Overnight Open Thread (4-22-2014)

Mark Steyn: Happy Erf Day

Yuval Levin on Confirmation Bias and Human Nature

A longish but worthwhile read.

American progressives have long contended that as social science enables us to overcome some of the limits of what we know, it should also be permitted to overcome the constitutional limits on what government may do. They take themselves to be an exception to the rule that all parties see only parts of the whole, and therefore an exception also to the ubiquity of confirmation bias, and so they demand an exception to the rule that no party should have too much raw power.

...But understanding human limitations does not mean we can overcome them. It only means we can't pretend they don't exist. It should point us toward humility, not hubris. And in politics and policy, understanding the limitation that Klein highlights should point us away from technocratic overconfidence and toward an idea of a government that enables society to address its problems through incremental, local, trial-and-error learning processes rather than centrally managed wholesale transformations of large systems.

The New Progressive Aristocracy

At least the old aristocracy had actual titles and were bound by rules and legal obligations.

Stop the Party: Powdered Alcohol Maybe Not Approved After All

A product called "Palcohol" gained widespread attention online in recent days after it was reported that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the powdered alcohol, including vodka and rum varieties. But a representative for the federal bureau, Tom Hogue, said in an email to The Associated Press late Monday that the approvals were issued in error.

"An oversight of this nature does not ring true to me," [lawyer Robert] Lehrman said in a phone interview. He suggested that the bureau may have heard back from lawmakers wanting more information on the powdered alcohols.

And here's the science behind the currently forbidden Palcohol.

The Bad Shooting Trial

Byron Smith, 65, is being tried for killing two teenagers who broke into his home - Haile Kifer, 18, and Nick Brady, 17 - on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. That would have been defensible but then after shooting and disabling them he proceeded to execute them with finishing shots all the while recording the entire incident. So I'm thinking crazy and dumb with crazy having majority voting rights.

Oprah and Her Family Drama Mess

Or why you wouldn't want Oprah as a step-daughter. The fact that Oprah kept everything in her own name instead of just giving it to her father is telling.

The World's Most Jealous Woman

There's a lid for every pot and so I guess every Jabba has a Leia as well.

42 year-old Debbi is so paranoid that partner Steve Wood, 30, will play away from home that she also checks his phone, email accounts and bank statements several times a day. Steve - who started started dating Debbi in 2011 - is even banned from watching women on television or looking at pictures of them in magazines as Debbi has installed childproof filters on his laptop and mobile phone.

Doctors have diagnosed Debbi with Othello Syndrome - a rare psychiatric disorder which causes sufferers to believe their partners have cheated - even if they have little or no evidence. Debbi, of Leicester, admitted: 'Even if Steve pops out for 15 minutes to buy a pint of milk, I make him take a lie detector test as soon as he gets home.'

2048: The Animated Beyonce Edition

For My Next Defense Witness I'd Like to Call Miss America to the Stand

Roy Clark Plays Malagueña

From 1969 so forgive the annoying groovy 60s effects. Roy was (and is) more than just Hee Haw - he was pretty much a master of anything with strings. And a pretty good comedic musical actor as you can see in his version of Dueling Banjos.

The AoSHQ group. Yeah.

Teh Tweet!

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:21 PM

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