New Year's Resolutions

Mirroring below the post by the newly-discovered (for me), Roland Shirk:
QUOTE:
As the new year comes upon us, most of us come up with projects for self-improvement, which typically center on health, exercise, relationships, or moral failings we want to address. I'd like to propose some ideas for what we in the movement to resist Islamic totalitarianism can do to advance our cause.

The "Lump of Labour fallacy"

I've been reading a bit about the "lump of labour fallacy" lately.
Here's how it's described by Paul Krugman in 2003, quoted by Tom Walker at Ecological Headstand:

"HK to become world genomics research hub"

Another in the irregular series of "things that Hong Kong is good at..."From the South China Morning Post, December 27

A year's end-compilation of random reports on Islam

Dwindling of persecuted Christians in Holy land most unreported story.  [Here].  Dec 30.

Bill O’Reilly’s Mindslaughter. [Here].  Dec 29.   Quote from the article...

If Ted Danson can't talk to "the fellas", what's to be done?

Some have commented that if I deplore Ted’s idea of talking to “the fellas” in his imagined lunch with Jesus and Muhammad, then what’s to be done?  Isn’t it better to jaw-jaw than war-war?

What Ted Danson hasn't learned

Picked up a copy of the latest Esquire, which has on the cover “What I have learned” talking to various mostly Hollywood types.  See, I do read some leftie mags, not just the Squire, but also The New Yorker,Vanity Fair (UK & US editions), Atlantic Monthly, The Guardian…. ‘nuff said.

Ted Danson is one of the interviewees. [here].

"Leaning on Conspiracy Theories"

Letter to New York Times, which I covered in more detail in the post immediately before this one.  No doubt will not be published (for a start, they tend not to publish letters about other letters), as they have a very small letters section and don't like to publish stuff critical of Islam.  But, as ever, I hope that the sub-editors read them and that, if referenced and sane, that it may have some impact over time.

All conspiracy theories are the same. Not.

Below is a letter in the New York Times of 27^th December 2010.  It does the moral equivalence bit, this time with conspiracy theories.  You see, we all have conspiracy theories, so don’t blame the Arabs for theirs.  They’re all wrong, these conspiracy theories,  so those about Arabs are wrong as well. 

Except that that’s not true, is it?

"Frankly we need a degree of secrecy" -- Re WikiLeaks

Letters noted in SMH on 13th December....

The breathless reporting of the Herald and the outraged responses of letters writers over WikiLeaks needs a reality check.

This too shall pass. Not. Islam in Switzerland

To the BBC

Your program just now on BBC World service TV about Islam in Switzerland had a fellow comparing the concerns ("intolerance"!) about Muslims to earlier concerns about Italian immigrants in the sixties ("they ate pasta and garlic"!).  The message being that "this, too -- 'intolerance' towards Muslims -- shall pass". Muslims will assimilate and be accepted just as were the earlier immigrant waves.

Heroic, Female, and -- incidentally -- Muslim

Check out Nicholas Kristof's column below, in today's New York Times.  It's the standard op procedure for Kristof -- take one individual and attempt to construct a general case, with the case usually being far too weighty for the individual to bear.  In this one a lady, Dr Hawa, who does good works.

"Scientists seek to unravel the mystery of IQ"

More in the panoply of interesting stories in today's South China Morning Post, is one about China using it's new-found status as owner of the world's fastest Supercomputers, to look into the genetic basis for intelligence.

"China takes the lead over the US in climate-change measures"

The second of the stories about China, noted from the South China Morning Post of 4th December:

Another exciting article - exciting for us here in Hong Kong, that is, being here in the new epicentre, as it were, of the new industries that are growing up around the need to control carbon dioxide emissions.

"Low-carbon lifestyle within reach, but will Hong Kong grasp the opportunity."

Yet another interesting and exciting article from today's South China Morning Post, with the above headline. It talks of the opportunities for Hong Kong developments to move towards zero carbon emissions. And that would be something to be welcomed on both sides of the climate, especially if you can build these developments even cheaper than conventional ones and they attract a premium in the market.

"At the centre of fast and furious growth"

Catching up on some notes I took while away in Thailand, some stories on China in one day's South China Morning Post of 4th December.  (written in iPad Pages app).  More in the series of "what China's doing right", aka "why China is on our side, as a nation that constructs, rather than destructs"....


South China Morning Post 4 December, a story about how high speed rail networks in China are driving inland economies.

Baseball bats, that really gets to 'em

Passing by Pacific Coffee on the way to Central, Hong Kong -- they have the day's quote, from the dozy leftie bint, Susan Sarandn: "I'd rather use words, than fists". Gee, Susan, no kidding? Me too, actually. But what if maniacs are belting the living shit out of you?
Woody Allen got it right:

On profiling and data dumps

A quick post to file a couple of recent articles that have caught my attention, all in the leftie New York Times, mind. And I'm doing this on my iPad as I wait for the ferry to Central, Hong Kong, so won't quite finish. Links to come, as it's rather too hard on the iPad.