Simple isn't the same thing as dumb.

We joke a lot on this blog about "our intellectual betters" and their remarkable ability to "understand complexity". I just read an interesting article (here) which very concisely explains the phenomenon whereby smart-seeming people do anything but act wisely.  I've always been one to contend that it's more important to watch what someone does than to listen to what they say and I suspect our regular readers would agree.

Here's an excerpt from the article. I recommend reading the whole thing.

    The main problem may be confusing simple with dumb.

    If something is simple, then dumb people will believe it. And if dumb people believe something, then soon some conclude that smart people should believe something else. There’s a flaw in that philosophy.

    Why shouldn’t you touch a hot stove? There’s no complex, smart answer to that. You’ll get roughly the same answer from Stephen Hawking that you’d get from Forrest Gump: It’s hot, and it will hurt.

    But say you were going to argue that you should touch a hot stove. That would have to be a very complex answer, since it defies basic logic. And some people could run with that, talking in detail about pain receptors and the brain’s reaction to stimulus, and come up with a very smart-sounding argument on why touching a hot stove is a great idea.

    Others will go further and mock all those ignorant people in the flyover states for their irrational fear of hot stoves and announce, “The most enlightened thing to do is to press one’s face against a hot stove.” Those people are what we call intellectuals.

    Similarly, when someone comes up with a well-reasoned argument backed by top economists that two plus two equals five, there’s no brilliant way to refute it. The only response is: “No, you’re an idiot; it’s four.” But if you say that, you’ll be called anti-smart people.

A threatening move

Of course, the cause of the shooting spree was a mystery to this journalist. A complete mystery.

My favorite comment was at the 3:00 mark where the reporter states that the police shot the gunman when he "apparently made a threatening move". Something tells me that if you're walking down the middle of the street aiming at passersby and shooting at them and hitting some of them, just about the only move that isn't threatening is to drop your gun and slowly make it crystal clear that your hands are empty and away from any possibly concealed weapons.

It's probably just a coincidence that the gunman's shouting "Allahu Akbar" was barely mentioned in the entire 4 minute report and then, only by an eyewitness. The reporter probably didn't want to jump to any conclusions because that's not what reporters do... ever.

Warning - Public service announcement

from my e-mail to you

Another very helpful lecture from a "smarter than you" lib

This seems familiar to me. I may have seen or blogged it before. Anyway, here it is.

Found it at Ace of Spades blog:

More idiocy from the libs at the "United Nations"

Time Magazine Cover - April 1977  (You can trust us.)

Bureaucrats at the UN Climate Summit in Durban have outlined plans for the most draconian, harebrained and madcap climate change treaty ever produced, under which the west would be mandated to respect “the rights of Mother Earth” by paying a “climate debt” which would act as a slush fund for bankrolling an all-powerful world government.

Even as the tattered shreds of whatever credibility global warming alarmists had left evaporate in the aftermath of Climategate 2.0, the monstrous bureaucracy behind ManBearPig continues to lurch forward.

Lord Christopher Monckton’s extensive report breaks down the key aspects of the current draft text.

“Here – and, as always, you heard it here first, for the mainstream media have conspired to keep secret the Madness of King Rajendra and his entire coterie of governmental and bureaucratic lunatics worldwide – is what the dribbling, twitching thrones and dominions, principalities and powers of the world will be asked to agree to,” he writes, adding that actual climate science has not been a topic of debate at the summit.

“So, no motor cars, no coal-fired or gas-fired power stations, no aircraft, no trains. Back to the Stone Age, but without even the right to light a carbon-emitting fire in your caves,” writes Monckton. More here:

I wonder if any of the presidential candidates have a position on the United Nations and our place in it.  

"United Nations" my ass.  Once a noble idea, it has degenerated into people who are only interested in getting money out of the United States ... while, of course, bad mouthing the United States in every breath ... you know ... like libs spoiled teenagers do to their parents.

The libs have many, MANY doomsday scenarios ... luckily, they all can be solved by you giving up just a little bit more of your liberty and property (money.)  Well, they say a "little bit more" but somehow, it's never enough is it? 

Think about it ... we've had the "Square Deal,", the "New Deal, the "Great Society," the "War on Poverty," on and on and on ... and it costs trillions and trillions ... and what difference has it all made?  I'll tell you what difference it's made ... it's made all the politician's buddies rich.  Have you ever noticed that all these politicians have buddies and/or family members making money off all these government programs?  Yes, SOMEHOW they manage to get the grants and contracts but, inexplicably, you cannot ... isn't that funny?

Woops, I guess I got off topic ... again.

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Is your zipper broken?

You can buy them here at Amazon for about $4 curp.  Don't thank me, it's what I do.

Found it at Book of Joe:

We Used To Make Things

I heard about this article on Boortz's show today.
The blog is by Tim Nerenz, and is well worth reading.

Libs/Big government, hard at work ... scheming to steal your freedom

Here's how gun control works.  Remember, when you were a kid and watched the cartoons ... how the rifle exploded in the bad guy's face when the good guy stuck his finger in the barrel?  Yes.  That's how it works.

Meanwhile, remember when the "gun control" people used to pretend they only wanted to control pistols ... with the justification they were "easy to conceal" and, therefore, used in crimes much more than long guns?  Yes, that's what they used to "pretend." (You see, the libs always have to have some "justification" for stealing your freedom.  It might be a catch phrase like "assault rifle" or "a new study says ..." or "in the name of safety" etc etc) 

Then they found out they could go after some long guns with the justification of "assault rifle."  Yes, they always need a "justification" ... so their real agenda is hidden ... i.e. "controlling you and making sure you can't fight back."  Which is funny because our founding fathers knew there would ALWAYS be people who thought this way ... and to protect us against them they put this right in the constitution so we could protect ourselves from these jackasses self-proclaimed geniuses.

Anyway, here is your government, plotting against you.  Spending a kazillion crisp to generate a scandal about long guns specifically so they could then write regulations ("Demand letters") to control them ... WITHOUT congressional approval ... i.e. YOUR approval.  Hey, did I mention that a couple of people were MURDERED because of this idiocy? 

It just gets more and more "in your face ... whatcha gonna do about it, Joe six-pack?"

Bold is mine:

In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."

On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as "(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue." And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: "Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case."

This revelation angers gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a spokesman for National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, calls the discussion of Fast and Furious to argue for Demand Letter 3 "disappointing and ironic." Keane says it's "deeply troubling" if sales made by gun dealers "voluntarily cooperating with ATF's flawed 'Operation Fast & Furious' were going to be used by some individuals within ATF to justify imposing a multiple sales reporting requirement for rifles." More here:

Safety first

Yes -- why is this the case?

Found it at Bits and Pieces:

Pizza Brutality: Police Devour Protesters’ Pies

Color me unsympathetic.

First there was pepper spray. Then came the batons. But on Thursday night, bad relations between the police and protesters entered a new dimension. While arrested demonstrators sat in their cells at a Lower East side station house, the police, protesters say, stole their pizza and drank all their soda pop.
“NYPD Sadistically Eats Pizzas Meant for World AIDS Day Occupy Wall St. Protesters,” read the headline on the protesters’ news release about the episode.

The police concede that they ate the pizza, but said they thought the pies were intended for them.
“Any way you slice it, it was an honest mistake,” said Paul J. Browne, the head police spokesman.

 Full Article HERE.

The classic image of OWS

Idiot lib demonstrates flailing metaphor

Wombat sent me this in email.

I have a few things to say about it.

1 - Notice the idiots using their "human microphone" (where one person yells a couple of words and the vacuum-heads repeat it.)  This is the very latest in idiot-lib/protester technology and must be used in all situations ... ALL SITUATIONS!!

2 - I love the part, at the 28-second mark, where the lady yells "get a job."

3 - The guy on the ground is the perfect metaphor for this whole OWS "movement." He's on the ground, flailing his arms and legs and having zero impact on Glen Beck. 

4 - It's great when all the peace-loving and tolerant Democratics get together like this and demonstrate.  That way, the regular people who work can actually see what they stand for (or don't stand for.)

5 - I agree with Glen Beck on some things and disagree with him on others but he doesn't affect my life.  Nothing he does affects me one way or the other ... nothing.  Why would I spend my energy protesting him? I'm just wondering what these people think they're doing.  My guess is they're gut-hatred of anyone who thinks differently conservatives  far outweighs their ability to think rationally.

Civics Test

My Friend, The Beaner, sent me this test in email. 

The control group involved 2,806 people who took this test and the average score was 49%. Those college educated averaged 55%.. A Tough Test.

This test is not supposed to be an easy one.

Want to try it? 

Go ahead.... Click here and have some fun!

Intercollegiate Studies Institute - Educating for Liberty 

Here's my results.  I read the question on abortion wrong.  But, I guessed on some other ones that ended up being correct so I probably scored a bit better than I should have overall.

 

Try to guess which one is the Klown

And .... it's over

MANCHESTER - Herman Cain acknowledged Thursday that he repeatedly gave Ginger White money to help her with "month-to-month bills and expenses" without telling his wife of more than 40 years.

In fact, the embattled presidential candidate said, his wife, Gloria, "did not know that we were friends until she (White) came out with this story" alleging that the two had a 13-year extramarital affair.

In his most candid interview since the latest allegations emerged, Cain adamantly maintained that he and White were no more than friends. More here:

Well, looks like they (the media) got him.  It's a wonder, isn't it?  And somehow there was zero racism involved.  That's right ... the media all loved him because of his blackness ... it's just that the media draws the line at politicians having any sex outside of marriage ... you know ... like Bill Clinton.

Assuming, for the moment, that the allegation is true ... what the hell caused this woman (and the others) to suddenly ... "come forward." (I love that phrase the media uses to describe these situations ... "come forward" ... as if they're coming down the church aisle to accept their lord and savior.  When I hear the words "come forward" I immediately think "someone is getting paid."

Yes, (again, assuming it's true,) he's paying her rent, car payment, etc for 13 years and everything is copacetic ... and then he runs for president ... and ALLLLLL of a sudden ... out of the blue, the guilt overwhelms her and she's got to "get this off her chest" and "make a clean breast of 'er."  Yes, yes, she's going to feel MUCH better once it's ALLLLL out in the open.  Never mind it will crush his wife.  Never mind it will ruin his chance of being president.  Never mind he'll cut off the money, it's MUCH more important to get right with God ... right NOW ... after 13 YEARS.  Yes, we have to have our priorities in order, don't we?

See, I'm not buying that "reason."  Now ... what OTHER reason could there possibly be?  Well, I'll let you decide for yourself.  And after you do, if you feel it necessary to share your insight, you can return to the comments on this post and come forward reveal your conclusions.

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