Monthly Archives: March 2002

The Fightin’ Stereotypes

An intramural basketball team in Colorado has named itself the Fighting Whites, in satiral response to the Fighting Reds. Is this the moment to mention that in hi-skool I was on an intramural tag-football team called the Chinks? (I think … Continue reading

Posted in humanities | Leave a comment

manufacturing consensus

Vernor Vinge’s mind-expanding novel A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) contains numerous postings on “the Net of a Million Lies.” But unlike the Usenet of our time, most of the senders have institutional names, like Khurvark University or Sandor Arbitration. … Continue reading

Posted in neep-neep, prose | Leave a comment

envy rules

Research Shows Just How Much People Hate A Winner. This is scary: pointless envy is stronger than economists expected. (Full paper) Some of my libertarian dogma may need rebuilding.

Posted in economics, politics, psychology | Leave a comment

insert joke about politicians and principle

Mark Steyn turns out the best piece I’ve seen yet on the steel thing. Okay so I’m a week late. (Another link from Sean Kirby.)

Posted in economics, politics | Leave a comment

tartan top ten

If you’ve ever heard bagpipes, you’ve probably heard “Scotland the Brave”. One night I left a showing of The Seven Samurai, whistling the song of the peasants planting the rice; started to improvise on it, and soon found that it … Continue reading

Posted in music+verse | 3 Comments

reading the tea leaves

Strangers keep asking me for cigarettes – more often, it seems, than they did even a few months ago. Is this a sign of something?

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not too smooth

Animate a face (Java). See what a difference noise makes.

Posted in cartoons, neep-neep | Leave a comment