Archive for October, 2008

Another Political Tool

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

(No, not Tom DeLay. <rimshot>)
GovTrack has a
page
that shows congressional districts as a Google Maps layer. This means
that unlike the maps at
NationalAtlas.gov
you can easily zoom in to see the
crinkly bits
that make gerrymandered
districts to much fun to study. I could’ve used this during a
discussion on the subject with a friend today.
AZ-2
is nice, especially the part where it [...]

Gerrymander: the Game

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Have you always dreamt of redistricting a state to disenfranchise a large minority party, or prevent those pesky ethnic minorities from having an effective voice in politics, while obeying the letter of the law? Then maybe you should play the Redistricting Game (Flash warning) and find out why some districts have the shapes they do.

Ray Comfort Is Making My Argument for Me!

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

In his
latest post,
Ray Comfort disagrees with Dawkins’s famous quip about the god of the
Old Testament being “the most unpleasant character in all fiction”.
Specifically, he takes Dawkins to task for excluding the god of the
New Testament:
The God of the New Testament is just as offensive to the
ungodly as the God of the Old Testament, because they [...]

Commentary Track for Expelled

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Shane Killians has
released
a subtitle track for Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
that aims to correct a lot of the errors and lies in the movie. So if
someone bought the DVD and wants you to watch it, you can add
subtitles so your
friend/relative/smizmar
can get a real-time rebuttal to the claims presented on screen.
The link above includes instructions for getting [...]

The Election, Explained

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Right now, Five Thirty-Eight
gives McCain’s win percentage as 3.3%. Or, to put it in gamer terms,
he has to roll a natural 20, and then he has to roll 5 or 6
on 1d6 (or 3 on 1d3).
As for Palin, from her interview and debate performances, she reminds
me of nothing so much as a verbose
Eliza:
you ask her [...]

Language Peeve

Monday, October 27th, 2008

In
this episode
of the John Cleese podcast, he takes on a pet peeve of mine, and
explains with graphs and charts exactly why it’s wrong to say “I could
care less”.
Oh, and for those who didn’t know that John Cleese has a podcast:
John Cleese has a
podcast.

Box Office Numbers

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Since some cdesign proponentsists were getting all excited about the
release of
Expelled
on DVD, I looked it up at Box Office Mojo and found:

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed:
released Apr. 18, 2008, total lifetime domestic gross: $7,720,487.

Religulous:
released Oct. 1, 2008, total lifetime domestic gross: $10,599,000
(estimate).

Putting Money on the Races

Friday, October 24th, 2008

I’ve just chipped in to two more races:

No on Prop 8, against California’s proposition 8, which would amdend the state constitution to ban gay marriage.
Kay Hagan, who’s running for Senate in North Carolina, because Elizabeth Dole is a loathsome bigot.

Because when a woman who knows how to use a whip and handcuffs
tells me to,
I must [...]

Campaigns Interpret Regulation as Damage

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

The idea behind election finance reform is a noble one: elections tend
to go to whichever candidate wields the most money and can buy the
most votes; so let’s even out the playing field, and give less-rich
candidates a chance.
There are a number of problems with actually achieving any change,
though. For one, campaign finance reform has to be [...]

Wednesday Playlist

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Mathématiques souterraines, H.F. Thiéfaine
Side Ways Calculus, Velvet Acid Christ
Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67×108 cm3 sec2, Type O Negative
Experiment One, X-Fusion
Test, Ministry
Find Out Why, The Inspiral Carpets
Experiment IV, Kate Bush
Chemical Burn, The Dust Brothers
Bio-Mechanic, Front Line Assembly
Desde el observatorio, La Mode
Geography I, Front 242
Science Genius Girl, Freezepop
She Blinded Me with Science, Thomas Dolby
For Science, They Might [...]