At least we are now going back to Super Tuesday (March 6) for the Presidential Primary vote. Maybe my vote will still count.
Friday, December 23, 2011
New Congressional Districts
So last week when I wasn't paying attention, Ohio agreed to the original Congressional District map proposed by Republicans with just a few minor tweaks. This keeps me in Chabot's district 1 come next election cycle. *Blech*
At least we are now going back to Super Tuesday (March 6) for the Presidential Primary vote. Maybe my vote will still count.
At least we are now going back to Super Tuesday (March 6) for the Presidential Primary vote. Maybe my vote will still count.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tenth Doctor Theme
I am not a true Whovian in the classical sense. I have more of a general awareness and mild enjoyment, although that is tied predominantly to the classical Fourth Doctor episodes.
Still, I heartily enjoy the reissue of the Dr. Who theme done in 2005 for the revival of the series under the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant or Barty Crouch Jr. to Potterphiles).
You might also enjoy this evolution of the theme though the lifespan of the eleven doctors.
Still, I heartily enjoy the reissue of the Dr. Who theme done in 2005 for the revival of the series under the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant or Barty Crouch Jr. to Potterphiles).
You might also enjoy this evolution of the theme though the lifespan of the eleven doctors.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Fantasy Football What-ifs
I've been doing fantasy football (Potbellied Pigs) for three years now and this was my best season yet. I finished 2nd in my division at 8-6 and missed out on the playoffs literally by 2 points. The fellow who ended up getting the wild card berth (Flashes of Glory) had the same record as me and the first tiebreaker in our league is total points scored over the course of the season. He finished the season with 1433 and I finished with 1431. Even more galling is that if I had played Doug Baldwin of Seattle against the Rams instead of Johnny Knox of Chicago against the Broncos (week 14), I would have finished with more points and made the playoffs.
As the wild card winner, I would have played the number one seed (Bungles4Life). As it turns out, he ended up having a horrible fantasy weekend and I would have won (although not by much as my team also did pretty badly). The other match up is not set as one person (Bus Drivers) has two players going tonight. Those two will almost certainly put him over the top and making our fantasy football final Flashes of Glory vs. Bus Drivers.
I hope Flashes wins but I shall remain rueful about what might have happened had I played one person differently.
As the wild card winner, I would have played the number one seed (Bungles4Life). As it turns out, he ended up having a horrible fantasy weekend and I would have won (although not by much as my team also did pretty badly). The other match up is not set as one person (Bus Drivers) has two players going tonight. Those two will almost certainly put him over the top and making our fantasy football final Flashes of Glory vs. Bus Drivers.
I hope Flashes wins but I shall remain rueful about what might have happened had I played one person differently.
Dictator Death March
Word leaked out late last night that Kim Jong-in of North Korea died of "fatigue" yesterday. Kim had been sickly for the past couple of years so his death is not a huge surprise.
What is a bit odd is how many of the world strongmen have gone down or are preparing to go down. This past year we've lost Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen. In the very near future Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will probably die of cancer and Bashar al-Assad of Syria will decide whether to flee or commit self-immolation with his entire nation as the pyre. This also does not take into account the likelihood that Father Time will remove both the Castro boys of Cuba and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in the near future.
Of course, new dictators will rise up to take the place of the old, but it still feels just a little odd that so many of the well-known scoundrels of history are going down in such a short time.
Hopefully things go well in North Korea. There has been a fear that Kim Jong-il's designated successor, Kim Jong-un, will not be strong enough to reign in his generals and that he will be deposed. If that happens, open warfare may break out as the generals jockey for position and that in turn could spill out into South Korea. That might potentially draw in the US and the Chinese as well. We shall see and hope that things don't get out of hand too quickly.
What is a bit odd is how many of the world strongmen have gone down or are preparing to go down. This past year we've lost Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen. In the very near future Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will probably die of cancer and Bashar al-Assad of Syria will decide whether to flee or commit self-immolation with his entire nation as the pyre. This also does not take into account the likelihood that Father Time will remove both the Castro boys of Cuba and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in the near future.
Of course, new dictators will rise up to take the place of the old, but it still feels just a little odd that so many of the well-known scoundrels of history are going down in such a short time.
Hopefully things go well in North Korea. There has been a fear that Kim Jong-il's designated successor, Kim Jong-un, will not be strong enough to reign in his generals and that he will be deposed. If that happens, open warfare may break out as the generals jockey for position and that in turn could spill out into South Korea. That might potentially draw in the US and the Chinese as well. We shall see and hope that things don't get out of hand too quickly.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Driving Distance Puzzler
This is another puzzler stolen from Car Talk (which I've been listening to on Podcast now):
A man and his wife decided to go to a bed and breakfast over the weekend. They got into the car and the wife drove for 40 miles. They then pulled over at a rest stop and the husband drove for the rest of the way to the B&B. On the drive back home, the husband drove for 50 miles and then asked his wife to drive the rest of the way home.
The question is, how many more miles did the husband drive than the wife over the course of the whole trip? (You do not need to know the total distance driven to solve this problem)
(highlight to see answer below):
A: 20 miles.
Set the total trip distance to any number and solve. The difference will always be 20 miles. Thus, if d=50, then the husband drove 60 miles while the wife drove 40 miles. If d=100, then the husband drove 110 miles while the wife drove 90 miles.
A man and his wife decided to go to a bed and breakfast over the weekend. They got into the car and the wife drove for 40 miles. They then pulled over at a rest stop and the husband drove for the rest of the way to the B&B. On the drive back home, the husband drove for 50 miles and then asked his wife to drive the rest of the way home.
The question is, how many more miles did the husband drive than the wife over the course of the whole trip? (You do not need to know the total distance driven to solve this problem)
(highlight to see answer below):
A: 20 miles.
Set the total trip distance to any number and solve. The difference will always be 20 miles. Thus, if d=50, then the husband drove 60 miles while the wife drove 40 miles. If d=100, then the husband drove 110 miles while the wife drove 90 miles.
TV Political Affiliation
According to Entertainment Weekly, I have a weird straddling of viewing habits between Liberal and Conservative.
I enjoy the "liberal comedies" of Parks and Recreation, Glee, and Modern Family (although to be fair, Glee's writing is getting annoying. I just like the songs). Yet I also enjoy the "conservative work shows" of Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch.
I was disappointed to see that no food competition shows (Chopped, Iron Chef) were ranked as either Republican or Democrat. I guess those are equally enjoyed.
I enjoy the "liberal comedies" of Parks and Recreation, Glee, and Modern Family (although to be fair, Glee's writing is getting annoying. I just like the songs). Yet I also enjoy the "conservative work shows" of Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch.
I was disappointed to see that no food competition shows (Chopped, Iron Chef) were ranked as either Republican or Democrat. I guess those are equally enjoyed.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
If you want to know why the unemployment rate is one of the worst indicators of the health of the economy, here is proof.
The government just released the numbers for November and a total of 120,000 jobs were created. That sounds good except that just to keep pace with population growth our economy needs to create 90,000 jobs a month.
Despite this tepid number, the unemployment rate dropped 0.4 to 8.6%. To accomplish this little trick, the government reduced the labor participation rate by 0.2 from 64.2% to 64.0% This effectively means that they said that .2% of the population was no longer looking for work (or put on permanent unemployment). That's a magical reduction of nearly 300,000 people from the workforce in one month.
Of course, all people will hear is that unemployment is now in the 8% range and that we've turned the economic corner. B******. Just five years ago (Dec. 2006), the labor participation rate was 66.4. In five years that a loss of over 3.3 million jobs before you even get to the change in unemployment rate.
Something stinks over the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Or maybe they're just living up to the old adage about statistics.
The government just released the numbers for November and a total of 120,000 jobs were created. That sounds good except that just to keep pace with population growth our economy needs to create 90,000 jobs a month.
Despite this tepid number, the unemployment rate dropped 0.4 to 8.6%. To accomplish this little trick, the government reduced the labor participation rate by 0.2 from 64.2% to 64.0% This effectively means that they said that .2% of the population was no longer looking for work (or put on permanent unemployment). That's a magical reduction of nearly 300,000 people from the workforce in one month.
Of course, all people will hear is that unemployment is now in the 8% range and that we've turned the economic corner. B******. Just five years ago (Dec. 2006), the labor participation rate was 66.4. In five years that a loss of over 3.3 million jobs before you even get to the change in unemployment rate.
Something stinks over the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Or maybe they're just living up to the old adage about statistics.
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