PDF Library

I’m taking the short break to arrange my PDF library using BibDesk. What an amazing program! Not only will it re-arrange my files, name them with a consitent naming convention, it will allow me to generate bibliographies at will, and search through my many, many PDFs…

The upside here is that i get to see what i’ve been downloading for the last three years… It’ll be good to revisit the past…

Overcooked Porkloin!

Elections! — Obama Biden wins

I have no personal stake in 2008 presidential elections. However, its my first while in the US. I expected longer lines, but i guess thats more of a problem in the city, more dense and more people who didn’t vote early.

 

 

Students waiting for their turn

 I was told it was illegal to photograph voters while voting. So i had to wait for them to clear out to take other shots of the booths…

I also got a picture of the new touch screen booths…

Very interesting. Obama won in the same day the elections were held. Man, we need computerized elections so bad…

It’s Just Like Telling a Joke

From the O*Net database, i learned something today — oral skills presentation is the most important attribute in an economist is oral communication. We joked about this in seminar today, but in a sense its true. Once you’ve written a paper, you must explain it to people. 

This reminds me of a joke told by Conan O’Brien when he was on Leno’s show. Conan shares something he learned from Stan Laurel (Laurel and Hardy) about telling a joke: ”Always do this. Tell the audience what you’re going to do. Do it. And then tell them it has been done.”

Tell them what you are going to do! How is the paper related to other papers? Lots of people ask this question. You want to reassure people that your work is part of the larger story of scientific advance. This is also a practical thing as well: when you want to come up with new work, you look at whats been done and think of ways to extend them.

 Do it! What is the motivation? Really good papers are of the small model kind — present stylized facts and construct a model as a way to interpret the data, and then test your interpretation. Its good to have some kind of empirical regularity at the heart of your paper. There are exceptions, such as pure theory or pure empirical/econometric work.

Tell the its been done! What is the intuitive interpretation of your model? Relate your model to the motivation you were talking about earlier, and to the results of the papers that inspired you that you copied from.

What’s my motivation in this scene?

Rant: I will have a hard time presenting my work. I’ve written 7 iterations of my prospects, and my problem is that i can’t get excited about my topic. Seminars force you to consider what kind of contribution you are making to the field. I want a topic whose motivation goes beyond theory, and actually has the potential of being relevant. Thats the next paper….

Fetus and Life

Interesting essay about George and Tollefsen’s book: “Embryo: A Defense of Human Life”

CBCP on population policy

Edit!

This is the most cogent explanation i’ve heard from the church about their position. I am sympathetic to their view, but i have a few questions for the good bishop [i don't know this guy's name]:

Bugador

Interesting docu from Howie Severino. Check it out for how reform is carried out … More power to Gov!

Sex and the City

NYTimes has a great article on series creator Michael Patrick King.

An interesting excerpt:

Mr. King’s mother is also a practicing Roman Catholic, and his history has left him with a vexed relationship to his own faith. “I’m happiest in an empty church,” he said. “I love the smell of a church.” In the opinion of his closest friend, the novelist Adriana Trigiani (with whom he shares a brownstone in the West Village), his Catholicism is also a constant presence.

“He loves the pageantry and the drama,” Ms. Trigiani said. “He took the structure and holiness of the Mass, and I think it’s informed anything he’s done.” She noted that her friend writes with a sharp eye toward consequence.

Pursuing this meme, if you watch the show, you’ll see how most episodes are built as a parable that conveniently wraps up in less than 30 minutes. This is what i like best about the series. Its also what will surely be lost the movie version. But i’m sure Mr. King knows whats he’s doing.

Slowly back away from my Bitterness… Slowly…

Obama last week made a few remarks about attitudes in the american heartland. Articles abound, but for starters, here is a link.

This is the achiles heel for democrats — snobbery and elitism. This also an example of the truism that if you aren’t part of the group, don’t judge the group without choosing your words very very carefully — and even then, think again.