Maps and Territory

Maps and Territory

"The map is not the territory [https://infogalactic.com/info/Map–territory_relation]." It's both simple, and difficult to unpack. It's also related to the old saw about "the difference between theory and practice." The short version is that the "map", the model we hold in our heads, the very language that we use, has a relationship to objective and underlying reality, but it isn't actually the reality. It's an abstraction. A roadmap you look at on paper or on a screen isn't the…

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Reconciliation? Hah.

Reconciliation? Hah.

Reconciliation? Don't make me Laugh I listened to the supposed victory speech by the presumptive Democratic president and vice-president elect (Kamal-Joe?), and I have one thing to say about the message about working together going forward. Bullshit. I'll ignore the peans to glass ceilings and implied feminist / patriarchy / systemic racism myths about how the only thing keeping Kamala out of office and other minorities out of success was eebil straight white men (but I repeat myself). I'll a…

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The Bell Tolls

The Bell Tolls

Since the Mexican chain everyone loves to hate came up recently, I figured I'd share this. According to the Harris Poll, Taco Bell is the best Mexican restaurant in the country [http://www.azfamily.com/story/39063348/taco-bell-voted-best-mexican-restaurant-in-the-country] . Also known as "why we have an electoral college".…

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Be Careful What You Wish For

Be Careful What You Wish For

I remember one of the questions asked when Jill Stein began her recount efforts was “why oh why is someone who loudly and repeatedly proclaimed that electing Hillary was tantamount to to begging for a nuclear war doing so much to put her in power?” I didn’t have an answer myself at the time, and still don’t, but given the results of these efforts, part of me is wondering if this is not epic – level black knighting. Our other alternatives include so gloriously incompetent that, like Inspector C…

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