July 2009
275 posts
To Hardcore Open-Source Fans And iPhone Haters
Although it’s not about tech or open source or iPhones or anything like that, I think you’d do very well to read Tyler Cowen’s post from May about Seasteading — the fantasy many libertarians have of setting up their own free island.
Here’s the nut:
I’ve wondered whether I should retire on to a cruise ship of the future, but I’m not attracted per se by...
“The image of cows as placid, gentle creatures is a city slicker’s fantasy,...”
– TierneyLab
ChessBase.com: 6000 chess players took part in our... →
“The dangerous thunderstorms will wait until the afternoon to ignite, then will...”
– New Yorkers Brace for Delays as Storms Sweep Across Region
Handball!
Brian Van showed up! It was awesome.
It was a pretty thorough drubbing, of course 15-1, 15-3, but for his first time, playing in the dark on a wet court, it was well played. And it was really fun.
Amazingly, no pictures.
Me vs. Brian Van Take 2
Word is he’s already awake and ready for an epic handball match, which is to commence in 30 minutes (5:00 AM).
I hope he’s stretched.
Tulsa Police: Grease Thief Arrested →
“Austin police arrested two people in connection to 36 vehicle burglaries during...”
– Police arrest 2 in connection to 36 car burglaries
36 cars in three days. That’s prolific.
I'm Still Kind Of Annoyed
brianvan:
josephweisenthal:
at Brian Van for ditching me this morning.
But whatevs, that’s cool.
I don’t blame you. As a matter of fact, I’m considering pulling an all-nighter (as if I were going to the airport instead of handball) so that I can make it tomorrow.
Ok maybe not but I added more alarm clocks in the mix. I felt super awful when I realized I slept through several of them....
I'm Still Kind Of Annoyed
at Brian Van for ditching me this morning.
But whatevs, that’s cool.
“Indeed, it’s almost as if birthers have allowed an intense and sometimes...”
– The Weekly Standard
Indeed, The Weekly Standard never fails to illuminate.
Just Heard From B. Van
brianvan:
josephweisenthal:
Apparently the guy “just woke up.”
Suuure.
Frustratingly, I woke up an hour earlier yesterday, at 6am. This is what happens when Maurice the mewing cat is replaced with a white-noise-generating window AC unit.
Sadly, I’m ready now but Joe has done his stuff 2 hrs ahead of me.
I’ll try again tomorrow!
Deal.
Just Heard From B. Van
Apparently the guy “just woke up.”
Suuure.
“Advocates of this policy have a number of rejoinders to this, notably that NIH...”
– A Long, Long Post About My Reasons For Opposing National Health Care - Megan McArdle
“I know, most of you have already figured out why I oppose national health care....”
– Megan McArdle
Update: Brian Van Was A No Show
Man, I’m pissed. Dude says he’s going to get up and play handball at 5:00 AM and doesn’t show up. This calls for revenge.
That being said, it wasn’t horrible since I did my normal routine, plus added in one suicide on the courts for self-flagellation.
Gettin' Ready
Drinking coffee, getting ready for my historic/epic 5:00 AM handball showdown with Brian Van. I better not effin’ get stood up.
peterfeld:
Regina Spektor, “Us.”
(via fek)
WatchSgt. Crowley white & black colleagues defend his action re: Gates.
Bottom line: I think the most interesting angle here is no longer race, but cop power and the way they close ranks when one of their actions are challenged..
WatchYeesh. Starting at around 1:40, suspect tries licking meth from the jail floor.
“Liberia’s former president has described claims that he ate human flesh as...”
– Al Jazeera: Liberia’s Taylor denies cannibalism
“A longstanding ban on selling sperm and eggs should be reconsidered to address a...”
– Pay donors to end the shortage of IVF eggs, says watchdog - Times Online
I had no idea that in the UK it was illegal to pay for sperm and egg donors, and that infertile couples have to travel abroad for access.
The lesson for future kidney markets here shouldn’t be lost.
“When I last rode the ride, it had just reopened after having been closed for...”
– Disney Small World ride a casualty of the obesity epidemic
Salaries for Doctors, Not Fees →
mikehudack:
rahmin:
jayparkinsonmd:
An excellent article in the Times highlighting Bassett Hospital in New York where they pay their physicians a salary. Their costs are in the bottom 10% of NY Hospitals but their quality ranks in the top 90%.
This is true across the board. Fragmenting doctors into independent practitioners tied together by nothing but a desire to get paid as much as they...
John Carney's Ridiculous Anti-Cronkite Essay
brianvan:
I have to agree that John Carney’s thinly-veiled contempt at Cronkite seems to lack a logical base, his argument is unusually unconvincing, and I have to assume that it’s just some irrational political-based grudge.
True.
I agree with the sentiment, though, that it was bad for our national dialogue that Cronkite was the monolithic news figure of his time, that he had no competition...
John Carney's Ridiculous Anti-Cronkite Essay
youngmanhattanite:
It is a good thing that there is no longer anyone in the media (or elsewhere) as trusted as Cronkite once was. Imagine if he had opposed the surge in Iraq (as he surely would have done) with the same kind of authority he once had during the Vietnam War. We’d be facing the prospect of complete anarchy right now.
Yeah, and it’s a good thing there wasnn’t a...
John Carney's Ridiculous Anti-Cronkite Essay
It pains me deeply to disagree with something put forth by my good friend and colleague John Carney (Generally our thoughts on various matters are 99.5% alike [we’re like man and chimpanzee that way, just .05% apart!]). But his essay “Walter Cronkite Meant Nothing To Me” was as ludicrous as it was annoying.
That Cronkite meant nothing to Carney would be fine if it were true.
...