I can no longer keep track of how many incredibly stupid things “Jane Galt” has delivered herself of, but I think this is the most idiotic yet:
Moreover, as a class, the old and sick have some culpability in their ill health. They didn’t eat right or excercise; they smoked; they didn’t go to the doctor as often as they ought; they drank to much, or took drugs, or sped, or engaged in dangerous sports. Again, in individual cases this will not be true; but as a class, the old and sick bear some of the responsibility for their own ill health, while younger, healthier people have almost no causal role in the ill-health of others.
Perhaps they deserve it by virtue of suffering? But again, most of them are suffering because they have gotten old, often in high style…
I detect that she has rewritten this several times to make it seem less stupid. Hence all the “arguendo”, “a priori”, and so on. It’s camouflage. Underneath it is a fairly commonplace dumb idea that looks stupid as soon as it’s stated in normal English, but in this case, her “arguendo” cleverness only succeeds in making her look more insane. Per impossibile, I might add. As they stand now, her words imply that people age through choice, which she can’t possibly mean.
I wonder if it’s her own fault that she’s that stupid? No, no, that’s a low, uncharitable thought.
Hey, if people can choose to be gay, then they can choose to be old, sick, or stupid as well. People like Jane Galt realize that they can simply will themselves to stay young and healthy forever (smart is apparently tricker, or… optional). Me, I’m trying to will myself a D300, without much luck. I only just started today, though.
2 commentsAugust 23rd, 2007 at 11:53pmPosted by Eli
Seeing all of these ex-Reagan officials coming out strong against the lawlessness and incompetence of the Bush administration got me to thinking: How awesome would it be if it was Conservative Uberhero Ronnie himself?
Yeah, I know there’s all kinds of reasons why it could never happen, but damn, it would be great to see all those wingnut heads explode as they try to reconcile their Bush worship with their Reagan worship…
1 commentAugust 23rd, 2007 at 09:11pmPosted by Eli
So I was talking digital cameras with spork a couple of weeks ago, and remarking that Nikon’s two high-end digital SLRs, the D2H and the D2X, had been around for an awfully long time and had to be due for replacement. And lo and behold, Nikon announces the D3, its first “full-frame” (35mm sensor) D-SLR. And it sounds Teh Awesome.
Some of the highlights that jumped out at me:
o Self-cleaning sensor that vibrates to shake dust off. This is not new in the D-SLR world, but I think it’s the first Nikon with this feature.
o Insane wireless networking capabilities, including the ability to create some kind of wireless network of multiple cameras, wireless image transfers, wireless remote control and image viewing.
o The ability to compose images on the 3″ 922,000-pixel(!) LCD screen. Again, not new to the D-SLR world (Olympus pioneered it), but a first for Nikon.
o Real-time enhancement of shadow and highlight areas without sacrificing contrast. If this works, it would reduce one of film’s biggest advantages over digital.
o The ISO goes up to 25600(!!!). Yes, 25600. I could take pictures by candlelight at that ISO, maybe even by starlight. I can’t wait to see what kind of high-ISO noise the D3 has – this is one area where Canon has outperformed Nikon pretty significantly. Nikon has switched from a CCD to CMOS sensor for the D3, which is what Canon uses, so this is not inconceivable.
o 12 megapixels. Not really a highlight, since it’s the same as the D2X, but you always have to mention the megapixels. The newCanon EOS-1Ds Mark III kicks the D3’s ass in this category, but is really frickin’ ugly.
Nikon also announced the D300, which I really didn’t expect, since the D200 is not really in need of an upgrade. But they upgraded it anyway. The D300 has/does pretty much everything the D3 has/does, except the sensor is regular-sized, the burst mode isn’t as fast, and the ISO “only” goes up to 6400. If it lives up to what Nikon claims, I will probably have to get one. Anyone want a used D200?
BooMan reminds us that Iraq has been doomed to unspeakable carnage from the moment Dubya set his frog-exploding eyes on it:
The Iraqi people are like a grandfather that has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. You have six months to a year to prepare yourself and manage your grief. When the day comes, you are sad. But you knew that day was coming. You are not distraught.
(…)
I don’t think the Republicans understand that people who have been watching the war in Iraq for the last four years have been internalizing their grief all along…preparing for the day when all hell breaks loose. The time is long since past when rational people could expect a remission of the metastasis. One last blast of radiation is not, and has not, solved the problem.
(Or, more likely, they really just don’t care.)
When I look at the estimated 600,000 dead in Iraq I am also thinking of the 2 or 3 or 5 million more dead that might now be inevitable casualties in the future.
(…)
Bush can threaten that millions will die if we pull out and I…I already knew that. I knew that two or three years ago. I knew that things were getting progressively worse in Iraq the longer we stayed and fought an impossible war.
It’s not that I don’t care about the consequences of withdrawal. It’s that I have already prepared myself emotionally.
Sigh. I don’t agree with the cancer analogy, because Iraq is not dying of natural causes. Iraq is more like someone Bush stabbed for looking at him funny, despite all our protests that it would be immoral and destructive. We want him to pull out the knife, but if Iraq dies as a result, that’s somehow supposed to be our fault.
If there is any way to salvage Iraq (to say I doubt this would be an understatement), the Bushies are the last people on Earth who could find it. But hey, if I ever have a problem that can only be solved with indiscriminate killing and bombing, they’ll be the first ones I call.
1 commentAugust 23rd, 2007 at 11:13amPosted by Eli
