This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter). Posts here are rare these days. For current stuff, follow me on Mastodon

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Curmudgeon’s Corner: Not As Bad As It Sounds

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan discuss Ivan’s impressions of attending the DC “March for Our Lives” event in person… including the implications for the wider gun debate. Then they talk about the online privacy issues that have been around for years, but are now getting more attention because of the recent headlines about how social media was manipulated during Election 2016. Oh, and Ivan recently returned from a trip to Singapore, so he shares his impression of that city too.

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Show Details:

Recorded 2018-03-30
Length this week – 1:34:36

  • (0:01:30-0:04:06) Agenda
  • (0:05:14-0:15:28) Singapore
  • (0:16:43-1:01:06) March for Our Lives
  • (1:01:42-1:34:16) Online privacy

 

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Chaos Show

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about the chaotic week that was. Donald Trump throwing grenades into the gun and trade policy debates, the mounting reports of corruption within the administration, and the usual, but seemingly intensifying, chaos within the White House staff itself. Oh, and Ivan caused some chaos himself by accidentally calling 911 from the airport. A fun filled show!

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Show Details:

Recorded 2018-03-03
Length this week – 1:42:36

  • (0:00:15-0:13:06) Phone Chaos
  • (0:13:51-0:50:51) Issue Chaos
  • (0:52:10-1:15:02) Corruption Chaos
  • (1:16:25-1:42:16) Staffing Chaos

 

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Saving the World

On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam is joined by guest hosts Ed and Alex. Sam and Ed discuss the ongoing gun debate in the wake of Parkland, as well as the latest developments in the Mueller probe. Alex is Sam’s son. Alex is 8. Alex talks about video games. Alex also gives a few thoughts about the gun debate. And he is adamant that the podcast is too long, and we should have stopped at about the one hour mark. Was Alex right? Judge for yourself!

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Show Details:

Recorded 2018-02-24
Length this week – 1:49:53

  • (0:01:00-0:25:32) Video Games
  • (0:26:48-1:17:40) Parkland and Guns
  • (1:18:25-1:49:33) Mueller Advancements

 

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Uninhabited Atoll

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about the Baseball shooting in Virginia and the related issues about the tone of our political discourse these days. Of course they can’t forget the Trump scandal developments of the week too. In between they squeeze in some talk about healthcare, Puerto Rican statehood, the great butter shortage, and a few other things. But most importantly, a very rare but special gift from Ivan. Tune in to hear what it is!

Click below to listen and subscribe!

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Show Details:

Recorded 2017-06-15
Length this week – 1:25:11

  • (0:00:15-0:32:27) But first
    • Agenda
    • Healthcare Own Goal?
    • Not visiting the White House
    • Puerto Rican statehood
    • iTunes U: Lord of the Rings I
    • Weekend Plans
    • But first at the but end?
  • (0:33:07-1:04:34) Baseball Shooting
    • Butter shortage
    • The shooting
    • Heated rhetoric
    • What do you do?
    • Partisan differences?
    • The Trump Wing vs Mainstream R’s
    • Any changes?
    • Trump influence in Europe
    • Polling
  • (1:06:34-1:24:51) Trump Scandals
    • Obstruction investigation
    • Self inflicted wounds
    • Sleepy Ivan
    • Talking points
    • Sleepy Ivan 2
    • Expanding investigations
    • Attacking the investigators
    • Investigative duty

 

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Ridiculously Eventful

Sam and Ivan are together again for this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner podcast. Topic #1 is of course the mass shooting in Orlando. Then we return as always to the latest developments in Election 2016. Rounding it out we have some thoughts on WWDC, the Disney Alligator incident, the new Napster, and more. Oh, and Sam’s 6 year old son Alex pops in several times to give his thoughts on the events of the day as well.

Click below to listen or subscribe… then let us know your own thoughts!

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Recorded 2016-06-16

Length this week – 1:51:17

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Show Details:

  • (0:00:10-0:10:33) But First
    • Ivan’s Bad Weeks
    • Agenda
    • Preview of Next Week
    • New Napster
    • Feedback
  • (0:11:49-0:51:04) Orlando
    • Alex thoughts on Orlando and Stamps
    • What Happened
    • Puerto Rican connection
    • Motivations
    • Warning signs
    • The gun debate
  • (0:51:54-1:23:05) Election 2016
    • Primaries Over
    • Trump national poll collapse
    • Trump on the Prompter
    • Trump support demographics
    • Dump Trump
    • Wikileaks on Clinton
  • (1:24:16-1:50:57) Hodgepodge
    • Alex has more thoughts
    • WWDC
    • DNC Hack
    • Trump Drop Out?
    • Disney Alligator

Context and Perspective

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The massacre in Orlando this weekend is horrifying. I mourn along with everybody else.

On Twitter and Facebook people are predictably sorting themselves into either those who are using this as an opportunity to talk about how awful mass shootings are and how therefore we need to ban assault weapons vs people who are using this as an opportunity to talk about how horrifying terrorism is and how therefore we need to double up on the “war on terror” (in many cases with a fairly anti-Muslim orientation). A whole range of reactions is on display relating to how this specific attack was targeted at the LGBT community as well.

In the face of this, I always want to step back a bit and look at the bigger picture.

First of all, while mass killings understandably wrench the emotions differently and more strongly than individual killings, in the end, 50 people dying together is not worse than 50 people dying individually. They are equally tragic. But aside from the immediate families of those involved, the 50 people dying individually is more invisible to us as a society, so it tends to get ignored. The extra attention given to the incidents when many people are killed at once is understandable, but it also distracts from the magnitude and nature of the real problem. Mass killings make up an incredibly small portion of overall homicides. Concentrating on them will inevitably lead to people going after the wrong things when looking for solutions.

Second, yes, murders are a problem. Yes, the United States has a higher murder rate than comparable countries. Much higher. And we should be able to do much better. But… look at that chart above. The homicide rate nation wide has been DROPPING for decades. It is about half what it was in the 1980’s. The trends are going in the right direction. We are much safer than we were. From the frenzy whenever one of these attacks happens, you would think that we had a problem that was worse than it ever has been and was getting worse rapidly. No. We may have a long way to go to match our peer countries (19 per million for Germany, France and Canada; 13 per million for the UK; 8 per million for Japan, compared to 45 per million for the US) but we have been headed in the right direction for many years now. Things are getting better, not worse.

Third, with the notable exception of 9/11, deaths caused by terrorism in the United States are almost invisible compared to the rate of all homicides. Yes, it is horrible when a terrorist attack happens. Boston and San Bernardino and now Orlando are shocking. They disturb our sense of safety in a way that isolated killings do not. It is even more pronounced when the attacks specifically target one community, as the Orlando event targeted the LGBT community. The psychological effects of such attacks on the nation and on the targeted communities is real and should not be ignored. Responses though need to be proportionate to the problem, or they end up being like an allergic reaction, causing more harm through the response than the problem they are trying to solve. Even including 9/11, terrorist attacks were responsible for only approximately 0.6% of homicides from 1985 to 2013. I am of course not saying such attacks should be ignored in our policy, but I am saying that our response to these sorts of attacks, both in how the public reacts and in how policy changes as a result, is horribly disproportionate to the actual problem.

All in all, I wish people on all sides of these debates would take a step back from their emotionally charged initial reactions, and the sorting into political tribes they will defend regardless of the issue, and instead actually try to look at things in a facts based way, and if looking to solve problems, try to base solutions by actually trying to determine what might be most effective at moving the needle on the overall metrics.

So, for instance, banning assault weapons probably won’t make a big difference, because they are responsible for a really small portion of overall homicides. Focusing on them is a distraction, despite the high profile of the events they are involved in. Focusing on “Islamic Terrorism” will likely not help much either, as that too is responsible for small numbers in comparison to other motivations.

Meanwhile, making it overall a bit more difficult to get handguns might indeed reduce the numbers noticeably. But that would involve making a lot of people feel like you are taking away a fundamental right, which should also be factored into any cost/benefit analysis. It should not be ignored or dismissed. Solving one problem by making a huge portion of the population feel that you are attacking their fundamental values would just create other problems, possibly worse ones. Making long term changes to the culture so fewer people want weapons in the first place might work, but is something that would happen over many decades, and there is little patience for that. Working on anger management and conflict resolution skills as part of basic education might help quite a lot too, although is also something that takes a long time to show results. Increasing resources to identify and help people who are under stress, who are showing signs of becoming violent, or who have untreated mental illness that is a danger to themselves or others would surely make a big difference as well.

I don’t specifically claim to have the answer or the right mix of answers. I’m not specifically advocating any policy option. The above is just an off the top of my head look at a few options that people sometimes mention. The key is that I wish that people would look at the various options rationally, looking at the numbers and keeping an eye on the big picture, as well as taking into full account people’s concerns about rights and worries about safety. Violent death and homicide are problems that are approachable through analysis and experiment. We can see what works, and what doesn’t work. Both by trying things and observing things other countries have tried. We should be open to investigating the possibilities, and to experimentation. Keep what works, ditch what doesn’t.

But alas, this is the real world, so that won’t happen. Instead we will focus on highly visible incidents that aren’t representative of the overall problem, and everyone will focus on the problems and solutions their tribe tends to focus on, and will continue believing that the people on the “other side” are crazy or evil or just don’t understand, and the only thing that will happen is that the polarization of society will increase further.

Sigh.

(I did a somewhat similar post after Sandy Hook if anybody wants to review what I said then, and in that one I also talked about killings using guns vs killing using other weapons, something I chose not to revisit this time.)

Curmudgeon’s Corner: A Really Big Room

On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner podcast Ivan and Sam spend most of the show talking about Election 2016, concentrating as usual on Trump and the craziness surrounding his campaign, including the tantalizing possibilities of a brokered convention this time around. Yeah, yeah, that gets talked about every four years and never happens, but it is fun to talk about! Around the edges we also discuss Sam’s new computer, the aftermath of San Bernardino, Zuckerberg’s charitable activities, and more!

Click below to listen or subscribe… then let us know your own thoughts!

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Recorded 2015-12-11

Length this week – 1:17:34

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Show Details:

  • (0:00:37-0:11:46) But First
    • Agenda
    • Sam’s New Computer
    • Ivan and Planes
  • (0:12:36-0:58:59) Election 2016
    • Our Detour
    • Trump Commenters
    • Poll volatility
    • Live polls vs robo polls
    • Something weird
    • Election Graphs: Don’t Underestimate Trump
    • Brokered Convention Scenarios!
    • Trump odds Improved by comments?
    • Turnout Effects
    • Prediction Fun
  • (0:59:37-1:17:14) Lightning Round
    • San Bernardino
    • Movie: Rear Window (1954)
    • Argentina Inauguration
    • Zuckerberg Donation

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Princess of Whales

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam and Ivan’s main topics are the San Bernardino shooting, Election 2016, and Climate Change. The show gets rounded out with smaller bits about math homework, new Apple products, political correctness, and more!

Click to listen or subscribe… then let us know your own thoughts!

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Recorded 2015-12-03

Length this week – 1:46:28

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Show Details:

  • (00:00:10-00:19:12) But First
    • Pi!
    • Agenda
    • Ivan’s Carbon Footprint
    • Math Homework
    • Education Reform
  • (00:20:44-00:39:05) Shootings
    • Deja Vu
    • Do motives matter?
    • What would laws do?
    • High Profile Events vs Overall Murder Rates
    • Reaction different if “terrorism”?
    • Disgruntled Employee?
    • Knee-jerk Reactions
    • Framing the Problem
    • Long Term vs Short Term
    • Prayer Shaming
  • (00:40:13-1:09:27) Election 2016
    • Establishment GOP freaking out over Trump
    • Would Clinton crush Trump?
    • Current polling
    • Candidate Odds
    • Establishment still on sidelines
    • Trump pastor event
    • Trump and truth
    • Gaming out the primaries
  • (1:10:31-1:26:29) Climate Talks
    • Odds of 3rd Party Run
    • Nice but not enough?
    • Adaptation: Poor vs Rich
    • Speed of Changes
    • Geoengineering
    • Scale of changes
    • Renewable Resources
    • Long term concerns vs freedom now
    • Solar Power and Personal Nukes
  • (1:27:08-1:46:08) Lightning Round
    • Chennai Flooding
    • Mac App Store Fail
    • iPad Pro
    • New AppleTV
    • Movie: Son of Kong (1933)
    • Movie: The Peanuts Movie (2015)
    • Political Correctness / Safe Zones / Free Speech

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Only by the light of his phone

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam and Ivan concentrate on the Paris attacks and the worldwide reaction to them. This is a big enough topic that we spend most of the show on it rather than having several smaller topics. We hit on why Paris resonates more with Americans than terrorist attacks elsewhere, the Syrian connection or lack there of, the anti-refugee backlash, where things go from here, and more. Before that starts we do spend a few minutes on Sam’s power outage and Ivan’s driving habits… but really, this is a one topic show this time.

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Recorded 2015-11-20

Length this week – 1:06:46

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Show Details:

  • (0:00:10-0:12:56) But First
    • Sam in the dark
    • Insurance Driver Tracking
    • Agenda
    • Generators
    • Food Going Bad
    • Showers
  • (0:13:40-0:36:44) Paris Attacks
    • Seeing Lights
    • Why does Paris resonate?
    • Syrian non-Connection
    • anti-Refugee reaction
    • Reflection on Republicans
    • Obama Reaction
  • (0:37:22-1:06:26) More Paris Reactions
    • Bombing ISIS
    • Eliminating the Grey Zone
    • Calling it Radical Islamic Terrorism
    • Xenophobia + Islamophobia = Good Politics?
    • Comparing Risks
    • What next?
    • If it happens here
    • non-Encryption connection
    • Parallels to Gun Debate
    • Presidential Candidates on Paris/ISIS/Refugees

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Vote for Sam!

In the latest Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam and Ivan talk about:
* Halloween / Marysville School Shooting
* Chickenshit Comment
* Apple Pay / Current C
* Election 2014


Recorded on 31 Oct 2014

Length this week – 1:06:36

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