MyFatCat's Comments (17)

“Who knows what incentives unpaid journalists have? Why, the incentive to sell more advertising space, surely.

The ability to sell more advertising space leads an unpaid journalist to say what most people want to hear, which leads said journalist to write popular fiction to keep those readers coming back. That's why "citizen journalism" can't work unless we teach good research hygiene. "Google is your friend" doesn't quite work.”

“Is science just a new religion?

I have a hard-science background and a lifelong faith. I think science is not "just" a new religion. I do think they share an uncomfortable amount in common, beginning with the notion that up to a point, you believe what you see (science), and up to a point, you see what you believe (faith). Both are present: I claim that most people aren't one or the other, but some of each.

All sufficiently advanced technologies are indistinguishable from magic, and the magic happens when your ability to frame a question about what's going on fails. And that can happen in both science and faith, but that event has drastically different outcomes in each realm. In science, proof is in persistent pursuit of incremental questions to push the knowledge horizon forward and communicate it to others. In faith, proof is in the interpretation of a non-repeatable event that is consistent with a set of values, laws, and stories.

They're both true, but only one of them is factual. That's not a disparagement. It's a recognition that there are parts of my experience that can be described but not repeated. The sense I make of them is valid, but it may not be applicable to anyone but myself.

A postulate in math is not different from an article of faith: we can't prove it to be true, but we rely on its truth.”

“There are so many people whose limited exposure to, and knowledge of, mental illness, forces anyone with mental or emotional illnesses to go to any lengths to hide the condition. Like all things forced into secrecy, it deforms the personality to have to live a lie because of the uninformed fear of the many. It makes volcanoes of people who would otherwise be the salt of the earth, and demons of those who are only a little lower than the angels.

Reporting of these events seems to underscore the mystery and perpetuate the misery: for as long as we can't make talking about the prelude safe for many, we will all continue to be reading about the postlude. We can't break the cycle until we make mental and emotional health, and the social pressures that damage people, a discussable topic outside of a reportable event.”

“As a part of that, they're going to have to rethink supply chain issues so that people's lives don't just fall like dominoes.

Employers seem to have thoroughly unrealistic expectations about training. 70% of what you need to know, presuming that you have appropriate education and experience, is learned on the job, but companies are still demanding tools and skills in combinations that often don't reasonably exist. Positions age, close, and finally reopen, and like the tides, the applicants sweep in to compete, and then get swept out to sea, floundering around trying to get new training with an ever-diminishing amount of money to spend.”

“I'd like to know how you're surviving, too! Great story, but how do you live?”

“My new boss struck me as as real lightweight because she laughs so often. I should rethink this.”

“She needs Twitter to find this out?”

“To say nothing of maintaining health records privacy once an offshore data management company is handling it all...I suppose that beats laptops being stolen out of cars here in the U.S.”

“The best way to get a handle on this may be through the workforce, as managers get an idea of what it means to "bully" and how much damage it does to things even a short-sighted corporate culture values: like profits. Someone who enjoys making people jump, just for the temporarya power thrill, costs the company a little money every time that happens.”

“So it's better to hire the devil you know than the one you don't know?

Put another way--experience at all the old problems that didn't get solved (Vietnam War, S&L problem in the 1980's, can't manage a reckless streak or a hot temper) is an improvement over trying someone with a track record of dealing with reality in the present?

You really, really need to look at your thought process.”

“I actually did take the Canadian test to assess my eligibility for immigration after the 2004 election. I was short by 3 points. If I had taken French in school, I would be gone by now.”

“If you're read Queen of Fashion--how Marie Antoinette's choice of clothes influenced and accelerated the hatred of her by the French people--then you know this stuff matters a lot more than you think...because it's not about thought, it's about visual suggestion.

And I, for one, love to have a fashion look. If I want issues there are other columns.

Sarah's attempts to strike the right fashion note are, quite simply, hilarious, and frankly, I need the laugh.

Carry on!”

“One more member of the roll call: the lazy-minded. I met a woman at church who "just doesn't trust Obama" because she believes she's very discerning and can tell by his television appearances that "he's not for real." Debbie is certain that she can "tell" a liar just by looking at them.

She hasn't spoken to me since Palin started giving interviews, though.”

“Brokaw opened by congratulating himself on his wisdom in picking the questions. Evidently he lost control of the debate before it had started, since he went off-topic long before the candidates did.

He very definitely favored McCain on time, and chided Obama, with less cause, if I can believe my watch. Fortunately, this backfired; I saw a little less professor from Obama as the debate went on, and a little less coherence from McCain. He blew some potentially good lines because he didn't stop talking.

And, finally, the overthanking of McCain for answering a question while failing to extend the same courtesy to Obama was plain.

I didn't see the hand gesture from McCain to Brokaw to change the question topic someone wrote about, but if it did happen it clearly backfired. McCain assumed the Obama he was going to see tonight would be the same guy as with the last debate, but Obama has learned a lot.



Brokaw did a lousy job,”

“Fabulous post, Hadrian3. May I suggest that you post it to the Obama campaign website? And if you have local people running, wherever you are, send it to them, too.

What I love about your post is that it's good advice for either side--but the Obama side will make better use of it.

I just kicked in another $100 for Obama.”

“Hmm. I'm not following the math, here. If Strauss & Howe are claiming an 80-year cycle (of what?) then what do they say about the panic in the 1880's?

I've heard of a 20-year assassination cycle for Presidents, beginning in the 19th century, but that apparently petered out in 1980.”

“It occurs to me that Limbaugh, like many of his extremist brethren, benefit from the fact that only their own kind listen to them. The worst thing in the world is for some critical listeners to tune in and quote him to the broader audience...same thing that helped bring down Father Coughlin in the 30's.

Unfortunately, it requires that more of us actually listen and report.

Way to go, ObamaTeam!”