Glamour, with and without shoes

Two great tastes that go great together - Virginia Postrel's blog of glamour, and the inimitable Manolo. Interview.

In case you are one of the dozen people who have not heard of Manolo, all you really need to understand is that the Manolo, he loves the shoes! And of course you read Postrel.

Celebrating the decline of Western Civilization

Hat tip: BoingBoing

Definition of the week

Crux (Latin for "cross", "gallow", or "t-shape") is a term applied by palaeographers, textual critics, bibliographers, and literary scholars to a point of significant corruption in a literary text. More serious than a simple slip of the pen or typographical error, a crux (probably deriving from Latin crux interpretum = "crossroad of interpreters") is difficult or impossible to interpret and resolve. Cruxes occur in a wide range of pre-modern (ancient, medieval, and Renaissance) texts, printed and manuscript.

"So how do you get some people not to vote?"

That's the question that really should be asked.

One of the commentators phrases it justly:

Exactly. This whole get out the vote thing annoys me to no end. I want less voting, not more. I assume that the marginal voter is less informed than the average voter, and thus by expanding the voter pool, the average voter becomes less and less informed. This is not a good thing.

Abortion

This Straight Dope article actually states my own opinion quite well:

1. Human life begins at conception.

2. Big deal.

Even though I do not object to legalized abortion, it has always irritated me when people arguing against abortion prohibition would not admit that, yes, they thought it should be legal to terminate a human life.

The Catholic church is right about this: if you believe that human life is sacrosanct, you can not tolerate abortion, euthanasia, or capital punishment.

If you favor any of those listed, you are speaking against the absolute sanctity of human life, and saying that different human lives have different values. You are saying that you have to think.

Live with it.

To me, abortion is ending a human life, but it is not murder. If it were done without consent of the mother, it would be a grave crime against her, but the interests of the fetus are not the interests of our society. Certainly people who are infertile and would love to have a baby, other relatives (or perhaps boyfriend or husbands), and people generally opposed to abortion may find this disturbing. That's OK - go ahead and bribe the mom and try to make it worth her while to have the baby, but in the end it is her decision.

To me, euthanasia should be a basic human right. If you do not believe your life is worth the pain that it costs, you should be able to end it. The fact that you might change your mind later is really not the issue....you should have that right.

As capital punishment goes, I am sort of against it. A healthy human life must have some value, and ending it against the will of them who would live it seems wrong, a waste. But in the really bad cases, it does not seem much of a loss. I guess I would say that it should be avoided when possible.

Quote of the Week

"That said, a bike is much cheaper to run than a car. In fact, it takes only half a litre of fuel to get from your house to the scene of your first fatal accident."
- Jeremy Clarkson, in his humorous ode to the Vespa

Cool idea for an adult theme park [title updated]

No, not that kind of adult.

An underwater museum.

What will they call it, Egyptland?

Theology and Linguistics

Here is an entry in Language Log that would interest those with interest in the Latter Day Saints.

For those who aren't going to follow the link (sigh), the author compares the divinely translated English with the English of the Book of Mormon, and concludes:

Such evidence presents us with two choices. One is that the omnipotent and omniscient creator of the universe did not control the grammar of Early Modern English. The other is that the Book of Mormon was written by a semi-literate farm boy acquainted with the King James Bible, whose grammar and style he unsuccessfully attempted to emulate.

"Then she was tied to the feet of wild horses and torn apart limb from limb."

Here is a bit of biograpy, the story of Brunhilda. No, not the witch from the comic strip, but the historical Merovingian who might have inspired the female rivalry in the Nibelungen saga.



Women could not rule the country under Salic law, but she controlled it (the area now in the center of Germany) in the names of her sons. When her husband was still alive, his brother married her sister (both sisters came from what is now Spain, at the time controlled by the Visigoths). The sister Galswintha, however, was not much fun and tried to spoil everybody's fun by throwing out the prostitutes and mistresses. Fredegund, one of the mistresses, managed to get her killed and became the new queen - the beginning of a not-so-beautiful relationship with Brunhilda, who apparently resented the death of her sister. The brothers warred.

After Fredegund had Brunhilda's husband assassinated, Brunhilda managed to snag her Fredegund's stepson instead. The stepson didn't make it. However, Brunhilda managed to rule in the name of her son (by her first husband)until the son turned 13.

After her son died, she ruled again in the names of her grandsons. When the oldest was old enough to rule, she managed to get a lover of hers in high position (by getting somebody else killed), and to get her younger son in conflict with the older. Her younger son probably killed the older, and became the ruler until his death - at which time Brunhilda took over again in the name of her great-grandson - until this youngest king was killed.

Then:

Then the army of the Franks and Burgundians joined into one, all shouted together that death would be most fitting for the very wicked Brunhilda. Then King Clotaire ordered that she be lifted on to a camel and led through the entire army. Then she was tied to the feet of wild horses and torn apart limb from limb. Finally she died. Her final grave was the fire. Her bones were burnt.

Technology Tips

Here are a few for the novice.

My favorite (didn't actually know this):

Whatever technology you buy today will be obsolete soon, but you can avoid heartache by learning the cycles. New iPods come out every September. New digital cameras come out in February and October.

The most important (everybody knows this, but who actually acts on it?):

Come up with an automated backup system for your computer. There’s no misery quite like the sick feeling of having lost chunks of your life because you didn’t have a safety copy.

Hat tip: The Dynamistress

Lyric of the week

Life during wartime - Talking Heads

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons,
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway,
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance,
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstore, lived in the ghetto,
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey,
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver,
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas,
you don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, the trucks are loading,
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime,
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.,
I ain't got time for that now
Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peant butter,
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers, ain't got no
headphones, ain't got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time
Can't write a letter, can't send a postcard,
I can't write nothing at all
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
I'd like to kiss you, I'd love you hold you
I ain't got no time for that now

Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock,
we blended with the crowd
We got computer, we're tapping pohne lines,
I know that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives,
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle, so many times now,
I don't know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender,
we make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving,
you ought to get some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions,
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day,
whatever you think is best
Burned all my notebooks, what good are
notebooks? They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace,
the burning keeps me alive
Try to stay healthy, physical fitness,
don't want to catch no disease
Try to be careful, don't take no chances,
you better watch what you say

Definition of the week

risible

adj : arousing or provoking laughter;[syn: amusing, comic, comical,funny, laughable, mirthful]

This one is often used in arguments when mocking somebody else's point of view

Signs McCain is Hurting....

After seeing some blatantly racist attacks on Obama such as the Obama Food Stamp and the lynched Obama ghost, it was a bit odd to have Professor Drezner point out that even racists are voting for Obama.

So a canvasser goes to a woman’s door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she’s planning to vote for. She isn’t sure, has to ask her husband who she’s voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, “We’re votin’ for the n***er!”

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: “We’re voting for the n***er.”

Quote of the Week

The Bush administration, having entered office as social conservatives, leaves office as conservative socialists, proprietors of the most sudden large expansion of the state's role in the US economy since mobilisation for the second world war.
Brad De Long, via MR

Shades of Heisenberg!

A story about an attempt to manipulate prediction markets led me somehow to this other story where statistics and real life collided in a strange way.

In this one, a particular Harvard publication ("Who's got the Monkey") was used as a test case. People who didn't know that all the activity with this particular publication was all faked, well....

When HBSP’s marketing department analyzed the sales trends, they noticed a rather interesting trend. Oncken’s 1974 Who's Got the Monkey? was a run-away best seller! And like any marketing department would, they took the story and ran. HBSP created pamphlets and other distillations of the paper. They even repackaged those little plastic cocktail monkeys as official “Who’s Got the Monkey monkeys”. And finally, sometime in 2002, the updated version of Who’s Got the Monkey? was posted to HBSP, which was then picked up by the searching system, which, in turn, caused the “Single Result Search” test case to fail.

Say it ain't so, Joe!

Apparently, "Joe the Plumber" has been practicing without a license.

Also, besides not being a licensed plumber, he isn't a licensed Joe. His legal name is Samuel.

My guess is he is wishing he had stayed in the background right now. Or hoping to do something useful with this sudden fame.

Science Prizes

Now that the Nobel prizes have been announced, it might be a good time to think back on the more prestigious Ig Nobel Prizes.'

Please, despite the findings about the effectivity of Coca Cola (TM) as a contraceptive, please spend the extra pennies on the real stuff.

For Putin fans only

There is now an instructional video out that teaches you to exercise like Putin.

Hey, it worked for Jane Fonda.

Warning: the link leads to very manly pictures of Putin that might make any female readers give up their existing relationships and move to Russia...just in hope.

HT Volokh Conspiracy

Lyric of the week

Nobody's Side - from the musical "Chess"

What's going on around me
Is barely making sense
I need some explainations fast
I see my present partner
In the imperfect tense
And I don't see how we can last
I feel I need a change of cast
Nobody's on nobody's side

And when he gives me reasons
To justify each move
They're getting harder to believe
I know this can't continue
I've still a lot to prove
There must be more I could acheive
But I don't have the nerve to leave

Everybody's playing the game
But nobody's rules are the same
Nobody's on nobody's side
Better learn to go it alone
Recognize you're out on your own
Nobody's on nobody's side

The one I should not think of
Keeps rolling through my mind
And I don't want to let that go
No lovers ever faithfull
No contract truly signed
There's nothing certain left to know
And how the cracks begin to show

Never make a promise or plan
Take a little love where you can
Nobody's on nobody's side
Never stay too long in your bed
Never lose your heart, use your head
Nobody's on nobody's side

Never take a stranger's advice
Never let a friend fool you twice
Nobody's on nobody's side
Never be the first to believe
Never be the last to deceive
Nobody's on nobody's side
And never leave a moment too soon
Never waste a hot afternoon
Nobody's on nobody's side
Never stay a minute too long
Don't forget the best will go wrong
Nobody's on nobody's side

Better learn to go it alone
Recognize you're out on your own
Nobody's on nobody's side

Definition of the week

Epicaricacy: Yes, this is just another word for schadenfreude, the joy at the discomfort of another.

Kind of unusual for the German word to be better known in English!