jrtom: (Default)
2008-09-23 03:59 pm
Entry tags:

McCain, melanoma, and malfeasance

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/010593.html

It's a longish post, so I shall include a few paraphrased highlights, but you should go read it. I don't agree with everything said, and parts of it are definitely, shall we say, not shrinking from drawing negative conclusions about certain (vice-)presidential aspirants...but the parts about Palin, especially, paint an alarming picture.

(1) It is speculated, based on scattered evidence, that McCain is quite likely (2 in 3?) to have further recurrence of serious melanoma during the next four years. If this were true (and assuming that he knows it) that puts a very different complexion on his selection of Palin.

(2) A deconstruction of all the myriad reasons that Palin or her supporters have put forth for her conduct in Troopergate. It includes the following gem:

"Every time I try to imagine Sarah Palin at work, what comes out of her mouth is Glory’s dialogue from Season Five of Buffy."


The scary thing is how well that fits, based on what I've read and seen of her so far. :P
jrtom: (Default)
2008-05-01 10:48 pm
Entry tags:

John McCain and a surface-paradoxical perspective on honor

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/sometimes-honor-is-wrong-_b_94524.html

Of interest both because of the subject matter and because of the author's background:

Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back"

I'm not sure that I agree with all of it, but it's worth reading.
jrtom: (Default)
2008-04-21 12:52 pm

mathematics and the Democratic primary election: quantifying "mathematically impossible"

I've been really annoyed recently by the abuse of the phrase "mathematically impossible" in the popular press to describe the likelihood of either of the following:

(a) either candidate gaining the support of at least 2025 delegates (pledged or super)...
(b) Senator Clinton gaining the support of more pledged delegates than Senator Obama...

...by the time the primaries are over (but before the convention).

In short: neither of these are "impossible". Highly unlikely, maybe. But calling it "mathematically impossible" is simply ridiculous.

math geeking )
jrtom: (Default)
2007-11-05 10:20 am

an interesting article on Obama

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8162129

I need to start getting a better idea of where the various candidates are coming from; this is a good place to start for Obama, at least for his approach to foreign policy.