Thursday, February 25, 2010
Carnival of Elitist Bastards XXI
Better late than never, the Carnival is up at Slobber and Spittle. I liked this from "Next stop: Finlandskii Vokzal" at Electric Worry:I'm not a Commie, not by nature. I guess that i'd call myself a libertarian-socialist if you forced me to declare a political ideology. Note which word i put first; i did it for a reason, though my idea of libertarianism probably requires a little explaining. I have no fundamental problem with economic libertarianism. Sure, it's mostly powered by unicorn farts and pixie dust, but apparently even grown men need their fairy tales. Who am i to take away another man's John Galt fetish fantasies. My problem with 99% of people who say, "I'm a libertarian," is that they seem to think that the only liberty that counts has to do with property and money. We almost never see the "libertarians" among us talking about all the other liberties we used to enjoy more fully. That's probably because most of them have a John Galt fetish, idolize a thoroughly terrible "philosopher" like Rand and so assume that other liberties magically materialize from property. See, unicorn farts.
Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Carnival XX
The good ship Carnival of Elitist Bastards has set sail a little late ... okay, a lot late ... but, given all the end of the year libations to the returning sun, it is no small accomplishment to get a crew aboard at all.To see how ridiculous climate change deniers can become, check out the story of how Build-A-Bear was attacked for having videos on its website in which little animals learn about manmade global warming and the dangers it holds for the North Pole and then teach Santa Claus about the problem. Build-A-Bear was accused of "politicizing" the issue.
There's no indication that the management of Build-A-Bear is part of any doctrinaire environmentalist movement ... they quickly pulled the videos in response to the complaints ... but, instead, were simply responding to the scientific consensus on the issue to "inspire children, through the voices of our animal characters, to make a difference in their own individual ways."
It is the deniers who have politicized the issue, insisting that the matter is to be determined not on the basis of the science but, rather, on the basis of ideology and that children should not even know what the scientific conclusions are. It is another case of projection.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Monday, December 07, 2009
Carnival the Ninteenth, Elitist Bastards and All
The Carnival of Elitist Bastards XIX is up and running at Almost Diamonds.If for no other reason, go read it to see why Stephanie Zvan finds "There's no place better than the internet to be sick.":
In addition to all the wonderful people, there is also the opportunity that's been provided to me to turn this mess into something worthwhile, something educational. I haven't only been writing about this because it's been difficult to write about anything else. I've also been doing it to provide a counter to some of the anti-vaccination hysteria going around.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Goin' North
Just to show that bastardry is no respecter of party, here is Cujo at Slober and Spittle invoking something that is near and dear:
The DNC is using guilt by association as the basis for its counter-argument. I've criticized this sort of argument when the Republicans used it. It's no more defensible when Democratic Party officials use it. Questioning the loyalty or motives of critics is a way of deflecting the observer from the fact that there's really not much evidence to back up the argument. Lawyers have a wonderful saying that applies to arguments like this:
When you have the facts on your side, pound on the facts. When you have the law on your side, pound on the law. When you have neither on your side, pound on the table.
Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Monday, September 28, 2009
Carnival of the Elitist Bastards XVII
The Elitist Bastard has sailed again, proudly sporting its new bumper sticker (I didn't even know ships had bumpers!)..
Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Monday, August 31, 2009
Carnival of the Elitist Bastards XVI
The Carnival has sailed again from Quiche Moraine with Stephanie at the helm.And this time it has a tale that, to me, explains the meaning of the Carnival in such a perfect way that it has to be noticed ... the man with a telescope.
There are many lessons that can be drawn ... as Dana saw a lesson in what we should all be doing and Cujo saw the lesson in what we aren't doing. Important lessons to be sure. But for me, the basic lesson is the man with a telescope himself. I don't know if he charges anything to look through the telescope but I'm more than sure that, if he does, it isn't near enough for his time and equipment.
I'm betting it's not about fame or even being noticed in a few blogs.
It's not even about some sense of duty to improve the world.
It was and is about the excitement of sharing what he knows with others ... the sheer joy of showing another human being something that you know but they did not know before.
Now, if we could all capture that feeling and become addicted to it, that would be a force that would change the world!
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Bastards On the Beach
The Fifteenth Carnival of Elitist Bastards is lounging about the beach at The Coffee-Stained Writer.Stephanie Zvan at Quiche Moraine has an interesting take on the framing/accommodationist/incompatiblist debate that centers on the claim by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum in their book, Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future:
Dawkins and some other scientists fail to grasp that in Hollywood, the story is paramount—that narrative, drama, and character development will trump mere factual accuracy every time, and by a very long shot.
Willing suspension of disbelief does not mean hanging it by its neck until dead.
Accuracy has an important role to play in building world, plot and character. Every time we flub or cheat a detail, we're making our audience, at least part of which will catch any inaccuracy, do more work. In writerly terms, it's called throwing our audience out of the story. It means that something has gone wrong enough to remind an audience that the story is only a story. In order to get back to the point where the story is a world that the audience is visiting, the process of suspending disbelief has to start all over again.
Every time another inaccuracy is noticed, the process starts once more, and upholding that disbelief gets harder and harder. Some readers or viewers will give up on us completely. They'll give up on the story because it asks too much of them–not in thinking but in forgiveness.
Yes, there is a kind of movie that can get away with flubbing all the details. Details aren't why people go to summer action extravaganzas, those movies in which everything explodes, even the water. They're not looking for accuracy. On the other hand, they're not going to these movies looking for story either.
Can science match the allure of a summer blockbuster or, more importantly, does it need to?
Setting up story and accuracy as a dichotomy also ignores the richness that accuracy can add to a story. In fact, whole stories can be built from closely observed detail. Juno is one of those stories. It doesn't have a suspenseful plot. The characters don't change much from beginning to end, although a few of the relationships do. What we get instead is messy, accurate observations of the complexities of life, and that was enough to win Diablo Cody an Oscar to garner an impressive return for the movie.
There's very little Richard Dawkins or any other scientist will have to say about it, no matter accommodating they are.
Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Carnival Of Elitist Bastards Fourteen
ARRRGGGG![cough ... hack ... moan]
What day be it?
What? Blistering barnacles!
The Bastard t'were supposed to set sail on yesterday's tide!
Pirates have birthdays too 'n yesterday be mine. A modest celebration t'were planned but ended as such things always do, with all 'n sundry hanging out the scuppers.
But as Decrepit Old Fool reminds us, consistency be important to a Bastard and a matter even of life 'n death.
'Tis no surprise that the crew be not stirrin' -- the layabouts -- when summer breezes waft among the masts and grog be free at hand.
Vice Admiral Dana takes to discussin' why even pirates can find they care about strangers. But I reckon that won't be applyin' to those who failed to be back aboard in time to hoist sail. There be some keelhaulin' in store for some.
That is, if the Admiral don't forget about it lookin' at the night sky.
Given the odds the Bastard always sails against, it wisely carries at least two physiks to mend bones broke by ignorance. Sawbones Steve of Science-Based Medicine warns of an enemy that sails under an ally's flag but turns its guns on knowledge at every turn. And Doc Barbara from ICBS Everywhere tells, not once but twice, of how distortion can kill.
As the tide was about to turn, stragglers began to make their way up the gangplank:
Z from It's the Thought That Counts came aboard hauling a chest labeled "Culture."
Heather from provisioners named Steingruebl World Enterprises stopped to tell the tale of fighting her way past bureaucrats to find a real treasure in community.
A gang of longshoremen staggered under the weight of Cujo359's sense of wonder he sent ahead from Slobber And Spittle. Then came another gang carrying Cujo's twin duffels labeled Iraq Iran one and two.
Not happy with the crew, the Admiral sent out the press gang to round up some more:
A lubber named John Wilkins, from the Fatal Shore and a place called Evolving Thoughts, was hauled aboard. He is some sort of philosopher. He was warning of a danger to the crew if they mishandled the guns. Knowing the exact nature of the ammunition being loaded would keep the cannons from exploding in their face.
Taken from the streets of Ecstathy, Efrique tells of attempts to stop laughter because the forces of repression and fear know humor is their greatest foe.
The Admiral particularly wanted someone called PZ dragged aboard and forced to read drivel until he could stand no more.
Oh, and what of me? Did you expect me to work on my birthday?
The Admiral had asked about a prior engagement with a brig flying the ID colors. So here is an account of a running battle with four broadsides fired: one, two, three and four.
Now go away and leave a man to sleep it off in his own hammock.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Carnival of Elitist Bastards 1101
Lucky Carnival of Elitist Bastards 13 is walking under a ladder at En Tequila Es Verdad. To demonstrate the true value and importance of science and the critical thinking skills that Elitist Bastardry celebrates, there is this recipe for life on a research vessel:The tools you need are simple: an electric drip coffee maker with hot plate, a coffee filter, 2 1-liter sample jars, 2 handkerchiefs, 2 rubber bands, and a source of clean (preferably R/O) water.
You'll have to be more creative with your ingredients. What you need are some sort of grain, some malt, and, if possible, something that can act as a clarifying and hopping agent. You need a simple grain to release the tannins, starches, and enzymes. The best bet is common cereals – Raisin Bran, Cracked Wheat, Kashi, whatever you can find. The fruit and nuts will add flavor, but are not important.
Malt is tricky, and sometimes gross. In my experience, the best you can hope for is vegemite, marmite, or some other yeast extract. If you have chocolate malt balls or some other malt based candy, those can be ground up and used as well.
The hops are the hardest, and you may have to forgo their goodness. Alfalfa or some other green roughage may work, but a clever biologist will bring their own hops on board.
Finally, you'll need to find some yeast. Most ships will have bakers' yeast. If you're very lucky they might have brewers' yeast. ...Results
A cool, smooth brew, flavored with whatever you found. It may be very bad, it may be good. It will be beer.
Conclusion
You are now the most popular person on the boat. Enjoy.
There's nothin' like watching science in action!
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Blinded By the Light
The Carnival of Elitist Bastards Partie Douze is up at Slobber And Spittle.For a real stunner,1 there is this:
Science education was - how to put this gently - pretty weak at our kids' school. There was the teacher who informed the class that the reason it was warmer in Summer is that the Earth is closer to the sun. There was the textbook that, in the glossary section, defined "extinction" as "when an animal is dead". Or the teacher who downgraded one of my kids' science projects because "the Van Allen belts didn't have anything to do with space". The one who ridiculed one of my kids for not being creative enough to write about a triangular planet. (Unlike his teacher, my son was well aware that planets can really only be more or less spherical.) The one who just couldn't believe that the child had read a book by Arthur C. Clarke called "Dolphin Island". (No, that's not right; are you sure it wasn't "Island Of The Blue Dolphins"?)
But, worst of all, there was a total eclipse of the sun and the school decided to ignore it instead of making it a (literally) once in a lifetime educational experience.
Sometimes it's not easy being an elitist bastard and having to contemplate such stupidity.
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1 At Decrepit Old Fool
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Monday, March 30, 2009
Carnival of the Elitist Bastards XI
The eleventh Carnival of the Elitist Bastards is up and about at It's the Thought that Counts.While the standard for being an elitist bastard has never been what it might sound like to those who do not aspire to the title, it's sad how low the bar has fallen in this country, as shown by this1:
A close relative of mine was telling me a story about the place she worked recently. Her company was having some sort of trivia contest. One of the questions was "Who delivered the Gettysburg address?" The company she works for is less than 150 miles from Gettysburg. Believe it or not, surrounded by college-educated people, she was the only one who knew.
In short, if you think it's bad now, you may not want to contemplate tomorrow.
_______________________________
1 From Slobber and Spittle
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, March 08, 2009
The Carnival Turns Ten
The Carnival of the Elitist Bastards X has set sail out of port En Tequila Es Verdad, a tad late but heavily laden with a cargo of disdain for the anti-intellectualism abroad in the land. Here is a small sample from PalMD:The origins of human sexuality are interesting, but completely irrelevant when discussing civil rights. It doesn't matter whether someone is born gay or straight---each of us is equally deserving of civil and human rights, independent of the specifics of our race, gender, sexuality. People who are focused on the "choice" of homosexuality are about to "choose" to deprive others of their rights.
A round of irony all around for the crew!
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Carnival Of the Elitist Bastards IX
The Carnival Of the Elitist Bastards IX has launched all boats at Ecstathy.Choosing from one of the entries, this point on probabilities and predictions should be a lesson for every kindergarten student:
As the old saying goes; "The battle does not always go the strong, nor the race to the swift, but that's the way to bet." Yet casinos are full of people betting against the house. Somehow it does not occur to them that the size and opulence of the casino is testament to the likely outcome.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Going Where No Elitist Bastard Has Gone Before
The Carnival of Elitist Bastards, Version 8.0, is up and soaring at Submitted to a Candid World. Here's one of my (many) favorites bits:Just when I thought the la guerre de Noel n'aura pas lieu, in walked Bill. Sometimes I can't decide what the best thing about O'Reilly is---his pugnacity or his stupidity. Right now, I'm gonna say both.
There's no doubt that Billo is a virtual Renaissance man among the illiterati, combining ignorance and confidence to paint a veritable Sistine ceiling of stupidity that mesmerizes a minuscule, but commercially exploitable, fragment of the populace. The only real issue about O'Reilly is whether his work is the result of his own genuine dullness or just the cynical manipulation of the imbecile.
Much other flaying of the de-elitist can be found at the final frontier.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Monday, December 01, 2008
Carnival of Elitist Bastards, VII
The November (almost) Carnival of Elitist Bastards is soaking up some caffeine at Café Philos. Here is a sample that particularly tickled my elitist sensibilities:I'm pretty sure I threw something at the TV when I found out that some skid mark was sueing CERN because he was certain that none of the hundreds of trained physicists could possibly have thought about black holes being made in the LHC. Not a chance. No way in hell could a room of the world's best and brightest physicists have possibly thought about something so obvious.
Whenever I'm up on my little soapbox I like to say that scientists aren't really that much smarter than everyone else, they've just found something to be passionate about. It may or may not be true, but I'll tell you one thing: We're the experts.We know what we're doing. We're not stupid.
You do your own damn job.
Okay, it was Alan at Terahertz.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Carnival of the Elitist Bastards, VI
Don't sing me, Poet, of the topless towers of Ilium.
I, Odysseus, stood by while unwashed Agamemnon
and his drunken brigand Greeks toppled the last
of the rude mud bricks that made up Troy.
Tall tales are fit for songs like yours,
and to send the children off to bed,
but I was there and the reality's
enough to make the singing cloy.
You fare no better in these latter days I see,
as the story of this physic lays out plain:
PalMD's lament o'er the wantonness
of those who would pay court unto a fake disease.
Be not downcast, Poet.
Your trade is worthy still.
Like arrows, songs can pierce the heart
but have the good sense not to kill.
There's truth in poetry and other heady spirits,
as Dana can attest.
And Brian eyes the other side in metaphors
that's poesy's language at its best.
It's fantasy, of course, that says I ever stood
upon Death's Kingdom's shore.
But PodBlack Cat's tale's no less fantastic
than feeding shades upon ram's gore.
In my age politics was a straightforward trade.
Swords would thrust and spears would fly
but ne'er did we wield what Cujo359 describes:
brazen marching phalanxes of lies.
We were, admittedly, brutes and thieves and worse.
But even as we plundered and waded through the gore
unlike the sort Hoofnagle tells of
the best of us knew, and cared about, the weakness of the poor.
Circe was a witch, and though her spells were executed
mostly on her back, she could make men appear as swine.
As CousinAvi says, there's some still plying Circe's trade
but fail to even give the value Circe paid in kind.
Of course, Circe's spell was not so hard,
as Z and Hanson make plain to see,
for men ... and women too ... conspire in the trick
by taking pride in their own and others' stupidity.
The sirens were not real, but most men hear their song.
They croon "believe," despite reality's opposing call.
Stephen Law recounts how one of the sadder sort
becomes besotted and stays beneath the sirens' thrall.
But worse yet are those, who after they are enticed,
take up the spellbinders' tune,
and, as Pieret uncovers, abuse their positions of trust,
to put the young onto paths that have no end but ruin.
We strove, in former days, to achieve as one of the elites,
oft for wealth and fame, it's true, but, too, in matters of the mind.
Yet now as Ames relates, in these impoverished times,
to intellectuals, the maddened mob cries "shame."
Even when we wielded naught but wooden plows
and bronze swords from behind hide shields, we could know
that ignorance and greed had consequences that cost us dear.
Bitter Hinterlands puts forth proof that the price is greater now.
That's why I always tried to do my best in everything,
even trickery, like that time at Troy.
So NP offers life lessons on professionalism
even those not scribes, like her, ought to employ.
And if we are to do all that we seek to do
we need rely on others of like ken.
As Annie knows, when sickness grows
all hands and hearts and minds had best attend.
I, above most men, a decade getting home,
can forgive the tardy and set back to shore.
Z, last month, stood at the quay as the bastards
stood off before the wind ... no more.
The last word I give to a better rhymer:
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
A company of men under an officer detailed to force men into military or naval service.
The following articles, interviews and the like are by people who may not have aspired to the (exalted) title of Elitist Bastard but who have expressed, on these occasions, sentiments that make them worthy of the company.
Teacherninja rounds up a passel of ... um ... volunteers on
Matt Taibbi, from "Mad Dog Palin" in Rolling Stone, has this take-home line, on Palin's convention speech:
It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag.
I will always prefer eloquence to down-home charm. I will never accept lies just because they're easier to digest. The fact I've historically supported brilliant minds and high-achievers is no coincidence. I would prefer to elect the best America has to offer. I want to be proud of my president. I guess that makes me an elitist.
There is a reason we call "the average guy" average. Because he's in the middle. Average. When you aim for the White House, to lead the free world, to hold the fate of the Earth in your hands, you shouldn't aspire to average.
I think she is a good woman. She is extremely ignorant. She appeals to the more extreme part of the Republican base, on all the social issues. It hasn't come up that she is a religious crackpot; she believes in the end of days and what they call the Rapture, in which the just are wished up to heaven and the rest are left with Armageddon.
The problem is an aggressive fundamentalism that denies modern science, and an aggressive anti-intellectualism that views experts and scientists as the enemy. It is those views that could end up getting us all killed. After all, that kind of extremism can even lead to war, based on perverted views that a particular war is God's will rather than a failure of politics and co-operation.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Saturday, September 27, 2008
If Not Now, When?
The Fifth Carnival of Elitist Bastards has set sail at The Coffee-Stained Writer. And at this time there is one paramount reason for elitism:By trying to set our towns against our cities, Palin makes the vital mistake of imagining that, despite our differences, we don't need each other, and the equally dangerous mistake of pigeonholing our towns & cities into pre-determined antagonistic roles. If we're stuck in a culture war, it's because people like Palin insist on re-digging our trenches when it's beneficial to their political career. For shame.
Doing the silver lining thingie, I suppose having Palin around makes it so much easier to be an elite.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Storming the Castle
The Carnival of Elitist Bastards has followed Blake Stacey to his new digs at ScienceBlogs, where the results are laid before a noble but cranky king.There is a great statement of the spirit of elitist bastardy among the entries:
I don't know how to say it more simply than this. If education is a danger to your worldview, that is hard proof that your worldview needs examining. If entertaining other worldviews turns out to be a danger to your own, your worldview is a hell of a lot more fragile than you want to admit. If studying other cultures is some kind of threat to your own, your own culture isn't worth your slavish loyalty. If exposure to people who believe they can make the world better somehow erodes your reinforced sense of self-serving exploitative entitlement and privilege, perhaps that's a clue that you need to abandon that sense of entitlement.
Oh, o.k.
Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Monday, July 28, 2008
Standing Tall
Having slipped on a surgical glove and manually examined the entries thoroughly, he naturally finds them wanting, as any Elitist Bastard would.
It's a shame, therefore, to report that his criticisms failed to finger the real failings of the entries and merely touched on some incidentals.
The biggest problem with being an Elitist Bastard is finding anyone qualified to review your work.
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The First and Second Carnivals are still available for the hoi polloi to read ... as if they'd understand!
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Coming Back to Harbor
The Second Carnival of Elitist Bastards has set sail from the Carnival's own blog.The contribution by Dana Hunter, our own Vice Admiral (and I couldn't think of anyone better to be in charge of Vice), is entitled "The American Electorate: 'I'm Voting for Stupid.'" It tells the sad tale of the fall of American politics. From a start not only graced by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, but where a sizable portion of the electorate read the newly proposed Constitution and The Federalist Papers and seriously and intellectually debated the merits of our form of government, to a place where George Bush gets elected by pitching sound bites geared at a seventh grade reading level to a populace disinterested in facts, most of whom probably wouldn't recognize the Constitution if they were given a three day head start.
That explains why I chose JMW Turner's The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up 1838 to illustrate this.
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Labels: Carnival of Elitist Bastards
