2015 archive
“No One Expects the Roman Inquisition” 0
The Roanoke Times has found it in Richmond. Here’s a bit from their editorial yesterday.
So how is this like the Roman Inquisition?
House Republicans bring to mind the Congregation of the Roman Inquisition, which in 1633 silenced Galileo about his observations that supported Copernicus’s theory of the previous century: Earth, rotating on its axis every 24 hours, was orbiting the sun. Earth was not the center around which all of the universe spun.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
All roads lead to politeness.
Evaristo Castaneda, the driver of the car who was hit, told troopers when he approached the other driver the man pulled a dark, silver-colored handgun. Castaneda says the driver then drove off and headed south on I-75.
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Dick Polman explains that Brian Williams is a piker compared to Scott Walker.
Both of them, though, are amateurs compared to Fox News.
Nutballs 0
Cruelty is no joke. That’s why I don’t like practical jokes; ultimately, cruelty lurks in every practical joke to some degree or other.
This goes way beyond joking.
“Socially Liberal, Fiscally Conservative” 0
Werner Herzog’s Bear tries to figure out what “socially liberal, fiscally conservative” means and thinks he’s hit on something. Here’s a bit:
More at the link.
Putting the “Fun” in “Dysfunctional” 0
Gary Younge:
“The Republicans are like Fido when he finally catches the car,” the Democratic senator Charles Schumer told the New York Times. “Now they don’t have any clue about what to do. They are realising that being in the majority is both less fun and more difficult than they thought.”
Read the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Get a leg up on politeness.
(snip)
When questioned, police said the victim and a man were handling the gun when it discharged.
“The Consciousness Fallacy” 0
A researcher in artificial intelligence explains why he does not fear “the singularity,” because intelligence and consciousness are not the same thing. Here’s bit:
Science fiction is partly responsible for these fears. A common trope works as follows: Step 1: Humans create AI to perform some unpleasant or difficult task. Step 2: The AI becomes conscious. Step 3: The AI decides to kill us all. As science fiction, such stories can be great fun. As science fact, the narrative is suspect, especially around Step 2, which assumes that by synthesizing intelligence, we will somehow automatically, or accidentally, create consciousness. I call this the consciousness fallacy. And if it is false, it means we should look at AI very differently.
If you fear that your Roomba will one day revolt, you might find this an interesting read.
A Modest Proposal . . . 0
. . . from a letter-writer to my local rag.
“All You Say Are Belongs to Us” 0
While you watch your television, your television may be watching you.
“Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition,” the policy said.
The story goes on to say that Samsung claims this is to improve television performance and that it takes privacy very seriously (takes it right away from you and keeps it for itself, that is).
Do read the rest, then get a dumb TV. If do you get a smart TV, remember, no canoodling on the couch in the TV Room; some Samsung tech might be canoodling right along with you.