0.999...

It always seemed like a simple mathematical property that 0.999... equaled one. Though unique in expression, the logic seemed inescapable. There is no number or value you can deduct from 1 that would give you this number, therefore they are equal. What I didn't realize was how contentious an issue this was, especially among news and chat groups. Just a quick search in the sci.math Google group returned nearly 1500 threads that have debated this topic. One with the search capabilities to tackle all the science, math, and computer e-groups worldwide would probably find over a million threads, all with similar bands of resistors up against similar unbeatable proofs. It was this popular debate on Blizzard Entertainment's video game forums that led to their April Fool's press conference a few years ago declaring once and for all that 0.999... does if fact equal one.

Similar debates on message boards have erupted between math amateurs and pros on just about every folk math oddity including infinity, pi, two squared, and the classical geometry problems (doubling the cube, squaring the circle, and angle trisection). If any further proof was needed about our ability to argue the ridiculous or the impossible, I give you the forums of the Flat Earth Society.

English vs French

Add another literary volume to the great English-French rivalry. David Pryce-Jones reviews Robert and Isabelle Tombs' That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British from the Sun King to the Present. He ends it with a sentiment that has much support on this side of the Atlantic:

In theory, both countries are now members of the European Union, and the old victories and defeats are solely of antiquarian interest. In fact, for the first time in history, France and Germany have teamed up against Britain. This novel combination has driven all national identity underground, to fester more and more resentfully. Surprisingly for contemporary academics, the Tombs couple sense the gathering backlash, and accordingly are surreptitiously Eurosceptic. If the past is any guide, Britain will neutralize and even sink the European Union, thus causing "history's next surprise," in the far-sighted warning of likely upset that closes this book.

In other words, the French will lose yet again. I've written before how I do sympathize to an extent with the French. The past two centuries have not been kind to them, especially compared to their neighbors across the channel. Where they were once considered equals, today they are David and Goliath. The French don't even enjoy the status of number one contender.

To examine the extent of waning French influence on the global stage, I put together a crude spreadsheet comparing the official languages of the United Nations - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish:


It's easy to see why France, and to a lesser extent Canada, place so much importance on the flailing United Nations. A new world alliance based on current geopolitical power could likely exclude French as an official language, and with it any cultural influence.

Friday Night Videos

On the Ranch

Not the one that's snortin' cocaine, when the honky tonk's all closed
But the one that prays for more rain, heaven knows

To start of, three generations of Hank Williams. The first will be remembered as one of the biggest pop music icons of the twentieth century, up there with Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan. The first video is his early fifties hit "Cold Cold Heart."



A trend that started in the late 80's had the children digitally performing alongside their parents in music videos. Here's Hank Williams Jr. and Sr. with the popular "There's a Tear in My Beer."



With the help of a good banjo, it seems Hank Williams III is a little more country in live settings than his hellbilly image suggests. Here he is with the Damn Band doing a cool hoedown of "Smoke and Wine."




She was the first individual female to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and still its reigning chanteuse. Though she only lived to 30, Patsy Cline became a giant in pop and country music. Here she is performing the Willie Nelson penned "Crazy."




More country divas! Dolly Parton with "I Will Always Love You," Tanya Tucker with "Delta Dawn," and Tammy Wynette with "Stand By Your Man."








Before he became the man in black, Johnny Cash with four songs: "I Walk the Line," "There You Go," "Next in Line," and "Train of Love."




Cowboy hats, plantation style ties, and haystacks - now that's country. Ernest Tubb performing "Tomorrow Never Comes" with Billy Byrd on guitar.




Speaking of guitar, country music virtuosos are often overlooked next to their classical, jazz, or metal cousins. Here's a few examples of hot country guitar; Chet Atkins with "Humoresque," Jerry Reed with a smokin' five minute medley (endure the half minute banter at the beginning with Porter Wagoner and the slow intro, at about the 1:45 mark you'll that classic 'chickin pickin' sound, Leo Kottke and Doc Watson with "The Last Steam Engine Train," and Albert Lee with "Fun Ranch Boogie."










I've always preferred Western over Country, stompin' cowboy tales over twangy love songs. Stories like Ned Kelly, White Mansions, and yes, The Gambler. For a Western jam, it doesn't get any better than the Highwaymen. Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson performing "The Highwayman."




Here's Waylon on his own with probably the coolest tempo change in country music in "Honky Tonk Heroes."




And the coolest fiddle in country, the Charlie Daniels Band with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."




He's hardly recognizable in the first video, but it's 1967 Willie Nelson with "Night Life." The second video has him in full hippie persona with fellow country hippie Neil Young for the terrific 80's hit "Are There Anymore Real Cowboys."






So these are certainly not the cowboys Willie and Neil were singing about, but they are the new breed of country music. Billy Ray Cyrus with "Achy Breaky Heart," Garth Brooks with "The Dance," Tim McGraw with "Memory Lane," and Shania Twain with "Up."

Schizophrenic art

One topic I did an interesting study on in my earlier years was comparing the artistic expressions of various mental pathologies. To little surprise, the art created by schizophrenics was the 'busiest' and most provocative of the lot. I wasn't able to locate any of the pieces I used back then but I did find some equally impressive ones now. The first series is from artist Karen Blair, who also has a blog. She has catalogued her gallery corresponding to the years she was on particular medications. In order of Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Seroquil:

Hell

Electricity Makes You Float

What Jack Saw



These paintings are from a website put together by a father for his son John. It's also a touching chronicle of his perception of his son's illness. As dazzling as John's abstract paintings are, most impressive is the detail in his faces.








From an exhibit at the History of Medicine In Lund, Sweden, here are a few pieces from patients of the pre-psychopharmacological drug era. Works from Maria Magdalena Rudbeck, Rudolf Persson, and Clara Miranda Almér are shown here:








From Erik Lombardo I discovered William Kurelek and Louis Wain, two artists who came across schizophrenia at different stages of their lives. Kurelek's onset was early and he was able to overcome his torment - this page has terrific samples from his remarkable descent into madness and back. Here is one of his more popular pieces - The Maze:


Louis Wain was a popular postcard and children's book illustrator known for his cats. Unlike Kurelek, Wain developed schizophrenia later in life and was never able to recover. Two before and after pieces show the changes in the artist:










During my research I found this oddity in Wikipedia's entry on schizophrenia. Look at the end of the third paragraph. I took a snapshot before the page gets edited as I don't think it will remain:

No more dynasties

It's not too often you read an article on Clintons and Bushes without partisan snark or bias, especially in the LA Times. James Burkee, true to the middle, is critical of further explorations of Clinton and Bush power in (over) Washington. In his article Anybody but a Bush or Clinton (which is currently being linked to by both right and left wing blogs), he outlines the absurdity of what may await:

But if (Hillary) secures the Democratic nomination, wins and serves two terms, by 2017 the United States will have been governed by either a Bush or a Clinton for 28 years. That's three decades governed not just by the same two families but much of the same supporting staff.

And it might not end there. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, encouraged by Republican leaders and the current president (who said, "I would like to see Jeb run at some point"), has not ruled out a White House bid or a vice presidential slot on the ticket in 2012 or 2016.

If Washington's caustic, partisan atmosphere is to change, the era of Bushes and Clintons needs to end in 2008.

Not only is this phenomenon increasing the divide between the Republicans and Democrats, and consequently the political culture of the nation, it also makes the United States look medieval. All that American talent and enterprise and the best the Beltway can produce are families comprised of either self-serving con artists or ineffectual frat boys. Burkee notes the weak political capital dynasty presidents are likely to bring to power and observes:

Pundits compare 2006 to the late Nixon years, with a country disillusioned by war and a deep distrust of its political leadership. In one of his last interviews, former President Ford lamented the "extreme partisanship that exists in the nation's capital today," suggesting that partisanship is even worse than in the post-Watergate era he inherited.

The nation needs today, as it got in Ford then, a president respected by both Republicans and Democrats who can restore trust in politics. It needs new faces and new ideas if it is to confront advancing crises of war, debt and entitlement reform. And it needs a president who can assume office in 2009 swimming in the political capital that only a mandate can bring. The nation needs a candidate who can win 55% or more.

And that will not happen with a Bush or Clinton on the ballot.

I would also add that we should think of the children, the children of the future that is. Children in history classes decades or centuries from now will have an impossible time trying to sort out which Bush or which Clinton was responsible for what, especially when it comes to issues like military intervention in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Poking the music industry

I have to admit I enjoy seeing big business trip over itself when it comes to music. Though I'm likely to defend corporations in general, big music industry somehow bothers me. I understand the concept of music as commodity, assigning it market value, and aggressively marketing it. I also disdain however the constant deluge of crappy or meaningless art, as well as the manipulation of both artists and audiences by record companies. Like other expressions of art, it's vindicating to see instances of the "big guy" not getting it. One item I saw lately with respect to this was this head scratcher 'Napster Buys Aol.' I'm certainly anybody's fool when it comes to music marketing, but it looks like another case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Two dinosaurs that just increased their chances of extinction.

The second item I saw is more of a nitpick than a music industry gaffe, but it brought about a similar schadenfreude. Sympatico/MSN's music store offers a 60 song one hit wonder compilation. With any of these kind of compilations, there is always room for dispute as to the inclusion of particular entries, but some are truly mind boggling. From the list, I found more than a few discrepancies, as well as some sloppy site content management:

Wang Chung - "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" ("Dance Hall Days" was their first and arguably more popular hit. Definitely a two hit wonder - 2hw.)

Various Artists; Various - "Funkytown" (I think by 'Various Artists; Various' they mean Pseudo Echo)

C+C Music Factory - "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (2hw - "Here We Go, Let's Rock & Roll")

Various - "Got To Be Real" (This 'Various' is probably Cheryl Lynn)

Kon Kan - "I Beg Your Pardon" (2hw - "Harry Houdini")

Tripping Daisy - "I Got A Girl" (2hw - "Pirahna")

Three Dog Night - "Joy To The World" (Huh? "One," "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," "Celebrate," "An Old Fashioned Love Song," "Never Been to Spain"...)

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - "Lost In Emotion" (Not at all their only hit. They are still best known for their 80's classic "Head to Toe")

The B-52's - "Love Shack" (Another terrible entry. What about "Planet Claire," "Rock Lobster," or "Roam"?)

- "Not an Addict" (The artist for this song was left blank. I guess not so unknown 90's act K's Choice was beyond MSN's research capabilities)

Sinead O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Perhaps the worst entry on the list. No disputing it was her biggest hit, but it was far from her only one. "Mandinka," "Emperor's New Clothes," "I Am Stretched on Your Grave," "I Want Your (Hands on Me)," and "Troy" were all popular hits.)

The Psychedelic Furs - "Pretty In Pink" (2hw - "Heaven")

Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science" (2hw - "Hyperactive")

Berlin - "Take My Breath Away" (2hw - "No More Words")

Limahl - "Too Shy" (We can overlook the movie theme "Never Ending Story")

Spin Doctors - "Two Princes" (2hw - "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong")

Oingo Boingo - "Weird Science" (2hw - "Dead Man's Party")

The Romantics - "What I Like About You" (2hw - "Talking in Your Sleep")

The Tubes - "White Punks On Dope" (What about "She's a Beauty" or "Tip of My Tongue"?)


Some list - nearly a third of it weak choices or mislabelled entries, and those are only the ones I caught. With all the actual one-hit wonders out there, there's no excuse. I know dozens of people that could put together a better list, and none of them work for the music industry.

Jimmy Carter: terrorist stooge

For some time it has been known that ex-president Jimmy Carter has been a supporter of the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel. While he offers the occasional token support for democratic Israel, his true heart lies with a society that has fashioned itself as a terrorist pawn in the larger Jihadist movement. His latest book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, and subsequent interviews makes his bias perfectly clear.

What most people suspected was that Carter was simply a doofus who bought into Arab propaganda about the perpetual mideast crisis. "If only they had some land to call their own" was and still is the popular mantra of this deception. Perhaps Carter was so generous with his tolerance that he truly believed in the nobility of Arab intentions, if not their words. Decades of terrorism later, he still hasn't changed his mind.

Lest he be cast as a lone villain, many others of his political persuasion hold similar views toward Israel and the Palestinians. It was assumed Carter was among the batch of useful idiots that couldn't distinguish a progressive democracy from a grotesque death cult. Perhaps this is still true, but it would seem another factor might be responsible for Carter's oversight of terrorist minor.

From the Belmont Club I came across this article by Alan Dershowitz that describes the Arab dollars that have made their way into Jimmy's pocket. Ex-presidents for sale is not uncommon, but it wasn't assumed the market included enemies of the West. Belmont Club commenter Cosmo put it perfectly:

Always follow the money. Always.

Some folks actually believe that opposition to the invasion of Iraq by Europe's political establishment and at the UN was animated by principle, instead of by fear of losing the lucrative organized crime concession they were running in Messopotamia.

Carter could have preserved his image of idealistic naif had he confined himself to Habitat For Humanity and similar endeavors following his disastrous presidency.

The national heart would by now have grown a warm spot for him and largely forgotten the cardigan sweaters and whiff of decline he brought to the planet's most important office.

But the longer he continued to insinuate himself into the national political scene, the more obvious his fraudulence has become.

* Read the Belmont Club post, it's an interesting look at how Washington is functioning more as the world's capital rather than America's.


Here's a terrific essay I posted a couple of years ago from Dershowitz on the legacy of terrorist Arafat.

Little Green Footballs has been all over Carter lately. This is only the last month:

- Jimmy Carter Interceded for Nazi Murderer

- Dershowitz to Rebut Carter at Brandeis

- Jimmy Carter on Al Jazeera: Palestinian Missiles Are Not Terrorism

- Former Carter Center Member: Jimmy Supports Palestinian Terrorism

- Mass Resignation at Carter Center

- Jimmy Carter and the Arab Lobby

Friday Night Videos

Electronica

First and foremost, the group responsible for every uber German techno automaton stereotype, Kraftwerk. The first video is the popular "Autobahn," released in 1974, with animation added by Roger Mainwood in 1979. It is credited as being the first popular song of electronica music. The second video is Kraftwerk's early 80's release "Tour de France." The video is a little dull (just cyclists, nothing else), but about 20 seconds in you hear what is probably electronica's most familiar melody. It was surprisingly a popular song with breakdancers.






On the topic of breakdancing, here's an 80's classic from Herbie Hancock with "Rockit." With its beats, shock pops, and the best scratching solo ever, it remains the anthem of the early 80's breakdancing movement.



If you prefer humans instead of robots dancing the robot, try Break Machine's "Street Dance."




The Art of Noise's "Moments in Love" is one of the most haunting and ethereal songs in pop music. The video is for the radio friendly four and a half minute version. I have a ten minute mp3 version that still doesn't seem long enough.




On the heavier side, Ministry's "Over the Shoulder" and Skinny Puppy's "Dig It."






This is what happens when you mix electronica with a hippie. The Orb's early 90's hit "Little Fluffy Clouds."




While "electronica" would become a sub-genre of the rave scene, electronica sounding music would become more mainstream with a greater presence on the pop charts. A few progenitors of the movement, Tricky with "Black Steel," Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin Beats," Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up," and Moby's "Porcelain."










With their unique grooves and pure pop melodies, my favorite electronica act is Air. I was hooked with these two songs from their debut Moon Safari, "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars."





Here's another with an over-catchy pop melody, Ladytron's "Play Girl."




This one is just odd. Australia's the Avalanches with "Frontier Psychiatrist."




Had to include probably my favorite song when I think of electronica, the Chemical Brothers and the Flaming Lips with "The Golden Path."




And last a couple of freaky offerings from Sweden's Naked Ape. The first video, "Fashion Freak," was one of the inspirations behind this weeks electronica theme. They seem to like using sexy zombies in their videos. They do the same with the second video, the much weaker "Undo Redo."

The Devil wears GapKids

Lynx and Lamb Gaede, the most adorable teen sister pop act on the scene. Note their angelic smiles:



Here's a video for their song "Bleed For You," a sleepy little folk number:



Hard to believe they're one of white supremacism's most recent messengers. They are the demon seeds of a couple from the National Vanguard, a nation wide white power movement. From a marketing perspective, kudos. If you're going to go Aryan, go full out, and these little sirens are perfect. Lest anyone believe they are a front, in their own words:

I think, you know, if there was a war between the races, hopefully everybody will get their own little space. And that's basically what we want, you know? So we don't have to live with the other groups.

People want to depict everything that happened in World War II Germany as marching around killing Jews. They don't want to understand how the whole ideology of National Socialism is really a beautiful thing. I mean, it really is. I don't deny that Jewish people died and were rounded up and put into camps, but I don't think it's as drastic as they say.

(We're) not having enough white babies born to replace ourselves and generally not having good-quality white people being born. It seems like smart white girls who have good eugenics (sic) are more interested in making money in a career or partying than getting married and having a family.

Part of our heritage is Prussian German. Also our eyes are blue, and Prussian Blue is just a really pretty color. There is also the discussion of the lack of "Prussian Blue" coloring (Zyklon B residue) in the so-called gas chambers in the concentration camps. We think it might make people question some of the inaccuracies of the "Holocaust" myth.

Nobody of serious mind is influenced by the bigotry cum fascism on display, but of greater interest is what the road ahead looks like. Their music, though insipid and weak, isn't terrible. It's likely that their talent will see them produce passable pop material in the near future. With the media's, and our own, ghoulish instincts taking over, we may just decide to follow their lives with the same tact and discretion we've reserved for the Olsen twins and other freaky families. From the scorn and ridicule to the shame, the guilt and depression to the drugs, the relapse to the talk shows to the book deal to the asylum, their careers should be interesting to watch.

Some buzzy links

From WallStreetFighter:

- some cool photo posts; the world's stupidest tattoos, signs you're spending too much time on the internet, and a series of pictures of the Wall Street Bull with various picture takers. Note the well worn areas on the bull's scrotum due to repeated human touch.
- a site dedicated to the well known phenomenon of hot chicks with douchebags.
- Little Becky, the popular 8 year-old prank caller with an adorable Irish accent and incredible wit.


From the always dependable Ebaum:

- coffee art:


- sand art:


- and fork art




From Neatorama:

- the world's five smallest countries (Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru, Tuvalu, and San Marino)
- a Christmas card, contained in the following envelope, actually made it to its destination:


- a link to DoCopenhagen's top 50 music videos of 2006 (all embedded and ready to go). Number one was a favorite viral video of '06, OK Go's "Here it Goes Again"



I first saw these guys last year when they came out with this video for "A Million Ways." Strangest thing, the band dancing together like this for a music video. Nothing compared to dancing while using treadmills however.




And from the aptly named Moronland:

- 50 amazing ads you haven't seen, Hollywood coding myths, 5 math jokes, and the classic, possibly apochryphal, Niels Bohr and his physics exam.

Tony Snow vs Old Media

Here's a clip of White House speaker Tony Snow at a press conference discussing the recent medical reports on First Lady Laura Bush. It seems she had a small, cancerous skin lesion on her leg removed in a routine operation. Despite the fact that she seems to be healing just fine, the press caught the scent of blood and swooped in for the kill. No matter the benign procedure, or the fact that she is entitled to complete medical privacy, the press mercilessly drilled Snow with question after question, not so much about her recovery, but about the apparent secrecy of the Bush administration in yet another 'cover-up.' If any more proof was needed that the media is still locked in Watergate mode, here it is. Everything is a secret, dark operatives lurk everywhere, spooks on the inside, spooks on the outside. Little wonder so many people buy into so many conspiracy theories, they have to go no further than popular media to cite their proofs.

As White House speaker, I could get to like Tony Snow as much as I liked Ari Fleischer (2001 to 2003). Like Fleischer, Snow is witty and quick on his feet. His past as a media veteran gives him an advantage Fleischer or previous speaker Scott McClellan never had. He'll need this to deal with a pack of reporters more interested in political spin than the transmission of information. Hard to believe that White House reporters, one would think among the best of their craft, behave in such a debasing and tabloid manner. Considering the overall decline in old media revenue, perhaps this is the best the talent pool has to offer.