Therefore, my hypothesis: it’s better to be living better in a dump than other people who are also living in a dump than it is to be living in a palace but living worse than other people living in a palace. Assuming that dumps and palaces are themselves closed, discrete environments of course.

bkd

 

So I dunno. I think *most people* would say that the columns don’t matter nearly as much as the lines. They’d rather a positive outcome from a bad intent than a negative outcome from a good intent. In theory, I think most people would agree to that.

In practice, though, I think the opposite often occurs and people start valuing intent more than outcome. And then they do things like trying to spin a bad outcome as positive, because surely a well-meaning person’s action must result in something positive. Similarly, a positive outcome from a bad intent gets spun into something negative or is said to not have actually come from the mal-intender.

Anyway. I think the top row should always be preferred with NW > N > NE. On the other two rows, I’m not so sure. I think C might be better than W, if only because it was intended and therefore should’ve been expected. So maybe C > W > E. Similarly in the bottom row — I dunno. I guess I’d prefer it almost always if the person *meant* well, even if the outcome is the same as if the person had meant harm. At least someone who means well might have some other redeemable qualities outside the event in question.

I guess the other question is whether intent has any importance whatsoever. A person whose outcomes are always positive should possibly always be labeled as “good” and any claims of that person to have had bad intentions more a reflection of the person’s own lack of self-awareness.

Just a thought.

bkd

As a result of this remembrance the United States has:

• Created two wars.
• Estranged itself from its allies (as a result of those wars).
• Encouraged its enemies (as a result of those wars).
• Significantly endangered the strength of its economy (government spending as a % of GDP is at its highest level since World War II and some day we’re going to have to pay for that — and, yeah, this is the *biggest* problem with those wars even though no one in the MSM has thought to talk about it (because it’s much more entertaining to “remember 9/11″)).
• Forfeited formerly rightful claims to morality and ethical behavior (as it applies to prisoners and intelligence gathering).
• Given the FBI sweeping powers of surveillance — does anyone else think it’s interesting that “police state” has a *negative* connotation?
• Instituted the practice of warrantless searches (seems like maybe there should be something in the Constitution about that — oh wait, there is…).
• Reduced the ability of the judicial branch to limit the powers of the state.
• Reinforced unconstitutional power assertions of the executive branch.
• Turned domestic air travel into a festival of harrassment (from having to disrobe at security to having to pass the “no fly list” test to having to get to the airport two hours early to not being able to park or stop a car near an airport terminal to…).
• Infuriated foreign tourists by treating each of them as a would-be criminal at customs.
• Accepted having a choice limited to one big-government party and another big-government party.
• Etc.

The “remembrance” of 9/11 is a place where Idiot Planet — this would be Earth — really shows its true colors. We are screwing ourselves in return for screwing ourselves. Way to remember, guys!

Some time soon I’m going to post about the Hindenburg. You’ll see.

bkd

Here are the problems I found (from top of the article to bottom):

1. That being convicted of “killing a migratory bird” is punishable by up to a year in prison.
2. The quote: “It’s just senseless when people kill wildlife when they are doing nothing but being themselves.” So when I have a cougar trying to get its jaws around my throat, I should just, what, relax and enjoy the ride?
3. The idea that eyewitnesses actually counted how many attempts the golfer made to kill the bird. Did *every* eyewitness say it was ten?
4. The fact that he was doing a spot for a video called “Play Like a Pro” — so if I really want to play like a pro, I guess I need to learn how to target-drive balls at migratory birds…
5. That there’s someone in the world that thinks that a good way to scare off a noisy bird is to start hitting golf balls at it.
6. The idea that adopting three cats necessarily qualifies one as a lover of all animals, including birds.
7. That the copy-editor let this get through: “300yards” (without the space).
8. Presenting the sound engineer who was also the guy responsible for turning the golfer in for the incident as an objective arbiter in deciding whether the bird’s sound was “extreme”.
9. That the golfer made the film crew wait 10 minutes for him to try and scare the bird by hitting golf balls at it.
10. The fact that the writer of the article didn’t source the “10 minute” time period.
11. The fact that neither the writer nor her editor seem to know that you need to put a space between the numerals and the units when giving distances: “75yards”. Buy an AP Style Guide, I’m pretty sure that’s in there.
12. That the 152nd-ranked PGA golfer made $471,000 last year.
13. That the writer also failed to source the $471,000 claim…
14. The idea that someone would (or did) yell the sentence “I didn’t think I would hit it”. Most sentences with two verbs or more remain un-yelled.
15. The amount of melodrama that the sound engineer managed to pack into this statement to “wildlife officials”: “The bird was on his back, bleeding from his nostrils, his mouth was opening and closing slowly, and it was looking up at me as people ran over. I saw its eyes slowly close, and I was pretty sure that the bird had died.”
    

    I took his pulse — it was faint, but his heart was still beating. “C’mon, little bird,” I said slowly, but I knew he wouldn’t make it. I stroked his feathers and he opened his eyes again, called to me weak and pleading: “kee-aah … kee-aah”. In the distance, I heard the screeches of other hawks, the family of the fallen, scanning the treetops in hopes of finding their loved one, their brother, their friend. If only they knew. If only I could tell them. If only they could be here with him. One. Last. Time.

    A tear fell slowly from my face and onto his beak. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “For what we’ve done. Please forgive me. Forgive my kind.” The bird stared at me, furrowing its brow and licking its lips, then nodded. You, I forgive, it seemed to say. You I forgive. It nuzzled my wrist and I scratched its belly and as the warm Florida wind bent the bluegrass and the sun’s red rays stretched across the horizon, my animal friend coughed once, turned its head, then closed its eyes. One. Last. Time.

    So I killed the golfer with a chainsaw.

16. That any part of this is considered newsworthy.

Humanity’s only hope is colonizing the asteroids. Hurry.

bkd

You publication must be purposely censoring post. I put in the right code and my comment was not spam. You and your elk are despicable!

I’m assuming that the poster meant something other than “elk”. Maybe *I’m* the uninformed one. I often wish the internet could get rolled back to 1997. I’d be out a job, but at least I’d have my old haven back. This planet needs some sort of versioning system. Maybe next world.

bkd

Dude, all you’re really saying is that you hadn’t been following Romney’s campaign. The only thing that changed Sunday was that you watched a TV show where they talked about everything that everyone who already knows anything about his campaign already knows. How can you feel like this was a revelation to you?

I don’t understand why Google News shows blog posts from people who need to watch 60 Minutes to learn about candidates’ weaknesses. That’s not freakin’ news, that’s just some idiot with an internet connection. This is worse than when they were auto-populating Xinhua and IRNA at the top of every list.

Man but this world just keeps getting stupider.

• 157,400 Americans died of lung cancer (that’s 431 PER DAY — half-mast 13.1x per day anyone?).
• 42,443 Americans died in motor vehicle accidents (116 PER DAY — and we haven’t yet banned railroad crossings?!).
• 40,600 Americans died of breast cancer (111/day = 3.4 NATIONWIDE FLAGS HALF-MAST per freakin’ day).
• 31,500 Americans died of prostate cancer (btw, ratio of money spent to research breast cancer cure to money spent for prostate cancer cure is 9:1).
• 31,000 Americans died from bad reactions to prescribed drugs (84/day — and pharmaceutical companies are still allowed to advertise?).
• 30,602 Americans committed suicide.
• 20,308 Ameicans were murdered (that’s 56 people PER DAY, most of whom don’t live in Blacksburg — where are their half-masted flags?).
• 19,250 Americans died from hypertension.
• 17,000 Americans died from the use of illicit drugs.
• 14,175 Americans died from the effects of AIDS/HIV (39 people. Every. Single. Day. Half? Mast?).
• 14,078 Americans died from poisoning.
• 7,600 Americans died from taking aspirin.
• 5,555 Americans suffocated to death.
• 3,300 Americans died of gallbladder cancer.
• 3,281 Americans died from drowning.
• 2,986 Americans died from terrorist attacks (note: this was 2001 — and compared to all the other people who died that year, this wasn’t a significant number either).

Don’t get me entirely wrong. What happened at Virginia Tech was an absolute tragedy — for the friends and families of those who were murdered (sincere condolences, AW). Made-for-TV or not, by any rational perspective, it was not a national horror. If we’re going to fly flags at half-mast every time 32 people die without deserving it, we’re going to need to build way more flag poles.

bkd

(PS: Stop Watching TV News.)