I just didn't want to see Brad's graph become the basis for some Frankenstein talking point.

Thank you, Seth Ackerman.

Possibly related post:

Brad, Brad, and Mark
15th US Census

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Wanted to take the SO out to Burton's Alice in Wonderland yesterday evening. I don't care critics find it insipid; it's Tim Burton.

Sadly our town only harbours two cinemas - one for the Hollywood flicks and the building is chiseled that way for that purpose. In other words: dead atmosphere, nice seats and the stairs sticky with spilled soda. The other cinema is more orientated to art-house and smaller movies but I can never suppress the same feeling I get of bearded neo-hippies wearing faded woolen sweaters. The place is very un-hip. Although I immediately admit that un-hip is a very un-hip word in itself.

Anyway, little choice. When arriving at the cinema of non-choice, we already got a bad feeling: the place was packed, among others with young folks strutting with large cotton hearts tied to their heads. The atmosphere was... rowdy. The kind of rowdy you get with stag parties. Thursday night is the night students go out, and there are copious amounts of them in this city. They are even represented in the city council. It makes it a lively city, so it's not all bad all the time.

But when we asked for tickets, the ticket lady kindly informed us that there were only seats available in the second row, and we'd share the movie with over 3000 students. I hang my head and she wasn't surprised when we moved out of the queue.

So we moved to a pleasant bar nearby (no smoking!!), shared apple pie and I proceeded to lose (twice) to a game of checkers to my SO, much to her delight.

And that's my story. What other movies should I go to? I'm out of touch.

A long time ago, in a North Atlantic far far away . . .

Earlier this week I was drawn into an enlightening discussion with my colleague Ben Frey about the complicated textual tradition that lies behind George Lucas's "Star Wars," which few outside the scholarly community realize is a modern rendition of an old Germanic legend of a fatal conflict between a father and his treacherous son. Below I present some remarks on the Old Icelandic version of the legend, with some spare comparative notes on the cognate traditions in other old Germanic languages.

Jackson Crawford has written one beautiful piece of Tolkienesque pseudo-scholarship.  If you enjoyed the Appendix in LoTR this is a worth a read.

No one could have predicted

Given the very high level of reserve balances currently in the banking system, the Federal Reserve has ample time to consider the best long-run framework for policy implementation. The Federal Reserve believes it is possible that, ultimately, its operating framework will allow the elimination of minimum reserve requirements, which impose costs and distortions on the banking system.

Read more...

No idea how it went, as I was in my own little corner surrounded by children pushing 20p coins at me. But I handed in a satisfyingly heavy tin at the end.

Good luck to whoever gets to count it all  ;)

TV presenter gets death sentence for 'sorcery'

(CNN) -- Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the execution of a Lebanese man sentenced to death for "sorcery."

In a statement released Thursday, the international rights group condemned the verdict and demanded the immediate release of Ali Hussain Sibat, former host of a popular call-in show that aired on Sheherazade, a Beirut based satellite TV channel.

According to his lawyer, Sibat, who is 48 and has five children, would predict the future on his show and give out advice to his audience.
The attorney, May El Khansa, who is in Lebanon, tells CNN her client was arrested by Saudi Arabia's religious police (known as the Mutawa'een) and charged with sorcery while visiting the country in May 2008. Sibat was in Saudi Arabia to perform the Islamic religious pilgrimage known as Umra.

Federal Reserve Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest ever U.S. government bailout, a federal appeals court said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today that the Fed must release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched primarily after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The ruling upholds a decision of a lower-court judge, who in August ordered that the information be released.

The Fed had argued that it could withhold the information under an exemption that allows federal agencies to refuse disclosure of "trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential."

The U.S. Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, "sets forth no basis for the exemption the Board asks us to read into it," U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote in the opinion. "If the Board believes such an exemption would better serve the national interest, it should ask Congress to amend the statute."

The opinion may not be the final word in the bid for the documents, which was launched by Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, with a November 2008 lawsuit. The Fed may seek a rehearing or appeal to the full appeals court and eventually petition the U.S. Supreme Court.

I mentioned yesterday that the area where I work is blighted with UKIP campaign posters.

The claim they make, which I think borders on incitement to racial hatred in that area, is that "5,000 people settle here every week".

Since even the government has no idea how many people arrive and leave,  I very, very much doubt that this is based on anything that would stand up to scrutiny.

So I've submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, which allegedly takes a dim view of misleading statistics.

Anyone else in the UK, who doesn't think I've taken leave of my senses on this one, is welcome to do the same.

So, further to the LOL tease last night, the Telegraph have today printed the above two photographs of Nadine Dorries Mum-P alleged dwellings. Now online. One of them is a "main home" and the other a "second home". Can you tell which is which yet?

Tendrils of the coldest stuff in our galaxy can be seen in a new, large image from Planck, a mission surveying the whole sky to learn more about the birth of our universe.

Planck, a European Space Agency-led mission with important participation from NASA, launched into space in May 2009 from Kourou, French Guiana. The space telescope has almost finished its first of at least four separate scans of the entire sky, a voluminous task that will be completed in early 2012.

I cannot better my friend Sarah's precis and I apologize for taking much of her post

Earlier..I talked about the laws that media companies want passed, on account of how unchecked Internet piracy is destroying their businesses and they'll go bankrupt if the governments don't protect them!

Imagine how embarrassing it would be if it turned out that one of these media companies had been deliberately making "roughened up" versions of their intellectual property, making it look like bootleg copies, and uploading it to YouTube for years, and demanding its removal. I don't know about you, but if I was caught with my pants that firmly entrenched round my ankles, I'd want to crawl into a hole and die.

The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to evolving security concerns in Turkey, and reminds them of the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests.  This Travel Alert dated March 19, 2010, expires on April 30, 2010.

U.S. citizens in Turkey should be particularly vigilant in light of the ongoing "Get Out America, This is Our Country" campaign and upcoming significant anniversaries associated with the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), a designated terrorist organization.  Actions against American and/or Turkish-American cultural and business establishments in Turkey are possible.  We remind U.S. citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.

Clegg could support Tories in a minority government - UK Politics, UK - The Independent

The Liberal Democrats would support a minority Conservative government in a hung parliament despite "profound differences" between the two parties, according to a report published today.

CentreForum, a liberal think-tank, predicted that divisions over policy would prevent Nick Clegg entering a formal coalition with Liberal Democrats sitting in a David Cameron Cabinet. But it concluded that the pressure on the third party to act responsibly in a hung parliament would result in Mr Clegg sustaining the Tories in power if they won the most seats - the general election outcome suggested by most recent opinion polls.