Paul M. Jones

Yes, it's upsetting that some people have so much while other people have so little. It isn't fair. But I accept this unfairness. Indeed, I treasure it. That's because I have a 13-year-old daughter And that's all I hear, "That's not fair," she says. "That's not fair! That's not fair!" And one day I snapped, and I said, "Honey, you're cute, that's not fair. Your family is pretty well off, that's not fair. You were born in America, that's not fair. Darling, you had better get down on your knees and pray that things don't start getting fair for you."

via O'Rourke: If the 1% had less, would the 99% be better off? | Marketplace from American Public Media.

Why can’t civilized people like ourselves simply rely on the police? Well, look around you: Do you see a cop? Unless you happen to be a police officer yourself, or are married to one, you are very unlikely to be attacked in the presence of law enforcement. The role of the police is to respond in the aftermath of a crime and, with a little luck, to catch the person who committed it. If you are ever targeted by a violent predator, whether you and your family are injured or killed will depend on what you do in the first moments of the encounter.? When it comes to survival, therefore, you are entirely on your own. Once you escape and are in a safe place, by all means call the police. But dialing 911 when an intruder has broken into your home is not a strategy for self-defense.[2] 

via The Blog : The Truth about Violence : Sam Harris.

Why should we believe that the motives of people in (cough, cough) “public service” are different from the motives of people in the for-profit sector? Was Jon Corzine a rapacious self-seeker at Goldman Sachs, then a public-spirited man when he was in the Senate and in New Jersey’s governorship, only to revert to form when he went to MF Global? If you doubt that this is true, and suspect that Jon Corzine was the same guy all along, why would you want to give government more power?

via ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where the Money Is’ - By Kevin D. Williamson - The Corner - National Review Online.

My article for this year's PHP Advent is up. In it, I show one way to deal with the N+1 problem in your PHP code, and present a reusable package to help with it. Since PHP Advent doesn't support comments, please leave your comments about the article below.

UPDATE (08 Dec 2011): Per request, here's a link to the Aura.Marshal package.

... the First Amendment protects our right to speak freely, not our right to block people so they can't travel or get to work.

Similarly, "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" does not include blocking a thoroughfare while doing so. "Peaceable" does not always mean "lawful" or even "civil." Cia Advice Goddess Blog.

It’s one of the ironies of American history that when the Pilgrims first arrived at Plymouth rock they promptly set about creating a communist society.  Of course, they were soon starving to death.

...

Among Bradford’s many insights it’s amazing that he saw so clearly how collectivism failed not only as an economic system but that even among godly men “it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them.” And it shocks me to my core when he writes that to make the collectivist system work would have required “great tyranny and oppression.” Can you imagine how much pain the twentieth century could have avoided if Bradford’s insights been more widely recognized?

via Thanksgiving Lessons -- Marginal Revolution.

In the United States, almost all ethanol is made from corn. This means that the sugars in the corn must be fermented, distilled, and dehydrated in order to produce ethanol fuel (ethyl alcohol).

A major downside of producing corn ethanol is the amount of energy required: Ethanol made from corn returns only 25% more energy than is consumed to make it. ...

Basic chemistry dictates that gallon for gallon, burning ethanol produces only 2/3 as much energy as burning gasoline. ...

This means that the efficiency of E15, measured in miles per gallon, can never exceed 95% of the efficiency of regular gasoline. In actuality, it tends to be far lower. ...

Ethanol releases 19% more carbon dioxide than gasoline. For those who believe that human-produced carbon dioxide plays a role in global climate change, this is not a good statistic.

... Given the 21 pounds of corn required to produce one gallon of ethanol, that’s almost 2500 gallons of water used, not including water in the distillation stage. So when filling their gas tanks, most Americans now indirectly consume over 2500 gallons of water. ...

A careful look into the ethanol question in the US leaves one wondering why this trillion dollar industry even exists. Is it attributable to Crony Capitalism?

"Is it attributable to corny capitalism?" Yes. Thanks, Al Gore. Via Blighted harvest: The American corn ethanol disaster | Washington Times Communities.

An overwhelming majority not seen in 39 years wants every federal government program to have its budget cut. Every single one of them. No exceptions. Just cut the spending already.

The Rasmussen Poll asked: “Should spending cuts be considered in every federal government program?”

60% said yes.

Let me put that in perspective. Ronald Reagan received only 58.8% of the vote in 1984 when he carried 49 states.

I say 10% across the board, including Defense, Medicare/Medicaid, and Social Security. And a *real* cut, not a reduction-in-increase: if you got $1000 this year, you get $900 next year. (Unfortunately, revenues probably would have to stay as they are, at least until we convert to the Fair Tax. Via 60%: Cut everything « Don Surber.

It is the mark of a more competent intelligence service.  To infiltrate an enemy safe area and kill a man with a pistol -- or in a manner that looks like an accident -- is the mark of a highly competent clandestine service.  How many members of the Haqqani network could we kill this way, if we wanted to do it?  Could we walk a man into their compound, pop them, and walk him out again before the body was found?  Arrange an accident?  Refuse to comment on the operation to the press?  Keep the documents from leaking?

Call it a bit of professional acknowledgement, if not strictly appreciation. Via BLACKFIVE: Wet Work is Better.

A well-known psychologist in the Netherlands whose work has been published widely in professional journals falsified data and made up entire experiments, an investigating committee has found. Experts say the case exposes deep flaws in the way science is done in a field, psychology, that has only recently earned a fragile respectability.

Via Noted Dutch Psychologist, Stapel, Accused of Research Fraud - NYTimes.com.