Busy busy busy.
Who Was The Winner
Again, I didn’t watch, but figured I would ask you all who you thought “won” the debate before reading all the write-ups tomorrow.
Clinton? Obama? Edwards? Dodd?
Tears Of A Clown
Look, I genuinely like Patterico, but with this gem, he broke out the big red nose and funny shoes for what may be one of the dumbest posts ever:
Democrat blogger John Cole is appalled that I have opened a debate on the morality of waterboarding admitted mass murderers for less than three minutes if it were 100% certain to save thousands of lives. To express his disgust, he solicits his readers’ opinions as to whether he should physically assault me. Most agree that he should.
Where was this alleged ‘solicitation?’ This hypothetical mocking his ridiculous torture hypothetical:
If a right wing blogger is about to write another stupid post attempting to justify the use of torture, would it be ok for me to run over and kick them in the junk, rendering them unable to blog?
Patterico- it was just a hypothetical, boss. And just like your hypothetical, neither is rooted in reality (not to mention the hypothetical never even mentioned you).
And since I like you, I will just assume you were joking.
*** Update ***
Apparently I lack the class of the great one:
But there’s nothing irresponsible about talking to that crowd about committing violent acts on conservatives. I’m sure if Michelle Malkin ever did the reverse — “mocking” a liberal by talking about kicking him, while addressing an audience predisposed to think liberals are less than human — John Cole would take it in stride as just joshin’.
Of course, that would never happen. Because Michelle Malkin has far more class than John Cole ever will.
What is more absurd than absurd? Absurder? And is there another Michelle Malkin out there?
At any rate, before he gets another set of the vapors, someone please tell Patterico that Jeff Goldstein at PW has never actually cock-slapped anyone.
Debate Open Thread
I am not watching. The first 72 were enough.
*** Update ***
PS- It is that time of year again: Edy’s Limited Edition Peppermine Ice Cream.
*** Update #2 ***
Malkin on the Kos/Rove Newsweek thing:
I wouldn’t get too worked up about it. The fact that they both accepted the invitation shows they share a need for mainstream approbation and a common belief that writing for a circulation-losing, influence-dwindling publication is worth their time.
I predict they’ll write preemptively safe, toned-down pieces to match expectations of MSM respectability–and they’ll save any truly newsworthy, interesting insights for their own home bases (dKos for Kos, conservative talk radio/Fox/etc. for Rove).
As opposed to Michelle, who can be counted on to write something hysterical and stupid regardless the venue. If I have learned anything reading Malkin, it is that she isn’t looking for respectability.
How The F–k…
Is this legal:
And in Boston and other Massachusetts cities, folks “cannot challenge a $100 parking ticket in court without first paying a $275 court fee,” a fee which is not refunded if they’re ultimately found innocent.
Seriously. The mafia has more shame.
I simply do not understand how they can get away with this.
(via Sully)
As Go The Cockroaches…
Hmm.
In this experimental study, we show collective decision-making by mixed groups of cockroaches and socially integrated autonomous robots, leading to shared shelter selection. Individuals, natural or artificial, are perceived as equivalent, and the collective decision emerges from nonlinear feedbacks based on local interactions. Even when in the minority, robots can modulate the collective decision-making process and produce a global pattern not observed in their absence. These results demonstrate the possibility of using intelligent autonomous devices to study and control self-organized behavioral patterns in group-living animals.
Ha ha, silly cockroaches can’t tell that they’re following decisions made by a robot. I think I’ll point and laugh.
Wait…
Collective behavior based on self-organization has been shown in group-living animals from insects to vertebrates.
Vertebrates including people? Um, yeah. At least roaches can point out that the subset manipulating them was directed by beings about ten million times smarter than them.
***Update***
More from the Times:
Many a mother has said, with a sigh, “If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump, too?”
The answer, for cockroaches at least, may well be yes. Researchers using robotic roaches were able to persuade real cockroaches to do things that their instincts told them were not the best idea.
[…] Dr. Halloy and his colleagues worked with roaches because their societies are simple, egalitarian and democratic, with none of the social stratification seen in some other insect societies — no queen bees, no worker ants. “Cockroaches are not like that,” Dr. Halloy said. “They live all together.”
They also have weak eyes, which allowed the researchers to create a robotic roach that resembles a miniature golf cart more than an insect. In the roach world, however, looking right is not as important as smelling right, and the scientists doused the machines with eau de cockroach sex hormones.
Quote of the Day
The will of the people isn’t the will of the people, except when it is the will of the people, in which case my will is really the will of the people, whether they know it or not. – Pete Guither, paraphrasing John McCain.