sumer is igoen out

Posted on Thursday, 2007 September 20 by Anton

Fritz Lang’s Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933) is one of the best early movies I’ve seen, considerably advanced in technique over his own previous picture, M (1931).

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possibly not what was intended

Posted on Wednesday, 2007 September 19 by Anton

Got a penispam today saying:

Yo yo yo bronto
get rid of that self-esteem once and for all.

I don’t think I’m seriously afflicted with self-esteem, but you never know.

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the horrors of anarchy

Posted on Wednesday, 2007 September 12 by Anton

Since Somalia’s state collapsed in 1991, life expectancy has increased by two years, vaccination rates have increased, deaths from measles have dropped by close to a third, telephones and radios have multiplied . . .

I wish I’d said that:

The golden apple in Somalia is the expectation that there will soon be a central government. As long as there is that expectation, the clans must fight over who will control it.

(Wait, I did say something like that, circa twenty years ago, about Lebanon.)

Most of the article (cited by Perry Metzger) is about the traditional system of law.

Posted in law, politics | 1 Comment

what, more links?

Posted on Sunday, 2007 September 09 by Anton

Friendly societies: ancient free-market social security

Meet the Mind Readers: brain implants to control prostheses.

In previous studies, Nicolelis’s team showed that when monkeys had their brains hooked up to robotic arms, they assimilated the arm, effectively making it their own. “Their brains actually incorporated the robotic arm by dedicating neuronal space to it. We want to see if the same thing happens in humans,” he adds.

Can’t imagine why it wouldn’t. What I wanna know is whether – and how readily – a brain can embrace an interface that has no familiar analogue.

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signal interference

Posted on Saturday, 2007 September 08 by Anton

I tried to remember the title theme of Dexter and all I could summon was that of The Odd Couple. Hmm.

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not from the inside

Posted on Thursday, 2007 September 06 by Anton

Mike Linksvayer has “One question for temporary dictator applicants”: What will you do to reduce the power of the presidency? Mike admits,

I’m afraid I’d have a hard time providing a specific non-lame (and not pie-in-the-sky) answer myself, but what I’d want to hear are specific structural and cultural changes that would make it more difficult for the president to act in an unchecked manner.

I suppose a President can appoint judges who take the Ninth and Tenth Amendments seriously, but in the long run the only non-revolutionary answer is institutional dispersal of powers. I have a couple of suggestions.

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awww!

Posted on Wednesday, 2007 September 05 by Anton

I was awakened by a voice: “How cute!” I opened my eyes to find the Little Demon perching on my chest.

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