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n. (f): club, Indian club, mace June 29, 2007

Posted by ocmpoma in : society , add a comment

As noted on the BBC’s site and posted on at RSNF, Russia has successfully test-launched its SLBM, the Bulava.

Important? Well, even if you don’t really buy all the ‘new Cold War’ hype, it is an example of the ongoing modernization of the only nuclear arsenal on par with that of the US.

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curvacious June 28, 2007

Posted by ocmpoma in : economics , add a comment

Coming across this news story about Warren Buffett and his receptionist reminded me that this EconTalk podcast on taxation (and the flat tax in particular), while not making up my mind for me, did make me want to read up on the subject…

Perhaps I should swing by the book store this weekend.

Update: Greg Mankiw posts on the topic; his insights are worth a look.

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weekly photo #37: Depth June 26, 2007

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Depth
“Depth” is the title of this week’s photo, taken in October of last year at Garland Ranch, which is one of my favorite spots in the area. There’ll be more pictures up from there in the future, I assure you.

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group June 20, 2007

Posted by ocmpoma in : other , 1 comment so far

So, I decided to create a Raving Atheists group over at Library Thing. I think it might be interesting to see what books we’ve all got, rather than looking pensively at only my own collection…

I made the group “exclusive” — so you’ll need to slap up a comment here, or send me an email, or a letter-bomb, or something, with your LT user name (signing up at Library Thing is free if you’ve only got 199* books) and I’ll send you an invite…

(* thanks, gewurztraminer)

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weekly photo #36: Seligenstadt June 19, 2007

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Seligenstadt
This week’s photo is titled “Seligenstadt”. I took it in Seligenstadt (surprise!) either before or after being in Russia for a START inspection. I’ve got at least one other photo from the town, as well as a few memories of good wurst, Roman ruins, and the Main. Have I ever mentioned that I miss Germany?

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two-fer June 14, 2007

Posted by ocmpoma in : economics , add a comment

FP Passport had two interesting posts up yesterday, both concerning political / economic issues and worth a browse:

First, the real danger from immigrants.

Second, the politics and economics of bloody scallywags.

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is religious belief like your girlfriend’s orgasm June 13, 2007

Posted by ocmpoma in : supernaturalism , add a comment

Over in the forums, whoneedsscience started a thread about atheists’ opinions of religious belief. Loyal ocmpoma reader ubs commented that believers are faking it:

“I just don’t believe that they believe. If they do, why aren’t they all killing each other to get there? Why aren’t they rubbing up against lepers or something?”

I have to disagree. Hopefully I don’t lose one of my few readers! It’s not that I don’t think ubs’s question is sound — most religious believers certainly don’t follow through on their supposed beliefs (hence the prevalence of the no true Scotsman argument in a lot of atheist–theist tag team events). Why aren’t they, then, hastening their own journey to the pearly gates?

I don’t think it’s fakery, or even really cowardice (and I don’t think it’s ’cause being a True Believer is so damned hard). Rather, I think it’s for the same reason that many of us don’t follow through, not only on our beliefs, but on what we actually know — a little human nature and a whole lot of comfort.

Take, for example, politics. How many people do you know claim to like career politicians, lawyer-speech, inaction in the political chambers, and corrupt officials? Why, then, do the same schmoes keep getting re-elected?

Or global climate change. I haven’t seen too many speakers about the impending disaster of climate change get as worked up as this guy. You would think that those who know what’s going to happen would ditch their cars, if only to no longer be part of the problem.

On a lighter note, take sports. Ever hear a fan gripe about how athletes are underpaid or about how those cheap ballpark tickets allow all the riffraff in? And yet…

No, it’s not that people don’t take these things, or their religious beliefs, seriously. It’s that people tend to be rather lazy and enjoy their creature comforts, and they aren’t willing to sacrifice what they have now for what they’ll get (or avoid getting) in the future, no matter how certain they are about it.

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weekly photo #35: Softly June 12, 2007

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Softly
This, “Softly”, is the last photo from my recent trip; Friday evening we strolled around Sausalito, and I worked on adjusting the camera to get better exposure in dim lighting. I still need work, but hey — it’s better than previous efforts.

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lies, damned lies, and maps June 11, 2007

Posted by ocmpoma in : economics , add a comment

Strange Maps’s latest post is of a map I’ve seen before, but can’t remember where. It’s the United States; however, the various states’ names have been replaced with those of countries whose GDP is equivalent.

So, while California is labeled as France, Wyoming is stuck with Uzbekistan. Mississippi is Chile, and Utah is Peru. Which is, as Strange Maps points out, misleading. Better to use per capita GDP, to balance out the differences caused by populations.

So, partly to satisfy my own curiosity, and partly to provide a counter to the map, I did just that. And the states are now equivalent to a different set of countries. Of course, my map has lots of repeats, and the values are approximate, sometimes being off by $500 or thereabouts, as (obviously) not every state had a country with a p.c. GDP that matched up nicely. Also note that I used nominal GDP, and not PPP weighted.

(State GDP from here; country GDP from here — both Wikipedia)

US States per capita GDP

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