The Reconstruction » links

There’s Nothing More Fun than a Good Debunking

McCormick — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 06:32:45 +0000

Debunkings are great. It’s always nice to clear out fact from wild assertion, particularly when the wild assertions are supported by a community that constantly references and reinforces itself without any actual allegiance to objective fact. Holocaust deniers (actually, you can find them for just about any genocide), Creationists, et cetera– they’re a fascinating study on how people choose the seize upon the “facts” that support their worldview and ignore or discount all other evidence. One such group is the tax protesters– those folks who think that taxes are unconstitutional or find some other justification for not paying them. A one-stop debunking of tax protesters can be found at the Tax Protester FAQ, written by Daniel Evans.

Two Ways to Waste or Worry Your Time Away

McCormick — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 06:16:02 +0000

I have a few more extensive thoughts in the pipeline, but in the meantime, I present the two ways other than the amazing college football and the White Sox that I have managed to have a less-productive-than-average-weekend:

Pondering when Tropical Depression Twenty-Four will become Hurricane Wilma, and whether it will make landfall on the US Gulf Coast as a Category-Three storm or stronger. It’d be nice if the MAHEM Hurricane Futures Market bet on these factors as well as landfall.
Wu’s Riddles collection is wonderful, if you’re a nerd.

Oenophilia

McCormick — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 19:01:00 +0000

Two links for wine lovers…

Professor Bainbridge on Wine, one of the better wine weblogs out there (his politics– via his other weblog– I often strongly disagree with, but I’d be quite happy to discuss any disagreements over the bottle of wine of his choice).

Hedonistic Fruit Bombs, a great essay in the London Review of Books.

Monkey Money

McCormick — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 06:21:58 +0000

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner have a new column titled Freakonomics (after their book) in the New York Times. The inaugural column addresses research showing that monkeys can not only use money, but make rational choices in ways strikingly similar to humans. All the relevant stuff is linked on their site. Part of the Times story is funnier than it should be: “To this end, Chen has taken steps to ensure that future monkey sex at Yale occurs as nature intended it.”

Great Web Comics

McCormick — Sat, 07 May 2005 05:25:02 +0000

From BoingBoing: Web Zen: Comics Zen. You can find a list of the comics here. Personally, I love Achewood and The Perry Bible Fellowship. An obvious addition to their list is My New Fighting/Filing Technique is Unstoppable, which after September 11th spawned Get Your War On. In my opinion, GYWO captured the total insanity following 9/11 better than anything else out there.