I surrender

A short one, just to keep myself in the blogging game. I was going to write about what Clinton's supporters would have expected of Obama's, had she won the nomination. Would they be understanding and empathetic if some of Obama's backers (the complement of "PUMA," I suppose), said they were going to be voting for McCain?

Then I was thinking about the fact that everybody, Democrats and Republicans, both say that education is a really good thing. (I agree.) But it is an odd thing: the more educated a person is, the more likely he or she is to be a Democrat (and, specifically, to be an Obama supporter). So are Republicans who argue for a better-educated citizenry really suggesting that they want more and more people to reject them? Odd. Probably it needs to be the right kind of education.

In any case, I have chosen today to officially surrender and announce that the Cubs are the best team in the National League, and they deserve all their success. Congratulations.

This does not mean that they won't fold like a cheap suit in the NLDS or NLCS. However, they may well make it to the World Series. At which point, they will collapse, preferably in some excruciating, agonizing way, à la the Red Sox in '86. That will be enough for me to look forward to the postseason.

The other day someone e-mailed me to ask about the meaning of "Schadenfreude." I didn't realize, at the time, that in addition to the lexical meaning of the term, that there would be a lab.

Inductive Logic

This story is frequently attributed to Bertrand Russell.

A young turkey was brought into a farm and was fed regularly every morning at the same time with a fresh supply of grass. Like any other being interested in the future, he wanted to convincingly predict the future and not use the first few days of his life as an indicator of things to come. Having an erudite lineage, he figured he should not commit the fallacy of jumping the gun to reach a conclusion and instead would gather a large data set for his observation.

After 364 days, drawing from the specific instances, he concluded the obvious generalization - he would be well fed every morning until he grew old and died. Unfortunately, the very next day was Thanksgiving and the turkey was slaughtered and became the star meal of the day at the farmer's house.

While the comparison between the Chicago Cubs and a turkey is appropriate for many reasons, let us examine the argument that the Cubs will win the World Series in 2008. Inductively, we have the following 99 premises. I'll leave it to you to determine if the conclusion is strongly supported, or not:


The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2007.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2006.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2005.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2004.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2003.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2002.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2001.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 2000.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1999.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1998.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1997.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1996.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1995.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1994.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1993.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1992.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1991.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1990.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1989.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1988.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1987.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1986.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1985.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1984.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1983.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1982.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1981.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1980.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1979.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1978.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1977.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1976.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1975.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1974.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1973.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1972.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1971.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1970.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1969.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1968.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1967.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1966.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1965.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1964.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1963.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1962.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1961.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1960.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1959.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1958.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1957.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1956.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1955.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1954.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1953.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1952.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1951.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1950.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1949.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1948.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1947.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1946.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1945.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1944.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1943.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1942.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1941.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1940
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1939.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1938.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1937.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1936.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1935.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1934.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1933.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1932.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1931.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1930.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1929.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1928.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1927.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1926.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1929.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1925.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1924.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1923.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1922.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1921.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1920.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1919.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1918.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1917.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1916.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1915.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1914.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1913.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1912.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1911.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1910.
The Cubs didn’t win the World Series in 1909.

Ergo . . .

John McCain is too white

I think it's time we pointed out the obvious.

John McCain is too white to be the next President. Clearly, this makes him out of the mainstream, too risky, too untested. Add the various other issues involved with him—anger management, carcinoma management, spousal management, consistency management, age management—I have to ask: can we really be willing to roll the dice with this man?

I shall not mention where he graduated in his class at the Naval Academy, that his wife stole drugs from a charity to support her habit, Charles Keating, or his now-laughable intent to run an honorable and respectful campaign.

That would be too much, don't you think?