Yet the two remained close friends for years afterward. During rehearsals at a London opera house with Francesca Cuzzoni, Handel grew so infuriated by her refusal to follow his every instruction that he grabbed her by the waist and threatened to hurl her out an open window. "I know well that you are a real she-devil, but I will have you know that I am Beelzebub!" he screamed at the terrified soprano.
Handel, who grew increasingly obese over the years, certainly had an intimidating physique. "He paid more attention to [food] than is becoming to any man," wrote Handel's earliest biographer, John Mainwaring, in 1760. Artist Joseph Goupy, who designed scenery for Handel operas, complained that he was served a meager dinner at the composer's home in 1745; only afterward did he discover his host in the next room, secretly gorging on "claret and French dishes." The irate Goupy produced a caricature of Handel at an organ keyboard, his face contorted into a pig snout, surrounded by fowl, wine bottles and oysters strewn at his feet.The picture painted of the turbulent world of opera at the time sounds like it would make a good movie or play. Pity the one attempt the NYTimes reviewed was not good...
"He may have been mean with food, but not with money," says Keates. Amassing a fortune through his music and shrewd investments in London's burgeoning stock market, Handel donated munificently to orphans, retired musicians and the ill. (He gave his portion of his Messiah debut proceeds to a debtors' prison and hospital in Dublin.)
Someone else who only likes superhero comedies
‘Deadpool’ Isn’t the Only Solution. But ‘Batman v Superman’ Is the Problem. - The New York Times
This take on the matter of superhero movies sounds pretty right to me - except that I assume I would dislike the violence and poor language in Deadpool.
This take on the matter of superhero movies sounds pretty right to me - except that I assume I would dislike the violence and poor language in Deadpool.
Because you weren't?
I didn’t I know I was transgender.
Reading this article of a former butch lesbian who has decided she is transgender after all does little to encourage sympathy; but that may just be me (and my new best friend Germaine - ha).
I think what really grates with me is the use of medical effort to endorse something which (in this woman's case) sounds more like a curious exercise in what it will feel like to be more manly in appearance than she already is.
Reading this article of a former butch lesbian who has decided she is transgender after all does little to encourage sympathy; but that may just be me (and my new best friend Germaine - ha).
I think what really grates with me is the use of medical effort to endorse something which (in this woman's case) sounds more like a curious exercise in what it will feel like to be more manly in appearance than she already is.
Not a good look
News Corp journalists reject domestic violence views of Daily Telegraph's Tim Blair | Media | The Guardian
Actually, I had read Tim Blair's post about the ABC adding "domestic violence leave" to its work conditions, and didn't take much offence. (It does seem to stretch the imagination that the ABC employs people who would be in violent relationships - we like to imagine that smart people don't get themselves into that situation, but then again, we all know of examples where it has happened.)
Still, it's a very embarrassing look for Tim to be taking this line when it turns out his own company is doing the same:
Actually, I had read Tim Blair's post about the ABC adding "domestic violence leave" to its work conditions, and didn't take much offence. (It does seem to stretch the imagination that the ABC employs people who would be in violent relationships - we like to imagine that smart people don't get themselves into that situation, but then again, we all know of examples where it has happened.)
Still, it's a very embarrassing look for Tim to be taking this line when it turns out his own company is doing the same:
A constant critic of the ABC, Blair ridiculed the ABC staff for askingHonestly, his constant ridiculing of the ABC has long since spilled over from ridicule of pretentiousness to what reads like sour grapes and an unhealthy obsession with every single person who works there (and makes a good quid out of it.) The same can be said of Andrew Bolt, of course, although with Blair it feels more, I don't know, personal. (He did have a brief attempt at a radio show there, didn't he?)
for domestic violence leave but appeared ignorant that his own
colleagues had logged a similar claim in the current bargaining round.
Maglev, if you must
High speed rail: wrong train, right track?
Michael Pascoe argues that if you must have high speed rail in Australia, use maglev.
He might be right...
Michael Pascoe argues that if you must have high speed rail in Australia, use maglev.
He might be right...
The perfect Guardian storm
Heh. I don't think I can imagine a more perfect storm for Guardian readers' response than an opinion piece criticising Germanine Greer for her, um, less-than-entirely-endorsing-transexuals opinions.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Scratching the high speed itch
As much as I like taking the Shinkansen when in Japan, count me as skeptical about the prospects of a successful very fast train that runs any distance in Australia. But if we have to build one, instead of doing all this tunnelling (I heard someone on the radio saying that the Melbourne to Sydney one requires sixty something kilometres of tunnels) I'd like to see this design:
How cool was that? Avoids the 'roo on the track issue, too (unless you catch a very unlucky one mid-bound.) And instead of having just one leave the station every 2 hours or so, you could have one small one leave every ten minutes. Sort of like Musk's Hyperloop, without the claustrophobia.
Clearly, this desire to try for something like a Shinkansen in Australia will not go away from the public's mind. But like some itches that need to be scratched, it's probably best to try small scale before committing to large. Buy just a couple of handweights before putting that home gym machine on the credit card; or a set of rubber cuffs before the deluxe ceiling swing. (I have no idea what I am talking about in either case.)
So, just build the thing for a relatively short, relatively useful distance, like Sydney to Canberra, and see how that goes before spending money on expanding it beyond that. In fact, given how long both projects will seemingly take, build it from the new airport site at Badgerys Creek to Canberra, maybe? Put a relatively fast train from Central to Badgerys, perhaps - with an automatic luggage transfer to the really fast train? (I am assuming that might cut costs a fair bit.)
You can thank me later, Australia, for my useful suggestions....
How cool was that? Avoids the 'roo on the track issue, too (unless you catch a very unlucky one mid-bound.) And instead of having just one leave the station every 2 hours or so, you could have one small one leave every ten minutes. Sort of like Musk's Hyperloop, without the claustrophobia.
Clearly, this desire to try for something like a Shinkansen in Australia will not go away from the public's mind. But like some itches that need to be scratched, it's probably best to try small scale before committing to large. Buy just a couple of handweights before putting that home gym machine on the credit card; or a set of rubber cuffs before the deluxe ceiling swing. (I have no idea what I am talking about in either case.)
So, just build the thing for a relatively short, relatively useful distance, like Sydney to Canberra, and see how that goes before spending money on expanding it beyond that. In fact, given how long both projects will seemingly take, build it from the new airport site at Badgerys Creek to Canberra, maybe? Put a relatively fast train from Central to Badgerys, perhaps - with an automatic luggage transfer to the really fast train? (I am assuming that might cut costs a fair bit.)
You can thank me later, Australia, for my useful suggestions....
Monday, April 11, 2016
The history of a denier meme
The Volcano Gambit � RealClimate
I'm not sure why Gavin Schmidt is re-visiting this right now, but it's still good to read of the origin of the mistaken meme on the matter of volcanoes and their greenhouse gas contributions.
I'm not sure why Gavin Schmidt is re-visiting this right now, but it's still good to read of the origin of the mistaken meme on the matter of volcanoes and their greenhouse gas contributions.
More "in praise of higher taxes"
I'm an American living in Sweden. Here's why I came to embrace the higher taxes. - Vox
There was a very similar article to this in one of the other American sites I visit earlier this year, and I think I posted about it, too.
I feel I should point out something, in light of how often I post about this: it's not that I'm an ideologue when it comes to taxes and the role of government, and I don't think every country should (or can) be like Scandinavia. For one thing, the physical size of countries surely helps determine what governments can reasonably be expected to provide, and all European nations benefit from the small geography and high density of living. Singapore does, too.
There is also the cultural element that affects the way a government can succeed (or not), so that (for example) a country like Japan can expect societal co-operation in some policies (ease of access to alcohol, little societal interest in illicit drugs) that others can't.
My attitude is more that the international examples of how countries and economies work show us the many ways different tax and government spending regimes can work, so that it is clear that low tax, limited government is not the only way to success and a happy society.
It's more a case that I am interested in showing that the libertarian/small government/low tax position that is powerful in the US and parts of the Australian Right is more pure ideology and belief system than something that is inherently the best way to approach economics and how we should run Australia.
There was a very similar article to this in one of the other American sites I visit earlier this year, and I think I posted about it, too.
I feel I should point out something, in light of how often I post about this: it's not that I'm an ideologue when it comes to taxes and the role of government, and I don't think every country should (or can) be like Scandinavia. For one thing, the physical size of countries surely helps determine what governments can reasonably be expected to provide, and all European nations benefit from the small geography and high density of living. Singapore does, too.
There is also the cultural element that affects the way a government can succeed (or not), so that (for example) a country like Japan can expect societal co-operation in some policies (ease of access to alcohol, little societal interest in illicit drugs) that others can't.
My attitude is more that the international examples of how countries and economies work show us the many ways different tax and government spending regimes can work, so that it is clear that low tax, limited government is not the only way to success and a happy society.
It's more a case that I am interested in showing that the libertarian/small government/low tax position that is powerful in the US and parts of the Australian Right is more pure ideology and belief system than something that is inherently the best way to approach economics and how we should run Australia.
Human misbehaviour less than expected
Fathered by the Mailman? It’s Mostly an Urban Legend - The New York Times
Yeah, I think I have read this before: the old estimates of how many children are fathered by someone other than their assumed father are way over the top, and many scientists think the true figure is closer to a relatively modest 1%.
Yeah, I think I have read this before: the old estimates of how many children are fathered by someone other than their assumed father are way over the top, and many scientists think the true figure is closer to a relatively modest 1%.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Zootopia viewed
Got around to seeing Zootopia today.
Utterly charming, constantly witty but often hilarious; visually pleasing, inventive in concept, not heavy handed in "messaging"; great fun for adults, and intense cuteness in character design bound to please the younger viewer as well. It's terrific.
The Disney brand on animated movies has, without doubt, replaced that of Pixar as the one to look out for.
Utterly charming, constantly witty but often hilarious; visually pleasing, inventive in concept, not heavy handed in "messaging"; great fun for adults, and intense cuteness in character design bound to please the younger viewer as well. It's terrific.
The Disney brand on animated movies has, without doubt, replaced that of Pixar as the one to look out for.
Transgender politics
How the Fight Over Transgender Kids Got a Leading Sex Researcher Fired
A truly startling article here from February 2016 about transgender identity politics in the matter of how to deal with children who think they are transgender. (Added to put some justification into my "cynical" positioning on the current state of our culture's understanding of transgender issues.)
A truly startling article here from February 2016 about transgender identity politics in the matter of how to deal with children who think they are transgender. (Added to put some justification into my "cynical" positioning on the current state of our culture's understanding of transgender issues.)
Friday, April 08, 2016
Who do I believe, the trader or the libertarian?
Well, this is kinda weird.
Sinclair Davidson writes this morning indicating that he's distinctly ambiguous when it comes to the question of what's wrong with Westpac rate rigging. (OK, he mentions "poor banking behaviour" in one sentence, then in the next he puts "scandal" in inverted commas, and indicates that he thinks no one can really explain why it's a problem.) This is even when the trader in question has been widely quoted in the media saying:
Update: perhaps Sinclair should read this post at The Conversation for some ethical enlightenment.
Sinclair Davidson writes this morning indicating that he's distinctly ambiguous when it comes to the question of what's wrong with Westpac rate rigging. (OK, he mentions "poor banking behaviour" in one sentence, then in the next he puts "scandal" in inverted commas, and indicates that he thinks no one can really explain why it's a problem.) This is even when the trader in question has been widely quoted in the media saying:
"I knew it was completely wrong but f--- it I might as well, I thought f--- it. We've just got so much money on it, we just had to do it, right ...", court documents allege Mr Roden said.I think when it comes to matters of ethics, and their potential to interfere with making money, don't let a libertarian, or anyone associated with the IPA, anywhere near policy influence.
Update: perhaps Sinclair should read this post at The Conversation for some ethical enlightenment.
Transgender comment
Readers would know that I am certainly somewhere on the "cynical" end of the scale on acceptance of the current understanding of what transgender identity is all about. Especially when it comes to the matter of children and the way some parents respond to it.
On the other hand, what is this American conservative panic about transgenders using the toilets they want to use? I would have thought that a man who wants to be a woman wants to identify with them - not use their existing equipment to present a danger to them. I mean, I could be wrong, but I would have thought a transgender man (pre-op or not) is about the safest person a woman could find in their toilet - more wanting to exchange make up tips than have raise any issue about sex.
Is the concern that men could pretend to be transgender so as to get their way into a toilet that might give them access to a woman alone? I suppose...but really, any heterosexual potential rapist could already sneak into a women's toilet if he wants to.
If a woman is concerned by any man who does not appear to be non transgender in the toilet alone, does the law change prevent her raising a concern?
On the other hand, what is this American conservative panic about transgenders using the toilets they want to use? I would have thought that a man who wants to be a woman wants to identify with them - not use their existing equipment to present a danger to them. I mean, I could be wrong, but I would have thought a transgender man (pre-op or not) is about the safest person a woman could find in their toilet - more wanting to exchange make up tips than have raise any issue about sex.
Is the concern that men could pretend to be transgender so as to get their way into a toilet that might give them access to a woman alone? I suppose...but really, any heterosexual potential rapist could already sneak into a women's toilet if he wants to.
If a woman is concerned by any man who does not appear to be non transgender in the toilet alone, does the law change prevent her raising a concern?
A tale of two business/economics commentators
In the Australian today, I was able to Google through to two columns about the Arrium steel crisis in Whyalla.
First: Judith Sloan has a piece with all the analytical depth of Nelson Muntz going "ha ha". Seems she can't actually find a way to blame the union (noting that they have made wage cut concessions), but that doesn't stop her with an implied "AWU. Phff. What do you expect..." And same with the electricity prices increases which haven't actually happened yet.
So it's to John Durrie to get some actual detail as to what has gone wrong with the company, and he ends with a pretty compelling sounding:
On the Labor side and the suggestion of (I think) some protectionist motivated unionists that cheap steel from China is potentially dangerous: that does raise a good point - what sort of quality control is there for imported steel? Obviously, the company overseas manufacturing it would say it meets a set of specifications or standards, but do nations importing it have any systems for quality testing to see whether it does meet them? Or is it up to private enterprise to do that? How much of each shipload would you have to test to be confident that a batch is fine?
That's something I have no idea about, but I would hope there is some system of quality testing.
First: Judith Sloan has a piece with all the analytical depth of Nelson Muntz going "ha ha". Seems she can't actually find a way to blame the union (noting that they have made wage cut concessions), but that doesn't stop her with an implied "AWU. Phff. What do you expect..." And same with the electricity prices increases which haven't actually happened yet.
So it's to John Durrie to get some actual detail as to what has gone wrong with the company, and he ends with a pretty compelling sounding:
To suggest the company’s failure is anything more than failed business strategy compounded by cyclical markets is a nonsense and that is where the argument starts and finishes.As for the political responses: I thought Christopher Pyne came across pretty well on 7.30 last night. It's remarkable how working for Turnbull has made him sound a much more reasonable politician.
On the Labor side and the suggestion of (I think) some protectionist motivated unionists that cheap steel from China is potentially dangerous: that does raise a good point - what sort of quality control is there for imported steel? Obviously, the company overseas manufacturing it would say it meets a set of specifications or standards, but do nations importing it have any systems for quality testing to see whether it does meet them? Or is it up to private enterprise to do that? How much of each shipload would you have to test to be confident that a batch is fine?
That's something I have no idea about, but I would hope there is some system of quality testing.
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