- Interesting obsessives versus sophisticates « Modeled Behavior
- The downside of obsessive types is when they have an inability to discern what parts of their obsessions are interesting to outsiders, and what parts aren’t. I find obsessive types are also more likely to not care what someone else has to say, or care whether other people are interested in what they are saying. Or maybe they’re not more likely, but more memorable when they are.
People’s obsessions are frequently interesting, but can be torture when combined with a self-obsession and an ego.
In general I think we are better off in a world with more of what people think of as weirdos and freaks. They create amazing things normal people wouldn’t dream of, and amass astounding collections.
[I disagree with this article's deprecation of sophistication, but this is otherwise interesting. -L]
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- Insurrectionism Timeline – Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
- On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court embraced the National Rifle Association's contention that the Second Amendment provides individuals with the right to take violent action against our government should it become "tyrannical." The following timeline catalogues incidents of insurrectionist violence (or the promotion of such violence) that have occurred since that decision was issued:…
- The Footwear of Tyranny
- [Pandagon - Amanda Marcotte]
…the reason that wingnuts like to reference jackboots is that these were the preferred boots of the German military, before and during the Nazi era… This tendency is offensive to liberals, people with commonsense, Jews, anyone who was targeted by actual Nazis, the victims of gun crime, the soldiers who won WWII, and rationality itself, but it’s also really unfair to boots.
…in the spirit of compromise and Jon Stewart’s metaphor of everyone taking turns getting on the freeway, I’m willing to consider a compromise where, in exchange for controlling what we liberals find terrifying (high tech weaponry that can kill a lot of people in short periods of time), we will allow the control of boots that could be used to kick you in the head really hard.
- Whistleblower To Turn Over Swiss Bank Account Info To Expose ‘High Net Worth’ Tax Evaders
- [Crooks and Liars - Susie Madrak]
"The offshore bank account details of 2,000 'high net worth individuals' and corporations – detailing massive potential tax evasion – will be handed over to the WikiLeaks organisation in London tomorrow by the most important and boldest whistleblower in Swiss banking history, Rudolf Elmer, two days before he goes on trial in his native Switzerland."
- Where in the federal government do the economists work?
- [Marginal Revolution - Tyler Cowen]
…the new and useful The Economist's Oath: On the Need for and Content of Professional Economic Ethics, by George F. DeMartino. I was intrigued and surprised by the p.24 chart about where economists (as defined by title, not Ph.d.) work in the federal government…
Should we make them swear an oath not to act against the truths of their discipline for political gain?
[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
The Of interest (Mon, Jan 17th, 11am) by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.