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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Economic Models: Caveat Utilitor!
The Australia Institute has released a very nice report by Richard Denniss titled, The use and abuse of economic modelling in Australia: Users' guide to Tricks of the Trade (PDF). The essay illustrates its critique with several recent cases related to claims about jobs in the mining industry, the poker machine industry and as a consequence of the carbon tax.Here is...
TUESDAY
1. Mitt will say anything to get elected. Newt will say everything to get elected.2. Mitt owns Florida. This is because he bought it.3. It is said that Heidi Klum fell for Seal after seeing his gigantic dick in a pair of bicycle shorts. True love.4. I wish I had my own Super PAC. I would have a lot of fun with that.5. The Cinnamon Challenge:6. My state wants Amazon shoppers...
Wellington Sevens Biggest Con job to hit New Zealand Sport
For 12 straight years the NZRFU and the New Zealandmedia have pulled a con job on the New Zealand public.For 12 straight years they have done this and not oneJourno has had the integrity to call them up on it.It is a brilliant but repugnant piece of viral marketing,the partners in crime are Sky Television, The Media,The brewery companies, TVNZ, Radio Sport andthe...
Examining pros and cons of NFL clean zones as lawsuit nears trial
I have a new SI column on the Super Bowl and the controversial concept of "clean zones", which grant the NFL legal rights to control commercial activity in streets around the Super Bowl. Here's an excerpt:* * * Clean zones raise a bevy of concerns.For one, clean zones unabashedly limit competition when businesses are denied permission from the league or city. A decrease...
14 Months Without a Car
We have been without a car since last December. The "anniversary" of this date was so unremarkable, that it came and went unnoticed. But I've had some requests to post a 1-year report about what it has been like, which made me realise it's already been longer than that. I want to make it clear that being without a car is not a political statement for us and is not wrapped...
What is a Job?
People familiar with my work, such as in The Honest Broker and The Climate Fix, will also be familiar with my interest in unpacking issues and problems into comprehensible bits. To that end in the area of innovation I am going to be posting on some definitional issues to simply sort through a number of basic propositions as a matter of clarifying my own thinking and writing.In...
Low rep LC training
LC 2x20kg: 5LC 2x24kg: 5LC 2x28kg: 5LC 2x30kg: 6LC 2x32kg: 3x 3reps LC 2x30kg: 3 - lousy lock-outs so I quitSC Jerk 2x28kg: 10Push-ups w band: 3x 10reps Not a bad session for being me, but I felt volume was a bit low. But, I did not have more good work in me; perhaps because of Sunday's training.Wild Bill called the below video to my attention:I like Merkulin's style in jerk. It is "clear and clean" with the different stages visible. He stays a comparatively long time at the bottom of the second dip. Nice video, over 20 minutes from different ...
The Power of Initiative
SAVE THE DATE! Feb 24-25, 2012FREE Character Building Clinic hosted by SportsLeader for Coaches and CaptainsOne of the athletes we are honoring this year at our SportsLeader Awards Night on Feb 24th is Joseph Fisher. Joseph is a remarkable young man who is truly an example of initiative - coming up with an idea on his own, following through and getting it done - all at the age of 12, 13 ...Joseph is currently an 8th grader at St Agnes school in Louisville, KY. He played football for the past two seasons for Coach Paul Passafiume, Co-Founder of...
Leadership and The First Follower
Tom Ryan, head wrestling coach at Ohio State, recently shared these lessons with his team and I thought it looked really interesting.I've seen this play out time and time again as we've tried to introduce virtue into schools ... many times there might be ONE person ... and getting that first follower and the second is very challenging.Our society urgently needs more virtuous leaders and followers. It's not an option - it's an urgency....Leadership and The First FollowerBy Derek SiversIf you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement,...
Coming up on tonight's Tuesday Night Sports Show - 31/01/12
We’re here every Tuesday at 7pm on 98.7FM in Cardiff and online at www.radiocardiff.orgwith award-winning sporting discussion and debate.- Coming up on your double award-winning Tuesday Night Sports Show, it’s transfer deadline day so we’ll keep you up-to-date on all the latest movers and shakers before the window slams shut!- We reflect on last week’s win for Cardiff City...
Q & A
Q: Do people have free will?A: This is one of those deep philosophical questions I don't spend much time thinking about anymore. It is also one of those questions that have made me reject a rationalist epistemology in favor of skeptical empiricism. Whenever you have a dispute like this that has gone for eons unresolved, you are going to find that science succeeds where philosophy fails.Everything you choose to do in life is the consequence of neurons and chemicals firing in your brain. We like to think that some part of us exists outside of this...
The Minimalists on Comments
During the interview Seth talked about a part of his brain that distracted him from his writings when his blog had comments. This voice would constantly tell him that his writings weren’t going to be appreciated by his readers. So Seth would argue with himself about a sentence here, or he’d add an extra sentence there to justify his point of view and avoid offending his readers. Seth said, “I realized I had a choice: I could have a blog with comments and no posts, or a blog with posts and no comments.”That was our lightbulb moment. We felt the...
Monday, January 30, 2012
MONDAY
1. Ron Paul got the ultimate endorsement. Snoop Dogg says to vote for Ron Paul. Pure fucking awesome. Toke up!2. Jack White goes solo with new work. A good thing.3. First song is here.4. I wish to Christ that Greece would hurry up and fucking implode. This is what happens when a country does not having a living will. Put them out of their fucking misery.5. Apparently, donkey...
All Jobs are Service Jobs
I am trying to figure out (a) what a "manufacturing job" is, and (b) why many economists think that such jobs are in some way a special category of jobs.My emerging view is that all jobs are service jobs and some such jobs involve the manipulation of tangible goods. In our economic accounting we classify some (but far from all) of those jobs that involve the manipulation of...
Taking the Lane with Elly Blue
Following the online presence of Portland-based bike activist Elly Blue over the past year, her perspective seemed so different from mine that it was as if she wrote from another planet. Critical Mass, relentless activism, political organising, and the accompanying stylistic elements - It's not my world and it's not my way of thinking. But when faced with swathes of difference,...
Gatland backs LV= Breakthrough Player Award
Wales head coach Warren Gatland today backed a new award for this season's LV= Cup, designed to recognise a young player who has stood out in the 2011-12 competition.Subsequent to the re-launch of the LV= Cup in September, supporters are now being given the chance to have their say on who they believe has made an outstanding contribution to the competition over the past seven...
WRU extends deal with Welsh Varsity
The Welsh Rugby Union has signed a new agreement with Welsh Varsity to bring the annual rugby showdown between Cardiff University and Swansea University back to the Millennium Stadium until 2014.The two-year deal will ensure that Wales’ finest student rugby talent, which has included British & Irish Lions stars Alun Wyn Jones and Jamie Roberts, will return to the home of Welsh sport for the showpiece event of the Welsh Varsity sports day.The teams meet next at the iconic city-centre venue on Wednesday, 2 May for the fixture which attracted...
Scorpions launch 500 Tickets for a Fiver Day for Oldham game
South Wales Scorpions have launched "500 Tickets for a Fiver Day", a unique day where all fans can buy tickets for their 2012 opening home competitive match, which is against Oldham on Sunday 19th February 2012 at The Gnoll in Neath (kick-off 3pm), for a bargain price. For 24 hours only, the Scorpions will be selling adult and concession match tickets at just £5, heavily reduced...
Social Media and Intercollegiate Athletics
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Sublimation
For the record, I think Sigmund Freud was a fucknut. My opinion of the entire psychiatric establishment is incredibly low, and Dr. Freud is definitely on my villains list. As a doctor and a mindfucker, he was truly a piece of shit. But as a philosopher, he had some interesting ideas. One of those ideas was the idea of sublimation.Sublimation is where you take impulses that...
Sunday, January 29, 2012
[SOC]
I just woke up from a nightmare. I have many nightmares. This particular nightmare was the prison nightmare. Most of the other nightmares are variations on the theme of human cruelty. I just have a lot of them for some reason.The cause of my nightmares is obviously living alone. I remember only one nightmare in my life before my current living situation. I didn't have nightmares while in my various relationships. I just have nightmares now as a product of solitude.People who spend a lot of time alone become paranoid. This paranoia feeds the need...
MODERN FAMILY WINS SAG AWARD
Modern Family has won the SAG award for bestcast in a comedy series.If there was ever an award designed for this show,then best cast will be it.It's a tribute to the adult actors and it's a tributeto the child actors (Glee take note, I love ya, butit's not a good look having 32 year olds playing 16year olds)What a nice gesture also by the show to allow thekid actors to have...
