Still the greatest Gif Ever Created

Adam West is a hero to us all.

Quote for the Day

"I was sorely disappointed that a military with whom we had a training relationship participated in the military overthrow of an elected government. I mean, there is no way to characterize that other than wholly unacceptable," -General Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, last month at Brown University.

I suppose "oops" just doesn't cut it.


Courtsey AFP's Dan De Luce

Glenn Beck to Build A Libertarian Utopia (possibly underwater)

This post involves heavy references to Bioshock, which in turn  references the dystopian disaster that Ayn Rand's Libertarian  ideals would inevitably create should they actually be carried out.  Bioshock is a pretty cool game; you should consider playing it.

This is the best idea I've heard of all year. From Right Wing Watch:

On his program last night, Beck revealed that his intention to "go Galt" is quite literal, unveiling grandiose plans to create an entirely self-sustaining community called Independence Park that will provide its own food and energy, produce television and film content, host research and development, serve as a marketplace for products and ideas, while also housing a theme park and serving as a residential community.At the center -- in the middle of the lake that is itself larger than all of Disney Land - Beck (with the help of David Barton) will create a massive "national archive"/learning center where people can send their children to be "deprogrammed" and elected officials can come to learn "the truth."

I wonder if they'll allow misery tourism?


Or Genetic Splicing?

Wealthiness is next to Godliness

And perhaps money does make you happier, or at least more than previous data indicated.  Derek Thompson does his usual thing for the Atlantic  which is to actually read those complicated studies that come out, and not only read them but try and convey their meanings, complexity and all, to the reader.  And with as minimal translation costs as needed.

It's a admirable goal, and one wonks everywhere no doubt appreciate, but I don't imagine he hears warm reviews from members of the Liberal Elite at their Liberal Elite Cocktail Parties - so much as blank stares.  But good can be good for goodness sake, right?

Anyway the gist of Thompson's analysis is that 

"According to the modern godfather of income and well-being research, Richard Easterlin, it is better to be rich than poor, but rich countries don't get any happier as they got richer. They hit a happiness ceiling, essentially. This idea matters a great deal, because in a world where only relative income matters, there might be less need to care about growth or pursue policies that maximized lower-income families' post-tax incomes. The work by Sacks, Stevenson, and Wolfers suggests Easterlin was simply wrong. Absolute income matters absolutely, and voters, economists, and policy-makers have everything to gain by putting the spotlight on income gains for the average family."

It seems there is an exception in that most exceptional of countries; the USA.  The authors of the study (who are Sacks, Stevenson and Wolfers, if we are to take Thompson at his word, the sneaky devil), explain this as partly a result of our income equality, and partly because of single-family households; whatever that means.   My guess at a translation would be that Americans don't really share a sense of community beyond the right-in-front-of-us stuff.  Or perhaps we play too many video games?  No, that doesn't seem to be the case...

So all this comes down to an interesting set of propositions: 

1. Making money makes humans happier, to a point
2. A few Americans make more money than God; everyone else can suck it

I hope you'll find my cynicism understandable.  

But the most important part of Derek's entire post is easily lost in all the facts; notice this in his 5th point (latter emphasis mine):

"(5) Europe's lesson: A steadily rising level of satisfaction from a steadily rising level of income. The graphs below are a bit more pointilist and messy, but they make a similarly compelling point. The Eurobarometer survey, which has measured life satisfaction across the continent since 1973, clearly shows that in eight of the nine countries for which the researchers have the most data, well-being has increased through time with economic growth. Except for Belgium. You're weird, Belgium."

Belgium, you are wierd.

.

Guns Want to be Free

From a somewhat terrifying post on the development of guns whose important parts can be created by 3-D printers (god save us all?), comes this hilarious comment thread:

PhosPhorious: "That might not seem like a lot. . .  but how often are you in a situation where you need more than six people dead?" 

Lemoutan: "When you're sick of the way they're playing Mendelssohns's Octet?"
PhosPhorious: "No, you can do that in 4 bullets.  By the time the second cello goes down, they've all stopped playing." 

Lemoutan: "Yeah, but I'd still have the nagging doubt that they might start up again. Viola players just don't care."

I would like to thank BoingBoing for creating a fantastic blog full of wonderful posts and cool ideas, and the snarkiest posters ever.

In all seriousness though, I think that this is only a tip of the ice bucket when it comes to 3-D printing.  Clearly someone agrees with me, as NY Representative Steve Israel Corey has proposed a ban on the association who demonstrated this new gun.  Cory Doctorow, the quite brilliant digital social commentator, futurist and blogger at BoingBoing obviously doesn't.

..And after reading the linked article, I'm under the impression that the entire article and comment thread is totally missing the point.

Corey, you're a brilliant guy, and undoubtedly there will be calls to enact dictatorial laws in an attempt to hold back 3-D printing and the scary future.  But is this one of those?  Or this just some random Representative from New York using a random youtube video to renew a (mostly) silly ban on plastic guns.  (Relevant CRS summary here) 

Now this may be a crushing blow to 3-D, amateur DIY marksmen and gun-enthusiasts (which is a negative, although I will be able to get up tomorrow despite their displeasure), but this doesn't really touch on 3-D printing except where it touches on making guns.  Companies won't have to change their printers; the law only applies to the manufacture of these guns and their parts.   No online communities will be affected (with the obvious exception of BoingBoing which will burst into dramaflame) as the law says *nothing* about plans or digital schematics.  

Keep calm and carry on everyone.

"We are punished by our sins, not because of them"

And we should hope this will be a sufficient lesson.

A report on the torture and "so-called enhanced-interrogation techniques" torture (the New York times is still cowardly) was just approved by the Senate Intelligence Commitee.  It was on almost partisan lines, apparently, which is somewhat depressing that the GOP has decided to take the side of evil.  Or, you know, hiding the evil their party committed.  McCain proves he still has a soul;

“What I have learned confirms for me what I have always believed and insisted to be true — that the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners is not only wrong in principle and a stain on our country’s conscience, but also an ineffective and unreliable means of gathering intelligence.”

What remains to be seen is how many of the security establishment still have theirs.