tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post7574273926235311376..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Renaming Killers -- the idea spreadsDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40528597779235188412015-03-31T15:52:29.064-07:002015-03-31T15:52:29.064-07:00There is a story of a New York homicide detective ...There is a story of a New York homicide detective visiting a Toronto police station.<br />The American detective looks at the murder board, a chalk board with the number 10 on it. The US police officer says to the Canadian police officer, I see your having a slow week.<br />The Canadian responds "That's the homicides for the year."<br /><br />There is a cost to having lots of firearms just hanging around. Canada has fewer total homicides than the US has children killed by firearms. A lot less.<br /><br />The majority of firearm deaths in Canada are almost all now with illegal weapons smuggled in from the USA.<br /><br />There is a cost for having firearms easily available. If your willing to pay that cost, there's no problem. Well, unless your one of the ones killed, that is. But it appears few people care about them. Even when children are killed because parents leave loaded weapons around, very often nobody gets punished. Because it was an accident. Well, not it wasn't. It was people acting negligently. But that's your problem, not mine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23563505561986410662013-01-18T04:42:25.354-08:002013-01-18T04:42:25.354-08:00the dissidents held of the USMC for a long time, a...the dissidents held of the USMC for a long time, and they were armed largely with bolt-action rifles. A good shooter with a bolt-action rifle and a normal-capacity pistol in good repair is often more effective and dangerous than a dolt with a typewriter. <a href="http://www.diamondbarplumbing.net/" rel="nofollow">plumbing diamond bar</a><br /><br /> Sammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13182526765240519199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62762630567818446132012-08-01T05:29:15.324-07:002012-08-01T05:29:15.324-07:00David, have you seen Michael Shermer's take on...David, have you seen Michael Shermer's take on <a href="http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/07/31/gun-control-and-the-law-of-large-numbers/" rel="nofollow">gun control?</a> Yet another libertarian reluctantly coming to the conclusion that some measure of gun control is necessary in today's society: <br /><i>Specifically, I mean outlawing all automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles for anyone who is not in law enforcement or the military. When the Second Amendment was written stating that citizens have a right to “keep and bear arms,” rifles took over a minute to load one bullet at a time. The most crazed 18th century American could not possibly commit mass murder because no WMMs existed at the time.</i>.<br />I think he would support your Jefferson Rifle proposal.Harvey Morrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09213809718401197131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36051073638956974602012-07-31T12:20:12.659-07:002012-07-31T12:20:12.659-07:00onwardonwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68308057583405965092012-07-31T07:56:30.849-07:002012-07-31T07:56:30.849-07:00Ian,
"Government spending as a ercentage of G...Ian,<br /><i>"Government spending as a ercentage of GDP in Spain, for example, remains above the average for the EU as a whole."</i><br /><br />Only since the crash. Pre-crash, Spain was in surplus, and was paying down its debt. (Unlike Germany, which had a higher level of debt, was running a deficit, thus increasing its debt. And even had to change the Eurozone rules to allow them to do that without fines.)<br /><br /><i>"Expectation theory is based predicting the impact of changes in public policy on market behaqviour. I'm sure Krugman knows all about it - but he seems unwilling to consider its consequences in relation to Southern Europe."</i><br /><br />Actually, he seems to talk about this a lot. He uses the contrast between Spanish and German bond rates to show how ineffective the ECB policies have been to reduce the perception of Spanish default. He's also talked about the potential self-fulfilling expectation of collapse; people fearing another crash precipitate another crash by causing a run on banks.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62600776589668798292012-07-31T06:55:36.394-07:002012-07-31T06:55:36.394-07:00Robert, the main bank in question is Bankia.
Bank...Robert, the main bank in question is Bankia.<br /><br />Bankia was formed in 2010 from the merger of seven banks owned by the regional governments.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankia<br /><br />So it wasn't so much greedy private banks as it was government-owned institutions that were pushed to lend heavily after 2007 to take up the slack as private lenders cut back.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45343218343913226182012-07-31T06:37:56.792-07:002012-07-31T06:37:56.792-07:00The truly sad thing is, Spain is only in trouble b...The truly sad thing is, Spain is only in trouble because it bailed out private banks that speculated and acted irresponsibly. In short, Spain is being punished for the hubris of its bankers. If they'd just said "we will insure the first 100,000 dollars of each bank account and will provide lending services for businesses and people for the time being but will do nothing more to help these banks" then the financial system would have suffered serious shocks... but its economy would have continued and its debt would not be unsustainable. <br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90652765823586857522012-07-31T05:56:54.504-07:002012-07-31T05:56:54.504-07:00Hey you got a great blog.. keep blogging... also h...Hey you got a great blog.. keep blogging... also hope if you could also visit my blog...and if you like then we can follow eachother.follow me so that i can also follow you.<br />regards,<br />www.poetashwin.blogspot.comAshwin Singhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16000353334690594525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39441321696394448762012-07-31T01:11:43.274-07:002012-07-31T01:11:43.274-07:00Expectation theory is based predicting the impact ...Expectation theory is based predicting the impact of changes in public policy on market behaqviour.<br /><br />I'm sure Krugman knows all about it - but he seems unwilling to consider its consequences in relation to Southern Europe.<br /><br />If Spain (for example) borrows more, it increases the expectation that it may end up having to default - which pushes up its borrowing cost making a default even more likely.<br /><br />It also discourages private investment and pushes up the borrowing costs of Spanish banks.<br /><br />Those engatives - especially the higher interest on Spain's national debt - erode the stimulatory effect of any expansionary spending. So you end up incurring higher debt with little or no benefit to show for it.<br /><br />Now if the Germans would agree to Eurobonds, the situation woudl be very different.<br /><br />For that matter, if the Fed can buy hundreds of billiosn of dollars in US corproate bonds in Operation Twist, I don't see why they couldn't simply finance the next year or so of Spain's public debt program.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72995344999445962532012-07-30T23:01:09.251-07:002012-07-30T23:01:09.251-07:00Seeker's Purpose wasn't necessarily malevo...Seeker's Purpose wasn't necessarily malevolent. Indeed, I hint later that humanity forced changes on the Purpose, but still found it acceptably close enough to work with.<br /><br />What I implied was that it was patronizing, coercive, smug and intolerably secretive-mysterious...<br /><br />... and I have long known, as a writer, that mysterious becomes less-so when you spell it out! See: you thought about it! I planted a mind worm. The whole point of "lungfish" and the Existence was to mention every possibility and then by definition claim "there's more..."David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60769560528544227782012-07-30T20:10:02.305-07:002012-07-30T20:10:02.305-07:00Cracked has a bit that might be worth a look.
The...Cracked has a bit that might be worth a look.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_19949_the-6-most-important-sci-fi-ideas-were-invented-by-hack.html" rel="nofollow">The 6 most important scifi ideas were invented by a hack</a><br /><br />It points to a crappy unauthorized 'sequel' novel to War of the Worlds in which a fictionalized Thomas Edison goes to Mars to exact revenge<br /><br /><b>Question for Dr. Brin:</b> Did you ever specify what Seeker's malevolent purpose was? He just muses that the humans will need to be ready when they meet him, and a definite vibe of malice was established, but I never figured out what he was actually up to.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63380058346142895592012-07-30T19:54:36.862-07:002012-07-30T19:54:36.862-07:00Patrick Farley will be posting sketches on a regul...Patrick Farley will be posting sketches on a regular basis:<br /><br />http://electricsheepcomix.com/sketch/Stefan Joneshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17910662497144691582012-07-30T18:59:53.610-07:002012-07-30T18:59:53.610-07:00Doyne Farmer has a few interesting videos on YouTu...Doyne Farmer has a few interesting videos on YouTube. I don't normally watch such but I wanted to catch up and brevity was wanted.<br /><br />Easy enough to find.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57547893535952324172012-07-30T18:48:34.395-07:002012-07-30T18:48:34.395-07:00The stimulus that Obama was able to get past congr...The stimulus that Obama was able to get past congress was, not very. What I think is required is something on the scale of what we had in the fifties, building three different ICBMs, the warheads for them, converting an air force to jets, building an interstate highway system and all at the same time. May I suggest rebuilding municipal water and waste treatment systems so they require less, or no chlorine? It would cost a lot, employ a lot, and perhaps, accomplish more than the R-12 ban. Yes, it would increase the deficit, and do it to help people, which has gone out of style, but the trajectory we're on seems worse.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47640336488204258532012-07-30T18:04:18.073-07:002012-07-30T18:04:18.073-07:00Anyone ever done a thesis on economics as a belief...Anyone ever done a thesis on economics as a belief system?Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51632475093328120242012-07-30T16:53:13.747-07:002012-07-30T16:53:13.747-07:00Ian Gould:
He [Krugmann] faisl to take inot accou...Ian Gould:<br /><i><br />He [Krugmann] faisl to take inot account expectation theory - pioneered by Milton Friedman and demosntrated in practise by Rubin and clinton.<br /></i><br /><br />I'm not sure it's the same thing, but Krugmann often does mention the effect of expected Fed policy upon spending, and he argues that the Fed might have to create an expectation of allowing inflation for many months into the future. So I'm guessing he does know about whatever "expectation theory" actually is.<br /><br /><i><br />He also largely ignores the fact that whilr it is generally true that spending cuts depress grwothm unsustainable levesl of sovereign debt also depress the economy further.<br /></i><br /><br />Krugmann doesn't say the debt isn't a problem. He often mentions that it will have to be addressed eventually. But what he does argue is that right now, during a Great Depression, cutting back on spending does more harm than good. He doesn't claim that deficit reduction is always a bad idea--just that this isn't the time for it.<br /><br /><i><br />Many of the "cuts" he discusses are either the termination of temporary stimulus programs or cuts from projected higher future spending.<br /></i><br /><br />I think he'd argue that ANY cutting back in the velocity of money does harm in the current recessionary/depressionary climate.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34573088886587298982012-07-30T16:24:20.649-07:002012-07-30T16:24:20.649-07:00Paul Krugman is wrong here - to an extent.
He fai...Paul Krugman is wrong here - to an extent.<br /><br />He faisl to take inot account expectation theory - pioneered by Milton Friedman and demosntrated in practise by Rubin and clinton.<br /><br />He also largely ignores the fact that whilr it is generally true that spending cuts depress grwothm unsustainable levesl of sovereign debt also depress the economy further.<br /><br />He also gratly overstates the extent of cuts in European spending.<br /><br />Government spending as a ercentage of GDP in Spain, for example, remains above the average for the EU as a whole.<br /><br />Many of the "cuts" he discusses are either the termination of temporary stimulus programs or cuts from projected higher future spending.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56905188993201997502012-07-30T10:16:45.678-07:002012-07-30T10:16:45.678-07:00Keynesian stimulus was easier when it could be pas...Keynesian stimulus was easier when it could be passed off as facing the NAZI menace, or containing international communism, especially when production needed more human labor. These days, the defense gigabucks don't buy nearly so many jobs, we aren't looking at anything near as extensive as 1946, when the largest air force in the world was obsoleted by the advent of jet aircraft. Implements of destruction seem to be the only sort of stimulus that'll bring conservatives on board, that is, if they're not already mutated beyond even that ;) . Looking like time to delink work from survival, if we can.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63089862795366606212012-07-30T07:06:10.947-07:002012-07-30T07:06:10.947-07:00Good old Paul Krugmann. When he's right, he&#...Good old Paul Krugmann. When he's right, he's right:<br /><br /><i><br />...<br />You don’t even have to make a Keynesian argument about jobs to see that. All you have to do is note that when money is cheap, that’s a good time to invest. And both education and infrastructure are investments in America’s future; we’ll eventually pay a large and completely gratuitous price for the way they’re being savaged. <br /><br />That said, you should be a Keynesian, too. The experience of the past few years — above all, the spectacular failure of austerity policies in Europe — has been a dramatic demonstration of Keynes’s basic point: slashing spending in a depressed economy depresses that economy further. <br /><br />So it’s time to stop paying attention to the alleged wise men who hijacked our policy discussion and made the deficit the center of conversation. They’ve been wrong about everything — and these days even the financial markets are telling us that we should be focused on jobs and growth. <br /></i>LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37880586894343104672012-07-29T12:45:05.509-07:002012-07-29T12:45:05.509-07:00Philosophical ponderings of the nature of time... ...Philosophical ponderings of the nature of time... made funny. <br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5nptDP35Tb0David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72575001226090232342012-07-29T09:48:58.094-07:002012-07-29T09:48:58.094-07:00Re:Gun Control & 3-D Printers
Maybe everybody...Re:Gun Control & 3-D Printers<br /><br />Maybe everybody has snapped to this and decided to self-censor, but in case not...<br /><br />At least in the USA, where owning a gun is not difficult for a non-felon, I see the big game changer implied by the article about 3-D printers in <i>gizmag</i> as being the increased availability of handgun <i><b>accessories</b></i>...especially the ones that are rated on a scale measured in dB's.<br /><br />For any James Ellroy readers out there...remember to keep this "off the record, on the QT and very hush-hush".<br /><br />For any Deep Purple fans...here's a version that predates theirs...<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoJP65nAMGA&feature=related<br /><br />And here's one that came after...<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WML6mclO9hYinfanttyronenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92126961718313370912012-07-28T19:23:58.326-07:002012-07-28T19:23:58.326-07:00At the other end of firearm statistics, I haven...At the other end of firearm statistics, I haven't owned one in decades. A semiautomatic firearm seems like it would be at least as mechanically amusing as a Huret Duopar. Hmm, since the only thing better than new shiny is "Newer! Shinier!", how long 'til we see an ad like: "Hunt with the BFG 9000! No gutting! No skinning! In fact, no deer left at all!"?Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35006444301885319652012-07-28T18:12:22.877-07:002012-07-28T18:12:22.877-07:00Thanks LarryHart! Glad you liked it and nits dul...Thanks LarryHart! Glad you liked it and nits duly noted!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66467468261364372692012-07-28T16:51:20.204-07:002012-07-28T16:51:20.204-07:00Dr Brin:
I just finished "Existence".
I...Dr Brin:<br /><br />I just finished "Existence".<br />It accompanied me on an Alaska cruise last week, but I only got part of it read on the trip.<br /><br />I've got many questions that I will save for a bit so as not to spoil anything for others. Most are along the lines of "Hey, did we ever find out what happened to XXX?" Most will probably be answered by a re-read, but I'm sure you can understand that one cannot just dive right back into such a pool.<br /><br />Without spoiling too much:<br /><br />While your "character" may not apologize for the name-based pun toward the end, come ON, dude! You obviously named the character with the joke in mind. That's called "writing to the bit." Ok, you're forgiven, but really?<br /><br />Graphic novelist Neil Gaiman made prolific use of the Latin phrase "Omnia Mutantur" for "Everything changes"--ironic in a comics medium which makes profuse use of characters who are themselves mutants. I liked your use of the English phrase.<br /><br />And if you're looking to correct typos in later editions, at the bottom of hardcover page 541 (the page facing the drawing of the probe in chapter 96), Lacey is called "Lacy". For what it's worth.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73028472255659963402012-07-28T14:38:48.310-07:002012-07-28T14:38:48.310-07:00Larry Lyons The discrepancy is simple to explain ...Larry Lyons The discrepancy is simple to explain (my source was anti-gun lefty Michael Moore. Who plays a bit loose with fact at times but had no reason to lie in this case.<br /><br />In the US... our gun nuts have LOTS of weapons... do you have a clue what I mean by "lots"? They skew the averages. A lot.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com