Crossword Puzzle Learns
gorp (noun) is trail mix, or a mixture of high-energy foods, such as nuts and dried fruit, eaten as a snack. Someone could write an article about high energy health food and call it "The World According to Gorp."
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Pope Told Not to Speak After Tracheotomy -- And Especially Not to Speak About Birth Control
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope John Paul II munched on cookies Friday and jotted messages to an aide about his condition as he recovered from surgery to ease another breathing crisis.
Note: I added the birth control line, but the cookies part is really in the AP article (from Feb 25 2005)...
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John Mitchell
From the great movie All the President's Men... By the end of September, 1972, Woodward and Bernstein took the trail of Watergate funding all the way up to John Mitchell. Bernstein called the former campaign director at home late on the night of September 29 to ask his comments on a report that he controlled the "secret fund" while he was Attorney General. Bernstein is played by Dustin Hoffman, the voice of John Mitchell is the great character actor John Randolph. This scene is very funny in the movie, I don't know if it will translate as well written, but:
(BERNSTEIN AT HIS DESK ON THE PHONE. He has some papers in front of him an a notepad and pencil in his free hand. He is tired and very, very nervous. It is dark outside. In what follows, BERNSTEIN takes notes.)
OPERATOR'S VOICE (Voice Over)
Essex House, can I help you?
BERNSTEIN
John Mitchell, please.
(There is a BUZZING SOUND. Then -- )
JOHN MITCHELL'S VOICE (V.O.)
Uhhhhhh, yes?
BERNSTEIN
Sir, this is Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post, and I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, tomorrow we're running a story and uh in the paper and we just think that you should have a chance to comment on it.
MITCHELL (V.O.)
Ahh, what does it say?
BERNSTEIN
(starting to read)
John N. Mitchell, while serving as United States Attorney General, personally controlled a secret cash fund that was used to gather information about the Democrats according--
MITCHELL (V.O.)
Jesus!
BERNSTEIN
-- to sources involved in the Watergate investigation--
MITCHELL (V.O.)
Jesus!
BERNSTEIN
Beginning in the spring of 1971, almost a year before he left the Justice Department to become President Nixon's campaign manager on March 1, Mitchell personally approved withdrawals from the fund--
MITCHELL (V.O.)
-- all that crap, you're putting it in the paper?
BERNSTEIN
Well--
MITCHELL (V.O.)
Look, it's all been denied. You tell your publisher -- tell Katie Graham she gonna get her tit caught in a big wringer if that's published. Good Christ! That's the most sickening thing I ever heard.
BERNSTEIN
Sir, I just wonder if I could ask you some questions--
MITCHELL (V.O.)
--what time is it?
BERNSTEIN
It's 11:30 sir.
MITCHELL (V.O.)
... 11:30?... Is it morning or night?
BERNSTEIN
It's 11:30 at night, sir.
MITCHELL (V.O.)
Ohhhh.
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Occam's Razor
Occam's razor: one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.
Occam's razor is a logical principle attributed to the mediaeval philosopher William of Occam (or Ockham). The principle states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed. This principle is often called the principle of parsimony. It underlies all scientific modelling and theory building. It admonishes us to choose from a set of otherwise equivalent models of a given phenomenon the simplest one. In any given model, Occam's razor helps us to "shave off" those concepts, variables or constructs that are not really needed to explain the phenomenon. By doing that, developing the model will become much easier, and there is less chance of introducing inconsistencies, ambiguities and redundancies.
Though the principle may seem rather trivial, it is essential for model building because of what is known as the "underdetermination of theories by data". For a given set of observations or data, there is always an infinite number of possible models explaining those same data. This is because a model normally represents an infinite number of possible cases, of which the observed cases are only a finite subset. The non-observed cases are inferred by postulating general rules covering both actual and potential observations.
For example, through two data points in a diagram you can always draw a straight line, and induce that all further observations will lie on that line. However, you could also draw an infinite variety of the most complicated curves passing through those same two points, and these curves would fit the empirical data just as well. Only Occam's razor would in this case guide you in choosing the "straight" (i.e. linear) relation as best candidate model. A similar reasoning can be made for n data points lying in any kind of distribution.
Occam's razor is especially important for universal models such as the ones developed in General Systems Theory, mathematics or philosophy, because there the subject domain is of an unlimited complexity. If one starts with too complicated foundations for a theory that potentially encompasses the universe, the chances of getting any manageable model are very slim indeed. Moreover, the principle is sometimes the only remaining guideline when entering domains of such a high level of abstraction that no concrete tests or observations can decide between rival models. In mathematical modelling of systems, the principle can be made more concrete in the form of the principle of uncertainty maximization: from your data, induce that model which minimizes the number of additional assumptions.
This principle is part of epistemology, and can be motivated by the requirement of maximal simplicity of cognitive models. However, its significance might be extended to metaphysics if it is interpreted as saying that simpler models are more likely to be correct than complex ones, in other words, that "nature" prefers simplicity.
From: pespmc1.vub.ac.be/OCCAMRAZ.html
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Dove Awards
From February 2005: Nominations for the Dove Awards in gospel music were announced Monday. Here are some of the cutting-edge titles: "Blessed Be Your Name," "Friend of God," "Glory Defined," "Healing Rain," "Meant to Live," "Through the Fire," and "You Raise Me Up." For more: my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=4&cat=0806&id=2005020717480001319908
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 Boston Baked Beans
Why would Boston baked beans not be baked beans or any kind of beans, and be candy-coated peanuts? Why would you call those beans? Why baked beans? Why from Boston? In Boston do they call peanuts beans? Wait, this reminds me that some people call Boston "Beantown" which I have long hated, but I still don't understand why they'd call peanuts beans. Is everything in Boston called beans?
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Pope Condemns Gay Marriage Again
"This week, gay marriage was officially condemned, by an older, single man wearing a cape." -- Amy Poehler, SNL Weekend Update segment, 1-15-5.
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Carob
"Carob treats are often available as dog treats; these are unrelated to chocolate (which is toxic to dogs) and are safe. Many dogs consider anything given them directly by hand to be a treat, even a piece of kibble plucked from the bag, or a crust of bread. Special dog treats are not necessary for such animals." Says somebody. But I give my special dog special dog treats and I like it. Also, I don't give my dog any cocoa products, but I wouldn't give my worst enemy that ersatz chocolate shit -- carob.
4:10:50 PM 
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