Thanks to our friend Gregg for sharing this one:
THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL has issued a no-nonsense, albeit delayed, warning about a new, highly virulent strain of sexually transmitted disease. This disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior.
The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim (pronounced "Gonna Re-elect him").
Many victims have contracted it after having been screwed for the past 4 years, in spite of having taken measures to protect themselves from this especially troublesome disease.
Cognitive sequellae of individuals infected with Gonorrhea Lectim include, but are not limited to, anti-social personality disorder traits; delusions of grandeur with a distinct messianic flavor; chronic mangling of the English language; extreme cognitive dissonance; inability to incorporate new information; pronounced xenophobia and homophobia; inability to accept responsibility for actions; exceptional cowardice masked by acts of misplaced bravado; uncontrolled facial smirking; total ignorance of geography and history; tendencies toward creating evangelical theocracies; and a strong propensity for categorical, all-or-nothing behavior.
The disease is sweeping Washington. Naturalists and epidemiologists are amazed and baffled that this malignant disease originated only a few years ago in a Texas bush. Please inform any of your friends and associates who have been acting unusual lately.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
9/11 And The Sport of God - another quote
9/11 And The Sport of God
Another quote from Moyers' article. The quote is from Reinhold Niebuhr:
"'When we talk about love we have to become mature or we will become sentimental. Basically love means...being responsible, responsibility to our family, toward our civilization, and now by the pressures of history, toward the universe of humankind.'"
Another quote from Moyers' article. The quote is from Reinhold Niebuhr:
"'When we talk about love we have to become mature or we will become sentimental. Basically love means...being responsible, responsibility to our family, toward our civilization, and now by the pressures of history, toward the universe of humankind.'"
9/11 And The Sport of God
I love Bill Moyers. I'm an atheist, but his interviews of Joseph Campbell on PBS really give me a solid appreciation for most religions. . .that is when they are not causing people to be violent and intolerant. Thanks to Tula at the Crab Casa for sending this article:
9/11 And The Sport of God: "What are the stakes? In his last book, the late Marvin Harris, a prominent anthropologist of the time, wrote that 'the attack against reason and objectivity is fast reaching the proportions of a crusade.' To save the American Dream, 'we desperately need to reaffirm the principle that it is possible to carry out an analysis of social life which rational human beings will recognize as being true, regardless of whether they happen to be women or men, whites or black, straights or gays, employers or employees, Jews or born-again Christians. The alternative is to stand by helplessly as special interest groups tear the United States apart in the name of their 'separate realities' or to wait until one of them grows strong enough to force its irrational and subjective brand of reality on all the rest.'
That was written 25 years ago, just as the radical Christian right was setting out on their long march to political supremacy. The forces he warned against have gained strength ever since and now control much of the United States government and are on the verge of having it all."
9/11 And The Sport of God: "What are the stakes? In his last book, the late Marvin Harris, a prominent anthropologist of the time, wrote that 'the attack against reason and objectivity is fast reaching the proportions of a crusade.' To save the American Dream, 'we desperately need to reaffirm the principle that it is possible to carry out an analysis of social life which rational human beings will recognize as being true, regardless of whether they happen to be women or men, whites or black, straights or gays, employers or employees, Jews or born-again Christians. The alternative is to stand by helplessly as special interest groups tear the United States apart in the name of their 'separate realities' or to wait until one of them grows strong enough to force its irrational and subjective brand of reality on all the rest.'
That was written 25 years ago, just as the radical Christian right was setting out on their long march to political supremacy. The forces he warned against have gained strength ever since and now control much of the United States government and are on the verge of having it all."
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
A Game of Second Chance
OK, so, I watch this TV show called Numbers and I learned this math thing while watching last week. Check out this demonstration first, then read the following and PLEASE share you comments:
Cup and Bean Game
I wrote the game in ColdFusion hoping to prove to my wife and other non-believers that the math I learned is correct. Here is how it goes. . .
The game master hides the bean under one of three cups.
You choose one of the cups where you think the bean is.
The game master reveals that the bean is NOT under one of the OTHER TWO cups that you did not choose.
The game master now tells you that, if you want, you can change your choice of where you think the bean is.
You change or reaffirm your choice.
The game master reveals where the bean is.
That's the game.
Here's the math, in lay man's terms--the only terms I know for it. . .
At the start of the game, you don't know where the bean is, you have a 2 out of 3 chance of getting it wrong.
When the game master reveals one of the cups you did NOT choose, you have an opportunity to change your choice. The math says you should change your choice.
See, in the first choice, you were more likely to have chosen the wrong cup. Now, at the opportunity to change your choice, you should know very well the odds are that the previous choice was wrong.
Sure, there is a 1 in 3 chance that you were right--but odds are odds, and 2 in 3 wrong still beats 1 in 3 right.
The game is not over, you know that there is a greater chance that you first choice was wrong than it was right. When faced with the new, seemingly 50/50, choice you should abandon the likely wrong first choice.
If I were a math wiz, I'd explain all this in those terms, but that would probably make even less sense to many of us. So, just play the stupid game as many times as you want and see for yourself. If you don't trust my code, download it here or just play the game with a friend over and over again with real playing cards (where's the ace?) or any other analogy. I've played the game many times and have never won less than 7 out of ten games when consistently changing my choice on the second chance. My wife tried it out and she maintained her choice every time and never won more than 3 games out of 10.
But no one believes me!! That second choice really throws people off.
If anyone has a more eloquent way of explaining this--or better yet, has a transcript of what the guy on Numbers said--please share it here in a comment.
Also, any other code monkeys out there are welcome to chime in on my code--especially if there is a flaw.
Thanks
Cup and Bean Game
I wrote the game in ColdFusion hoping to prove to my wife and other non-believers that the math I learned is correct. Here is how it goes. . .
The game master hides the bean under one of three cups.
You choose one of the cups where you think the bean is.
The game master reveals that the bean is NOT under one of the OTHER TWO cups that you did not choose.
The game master now tells you that, if you want, you can change your choice of where you think the bean is.
You change or reaffirm your choice.
The game master reveals where the bean is.
That's the game.
Here's the math, in lay man's terms--the only terms I know for it. . .
At the start of the game, you don't know where the bean is, you have a 2 out of 3 chance of getting it wrong.
When the game master reveals one of the cups you did NOT choose, you have an opportunity to change your choice. The math says you should change your choice.
See, in the first choice, you were more likely to have chosen the wrong cup. Now, at the opportunity to change your choice, you should know very well the odds are that the previous choice was wrong.
Sure, there is a 1 in 3 chance that you were right--but odds are odds, and 2 in 3 wrong still beats 1 in 3 right.
The game is not over, you know that there is a greater chance that you first choice was wrong than it was right. When faced with the new, seemingly 50/50, choice you should abandon the likely wrong first choice.
If I were a math wiz, I'd explain all this in those terms, but that would probably make even less sense to many of us. So, just play the stupid game as many times as you want and see for yourself. If you don't trust my code, download it here or just play the game with a friend over and over again with real playing cards (where's the ace?) or any other analogy. I've played the game many times and have never won less than 7 out of ten games when consistently changing my choice on the second chance. My wife tried it out and she maintained her choice every time and never won more than 3 games out of 10.
But no one believes me!! That second choice really throws people off.
If anyone has a more eloquent way of explaining this--or better yet, has a transcript of what the guy on Numbers said--please share it here in a comment.
Also, any other code monkeys out there are welcome to chime in on my code--especially if there is a flaw.
Thanks
Vanita Gupta - Human Rights Advocate Honored
A colleague at work thought my wife would be interested in the following, I'm gonna try to get out of bed on Saturday to go see this:
An event called "New Frontiers in Leadership" - this is a yearly event organized by Ekal DC Chapter in which they honor a young Indian American achiever. Last year they had honored "Sonal Shah" - founder of Indicorps. This year they have invited "Vanita Gupta" - a lawyer by profession who has earned a name for hershelf in the field of Human Rights at a very young age.
An event called "New Frontiers in Leadership" - this is a yearly event organized by Ekal DC Chapter in which they honor a young Indian American achiever. Last year they had honored "Sonal Shah" - founder of Indicorps. This year they have invited "Vanita Gupta" - a lawyer by profession who has earned a name for hershelf in the field of Human Rights at a very young age.
The event is on September 18, 2005, 11 A.M. at the Marvin Center, George Washington University, 800 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052
Ekal DC invites you to come and be a part of this inspiring interaction with Vanita.
About Vanita Gupta
- A lawyer by profession. Currently works as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Her work involves civil rights litigation to promote systemic reform of the criminal justice system
- Won the release of 46 wrongly-accused African Americans in Tulia, Texas
- Recipient of the Soros Justice Fellowship
- Recipient of the India Abroad Special Award for Outstanding Achievement
- Recipient of 2004 Reebok Human Rights Award
- Recipient of Upakar Foundation Community Ambassador award
- Recipient of American Red Cross "Rising Star" award
- Appeared on the NBC Today Show, CBS Evening News, CNN, PBS Lehrer News Hour, Court TV, MSNBC and National Public Radio
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