Miscellaneous stuff; brief notes which have been piling up...

Palin Derangement Syndrome: Let's see, what's so awful about Sarah Palin? Recently her critics went apoplectic with rage that she had written a few notes on her hand. Because, you know, that's exactly the same thing as reading everything, word-for-word, off a teleprompter. Then there was the horrifying scandal that she wore a bracelet bearing the name of her son who is serving in Iran. (Horrors!) Then, apparently the show "The Family Guy" decided to mock her family, including her son Trig, who was born with Down's syndrome. Classy, guys, really classy. Great demonstration of your moral superiority.

So, let me get this straight: There's a crowd of people out there who hate, hate, HATE Sarah Palin. Because... what? Because she has an accent? Because she once gave a bad interview? Because she wrote something on her hand? Because she wore a bracelet with her son's name on it? This is the stuff of villainy? Suggestion: If you find yourself steaming with hatred or derision for someone, and that is the worst thing you can think of to say about them — consider, perhaps, whether perhaps you're being the baddie there. Just a thought.

Luge Track: So it turns out another "luger" had warned about blacking out on the course, and the Olympic officials promptly did... nothing? But why was the track even built? Companies build roller coasters, using a system called CAD/CAM — and using computers they can find out if the G forces of the track exceed safe limits. Before. The. Track. Is. Built. Even! Geez, you'd think the Olympics was some kind of government-like monopoly. Oh, they are? Imagine that. And on that note...

'Helping' Airline Passengers: I'm yet again reminded of Ronald Reagan's 9 scariest words ("I'm from the government and I'm here to help!") — recently we had this story about airlines artificially making flights longer to avoid penalties for delays (which are usually dictated by air traffic controllers, not the airlines themselves). So now USA Today reports that airlines are going to be simply canceling more flights rather than delaying them. Because it's sooo much better to arrive a day or two late, rather than a few hours late. Thanks, President Obama! (Somebody's clearly never heard of the law of unintended consequences.)

Climate Change: I always heard that anyone doubting the "consensus" view of AGW was paid off by big oil. Okay: I get it: money can sway scientists. If so then how much "consensus" would four trillion pounds buy? Just asking. And about that warming? "Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995." Now he tells us. Might that have been a tiny bit important to mention in those IPCC reports, or before Copenhagen? Oh yeah, four trillion pounds...

Innocent, and on death row: Reason has a good but troubling article on the prospect that many innocent people may be on death row. As a proponent of a capital punishment, this is something I take very seriously. (Perhaps enough to change my mind.) But this shouldn't be just a concern for those who wish to argue against capital punishment; spending one's life in jail is no cakewalk either. Why is our justice system so ineffective? One thing I can think of is the sheer volume: what accounts for the increased rate of criminality in the first place? Conservative social critics point to the breakdown of the nuclear family. Libertarians cite drug laws. I'm open to other suggestions, too.

Is waterboarding effective? I've concluded it was, but, hey, I just base my beliefs on the available evidence. If the evidence changes, then I adjust. Does this change the picture? CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding

Probably not: His new claim is it doesn't work as quickly as he'd portrayed. But the indisputable bit is that it getting increasingly hard to believe testimony we hear as coming from CIA insiders who ought to know. This isn't to say there aren't good people there — undoubtedly there are. But they're probably the ones who are least likely to go running to the media for partisan points.

Finally: "Afghan Men Struggle With Sexual Identity"? No, not really. Despite taking pleasure in boys and each other (as is, I hear, not uncommon in other Mideastern nations) these men have no "struggle" with their identity: they clearly think of themselves as not being 'gay'. Which, quite frankly, has been the pattern in most societies throughout history. The Western world, shaped by Jewish values, is the oddity here. (Dennis Prager has a nice article explaining this, if you're interested.) As we decide to abandon our former views of sexuality and marriage, I fear the high status of women will similarly drop, and I fear we'll eventually see similar trends re-emerge in the West. (Already many men are increasingly disinclined towards marriage — "why buy the cow?", so to speak?)

Best to you all; more later...
- Tim