Incoherence

For the record: I (still) think Obama is a good President

blog — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:06:58 +0000

I’ve seen plenty of complaints about Obama, so I want to take this one-year point to stand up and show a bit of support for him. I agree with most of this administration’s priorities (environment, “green” energy, health care reform, financial reform, government transparency, Afghanistan, more). I _hugely_ appreciate our President actually largely showing respect to opponents domestically as well as to foreign countries, rather than only to his supporters and rather than acting as if other counties exist only to do what we tell them to do. I’m really grateful that he seems to focus on fact-based decision-making with a high priority on the best available science. I even like that he (generally) tries to be fairly hands-off with Congress; while he certainly (and appropriately) has influence, it’s not his job to make the laws – that’s Congress’ job and they are there to ensure that all constituencies at least get heard from.

That’s not to say that I think he’s perfect or that I’m happy with everything he’s done. For a couple of quick examples, I’m unhappy about the privacy around the ACTA negotiations, and his reaction to the Henry Gates incident was “stupid” – to borrow a word from Obama himself. Still, I think he has indeed made some real improvements, such as in government transparency (see the “high-value” government data now being released for an example), in improving our relations around the world, and in actually letting decisions be driven by science and fact (see NASA, environment, more). And while he is legitimately due some blame for current economic conditions and I don’t pretend to know all the right answers (or to be completely happy with everything we’ve done), I think he’s honestly making reasonable decisions, I think we’re better off for the decisions he’s made, and I personally attribute most blame for our current woes to pre-existing conditions (Clinton-era financial regulation relaxations, for a start, as well as breath-taking spending and poor financial management that went on under the previous administration – see the extreme costs of the Medicare drug benefits for an example), an opposition that is hostile and unconstructive in order to damage him, pretty much regardless of the collateral damage), and far-left Democrats who prefer inaction over compromise or who drag things out so much to show their bona fides at a substantial cost of progress. That’s my perspective.

I have no illusions that this post is going to change anyone’s mind, and indeed that’s not my intent. My point with this is mostly to stand up and be counted – to lend a bit of support to others who feel much the same, and maybe to provide a bit of balance to some who might otherwise be supportive of Obama but who don’t hear much beyond the chorus of detractors.

Wikihistory short story

andrew — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:07:15 +0000

Wikihistory is a most amusing time-travel short story by Desmond Warzel, posted to the Abyss & Apex Magazine of Speculative Fiction, which I had not previously heard of, but I think I should explore it some. (The story is unrelated to wikihistory.org, which looks like it could be a really good reference.)

Campaign for Real Beauty

andrew — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:21:57 +0000

I saw another one of the Campaign for Real Beauty videos today, which reminded me of the first one I saw. The videos are from Dove, and I don’t want to endorse them in general, but I think they are pretty powerful and I’m quite sympathetic to the basic ideas being expressed, that our ideas of human physical beauty are distorted, and that affects us both as observers of beauty and in how we feel about ourselves. Especially women in our culture, and that’s who these commercial-style films portray.Here is the first film: Evolution.And here is the one I just saw today: Talk to Your Daughter Before They Do

Cool, short video on Moebius transformations

andrew — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:44:48 +0000

Came across a neat video tonight about Moebius transformations. It’s pretty short, and the real cool bit (to me) is the introduction of the sphere. Found here via videosift.

via videosift.com

Ants that walk on each other to get over holes

andrew — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 07:23:36 +0000

Came across an AFP article today (ok, a month or so ago, but apparently I didn’t hit the Publish button after writing this post) about army ants using their bodies to cover holes, so other ants can walk across on the backs of the first ants. This isn’t a bunch of ants being sacrificed to physically fill holes; instead, the ants stretch across the holes to let others cross on them, then they carry on their way. According to a study to be published in June, this behavior makes for significantly more efficient foraging parties.

Traveler’s Phrase Book T-shirt

andrew — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 07:22:46 +0000

Check out this Traveler’s Phrase Book T-shirt. Basically, it’s a cotton t-shirt (comes in black, red or grey) with common symbols surrounding a question mark, so if you don’t know the language where you are traveling, you can point at items on your t-shirt to get your question across.

Symbols include things like a telephone, eating utensils, an airplane and a bed (presumably intended to be interpreted as a request for a hotel; beware of misinterpretations). It even includes a number pad, should you need to convey a number. The big plus sign confused me at first, then I realized that was for medical help.

It’s $30, and I don’t have any travel planned at the moment, but I gotta say, I like the shirt and I’m thinking of getting one. (Found indirectly via a link from Blue’s News. )

Directions from New York to Paris

andrew — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:09:02 +0000

Thanks to a post on Slashdot, I discovered that Google Maps gives awesome directions from New York, NY to Paris, France.

Cueva de los Cristales – amazingly massive crystals

andrew — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:16:53 +0000

National Geographic has online an article about Cueva de los Cristales – a cave of huge natural crystals. The crystals were exposed by mining operations which pumped water out of the cave. It sounds like the crystals will fall apart if the water is not allowed to refill. It’s unclear how long before the crystals diminish, or if they will be preserved. Refilling the cave of course means that people wouldn’t be able to see the crystals. Maybe they could let it refill and pump it out for a few months every few years or something? The photos on that article page are amazing.

Life celebrations for the terminally ill

andrew — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:08:51 +0000

According to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, it’s becoming more common for terminally ill people to participate in “celebratory sendoffs”. The article talks specifically about several people in the Seattle area who went through this within the past year.

Be careful where you hide that house key

andrew — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:39:15 +0000

Found an AP article on Yahoo about a woman in Charleston, West Virginia who came home to find her house cleaned, but nothing taken. Eventually it was discovered that a neighbor had recently hired a cleaning service. The neighbor had a similar house number and hid their house key in a similar location – the cleaning lady went to the wrong house by mistake, found the key where she expected it, went in and cleaned.