So This Is The New Year, and I Don't Feel Any Different

Happy 2006, Reasonoids! Consider this an open thread for resolutions, predictions, reflections, top 10 lists, or whatever else feels appropriate to ring in the new year.

Comments

[m g]

"Blogging is inherently libertarian."
Agree or disagree?

[The Parodist]

I would just like to take this opportunity to announce the retirement of biggus dickus. In view of recent events, it no longer seems appropriate to parody gaius marius, for we are all gaii marii now.

[biggus dickus]

come on, one more thrust -- i've got another hour in me, easy!

[johnl]

So Nick Gillespie put his best suit or dress on.

[David]

"Blogging is inherently libertarian."
Agree or disagree?

Disagree. Blogging is where anyone can have their opinion read by others, but how many blogs are necessarily libertarian?

[johnl]

Transatlanticism was a much better album than Plans. Maybe the OC and Postal Service are spreading the band too thin, or maybe it's just regression to the mean after an extraordinary good album, but Plans is just OK. What's wearing groves into my ipod now is

The Weight is a Gift from Nada Surf
Close to the Edge from Yes
Miss Halfway from Anya Marina (who is also a DJ at 949fm in SD)

Happy New Year everyone.

[JD]

"Blogging is inherently libertarian."

I'm going to say "disagree", but I'll immediately qualify that by saying that blogging is inherently decentralized and independent*, which makes it more libertarian-friendly.

* I was going to say "democratic", which is how I've often seen it described, but then I thought about it and said, "No, there nothing 'democratic' about it - rather, each person is individually empowered."

[Fall dog]

Talking about blogs is stupid. Somebody say something smart about...bird flu?

What's a good libertarian to think of the WHO? Any way to maintain ideological purity without advocating for policies that could decimate the world population? If not, is anyone here that ideologically pure?

[There.]

If bird flu pauses in the middle of denouncing Milton Friedman as unconscionably statist to snort something off a Richard Hell cd case, he's a libertarian.

The good kind.

[Dwight Brown]

Where's my damn flying car?

[mediageek]

That was one of the best television ads ever!

[Paul]

o There will be unrest in the middle east.

o The size and scope of the Federal Government will get larger.

o Our tax burden overall will increase.

o Constitutional rights and civil liberties will be eroded for our own protection or 'economic improvements'.

o Gas prices will go down, unless they don't, or stay roughly the same.

[Jim Anderson]

Top Ten Groan-Inducing Headlines at Hit and Run, among other things. Happy New Year.

[Wintermute]

Listen to Eliza Gilkyson's anti-ode to W, "Man of God."

[zeiner]

I found as interesting article on BBC?s website.

?Nuclear secrets of 1975 revealed: Cabinet papers from 1975 detailing the government's plans in the event of nuclear war are among new documents released by the National Archives.?

The BBC has a sound file available that was going to be broadcasted over the radio if Russia had attack Britain during the Cold War years.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4565880.stm#

[joshua corning]

top 2 movies that have a compound fracture

Diliverance
the deer hunter

what really sucks is the list used to be 6 but I have since forgotten

[joshua corning]

Top six movies with Cananablism

Eating Raool
Delicatesin
Attack of the Killer Tomatos ("does anyone have any katsup"..classic)
Parents
Ravenous
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

note: "Alive" and "Silence of the Lambs" suck...but manhunter was good...did that have canabilism??

[m g]

not only is blogging decentralized and independent, blogging creates a strong sense of personal ownership, encourages appreciation of freedom of speech, and seems to make even the most statist of people distrust federal regulation. Just look at how right and left suddenly became knee-jerk libertarians when the prospect of FEC regulation was raised.

[Warren]

I call upon all regular H&R commenters to link to their best comment of 2005.

Personally I don't think I topped my winter solstice comment a few weeks back

Comment by: Warren at December 21, 2005 10:41 AM

[surf]

Are DJs musicians?

[Ruthless]

m g,
I've long felt that cyberspace is a refuge from government, and I feel it always will be, because the habitues will be that much smarter than bureaucrats.
I'm not willing to say blogging is anything more than a phase in the evolution of cyberspace as Earth's "Holidome."

Our goal should be to get true, authentic mind alteration into cyberspace.

As an advocate of H&R trying to be satisfied with simply being the Vestal Virgins, keepers of the flame, I do share your enthusiasm for the fact that blogging makes keeping of the flame more tranparent, as it were. I mean, like monks and temple-keepers, we're not really trying to hide anything. That would be the Masons.

[joshua corning]

Seahawks will win the superbowl

tax reform will be passed

Rupublicans will lose seats in the house but retain a majority

Democrats will loose a seat or seats in the senate

No drilling will be allowed in ANWR

Mary Hunt douglas county commisioner will lose her election to a republican in the primary.

The singularity will occure in 2013 and libertarians will initially hate it...but grow to love it.

Rumsfeld will resign and this time Bush will accept it.

Subscriptions to Reason will reach 80,000

I will still be unable to purchase a black reason t-shirt

Joe will try to build a house and will start sounding more like a libertarian. M1EK will be pissed.

I will admit that my choice to support the war was a mistake and aborant to my libertarian views.

The situation in Iraq will improve to such a degree that only the most adamint anti-war partisan will be unable to conseed this.

Thoroeu will get in an arguement with me about science and he will probably win that arguement.

All the married resonoids will have more sex then all the unmarried reasonoids.

[Jeff P.]

I don't know exactly where my best comments are posted, but the three dead-horses I beat repeatedly this year are:
1: The most vocal bio-conservatives are monsters, and usually twice as old as the average lifespan of a century ago.
2: Christians who insist that their way of life is under dire assault need to experience some real persecution.
3: The U.S. has not won a war that has begun since the completion of the Pentagon.
(For the hair-splitters, read "won" as "achieving a military victory and all meeting a majority of the goals laid out")

In '06 I intend to prove that anti-science legislation and institutionalized ignorance are a larger threat to our culture than the Cold War was, and should be treated as such.

[surf]

Joshua, Jeremy Stevens will catch the winning touchdown pass.

[Ken Shultz]

Redskins! Redskins! Redskins!

Joe Gibbs is the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. ...and everyone that disagrees isn't a real libertarian.

[joshua corning]

oh yeah i almost forgot

Osoma will be caught or killed

[Ruthless]

"3: The U.S. has not won a war that has begun since the completion of the Pentagon."

Jeff P.,
Without me looking it up, how would it change your thought if we said the U.S. hasn't won a war since the "War Dept" was re-named the "Defense Dept."
And have terrorists just been incensed/incentivized since the re-naming?

[thoreau]

What about our overwhelming victories in Panama and Grenada?

[martin]

Happy New Year to all!

Interesting new blog by libertarian economist David Friedman. Quite thought provoking.

http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/

Found it via Volokh Conspiracy.

[Shem]

Seahawks will win the superbowl

Nah, they'll choke. They couldn't win the Superbowl on the winningest day of their life with an electrified winning machine. And I say this as a lifelong Seattlite.

The singularity will occure in 2013 and libertarians will initially hate it...but grow to love it

What does this mean?

[John in Nashville]

Bill O'Reilley, John Gibson, Jerry Falwell and the rest of the Christer hegemonists will insist that the new year be referred to as not merely 2006, but 2006 a.d.

Those who take Christianity seriously will still fail to recognize that Jesus needs no defense from a loofa/falafel wielding dirty old man. They will also still fail to recognize that their God is not such a weenie that He needs help from Caeser.

[Rick Barton]

The situation in Iraq will improve to such a degree that only the most adamint anti-war partisan will be unable to conseed this.The situation in Iraq will improve to such a degree that only the most adamint anti-war partisan will be unable to conseed this.

If so, then I'll be among those "most adamant anti-war partisans".

I'll wear my black Reason T at the next get together/photo op and a buncha you guys will be envious. But not to fear; Reason will respond to market demand in 2006 and make em available.

I resolve to finally start using the Preview button!! What? Quit laughing!

[Ruthless]

Back in the fall, when the Little Woman and I were visiting Cherished Daughter in Napa, CA, before all was recently--as I speak--washed clean away into SF Bay, we had occasion to enter an elementary school (semi-long story) wherein I got photographic proof of California perversions. On the wall of a classroom were four posters in a vertical line, thus:
"D" is for Democracy.
"C" is for Conformity.
"B" is for Bullying.
"A" is for Anarchy.

Naturally the amateur description of anarchy was what caught my anarchist eye in the first place:
"Lowest level of behavior
Absence of order
Aimless and chaotic
Absence of government
ANARCHY IS THE FUNDAMENTAL ENEMY OF CIVILIZATION"

Harking back to my comment just above, is our government a little too "defensive"?

[Karen Cox]

Let's see, New Year's Resolutions. Besides the standard-issue exercise more and use my credit cards less, I resolved to read at least five novels that aren't mysteries or science fiction. (I generally read those and history books.) I would love to see the Reasonoids suggestions.

Others: I've resolved to make sure my sons get to bed earlier. I love being able to resolve for other people. Also, I'm going to use my china more. The boys need to learn that we can eat off plates other than major holidays or when Nana visits and washes the dishes.

Predictions: Someone will win the Rose Bowl and the Super Bowl and the Texas Governor's race, and I almost certainly won't like any of 'em. (Hook 'em Horns, for all the good it'll do.) It will be hot and dry in Austin and my lawn will die. For real: Tom DeLay will not go to prison, but will be frozen out of the House leadership, which amounts to the same thing.

Now, I'm off to enforce my sons' resolution to go to bed earlier. Happy New Year to all of you.

[Shawn Smith]

Jim Anderson,

You forgot the "Nearly Headless Nick" post referring to Nick Berg's beheading. We actually got NG or TC, I can't remember which, to either change the headline or remove the thread.

Shem,

The singularity can be defined as when true AI comes online, resulting in a much more accelerated technical advancement, due to AIs developing their future incarnations. At that point, it basically becomes as hard to predict what the following fifty years will look like as it was in 1900 to predict what 1950 would look like. No airplanes to passenger travel, cars changing from oddities to common appliances, outhouses to indoor toilets, etc.

[Ruthless]

John in Nashville,
I was born and reared in Nashville, the buckle of the Bible Belt.
Most Christers know God needs no help from Caesar, but the hang-up is that Caesar is God's "agent" for earthly affairs as was Jesus.
It's as if Superman needs, not just his Clark Kent, but a manservant.
The Green Hornet needed Gayto, eh?

We won't achieve it, but it would be good to talk up a separation, not of church and state, but of God and His agents/lobbyists.
Angels are guilty as hell as well of being agents. They all should be tarred.
We need to take this whole story-line again from the top.

Perhaps Tom Delay could ponder a way out of the morass while he does his time in jail. Chuck Colson did some deep and useful thinking, nicht wahr?

[Rick Barton]

Ray Kurzweil has a new book out on the subject. I haven't read it yet but the volume is a topic of much focus.

http://www.singularity.com/

[Ruthless]

Karen Cox,
In the spirit of sprinkling a rose petal or two onto your path, we had a thread about books we perverts here recommend.
Somebody here will surely link to it.
My suggestion was Frankland by James Whorton, Jr.

Has anybody seen smacky lately?

[Shem]

Shawn-Much appreciated. I see what he means. That is kind of scary to think about.

Cool too, though.

[kdogg36]

In answer to Fall Dog's question:

There is no reason whatsoever to believe that individuals, working together cooperatively, couldn't achieve the legitimate purposes of any government entity. As far as I'm concerned, that belief is a close corollary to what libertarianism is all about.

If we're faced with an imminent, urgent situation (there's no evidence of that in this case, is there?), we may have to admit that it's not the best time to destroy the old order and create new, noncoercive institutions. But that wouldn't be a breach of philosophical purity; it would be coping with the effects of a statist status quo.

[martin]

Ruthless,

"Has anybody seen smacky lately?"

Nope, not since summer. But I would guess she took off for warmer places. Good for her!

[Eddy]

Victory will be declared in Iraq.
Minor, highly publicized, troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Troop withdrawal nullified by realignment that puts them back.
War against totalitarian government will go unreported.
The MSM will finally go mainstream.
Shit will hit the fan and wind up on taxpayer sandwiches with your choice of mustard or mayo.

[mediageek]

I predict that there will be another Denver Reasonoid gathering. There will be drinks a-plenty, as well as lots of cool people and nifty conversation.

[Warren]

Has anybody seen smacky lately?

Wasn't Jennifer holding her hair back at the Chrismahoniquanzica party? I hope she didn't try to drive home.

[mediageek]

Also...

I predict that Jeff will say all sorts of mean things about organized sports.

Gunnels will post some interesting stuff whilst being a total prig.

Gaius Marius will alternately infuriate me and cause me to sadly nod my head in agreement.

Thoreau will continue to be friendly and levelheaded, while blinding creationists with science. (Yes, I also predict he will break that New Year's resolution)

I'll go off half-cocked and ranting like a madman at some point.

[Jeff P.]

Mediageek: I swear to you here and now that I will only belittle professional sports (or its fans) when extra-long games or protracted post-seasons cause me to be at my broadcasting job several hours longer than usual (as I'm salaried, not hourly). Waiting for the end of a six hour game before I can go home and drink is unacceptable.
And that's "professional" sports. Sports as a concept (organized or otherwise) are fine. I played football and hoop a lot in my day. It is only the leviathan of pro-sports, which warps money and legal issues around it like a black hole, that needs to die a horrible death.

Except Womens' Roller-Derby, which is making a comeback, and is the purest art form I know...

[Akira MacKenzie]

Interesting new blog by libertarian economist David Friedman.

Sorry, but he lost me when he called ID a "science" and science itself as being "faith based."

We could do with fewer "libertarians" like him. I don't care how many Noble Prizes his daddy won.

[mediageek]

"Waiting for the end of a six hour game before I can go home and drink is unacceptable."

Indeed, it does.

[Rick Barton]

So This Is The New Year, and I Don't Feel Any Different

The thing is, I do feel different.

[emme]

Da Bears!

[Rick Barton]

Sorry, but he lost me when he called ID a "science" and science itself as being "faith based."

I think that ID is indeed a scientific speculation, albeit an incorrect one. Also, many of the proponents of ID twist scientific results to support ID.

I haven't gone to Friedman's site yet but an argument that some science is "faith based" can be made on charges of the uncritical acceptance of dominant paradigms.

But whatever, the thing is that these matters are not political and so Friedman's pronouncements on em do not directly diminish his excellent work on anarchist libertarianism. BTW, he has at least one degree in physics, and also in econ.

BTW Akira, on the thread where you listed what you got for Christmas, and you told of your Dobsonian telescope and also your Sherlock Holmes volume; I thought; How cool! As I am also both an owner of a "light bucket" and a big Sherlock Holmes fan, myself. Anyway, I assumed that your first name was a female one, (forgive me. I'm not so worldly in some matters) and I thought: "Wow, what a cool gal, I wonder if she's cute?" It was kinda funny.

[Rick Barton]

I just visited Friedman's site, which I'm anxious to cite, as it really is a sight.

Is there a word for what I just did? Also, it appears that I was wrong about his having an econ degree. He has a PhD in Physics. But, he has written econ textbooks. Has that ever happened the other way around? I'm guessing, no.

[Rick Barton]

When I said: "The thing is, I do feel different." What I mean is, is that I feel that the Broncos are going to go to the Super Bowl this year, and I'm not BSing. I really do think so this time!

[Brian Courts]

Top Ten Groan-Inducing Headlines at Hit and Run, among other things. Happy New Year.

I simply cannot abide such a list that so egregiously omits How Much Is That Dodgy Innuendo? which should not been anywhere below number one, much less failing to make the cut altogether. Forget the BCS, I demand a Congressional investigation into the obviously flawed process behind the compilation of this list! 😉

[methodman]

I haven't gone to Friedman's site yet but an argument that some science is "faith based" can be made on charges of the uncritical acceptance of dominant paradigms.

Not really. Science never "accepts" any hypotheses or explanations. There's only two options in the scientific method - "reject" and "fail to reject." And it's not just a semantic difference.

[jw]

Rick Barton,

You can count another fan of Sherlock Holmes here. In the early sixties, as a kid I received a copy of THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES for Christmas one year. It's the one with the forward by Christopher Morley;I still have it. Small world, huh?

[Adam]

Rick Barton,

I second your prediction! It's going to be a Broncos-Giants rematch, and the Broncos are going to thump the Little Boys Blue.

If they have to spank Seattle instead, so be it.

[JD]

jw - I'm another Sherlock Holmes fan. I wonder if there's a connection between libertarianism and Holmes-fannishness. Faith in reason and all that...plus Victorian London actually sounds pretty decent: no gun laws, no drug laws. They did have an income tax, but there seems to have been a sizable lower-end cutoff, and rates were low, AFAICT. You celebrated Blue Carbuncle Day, I hope? I even ate goose on BCD, although that was mostly a coincidence.

[feek]

Karen Cox:
It's been out for awhile, but if you haven't read it, you might enjoy The Kite Runner. I thought it was one of the best books I read in 2005.

[Julian Sanchez]

I'll just chime in that I was happy to get the full run of the old Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Mysteries for Christmas.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Yeah but you had the Nancy Drew collection on your wish list, didn't you?

[JD]

Ruthless -
re the ABCD thing: every schoolkid knows that A is
better than D, right? Ergo, Anarchy is better
than Democracy. QED. (BTW, apologies if this post looks weird - I'm using a different browser.)

[Rick Barton]

Cool! All these Sherlock Holmes fans! Yeah, I think that we've established another libertarian affinity, to go with the widely recognized libertarianism-science fiction affinity. (Remember way back when Reason had a regular sci-fi column?) Capitalism and other aspects of individual liberty do seem to permeate the Doyle's depictions of Victorian London, and there is the application of Reason that JD mentioned.

[Rick Barton]

JD,

I wasn't even hep to Blue Carbuncle Day. But now I am. Thanks!

[Rick Barton]

Science never "accepts" any hypotheses or explanations. There's only two options in the scientific method - "reject" and "fail to reject." And it's not just a semantic difference.

That construction seems too confining. There are theories, which assume and are built on the assumption of both various hypotheses and even other theories being correct.

[thoreau]

That construction seems too confining. There are theories, which assume and are built on the assumption of both various hypotheses and even other theories being correct.

Fair point. Some theories are so well supported that we use those results to inform new models. However, those new models don't really assume that the entire edifice of the older theory is 100% correct.

For instance, suppose that I wanted to explain the interactions of two large molecules. I hypothesize that the interaction is dominated by certain features of the molecules. In order to model that interaction, I need to invoke the thoroughly tested theory of electromagnetism.

My model won't actually depend on the entire edifice of electromagnetism being correct. I only have to assume that certain features of the theory are correct, and that those features are only correct to however many decimal places the experimental data is accurate to. If my model only invokes electrostatic forces (charge repulsion) but not electromagnetic waves (light), then I don't really care if

So, strictly speaking my model wouldn't assume that all of electromagnetic theory is true. It would only assume certain aspects of electromagnetic theory are true. If my model wasn't accurate, it would mean that at least one of my assumptions was wrong. Most likely the wrong assumption would be something other than electromagnetic theory.

[Bonar Law]

"Capitalism and other aspects of individual liberty do seem to permeate the Doyle's depictions of Victorian London, and there is the application of Reason that JD mentioned."

Don't forget that Sherlock solves cases which baffle the police, and his intelligent-but-lazy brother works for the government.

[SM]

Other Holmes trivia - I visited 221B Baker Street AKA The Sherlock Holmes museusm a few days ago. Sad to say - the "Empty House" across the street has been torn down for office space.

[smacky]

I resolve to be comment #69 on this thread.

[cliff]

I predict that it will be discovered that GWB watches "Deadwood" and has someones head in a box like Al Swearengen has. It is rumored that the head belongs to OBL and GWB was reported to be talking to it regularly.

[me]

I resolve to do more work when I'm at work, which means less time spent on the internet. Off to a brilliant start, I am!

Dammit. I'm starting the South Beach Diet and I forgot the sliced steak for my delicious salad. I'll have to think of another protein or risk starvation.

[Rick Barton]

Salmon, me. Salmon is good for for you.

[cliff]

I resolve to believe the exact opposite of everything coming out of the GWB spin machine.

[Paul]

Ray Kurzweil has a new book out on the subject. I haven't read it yet but the volume is a topic of much focus.

Ignore this man, he knows nothing of computing technology. NOTHING...

[me]

Rick, I will have salmon tomorrow. Always on Tuesdays and Thursdays 'cause they serve it in the cafeteria here. This habit will serve me well now that I'm doin' SBD. Dr. Whatsit does say I can have lean beef on this diet too. And Canadian bacon! I'm having no trouble with the eating tons of vegetables requirement. But, I'm sorry to say he's very down on potatoes, pastries, and waffles drowned in syrup and butter. Those are a few of my favorite things.

[Rick Barton]

me,

Good luck with it. The low carb thing worked for me and I hope it works for you, me. I'm not even a little overweight any more. (ok. I did put a little on since Thanksgiving, but that'll come off quick.)

[Rick Barton]

thoreau PhD,

Thanks for putting a finer point on it with that illustrative example.

(I wasn't sure if the permission that you kindly granted me to address you sans mention of your degree extends into the New Year. Please be so kind as to let me know.)

(Attention Newbies: Although thoreau really does have a PhD in physics, the rest of that business is just me trying to be funny)

[jacob]

I'm looking forward to do more of blogging this year.

[Heather]

That construction seems too confining. There are theories, which assume and are built on the assumption of both various hypotheses and even other theories being correct.

Hey, if you kids want to know how science really works, read "Personal Knowledge, Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy? by Michael Polyani: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226672883/qid=1136309578/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0908468-7219042?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

First learned of it some twenty years ago by way of the ?Harvard Business Review?

[Heather]

That construction seems too confining. There are theories, which assume and are built on the assumption of both various hypotheses and even other theories being correct.

Hey, if you kids want to know how science really works, read "Personal Knowledge, Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy" by Michael Polyani: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226672883/qid=1136309578/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0908468-7219042?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

First learned of it some twenty years ago by way of the "Harvard Business Review"