Valentine’s Day, 2011 (AM)

Ok, here is a little something for my female readers: some hearts on Valentine’s Day, just for you!

(click the thumbnail to go to his photo; you might check out the rest of his photos. He is pretty good)

Yep, that is a guy but those are little hearts….

This also demonstrates something that I cannot do with my right knee; it won’t bend like that yet. I have made a lot of progress though and can almost do a full squat.

Workout notes Some PT stuff (hip hikes, Achilles tendon stuff). I ran on the treadmill due to the number of “hard to see” patches of ice and the snow-pack on the sides of most roads around here. I “ran” 4 miles in 42:40 (easy effort, but at a good incline which I varied) and then walked for 14 more minutes to get 5 miles.

Of course, some of my racewalking friends are show-offs:.

I warmed up for 1600m in 10:29. Slooooowwwish for a warm-up,

Remember that she is talking about WALKING here…..and 1600 is a couple of seconds short of a mile.

Show off!
(seriously, she has overcome injuries and illnesses to “hit her stride” once again..and that is nice to see!)

Posts

Ed Current cracks me up:

Science
Check out a simplified version of a wind turbine. It features (of course) a speed up gear and something that helps it turn into the wind.

Human Evolution Lucy was not a tree dweller. There is a nice discussion of the human foot here.

Economics On google reader, the title of the post is “The Obama budget: “meh”. And I mean that.” Yes, it isn’t the disaster that the Republican budget is. But:

It’s much less awful than the Republican proposal, but it moves in the same direction: listening to the administration, you’d think that discretionary spending, not health care, is at the heart of our long-run deficit problems — and you’d also think that the job of rescuing the economy was done, with unemployment still at 9 percent.

It could be worse — the GOP proposal is — but it’s hardly something to cheer about.

Note: there are some cuts to Pell Grants in the Obama budget, but these are not “meat cleaver” cuts:

The first proposal would end the “year-round Pell” policy that let students collect two grants in a calendar year, with the second grant used for summer school. The official said the costs exceeded expectations and there was little evidence that students earn their degrees any faster.

The change would save $8 billion next year and $60 billion over a decade, the official said.

A second proposal would reduce loan subsidies for graduate and professional students. That would free $2 billion next year and save $29 billion over 10 years, according to the official.

The government currently pays the interest on student loans for some graduate and professional students as long as they stay in college. But the official said experts think the subsidy has failed to encourage more students to attend graduate school and it isn’t well-matched to borrowers who have trouble repaying the loans.

The administration also has expanded other programs that help students reduce loan payments and ultimately forgive debt they can no longer afford to repay.

Another $4 billion in savings over 10 years would be achieved by broadening the use of IRS data to determine eligibility, reducing improper payments and easing the application process, the official said.

[...]

So, hopefully, this might get tweaked if there are unfortunate consequences.

13 February 2011

Parting shots:
Evidently Secretary Rumsfeld didn’t know what he said that he knew:

The attachment is from Major Gen. Glen Shaffer, then the director for intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense, responding to Rummy’s request to know the “unknowns” about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

“We range from 0% to about 75% knowledge on various aspects of their program,” Shaffer wrote. Unfortunately, the 0% had to do with actual weapons.

“Our assessments rely heavily on analytic assumptions and judgment rather than hard evidence,” the report said. “The evidentiary base is particularly sparse for Iraqi nuclear programs.”

It added: “We don’t know with any precision how much we don’t know.” And continued: “We do not know if they have purchased, or attempted to purchase, a nuclear weapon. We do not know with confidence the location of any nuclear weapon-related facilities. Our knowledge of the Iraqi nuclear weapons program is based largely — perhaps 90% — on analysis of imprecise intelligence.”

On biological weapons: “We cannot confirm the identity of any Iraqi facilities that produce, test, fill, or store biological weapons,” the report said, adding: “We believe Iraq has 7 mobile BW agent production plants but cannot locate them … our knowledge of how and where they are produced is probably up to 90% incomplete.”

On chemical weapons: “We cannot confirm the identity of any Iraqi sites that produce final chemical agent.” And on ballistic missile programs they had “little missile-specific data.”

Somehow that was twisted into “a slam-dunk.” You go to war with the army you have, but the facts you want.

But if you think that this is bad, wait and see how things will be under President Palin.

Science and the environment
this is a very good video for the genuinely conflicted:

Hat tip: Conservation Report.

Oooops!

Froggy Love gone very wrong; the upper amphibian is a cane toad; the lower one is a green treefrog.

Nope; though they are in amplexus (the eggs are fertilized by the male outside of the body), they won’t be able to interbreed; there is too much genetic distance.

Clash of Cultures

My internet community is currently buzzing about this:

Bill Maher: openly wonders if Obama is really a Christian:

The liberal host of a popular cable television talk show recently cast doubts on President Barack Obama’s espoused Christianity during a discussion on the president’s current political leanings.

“I think he’s a centrist the way he’s a Christian,” Bill Maher of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher said to a round of laughs Friday.

He continued, “He’s pretending to be a centrist.”

Philosopher Cornel West disagreed emphatically with Maher’s description of the president’s political identity and religious beliefs.

“He is a Christian. He is a Christian,” West said.”He’s just a centrist Christian. He’s not a prophetic Christian.”

Maher, whose atheist worldview was captured in his recent documentary “Religulous,” replied that Obama was reared by his late mother who described herself as a “secular humanist,” which the host later said he believed Obama to be as well.

“But he reacted against that though,” West responded. “He changed his mind on the God question, Brother Bill.”

Maher then explained his point that Obama has pretended to hold a Christian viewpoint standing against same-sex marriage, for example, only to further his political ambitions.

And Jerry Coyne (evolutionary biologist and author of Why Evolution is True; excellent book!) also weighs in:

Last March I did a short post, “Obama is an atheist,” suggesting that perhaps our President was a nonbeliever, and just took on the trappings of a religious person for political reasons. I took a lot of flak for that, but I stand by my claim. Of course, there’s no way to adjudicate the issue—how can you look into his heart? And Obama’s nauseatingly conciliatory remarks about faith and prayer at a February 4 White House prayer breakfast will prove to some that he’s at least a theist.

We all share a recognition—one as old as time—that a willingness to believe–an openness, to grace, a commitment to prayer, can bring sustenance to our lives.

The issue of this post isn’t the “is the President really a Christian or not” or “is he really a closet atheist”.
The point is how my facebook friends reacted to this issue and how I grew up.

I’ll explain: most of my facebook friends are people I’ve never met in real life and will probably never meet. Some are classmates from my junior high/high school days, some are my old Naval Academy classmates. Some I met through endurance sports (running, walking, race walking).
But many I met because of my interaction on political focused articles. Yes, a tiny handful are Republicans but the vast majority are Democrats or liberals; many are staunch supporters President Obama (as am I, to be honest).

But many (most?) are not atheists. So, when some of these types (theistic Democrats) heard his Christianity being questioned, they saw that as a Fox News type of slur. In fact, people like Jerry Coyne and Bill Maher mean it in a sort of “he is too smart to believe that superstitious BS” way; it is meant as a compliment to the President’s intellect.

But that is where things got interesting for me. Just how do I convey that “hey, these atheists were not putting the President down” message to these people without insulting them?

I’ll digress a bit: I grew up on Air Force bases; my dad was a sergeant and my mom, while a homemaker, also made and sold things like doll clothes. My parents grew up desperately poor in the depression era; day to day life was a struggle for them. Neither made it out of grade school but they wanted very much for me to become educated. However, in their view, education was “that piece of paper” that meant that you didn’t have to earn a living with long hours of hazardous, back breaking labor. They really didn’t understand that there was a process that happened in the brain and that whole new intellectual worlds would be opened up.

Mom was a regular Catholic; dad, while not a Christian, did believe in a deity of some sort and he thought that evolution was bunk; he was one of those “if we evolved from apes, why are there still apes” and “if there is a watch, there must be a watch maker” types.

The term “atheist” was a slur with them. And even to this day, when my football loving mom sees a player “thank god”, she gives the “thumbs up”.

And I am deeply ashamed to say that for a number of years of my life I bought into that BS; I grew away from it gradually, though my “last throes” were spent in a UU Church. But eventually the woo that one sees in many UU churches got to be too much for me.

But I never overcame the stench of my religious upbringing and I still have the “Christian eyeglasses”.

Therefore I can see that, to them (people like my parents, or even my former self), seeing Obama’s professed faith being questioned would be a big attack on his character.
So, I “get” the attitude that some Obama supporters have when they read what Bill Maher said.

Now as far as my parents go: Dad died in 2004 and my mom is suffering from dementia; since she lives 1000 miles away I don’t see her that much.

I should make myself very clear here: I didn’t grow up in the circumstances that they did and I am not at all sure that I wouldn’t have felt similarly had I lived their lives.

Nevertheless, I find it very unpleasant to be around someone who thinks that “believing” in and of itself is some sort of moral virtue (though I can accept it as a tool that some use to get through day to day life, though it is not a tool I find useful).

Fortunately, in my day to day life, I hang around mostly agnostics, atheists and, once in a while, “word salad god/holy rabbit” types. But still, on places like facebook, well, I see the other side. It isn’t pretty and it presses many of my buttons.

13 February 2011 Rest Day Edition

I went out with Lynn; easy 5.4 mile road hike; there were some beautiful views of the frozen Illinois river and some road space to walk without slipping. I thought about doing more afterward, but my legs are sore from yesterday’s 6 mile run, then walk, then squats routine. So today I rest to train another day, though I feel guilty resting when I have training time available. I have to remind myself that I am NOT in ultra shape right now, nor am I ready to train for it.

Last night I had just a shade of dull shoulder ache…but there was some in the left shoulder as well. My guess is that perhaps I ought to back off of the assisted pull-ups until I’ve gotten fully used to the lat-pull downs.

Posts

Get it? No? Probably not; this flag represents the “gnu” atheists which is a play on the phrase “new atheists”. This is a movement that, to be frank, few care about and that few actually purposely join. (hat tip: Jerry Coyne). You can look it up, but the “split” is roughly this: you have one group of atheists who say “oh come on, play nice” by which they mean is, well, “lie”. Basically, if you say that believing in things like “there is a deity that sent a son who was really human, died, but was raised from the dead and if you believe all of this you have somehow given yourself virtue and immortality” is somehow consistent with science and reason, then you are NOT a “gnu” atheist.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t smart believers or that there aren’t believers whose company that I enjoy. It is just that I believe that ideas such as the one I described have no merit other than perhaps as a type of inspirational fiction (often called a “myth”…though the word “myth” is often used for the word “lie” or “misconception” which is unfortunate).

Note: I find inspirational stories to be useful even when they are NOT historical truths.

Side note: when Lynn and I were walking, a local runner (formerly national class) came running by with a training partner. I joked that I often defeated in running races (note: his mile PR is somewhere around 4 minutes even). She smiled and said SURE you do. That is the kind of skepticism I have with “miracle stories” IF they are presented as historical truths.
Example: if you tell me that the Jesus “loaves and fishes” was some deity performing a miracle, I’ll roll my eyes and think that you are delusional. If you tell me that it is useful to view this story as what might happen when people start to cooperate with each other (e. g., together we have more that you think), I’ll nod and say “good point; I buy that”.

Science
Surf here and just enjoy these breath taking NASA photos from space. These are simply awe-inspiring. Here are a couple to tease you into going to the blog:

Note: the photos are not hot linked, but clicking on the image will take you to the blog which has the full sized photos. It is worth the virtual trip.

Politics It looks as if Sarah Palin is running; she has hired a chief of staff.

12 February 2011

Ok Mr. President: I wish that you’d educate the public as to why a government is NOT like a family (different responsibilities and a different focus) but I do like the explanation on why we need to continue with investments.

Exercise and mathematical abilities
A recent study on overweight kids showed a link between increased exercise and increased mathematical abilities. Yes, this was with overweight kids only and it was with kids. BUT I’d love to see this extended; I found that I think better after moderate exercise. I might forward this to my college students.

Stupidity of America No, this is not partisan.

People are badly misinformed and don’t realize it; we see medicare recipients rail against government funded healthcare, people who want to keep services but for the government to spend less and for people to embrace all sorts of woo.

And yes, sometimes liberal leaning websites are the worst offenders; read Jerry Coyne’s blistering attack on pseudoscientific bunk in the Huffington Post. Note: this sort of crap (the article that Coyne attacks) is what you often see in, say, UU Churches.

More politics
I honestly believe that Sarah Palin is NOT a viable candidate for the 2012 GOP nomination. But she is a player; any GOP candidate will have to suck up to her large, moronic following as Mr. Santorum found out recently.

12 February 2011 whining edition

One of the things I like about our university gym is that it is close and that it is a nice facility. What I don’t like about it is that when I run (or attempt to run) on the track, I get huge doses of humility.

Workout notes
6 mile “run” on the track
9:53, 9:51, 9:49, 9:51, 9:39, 9:24 (58:29)
1 mile walk on the treadmill (14:20)
Squats: 10 x 45, 10 x 135, 10 x 135 Smith
10 x 135 squats (free)
(the squats actually felt good)
stretches, hip hikes
exercise ball hamstrings (3 sets of 10)
PT for the back.

I talked to Tracy (my running buddy) afterward; she seemed to be in a good mood.

Upside: no night pain, the shoulders feel fine and the only “injury” niggle is my right side of the lower back, which sometimes stiffens up just a tad.
Downside: I felt sluggish; though my legs weren’t dead, they had no “pop” in them. I had no fire and I had not the confidence to pick up the pace until the last two miles.
But, this was my longest run in 18 months or so.

GOP 2012 Candidates Strut Their Stuff….

First, a quiz: which GOP candidate said this?

We have seen tax-and-tax spend-and-spend reach a fantastic total greater than in all the previous 235 years of our Republic.

Behind this plush curtain of tax and spend, three sinister spooks or ghosts are mixing poison for the American people. They are the shades of Mussolini, with his bureaucratic fascism; of Karl Marx, and his socialism; and of Lord Keynes, with his perpetual government spending, deficits, and inflation. And we added a new ideology of our own. That is government give-away programs….

If you want to see pure socialism mixed with give-away programs, take a look at socialized medicine.

Give up? Read it here (hint: I changed one minor thing in the quote)
(second hint: think Republican President, and Stanford University)

I’ll be keeping up with the Republicans; Right Wing Watch has a special feature on them. Highlights of the loons: Pawlenty wants to return to Don’t Ask, Don’t tell, and Huckabee wants to redraw the middle east map and kick all of the Palestinians and move them to Arab countries. RWW uncharitably says that Huckabee: “Wants to redraw Mideast borders according to the Bible (WaPo, 2/7)”

But there is much that is NOT the opinion of liberals. Note: these videos are edited but there appears to be no loss of context:

Uh, Mr. Santorum: how about separation of church and state? What about a secular government? How is denying gays the right to marriage and civil unions taking away YOUR freedom?

Mr. Pawlenty: please remember that Rambo was just a movie.

The following clown says something correct: yes, stupid people are ruining the country. But he is one of them and in the audience are more of them:

You see, doing things like accepting the findings of the National Science Foundation is…well…stupid in their eyes.

Expect to see me attacking Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney and Mike Hucakbee in upcoming posts; though it pains me to say this, I no longer think that Sarah Palin is a viable GOP candidate. But I’ve been very wrong before; back in 2006 I did NOT consider Obama to be a viable candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination and said so in public.

11 February 2011 (11-2-11)

Workout notes Sleep in the morning; weights over lunch:
stretching
curls (dumbbell) 3 x (15 x 20 lb)
lat pull downs 3 x (10 x 120)
rows: 10 x 190, 10 x 200, 7 x 200, 9 x 190
incline presses: 10 x 115, 10 x 115, 9 x 115
note: at long last, I could touch my chest with the bar without pain. So these were full reps rather than 85-90 percent of the way down reps.
That felt good.
Sit ups: 4 x 25 (1-2-3-4 incline)
rotator cuff
assisted pull-ups: 2 sets of 5 with “shoulder friendly” grip: these were done with 40 pounds of assistance.
Of course my goal is eventually zero assistance; right now I can’t risk any sort of swinging on the way up.

Note: there were some very muscular young men there; lots of bulging biceps. Not mine.
Hey, I once had them:

That was about 11 years ago.

Posts
People want the government to spend less! Except, they want them to spend MORE on programs…via Paul Krugman:

Cut the fellow behind the tree that’s overseas. Pew on public fiscal views isn’t really all that surprising, but it’s still striking: people want spending cut, but are opposed to cuts in anything except foreign aid: [...]

And they want state governments to balance their budgets without cutting spending or raising taxes: [...]

The conclusion is inescapable: Republicans have a mandate to repeal the laws of arithmetic.

Krugman also gives an example of a very bad data display. Just read. It is comical. But people do this all of the time. I’ve seen conservatives whine about their candidate losing the general election, even though so much AREA on the US map is shaded red….that must represent the WILL OF THE PEOPLE….right?

Economic recovery saying the “average income” went up by X doesn’t mean much; after all millionaires getting super wealthy would drive up this statistic even if the poor lose ground. The median would be a better measure here.

2012 Election
No, I won’t be supporting a “challenge from the left” to Barack Obama, though I’ll continue to pressure from the left for policies. Note: the President still polls at 85 percent or so among liberal Democrats, so those who think that there will be anything more than token “opposition” are delusional.

On the Republican side, I’d say that Mitt Romney is the front runner. In the paperback edition of his book, he removed references to the individual mandate for Romney-care in Massachusetts.

Yes, I know that some might change their mind about an issue here and there (e. g., Al Gore used to be anti-choice). But Romney does so many flip-flops it is ridiculous.

Awesome Rabbit…

see more funny videos

Even if it doesn’t want to talk…