Going Like Sixty

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 10:58 PM PST

Category: Shock Docs
The answer is: Watson.
Question: Who is Bones?

Like a lot of tee vee viewers, I tuned in to see how badly Watson, the IBM computer, would annihilate his human opponents.

Watson impressed me.

Like a lot of people, I was curious why it was important that Watson be able to understand Alex’s randomness.

As a NYT blogger pointed out, the outcome of the contest was pre-ordained. Watson is faster on the answer button, and faster at retrieving information than humans. Watson doesn’t get stage fright or get embarrassed by Trebek’s condescending response when wrong.

Steady nerves, luck, fast retrieval of the information lodged in your brain. Obviously, Watson does not have to worry about nerves or speed. A more elusive skill is the ability, when you do not actually know the answer, to make quick associations between distantly related bits of trivia, narrow down the possibilities, and make a good guess.

So what is the application? Why is Watson important?

IBM researchers believe that Watson could revolutionize the healthcare industry. From diagnostics to informatics, Watson could quickly search through medical records, clinical documents, and research information for precise answers that would benefit both doctors and patients.

You know those scenes in Bones where the intern regurgitates the case history and offers a diagnosis and Bones picks through all the crap and comes up with some off-the-wall conclusion that turns out correct?

Watson could do that. Watson may be Bones. Bones may be Watson.

It’s fun to be alive at the beginning of a revolution. Someday Watson may save my life.

These docs agree.

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Hey Rand Mitch! Defund Kentucky. Sell Our Gold!

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 07:47 AM PST

Rand Paul has a house in Smallburg, Kentucky. Mitch McConnell has a house in Largeburg, Kentucky.

They both think the federal gummit is spending too much money.

McConnell said yesterday…

"The people who voted for a new direction in November have a five-word response. We don't have the money."

Except when it comes to bringing home the pork to Kentucky. Of course Kentucky should continue to get $1.51 back from Washington for every dollar it paid in federal taxes in 2005 (most recent numbers available.)

We deserve it. We have the two most powerful senators in D.C.

A columnist for The Daily Beast has a marvelous idea: Defund Kentucky! Time for our senators to take their hands out of YOUR pocket to benefit Kentucky.

So here’s my two-word response: Defund Kentucky. Cut it off the federal dole. Kentucky is a welfare state to begin with.

A report in the Lexington Herald-Leader says 80 percent of Kentucky’s Medicaid bill is paid by Washington and more than one in five Kentuckians receives a monthly check from the Social Security System, totaling $8.5 billion a year. Washington also spends over $2 billion a year on flood insurance for Kentuckians, $667 million in crop insurance, and $877 million in mortgage insurance. Plus the Bluegrass State is home to federal facilities ranging from Ft. Knox to the Department of Energy’s Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah.

Kentuckians are addicted to federal spending—they’re the Lindsay Lohan of states, the Charlie Sheen of commonwealths. Let’s put them in detox. By trying this experiment in one state we can honor the conservatives’ belief in states’ rights, allowing Kentucky to truly be a laboratory of democracy.

The columnist even suggests that the gold in Ft. Knox be transferred to San Francisco.

Except those of us in the know, realize there is no gold in Ft. Knox.

There is no gold at Fort Knox. When Ronald Regan was President he assigned a committee called the “Gold Committee” to investigate this matter. The results was staggering. There is no gold at Fort Knox. It is being held by the Federal Reserve Bank (which is privately owned by international bankers) as collateral for America’s debt.

If there was gold in Ft. Knox, we should sell it. It’s valued at $42.22 an ounce. At todays price of $1300-$1400 an ounce, that would be a tidy profit.

So here’s the deal: Defund Kentucky of federal dollars and we keep the gold.

Seems fair.