My friend Josh has a new job, and to make sure he can retire on his options this decade I’ll give him a quick mention. Jellyfish lets you earn cashback on purchases. Simple as that really. Normally I’d wonder at a scheme like this, but if Josh is involved then that gives me some confidence that it’s legit. Oh, and of course the link gives me a little boost too 🙂
One of the big things missing in the discussion of the ‘war on terror’ is perspective. Of course you can’t apply too much perspective, because then you’d start to realize that nobody in the history of, um, history, has defeated terrorism. To me that counts as pretty good anecdotal evidence that we’re unlikely to be the first ever to do so, and even more so that concentrating on bombing the terrorism out of people is a pretty limiting approach.
If you have similar thoughts, then, you may enjoy this article on perspective:
FDR: Oh, I’m sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we’re coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How’s that going to feel?
CHURCHILL: Yeah, you keep bombing us. We’ll be in the pub, flipping you off. I’m slapping Rolls-Royce engines into untested flying coffins to knock you out of the skies, and then I’m sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.US. NOW: BE AFRAID!! Oh God, the Brown Bad people could strike any moment! They could strike … NOW!! AHHHH. Okay, how about .. NOW!! AAGAGAHAHAHHAG! Quick, do whatever we tell you, and believe whatever we tell you, or YOU WILL BE KILLED BY BROWN PEOPLE!! PUT DOWN THAT SIPPY CUP!!
We’ve solved world hunger! Now admittedly that’s just on average, but it seems churlish to quibble over such a minor detail.
A friend comments on the role of water vapour in climate change. Unfortunately he has comments turned off, but in case he wanders by I thought I’d post a link in response that acknowledges the major role of water vapour, and points out the impact that greenhouse gases have on water vapour. I am sure that the jury is still out on the exact impact, and how much of a contribution we make over normal mechanisms and variations, but I think it goes some way to answering the question that my friend poses. It also does so by reference to studies, rather than assertions (the originally linked article mixed statements without support and statements based on assertions into its mix of supported facts, which is often a sign of unreliability).
Incidentally, my friend speculates that global warming is a hoax. On that, surprisingly, he’s right; I well remember that blessed day when I got my call-up papers, and while I’m scarcely even a foot soldier in the astro-turf campaign to scare the entire population for the financial gain of a handful of the elite, I…wait, I’ve forgotten if I’m talking about climate change or the Republican party now. Ah well.
I’ve often wanted to do this but couldn’t work out how – here’s a way to get a graphical representation of a quantity in a cell within Excel using the REPT function.