Oslo Develops

Isn't it funny how this world works? Turns out a vigilante of an extreme nationalist breed is the prime suspect, and the jihadi group claims to responsibility may be hollow.

Oslo Bombed

I have such a backlog of blog posts. This just can't wait: Oslo government building bombed, and subsequently an assassin in police garb enters a polical youth camp and shoots and kills dozens of teenagers.

Jihadis claim responsibility. Are you even surprised?

Is it even possible to hear about bombings in cosmopolitan areas without immediately considering reactionary Islamists the perpetrators? Truthfully, no.

The report also claims that the attack was partly a retaliation for "unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad". The human relationship comes down to either diplomacy and compromise, or violence. Twisted idealogues like Islamists consistently refuse the former option and settle for the latter. They should know that their grievous policies are unsustainable, and that they will be wiped from the face of this planet, both by arms and by the increasing hatred against them by humans who stand for civilization, and not for regressive tribalism.

/Rant

To Catch a Fughettaboutit: Whitey Bulger Edition

Looks like James "Whitey" Bulger has been arrested. After a decade-and-a-half long manhunt, a recent slew of FBI TV spots has led to a tip locating the former mobster at a residence in Santa Monica, CA.

First, Osama is found and killed. Now, Bulger was found and arrested. Hoffa, you're next!!!

The Lost Blogs: Volume 1

Tennessee legislature is trying to push the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill through for enactment. The arguments for are really terrible. Read it.

The original version said no elementary or middle schools could "provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality."

Explain to me how this is significantly different than:

The original version said no elementary or middle schools could "provide any instruction or material that discusses world religions other than Christianity."

Stifle the children, promote your agenda. Censor not-inappropriate items from curricula and raise an ignorant generation. Remind me not to go to Tennessee.

Here’s a video response from George Takei.

Fr. Ricardo Seppia: Creepy

Checked out this guy - found a few links and details, and it seems the goodly priest Ricardo Seppia, claimed by this story to be a priest in a diocese under a top Vatican advisor who worked to resolve the child abuse scandal under the pontiff's direction, arranged for 'sexual' encounters with young (under 16) boys in exchange for payment of drugs.

Wow. Betcha didn't see that one coming. That's creepy territory. I mean, drugs, one might understand as a way to make an enormous profit, but shady underage sex on hire - that's

Overbay Hits HR Onto Old Lady's Face

Old News. But have to spread the video. Lyle Overbay's 3-run HR hits an old lady in the face in the first row of the Green Monster. Watch for the man who stands up to see if she is OK...he is two seats to her left (right in the video). Check out the video (SORRY IT DOESN'T DISPLAY PROPERLY. JUST CLICK TO POP)

I hate to Break It to You, BBC

I have a question.
If Spongebob Squarepants announced that he would not be seeking the nomination for President of the United States in 2012, would that be news?
If Tina Turner announced that she, in fact, would not be seeking to run for office in 2012, would that be news?

Why then, is this news?
I can understand why a news website would post this at all: it's literally their business. This shouldn't be "breaking news", and have a flash marquee bar announcing it to the thousands of site-comers.

News: Donald Trump purchases eBay for $15b
Not News: Donald Trump decides he won't attempt to do something he and everyone else knows he cannot and would not do

Celtics Drop Game 4: 98-90

This was a very fun game to attend. Celtics down in the series 2-1, looking for back-to-back home wins to send the series back to Miami (since when does everybody say "South Beach"? All you're doing is approving of the fact that LeBron thinks he owns that team and city) tied up at two apiece.

Rondo had one-armed flashes of brilliance, backed up by a solid performance by the Truth Paul Pierce. KG was quiet, Ray was not hitting, JO was doing pretty well, and Shaquille dropped his dentures on the floor and was benched afterward.

This game was easily within the C's grasp, but a play failed to develop with 5 seconds remaining and Pierce's shot rimmed out, forcing overtime. I knew right then and there that it would take a Herculean effort to pull out the game. "Win the thing in regulation", I said. "Make your buckets", I said.

My entreaties were for naught as Miami proceeded to actually make those buckets against our favor and in doing so took a 3-1 series lead. The Celtics are now faced with winning three-in-a-row to advance, or otherwise to fade away into the vast oblivion of losing teams. No matter what ends up happening in the next week, we'll all wonder who will be coming back for more next year. End of an era? Who is to say?

Osama bin Laden Dead

Osama bin Laden is dead. Where were you? I was at home watching Armstrong and Miller just before falling asleep.

Prince William and Kate Middleton: Everyone Cares?

Some lady named Kate Middleton is marrying a British prince today. Someone’s going to have to explain the intrigue of the royal wedding to me. All the girls in the office are streaming the video and reading the articles and looking at the pictures. Why? Please explain the appeal to me.

Notice that on every other day but today, the British royalty is simply another back-page news story, a mundane, almost ceremonial demi-government to be overlooked as one would any other non-story. It’s definitely not a rabid love of all-things-Brit-royal that make the millions turn out today – otherwise there would be a more recurrent frequency to the Windsors. It’s not a rabid love of marriages that make them turn out, either, for if it did the news media would be too crammed with coverage of the most banal couples’ weddings the internet could fit. No, indeed, not these things, but some combination of monarchy, young love, self-projection, and pageantry coalesce to create the firestorm that is today. People are waking up hours before they should in order to tune in to watch two people get married. I don’t understand.

Now, people wake up at all hours for other events that may interest them – the Super Bowl, for instance. Or they may alter their schedule to follow some event with actual consequential gravity. For my part, the royal wedding is neither: not interesting to me, and without significant consequence to anything.

What is the purpose of having the monarchy around? Historically, this group ruled the land. Currently, they don’t rule the land. Tradition and want for influence seem the easiest reasons to discern to explain its continued existence. Why, then, so many people are interested in the marriage and potential spawning efforts of the descendants of nepotism fails me.

Wait – is it the fancy hats and uniforms? Is that it?

Reason kids keep believing in Santa: Lawyers

From Boston.com, a man is sentenced to life in prison without parole for 1st degree murder at a Harvard dorm. This kid fatally shot his target after the target refused to comply with his robbery demands: money and weed.

First of all, stealing someone's money? Not cool. Stealing someone's weed? Hey, c'mon man. But money and weed??? Lame.

Second of all, get a load of the defense attorney, moments before the guilty verdict was handed down:

The guilty verdict came after Copney’s defense attorney, John Amabile, told the jury in his closing argument on Wednesday that his client was “totally innocent.”

Perhaps this quote is out of context. After all, the actual quote marks are only encompassing two words. But I have a gut feeling that this attorney was legitimately trying to put forward the case that this young man was 100% to be absolved of this crime. I understand the purpose of having lawyers to defend people in court. A nuanced understanding of law can help protect against false or unjust accusation. Often times it can also find loopholes. But this application simply baffles me.

Did the judge, jury, and defense attorney all hear the same evidence? For one group to be so polarizingly decided on one end, and for the other to see things in the complete opposite shade strains credulity. Realize also that this young man has his own friends submitting plea bargains to lessen their sentences in order to testify against him. His girlfriend was implicit in the crime, hiding the murder weapon after the fact. All signs point to this kid, and it seems pretty slam dunk.

So what implication does the defense attorney's assertion carry? Why is it so bizarre to me that he would claim his client "totally innocent" seconds before the kid gets locked up for life? Well, if he really believes that to be true, then he wants this kid to be able to go free - that is, to roam the streets. The whole purpose of the justice system is to bring people who commit heinous crimes out of the public. "My client is innocent, completely." Uh, no he is not. He actually is a murderer. It's been demonstrated. Money notwithstanding, we are going to send him away now. Hopefully you won't get paid for this.

Boston Marathon: The 115th

Wow - what a race, watching from work. ~2:03:00 for the winner! And 5 seconds later the runner-up! Both breaking the world record by about a minute!

Boston shines yet again.

Idiocy

OK, I have a backlog of things to post on here, but when you read the news and something jumps out at you that screams "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU MEAN???", you just have to write.

Libyan "Government Troops" deny using cluster bombs on Libyan towns. OK so we get it: Ghaddafi is an unpopular ruler, his adherents are helping him by laying seige to the denizens of the country he rules, meanwhile these aforementioned denizens are rebelling for their own grievances and blah blah blah, we understand. There is a legitimate reason for anger, and obviously the one in power, especially since he is known as "Colonel" wants to retain this power. But when photos arise of the remnants of the cluster bombs, and multiple reports are coming out saying you are using cluster bombs, what the fuck. "We don't know anything about this. We deny these allegations". Please. Own up to your shit.
/Angry

Quotidian Science

Last week I was very tired – I had a late physics lab which left me slumped catatonically on the bench (inductance…oh boy!). Upon my return home, I was luckily greeted by some favorable basketball scores (Go Gators! Go Butler! Boo Duke!) and a cold beer, among other pleasantries. Enjoying myself in the hoops game on the ‘big screen’, I drifted to thinking about the practice of sport. What is it to watch and play this game of basketball, for example? Why have we decided to make free throws worth one point, make the players line up on each side of the lane during free throws, force players to either dribble or pass lest they be called for a travel? My thoughts fell in line:

1. This game is a structured test of skill and physical ability, meant to evaluate the overall skill of one team against that of the other. The skill of the team derives from the skills of the individual players as well as their emergent skills when they cooperate.
2. Ultimately, the roots of sports and competition come down to proofs of dominance: battles to become the alpha male, dances and fights to rise in the hierarchy of primal animal social systems.
3. Thus, sports are simply structured ways of determining which athlete or team of athletes is superior to the other. The structure of the game helps specify what superiorities are being measured (e.g. jumping ability, muscle endurance, muscle control, brute strength, mental toughness, mental acuity, visual skill, aural skill, reflex skill, etc.)
4. Each instance of competition is a sort of experiment. Think about it this way: which cleans pennies better, prune juice or apple juice? We apply the juices and find out. Which cleans pennies better, apple juice or bleach? We apply the juices and find out. Eventually we find a juice which cleans pennies best. In a similar manner, we pit teams against each other with an end-result in mind (highest score ≈ cleanest penny) and determine which team suits the job best.
5. Although these experiments are not absolute determinations of the best team, and are not permanent assessments (because teams change), they are still experimental applications to find out knowledge about the world.
6. Science, loosely defined, is a systematic approach to a problem or question which attempts to apply reason and logic, repetition of experiment, and controlled tests to elucidate knowledge about physical reality in some broad sense.
7. Sports, as structured tests of skill, which are repeated often, are in a sense scientific. Logically, the team with higher score means they had better skill at scoring and also preventing the other team from scoring. Games are often repeated (indeed, 80+ for basketball seasons, 162 for baseball, etc.) The control aspect comes from the enforced set of rules governing each sport.

This then led me to think of other commonalities which are also broadly scientific:
• Taste testing – line up shots of drink and take them in succession, rating each one for different pleasing or displeasing characteristics. This is a controlled way of tasting. It also has a repetitive aspect in that you take many samples. Additionally, you logically deduce that the drinks most pleasing to your palate are preferred for you. Additionally if you conduct this test in a blind or double-blind manner, there is the added benefit of objectivity. Despite the subjective nature of the test, it is intrinsically scientific.
• Taking graded tests in school is another activity which is often repeated, is under a usually strict control, measures the relevant aptitude of the test taker, and in the end portrays the student’s grasp of the material. It seems to be an intrinsically scientific approach to assessing knowledge

If you think about things in the same way, you may come to realize that science is not something that stodgy men and women conduct in dark laboratories. It is such a broad term for a certain way of thinking and deducing and postulating which seeks to hone in on answers. My examples could be disqualified as being unscientific in some sense or another, but the point of this post is to expose how embedded scientific thinking is with everything we do in the life.

Sexual Preference Chemical Found in Mice

The evidence is tenuously applied to human behavior, but a big 'Screw' is due to idiots who babble on about the natural deviancy of homosexuality, sin, etc. crap. Male mice bred without the neurotransmitter serotonin lose their affinity for females.

Well looky there - it took a little science, and we found that the sexual preference of these mammals can be altered chemically. It was already well known that homosexual behavior is not uncommon in the wild. Now we know more about why it happens.

Now can we end most of this ignorant and mostly bigoted conversation about homosexuality, gay marriage, etc in the United States? We have more important shit to deal with!