Critical Exponent

What’s wrong with this picture?

As the literacy of college graduates falls, Congress cuts federal aid to education for the first time in a decade— a week after voting for more tax cuts for the rich.

It seems like many neoconservatives like to talk about “family values” and “individual responsibility” and to bemoan what they see as the individualistic pleasure-seeking ways of the non-conservatives. But if “family” and “community” values are to have any meaning, it ought to be watching out for those who are less fortunate, to empower them to lead productive lives. Imagine if straight-A Susie got rewarded with all the tutors, the latest educational software, and all the attention while her struggling brother Johnnie got no help with homework, no tutor, and was completely ignored by the family and teachers. Is this the kind of dysfunctional “family values” the Republicans aspire to?

And while we’re at it, doesn’t lining the pockets of your biggest contributors and lobbyists smack just a tad of individualistic hedony?

A New York Times article reports that children, unlike chimps, seem to overimitate others even when it is clear the actions are irrelevant to the goal at hand. To me, such overimitation sounds a lot like ritual.

I often wonder whether there is an innately human predisposition towards gullibility and ritual. One can think of a simple evolutionary advantage to gullibility: a group whose members are not constantly questioning each other is much more likely to be cohesive and survive (likewise, a group where no one ever questions each other is likely to always blindly follow and perish). The scientists in this study similarly speculate that overimitation may have enabled our tool-making forebears to spread their technological prowess; perhaps (this is me talking) a side effect of this was the human predisposition for rituals.

Speculating on the evolutionary advantages of various human behaviors is dangerous, since it seems that we can invent a rationale for any behavior we want as well as for its opposite. Nevertheless, when I see all the rituals in the social world around me diverting energy from helping society, when I see people blindly following leaders based on emotional responses rather than on the merits of their ideas, I cannot help but wonder whether this presumptive former evolutionary advantage isn’t now maladaptively overshadowing the equally-human rationality that is so critically needed in contemporary society.

The Republican Party is doctoring photos and quoting Democrats out of context in a web ab campaign meant to stifle criticism of Iraq:

The RNC is pimping a mute and unnamed soldier not just to defend the Iraq war but to imply that Democrats are white-handkerchief-waving cowards who want the United States to lose…. It goes almost without saying that some of the quotes from Democrats are taken out of context in a way that completely distorts their meanings.

Never mind that GWB finally paid lip service last week to the role of open debate in our society: “There’s an important debate going on in our nation’s capital about Iraq, and the fact that we can debate these issues openly in the midst of a dangerous war brings credit to our democracy.” The under-the-belt tactics of the majority seem to continue unabated.

Free and open discussion ought to be not about proving oneself right, but about getting closer to the truth and a consensus. It ought to be not about distorting others’ words, but about trying to understand their position. It ought to be not about impugning others’ characters, but about finding flaws in their arguments and, most importantly, in one’s own.

I spent a lot of my computer time this weekend migrating my personal finances to GnuCash 1.8, the open-source answer to Quicken and MS Money.

Thus far, I’m pretty excited about GnuCash and think it will be a more efficient way to keep track of money than the generic spreadsheet I’ve been using for several years. I’ve found a couple of minor issues:

• In the documentation, one first reads that the accounting equation is Assets - Liabilities = Equity + (Income - Expenses) which does not make sense to me as written, without any time indeces. This second equation, should, I believe, read as follows: Δ(Equity) ==Δ(Assets-Liabilities) == Income-Expenses, or Equity(i)==Assets(i)-Liabilities(i)=Equity(i-1)+Income(i-1)-Expenses(i-1) which is also consistent with the diagram on that page

• The standard Account Summary report has a mysterious “Total” line which appears formatted as though ti were the total for all the accounts in the report, but whose value is actually just Income - Expenses.

• When setting a semi-monthly automatic payment which will go into effect beginning with second transaction in the current month, that next transaction does not appear to be automatically scheduled.

Apparently, the magnetic north pole is shifting so fast it could wind up in Siberia in 50 years.

The shift could mean that Alaska will lose its northern lights, or auroras, which might then be more visible in areas of Siberia and Europe.

Kraft is resisting pressure from the AFA and standing firm in its sponsorship of the Gay Games.

Ford, on the other hand, caved in to the right-wingers at the AFA.

Slate has an interesting article on GWB’s use of propaganda:

Though propaganda and spin exist on a continuum, they are different in essence. To spin is to offer a contention, usually specious, in response to a critical argument or a negative news story. It does not necessarily involve lying or misleading anyone about factual matters. Habitual spin is irksome, especially to the journalists upon whom it is practiced, but it does not threaten democracy. Propaganda is far more malignant. A calculated and systematic effort to manage public opinion, it transcends mere lying and routine political dishonesty. When the Bush administration manufactures fake “news,” suppresses real news, disguises the former as the latter, and challenges the legitimacy of the independent press, it corrodes trust in leaders, institutions, and, to the rest of the world, the United States as a whole.

Funny how demagogues need to control information and thoughts: “Like his colleagues in Bush’s war council, Rummy indicates with every gesture that he simply does not accept the legitimate role of a free press.” This is too close for my comfort to the tactics of totalitarian regimes. There is, in fact, an interesting exhibit currently at the Boston Public Library on the Nazi book burnings . How big is the difference, really, between controlling information to stifle dissent and banning or burning subversive books?

If you’re at all concerned about fairness in the Supreme Court, consider signing the Stop Alito petition. Alito’s record shows him to not be the defender of civil liberties we very much need on the Supreme Court. If nothing else, his failure to recuse himself in cases where there was even an appearance of conflict of interest should raise some concerns.

Religious conservatives are miffed that Pres. Bush, of all people, would send out generic holiday greetings rather than Christmas cards:

Many people are thrilled to get a White House Christmas card, no matter what the greeting inside. But some conservative Christians are reacting as if Bush stuck coal in their stockings.

“This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture,” said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

It’s the end of the year: Christmas and New Year’s occur within a week of each other, and they are legal holidays precisely because they are part of the majority religion. Is it enough to be thankful for having your faith’s celebrations be holidays? Apparently not. It is a time of the year when, quite apart from religious overtones, people celebrate, are in good cheer, and wish good will to all. Is it enough to spread the joy around? No. Apparently, nothing is enough until everyone bows down before the same crucifix and the masses are converted. After all, don’t you know that this majority religion with recognized legal holidays is so obviously in mortal peril because of those who express good wishes for everyone and not only for Christians?

Let me be clear: I don’t think it’s necessarily bad for the government to acknowledge a religious tradition, as long as it doesn’t endorse it. But to make this the leading social issue is to harp on words of tribute rather than deeds of faith, and smacks of hypocrisy.

“I think it’s more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards,” said the [National Council of Churches'] general secretary, the Rev. Bob Edgar