Author: RB

Sanskrit object-oriented

From Sanskrit as an Object Oriented Language: Lakshmi Thathachar’s view of Sanskrit’s nature may be paraphrased as follows: All modern languages have etymological roots in classical languages. And some say all Indo-European languages are rooted in Sanskrit, but let us not get lost in that debate. Words in Sanskrit are instances of pre-defined classes, a … Continue reading “Sanskrit object-oriented”

From Sanskrit as an Object Oriented Language:

Lakshmi Thathachar’s view of Sanskrit’s nature may be paraphrased as follows: All modern languages have etymological roots in classical languages. And some say all Indo-European languages are rooted in Sanskrit, but let us not get lost in that debate. Words in Sanskrit are instances of pre-defined classes, a concept that drives object oriented programming [OOP] today. For example, in English ‘cow’ is a just a sound assigned to mean a particular animal. But if you drill down the word ‘gau’ –Sanskrit for ‘cow’– you will arrive at a broad class ‘gam’ which means ‘to move. From these derive ‘gamanam’, ‘gatih’ etc which are variations of ‘movement’. All words have this OOP approach, except that defined classes in Sanskrit are so exhaustive that they cover the material and abstract –indeed cosmic– experiences known to man. So in Sanskrit the connection is more than etymological.

It was Panini who formalised Sanskrit’s grammar and usage about 2500 years ago. No new ‘classes’ have needed to be added to it since then. “Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages,” say J J O’Connor and E F Robertson.

BTW, that clown Chomsky stole his structural linguistics from Panini, and never gave him credit. Anyway, it’s an interesting article so RTWT.

Little Beirut’s Madrid Connection

The fingerprints of Portland lawyer with terrorist connections were found on a bag in Madrid, so the dude’s been busted: Federal agents on Thursday detained a Washington County lawyer in connection with the deadly March 11 terrorist attack in Madrid — the first American connection to the worst terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. Brandon … Continue reading “Little Beirut’s Madrid Connection”

The fingerprints of Portland lawyer with terrorist connections were found on a bag in Madrid, so the dude’s been busted:

Federal agents on Thursday detained a Washington County lawyer in connection with the deadly March 11 terrorist attack in Madrid — the first American connection to the worst terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

Brandon Mayfield, 37, who lives in [Portland suburbe] Aloha and played a minor legal role in the Portland Seven terrorism case, was picked up at his West Slope law office on a material witness hold Thursday morning, said Tom Nelson, Mayfield’s attorney.

Mr. Totten points out that a bomb was found on a local commuter train in Portland not long ago. Coincidence?

Disneygate

The details on Michael Moore’s Disney fraud are becoming so clear that even he can’t deny them any more: Less than 24 hours after accusing the Walt Disney Company of pulling the plug on his latest documentary in a blatant attempt at political censorship, the rabble-rousing film-maker Michael Moore has admitted he knew a year … Continue reading “Disneygate”

The details on Michael Moore’s Disney fraud are becoming so clear that even he can’t deny them any more:

Less than 24 hours after accusing the Walt Disney Company of pulling the plug on his latest documentary in a blatant attempt at political censorship, the rabble-rousing film-maker Michael Moore has admitted he knew a year ago that Disney had no intention of distributing it.

Meanwhile, the New York Times published an editorial bashing Disney instead of correcting its misstatement of the facts of the matter:

Give the Walt Disney Company a gold medal for cowardice for blocking its Miramax division from distributing a film that criticizes President Bush and his family. A company that ought to be championing free expression has instead chosen to censor a documentary that clearly falls within the bounds of acceptable political commentary.

Give that gold medal to the Times.

Caution

I would personally not want to mess with Tammy Bruce if I were terrorist scum. Link via Tim Blair

I would personally not want to mess with Tammy Bruce if I were terrorist scum.

Link via Tim Blair

Moderate Activists

One of the keys to the Schwarzenegger Miracle in California was a group of moderate Republican businessmen called The New Majority. Here’s how they’re described by hidebound paleo-con adversaries: “They’re for principle if possible, but winning at all cost,” said Larry Smith, a Newport Beach businessman who launched a conservative political-action committee to counter the … Continue reading “Moderate Activists”

One of the keys to the Schwarzenegger Miracle in California was a group of moderate Republican businessmen called The New Majority. Here’s how they’re described by hidebound paleo-con adversaries:

“They’re for principle if possible, but winning at all cost,” said Larry Smith, a Newport Beach businessman who launched a conservative political-action committee to counter the New Majority. “We’re for winning if possible, but principle at all cost.”

Smith probably thinks he’s insulted them, but the first axiom of politics is that you have to win before you can govern. While the notion of “moderate activists” sounds oxymoronic, in the long run moderates have to get energized to take back both parties from the extremists if we’re to improve the way this nation is governed, and judging by Arnie’s 65% approval rating in California, we’re going to like the results.

Michael Moore: Busted (again)

Honest left-wing journo Marc Cooper has busted Michael Moore for spinning a web of lies about Disney in order to hype his latest project: Below find an exclusive full text copy of the article by Andrew Gumbel which will appear in Thursday’s London-based daily The Independent which quotes inside sources saying there is nothing new … Continue reading “Michael Moore: Busted (again)”

Honest left-wing journo Marc Cooper has busted Michael Moore for spinning a web of lies about Disney in order to hype his latest project:

Below find an exclusive full text copy of the article by Andrew Gumbel which will appear in Thursday’s London-based daily The Independent which quotes inside sources saying there is nothing new in Disney’s red light, that Moore knew it was a no-go from the outset. After you’ve read Andrew’s piece take a look at this L.A. Weekly column I wrote in March describing Moore as the Ann Coulter of the left.

Chances of the New York Times publishing a retraction to its overheated story of Moore’s oppression are practically nil, I suppose.

BTW, Cooper’s LA Weekly article is as insightful about Moore as anything you’ll ever read:

Moore?s shtick is to deftly read the emotional contours of the liberal left and then to profitably mold and expand himself to fill the void. He?s a polarizer, not a teacher. His ramped-up stage style, shouting and screaming profanities at Dubya, no doubt provides some satisfying moments for the already-converted but can only alienate and confound those still in doubt.

And all the more damning because Cooper’s very much a Man of the Left.

Link via Roger L. Simon.

It’s not baseball, but still…

Matt Welch explores the subtle moral distinctions that led prominent leftists to support the liberation of Kosovo and oppose similar action in Iraq in this piece for Reason: Since Clark was one of the top four Democratic candidates for president, and Soros has redirected his considerable energy and at least $15 million to effect “regime … Continue reading “It’s not baseball, but still…”

Matt Welch explores the subtle moral distinctions that led prominent leftists to support the liberation of Kosovo and oppose similar action in Iraq in this piece for Reason:

Since Clark was one of the top four Democratic candidates for president, and Soros has redirected his considerable energy and at least $15 million to effect “regime change” in the United States, their distinction between Kosovo and Iraq arguably looms as the defining foreign policy difference between Democrats and Republicans in 2004. And for those of us who supported Clinton’s Wilsonianism but not Bush’s, these books should help answer two questions we really ought to be asking ourselves: Is our support for America’s activist role dependent on high moral principle, or is it tethered to partisan politics? And did we lower the bar for military intervention?

Seems to me that it’s a matter of trust. Bob Dylan said: “if you’re gonna live outside the law, you better be honest.” Partisan Democrats trust Democratic presidents to engage in technically illegal foreign wars in the service of high moral principles, but not Republican presidents; and vice versa.

Which shows us that the system of international law that made the interventions in Kosovo and Iraq (and the non-intervention in Rwanda) technically illegal needs to change, but how? Certainly, we can’t trust the UN to sanction the removal of despots from power; but who can we trust to authorize and direct the use of American and British military power?

Only the elected representatives in each country, unfortunately.

Must try harder

Despite my best efforts to kill it, the Lessig-land blog lumbers on, and with a guest blogger no less.

Despite my best efforts to kill it, the Lessig-land blog lumbers on, and with a guest blogger no less.

The trees, dude

This is very cool: The folks at GreenWood Resources are working on poplar hybrids that will boost volume and wood quality even more. Its experimental station here has 53 commercial elite-hybrid varieties. “This marries traditional agriculture to forestry,” says Brian Stanton, GreenWood’s plant geneticist, who quickly notes there’s nothing Dr. Frankenstein about this. It’s easy … Continue reading “The trees, dude”

This is very cool:

The folks at GreenWood Resources are working on poplar hybrids that will boost volume and wood quality even more. Its experimental station here has 53 commercial elite-hybrid varieties.

“This marries traditional agriculture to forestry,” says Brian Stanton, GreenWood’s plant geneticist, who quickly notes there’s nothing Dr. Frankenstein about this. It’s easy to see why. Believing GreenWood was doing genetic engineering, eco-terrorists bombed its facilities in 2001. In fact, the company uses traditional cross-breeding. It just does so at a state-of-the-art level.

Of course, there’s nothing new about poplar farms. They were originally developed as a bio-mass source for energy production. When that didn’t work out, poplar was used for wood chips and paper production, but there’s little money in that today. GreenWood’s goal: create fast-growing, high-quality hybrid poplars for furniture stock, veneer, paneling and cabinetry.

Gary LaMusga’s struggle

Here’s an excellent article by Glenn Sacks on the LaMusga case, highlighting the struggle that Gary has undergone to be a father to his children: According to the court testimony of her son?s kindergarten teacher, the boy told the teacher that “my dad lies in court…if you tell the judge…he could talk to you.” That?s … Continue reading “Gary LaMusga’s struggle”

Here’s an excellent article by Glenn Sacks on the LaMusga case, highlighting the struggle that Gary has undergone to be a father to his children:

According to the court testimony of her son?s kindergarten teacher, the boy told the teacher that “my dad lies in court…if you tell the judge…he could talk to you.” That?s funny because my daughter is in kindergarten right now and she?s the smartest little girl in the world but I can?t quite imagine her coming up with ideas like that on her own. Who could have put these ideas into Gary LaMusga?s five year old son?s head?

According to the testimony of the kindergarten teacher, she asked the boy this and the boy said that his mom told him these things. The same mother who has worked so hard to foster the relationship between her sons and their father.

The teacher also testified: “He spoke to me with a similar conversation…I finally sat down with him and told him that it was OK for him to love his daddy. I basically gave him permission to love his father. And he seemed brightened by that.”

Gee, like it?s a revelation–he can love his dad, too! Mom never allowed him to do that!

The teacher continued: “The next day that Gary had seen the kids he came to me the following morning and said ,?what did you say to him?…He was so happy. He just greeted me with open arms…we had one of the best evenings that we have had in a long time.? ”

This kind of behavior is so common it has a clinical name: parental alienation.

The kindergarten teacher’s testimony by itself should have been grounds for a change of custody from mom to dad, but in our bizarre legal system, it’s just barely enough to allow dad to spend tens of thousands of dollars on the outside chance that he can prevent his children from being carted off 2400 miles away to an area where mom can live comfortably off the child support without working, pushing this poison without interference.

BTW, Glenn Sacks has an interesting guest on his show Sunday, the obnoxious advice columnist and erstwhile blogger Amy Alkon. It’s my opinion that Alkon is a man-hater, but her friends say she’s an equal opportunity hater, down on children and feminists as well; if that’s the case, she’s at least got one thing right.

UPDATE: Alkon defends herself in the comments. The defense sounds good, but what has she got against baseball?