Mud Bowl

Quote of the Day

Heard recently:

I mean, you can either think of, lets say the creeds of the great traditions as it were, as telling you what you ought to think. Or you can say they are in some some sense comparable to the theories of science. They are the best distillations of where we’ve been. But we don’t approach reality treating those models as if they are the last word. We treat them as operational hypotheses.

-- Geneticist and Anglican priest Lindon Eaves

Report from Southern Maryland

Old news but still noteworthy.  The Bard's 'Much Ado' Is Something.

(well, you can see the back of John's head)

Thankful for the most perfect food

With the advent of Thanksgiving and the culinary delights it brings (especially after a trying Mud Bowl game…What is it this year? MMMCMXCIX?), but even more importantly, an attempt to revive this blog from a vanity publisher back to an interactive communicative medium, I'd like pose a question to which you may respond in your own imaginative way.

What do you consider the most perfect food?

Me:
Wonderfully packaged, easily transportable, needs no refrigeration, healthy per doctors daily orders, initiated life as we know it, biodegradable, the perfect snack, juicy but no sticky fingers, fits in a batman lunch box, tastes as good as all heavenly knowledge could, initiates practically all alphabet picture books, and unlike money it grows on trees, I choose the apple. And I do, practically once a day. It's that good. I put stock in it.

(I'm sure you can do better.)

Misjudged Risk Assessment

Here's another topic we've seen before: misjudging risk. (I hope no one went out with their kid(s) on Halloween, but, if you did, I hope it was to make sure they weren't hit by a car, not because of some insane idea that neighbors harm kids.) It turns out we should fear easy access to guns not necessarily because it leads to increased homicides, but, more importantly, increased suicides. Suicides by guns are three times more likely than homicides. Additionally, a new study by Alex Tabarrok and Justin Biggs estimates "that a 1% increase in gun ownership leads to a .5 to .9% increase in suicides."

The Rise of Women?

As women remake our society, the jury is still out on the direction and impact of those changes. It has been 40 years since Title IX, and the changes have been significant. Women get better grades, attend college at a 40% greater rate than men, and graduate at a 25% greater rate than men. We can only hope for better times ahead as women widen the gap in education and influence.

Here is a snap shot for education levels of 24-25 year olds in 2009:

I know everything must have a Darwinian explanation. I also know that evolution is not survival of the fittest but, rather, survival of the un-fittest in the previous environment—as it changes. The environment changed from benefiting the strong and quick to the smart and cooperative. Some men, of course, have adapted, namely, the nerds.

However, sometimes I fear that women, as smart as they are, may not be as smart as we have hoped. Will they set new and exciting standards of behavior beyond those of current society, leading us to new heights of civilization… or not. 

A brawl at the end of Friday's women's hockey game between Ohio State and Bemidji State led to 19 players being disqualified and set an NCAA record for penalty minutes in a game. Ohio State had 10 players disqualified and Bemidji State nine after an altercation at the final whistle brought the game's total penalty minutes to 303. That total set a record for men's and women's games in either Division I or Division III.

Will women take civilization to a new level or will they be led by the out-dated but powerful influence of men?

The Ohio State women's hockey coach, Nate Handrahan (a man) said, "What happened at the end of the game doesn't happen often in women's hockey. But I can tell you this: We're happy to at least see our girls show some fight and some spirit." 

Halloween, Book Business and Family Traditions

Can Ebooks Ever Become Objects of Tradition?

No comment needed.

Harvey Conversations Taken to the Next Level

Our beach discussions make it into Book Business Magazine:   Value of Complete Books in a Fractured, Digital World.

Why Science is Special Rebuttal

The real solution to the Monty Hall problem:

Three of these things belong together

♫ Three of these things belong together. Three of these things are kinda the same. One of these things does not belong here. Now it's time to play our game. ♫

1. "The difference between science and religion is the difference between a genuine openness to fruits of human inquiry in the 21st century, and a premature closure to such inquiry as a matter of principle."
—Sam Harris

2. "Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time."
—Richard Dawkins

3. "This imperviousness to reason is, I think, the property that we should most fear in religion."
—Daniel Dennett

4. "For me, this is an important key. If one has the answers to all the questions—that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself."
—Jorge Mario Bergoglio

Well, can you spot the one that doesn't belong?

Yes. You're right. Three of these statements are made by people who studied science (neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science) their whole lives, but not religion. The statement that doesn't belong is the last one which is by a religious, who studied religion his whole life.

Here is Bergoglio, the religion scholar, again:
"Exegetes and theologians help the church to mature in her own judgment. Even the other sciences and their development help the church in its growth in understanding. There are ecclesiastical rules and precepts that were once effective, but now they have lost value or meaning. The view of the church’s teaching as a monolith to defend without nuance or different understandings is wrong."

But I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. Bergoglio might be wrong in his description of religion and the others right. Most likely they did learn about religion as children.

Money Can’t Buy Happiness; It Can’t Even Buy MLB Championships

If you look at payroll numbers and compare them to what teams made the playoffs, you’ll find very little congruence between winning and size of payroll – at least this year.  The Yankees of course have the mother of all payrolls – at almost $229 million, three and a half times that of the Pirates – and ended up with a mediocre .525 winning percentage and no playoff berth.

Sure, Boston, the LA Dodgers and Detroit, all with hefty payrolls, made the playoffs.  But so did Cleveland, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, who respectively rank 21, 26, 27 and 28 in payroll among the 30 MLB teams.  (There’s Billy Beane again.) The remaining teams in the playoffs, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Atlanta, are all in the middle third of the payroll rankings, respectively ranking 11, 13 and 18.  Five playoff teams are in the top half of the payroll rankings; five are in the bottom half.

Among the top 10 largest payrolls in major league baseball, Philadelphia, the LA Angels, the Chicago White Sox and Toronto all had losing records, and the poor White Sox had a winning percentage of only .389, close to the worst in baseball.

It’s not so much that spending less increases your chances of having a winning team, it’s that the amount you spend seems to have no bearing at all on how well you do.  There must be some other factor.

People who know more about baseball than I may be able to explain to me why teams win, but it’s at least clear that payroll is not a particularly good indicator.  

Meanwhile, the Buccos are 1 and 1 with St. Louis and headed for home for the next two games (where they usually do much better).  The chance is still there for the Pirates to show in spectacular fashion how money doesn’t matter.

2013 MLB Payrolls*

New York Yankees $228,995,945

Los Angeles Dodgers $216,302,909

Philadelphia $159,578,214

Boston $158,967,286

Detroit $149,046,844

San Francisco $142,180,333

Los Angeles Angels $142,165,250

Texas $127,197,575

Chicago White Sox $124,065,277

Toronto $118,244,039

St. Louis $116,702,085

Washington $112,431,770

Cincinnati $110,565,728

Chicago Cubs $104,150,726

Baltimore $91,793,333

Milwaukee $91,003,366

Arizona $90,158,500

Atlanta $89,288,193

New York Mets $88,877,033

Seattle $84,295,952

Cleveland $82,517,300

Kansas City $80,491,725

Minnesota $75,562,500

Colorado $75,449,071

San Diego $71,689,900

Oakland $68,577,000

Pittsburgh $66,289,524

Tampa Bay $57,030,272

Miami $39,621,900

Houston $24,328,538

*From Deadspin.com

The New Tobacco Industry

No surprise here. We've seen this health versus profits battle before. Big tobacco lawyers should be sending out their résumés.

Privacy is not the issue comment

Becasuse we can't place pictures in comments, this comment requires a separate post.

Anyway, below is the NSA's logo for its new PR campaign to improve it's image:

The Competition

I’ve discovered a rival blog to ours that probably we would do well to keep an eye on: The Learning Curve.

Privacy is not the issue

At least it's not the big issue.

In May Edward Snowden disclosed the Nation Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance activities on both foreign and domestic citizens. In June U.S. federal prosecutors charged him with espionage and theft of government property. Ever since there has been debate over the importance of Snowden's secrets and whether he should be viewed as a hero or villain.

Curiously, though charged with espionage, Edward Snowden's disclosures initiated a congressional investigation into the NSA. Like other times U.S. intelligence agencies have been investigated (Pentagon Papers, Church Committee, 2005 New York Times report on warrantless wiretapping), the investigation found illegal activities, cover ups, lying to congress, and the refusal to reveal documents. This time, among other revelations, Congress found that the NSA falsely certified that its analysts conducted searches only with telephone numbers that had a "reasonable, articulate suspicion" of terrorism. There also seems to be some question over whether anyone really knew what was going on or the scope of the surveillance activities.

In my mind, the most curious part is casting the debate as an invasion of privacy issue. Here's a Washington Post article in July. Aside from Edward Snowden losing support, the entire poll is centered on national security versus personal privacy. I can see why Snowden's support wanes. Most people have nothing to hide. While I'd love to keep my love letters private, that is not so important as national security.

As an aside, I love the phase 'national security'. It is a rallying phrase. It conjures up images of defending our American life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness in a very fragile world. But often it is nothing more than covering up actions by our own intelligence agencies for doing the exact opposite—of trying to destroy the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of others, either in this country or elsewhere.

So the issue is not about privacy. It is about accountability. And here I will reintroduce something we have all seen before. It is, perhaps, the most shocking and tested human trait as demonstrated by the many Milgram experiments and innumerable historic examples of what happens when humans are relieved of accountability—either from believing that a superior is taking responsibility, or that the greater good of some agency or ideal relieves them of responsibility. When this happens, we are capable of the most horrendous actions.

If intelligence agencies and more specifically the agents themselves aren't held accountable for their actions, we will continue to have law breaking, lying, covering up, and unthinkable acts directed against others. It's who we are.

What does the U.S. government do?

Well, that's one of the benefits of it shutting down. We can get a good feel for what the government does and how it affects our lives. Unfortunately or not, some parts of the federal government will not shut down. The government has determined what is essential and what is not. The military will continue to carry out drone attacks, homeland security will still target the unsuspecting, and we may rest assured that all foreign menaces will remain less threatening than deer or household furniture.

There will be a lot of federal employees free to leave work today, but vacation plans may have to be modified as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and other spots will be closed. Pennsylvania is open, however, and lovely this time of year.

There really is no need for a news post here other than to guide you to the Washington Post's excellent article of Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work.

I would recommend keeping notes or a journal to record how you are personally affected by the greatest country on earth closing its doors. How is your life changed? From various articles and news reports thus far it appears that the biggest consequence of the shut down is that the National Zoo's Panda Cam goes dark. I'm not kidding.

Unlikely house of reason and mercy

Pope Francis laments that the church "sometimes has locked itself up in small things." Rather, he says with unusual insight for the office, "the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all."

I can't wait for Myk's commentary.

Of course, Peter, the elder, would say, who cares what the Pope says? I would agree. For historical and social reasons, what the pope says matters. But for religious reasons, you listen to the pope at your peril. 

Worse than politics and religion

From the AP wire service:

An argument in southern Russia over philosopher Immanuel Kant, the author of "Critique of Pure Reason," devolved into pure mayhem when one debater shot the other. 

A police spokeswoman in Rostov-on Don, Viktoria Safarova, said two men in their 20s were discussing Kant as they stood in line to buy beer at a small store on Sunday. The discussion deteriorated into a fistfight and one participant pulled out a small nonlethal pistol and fired repeatedly. 

The victim was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening. Neither person was identified. 

It was not clear which of Kant's ideas may have triggered the violence.

It does seem clear, however, that the two were not discussing the categorical imperative, "Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world."—unless moral irony runs rampant in Russia.

Understanding

Understanding is a mighty powerful thing—actually, the best thing in the world.

Baseball Poetry

It was 1993, and the seventh game of the National League championship series.  It was bottom of the 9th inning.  The game was tied 2-2, and Atlanta was down to its last out of the inning.  Francisco Cabrera singles to left and sends former pirate Sid Bream home sliding just ahead of the throw from Barry Bonds to catcher Mike LaValliere to win the game.  This is the event that sent the Pirates down a road of 20 years of losing, which is about to come to an end this year.

My Heart Did Not Burst

my heart did not burst

when ex-Buc Sid Bream

slid his dirty slide

all over the once white plate

just past our pudgy catcher's

too late tag

and the umpire

in the same instant spread both arms

in either direction

signaling an end to world serious hope

for my precious Pirates

my nerves did not snap

despite eight and two-thirds frames

of tension

I did my deepest breathing to relax

control I did not have

over loaded bases and balls that were strikes

that were not called

in the bottom of the 9th

at the unlikely sound

of Francisco Cabrera's homicidal single

my brain did not crack

under tons of promise and possibilities

that twist and untwist but can never undo

the undisputed truth

of 3-2

my arms did not rip

the TV from its cabinet

I could not shatter

the televised outcome

It happened, like a bad wreck

I could not help but watch

the explosion of Atlanta madness

I wished was mine, ours

days, months after the damage

Happened

- Frank Bienkowski (Pittsburgh musician, Ambridge native, die-hard Pirates fan), April 1993.