Misc.

via Fort Bend ISD

Magnolia will host this year's Gulf Gold Medal Swimming clinic, featuring Simone Manuel.  Info and registration link (you have one more week to sign up) are here

CSCAA Open Water Championships Results:

Women (Rice 2nd, TCU 5th, A&M 8th)

Men (TCU 4th, A&M 5th)

Info and registration link for the Houston Build & Program a Pool Conference (November 10 & 11) is here
 

Sick of our current party system?  Wonder why logic seems to be absent from so much of what they say and do?  Check out a post by Bryan Caplan on EconLog:

You Don't Understand Our Culture

What are the key differences between GMU econ blogger culture and mainstream intellectual culture?  For starters:

1. We value intellectual progress over emotional comfort.  As long as speakers are polite, we blame listeners who get upset, not speakers who upset them.
2. We are genuinely non-partisan.  The Democratic and Republican parties both seem like absurd churches to us.  Even if one is markedly worse, we’ll never join either because both are “often wrong and never in doubt.”
3. The daily scandals that excite mainstream culture seem insipid and arbitrary to us.  What matters are statistics, not emotions – and arguments, not stories.
4. One bet is worth a thousand pages of punditry.  At least.
5. Giving in to Social Desirability Bias is a grave sin.
6. Corollary: Don’t dodge questions.
7. Hyperbole is the worst thing in the universe.  Most problems and effects are marginal.  If you’re really certain that X, you should happily bet at 1000:1 odds.
8. Appealing to your identity is a reason to discount what you say, not a reason to pay extra attention.
9. An argument doesn’t have to “prove” anything to be worthwhile; it only needs to change your probabilities.
10. We’ll strategically appease mainstream thinkers, but that doesn’t mean they’re right.

How broad and deep is GMU blogger culture, really?  It’s a continuum.  Tyler Cowen might even claim to disagree with everything I just said… but he still exemplifies most of it.  The important thing to know is that our distinct culture is thriving in your midst.  We aren’t numerous, but we are a proud people.  So please show some cultural sensitivity…

As you can see by today's Quote of the Day, #7 is my favorite.

In fact, it's absolutely the greatest quote in the history of mankind...

The City of New Braunfels needs an assistant swim coach

VillaSport (The Woodlands) needs an aquatics director

Meridian School (Round Rock) needs a developmental swim coach

D&J needs an assistant manager for their Austin location

via billboard

Sarah Brightman HYMN tour coming to Smart Financial Centre (Sugar Land) February 25th.  Info & ticket link here.  If you want to hang out w/the Button's in Section 103 - Hey, who doesn't? - those seats are going fast.  North Texans?  Your concert's on the 23rd in Grand Prairie.

Must share another, The Bettor's Oath, by Caplan:

The Bettor’s Oath 

Blathering talk surrounds us, but I will take no part in it.  My word is my bet; I will always put my money where my mouth is.  When challenged, I will bet on my words, refine them, or recant.  When no one is present to challenge me, I will weigh my words and thoughts as if my fellow oath-takers were listening.

I will make both conditional and unconditional bets, and assign probabilities whenever asked.  I will claim no false certainty; unless I will stake my life on my belief, I am not truly certain – and will admit it.

When I lose a bet, I will admit defeat, pay promptly, and hold my tongue – never protesting that I was “really right.”  If I have caveats or reservations, I will declare them when I make the bet – not after I lose it.

When I win a bet, I will not shame my opponent, for a betting loser has far more honor than the mass of men who live by loose and idle talk.  I pledge my mind and words to the bettor’s oath, for this day and all the days to come...

Unless something in this oath turns out to be wrong, an eventuality to which I assign a 3% probability.