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Jul 16, 2011

The Memory of Idiots

Fred:  I haven't seen you in a while. How are things?
Mike:  (looks up information on tablet PC)  Yes, Fred! Pretty good. Let's meet later to talk. Or, you could just review my tweets.


Future News:

A team of researchers at Columbia University [ed. what were their names again?] has used a unique perspective on home environments to conclude that most of us were raised by idiots, and probably are idiots ourselves. They pose the serious question about whether democracy should be replaced in the US by a "Platonic board of thoughtful intellectuals from Columbia".

The Team looked at original materials from homes where the mother or father cooked regularly. In almost every instance, they found dog-eared cookbooks and collections of food-stained recipe notes. "These people referred repeatedly to favorite recipes as indicated by wear and staining on the papers. Their dependency is revealed, in that they must have had these materials directly in hand while cooking."

What could explain adults repeatedly referring to written descriptions of favorite recipes? They conclude that these people could hardly remember anything. They were idiots, who spread their idiocy to their children. The implications are tragic and enormous.


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Is the internet negatively impacting our memory?
07/15/11 - RiehlWorldView by Sissy Willis
Inspiration for my sarcastic post above.

Jul 10, 2011

Marketing Capitalism

Max:  Corporate managers extract profits from the labor of the workers.

Fred:  They are paid out of the production of the company, just as you are.

Max:  They make undeserved profits. I make a well deserved salary.


There is a big marketing problem for the terms "capitalism" and "profit". "Capitalism" was constructed by Karl Marx to be negative (capital ruling over men), and profit has come to mean "excess costs which result in a higher price".

Someone noted that we eat pork, not pig, and we eat veal, not baby cow. Names matter.

We should say "a system of free exchange" instead of "capitalism", and say "net productivity" instead of "profit".

The statement "XYZ Company had an obscene net productivity in the past year under an outrageous system of free exchange" doesn't have the same Marxist zing as using the conventional terms.


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Are Hospital CEOs Overpaid?
07/05/11 - Insureblog

How much does CEO pay at hospitals affect the cost of care? Are non-profit hospitals always cheaper?

Jul 9, 2011

Police Academy

Reporter:  Tell me about the bank robbery.

Police Spokesman:  The incident may have involved removing something from the bank, possibly money, or something else valuable, maybe. We are investigating, so don't hold me to any of this. The situation is fluid and epistemology is difficult. Officially, I don't really know anything.


Via Dr. Grumpy

Fireworks Accident in North Fargo
InForum - 07/05/11

[edited]:  Hanson saw his neighbor set off a second round of a homemade or illegal artillery shell firework. Hanson heard a loud bang and saw a cloud of smoke. He walked to the scene and saw no head on his neighbor's body.

The police spokesman gave me a laugh.

[edited]:  At this point, we don’t know if he was struck or if the munition blew up, but it appears based on the information we got during our investigation that it was caused by the fireworks in some manner.

The victim’s injuries included massive head wounds from what appeared to be caused by a mortar type firework.

The police bureaucracy is guarded and uncertain about a simple, horrible incident. We have no hope when we give bureaucracies power over more complicated situations.