The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Software Enhanced Politics: Perl Flip-Flop

Posted on | December 5, 2011 | 5 Comments

by Smitty

Coding is actually fun, not that I have time to do much anymore, because you can work on small problems and actually solve them. In politics, you talk about solving problems as though a closed-form solution was somehow obtainable. In the blog world, you can compare this site to a retail shopping trip to a department store. Your web browser is the sales associate, busily getting the shoes in hopes of a fit. The database is the store-room, with all the merchandise arranged to cram in the most stock, while still retaining easy access, if not best display. The internet and web server is all of the streets and traffic signals between your house and the parking lot, doing all of the utterly boring work of moving traffic along according to some relatively stable protocol, say HTTP.

The wildly dynamic work of getting just the right style of shoe in the right size and determining that the shoe fits, so that you can wear it, lands on the scripting engine. This particular blog is composed in WordPress, which is to the PHP language what Legalese is to English: sure, WordPress is PHP, but brings enough specialization to the task that you can’t just buy a PHP cookbook and expect to get very far with the WordPress codebase.

Who cares about these details? You wanted a blog post, not a meditation on coding. If all of the infrastructure works, you get the post, and the tools involved fade like presidential campaigns long since suspended. It matters not if the blogging tool is implemented in PHP, the relatively clean looking Python, or the quirky, idiomatic Perl.

Now and then, though, you get some reflection of software programs into political programs, of geek code into legal code, of information state into nation-state. This happened when I saw a post on the Perl ‘flip-flop’ operator. In electronics, you have the concept of the bi-stable multivibrator, which is far less kinky than it sounds. It’s essentially an electronic light switch, flipping on, or flopping off based upon an input, but, most importantly, staying that way, like an unprincipled politician awaiting the next lobbyist to flash some cast and adjust a vote.

Perl’s gift to software is to have more operators than the Democrat Party. So many, in fact, that some joker arranged them as a periodic table. Perl really fetishes operators, having around an order of magnitude more than most other languages with which you’d care to tangle. The subject of the post is the flip-flop operator, which has massive political application.

Perl 5 has a binary operator called flip-flop that is false until its first argument evaluates to true and it stays true (flips) until the second argument evaluates to true at which point it becomes false again (flops). This is such a useful operator that Perl 6 also has flip-flop, only it’s spelled ff and has a few variants:

ff
ff^
^ff
^ff^

The circumflex means to skip the end point on that end.
Perhaps some examples are in order …

for 1..20 { .say if $_ == 9 ff $_ == 13; }
# 9 10 11 12 13

for 1..20 { .say if $_ == 9 ff^ $_ == 13; }
# 9 10 11 12

for 1..20 { .say if $_ == 9 ^ff $_ == 13; }
# 10 11 12 13

for 1..20 { .say if $_ == 9 ^ff^ $_ == 13; }
# 10 11 12

As with a political tool, the software tool should provide maximum capacity to obscure meaning. This blog holds forth the hope that proper grasping of the nuances of the flip-flop operator will lead to greater dexterity in the assumption of positions which candidates have previously opposed. For example, usage of the flip-flop operator can allow simultaneous treatment of terrorism as a law enforcement issue on the one hand, while employing armed drones to atomize terrorists on the other, even if the terrorists are U.S. citizens, without the sordid embarrassment of a software crash. A physical light switch operated at modern political frequencies would shatter like a teleprompter falling to the cold, hard, real ground. The ephemeral nature of software brings to politician to that nirvana-like state of being able to hold two positions simultaneously. If the flip-flop operator were any more powerful, they should have to call it the Progress operator.

Category: How This Here Internet Thingy Works, Politics, Uncategorized

Tepid Star Wars Fan At Best, But This Made Up For The Hype With Cool

Posted on | December 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

via Miss Cellania

Category: Video

A Shot To The Dome Of Security Theater?

Posted on | December 5, 2011 | 7 Comments

by Smitty

Roger Kimball

Right now, we spend billions of dollars on a new government institution (the TSA) which invades people’s privacy, clogs our airports, and doesn’t really do anything to make flying safer. Why not dismantle the whole thing and hire a couple thousand sharp shooters? We place one or two on every flight up by the cockpit behind some bullet-proof plexiglass. Ahmed gets restless, bang! He gets his 72 virgins. When I asked about reading him his Miranda rights, Andy suggested the perfect abridgment: “You have the right to remain silent,” which, in the circs., he was certain to do anyway.

Among the stronger criticisms of W is the whole Department of Homeland Security. Sure, using security theater as a front for a jobs program was brilliant. W bought all of the value of ‘taking action’ and helping ‘create jobspositions’ with precious little flack for Democrat-style money wasting, because it was all done under the ‘security’ fig leaf.

And yet the GOP has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the notion of scaling back the federal government. GOP: the TSA is precisely the sort of overpriced, ham-fisted, ineffectual noise that got the Revolution going back in the late 1700s. Right now the list of Executive agencies that the GOP candidates is too, too short. As the primaries roll on, the GOP axe list should grow, just so BHO can look sillier defending the Executive bloat.

via Instapundit

Category: Republicans

They Don’t Pay Extra for Tears

Posted on | December 5, 2011 | 66 Comments

My 12-year-old son Jefferson with Herman Cain, July 17, 2011.

Journalism is a cynical racket and if you can’t dismiss tragedy and suffering with a sarcastic joke, you don’t belong in a newsroom.

Famine and wars, airplane crashes, disease, murder — horrible stuff happens to people every day, and your job is to turn it into that commodity called “news.” You’re not paid to give a damn about the human beings whose lives are blighted or destroyed by these disasters.

And most of the time, you don’t give a damn. Because you can’t, really.

You’d go nuts if you ever stopped to think — much less care — about the unspeakable misery involved in so much of what we call “news.”

Over the past several days, I’ve made a lot of phone calls and talked to a lot of people who joined me aboard that wild ride called the “Cain Train.” My thought was to write the definitive post-mortem on the campaign, to analyze this disaster based on all I’ve seen and heard over the past year. But I didn’t write that article, and there’s a reason why.

You see, it’s become a family tradition that, every year, Daddy takes his sons out to buy The Best Christmas Tree Ever. For all my personal and professional failures — “Not Good Enough for BlogCon” — I have an unbroken streak of success at doing this one thing. Every year, Daddy goes to get the tree and every year when I bring it home, the entire family agrees that this is The Best Christmas Tree Ever.

So about 7 p.m., instead of transcribing audio and doing that definitive analytical post-mortem on the Cain campaign I’d meant to write, my boys and I went off to find The Best Christmas Tree Ever. Of course, we succeeded, but while we were on our quest (with my 19-year-old son Bob at the wheel), I did manage to do a couple of interviews with my cell phone and handy digital recorder.

By the time we got back home, it was 9 o’clock — my wife said, “Wow! It really is The Best Christmas Tree Ever!” — and my American Spectator deadline was just three hours away. So I had to work fast and, after I started writing, the story took a detour that surprised even me:

Mike Rogers was on board what became known as the Cain Train even before the locomotive left the station. A computer systems engineer who lives in New Hampshire, Rogers first heard Herman Cain speak at an Americans for Prosperity conference in 2009, and immediately believed the Georgia businessman should be the next President of the United States. Rogers and his wife gave the maximum legal contribution to Cain’s presidential exploratory committee before the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO officially announced his Republican primary candidacy in May.
“I was sitting in the front row for the announcement in Atlanta,” Rogers said Sunday, a day after Cain returned home to Atlanta to announce that he would suspend his campaign, which had soared to the top of the GOP field in early October but was eventually derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct that the 65-year-old candidate has insisted are false and politically motivated. In announcing his exit from the campaign trail, Cain said he was moving from “Plan A” — winning the White House in 2012 — to “Plan B,” an issues-advocacy website, but Saturday was definitely the end of the dream that Rogers and thousands of other self-declared “Cainiacs” had dreamed for months.
“Plan B is just face-saving,” Rogers said. “Unless he’s able to clear his name and get back in, or clear his name and be picked as the [vice-presidential running mate] for somebody, essentially his best bet is to take his raised profile and get back on the radio, maybe a little bit of TV, and push his policies. But really, it’s not going to have the same force as being in the field shaping the debate.”
Unlike the TV talking heads, print pundits and late-night comedians who spent the past five weeks reporting, analyzing or mocking each new accusation against Cain, it’s not easy for true believers like Rogers to move on. The media immediately turned their attention to speculating about which of the remaining Republican candidates will benefit most from Cain’s painful encounter with the politics of personal destruction, while the dreamers awoke to life without a dream. . . . .

You really should read the whole thing. Some words you write with tears in your eyes, but they don’t pay extra for that. So I suppose I’ll be content with knowing I got The Best Christmas Tree Ever — again!

 





Category: Christmas, Election 2012, Herman Cain, Mrs. Other McCain

LIVE AT FIVE – 12.05.11

Posted on | December 5, 2011 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Senate Dems Prepare New Plan To Extend Payroll Tax Cut

Dingy Harry speaks to the press

Kent Conrad (D-SD) says plan is a compromise between failed GOP, Democrat plans

Putin, United Russia Suffer Election Blow
United Russia polls less than 50%

Romney Girds Loins for Gingrich
Insert temple garment joke here



POLITICS
DC Occupiers Busted For Permit Violation

NO BUILDING PERMIT, NO PEACE

DC police arrest Occupiers after they refuse to tear down structure erected without building permit

Students And Veterans Link Up For Pearl Harbor’s 70th

Obama Pushes Cordray Appointment With Populist Message


Governor Cuomo Pushes New Taxes For The Wealthy, Stimulus Fund

Critics Accuse Sheriff Joe Arpaio Of Botching Sex Crime Cases

Oklahoma’s Senator Coburn Says He’d Have A Hard Time Backing Newt

CT Governor Orders Probe Into Possible Post-Irene Food Fraud



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Leaders Piece Together Deal To Keep Euro Intact
Italy PM Monti Unveils Sweeping Austerity Program
Online Holiday Sales Hit Nearly $6 Billion For The Week
Oil Rises A Second Day On Iran Tension, Eurodebt Meetings
Average Gasoline Price Down Nine Cents Over Last Two Weeks
Apple Takes Blow In Battle With Samsung: Judge Rejects Injunction Request
Inside Carrier IQ-Gate
Dear FTC, Thanks For Not Saving Us From Facebook’s Privacy Changes
Slow Sales Dogged Volt Before Fires
We’re All Wasting Time Online



SPORTS
BCS Standings Ensure Alabama & LSU Will Meet Again

Rose Bowl reunion?

First rematch in bowl history and first all-SEC BCS championship

Marlins, Reyes Sign Six-Year $102 Million Deal

Penske To Determine Kurt Busch’s Future Today


Stephens-Howling Leads Cardinals To OT Win Over Cowboys

Packers Stay Unbeaten, Fell Giants At Finish

Tebow Takes To The Air As Broncos Trample Vikings

Phillies Sign Laynce Nix To Two-Year Deal



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Brooke Mueller Arrested For Coke Possession, Assault

Charlie Sheen's ex, Brooke Mueller

Assault and possession with intent to distribute, that is

Angelina Jolie Treats Her Kids To A Movie in NYC

Lindsay To Face Fate Worse Than Jail: Celebrity “Big Brother”

Mindy McCready & Son Found In Arkansas

Jessica Biel Loved Being Pregnant In “New Year’s Eve”

Ashton Kutcher Takes Off Wedding Ring And Kabbalah String


Kirsten Dunst: Who’ll Have Kids With Me?

Universal Studios Closes “Jaws” To Make Way For New Attraction

How Britney Spent Her 30th Birthday

Cheerios: Lady Gaga’s Naked O-Face Is O-Kay With Us



FOREIGNERS
Islamists Seek To Extend Gains In Egyptian Runoff Vote
Afghan Conference In Bonn As NATO Eyes Exits
Syria Faces New Sanctions As Arab League Deadline Passes
Iran Shoots Down US Surveillance Drone
Mysterious Explosions, Deaths Suggest Covert Offensive Against Iran
Thousands Evacuated After 1.8-ton WW2 Bomb Found In Koblenz; Defusing Successful
Croatia’s Conservatives Ousted
Center-Left Party Gets Surprise Win In Slovenia



BLOGS & STUFF
Lonely Conservative: Huckabee’s GOP Presidential Primary Forum (Video)
American Thinker: Iran Says It Shot Down US Drone
Just One Minute: Or Full Service DEA
Glenn Reynolds: The Higher Ed Bubble Is Bursting, So What Comes Next
Weasel Zippers: Woman Raped At Occupy Hartford Camp
George Will: Choking On Obamacare
Jawa Report: Religion Of Peace Influence Increases In UK


SOTD: Blue Jeans & A Rosary

Category: Live at Five

Sony 3D Blu-Ray Disc Player $108!

Posted on | December 4, 2011 | 15 Comments

Yesterday, one of our readers got that incredible bargain by shopping our Amazon Associates holiday specials, and I’m grateful to see that so many of y’all have taken advantage of the great deals this season.

Another reader bought a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans yesterday and last week, a reader scored a deluxe electric blanket. Everything you buy through our Amazon links pays me a small commission, at no cost to you.

We are proud to be your online home of Shameless Capitalism™ — an excellent American holiday tradition — and I hope you’re not one of those scummy “Occupy” protesters who hates capitalism and (“allegedly“*) commits sexual assault. Because if you haven’t shopped our amazing Amazon deals yet, I question your patriotism!

* “Allegedly” = a word neutral objective journalists use to describe criminal scum who are obviously guilty as hell.

Category: Amazon

Quote Of The Day

Posted on | December 4, 2011 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

Dr. Tim’s Moment of Clarity:

The unemployed 26-year old in the hemp hat looking for sympathy might look instead for some inspiration from Jerome I. Case, who started his agricultural equipment business at the age of 21, miraculously without an iPhone 4s.
Mr. Case got rich by asking people what they want and making it for them. He did not get rich by telling people what he wanted and waiting for them to do something about it. If you want to declare war on your own poverty, memorize that.

In defense of Hemp Hat, the amount of government friction in the market was significantly lower Back When.

via Cuccinelli on FaceBook

Category: Wisconsin

Rule 5 Sunday: Truth

Posted on | December 4, 2011 | 13 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


Gosh, what a week. Herman Cain suspends his campaign, my daughter arrives from SFO for a month’s TDY among the stone knives and bearskins of Amazon’s Virginia data centers, 0bama goes on vacation, and Rule 5 Sunday actually falls on a Sunday this week! What better way to start the post than with some celebratory pole dancing, courtesy of The Rio Norte Line? Oh, wait, that’s pole vaulting. How about this, then?

Elsewhere, The POH Diaries celebrate Bob’s megahit with Pippa Middleton, Randy’s Roundtable brings the midweek heat, and The Valley Of The Shadow shakes the tip jar with Kat Von D. Eye of Polyphemus is on Dana Delaney, Fishersville Mike reminds us that it’s almost (country) Christmas, and the Rio Norte Line adds Pixie Lott. Also, the enraging (to the Religion of Peace types, anyway) Veena Malik! Reaganite Republican continues his “Know Your Enemy” series with Miss North Korea 2011, Sora Chong. One shudders to think of her talent contest skills. On a related topic, Jake Finnegan’s Burkalesque Babe this week is Scarlett Johansson, cleverly concealed beneath the US flag burka.


El Opinador Compulsivo has Catrinel Menghia and her Fiat ad video, Essence of Alibi, Brazilian Babes, Theo(Spark)logy, vintage babe Hedy Lamarr, Milton Friedman quote #1, #2, and #3, and in a gesture of solidarity with the ladies, Nani Coleto, an Argentinian rugby player.


Proof Positive offers Amit Friedman, vintage babe Jerry Hall, Olivia de Haviland doing some retro Sex in Advertising. Related: Victoria’s Secret, Strippers Posing As Legal Aides, word of the day “Limber”, and the obligatory 49ers cheerleader.


Maggie’s Notebook this week has Santa’s Babies, Troglopundit asks what Danica Patrick and Marilyn Monroe have in common, Dustbury gets obscure with Danish singer Medina and NYC developer MaryAnne Gilmartin.


This week at The Camp of the Saints it was Maddalena Corvaglia, Rule 5 News, Jennifer Esposito, and salacious social activist Scarlett Johansson. Three Beers Later offered Yvonne Craig and Cote De Pablo.


Soylent Green’s Monday Motivationer was Cali Taylor, followed by some Canadian titillation, some prolix Humpday Hawtness (insert joke about too many words, not enough pictures here), some Vargas action, Brazilian body paint in lieu of corsets, topical reporting on the Egyptian elections, the delights of breakfast, and a PSA on the proper application of bling.


Finally, the DaleyGator’s Daleybabes: Ayanna Jordan, Asian Babe Friday, Jennifer Metcalfe, Justene Jaro, Ashley Greene, and Ola Amedola.

Category: Rule 5
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