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| 11/26 |
| 2008/6/13-17 [Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:50249 Activity:high |
6/13 McCain flip-flops again, this time on Social Security:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5tg6m6
\_ Finally a genuine criticism. Yep, it looks like ol' McCain doesn't
have any grounding philosophy on this. You can probably parse the
statements to make them consistent (using partial vs full
privatization), but looks like a flip-flop to me. (Unless the full
quotes expand on the partial thing.)
Now when will Obama supporters notice his flip-flops?
-emarkp
\_ In general, Obama tries to avoid speaking in specifics, so that
people can interpret his generalities however they prefer. This
is pretty clever, campaignwise, but is bound to set people up for
disappointed if he is elected. -Obama supporter
\_ So why are you a supporter? -emarkp
\_ oil is the ultimate strawman. the MSM websites harping on oil are
part of the conspiracy all over the internet to conceal the nature
of an exponential function. search for a graph of Moore's Law, the
quaint rule that the number of transistors on a chip doubles every
18 to 24 months, you will see a graph of a linear function, ie a
straight line, see this wiki page for a 'censored' graph of Moore's
Law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Moores_law.svg
however if this were a true linear function, the scale of the
y-axis would increase in regular increments, 10,000 then 20,000
then 30,000... etc... instead the y-axis of every Moore's Law
Chart you see increases in increments 10,000 then 100,000 then
1,000,000... making an exponential function appear to be a linear
function. I imagine this is to avoid general societal panic.
for a comparison of a linear graph and an exponential graph see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_equation
and for an exponential function here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_function
the graph of an exponential function at some point will veer
sharply up into infinity. before the powers that be began to
censor the true appearance of the Moore's Law chart on the internet
it was apparent that the singularity would occur in the year 2032,
when the chart veers sharply up into infinity. so the singularity
clearly occurs in the year 2032. CASE CLOSED.
\_ Because for the most part the two candidates are both
competent human beings with good advisers, but Obama's
ability to inspire me is worth more to me than McCain's
oft-vaunted experience, especially when I'm still not
sure which McCain is running this time around. --erikred
\_ I received a passing grade in my rhetoric classes. I
don't find Obama inspiring. Go find a video with full
audio of the original I Have A Dream and you'll know
what inspiring is. I got chills. Obama is a nobody
reading other people's words off a teleprompter. He
has no guiding philophy, principles or ethics. (And
please don't respond by bashing McCain. I don't like
him either).
\- your babbling isnt worth more time than a
a URL cut-n-paste: http://tinyurl.com/ytgsfm
note the biography of the endorser (he's basically
bush'41's JYOO).
\_ So you haven't actually heard the original Dream
speech. And no I didn't bother to go to your
blind tinyurl link.
\_ The tinyurl link goes to a Slate article.
\_ And yet, Obama has the pride to put his name
behind his words. Do you? --erikred
\_ Damn, I sure hope so since he's asking to be the
most powerful individual on the planet where as
I'm just some dude on the motd. Were you trying
to make some sort of point? When I run for office
I hope to do better than "CHANGE! WE CAN DO IT!
CHAAAANGE!!!!!" as a replacement something real
and worth listening to.
\_ It's the standard politician's playbook. Bill
Clinton had a similar campaign mantra. You
stand up there and list various problems and
describe some sorry individual who had some
misfortune and say we need to elect you to
fix all this stuff. Elect Obama and all bad
things will end and the government will fix
all your problems and those of the rest of
the world too, probably.
\_ ^some sorry individual ... misfortune^Bush
\_ What would you consider real and worth listen-
ing to? Perhaps I can help you find it.
\_ After eight years of being disappointed by the devil
I know, I am prepared to be disappointed by the devil
I don't know. -Obama supporter
\_ Then vote third party instead of more of the same
machine politics. I am.
\_ I did that in 2000 and look where that got us.
I think Obama > Gore, too. -Obama supporter
\_ So your 2000 vote, presumably in CA, got us GWB?
\_ A friend who lived through JFK and was disappointed
by his presidency seems to think Obama will also
disappoint. Perhaps. And yet, perhaps not. I'm
looking forward to taking a chance with a clear
conscience for once. --erikred
\- i wasnt around to decide how inspiring JFK
was, but i sure dont find him to be a person
of integrity, even after lowing the bar for
politicians. i think the best thing you can
say about him is he respected intelligence
[unlike BUSHCO].
politicians.
\_ Integrity is just something the press whacks the
right over the head with when they screw up and
covers up or dismisses when the left fails in
that regard. You'd be hard pressed to name a
politician or member of the press for that
matter, who has real integrity. Certainly
neither of the current nominees for President
has a shred of it.
\- just like "i wasnt indicted" isnt a real
defense, saying "they are all the same"
["all pols are corrupt" "the dems and reps
are all the same"] is also lazy. if you cant
tell the difference between the bogus "plag-
erism" charge w.r.t. OBAMA and DEVAL PATRICK
vs JFK and the TSORENSEN/Profiles In Courage
episode, then it's not productive to discuss
politics with you. |
| 11/26 |
|
| preview.tinyurl.com/5tg6m6 -> cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/06/12/without-privatization-i-dont-see-how-you-can-possibly-over-time-make-sure-that-young-americans-are-able-to-receive-social-security-benefits/ This is what John McCain said regarding Social Security on November 18, 2004 on C-SPAN's Road To The White House. Because today during a back and forth with an elderly gentleman he said this: "I am not for privatizing Social Security. Honestly, does anyone really believe this guy is a straight-talker anymore? How many more examples of his absolute willingness to say or support anything at any given time do we need? Here is McCain from March of this year on at least partially privatizing Social Security: "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it - along the lines of what President Bush proposed." I would never do a town hall meeting with this jerk unless I could have video tapes available that would enable me to show the tapes that refute what his current version of the story is with what he said yesterday. Apparently he has some deep personality issues that the upcoming general election campaign will highlight. He doesn't take criticism graciously nor is he happy when confronted with evidence detailing his disingenuousness. You can have responsible reform that would lead to good and useful partial privatization (eg, Sweden, Canda, Australia). Or you can have an irresponsible risky scheme that will either blow up(eg, UK, Chlie). Or you can have the half baked innumerate nonsense pretending to be a scheme that leads to little more than the risk stealing from savings of the poor (along the lines of what President Bush proposed). Bush's proposed mess does not even merit the name 'scheme' -that would give it too much dignity and respect. You cannot combine the words "along the lines of what President Bush proposed" and Social Security Reform and be responsible, numerate or coherent or honest. He uttered "along the lines of what President Bush proposed" and therefore deserves to be attacked, slammed mercilessly as wanting to destroy social security, just like as Bush Jr does. This should be a headline attack against him for the rest of the campaign. Anyway, my garbled post was supposed to say that McCain is very very bad on social security. Only honest and safe thing to do is to say he is a miserable hypocrite flip-flopper who has advocated Bush's plan to destroy social security and steal working peoples' life savings. He's way past his prime and I don't care if that means I'm saying he's OLD. He just isn't up to the task of running the biggest democracy in the world. And let's say he was acting this way when he was a mere 40 years old. LS @ 7 Well, calling sugartits a see-you-next-tuesday explained why he was able to go back to Bush after South Carolina in 2000. I mean, if you refer to your wife that way, why would you care about Rove's rat-fucking? He had one of his "town meetings" where everyone was approved as a cheerleader. I remember sitting and surfing through the TV stations that afternoon. All the local news shows were at the town hall but there was one local station showing Jerry Springer. I'll never forget Jerry's topic that day: Confronting Liars. I've also wondered which station was actually showing more truthful situations. jayt @ 38 I posted today about the Scotus ruling and I pointed out Scalia... From Justice Scalia's dissent: "The game of bait-and-switch that today's opinion plays upon the Nation's Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed." "The nation will live to regret what the court has done today," Scalia warned. If you don't like it wait a couple of days and it might be more to your liking. Trouble is, McSame, has a hard time keeping up with the way the wind is blowing. Reminds me of a cat being just a hair behind catching the prize. Hard to believe that is possible with fires on the coast. Have big time sympathy with you folds out west who deal with this more than we North Carolinians. CTuttle @ 44 From Justice Scalia's dissent: "The game of bait-and-switch that today's opinion plays upon the Nation's Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed." "The nation will live to regret what the court has done today," Scalia warned. So - are you saying that even Clarence Thomas can out-write that bullshit? The whole back wall of the building will have a screen with their words typed on it, because there is no way in hell that man could listen to what they're saying in his ear without saying & looking up to the ceiling, "Say what? Imagine if Italy came here and decided to set up 58 permanent bases to fight Mexico. Imagine that at the same time we had two hours a day of electricity and impure water. Imagine that we had to stop at checkpoints with armed Italians and sometimes our friends were killed for not slowing down enough in approaching them. Wonder why the Irakis don't go along happily with W's scenario? LS @ 36 Does he remember that he is sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws? On the McCain movie, dontcha think that Michael Moore could put together a great one? |
| en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Moores_law.svg edit Beschreibung Description English: Moore's Law v Intel processor transistor counts. In short: you are free to distribute and modify the file as long as you attribute its author or licensor. |
| en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_equation Linear equations can have one, two, three or more variables. A common form of a linear equation in the two variables x and y is y = mx + b,\, where m and b designate constants (the variable y is multiplied by the constant 1, which as usual is not explicitly written). The set of solutions of such an equation forms a straight line in the plane, which is the origin of the name "linear". edit Standard form Ax + By = C,\, where A, B, and C are integers whose greatest common factor is 1, A and B are not both equal to zero and, A is non-negative (and if A=0 then B has to be positive). The standard form can be converted to the general form, but not always to all the other forms if A or B is zero. edit Y-axis formula y = mx + b,\, where m is the slope of the line and b is the y-intercept, which is the y-coordinate of the point where the line crosses the y axis. edit X-axis formula x = \frac{y}{m} + c,\, where m is the slope of the line and c is the x-intercept, which is the x-coordinate of the point where the line crosses the x axis. edit Normal form y \sin \phi + x \cos \phi - p = 0,\, where f is the angle of inclination of the normal and p is the length of the normal. The normal is defined to be the shortest segment between the line in question and the origin. Normal form can be derived from general form by dividing all of the coefficients by \frac{|C|}{-C}\sqrt{A^2 + B^2} . edit Special cases y = b\, This is a special case of the standard form where A = 0 and B = 1, or of the slope-intercept form where the slope M = 0 The graph is a horizontal line with y-intercept equal to b There is no x-intercept, unless b = 0, in which case the graph of the line is the x-axis, and so every real number is an x-intercept. x = c\, This is a special case of the standard form where A = 1 and B = 0 The graph is a vertical line with x-intercept equal to c The slope is undefined. There is no y-intercept, unless c = 0, in which case the graph of the line is the y-axis, and so every real number is a y-intercept. y = y \ and x = x\, In this case all variables and constants have canceled out, leaving a trivially true statement. |
| en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_function The exponential function is nearly flat (climbing slowly) for negative values of x, climbs quickly for positive values of x, and equals 1 when x is equal to 0 Its y value always equals the slope at that point. sciences, the term exponential function is more generally used for functions of the form ka^x, where a, called the base, is any positive real number not equal to one. This article will focus initially on the exponential function with base e, Euler's number. edit Properties Most simply, exponential functions multiply at a constant rate. For example the population of a bacterial culture which doubles every 20 minutes can (approximatively, as this is not really a continuous problem) be expressed as an exponential, as can the value of a car which decreases by 10% per year. Using the natural logarithm, one can define more general exponential functions. The exponential function (in blue), and the sum of the first n+1 terms of the power series on the left (in red). The exponential function (in blue), and the sum of the first n+1 terms of the power series on the left (in red). floor function: \,n = \left\lfloor\frac{x}{\ln}\right\rfloor. Having found n we can then find the fractional part u like this: \,u = x - n\ln. Having found m and n we can then produce y by simply combining those two into a floating point number: \,y = e^x = m\,2^n. The transition from dark to light colors shows that the magnitude of the exponential function is increasing to the right. The periodic horizontal bands indicate that the exponential function is periodic in the imaginary part of its argument. The transition from dark to light colors shows that the magnitude of the exponential function is increasing to the right. The periodic horizontal bands indicate that the exponential function is periodic in the imaginary part of its argument. Two special cases might be noted: when the original line is parallel to the real axis, the resulting sprial never closes in on itself; when the original line is parallel to the imaginary axis, the resulting spiral is a circle of some radius. edit Computation of exp for a complex z This is fairly straightforward given the formula \,e^{x + yi} = e^xe^{yi} = e^x(\cos + i \sin) = e^x\cos + ie^x\sin. Note that the argument y to the trigonometric functions is real. edit Computation of \,a^b where both a and b are complex This is also straightforward given the formulae: if a = x + yi and b = u + vi we can first convert a to polar co-ordinates by finding a \,\theta and an \,r such that: \,re^{{\theta}i} = r\cos\theta + i r\sin\theta = a = x + yi or \, x = r\cos\theta and \,y = r\sin\theta. Thus, \,x^2 + y^2 = r^2 or \,r = \sqrt{x^2 + y^2} and \,\tan\theta = \frac{y}{x} or \,\theta = \operatorname{atan2}(y, x). Now, we have that: \,a = re^{{\theta}i} = e^{\ln + {\theta}i} so: \,a^b = (e^{\ln + {\theta}i})^{u + vi} = e^{(\ln + {\theta}i)(u + vi)} The exponent is thus a simple multiplication of two complex values yielding a complex result which can then be brought back to regular cartesian format by the formula: \,e^{p + qi} = e^p(\cos + i\sin) = e^p\cos + ie^p\sin where p is the real part of the multiplication: \,p = u\ln - v\theta and q is the imaginary part of the multiplication: \,q = v\ln + u\theta. Note that all of \,x, y, u, v, r, \,\theta , \,p and \,q are all real values in these computations. Also note that since we compute and use \,\ln rather than r itself you don't have to compute the square root. Watch out for potential overflow though and possibly scale down the x and y prior to computing \,x^2 + y^2 by a suitable power of 2 if \,x and \,y are so large that you would overflow. If you instead run the risk of underflow, scale up by a suitable power of 2 prior to computing the sum of the squares. In either case you then get the scaled version of \,x - we can call it \,x' and the scaled version of \,y - call it \,y' and so you get: \,x = x'2^s and \,y = y'2^s where \,2^s is the scaling factor. Then you get \,\ln = \frac12(\ln(x'^2 + y'^2) + s) where \,x' and \,y' are scaled so that the sum of the squares will not overflow or underflow. If \,x is very large while \,y is very small so that you cannot find such a scaling factor you will overflow anyway and so the sum is essentially equal to \,x^2 since y is ignored and thus you get \,r = |x| in this case and \,\ln = \log(|x|) . The same happens in the case when \,x is very small and \,y is very large. If both are very large or both are very small you can find a scaling factor as mentioned earlier. This is because rotation of a single point through any angle plus 360 degrees, or 2\pi radians, is the same as rotation through the angle itself. So \theta above is not unique: \theta_k = \theta + 2\pi k for any integer k would do as well. The convention though is that when a^b is taken as a single value it must be that for k = 0 , ie. we use the smallest possible (in magnitude) value of theta, which has a magnitude of, at most, \pi . In this case we have \,\ e^{x + y} = e^x e^y \mbox{ if } xy = yx \,\ e^0 = 1 \,\ e^x is invertible with inverse \,\ e^{-x} the derivative of \,\ e^x at the point \,\ x is that linear map which sends \,\ u to \,\ ue^x . Hilbert spaces, the exponential function is often considered as a function of a real argument: \,\ f = e^{t A} where A is a fixed element of the algebra and t is any real number. Lie group that gave rise to it shares the above properties, which explains the terminology. In fact, since R is the Lie algebra of the Lie group of all positive real numbers with multiplication, the ordinary exponential function for real arguments is a special case of the Lie algebra situation. Similarly, since the Lie algebra M (n, R) of all square real matrices belongs to the Lie group of all invertible square matrices, the exponential function for square matrices is a special case of the Lie algebra exponential map. double exponential function The term double exponential function can have two meanings: * a function with two exponential terms, with different exponents * a function \,f = a^{a^x} ; |
| tinyurl.com/ytgsfm -> www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/convictions/archive/2008/03/23/endorsing-obama.aspx Next Endorsing Obama Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States. I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence, and genuine good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation beyond its religious and racial divides and that he wants to return the United States to that company of nations committed to human rights. I do not know if his earlier life experience is sufficient for the challenges of the presidency that lie ahead. I doubt we know this about any of the men or women we might select. It likely depends upon the serendipity of the events that cannot be foreseen. I do have confidence that the senator will cast his net widely in search of men and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he must superintend. This endorsement may be of little note or consequence, except perhaps that it comes from an unlikely source: namely, a former constitutional legal counsel to two Republican presidents. The endorsement will likely supply no strategic advantage equivalent to that represented by the very helpful accolades the senator has received from many of high stature and accomplishment, including most recently, from Gov. Nevertheless, it is important to be said publicly in a public forum in order that it be understood. It is not arrived at without careful thought and some difficulty. As a Republican, I strongly wish to preserve traditional marriage not as a suspicion or denigration of my homosexual friends but as recognition of the significance of the procreative family as a building block of society. As a Republican and as a Catholic, I believe life begins at conception, and it is important for every life to be given sustenance and encouragement. As a Republican, I strongly believe that the Supreme Court of the United States must be fully dedicated to the rule of law and to the employ of a consistent method of interpretation that keeps the court within its limited judicial role. As a Republican, I believe problems are best resolved closest to their source and that we should never arrogate to a higher level of government that which can be more effectively and efficiently resolved below. As a Republican and a constitutional lawyer, I believe religious freedom does not mean religious separation or mindless exclusion from the public square. Barack Obama and I may disagree on aspects of these important fundamentals, but I am convinced, based upon his public pronouncements and his personal writing, that on each of these questions he is not closed to understanding opposing points of view and, as best as it is humanly possible, he will respect and accommodate them. No doubt some of my friends will see this as a matter of party or intellectual treachery. But they will readily agree that as Republicans, we are first Americans. As Americans, we must voice our concerns for the well-being of our nation without partisanship when decisions that have been made endanger the body politic. Our president has involved our nation in a military engagement without sufficient justification or a clear objective. In so doing, he has incurred both tragic loss of life and extraordinary debt jeopardizing the economy and the well-being of the average American citizen. In pursuit of these fatally flawed purposes, the office of the presidency, which it was once my privilege to defend in public office formally, has been distorted beyond its constitutional assignment. Today, I do no more than raise the defense of that important office anew, but as private citizen. wields a lot more power, intellectually speaking, then nave observers might suppose." Obama needs to address this extremist movement with the same clarity and honesty with which he has addressed the topic of race in America. Effective criticism of the incumbent for diverting us from this task is a good start, but it is incomplete without a forthright outline of a commitment to undertake, with international partners, the formation of a worldwide entity that will track, detain, prosecute, convict, punish, and thereby stem radical Islam's threat to civil order. Obama's more extended thinking upon this vital subject as he accepts the nomination of his party and engages Sen. rule of law About Doug Kmiec * Douglas W Kmiec is Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law, Pepperdine University. He served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel (US Assistant Attorney General) for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. Former Dean of the law school at The Catholic University of America, Professor Kmiec was a member of the law faculty for nearly two decades at the University of Notre Dame. |