Re: "Rigorous and objective" (if at first...)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Gil wrote: Faustine writes:
Tim wrote:
Besides the above points, a "rigorous and objective analysis" is work for bean counters...and is only interesting to other bean counters. So von Neumann, Kahn, Schelling and Nash are boring, huh. I'd rather follow their examples than spend year after year chitchatting on Usenet. Such an intelligent and creative man, what a waste.
Then what the hell are you doing here, chitchatting on the list many critics have characterized as Tim's private cesspool?
Good question. I guess it's just that I love to argue, and you could hardly ask for a better assortment of intelligent and colorful characters to mix it up with. I enjoy the back-and-forth; putting out documents people here might find useful and interesting--and most importantly, being able to give my unvarnished opinion without, well, worrying too much about being rigorous and objective. For instance, if anyone wants to tell someone here to go fuck themselves, they just come right out and tell them to go fuck themselves. How refreshing, positively theraputic! Expressing a little heartfelt hostility isn't always a bad thing...LOL Anyway, Usenet is an entirely different animal. Why anyone so intelligent would waste five minutes on that pack of pumpkin-headded "God Bless Amerikuh" drooling imbeciles is beyond me. It literally makes me want to puke just thinking about it--no wonder Tim always seems so dyspeptic.
Yes, Tim. Come on. Faustine will be doing Important Rigorous and Objective Policy Analysis. Her work will have Real Impact. Members of Congress and the Administration will invite her to come give them briefings (at least those with sufficient clearance).
Think whatever you please, it certainly suits me fine.
She just doesn't want to "show her hand" yet. You know, all those paparazzi can be so annoying. And it's hard to get important Policy Analysis done when you're being pestered by all those lightweights in Congress.
Actually Congress is chock full of lightweights. And all their ratty little undereducated staffers who soak up whatever lobbyists and their shoddy two-bit partisan "guess tanks" happen to be shilling for this week. I know plenty of quality analysts who loathe testifing before Congress--quite unlike the faceless horde of guess tank media whores scrambling for the spotlight. I'll say this much: getting pro-freedom policy analysts in positions where they don't have to scramble to be heard will be the real accomplishment. Not just knocking their heads against a brick wall as per usual.
Besides: Gosh! Just think: we'll be able to say that we knew her when.
No comment. LOL Infuriatingly yours, ~Faustine. *** The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms. - --William O. Douglas, Associate Justice, US Supreme Court -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPsdk version 1.7.1 (C) 1997-1999 Network Associates, Inc. and its affiliated companies. (Diffie-Helman/DSS-only version) iQA/AwUBO/Wkdvg5Tuca7bfvEQJwzACfdbfJz/Xlre/j5ddSBWBsx5ai7NcAnA99 MaOCrYYU4incdfh5jmVZOjXU =t3OS -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Friday, November 16, 2001, at 03:42 PM, Faustine wrote:
Good question. I guess it's just that I love to argue, and you could hardly ask for a better assortment of intelligent and colorful characters to mix it up with. I enjoy the back-and-forth; putting out documents people here might find useful and interesting--and most importantly, being able to give my unvarnished opinion without, well, worrying too much about being rigorous and objective.
For instance, if anyone wants to tell someone here to go fuck themselves, they just come right out and tell them to go fuck themselves. How refreshing, positively theraputic! Expressing a little heartfelt hostility isn't always a bad thing...LOL
The list has only 5% of the content it had in its glory years, 1992-95. And perhaps only 10% of its content in its declining years, 1996-98. It's now at about half the level of its senile years, 1999-2000. This past year has been the worst. There are many reasons for this decline, discussed as early as 1994. Any newbies who think this list is now interesting or exciting has my sympathy. --Tim May "If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're around." --attribution uncertain, possibly Gunner, on Usenet
On Fri, 16 Nov 2001, Tim May wrote:
The list has only 5% of the content it had in its glory years, 1992-95. And perhaps only 10% of its content in its declining years, 1996-98. It's now at about half the level of its senile years, 1999-2000. This past year has been the worst.
Agreed, with the notation that we are *all* guilty as charged...
There are many reasons for this decline, discussed as early as 1994.
Any newbies who think this list is now interesting or exciting has my sympathy.
While the "original content" may be sparse to the point of being a notable event worthy of a note on the calendar, the list continues to serve purposes worthy of it's continuation. For instance, this is without doubt the best of the "I hate {cops, government, other authority figure}" forums (in my perfectly humble hate-group inspired opinion :-). It's also great fun watching Jeff and company pretend to be even dumber than your average @home luser. But the real value here, and on this point I am serious, is the the list is responsible for the actual [political] education of many lurkers. I realized this recently when "shooting the shit" with one of my newer vendors. The team in question was the standard pair of Salesman and Sales Engineer ("SE"). The salesman was one of the most naive people I have *ever* met, while the SE turned out to be a long term (since mid nineties) CP lurker. As a frequent poster here, the SE recognized my name, and we started talking - and the salesguy sat there with his mouth hanging open, stunned at the content of the conversation. That was about three months ago. Last week we met with this team again, and the salesguy, the *naive* one who was anti-gun, anti-drug, pro-whitehouse, etc., has just purchased his first firearm, and begun to take active steps to protect his privacy. It seems he was so fascinated by the conversations between me and the SE, that he did a little homework, read a few hours/days/who-knows worth of older CP archives, and then found jesus so to speak. Yes, the glory days are gone. No, that does not mean we are wasting our time here.
--Tim May
-- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin@mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------
On Saturday, November 17, 2001, at 07:36 AM, measl@mfn.org wrote:
(in my perfectly humble hate-group inspired opinion :-). It's also great fun watching Jeff and company pretend to be even dumber than your average @home luser.
What makes you think they're pretending? -- "Remember, half-measures can be very effective if all you deal with are half-wits."--Chris Klein
On Wed, 21 Nov 2001, Petro wrote:
On Saturday, November 17, 2001, at 07:36 AM, measl@mfn.org wrote:
(in my perfectly humble hate-group inspired opinion :-). It's also great fun watching Jeff and company pretend to be even dumber than your average @home luser.
What makes you think they're pretending?
*Never*, _ever_, underestimate the Enemy. JeffCo are an awful lot of [mostly bad] things, but truly stupid is not one of them. -- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin@mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------
On Fri, Nov 16, 2001 at 06:42:47PM -0500, Faustine wrote:
Actually Congress is chock full of lightweights. And all their ratty little undereducated staffers who soak up whatever lobbyists and their shoddy two-bit partisan "guess tanks" happen to be shilling for this week. I know plenty of quality analysts who loathe testifing before Congress--quite unlike the faceless horde of guess tank media whores scrambling for the spotlight.
I confess I know many congressional staffers. Alas, what you say is not quite right. Most are over-educated: law degress from decent universities and (this is quite popular) master's and PhDs in "public policy." What they're under-educated about, often, is an understanding of how the world outside of Washington works. It's possible to do an internship in college and move here immediately after graduation and always work in the nonprofit or government sector. Hardly an honest living.
I'll say this much: getting pro-freedom policy analysts in positions where they don't have to scramble to be heard will be the real accomplishment. Not just knocking their heads against a brick wall as per usual.
So what's your plan? -Declan
participants (5)
-
Declan McCullagh -
Faustine -
measl＠mfn.org -
Petro -
Tim May