tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post4424582308143742706..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: CRACKPOT POLITICAL RANTS: Enter at your own riskDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-528743321456380302008-01-20T22:28:00.000-08:002008-01-20T22:28:00.000-08:00(Zorgon the Malevolent. Logon no mas)Three politic...(Zorgon the Malevolent. Logon no mas)<BR/><BR/>Three political science professors have run a statistical analysis on the votes that produced Hillary Clinton's victory in New Hampshire. They find no evidence of anomalies:<BR/>http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/2008/01/voting_technolo.html<BR/><BR/>So enough with the conspiracy theories, okay, folks? Are we supposed to believe that not only have evil mustachio-twirling uebervillains rigged the NH primary...but they've somehow managed to blackmail three of the most prominent political science profs with expertise in statistical analysis into fiddling with <I><B>their</I></B> statistical analysis of the NH primary?<BR/><BR/>Please.<BR/><BR/>Enough.<BR/><BR/>On another note: it's amusing to realize that the elimination of gerrymandering can be reduced to a single mathematical lemma: minimize the total line integral of each congressional and senatorial district. An elementary exercise in the calculus of variations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52414607606203869702008-01-20T21:16:00.000-08:002008-01-20T21:16:00.000-08:00I like the word "petrocrat." Did you make that up...I like the word "petrocrat." Did you make that up yourself?sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18363789264014620212008-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:002008-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:00What about the unambiguous harmful effects of a bu...What about the unambiguous harmful effects of a bunch of liberal spies (Klaus Fuchs, Koval; the Rosenbergs) handing the secrets of the A-Bomb over to the Soviets?<BR/><BR/>I suppose that must not be a big deal in your book either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77039284283741356212008-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:002008-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:00@Andrew, while it's true that Hillary has more sup...@Andrew, while it's true that Hillary has more superdelegates pledged than Obama, Democratic party rules make them effective only if the Primaries and Caucuses produce a tie in delegates. And the Republican "unpledged" delegates are an even smaller proportion on that side. <BR/><BR/>And in any case, read my screed again, because I did take that into account. There's plenty about Obama which gives me unease. But Clinton will energize her enemies. (I know a *Kucinich* supporter who would rather see a Republican in office than see H. Clinton take the oath.)<BR/><BR/>The point I'm making is that the first-past-post treatment of these primaries minimizes something that could be really cool: Especially this year, we're seeing the rise of someone (Romney), who is probably everyone's second or third choice for that nomination, who could win because noone can agree on a good first choice. <BR/><BR/>That resembles the Australian system in effect, even if the mechanisms to get there are wildly different. <BR/><BR/>We saw the same sort of thing, it seems to me, when B. Clinton ran in '92.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618647194288598056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24780720700009455402008-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:002008-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:00The simple solution to gerrymandering requires jus...The simple solution to gerrymandering requires just one sentence! See my article.<BR/><BR/>"In any state, the legislature may pass any law or districting it wants, with the following proviso: that the districts for state assembly, state senate, and Congress should have as little overlap with each other as can be practically arranged."<BR/><BR/><BR/>Let em gerrymander the State Assembly districts to their hearts content! The key thing is:<BR/><BR/>1) they can't succeed at all three, at the same time<BR/><BR/>2) neighborhoods will be forced to deal with different neighbors, different issues and priorities, when electing for these three different posts.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35501933580561250852008-01-20T12:10:00.000-08:002008-01-20T12:10:00.000-08:00Not a chance I am defending Pollard. But I want t...Not a chance I am defending Pollard. But I want to see the unambiguous harmful effects. Ames, Hanssen, the Walkers directly caused the deaths of American agents and aided those with missiles aimed down our throats. Just as the neocons have slavishly helped the ruling caste of the one country that most assuredly backed and funded the 9/11 attacks.<BR/><BR/>When the Bushes & co. are seen bowing and kissing Saddam Husseain... when they coddled and subsidized Osama bin Laden... when the US President BOWS in public before a petrocrat king... is there a chance that their credibility might -- um -- decline just a little?<BR/><BR/>Naw. Bill Clinton fibs about some nookie in a hallway. Now THAT matters!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51333343322914297962008-01-20T12:08:00.000-08:002008-01-20T12:08:00.000-08:00There seems to be much about the Pollard case that...There seems to be much about the Pollard case that is unclear. Perhaps Dr. Brin will consider it as a possible exception to his thesis?<BR/><BR/>Regards gerrymandered districts:<BR/><BR/>I would love to see a rule that says that any congressional district have horizontal and vertical dimensions that vary in proportion no more than 50% from the proportions of the state. (Not fair to mandate square districts in rectangular states). Perhaps anything with more than that variance should require a 2/3 supermajority vote in the state legislature. No more congressional districts that follow interstates! <BR/><BR/>Tacitus2Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25209210789963512132008-01-20T11:55:00.000-08:002008-01-20T11:55:00.000-08:00"Puh-lease. When was Israel an enemy?"Pollard stol..."Puh-lease. When was Israel an enemy?"<BR/><BR/>Pollard stole more classified documents than any spy in American history. The material included a computer file of reports from United States agents abroad that could allow foreign governments to determine their identity, and a 10-volume guide to how America intercepts foreign intelligence signals. And The New Yorker and Newsday reported that Mr. Pollard also offered secret documents to countries other than Israel.<BR/><BR/>And he did it <I>only</I> for the money. But I suppose that makes it alright in your book anyway. Quite the interesting little world you live in there Mr. Brin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17210061089524165842008-01-20T11:45:00.000-08:002008-01-20T11:45:00.000-08:00Oops. The last sentence of the first paragraph sho...Oops. The last sentence of the first paragraph should read:-<BR/><BR/>...by the bomb and the armalite) were financed by Americans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20000882916821382902008-01-20T11:39:00.000-08:002008-01-20T11:39:00.000-08:00Americans financing terrorist organisations is not...Americans financing terrorist organisations is nothing new. The IRA (certainly), and (probably) several other of the organisations involved in "the Troubles" (a thirty plus year civil war between the British State and various groups who believed they had the right to impose their politics on their fellow human beings by the bomb and the armalite).<BR/><BR/>The only difference I can see is that this one is accused of helping your enemies, rather than the enemies of just your allies and friends.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76575781992828508542008-01-20T11:35:00.000-08:002008-01-20T11:35:00.000-08:00Puh-lease. When was Israel an enemy? And show me...Puh-lease. When was Israel an enemy? And show me what Wm Jefferson did that harmed our security?<BR/><BR/>This bashing of Obama without a scintilla of evidence is just like the swift-boating of Kerry and the outright fantasy-slanders about the Clintons murdering their best friend over a glitch in manpower rules in a travel office. Only utter nutters would go down those roads...<BR/><BR/>...when there is a far more plausible "manchurian" scenario. <BR/><BR/>Manchurians who deliberately ended our energy independence programs, ensured that two TRILLION extra American dollars would flow to petrocracies, emasculated the US Army, crippled the FBI, waged war against our US civil service and officer corps and drove away all of our allies.<BR/><BR/>If you had written all that (and much more) as a thriller scenario, back in the 90s, you'd have been laughed outta town. <BR/><BR/>Don't believe you can change any of that by disavowing Bush and going with one of the other GOP horses. They are all owned by the same program.<BR/><BR/>Stop following imaginary glimmers. Look at what ACTUALLY HAPPENED. We grew stronger under Clinton and we have weakened unimaginably under Republican rule. Look for manchurians where there already exist.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30311591443820676412008-01-20T10:47:00.000-08:002008-01-20T10:47:00.000-08:00We're all ready to be done with the bush-clinton o...We're all ready to be done with the bush-clinton old world elitist oligarchy. Not that I'm in favor of turning the executive branch over to a muslim manchurian candidate.<BR/><BR/>The traitors you list would've been dyed-in-the-wool anythings to get a position from which to act. Of course flying in as a RINO has been an effective locus for the last 60 years. You don't think nazi spies portrayed themselves as communists do you? Nor did communist traitors portray themselves as fascists or hippies. Like they say about serial killers "he seemed like such a normal person"<BR/><BR/>And you can add William Jefferson (D-Louisiana) to that list too...Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12623342498696677919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38403181526927877642008-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:002008-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:00"An article published in The New Yorker on [11 Jan..."An article published in The New Yorker on [11 January 1999] cites those officials as saying that Pollard, who was arrested in 1985 and is now serving a life sentence, gave Israel invaluable American intelligence secrets in exchange for payments of $50,000 and promises of $540,000 more."<BR/><BR/>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CE6D61E31F935A25752C0A96F958260<BR/><BR/>"It is not surprising that [Pollard] should try to rally American Jews to his aid -- criminals often play the ethnic card when it is all they have left." - Peter BeinartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33146078941254815102008-01-20T09:48:00.000-08:002008-01-20T09:48:00.000-08:00Koval and the Rosenbergs were more than 50 years a...Koval and the Rosenbergs were more than 50 years ago. Lindh was patherically ineffectual. Pollard did not betray us to "enemies" or, indeed, do our nation any unambiguous harm.<BR/><BR/>Tribal gaming has happened much less because of sovereignty than because of a public consensus to accept the vice of gambling near their cities. All of this started with tribes suing for the power to stage any games that were already legal, anywhere within a state, hence they could stage Bingo and card clubs, since both were already happening in California. This expanded into slots and other games but only after compacts or agreements were made with state government, ratified by both ballot initiatives and strong public consensus. <BR/><BR/>Don't imagine for a minute that that public consensus wasn't influenced heavily by an opportunity to create jobs and a massive wealth transfer that might compensate for past oppression and neglect! Especially when the voters involved needn't pay any of the actual money, themselves... or else might have fun doing so.<BR/><BR/>Complaining that domestic laws to protect labor, forests, environment etc only exports those problems -- well, globalization might be viewed as a bitch. But it just means there are more problems to solve. We need to help other countries get law, too. That's been off our agenda, for a while. All progress has been off the agenda for a while.<BR/><BR/>50th anniversary of Explorer I. I'd of expcted we'd a been on Mars and all riding monorails by now.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39698523741016935182008-01-20T09:07:00.000-08:002008-01-20T09:07:00.000-08:00"Across the last fifty years, please find me the n..."Across the last fifty years, please find me the names of any infamous American traitors, who unambiguously sold out their country to its enemies in ways that did it grievous harm... ...who weren’t dedicated, lifelong Republicans?"<BR/><BR/>Wrong. In the past 50 years or so, one of the most damaging A-bomb spies ever was Iowa native George Koval, who was left-wing.<BR/><BR/>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/us/12koval.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50361087448891654712008-01-20T07:02:00.000-08:002008-01-20T07:02:00.000-08:00Regards traitors:Not a stellar cast of characters ...Regards traitors:<BR/><BR/>Not a stellar cast of characters to be sure. I suppose if you really wanted to find effective traitors you would work to recruit "flag wavers" as being more likely to be closer to the levers of power than "flag burners". This by the way is an explanation, without any degree of justification.<BR/><BR/>Johnathan Pollard also comes to mind. His politics are not much on display. The most I can find is the opposition of Rumsfeld (and others) to a possible B. Clinton late term presidential pardon. <BR/><BR/>Varied opinions as to whether he is/was an Isreali patriot or just another mercenary.<BR/><BR/>Tacitus2Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66578394533054400592008-01-19T23:47:00.000-08:002008-01-19T23:47:00.000-08:00@rob et al.Don't forget the superdelegates.Hilary ...@rob et al.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#D" REL="nofollow">Don't forget the superdelegates.</A><BR/><BR/>Hilary has ~95 more than Obama pledged to support her.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15030764857062052822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32390019586635528822008-01-19T22:23:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:23:00.000-08:00Across the last fifty years, please find me the na...<I>Across the last fifty years, please find me the names of any infamous American traitors, who unambiguously sold out their country to its enemies in ways that did it grievous harm...<BR/><BR/>...who weren’t dedicated, lifelong Republicans?</I><BR/><BR/>John Walker Lindh?<BR/><BR/>Dunno if being a grunt soldier counts as "grevious harm", but he probably qualifies as a traitor...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22788859257617026072008-01-19T22:00:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:00:00.000-08:00I'm not a governator fan just because of my neighb...I'm not a governator fan just because of my neighbor. She worked at the Idaho Falls Airport. Every time he came through he was a pompous @$$hole with a serious case of dont-you-know-who-I-am disease. "No, mr Schwarzenager, you can't walk through this area. It's restricted." "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!"<BR/><BR/>That and he's just another example of republicans having more than their fair share of sexual predators. But on to the rest of your post.<BR/><BR/><I> >>3) Push environmental needs, bypassing the (currently) corrupt feds, the way leaders like California have done. Only forge a united front in favor of states’ rights - especially the right to experiment.</I><BR/><BR/>You are aware how much of California's power comes from other states, right? If the states worked together to be more environmentall aware, where would our power come from? It's a bit like how the United States has a lot of laws protecting its forests, and now we're a net importer of wood. We just shuttle of our environmental problems to other countries, the way California shuttled off its air pollution problems to other states.<BR/><BR/><I> >>7) .Work out a sane approach to Native Tribal gambling. One that helps tribes far from cities, ensures fair distribution and services and supervision. And one that lets the nation re-evaluate the whole deal again, top-to bottom, in 20 years, after a whole generation of this weird wealth-rebalancing has had a chance to redress old wrongs.. </I><BR/><BR/>Why do you keep brining up "redress[ing] old wrongs" with regard to Indian casinos? The one has nothing to do with the other! They get casinos because they are sovereign (to some extent).<BR/><BR/>To what degree do you think that first nations should be sovereign? <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5xVRXLgLxw" REL="nofollow">See if you can answer that question better than George W. Bush did.</A><BR/><BR/>If you really believe that they should only get casinos to redress past wrongs, do you think there should be Black casinos? Gay Casinos? Women? Irish or Jew?sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24553520085714399312008-01-19T21:03:00.000-08:002008-01-19T21:03:00.000-08:00@Stefan, the only thing I can think of for such a ...@Stefan, the only thing I can think of for such a reaction is that the EPA record must contain some pretty embarrassing stuff. <BR/><BR/>Did EPA give any reason at all for denying the waiver?Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618647194288598056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8795252892475501562008-01-19T21:01:00.000-08:002008-01-19T21:01:00.000-08:00I look at the delegate count so far, and at pollin...I look at the delegate count so far, and at polling which shows Florida in a four-way dead heat for Republican delegates.<BR/><BR/>I go to CNN's ElectionCenter2008, where they keep track of things. <BR/><BR/>I notice that *every* *single* caucus and Primary has allocated delegates proportionally, rather than first-past-the-post.<BR/><BR/>And I see that Obama and Romney are the winners, so far. Add in the superdelegates on the dem side, and the unpledged endorsing delegates on the rep side, and the result is Clinton and Romney. <BR/><BR/>But in the TELEVISION NEWS MEDIA, that is, the talking-heads hours on cable news and in regular-broadcast news, all they can talk about is first-past-the-post wins. Wins which are not actually wins, but proportional allocations. <BR/><BR/>That alone has caused me a bit of dissonance, since it appears that the press is not serving the public on election night, all while they claim to be doing so by piously waiting to call elections until after the polls are closed. Instead, they're feeding a horse-race mentality. As if Romney and Edwards had won nothing in Iowa, when they actually came back with proportional prizes. <BR/><BR/>Meh. As David points out, Clinton is a polarizer. For Republicans. Ask yourself if you want that in this election cycle, whoever the 'Pubs nominate. Super Tuesday is going to be mighty interesting this year. <BR/><BR/>Reforming the electorate is going to have to start with the bubbleheads, though.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618647194288598056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58978890955750899372008-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:002008-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:00Undeniable proof that the Bush Administration is w...Undeniable proof that the Bush Administration is <I>worth than useless</I> when it comes to tackling environmental issues, and indeed should not be trusted with authority over <I>anything</I>:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/19/MNO3UI3N7.DTL" REL="nofollow">EPA won't give details on denying emissions waiver</A><BR/><BR/>"Invoking executive privilege, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency refused to provide lawmakers Friday with a full explanation of why it rejected California's greenhouse gas regulations.<BR/><BR/>The EPA informed Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that many of the documents she had requested contained internal deliberations or attorney-client communications that would not be shared with Congress.<BR/><BR/>'EPA is concerned about the chilling effect that would occur if agency employees believed their frank and honest opinions and analysis expressed as part of assessing California's waiver request were to be disclosed in a broad setting,' EPA Associate Administrator Christopher Bliley wrote."<BR/><BR/>You know, the best way I can express my feelings about this is:<BR/><BR/><I>What the <B>FUCK?</B></I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com