President Obama refutes rumors (humor)

Both Obama supporters and detractors will like this; he has President Obama nailed!

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12 August 09 (pm)

Workout notes 2000 yard swim; 5 x 100 on the 2, 10 x 50 (drill/swim, no fins), 10 x (25 fist, 25 free) on 1, 5 x (25 fly, 25 free) on 1, 2 x 100 IM, 50 side.

Then 4 mile walk (plus) at about 12:20-12:30 via 2-1 right afterward. With showers and transition, this took about 2 hours (11 to 1).

Academia A voice of sanity from someone who does academic research for a living (building on a topic that I discussed here):

Secondly, Ivy notes that Mike has changed the game. He didn’t succeed like his buddy at MIT (which is an okay school, actually, though not really along the lines of where I went), so he’s set new rules that apply for Soda Pop college [...]

Thirdly, Ivy points out that Mike’s actions remind him of many older faculty he runs across. I can absolutely attest that this is common in academe. For whatever reason, older faculty put their retirement and their personal lives ahead of the work of the university. I’m not saying this is bad. I certainly plan on having children and a partner one day, but those things are NOT THE SAME as a growing career. If I say, “Look at my new publication,” and the respondent says, “Oh, I had some nice tomatoes come up in the back yard,” that means that the respondent has decided that personal life trumps academic life, and I know where NOT to stop along the hallway next time I want some intellectual banter. (The tomato lady isn’t BAD; she’s different from me.)

[...]

Fifth, Ivy notes that calling Mike a loser might be too harsh, and I agree. Mike isn’t working in the same profession as Ivy, just like the CEO of a bank isn’t doing the same thing as someone who wraps the nickels. There should be no animus against Ivy or others like him. We were trained for a special niche.

Well, here is where the animus: fewer people have the ability to earn their living as researchers than have the ability to teach. Think of it this way: how many marathon runners can coach cross country? Now how many have the innate ability to, say, run a 2:10 marathon?

Science

Via Conservation Report: Many New Species found in the Himalayas; these include miniature deer and the flying frog:

Isn’t that adorable? (Its large webs allow for it to “glide” when it falls).

Plants: I find this astonishing:

Experiments show that a sagebrush plant can recognise a genetically identical cutting growing nearby.

What’s more, the two clones communicate and cooperate with one another, to avoid being eaten by herbivores.

The findings, published in Ecology Letters, raise the tantalising possibility that plants, just like animals, often prefer to help their relatives over unrelated individuals. The ability to distinguish self from non-self is a vital one in nature.

It allows many animals to act preferentially towards others that are genetically related to themselves; for example, a female lion raising her young, or protecting other more distantly related cubs in her pride.

But the evidence that plants can do the same is limited and controversial.

Teabagger Dregs

1. At Claire McCaskill’s health care town hall: Woman has a posted that is rolled up; a photographers wonders what it is. The lady unrolls it (in a way that does NOT block the view of anyone else). Someone else sees it, takes it away from her and rips it up. The poster is of Rosa Parks.

2. Here are more antics. Remember the “tough talking” imbecile who butted his way in front of everyone pushing his wheelchair bound son? The Congressman in question offered him a one-on-one meeting; he refused!

3. Major Fail:

But most notable was one of the protesters who benefits greatly by government assistance.

Diane Campbell (pictured) of Kingston, N.H., held a sign with Mr. Obama’s face superimposed on a Nazi storm trooper, a sign, she said, that was made by her chronically ill mother.

Her mother’s hereditary autoimmune disease is treated with expensive transfusions of gamma globulin, paid for by Medicare. Her sister, Louise, was born with no arms and one leg, and is also covered by Medicare, the government-run, health-insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

“Adolf Hitler was for exterminating the weak, not just the Jews and stuff, and socialism — that’s what’s going to happen.”

What is with these people anyway? Paul Krugman has some thoughts on the matter:

Yes, there’s a lavishly funded industry pushing these stories. But Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and all the others wouldn’t succeed without a receptive audience. So what makes that audience so receptive?

Here’s a thought: maybe we can learn something from Bernie Madoff.

How did Madoff pull off his scam? A lot of it probably involved affinity fraud: Madoff’s victims, largely affluent Jews, trusted him in large part because he seemed like one of them.

What I think is going on here, at least partly, is that the peddlers of anti-progressive lies are managing to convince a certain kind of American — white, socially conservative, etc. — that the hate-mongers are people like them; and, even more important, that progressives are Those People, people not like them.

He goes on to say that President Obama’s race is an issue, but this group of people hated President Clinton as well (and yeah, they would have hated Hillary Clinton too).

But the larger point is that this group of people will not be convinced by the evidence; we are probably wise to just make sure that they don’t injure anyone and just blow them off.

Survival Kit for Tea Baggers at Town Halls

A Dictionary for a New Language: Republicanspeak

“tyranny”: “we lost the last election”
“arrogance”: “you are trying to keep your campaign promises”
“socialism”: “profits are the be-all and end-all”
“Acorn!”: “only corporate astro-turf groups should organize” or “I don’t like blacks”.
“Affirmative Action Pick”: “if you were choosing only on merit, only white males would get chosen”
“Obama is not an American”: “I am bat-shit crazy”
“I want my country back”: “People who aren’t just like me aren’t real Americans” or “I am completely ignorant of the country I call my own”.

Any additions?

12 August 09 (am)

Workout notes I’ll probably swim over lunchtime.

Humor Friendly atheist has a “fun” post which includes photos of an outing. He includes a photo of someone wearing an integral t-shirt. Yes, that integral is pretty easy, though one has to be a bit of a “perv” to get the joke.

Politics: This pundit is a bit confused. There is a difference between street protesting and disrupting a town hall. Besides, why is it arrogant to win an election and attempt to do what you said that you were going to do if you won? Evidently the Republicans are all for democracy until they lose an election.

Elections: Harry Reid (Senate majority leader) is in trouble. Good. If he enables the failure of health care reform, he deserves to lose.

Health care reform
Of course, health insurance companies are fighting it.

Fact: insurance companies make the most profit by charging as much as they can get away with and by putting out as little as possible; hence it is in their interests to take your money and not pay it out. That is why I am in favor of single payer.

True: some might argue that the companies attempting to pay out as little as possible drives medical costs down but is the effect of the companies working to deny claims in any way possible worth it? Talk about putting someone between you and your doctor.

Here, Maddow shows that these “tea baggers” are being organized by professional groups that have a financial agenda.
Yes, they have a “right” to do this, and she has a right to point out that they are doing this:

And of course, there are the good old “scare tactics” directed at the elderly.

Two Books: Great Generals Series (LeMay) and Tear Down That Myth (by Will Bunch)

Great Generals Series: LeMay by Barrett Tillman (forward by Wesley Clark)

General LeMay was known for many things:

1. He was a young general, being promoted to Brigadier General at 37 years of age (15 years of service) and General (4 stars) at 45 years of age (23 years of service.)

2. He headed the famous Berlin Airlift.

3. He turned the Strategic Air Command (SAC) into an effective deterrent force.

4. In wartime he
a. developed the “LeMay Combat Box” which enabled the B-17 bombers to fly in a manner that allowed for them to bomb effectively and concentrate their defensive fire power against enemy fighters.
b. came up with the strategy of doing low level incendiary bombing over Japan.

5. He was also quick to call for the use of total force when a conflict broke out (e. g., he wanted to attack Korean and Vietnamese cities; he also wanted air strikes during the Cuban Missile Crisis)

Of course, one didn’t need to read Tillman’s book to find out any of the above. What the book did bring out was the following:

a. LeMay was a life long tinkerer; for example he was a ham radio operator and he also built his own color television. He had even greater hands on knowledge of the machines that his crews were flying; he knew the ins and outs of what his crews were to do. For example, when crews reported that certain “sighting blisters” iced over in the B-29 bomber, he knew which windows should be opened to take care of the problem.

b. He also was able to do very cold blooded logical analysis of the problems he encountered. Examples; when he took over a bomber wing in Europe, it was “conventional wisdom” that a plane that flew in a straight path for more than a few seconds was doomed to get shot down. LeMay reacted to that by getting out Army field manuals on the accuracy of artillery; he calculated what the odds really were and based his flying strategy on that. As a result: his flights caused more bombing damage and suffered fewer losses than others; hence his tactics became standard.

Also as far as the bombing runs in Japan: he figured out that the jet stream winds at high altitude over Japan made accurate high level bombing all but impossible, but also figured out that by flying lower, planes would use less fuel; hence they could carry heavier bomb loads. He also discovered that Japanese cities didn’t have “light flak” that was necessary to shoot down low flying planes.
Hence the switch to low level attacks with heavy incendiary loads.

c. LeMay, while having high standards and being ruthless in enforcing them, did not micromanage his subordinates. If they performed well, he left them alone. Also, he wasn’t impressed with “chicken-shit”. I have to admit that I cheered when I read the story of one of his “surprise inspections”: the colonel who was the head of the base got wind of a proposed inspection and therefore made an extra effort to get his base extra clean for the General’s visit. He also had his airmen taking time off of their jobs to clean, sweep, etc.

The General noticed that the flightline was a bit “too clean” and observed radio techs with brooms. He told the Colonel: “if your men have nothing better to do than this I don’t need you” and fired him on the spot.

General LeMay expected much from his crews; he expected them to willingly risk their lives and he set the example by risking his own (until ordered not to after he received the briefing on the atomic bombs). He was certainly a “set the example” type.

In short, General LeMay was intelligent, logical, calculating, and had a cold blooded focus (though he did care about rewarding his crews). You’d want him on your side during a war, though you wouldn’t want him as a political leader (yes, he was Wallace’s running mate in 1968 and he was part of the last “independent ticket” to win a state’s electoral votes in a general election).

Book Two:

Tear Down This Myth by Will Bunch

Remember this from the 2008 election?

Well, President Ronald Reagan has been brought up a great deal even by those who opposed his actual policies. Hence the book by Will Bunch.

Bunch basically argues this:

1. There is a big difference between what Reagan said in speeches and what he actually did as President.
2. The right wing has made President Reagan into a bit of an icon based on his speeches and sometime popularity.
3. In terms of policy: the times when President Reagan was the least successful is when he more closely followed his own rhetoric. The times he was the most successful is when he acted in a way that the current Republicans wouldn’t approve of!
4. He was NOT the “amicable dunce” that liberals made him out to be (“ketchup is a vegetable”, “trees cause air pollution” not withstanding)

Some facts: President Reagan grew government (added to the payroll, added an agency, raised taxes several times).

Inflation did go down under Reagan, but mostly due to the then-unpopular policies of Paul Volker, who was appointed by President Carter.

President Reagan indeed did a “cut and run” after Hezbolla killed the Marines in Lebanon (and did the right thing, IMHO).

He also thought that it was terrorism to kill innocent civilians in retaliation for a terrorist act! He had no desire for the US to be seen as an international bully. Of course, he did fund bloody right wing regimes in Latin America.

As far as the gas lines and energy: OPEC had to reduce its demands due, in part, to the success of our using less energy (a Carter program); Reagan promptly rolled back these programs.

His presidency was NOT one of the best of all times; neither was it the worst. His policies weren’t all that popular and people had enough of them eventually; President Bill Clinton ended up much of the mess that President Reagan and President H. W. Bush left behind.

In short, current Republicans have created a myth to sustain themselves and the myth doesn’t have that much in common with his actual presidency.

11 August 09 pm

Workout notes AM: 4 mile walk (50′ish or about 12:30 mpm)
PM: public track meet; 2 mile warm up,
800 meters in 3:18 (1:36, 1:42). I had to force myself to try to speed up on lap 2.
some stuff to keep lose
5000 meters: 26:30 (8:07, 8:31, 8:43, 1:07).
I didn’t have a lot left but I should have finished stronger than I did.

It was somewhat warm (81 F, 54 percent humidity) and the track made it feel a bit warmer, but mostly it was the 800 that took it out of me. Three ladies got away from me; the one in shiny black spandex was doing a perfect pace (8 minutes) but I couldn’t stay with her and the other lady who I got away from a bit early got me in the last 100 m. One just stayed out of reach the entire time.

Mathematics notes My progress on the paper write up continues. I found that I was a bit too terse in one of my “bounded below” arguments though I was correct.

Town Halls
Yes, I wish that single payer were on the table but it isn’t. But watch Senator McCaskill handle hecklers:

More Republican stupidity
Have you heard about “union thugs” who got into a health care event ahead of Republican protesters? It is partially true; the SEIU sponsored an event and reserved seats for some of the members and those members were let in. Yes, that is what the Republicans were complaining about.

Elections: an essay which basically argues that President Obama won mostly because it was a Democratic year; outside of the heavily Appalachian states he outperformed Kerry by about 5 points across the board.

Science/Nature: yes, a new species of frog: the flying frog was discovered.