Posted in quote for the week, tagged martin niemoller, niemoller, protest, quote, speech on March 31, 2008 | 2 Comments »
In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics [...]
Posted in news and links, sci, tech and gizmos, tagged bmw, cars, diesel, driving, fuel, fuel efficiency, mileage, mpg, prius, toyota, toyota prius on March 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
In an interesting experiment, two Times correspondents drove from London to Geneva. One of the cars was a Toyota Prius hybrid while the other was a BMW 520D.
The results?
The Prius averaged 40 mpg (48.1 miles per imperial gallon) over the whole journey while the BMW achieved 41.9 mpg (50.3 miles per imperial gallon).
Admittedly, the test [...]
Posted in libertarianism, tagged big brother, blood test, diabetes, freedom, health, intervention, liberty, mandatory reporting, nanny-state, new york city, privacy, public health, public health regulation, reporting on March 27, 2008 | No Comments »
This is rather old news but I got to know if it only today. Elizabeth Whelan writes in National Review -
Earlier this year in New York City, a public-heath regulation went into effect that set a new and very troublesome precedent, one that insinuates government agencies into personal medical matters.
In mid-January, the city began legally requiring laboratories [...]
Posted in libertarianism, tagged amnesty, democracy, elections, freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, liberty, mugabe, zimbabwe on March 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Quite literally.
Amnesty International cited a case on March 7, when three members of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were ordered by intelligence officers to take down election posters.
According to Amnesty, the officials forced the opposition supporters to chew the posters and swallow them.
For those living in democracies like the [...]
Posted in news and links, politics, tagged clinton, democratic nomination, election 2008, gallup, obama, opinion polls, politics, polls, rasmussen on March 26, 2008 | No Comments »
Two tracking polls, opposite trends.
Hillary vs Obama : Gallup, Rasmussen.
Look at the period March 15 - March 24.
What to make of it?
Update: Mark Blumenthal points out that at least a large part of this variation can be attributed to statistical ‘noise’.
Posted in math, quote for the week, tagged cantor, freedom, liberty, math, mathematics, quote on March 25, 2008 | No Comments »
“The essence of mathematics lies in its freedom.”
- George Cantor.
Posted in libertarianism, politics, tagged american politics, election 2008, freedom, liberty, newsletter, paul, politician, politics, president, presidential contenders, republican nomination, ron paul on March 24, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Ron Paul was perhaps the most interesting candidate from either party. A libertarian, his positions on the economy, the war in Iraq and the role of the government were refreshingly different from everyone else’s. He advocates a minimal government, abolition of most subsidies, immediate withdrawal from the war, repeal of the Patriot Act and legalization of [...]
Posted in news and links, tagged final exit, gun, robot, shooting, shot, suicide, suicide method, suicide robot on March 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Now that’s a cool way to commit suicide!
Of course, there are other less stylish, but equally effective ways to do it. The one that I’d likely use if ever such need arises, is the beautifully simple plastic-bag technique from Final Exit.
Posted in personal, travel and getaways, tagged 58, driving, eerie, freeway, freeways, journey, moon, night, rural highway on March 20, 2008 | No Comments »
I was driving from Pasadena to Palo Alto on Tuesday when at one point the freeway started looking rather unfamiliar - too much traffic, too many exits. A short investigation revealed that as a result of staying on the wrong lane about twenty miles back, I was going north along the 99 rather than north-west along the [...]
Posted in news and links, politics, tagged andrew sullivan, barack obama, obama, politics, race, reaction, speech, sullivan on March 18, 2008 | No Comments »
Alas, I cannot give a more considered response right now as I have to get on the road. But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime. It is a speech we have all [...]
Posted in news and links, politics, tagged barack obama, democratic nomination, election 2008, obama, oratory, philadelhpia, politician, politics, race, race speech, speech, wright on March 18, 2008 | No Comments »
My impressions? It was powerful, nuanced, insightful and moving. I wrote yesterday that this speech would be Obama’s sternest test as a politician and an orator. I believe he lived up to it.
For those who missed it, here’s the transcript, though the emotional impact, I suppose, is somewhat muted when one merely reads it.
Update: And here’s the [...]
Posted in politics, tagged barack obama, church, democratic nomination, election 2008, faith, obama, pastor, politics, race, religion, rhetoric, speech, wright on March 18, 2008 | 2 Comments »
There is little doubt that the Wright controversy is the biggest crisis that the Obama campaign has faced so far. Some commentators have hastened to declare that it is, in fact, over for Obama. There is virtually no chance of him winning the general election anymore, they claim, even if he somehow manages to cling on to the [...]
Posted in on certain arts, writings and performances, quote for the week, tagged Mozart, music, quote, schnabel on March 17, 2008 | No Comments »
“The sonatas of Mozart are unique: too easy for children, too difficult for adults. Children are given Mozart to play because of the quantity of notes; grown ups avoid him because of the quality of notes … Mozart is the most inaccessible of the great masters”
-Artur Schnabel
Posted in math, on certain arts, writings and performances, personal, tagged blog, blogging, grad student, graduate student, life, math, Mozart, music, personal, phd, research, student, student life on March 17, 2008 | No Comments »
I haven’t had much time to blog this weekend. Ideas for posts came and went. News broke, and got stale. I gave them all a haughty ignore and, with single minded devotion, concentrated on my L-functions.
One of the drawbacks of being a fourth year grad student is that you need to do a lot of research quickly enough [...]
Posted in miscellaneous, tagged blog, theme, wordpress on March 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Muse Free sports a clean new look. Hope you like it!
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