R.I.P.

My condolences to his family.

....we're screwed! RFTH! Women & children first! Man the lifeboats!

The Hindenburg Omen

Quotes for S&P500 Index

Banzai!!!!!

This diary is in response to a post by Jordan, here. He lists an interesting aggregation of symptoms, but I think there's something ultimately off about his interpretation of sociopathic behavior as a "niche". That implies a certain rarity that I don't think really captures the reality of the situation.

Manish elsewhere on this site made a post about an attempt to ascribe religious feeling to genetic evolution. Blaise P. made a reply that I find to be both beautifuly written and completely wrongheaded on the matter. I was going to reply there, but on further consideration I think Blaise raises an issue of some philosophical import, and one that he's brought up in a number of different contexts. So perhaps it deserves it's own discussion. The heart of his post, as I see it.

Shocking! Absolutely shocking!

I refer, of course, to Obama's close, nay, brotherly, ties to MA governor Deval Patrick, former board member and, until last year, actor on behalf of Ameriquest Mortgage. :^)

Probably NSFW. Such language!

Hat-tip to Kids Prefer Cheese.

....posts about the YFZ Ranch raid:

Tim Gunn's Guide to Polygamist Style

(BTW, we probably need a "Humor" diary type.)

Founding Father, that is. I'm a Hamilton man, myself, though John Adams is up there. Jefferson tends to leave me cold, while Washington is impressive as all hell but ultimately a touch too "perfect" to be a fave. Hat-tip to Megan McArdle, who is also studiously watching the Adams mini-series.

...alien overlords!

Angus of "Kids Prefer Cheese" points us to another retread of an old DeLong argument, namely that we should support free trade because someday we're going to need the Chinese, so we shouldn't make them angry. You don't want to see them when they're angry.

I'm with Angus on this one. I'm all for free-trade with China, and pretty much everybody else, but that's because I think I'm getting something out of it in the here-and-now. The idea that you might be able to tell that China will definitely be rich (see 19th century Argentina and what happened to it), that a rich China would necessarily be an ally even with trade (see 19th century Germany and what happened to it) or that a friendly and rich China won't be dwarfed by some other power or trend (see too many to mention) is silly.