Why Occam's Razor is so important

Live Science provides a story about how gullible the media is.

A man claimed to have video of an alien doing a peeping tom routine with his daughter.

Now, this requires certain assumptions---assumptions that Occam's Razor would eliminate if the media actually did their jobs an used a skeptical eye.

1. His daughter must be worth looking at. Of course he thinks so, but he's a parent.

2. Aliens would expend all their technological skill to travel across the galaxy to just peep in windows.

3. Aliens are actually present on the planet.

These three assumptions don't hold water, but are necessary if we are to believe this whack job's claims.

Until someone provides some really good video of an alien I won't believe it.

Until someone other than the town weirdo is the source I won't believe it either.

Until someone who starts out skeptical and looks for every explanation OTHER than the alien explanation first, then I won't believe it.

Occam's Razor serves a very useful role. It cuts out a lot of bullshit from a lot of morons.

Adults no better than tweakers when it comes to exploiting children

Slate has a story about how adults are legally running up charges on their kids' credit.

I had a client whose husband got credit cards in his infant son's name so that he could use the credit cards for cash advances to buy meth. We look on in horror when things like this happen.

Why is it that we don't view it with the same horror and shock when our politicians offer us the same deal (to make our children pay for our excesses), but in a legal fashion?

We don't because we are self-centered and really don't give a crap.

It's all about me....isn't it?

Baby boomers have created the current mess, but blame everyone but themselves

Here's a baby boomer placing blame for our current economic mess squarely on the shoulders of those who've caused it--Baby Boomers.

Pretty good, but here's the downside: How are things going to change?

The boomers will just run things into the ground then blame the subsequent generations for the problems. That's the boomer way" Blame the victims.

Low interest in science spells decline for U.S.

Scientists warn that the U.S. is losing its edge due to a loss of interest in science.

Science has taken a backseat to politics. Anti-intellectualism has been on the rise for years. Schools are trying their darndest to include creationism in their curricula.

There's no wonder children are confused and avoid science.

I remember biology in high school. No mention of the word evolution. Of course, my teacher was a strong Baptist and I attended a private school.

It wasn't until I got to college that I learned of evolution. I had plenty of catching up to do otherwise I would have looked stupid.

All this because someone wanted to further their religious agenda at my expense.

Dianne Odell passes away.

CNN reports on the death of a courageous woman, Dianne Odell, who lived her life in an iron lung.

I met Dianne a few years ago and found her to be charming and actually quite unaffected by her situation.

Our thoughts are with her family.

Fuel protests may fuel paradigm shift in energy

Washington Post presents a story of things to come.

Europeans are beginning to protest over high fuel prices.

News flash: This is what happens when an oligopoly (OPEC) sees the end of its reign. They will jack prices to gather as much profit as possible and to flex what muscle they have remaining before their decline.

What seems like a bad thing now (high fuel prices) will actually benefit us all in the long run. It will encourage exploration of alternative fuel sources and the development of new technologies that reduce or eliminate our dependence on oil.

It's coming faster as a result of such actions.

Liberal Leaning MSNBC getting abused.

Washington Post has a story about MSNBC.

MSNBC is getting criticism for being "left-leaning."

I don't know about you, but "left-leaning" is a far cry from out and out right-wing, like FOX News.

Fox makes no apology for being right wing, advocating the position that all media is liberal, thus they have a duty to "balance" things out by going the opposite direction.

I have yet to see any credible evidence, aside from anecdotal or truistic, that the media is liberal. I think it really a shibboleth used by the right to identify like-minded types.

Furthermore, by claiming a liberal media they always have a scape-goat for losing elections or a ready excuse when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I really see no way to falsify the assertion of a "liberal" media, so it has no real weight in my book.

Funny stuff.

Intellectual work doesn't always look like work.

Chronicle Careers has a very good article about what it looks like to do intellectual work.

As a sort of intellectual myself, having trained in and having worked in the field of law, where much intellectual work goes on, I can tell you this:

Most people would look at me and think that I'm doing nothing. Being reared in a family that regards activity of some sort as the measure of work has made my life difficult at times.

Frequently, I've been accused of being lazy or worse yet, available to assist with whatever task needs attending to, when I've actually been involved in some intellectual work.

It's not uncommon for those around me to accuse me of slacking off when I've actually been heavily engaged in important intellectual pursuits. Somehow, the anti-intellectualism common to the South encourages disdain for eggheads.

Too bad. I've weathered the criticisms.

Too often I find my intellectual work de-valued. No more.

Bankruptcy on the rise, despite changes made in 2005

Washington Post offers up a slice of life in the current economy.

Bankruptcy is not the best alternative, but is a pressure release valve that helps normalize inequities in the marketplace.

Bankruptcy would be unnecessary if everyone operated with the same information and financial upheavals, like medical issues and job loss were somehow normalized.

In our current economy, with its heavy emphasis on "free markets" there will be ups and downs that occur because of informational disadvantages in the vast majority of the populace and unpredictable life-changing events. That's the price we pay for our "free markets."

Bankruptcy evolved the soften out the extremes of our system.

No one likes bankruptcy, but it's a necessary feature of our type of economy.

Robot walks like a human

Here's a fascinating development int he world of robotics.

It's a video on LiveScience, so be patient with the advert.

A scientist has managed to create a robot that walks like a human.

That may not seem too astonishing considering how easy it is for us, but walking is really very complex. It took us millions of years to get it right.

The article makes the valid point that human walking is really like falling forward in a controlled fashion. We use gravity to help us along and that's why our walking is very efficient.

This robotic work takes us one step closer to robots that can tool around like people.

I've always wanted my very own C3 PO.

Medical Science Re-growing body parts

Some cool work is occurring with regenerative medicine.

CNN reports about a soldier who lost a finger in Iraq. Doctors are applying growth factors to re-grow his finger.

It will be awesome when body parts can just be re-grown. It will put the prosthetics industry out of business, but that will be a good thing.

This is why I like science. It helps make our lives better.

Hagee actually worse than McCain's repudiation would suggest

I apologize for being dilatory in blogging. I've been out of town and otherwise engaged.

However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write about McCain's endorsement by Reverend Hagee.

Slate has a story on it. The article talks about the "Hitler" issue of Hagee and says it's really not the worst thing in his dogma. In fact, Hagee advocates a similar view as that professed in the Left Behind series.

I know a rather prominent preacher who advocates a similar theology to Hagee's. He bragged to me about Ariel Sharon actually praying with him and supporting his "Christian" theology while the former Prime Minister was in office.

I said nothing, but thought in the back of my mind that Sharon, ever the politician, was sucking up to a small time rug wearing evangelical preacher from Tennessee in an effort to curry favor with the great unwashed masses in America.

Just my thoughts on such a hair-brained belief system. As has happened in times past, bunches of hate mail will be forthcoming for writing as much.

Score Another One for the Hippies

Incense actually has anxiety-reducing properties reports Science Daily.

Scientists tested the effects of frankincense on laboratory mice and found parts of the brains implicated in anxiety were toned down.

Looks like the hippies have been right, yet again.

McCain health plan just another pander to corporate interests

John McCain has a plan to screw the American people. In an obvious pander to corporate interests, McCain offers up a health care plan designed to under-insure or not insure at all those who most need insurance. cf. Slate.com

His health care plan would basically allow health insurance companies to further reduce coverage by allowing them to elect what state laws govern their insurance contracts.

As with credit card companies, states would vie for health insurance business by offering the best and most favorable laws to the providers.

It would start a race of venality between states.

This is not a good plan and would not improve health care for America.

Celebrity Worship Syndrome - A Real Problem

ABC has a story of particular relevance in my life. It details a new mental disorder only recently defined.

Celebrity Worship Syndrome

Unfortunately, I've been privy to and suffered the consequences of someone suffering with this disorder.

This sort of behavior is exasperating. I've actually been forced to the brink of filing charges over it.

Foreclosures have deep psychological impacts that ripple throughout many spheres.

New York Times has a piece on the psychological impact of the foreclosure crisis.

The author makes a good point: People not directly affected tend to view those affected as being primarily responsible and let all the other actors off the hook.

This result seems to occur when the primary target of the blame (homeowners) is not the primary responsible party.

Go figure.

Domestic violence is an equal opportunity crime

Live Science has a story that hits pretty close to home. Domestic violence.

As a man, I would avoid at all costs, claiming to be a victim of domestic violence. But, I have been.

The domestic violence I've suffered was not the kind where the assaults were physical in nature. The violence I suffered came in the form of psychological and emotional abuse.

This is a difficult thing to admit, but it has happened. I am still suffering the consequences.

Don't ignore the damage that women can inflict on men.

Promising vaccine created that stops Alzheimer's in its tracks...in mice

Science Daily reports on an exciting study. Scientists have managed to create a vaccine that prevents an aggressive form of Alzheimer's in mice bred to develop the disease.

If this vaccine can be turned into a human vaccine, we will have a tool in our arsenal against a tragic affliction of old age.

Oral sex the same as plain old sex for teenagers.

Well another old chestnut hits the fire. The theory that teenagers engage in oral sex to maintain their virginity is out the window. cf. Washington Post.

Teenagers are just giving and getting hummers as another form of sex.

Now, I'm not going to argue that it's alright for teens to engage in sexual activity---quite the contrary. Teenagers have neither the emotional maturity nor the life experience to make proper decisions.

As a realist though, teenagers have been engaging in sex for millions of years. A couple of decades of moralizing by a bunch of nimrods bent on enforcing their moral will on the rest of us notwithstanding.

Kids will be kids and the best way to address teenage sex is to actually be up front about the teenage sex most parents and adults engaged in whilst teenagers themselves.

Let's get it all out in the open because nothing makes a teenager's eyes roll faster that a parent who's a moral hypocrite about sex.

Illegal Immigration Caused by U.S. companies' hiring policies

Washington Post leads with a story about an immigration raid in Iowa.

The article points out, correctly I might add, that instead of targeting the illegal immigrants that the government should target the companies that hire the illegal immigrants.

Here's why this approach is the better and moral decision:

The illegal immigrants are not doing anything that any one of us would not do if in the same position. They are attempting to provide for their families by taking the best option they have available--illegal immigration.

These people are making a rational economic decision.

Now, the companies that hire them, on the other hand, are creating the incentives that encourage illegal immigration. These businesses, by their willingness to hire illegals in flagrant violation of the law, are creating a demand.

If U.S. companies followed the law, if U.S. companies refused to hire illegals, then where would illegals go to find work? They would have to stay home.

The whole illegal immigration issue is one where the actual cause is not being targeted because it's much easier to go after those with the fewest rights and least power to fight back, viz., illegal immigrants.