Ragged Clown

It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing…


More than fifty surprising things that I believe

May
2009
  1. Affirmative action is counter-productive.
  2. So is the minimum wage.
  3. And minimum standards of education.
  4. Technology is uninteresting.
  5. Well over 90% of science fiction is crap.
  6. Checked exceptions are stupid.
  7. I am afraid that pubic hair will go the way of under-arm hair.
  8. C# is better than Java.
  9. There is not enough testing in schools.
  10. Tipping is deeply uncivilized.
  11. Charities should be taxed.
  12. Valentine’s Day is silly.
  13. The minimum drinking age should be abolished.
  14. I subscribe to over a dozen conservative blogs but no liberal blogs.
  15. It’s OK for children to see naked bodies.
  16. Different races probably have different abilities.
  17. Ditto for sexes.
  18. Christianity is a good thing.
  19. Catching Exception is OK.
  20. Thanking your wife when you receive your Oscar or Nobel Prize is unnecessary.
  21. Star Wars was not very good.
  22. Education, health care, civil liberties etc etc etc should be left to the states.
  23. I’d rather time travel to the past than to the future.
  24. It doesn’t matter that there are so few women in the software industry.
  25. Attempts to design a balanced curriculum are harmful.
  26. I don’t find babies to be cute.
  27. There is nothing wrong with public fields.
  28. I deeply resent the secularization of Christmas.
  29. There should be no tax deductions.
  30. Especially not for charities.
  31. I find the Pledge of Allegiance disturbing.
  32. I don’t see the point of cats.
  33. America is in my top five countries.
  34. So is France.
  35. If you want a successful life, nurture helps but not as much as nature.
  36. Or luck.
  37. Roe versus Wade was wrongly decided.
  38. I love reading bible stories and singing Christmas carols.
  39. Open source software terrifies and confuses me.
  40. The federal government should receive funding from the states, not individuals.
  41. Extreme Programming Explained changed my life.
  42. For the worse.
  43. The initiative process and referendums in general are populist nonsense.
  44. So are term limits.
  45. The mis-perception that chimpanzees are monkeys bothers the hell out of me.
  46. As does the inappropriate pluralization of offside.
  47. And the incorrect use of momentarily.
  48. Downloading music/movies/games is stealing.
  49. Most people would be better off if they did not go to college.
  50. Most would be better off starting work at 16.
  51. I am ambivalent about gay marriage.
  52. All income  (salary, profits, dividends, inheritance etc) should be taxed equally.
  53. Schools should be ‘streamed’ by academic ability.
  54. Military service deserves no more honour than teaching, nursing, road-sweeping or a host of other professions.
  55. The ability to spell is not that important.
  56. Bad spelling infuriates me. Especially when I do it.
  57. The Star Spangled Banner is my second favourite anthem.

Seven things about my more than fifty surprising things

  1. Details available on request.
  2. This post was inspired by a question on StackOverflow – what’s your most controversial programming opinion – but the first 20-something answers are positively mainstream. I thought I could do better.
  3. If you know me well, you will be unsurprised by many of my surprising things.
  4. If you don’t know me well, you will be unsurprised by many of my surprising things.
  5. If you don’t know me at all, some of my surprising things might make you angry.
  6. I tried to avoid obvious – or simply minority – things.
  7. I censored some of my things out of cowardice.

It’s traditional when you make a list like this to tag 14 of your friends and they have to repeat the exercise. I find that tradition to be crass. If you made it this far, consider yourself tagged. Or not. Whatever.