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Blog Wyrm is off this week to spend time on Holy Week and to celebrate Easter with our family. See you next week.

Each and every year, millions upon millions of US citizens grapple with the seemingly endless and labyrinthine rules of the country’s tax code, ever growing in size and complexity. Most of us – even the trained professionals, capable of splitting atoms, probing the limits of the human genome, or the boundaries of knowledge – are left with the uncertainty best summarized as “I’m not sure I filed my taxes correctly.” That uncertainty then becomes anxiety, dull and small though it may be, as to whether an audit is forthcoming. This human misery is bad enough but what is even worse is the lost productivity amounting, literally, to billions of man-hours. Don’t we all have better things to do with that precious commodity of time? Just a thought… perhaps if we all lobbied for a simpler tax code?

Fortunately, Blog Wyrm continues to bring excellent content wholly tax free.

What do coffins and economics have to do with each other? Well…lots if you are the Funeral Directors and Embalmers of Louisiana or a group of Benedictine monks, who innocently threatened the former’s corner market on grief. Read this week’s Common Cents to see a textbook example of how the rich and connected can use the regulatory power of the law to keep competition to a minimum.

The halting theorem is one of the most important results about the theory of computation and also one of the cornerstones of Western thought about logic, philosophy, and the limits of formalized human knowledge. Despite its subtlety and importance, Aristotle to Digital presents a simple, easy-to-follow proof.

This week’s column in Under the Hood ties up several loose ends associated with the recent study of classical scattering. Although the differential cross section naturally arises from the relationship between impact parameter and scattering angle, the column again argues against the notion of a integrated cross section and argues for the Monte Carlo interpretation, as is it more general.

About Comics finishes the ongoing review of the Everything Dies/Secret Wars storyline with Part 5, which is an analysis of some of the things that worked and didn’t in Hickman’s comics epic.

Enjoy!

After what seemed an interminably long Winter, (which wasn’t really – just felt that way), warmer weather is here. At least briefly. There is, of course, no guarantee that it will stay warm for long but beggars can’t be choosers and I have been begging for warmer days and milder nights for some time. Another harbinger of Spring, daylight savings time, is also nigh. But I can do without that.

But what shouldn’t be done without is another week of Blog Wyrm articles. This week Anyway, here is the column lineup for this week.

A lot of attention is paid to the idea of wealth and income inequality. All sorts of plans crop up to redistribute wealth from those that have to those that don’t. Maybe this is a good thing, maybe not. But surprisingly, little attention is paid to a kind of redistribution from those that don’t to those that do that occurs everyday under the guise of the common European currency the Euro. Don’t think it is possible? Check out this week’s Common Cents for an argument to the contrary.

Can a set of lines and points and arrows on a blackboard (or whiteboard as you prefer) really hide subtle classifications of and distinctions between mathematical objects? The answer is yes and Aristotle to Digital explains how displacement vectors in the plane are best understood as a set of instructions – a concept closely related to regarded infinity as a process and not a number.

Extending the well known results from classical scattering in a inverse-square force, this week, Under the Hood looks at the numerical results of scattering from a screened potential.

About Comics presents Part 4 of the ongoing review of the Everything Dies/Secret Wars storyline. This week, the revelations of who is behind all of the death and destruction is made and a curious similarity to another creation story is discovered.

Enjoy!

Two seemingly unrelated events have collided in my mind and given me some pause. The first was a piece on NPR that I heard on Monday – the day after the Oscar Awards. In this broadcast, the reporter was exploring why the length of Oscar acceptance speech has grown, especially in recent years, well beyond what was customary through the bulk of the ceremony’s lifespan up until about 20 years ago. One of the conjectures put forward laid the blame squarely at the pressure that actors feel to brand themselves (the other conjecture was that actors are needy and growing needier each year). The other event was that a friend of mine introduced me to the relatively new concept of meteorological spring. Spring had, until fairly recently, been unambiguously defined to begin at the Vernal Equinox. I’m not saying that technical definitions of Spring, found in meteorological or ecological circles, and which differ from the traditional astronomically-based one, aren’t valid. Rather I am saying that there is no reason to have them out there except to draw attention. This sort of branding strikes me the same way as naming winter storms or coming up with terms like polar vortex – it all seems a bit too much like a desperate need for attention.

Anyway, here is the column lineup for this week.

Hidden behind the placid facade of modern life, a bitter ideological struggle exists between the Frequentists and the Bayesians over whose interpretation of probability makes the most sense. As is usual in struggles of these kind, there is truth to both points of view, which Aristotle to Digital explores.

Negotiations on climate change and limitations on global output of carbon are high stakes events these days. One might believe that the negotiators are cold-blooded, strictly rational beings, free and unencumbered by emotion. Perhaps they are and perhaps they are not. Common Cents examines climate negotiations within the context of the Ultimatum Game and finds that the picture isn’t clear.

This week in Under the Hood derives the classical relationship between scattering angle and impact parameter and verifies it with numerical simulations. The beautiful, ensemble behavior is remarkable.

In Part 3, About Comics expands on the analysis of the Everything Dies/Secret Wars storyline by setting the stage for most of the players and the dramatic showdown that follows. Since all the universes are dying its only a matter of time before different groups with different approaches clash.

Enjoy!

Although they happen fairly frequently, it is always interesting when a leap day appears and that most elusive all dates, Feb. 29th, appears on calendars here, there, and everywhere. Of course, the establishment of the current rule under the Gregorian calendar is an amazing bit of scientific analysis dating from back in the later half of the 16th century. Despite its premier in 1582, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar universally only occurred in 1929 when China was the last country to agree to use it. The most curious thing about the leap day rule is that most people think it occurs every four years. The correct rule is that a leap day occurs every four years unless the year is divisible by 100 (e.g. 1900) excepting it be divisible by 400 (e.g. 2000). Who knew that such a small month could have such a big impact.

Speaking of a big impact here is the column lineup for this week.

Under the Hood continues with its analysis of the classical mechanics scattering from a inverse square law force. This week the focus is on numerical integration of the equations of motion and the validation of theory against numerical experiment. The results show the wonderful predictive power of conserved quantities.

Does anyone remember Sokal’s Hoax? It seems Peter Dreier does and this week he’s decided to come clean with a hoax of his own. Each of these academic episodes seem to prove P.T. Barnum’s old saying about a sucker being born every minute. Aristotle to Digital also shows what they prove about the ‘logic’ (or lack thereof) of the postmodern school of thought.

How much can a simple textbook example really shed on the hidden or unseen costs in the economy. Well, Common Cents argues that it can say a lot. Read about how an innocent homework problem one the laws of supply, demand, and subsidies can be used as a caution against government intervention in a market.

This week About Comics continues its literary analysis of the recent reboot of the Marvel publication universe. The Everything Dies/Secret Wars storyline has a plot that rivals the great epic stories of the classical Western tradition. And the criticism of it is also starting to take on enormous proportions. Read about the story is built on the foundation that the universe is dying and how it is responding to its evident demise.

Enjoy!

Happy President’s day to everyone out there. The Blog Wyrm staff thanks everyone for their patience while we dealt with some health issues. It knocked us off our game for a couple of weeks but we are finally back with some new material.

Regardless of where one falls on the normative side of economics, honest people should agree that effective policy decisions can only be made based on good data and sound reason. Nonetheless, poor arguments and badly supported conclusions abound. This week Common Cents examines two recent articles by people in positions to advise and set policy and finds them woefully lacking in logic.

Under the Hood takes a second look at the physics of scattering within the context of classical mechanics. This column, the first in a series of four, lays the groundwork for the most important classical example, hyperbolic scattering from a center exerting a inverse-square law force.

Well it’s finished. After many years of planning and over 3 years of construction, the Secret Wars story line is over and the reboot of the Marvel Universe has occurred. Over the next month, About Comics reflects on what it meant, how the creative team pulled it off, and whether it was really worth it.

Enjoy playing videogames? Don’t we all! Ever wonder whether you could jump up onto a ledge or dodge a hazard or whether it is impossible? This week’s Aristotle to Digital discusses a recent computer science analysis that shows how these kinds of questions are intimately tied to the notion of hardness and decidability.

Enjoy!

Well the sinus infection still going strong and the energy is still low – so… one more week and we’ll be back. No matter what!

See you in a week.

Well… a sinus infection has done what all the holiday blitz and monumental snowstorms were unable to do. They knock the Blog Wyrm staff off of their game. So, while we were recovering, we were not able to put together a issue this week. Next week, Issue 52 will be out with the same eclectic mix of thought-provoking content.

So until next week, be well.

Well the massive winter storm dubbed Jonas lived up to the hype. Here it is nearly a week after the snow started and the digging-out process is still going on. Lanes appear and disappear at random, depending on just how each particular snow removal crew tackled its job. Temperatures rise above freezing during the day causing wide-spread melting and the wet patches freeze over night snarling the next days commute. Most children remained at home during the entire week. And yet many drivers still text will driving and continue to pull stupid stunts by swerving around the more cautious drivers. It is enough to make a body say ‘Snow my God!’

Nonetheless, neither rain, nor snow, nor tons and tons of snow can keep the Blog Wyrm staff down.

Are faith and reason really at odds with one another? The ancient philosophers didn’t think so, neither did the thinkers of the high middle ages, and neither did most of the modern intellectuals… that is until relatively recently. The current mode of modern thought suggests that science has done away with faith once-and-for-all. But is there really a logical basis for this claim or is it wishful thinking? This week Aristotle to Digital shows that wishing it don’t make it so and that the complementary connection between the two is alive and well in science.

Keep the internet free and clear is a rallying cry of net neutrality. But as this week’s Common Cents discusses, finding the correct economic balance between competing needs and desires is very difficult. Unintended consequences lurk in hidden corners and negative externalities abound when trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution.

Most students learn to think of vectors as either arrows with length or as vertically-stacked lists of numbers or symbols. Certainly understanding these instances is important but it is all too common to see a kind of functional fixation develop where every vector space is equated by analogy with these two examples. This week Under the Hood shows how simple 2-dimensional matrices can form a vector space with an ‘unusual’ inner product. Just the thing to cure the ‘when the only tool who have is a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail’ trap.

Vertigo has been hyping a new, ongoing series called Unfollow. With a Twitter, social-media theme, the story is about the experiment run by a wealthy, dying billionaire who picks 140 random characters to receive a slice of his fortune. About Comics takes a look at how it has developed so far.

Note: The early advertised column about Secret Wars will come a later date.

Enjoy!

Two weeks in a row and the theme is the ‘end is nigh’. Last week is was due to nothing more than the melancholy that the Blog Wyrm staff was feeling for the impending end of the football season. This week the theme is caused by a more serious event – the huge snow storm aiming at the east coast.

Living near the nation’s capitol is always an adventure in weirdness but when it snows that bar is raise to a whole new level. A mere 1 inch paralyzed the are on Wednesday night. So a storm ‘of epic proportions’ is sure to cause havoc in Washington D.C. metro region and who knows for how long. Ah well…, there is nothing to do but to wait it out and put one’s faith in the providence.

So since millions will be snow-bound this weekend, what better time is there to settle in and read some stimulating articles guaranteed to keep your brain warm even if your body is cold.

Common Cents revisits the whole China question. Several months ago, we warned that the ‘China Miracle’ is nothing but a facade. This month we are grimly gratified to see that we were correct as the facade is in full crumble mode. It would have been better had we been wrong, but no luck there. Maybe one day, all of us will take that old truism to heart that tells us that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

One of the most important intellectual tools available to us is the Socratic dialog. Chronicled by Plato, a these semi-dramatic short stories introduced logic and rational thinking to Western Civilization. Unfortunately, Socrates is no more, but Peter Kreeft has taken up the role of Plato and has imagined the dialog between Socrates and a host of historic figures as a rational way of exploring the ideas of the latter. This week Aristotle to Digital reviews Kreeft’s imagined meeting between that ancient Greek wiseman and Machiavelli, the author that controversial work on practical philosophy – The Prince.

The scattering cross section is more than a useful and ubiquitous physical concept, it is a many-headed hydra – being reinvented and tweaked in numerous places. As a result of the numerous and inter-related relations, finding the essential aspect of it is difficult. This week Under the Hood argues for a modification to the physical thinking surrounding the scattering cross section as a way of uniting everything under one umbrella concept.

Finally, About Comics has a few brief words to say about the new season of Agent Carter and the implications of a certain lapel pin as a clue to what the MCU has in mind.

Enjoy!