Morning Link Dump!

Totally true Chuck Norris fact: He is an insane person. Literally. He's touting a telecast of thousands of right-wing cells (yes, he himself uses the same word used to describe terrorist groups) ominously titled "We Surround Them." At what point should the authorities start taking this stuff seriously?

The claim that Obama is doing too much too soon isn't only made by stupid people, but it's a claim that makes those who make it sound stupid. Like Jake Tapper.

I see that some of the comments have already covered it, but when Kevin Drum asked why the Wall Street quants were predominantly physicists and not mathematicians, the answer clearly lies in the difference between theoretical and applied mathematics. Mathematicians dig into the theory that underlies mathematics. Physicists, among others, apply that theory to the world. It's much more natural for someone who works in applied mathematics to transfer to another applied mathematics field. I speak only for myself, but I'm a mathematician, and I generally like math for math's sake and eschew applied math.

Cool optical illusion.

Weird fish, or weirdest fish?

War on drugs = FAIL. Incidentally, if you're not reading Radley Balko on a regular basis, you're losing out.

Blogging

It became hard for me to maintain a blog during the heat of the Presidential campaign. Both the primaries and the general. This happened for two reasons. First, I was often too busy paying close attention to every up-to-the-second detail that came up. Second, every time I wanted to say anything, someone had already said it, by and large. I felt like I didn't have anything unique to contribute to the conversation, so I just didn't really feel like putting anything out there, and preferred to just take it all in.

At this point, however, I feel like I'd like to get back into contributing. Reading a lot of opinion is all well and good, but it's left me feeling more passive than I'd like. Ultimately, I'd like to make this blog something a bit different from what it was when it started. I'd like to favor quality over quantity of posts, for the most part, and then occasionally do a "link dump" type of post where I pass on interesting stuff that I've been reading, likely on a variety of topics.

I hate these navel-gazing posts, and I know that I've promised resumption of posting in the past and haven't kept up with it, but it really is something I'd like to get back to. I can't make any promises, but I'll make the effort at least. Look for a post later today.

Fargus...