The Decline and Fall of Violence

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Apropos of the previous post on torture, I might briefly point you at this piece on Marketplace, featuring the Freakonomics guys, Steven Dubner and Steven Levitt. He briefly discusses the drop in violent crime over the past 20 years, but also touches on (too briefly for me) what a peaceful utopia we live in now–and have lived in throughout the 20th century–compared to most of the rest of human history.

http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/10/04/the-decline-and-fall-of-violence/

Or just go straight to the Podcast by clicking here.

I loved the anecdote from Pepys’ diary, where Pepys observes a general being drawn and quartered before going out to a pub and having some oysters.

Don’t miss the Q&A with Steven Pinker, author of the book The Better Angels of our Nature, which inspired this particular piece.

Briefly, the reason crime is down in the past 20 years: more people in prison, the decline of crack cocaine, and the legalization of abortion. Discuss.

Also, pertaining to our discussion the other day about the limits of common sense, they touch on the fact that crime has fallen in concert with a rise and poverty and our bad economy and that, in fact, that’s almost always what happens.

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Bits & Pieces (The Wednesday Evening Matrix)

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis
Why I like Matrix: Reloaded as much as The Matrix, even though many people do not:
The same scene, only different, somehow. Perhaps it’s Will Ferrel. 

Now, thanks to a student project on YouTube, we bring it full circle. The Muppet Matrix:

That’s it for now. – KW

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Bits & Pieces (Tuesday Evening Open Mic)

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Yes, people have often said that the moon landing was faked. But now, you can finally learn the truth: not only was the moon landing not faked, but there was evidence of an entire civilization on the moon when we got there, and there are moon bases, whole cities, and more. Alas, it turns out, O.J. Simpson never actually went to Mars. It was all a tissue of lies.

Shepard Smith clear has an opinion about our involvement in Libya, and he doesn’t think much of it. He asks senator Lindsey Graham some pointed and snarky questions. “So, about time to get into Syria, right?” Interview starts about 1:25.
 

Some of you have noticed Nathan Sullivan is following the group. I invited him to take a look around. He’s a good friend of mine, and whip smart. Whether or not he’ll find this conglomeration to his taste, I don’t know, but I thought I’d give it a shot. In any case, in addition to regularly contemplating the conundrums that have long stymied all of mankind (or womankind) in his (or her) search for meaning, he (or she) publishes a wicked-cool graphic novel. 
It’s love the graphic style. Seriously gorgeous. Check it out. 
Since I’m pimping Mr. Sullivan, might as well take a minute to pimp out myself. Here’s a little tune I did a few years ago called Thomas Dolby’s Evil Twin, from my loquaciously titled album, Songs to Listen To While Playing “Downland” on a TRS-80 Color Computer in 1985.
No doubt, all this made you, like me, think of Mike Nesmith’s (formerly of the Monkees) bizarre song and video from 1981 entitled “Cruisin'”, but better known as the Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam song.

Went to Apple.com after the iPhone 4S announcement, and this is what I saw:

I bet heads are rolling at Apple right about now.


All right. That’s all for me today. Laterz! — KW

All right. One more. In high school, I loved a set of songs I had taped off the local college radio station from a “group” calling itself The Android Sisters. The problem is, it wasn’t an actual album off a music label, so you couldn’t go to the local record store (remember when they had those?) and buy it. You can now buy it direct from the original publisher, but I thought I’d just share one (make that two–listen to Livin’ in the 50s, too) of the tunes from that fine album. A sly commentary on automation in agriculture? You tell me. Down on the Electronic Farm:

 

Now, that’s really it. — KW

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Bits & Pieces (Monday Evening Open Mic)

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis
Ah, geeks. This guy set it up for his kids to watch the Star Wars movies for the first time, and then filmed his son’s reaction when Darth Vader reveals just whose father he happens to be:

Ah. Takes me back, takes me back.

Robot Chicken does the same scene a little differently:

Speaking of Robot Chicken and Star Wars, this would be the most awesome thing to happen in the history of ever (the Quarterback is toast!):

Star Wars not your thing? Then marvel over this miracle of the Internet. Lip Quencher! Barbecue on the patio, all year round! Just 6.95 for a transmission check-up! From Delk? Who? Chrysler made air conditioners? It’s just a run of commercials on a New York TV station (channel 5) but . . . it still takes me back.

Speaking of going back in time. Back when MTV still played music, I vaguely remember this:

That’s my cold-addled contribution to the day. — KW

This one’s for Kevin, since he’s not feeling too hot and he brought up She Hulk earlier in the day:

— Michigoose

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Wanting a Re-Do on the 2008 Primary?

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

A recent CNN.com article (yes, for people paying attention, I went there from our own sidebar, “All News in Moderation”) article speculates that, knowing what they know now, Democrats might opt for Hillary over Obama, and in essence attributes Obama’s primary victory to his camp’s ability to game the system, as it were:

With the nation’s economy — and arguably its politics — in shambles, it is not very surprising to find in a recent Bloomberg poll that 34% of respondents think it would have been better for the country if Hillary Clinton hadn’t lost the battle for the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama. A CNN poll released last week put Clinton’s favorability rating at a tremendous 69%.

Perhaps no one is questioning the 2008 results more than Democratic politicians who must face the voters next year. Right now, it looks like President Obama, rather than offering coattails to those below him on the ticket, may instead be serving up an anchor. This is ironic, when you look back at what actually happened during the Democrats’ 2008 primary, and at who made Obama the party’s nominee.

Filed under: hillary clinton, Obama | Tagged: | 7 Comments »

Peace Be Upon You

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

The problem is: people who need to get after other people, one way or another. They wreck it for everybody. The people they run off are easy to run off and those are almost always the people worth having.

The solution, a zebra, someone with a whistle? Well, someone needs to make people who enjoy attacking other people go away. It seems like the hardest task to me. Or is it?
You can always tell if someone is trying to lay bait for an attack, they set up some specious premise, or at least, illogical. Knock that chip off my shoulder, I dare you! If the conversation doesn’t go their way, they come back harder and eventually get personal. That is an easy pattern to recognize.
It can’t be a love fest, there has to be disagreement or there is no point. But the rules have to be strict. It is possible to have ongoing, long term, civil disagreements, that is the organizing principle.

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Bits & Piece (TGIF Edition)

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

You know what’s cool? Not MySpace, which, frankly, I thought sucked way before Facebook opened up a can of whoopass on ’em. I’m glad to see that my earlier judgement of them has proved to be correct. And ugly, impenetrable, non-functional interface and poor design will not succeed indefinitely, just because people can use the site to be “social”.

You know what actually is cool? The Amazon Kindle Fire.

If you’ve never seen Lonely Island’s Like a Boss, you should. Rated R for “Adult Situations”.

Speaking of Lonely Island (I’m sure someone said something about them), I love the SNL skit with Rhianna: Ronnie and Clyde. Don’t ask my why.

Abba interlude: The Dancing Queen Bridal March from Muriel’s Wedding.

For our Muppet fans, Miss Piggy meets Big Bird on the Muppet Show.

I’m outta here! Happy weekend, everybody — KW

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Killing Democracy In Greece

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Nigel Farage (UKIP Leader) doesn’t like the Eurozone. And he doesn’t want a United States of Europe. And he blames the Euro and the whole Eurozone concept for the coming Greek default.

I picked one. I suggest you go to the website and check out on multiple Nigel Farage videos available on YouTube. The Worm as Turned, for example. He’s a bare-knuckles critic of the whole Euro project.

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Real Conservatives Discuss 2012

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

On episode 86 of The Richocet Podcast, James Lileks, Peter Robinson, and my favorite conservative, Rob Long, discuss the 2012 election with Michael Barone and Haley Barbour.

If you’re interested in election politics, the full discussions with Michael Barone and Haley Barbour are worth listening to (starts around 5:30). If you just want to hear Rob Long (my favorite conservative) rail against the bankers, making the case that the folks who helped get us into this crisis should be broke and selling apples on the street, fast forward to the last 20 minutes (starts about 58:00), and listen to him go. The real populism (and punish the bankers rhetoric) starts at 1:02.
As a RINO, conservative-ish moderate, I tend to resent that the forums for conservative thought are dominated by (and, sometimes, I think, being squashed by some who may be rabble-rousing poseurs) Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity and others. I like Rush Limbaugh, and though I rarely listen to his show these days, I listened regularly for 10 years, and I like the show. But I don’t think that style, which is about 80% bloviation (entertaining) and 20% substantial content, should not be the only thing that represents conservative thought in the public forum. I find talking heads shouting at each other on Fox even less appealing (and not reflective of the depth of any side of any argument).
That’s why I like Ricochet. I bet most folks on the left (not you fine people here, but elsewhere) would be a little surprised by Haley Barbour, or the kind of dialog that goes on between conservatives when they have a broader canvas than 5 minutes on Fox.
Or Jonah Goldberg. Common lampooned as an idiot or demon, even very liberal folks would have a hard time getting that vibe if all they had to go on was his appearance on episode 87 of Ricochet: Looking for a Hero.
I don’t have any specific call-outs for that episode, but there’s a lot of discussion of the 2012 race, with a lot of hard-headed, no-nonsense analysis from the conservative side.
The title makes me think of Frou-Frou’s cover of Bonnie Tyler’s I Need a Hero. Love that cover. But I love covers, generally.

Filed under: 2012 | Tagged: , | 7 Comments »

Bits & Pieces (Thursday Evening Open Mic)

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

If you’ve never seen the Star Wars Gangsta Rap, you should.

Because it’s fun, and fun is good. Speaking of fun, you should also watch Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody, if you haven’t. Of course, it helps if you’re familiar with Queen’s original. It’s really well done.

Some other stuff might go here. Like this! Chastity Bono appearing on the Sonny & Cher show around age 3.




You’ve got to love that set. Okay. That’s it unless something else occurs to me. — KW

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