Recent Comments
RSS feed
Young people…
September 4, 2012 — xanthippaYoung people…
Wonderous creatures, arent’t they?
Today, the day after Labour Day, is the ‘going back to school’ day in my neighbourhood.
My older son is starting another semester at University today.
My younger son just came home from his first day in High School.
So perhaps you’ll forgive me if my thoughts are turning towards our youth and the future they will build.
One absolutely amazing young person has recently given a TEDx talk in Richmond Hill (Toronto). I do not know her personally, but my trusted source informs me that she is just 18 years old and speaks 17 languages fluently…
I will embed the full TEDx video at the end of this post, but because it includes many talks and is several hours long and the presentation I was so impressed by starts 2 hours and 2 minutes into the video, I think it worth posting a link here that cues up nicely to the start of her talk.
Watching young people like Sophia Glisch is inspiring…
One of the first things I had thought of after seeing this video was what she would make of this linguistic performance:
Here is the full video of the TEDx talk:
UPDATE: this post has been edited to correct the spelling/insert full name of the seventeenlingual genius, Sophia Glisch
Note: this post has been edited to remove some potentially inaccurate information
A few hours of lectures by Stephen Coughlin on our ineptitude on ‘the war on terror’
September 3, 2012 — xanthippaYes, this lecture series is a little long – but very, very informative.
If you have read the Koran and the Hadith, and if you are familiar with Shariah, you will be impressed by the depth of Stephen Coughlin’s background knowledge – but there is still a lot of new material there for you because he draws the connections between the beliefs rooted (rightly or wrongly, but demonstrably held by the majority of pro-Sharia Muslims worldwide) in these and the decision-making and behaviour of Islamic political entities.
For example, he is one of the few people to have predicted the ‘Arab Spring’ months before it happened and accurately described it as a Muslim Brotherhood-driven action. He also accurately predicted other events many had considered ‘unpredictible’ – and in this lecture series, he walks us through the steps that made the events predictable.
If you are unfamiliar with the underlying doctrine, Stephen Coughlin provides an accurate grounding in their belief system and demonstrates its doctrinal roots. He also explains the very different concepts meant by Islamic political bodies when they use terms we consider familiar: words like ‘human rights’ (Sharia), ‘terrorism’ (killing of a Muslim without Sharia approval), and ‘freedom’ (freedom from ‘the laws of man’ in favour of the laws from Allah alone), ‘religion’ (Islam and Islam alone as Muhammad’s revelations abrogated all other religions) and more.
What is quite appalling, however, is his description of the depth of willful ignorance of all this by the politically correct decisionmakers who are directing the ‘war on terror’… His frustration is plainly visible and his Cassandra complex and the accompanying frustration are, at times, palpable.
Yet, it is precisely this willful ignorance among our decisionmakers and intellectual elites poses a clear and present danger to protecting our culture, our society and our very basic human rights.
Stephen Coughlin, Part 1: Lectures on National Security & Counterterror Analysis (Introduction)
Stephen Coughlin, Part 2: Understanding the War on Terror Through Islamic Law
Stephen Coughlin, Part 3: Abrogation & the ‘Milestones’ Process
Stephen Coughlin, Part 4: Muslim Brotherhood, Arab Spring & the ‘Milestones’ Process
Stephen Coughlin, Part 5: The Role of the OIC in Enforcing Islamic Law
Random Observations: Analysis vs Algebra predicts eating corn?
August 22, 2012 — xanthippaOK – it’s summer and we are all enjoying tasty summer treats, like, say, corn on the cob.
But, did you know that how you eat corn tells a lot about your other preferences?
‘Back when I was in grad school there was a department lunch with corn on the cob. Partway through the meal one of the analysts looked around the room and remarked, “That’s odd, all of the analysts are eating corn one way and the algebraists are eating corn another!” Everyone looked around. In fact everyone was eating the corn in one of two ways. One way was to munch over the length of the corn in a straight line, back up, turn slightly, and do another row across. Kind of like how an old typewriter goes. The other way was to go around in a spiral. All of the analysts were eating in spirals, and the algebraists in rows.’
It seems natural that the way you analyze/think about the world around you extends to how you interact with your surroundings – including how you eat. Mentalists have long taken note of such cues and used them to cold-read their clients. So, why should we be surprised that this connection exists between how we eat and how we approach mathematics?
Or, indeed, life in general?
And not just mathematics: programming, too:
‘Let me give some examples. Upon my first encounter it was clear to me that object oriented programming is something that appeals to algebraists. So if you’re a programmer and found Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software to be a revelation, it is highly likely that you lean towards algebra and eat your corn in neat rows. Going the other way, if the techniques described in On Lisp appeal, then you might be on the analytic side of the fence and eat your corn in spirals. This is particularly true if you found yourself agreeing with Paul Graham’s thoughts in Why Arc Isn’t Especially Object-Oriented. There was a period that I thought that the programming division might be as simple as functional versus object oriented. Then I encountered monads, and I learned that there were functional programmers who clearly were algebraists. (I know someone who got his PhD studying Haskell’s type system. My prediction that he ate corn in rows was correct.) Going the other way I wouldn’t be surprised that people who love what they can do with template metaprogramming in C++ lean towards analysis and eating corn in spirals. (I haven’t tested the last guess at all, so take it with a grain of salt.)’
To which I add: you should always eat your corn on the cob with a few grains of salt! And lots of butter…
Harvard Study Confirms Fluoride Reduces Children’s IQ
August 14, 2012 — xanthippaThis is not the first study – but a follow up one that confirms earlier findings:
‘A recently published Harvard University meta-analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has concluded that children who live in areas with highly fluoridated water have “significantly lower” IQ scores than those who live in low fluoride areas.’
It’s not the only problem with fluoride – it has also been demonstrated to cause childhood bone cancer. (That is why, ever so quietly, fluoride was removed from children’s toothpaste…)
And, perhaps most ironic finding of them all is that too much flouride actually increases – yes, increases – the probability of getting cavities!
Yes – you read correctly: a little bit of fluoride reduces the incidence of cavities – but more than a little bit, and the cavities are more frequent than they would have been with no fluoride at all! Plus, you get all the side-effects…
Of course, fluoride is also used as prescription medication to reduce the function of the thyroid – making people more tired, sluggish, fat and, yes, apathetic…
Now, we can add ‘making us dumber’ to the list of side effects this government-enforced medication-in-the-water scheme is causing….it sounds like ‘the government is putting poison in my coffee’ line is not ‘Paranoia’ after all!!!
These boots are made for riding…
August 10, 2012 — xanthippa…you know, like horse-riding…
…sort of like ‘cowboys’ do…
…so it is not really all that far-fetched to call them ‘cowboy boots’!
I’m just sayin’…
A little over a year ago, I reported on a lawsuit brought by Dr. Dawg against some fine people. If you’d like to read the details, they are here, here and here.
However, that is not the bit I am blogging about now.
Rather, it goes to credibility.
Specifically, my credibility in reporting on these events.
As part of my reporting efforts, I had described how the plaintiff, Dr. Dawg, was dressed for court:
I was curious to see John Baglow – having never laid eyes on him before. He wore a crisp blue shirt (curiously evocative of ‘the working class’ and of ‘cowboys’ at the same time) with aviator-style sun-glasses in place of a tie, dark pants and cute black cowboy boots with the most adorable little metal trimmings. In his hands, he held a summer-weight (possibly straw), white, fedora-type hat. His whitish-gray mustache matched his hair and I could read nothing from the neutral expression on his face. John Baglow, the man, remained a closed book to me.
Many people picked up on the highlighted bit (highlighted for the purposes of this post, not from before). Dr. Dawg had attempted to cast doubt on the veracity of my reporting by stating:
‘I don’t wear cowboy boots!’
The implication was that if I could not even report accurately what he was wearing, I could not be trusted to report on the rest of the events…
I must admit, I did not know how to deal with this – so I ignored it.
Until now.
Because thanks to a tip from a friend, I came across this picture, posted by Mr. Pup-In-Boots himself!
(Sorry the screenshot is fuzzy – I simply included it for its news-worthiness and to demonstrate it existed should it become ‘dissapeared’. The resolution is much better in the picture on his site – you can even make out the adorable silver-tone metal trimmings!
Wearing the very footwear I had described him wearing to court…
…while riding a horse (or, perhaps, a pony – I am no equestrian expert)…
…like cowboys do..
UPDATE: Dr. Dawg was kind enough to supply the model of the boots themselves.
Euro-judges: judges or policymakers?
August 10, 2012 — xanthippaGood advice – and not just for the EU!
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 