Not that anyone on this lightly-read blog is going to care, but I made a small adjustment to the commenting policy. This is actually becoming a bit more common among the more intelligent outposts on the net, and I think it is a good trend.
From now on, no more anonymous posts under pseudonyms will be accepted - they will be deleted without even being read unless you are already known to me (real identity).
Thinkers who want to hide behind the screen of Internet anonymity....well... are just not thinkers and are not welcome here.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Quiet !
Just simply...Quiet.
This book review has been a long time in coming...for reasons I outline in the review. (From Goodreads):
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh crap...now I have actually finished this book, and I have to write a review...but I am not sure how exactly. Let's try this:
Wow
Double Wow...even Triple Wow occasionally
It took me an extraordinarily long time to read this book given my usual pace. But that is because of the work that it is. It is subtitled "The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". I could have almost stopped there and savored that alone...but I am glad I didn't.
I was introduced to Susan Cain (as were many others) through her TED Talk. I bought this book immediately after seeing it and coincidentally at the end of a very bad experience for me of being a 'pseudo-extrovert', not so much to please others but because I do have a somewhat adventurous spirit when it comes to new challenges. Although I came out of it OK, this time it almost cost me.
So reading this book, there were many times where I simply had to set it aside for awhile (sometimes a few weeks) and let my subconscious mind work over what I had read.
It is that kind of book...full of what probably seems in hindsight like common sense...but it escaped us who were living the life of introverts in a world that for most of the last 30 years or so has valued noise, glamour, and extroversion.
The book gets a bit technical in the middle - Susan did her research, but even there I found a lot of very interesting and valuable nuggets to mull over. Her concluding chapters bring it all together into a combination message of "here is who you really are...and don't be ashamed of it" and "here is how you can learn to live".
The devilish part of me wants to add to that last "or if you are one of the inferior extrovert caste....read this to see who really rules the world". (Sorry Ms. Cain if you read this -- too many public school incidents welling up!).
This is NOT Susan's message at all. She points out repeatedly throughout the book that we need both types to make a living, functioning society, and that indeed there may not be very many pure "types" at all in reality. This is something I agree with very strongly, as I am certainly a hybrid of the two, though leaning heavily toward the "intro" side and much more comfortable with it particularly now that I have read this book.
View all my reviews
Thank you, Susan Cain!
This book review has been a long time in coming...for reasons I outline in the review. (From Goodreads):
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan CainMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh crap...now I have actually finished this book, and I have to write a review...but I am not sure how exactly. Let's try this:
Wow
Double Wow...even Triple Wow occasionally
It took me an extraordinarily long time to read this book given my usual pace. But that is because of the work that it is. It is subtitled "The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". I could have almost stopped there and savored that alone...but I am glad I didn't.
I was introduced to Susan Cain (as were many others) through her TED Talk. I bought this book immediately after seeing it and coincidentally at the end of a very bad experience for me of being a 'pseudo-extrovert', not so much to please others but because I do have a somewhat adventurous spirit when it comes to new challenges. Although I came out of it OK, this time it almost cost me.
So reading this book, there were many times where I simply had to set it aside for awhile (sometimes a few weeks) and let my subconscious mind work over what I had read.
It is that kind of book...full of what probably seems in hindsight like common sense...but it escaped us who were living the life of introverts in a world that for most of the last 30 years or so has valued noise, glamour, and extroversion.
The book gets a bit technical in the middle - Susan did her research, but even there I found a lot of very interesting and valuable nuggets to mull over. Her concluding chapters bring it all together into a combination message of "here is who you really are...and don't be ashamed of it" and "here is how you can learn to live".
The devilish part of me wants to add to that last "or if you are one of the inferior extrovert caste....read this to see who really rules the world". (Sorry Ms. Cain if you read this -- too many public school incidents welling up!).
This is NOT Susan's message at all. She points out repeatedly throughout the book that we need both types to make a living, functioning society, and that indeed there may not be very many pure "types" at all in reality. This is something I agree with very strongly, as I am certainly a hybrid of the two, though leaning heavily toward the "intro" side and much more comfortable with it particularly now that I have read this book.
View all my reviews
Thank you, Susan Cain!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
I'm Calling BS!
There is a lot of backslapping and congratulations on the "bipartisan budget deal" that President Obama signed today. The sound of politician's arms patting themselves on the back is almost deafening, but in reality this is still light years from where how the budget process is supposed to work. There are specific dates in law that are to be met for the Executive to submit to Congress a budget request for the next year.
Throughout all of this recent mess the Executive branch has been doing quite a lot better at meeting its dates than Congress. Congress just never bothered to pass any kind of a budget for the years 2011, 2012, or 2013 (law requires them to pass it by April 15)...instead relying on a bunch of "here's a check to tide you over" resolutions that shut down large parts of the government (but left the profligate money-spewers at the Pentagon largely unhampered).
Instead of any congratulations...all 535 members of Congress should be slinking off home to write their resignation letters, for the crime of perpetrating fraud on the American citizen and taxpayer.
In other words...BS to the "miraculous budget deal"!
Throughout all of this recent mess the Executive branch has been doing quite a lot better at meeting its dates than Congress. Congress just never bothered to pass any kind of a budget for the years 2011, 2012, or 2013 (law requires them to pass it by April 15)...instead relying on a bunch of "here's a check to tide you over" resolutions that shut down large parts of the government (but left the profligate money-spewers at the Pentagon largely unhampered).
Instead of any congratulations...all 535 members of Congress should be slinking off home to write their resignation letters, for the crime of perpetrating fraud on the American citizen and taxpayer.
In other words...BS to the "miraculous budget deal"!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Pay Attention to What the ACA is Really About!
There has been so much smoke and bile over the front-end application process for the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) that a lot of things have gotten completely lost:
This act really only affects people who did not have healthcare coverage before, or whose employers have recently dropped it. Unfortunately the latter group has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last decade (pre-ACA) as the death panels (excuse me...health insurance companies) entrenched their abilities to buy new yachts and vacation homes every year through premium and deductible increases, while providing no real cost control to the market.
It got so bad that the US was the worst (the worst, bar none) of any 'first-world' or 'civilized' country in providing very basic healthcare to its citizens. You could have moved to almost any one of 80 or so other countries (including some 'second world' countries and done better).
The other thing that has gotten lost aside from just availability is the advantages the ACA brings to the healthcare consumer. Unfortunately it does not get rid of the death panel's influence and greed, only requiring that everyone be allowed to be gored by the political money-grabbing lobbyist and health care profit machine equally hard. The right thing, of course would be a single-payer system like the rest of the civilized world enjoys, but that would put one of the largest money sources for Congressional reelection campaigns out of business (boo-hoo).
Still, it means that there is likely to be a much smaller percentage of completely uninsured citizens in the US, which should serve to drive down costs once hospitals start to realize that the majority of people walking into their emergency rooms are no longer largely made up those that cannot/are not going to pay.
This column from the Center For Public Integrity outlines just how much real information you may have missed by just watching cable news:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/12/23/14051/obamacare-yes-theres-plenty-it-you
This act really only affects people who did not have healthcare coverage before, or whose employers have recently dropped it. Unfortunately the latter group has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last decade (pre-ACA) as the death panels (excuse me...health insurance companies) entrenched their abilities to buy new yachts and vacation homes every year through premium and deductible increases, while providing no real cost control to the market.
It got so bad that the US was the worst (the worst, bar none) of any 'first-world' or 'civilized' country in providing very basic healthcare to its citizens. You could have moved to almost any one of 80 or so other countries (including some 'second world' countries and done better).
The other thing that has gotten lost aside from just availability is the advantages the ACA brings to the healthcare consumer. Unfortunately it does not get rid of the death panel's influence and greed, only requiring that everyone be allowed to be gored by the political money-grabbing lobbyist and health care profit machine equally hard. The right thing, of course would be a single-payer system like the rest of the civilized world enjoys, but that would put one of the largest money sources for Congressional reelection campaigns out of business (boo-hoo).
Still, it means that there is likely to be a much smaller percentage of completely uninsured citizens in the US, which should serve to drive down costs once hospitals start to realize that the majority of people walking into their emergency rooms are no longer largely made up those that cannot/are not going to pay.
This column from the Center For Public Integrity outlines just how much real information you may have missed by just watching cable news:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/12/23/14051/obamacare-yes-theres-plenty-it-you
Monday, December 16, 2013
The Internet Thinks We Are Stupid...and Illiterate
And it is really starting to p*ss me off!
Have you noticed the increasing ratio of news stories that seem to come in "video only" form?
First of all...this is offensive as h*ll to me. It seems the publishers of said news items don't think I am capable of reading it on my own (I have a beyond-college vocabulary and comprehension, so I don't need some almost-literate bimbo to read it to me....at least not for another thirty years or so I hope!).
Add to that the fact that said video is always 1) preceded by some brain dead advertising aimed at the sixth graders in the audience; and that 2) the "reader" when they finally get around to it either misses or just ignores some very salient facts; 3) or adds a lot of fluff to the story that has no value at all.
It has gotten to the point where if I click on what appears to be a news link and it pops up a video...I just kill it immediately. I hope we are not becoming such a stupid nation of "feed me your version of the news" that this becomes a normal delivery mechanism.
Have you noticed the increasing ratio of news stories that seem to come in "video only" form?
First of all...this is offensive as h*ll to me. It seems the publishers of said news items don't think I am capable of reading it on my own (I have a beyond-college vocabulary and comprehension, so I don't need some almost-literate bimbo to read it to me....at least not for another thirty years or so I hope!).
Add to that the fact that said video is always 1) preceded by some brain dead advertising aimed at the sixth graders in the audience; and that 2) the "reader" when they finally get around to it either misses or just ignores some very salient facts; 3) or adds a lot of fluff to the story that has no value at all.
It has gotten to the point where if I click on what appears to be a news link and it pops up a video...I just kill it immediately. I hope we are not becoming such a stupid nation of "feed me your version of the news" that this becomes a normal delivery mechanism.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Revolving DC Door Works Both Ways
The "revolving door" in Washington usually refers to people in DC "retiring" to cushy lobbyist or advisory jobs from posts of influence (or sometimes only a lowly Congressperson).
But this particular spinning door actually works both ways...as this Center For Public Integrity article notes when an industry insider gets to "oversee" the industry he was an "insider" (and partier) to.
The folks at CPI do great work and you should read their reports regularly (and support them if able), but sometimes it must seem to them like such an uphill battle....
But this particular spinning door actually works both ways...as this Center For Public Integrity article notes when an industry insider gets to "oversee" the industry he was an "insider" (and partier) to.
The folks at CPI do great work and you should read their reports regularly (and support them if able), but sometimes it must seem to them like such an uphill battle....
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Another Sarah Kay Piece
This piece from my favorite spoken-word poet Sarah Kay seemed appropriate for the holidays when we tend to think of family matters and want to draw those important to us close:
Friday, December 6, 2013
Some Material For Thinkers
Some very thoughtful comments on Nelson Mandela, and President Obama's desire to finally begin to address the great income inequality problem in this country. Happy thinking!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Nelson Mandela 1918-2013
Most people's lives are deserving of some sort of an epitaph. Others transcend that and seem worthy of more than we can possibly give in remembrance.
 |
The last page of Nelson Mandela's speech in 1964, just before he spent 27 years in prison. |
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
No Way to Dress This Up Folks!
The US continues its race to the bottom in terms of knowledge/achievement levels for its high school students.
Not only are we plummeting to the bottom and contesting countries such as Lithuania and Croatia for position, we have the "states rights" folks who seem determined to drive us even further down this road, each with their own narrow-minded ideals, like the folks in Tennessee who tried to declare that 'slavery never really happened'.
We have got to get our act together people -- the countries who are 'cleaning our clock' in education (like China, Japan, Canada, Australia....heck everyone) are all beneficiaries of a strong centrally administered education standards process that applies to everyone in the country (kinda like Common Core?).
Not only are we plummeting to the bottom and contesting countries such as Lithuania and Croatia for position, we have the "states rights" folks who seem determined to drive us even further down this road, each with their own narrow-minded ideals, like the folks in Tennessee who tried to declare that 'slavery never really happened'.
We have got to get our act together people -- the countries who are 'cleaning our clock' in education (like China, Japan, Canada, Australia....heck everyone) are all beneficiaries of a strong centrally administered education standards process that applies to everyone in the country (kinda like Common Core?).
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Land of Oppportunity? Not so Fast
If you are open-minded enough, here is a presentation that tells the economic story of America today in concrete, factual terms. I checked the data behind this, and it is pretty accurate. For links to the references behind the presentation, go to the YouTube page and open the 'References' section:
This is What Thinkers are About!
I am this Thanksgiving weekend grateful for many things, not the least of which is the single most intelligent conversation to be heard on public airwaves. I refer of course to the weekly Shields and Brooks meeting on the PBS NewsHour.
This is a very pleasurable end to my week and I hope it becomes a habit of yours. This week the meat of the discussion and the real 'thinking material' starts about 5 minutes in, after they have a relatively mundane discussion about the Iran agreement.
This is a very pleasurable end to my week and I hope it becomes a habit of yours. This week the meat of the discussion and the real 'thinking material' starts about 5 minutes in, after they have a relatively mundane discussion about the Iran agreement.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Thank Your Chef For Your Intelligence!
One of the things about being something of a "polymath wannabe" is that your mind is free to wander among all your interests and see what is new or strikes your fancy at the moment. Sometimes you happen upon a truly engrossing and fascinating item about one of those areas. This TED Talk by Suzana Herculano-Houzel is one of those.
Of all the sciences, I am probably less attracted to the 'green squishy sciences' like biology, zoology, etc. but there is one area in which I do maintain a fascination and that is the human brain. It is in many ways still the most unexplored, unknown part of the human experience and it is easy to see how we might begin to feel it is 'special'. There is no denying that humans have accomplished some astonishing things (like surviving) for a long time, going into space, questioning their own origins and those of the universe, etc. which I am pretty sure the average dog or lab rat does not.
Suzana's talk addresses this, in a very informative (and scientific) way, and I found it fascinating, humbling, and thought-provoking all at the same time. Happy thinking!!!
Of all the sciences, I am probably less attracted to the 'green squishy sciences' like biology, zoology, etc. but there is one area in which I do maintain a fascination and that is the human brain. It is in many ways still the most unexplored, unknown part of the human experience and it is easy to see how we might begin to feel it is 'special'. There is no denying that humans have accomplished some astonishing things (like surviving) for a long time, going into space, questioning their own origins and those of the universe, etc. which I am pretty sure the average dog or lab rat does not.
Suzana's talk addresses this, in a very informative (and scientific) way, and I found it fascinating, humbling, and thought-provoking all at the same time. Happy thinking!!!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
A Tale of Two Institutions
If you have read some of my other posts, you might be able to infer that I have very little tolerance/respect for some of our "institutions". Political parties would have to be first and foremost -- I cannot for the life of me think why any self-respecting, thinking, rational human being would get within a country mile of one.
Another is "organized religion" -- or any religion with a name on it. Again many of my reasons are the same as political parties, it is a very humanity-denying and somewhat abasing thing to commit to a religion...particularly if you were not even given a choice in the matter but were "born" into it. However, with religions I am a bit more tolerant in terms of respect. I understand and appreciate that they can serve a useful purpose (thousands of different ones it seems), and are a key part of many people's lives.
I saw something today though that made me think of this again. The pope has announced that he is willing to discuss moving some of the Catholic church's powers away from the Vatican, and to redefine some of the powers of the papacy.
What struck me is that this is the second major institution to get things completely "ass-backwards". Churches (particularly the Catholics, but others as well) have this tradition of semi-divine central authority commanding a worldwide religion. Yet I think that of all the endeavors, religion is best practiced "close to home" (locally) within perhaps some broad guidance.
Now, the second institution is so messed up it takes two levels of government to do it -- the US Government and the state's governments...or more particularly the "states rights" folks. The Constitution basically says "anything the Feds do not or will not do, is the responsibility of the states". Unfortunately, our states have massively f***d up their part of the bargain in at least two important areas: education and health care. They have given us the worst health care "system" in the first world with untold riches for CEOs of the death panel/insurance companies, but costs four to six times other countries and medical results that are in the bottom half of the pack.
And the (until recently) completely state-run US education system is an unmitigated, long running disaster. We rank at the bottom of most first-world countries, and yet people howl when they can't use their local school boards to teach "creationism" or to rewrite history so that slavery never occurred.
Another is "organized religion" -- or any religion with a name on it. Again many of my reasons are the same as political parties, it is a very humanity-denying and somewhat abasing thing to commit to a religion...particularly if you were not even given a choice in the matter but were "born" into it. However, with religions I am a bit more tolerant in terms of respect. I understand and appreciate that they can serve a useful purpose (thousands of different ones it seems), and are a key part of many people's lives.
I saw something today though that made me think of this again. The pope has announced that he is willing to discuss moving some of the Catholic church's powers away from the Vatican, and to redefine some of the powers of the papacy.
What struck me is that this is the second major institution to get things completely "ass-backwards". Churches (particularly the Catholics, but others as well) have this tradition of semi-divine central authority commanding a worldwide religion. Yet I think that of all the endeavors, religion is best practiced "close to home" (locally) within perhaps some broad guidance.
Now, the second institution is so messed up it takes two levels of government to do it -- the US Government and the state's governments...or more particularly the "states rights" folks. The Constitution basically says "anything the Feds do not or will not do, is the responsibility of the states". Unfortunately, our states have massively f***d up their part of the bargain in at least two important areas: education and health care. They have given us the worst health care "system" in the first world with untold riches for CEOs of the death panel/insurance companies, but costs four to six times other countries and medical results that are in the bottom half of the pack.
And the (until recently) completely state-run US education system is an unmitigated, long running disaster. We rank at the bottom of most first-world countries, and yet people howl when they can't use their local school boards to teach "creationism" or to rewrite history so that slavery never occurred.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Technology That Matters
It seems like those of us who work in the technology sector only hear about the bad side of our labors. NSA, identity theft, anonymous bullying, distracted driving, Facebook lies, Twitter bulimia, etc..
Every once in awhile it is nice to realize that yes, technology has and does move our lives forward in a positive way.
Every once in awhile it is nice to realize that yes, technology has and does move our lives forward in a positive way.
They Canceled Your Health Policy? CELEBRATE!
Amazing how many of the wailing, "they canceled my insurance" stories turn out to be way different than they are presented.
I personally know of at least one person and have heard reliable stories of about half a dozen more....and all are much better off once they stop the teeth-gnashing and rending of clothes and actually find out what the ACA is all about!
They are finding that 1) their old policies weren't worth doo-doo; 2) they were paying way too much for them; and they can do much better covering the essentials they need under the ACA because the death panels (err...health insurance companies) can no longer use them as a funding source for yachts and third homes.
I personally know of at least one person and have heard reliable stories of about half a dozen more....and all are much better off once they stop the teeth-gnashing and rending of clothes and actually find out what the ACA is all about!
They are finding that 1) their old policies weren't worth doo-doo; 2) they were paying way too much for them; and they can do much better covering the essentials they need under the ACA because the death panels (err...health insurance companies) can no longer use them as a funding source for yachts and third homes.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
The Folly of the Filibuster
I disagree with David Brooks on this one - I don't think the presence of the filibuster helps in any way the reputation, "comity", or certainly the effectiveness of the Senate. The filibuster is not mentioned in any fashion in the Constitution, instead it is a pure invention of evil political parties to try and subvert the process to their own ends.
Indeed, I think the filibuster is an abject admission of failure:
"My ideas or standing are so poorly reasoned out or just plain indefensible that I cannot persuade anyone to move to my side, or even compromise. Therefore I will basically throw a second-grader's schoolyard fit until my face turns blue (or I keel over), then you will be sorry!!!".
Friday, November 22, 2013
Kudos to the LA Times
Finally, a respectable news organization is calling an end to the climate-change denier bunk that is published not only in letters to the editor, but all over the Internet (always 'anonymously' of course) as "comments" whenever climate change is mentioned.
If you haven't been following the science (or just paying attention to the mindless drivel of cable news channels) you might not know that there is no real controversy left among actual practicing scientists that have knowledge of climatology....and you know that other science stuff.
Unlike the "impressive" list of "distinguished scientists" that Senator James Inhofe (Oklahoma) waved in front of a hearing. Hmm...seems to be a lot of Doctorates on here...of English, Philosophy, Mathematics....and oh yes, a bunch of TV "weather personalities" we will say to be kind.
The LA Times recently declared:
Saying "there's no sign humans have caused climate change" is not stating an opinion, it's asserting a factual inaccuracy.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-climate-change-letters-20131008,0,871615.story#ixzz2lQn2ukyp
If you haven't been following the science (or just paying attention to the mindless drivel of cable news channels) you might not know that there is no real controversy left among actual practicing scientists that have knowledge of climatology....and you know that other science stuff.
Unlike the "impressive" list of "distinguished scientists" that Senator James Inhofe (Oklahoma) waved in front of a hearing. Hmm...seems to be a lot of Doctorates on here...of English, Philosophy, Mathematics....and oh yes, a bunch of TV "weather personalities" we will say to be kind.
The LA Times recently declared:
Saying "there's no sign humans have caused climate change" is not stating an opinion, it's asserting a factual inaccuracy.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-climate-change-letters-20131008,0,871615.story#ixzz2lQn2ukyp
Monday, November 18, 2013
Pentagon Waste - Carrying on a Proud Tradition
I have written elsewhere in this blog about the proudly un-auditable Pentagon waste machine that shreds (or just plain loses) taxpayer dollars each and every day and seems very unconcerned about it. (Of course, all they have to do is ask the Repubs for more I guess).
Reuters is now taking its own look at it, putting a very human face on some of the very real victims -- US service men and women. Then in the second part they outline how the Pentagon literally cannot keep track of anything...not just money.
Reuters is now taking its own look at it, putting a very human face on some of the very real victims -- US service men and women. Then in the second part they outline how the Pentagon literally cannot keep track of anything...not just money.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
MMTW
Massively Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling - this is just fun (and funny) but carries a few subtle ideas for thinkers too:
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Now That Is Class
Even if it is a bit late, this item from the Harrisburg Patriot-News is worthy of acknowledgement (and big kudos for style!).
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Another Republican Black Eye
Like most items that make it into the "BS-verse" (sorry, the Internet), the whole flap about health insurance policies being cancelled as a result of the ACA is overblown, misleading, and says more about the ignorance of the "reporters" than anything.
In reality, the people who get letters from their insurance companies 'canceling' their policies are finding out they are much, much better off under the ACA. Sorry Repubs -- another black eye for you!
In reality, the people who get letters from their insurance companies 'canceling' their policies are finding out they are much, much better off under the ACA. Sorry Repubs -- another black eye for you!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Wake Up Call
Thomas Friedman has written about a new phenomenon, a new view of the United States from abroad that is not flattering. I won't steal his thunder, but I actually had a much earlier, similar experience in about 2003 though I could be off by a year. I was on a business trip to Taiwan and our hosts took me out for dinner to one of the biggest buffet-style "mix and match" restaurants I have ever seen. All the choices and ingredients were raw and fresh, you chose the individual items, then they were prepared and brought to your table. The selection was huge, like a large farmer's market.
Anyway, as we sat down at our table the primary host from the company we were working with sat down across from me and asked (in impeccable English since English classes are mandatory from elementary school onward)..."Why did you elect such a stupid President?".
People in other countries tend to look up to the US, and are disappointed/dismayed when they perceive that something "stupid" is happening, which is part of the theme of Friedman's column.
As for me...I foolishly started down the road of pointing out that the American people had NOT actually elected the "stupid president", but then that led to how the Supreme Court in supposedly the greatest democracy in the world had "appointed" a president.
Fortunately, just when it was getting really confusing (and embarrassing)...the food arrived!
Anyway, as we sat down at our table the primary host from the company we were working with sat down across from me and asked (in impeccable English since English classes are mandatory from elementary school onward)..."Why did you elect such a stupid President?".
People in other countries tend to look up to the US, and are disappointed/dismayed when they perceive that something "stupid" is happening, which is part of the theme of Friedman's column.
As for me...I foolishly started down the road of pointing out that the American people had NOT actually elected the "stupid president", but then that led to how the Supreme Court in supposedly the greatest democracy in the world had "appointed" a president.
Fortunately, just when it was getting really confusing (and embarrassing)...the food arrived!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Trash Talkin'
Another interesting TED Talk - this time on trash/garbage whatever you call it. The talk is actually more about "What I Discovered About New York City Trash", but it is interesting and well presented.
Ms. Nagle saves the best for the end, but I won't spoil the surprise. Let's just say garbage doesn't necessarily come from where you might think or expect.....
Ms. Nagle saves the best for the end, but I won't spoil the surprise. Let's just say garbage doesn't necessarily come from where you might think or expect.....
Math is Fun Too!
My last post talked about the "War on Math and Physics" in the US according to a book I am reading. These (and their close siblings) just happen to be some of my favorite subjects. I am fascinated by physics, astrophysics and particle physics and try to keep up on the latest developments as well as I can considering I don't have a degree in any of them - just a rabid interest.
Math on the other hand I use, mostly in indirect ways in my work with computer software, but a good understanding of mathematical principles and techniques is behind a lot of what I do and think about every day, and leads directly to the related fields of logic and reasoning (another of my favorite areas of endeavor).
Here is a TED Talk concentrating on just one aspect of math - the Fibonacci numbers. This is a good reintroduction to the magic of math if you have been away for awhile, and it is just plain .. fun!
Math on the other hand I use, mostly in indirect ways in my work with computer software, but a good understanding of mathematical principles and techniques is behind a lot of what I do and think about every day, and leads directly to the related fields of logic and reasoning (another of my favorite areas of endeavor).
Here is a TED Talk concentrating on just one aspect of math - the Fibonacci numbers. This is a good reintroduction to the magic of math if you have been away for awhile, and it is just plain .. fun!
"Average is Officially Over"
I mentioned elsewhere that I have been rather disappointed in the whole "boomer" generation, which is actually the "me first at all costs" generation if you scratch the surface. I have also mentioned I am reading the book by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum titled "That Used To Be Us: How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can Come Back".
I am enjoying this book immensely, but that makes it a "slow read" because frankly I need to stop and think/assimilate occasionally. This book pulls no punches, and it is full of facts and observations about the American experience the last several decades. One of the most direct is from the chapter titled "This is Our Due" in a section entitled "The War on Math and Physics":
How did this happen? For one thing Washington DC showed more stupidity than is normal even for that brain-addled burg...of course the worst inhabitants are put there by the American people (paraphrased from the book):
Paul O'Neill (George W. Bush's first Treasury Secretary) warned Vice President Cheney that the growing budget deficits were unsustainable, and the huge tax cuts being pushed by the administration were unaffordable. Cheney's response? "You know Paul, Reagan proved deficits don't matter. We won the midterms, this is our due." A month later, Cheney told the Treasury Secretary to find a new job.
I am getting into the part of the book where the authors map out a plan to fix things, but one very simple statement from the book that we as Americans have to understand and act on sticks in my mind:
I am enjoying this book immensely, but that makes it a "slow read" because frankly I need to stop and think/assimilate occasionally. This book pulls no punches, and it is full of facts and observations about the American experience the last several decades. One of the most direct is from the chapter titled "This is Our Due" in a section entitled "The War on Math and Physics":
There is no other way to say this: Somewhere in the last twenty years of baby boomer rule, Americans decided to act as if we had a divine right to everything -- low energy prices and big cars, higher spending and lower taxes, home ownership and health care, booms without ceilings and busts without massive unemployment -- all at a time when the country was waging wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and then Libya, Our sense of entitlement expanded far beyond Social Security and Medicare to encompass...well, everything.
How did this happen? For one thing Washington DC showed more stupidity than is normal even for that brain-addled burg...of course the worst inhabitants are put there by the American people (paraphrased from the book):
Paul O'Neill (George W. Bush's first Treasury Secretary) warned Vice President Cheney that the growing budget deficits were unsustainable, and the huge tax cuts being pushed by the administration were unaffordable. Cheney's response? "You know Paul, Reagan proved deficits don't matter. We won the midterms, this is our due." A month later, Cheney told the Treasury Secretary to find a new job.
...Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, went on Fox News Sunday [July 11, 2010] and declared -- with no sense of irony at all -- that when Democrats raise spending in one area, the spending needs to be offset by a spending reduction in another area, but when Republicans cut taxes in one area, the cut does not have to be offset by any cut in spending. [...] In other words, raising spending means that one and one makes two and the deficit grows. But in the case of lowering taxes without lowering spending, one and one make one: there is no effect on the deficit.
I am getting into the part of the book where the authors map out a plan to fix things, but one very simple statement from the book that we as Americans have to understand and act on sticks in my mind:
"Average is officially over."
Saturday, November 2, 2013
This is Hard to Read
The Center for Public Integrity is at it again....this time it is only indirectly related to government misdeeds. This time it is an almost unbelievably sad story of how the coal industry has not only set up the conditions for miners to die in pursuit of their profits, but then gone to great lengths to defend/excuse the practice.
This is a very thorough CPI investigation, but you should read at least the background piece and the first installment. It is long but worth it - the world cannot always be reduced to 140 characters or a reality show where anybody gets to "vote".
This is a very thorough CPI investigation, but you should read at least the background piece and the first installment. It is long but worth it - the world cannot always be reduced to 140 characters or a reality show where anybody gets to "vote".
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Somebody Whupped This Thing WIth a Big Ugly Stick!
Odd fish have been showing up in Puget Sound (west side of our state) lately...but this is one of the odder ones.
http://seattletimes.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2022158324.html
It is estimated to be 325 to 350 pounds.
I have seen no science yet to indicate if the radiation released by Japan in the earthquake or global climate change is involved but something weird is going on.
http://seattletimes.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2022158324.html
It is estimated to be 325 to 350 pounds.
I have seen no science yet to indicate if the radiation released by Japan in the earthquake or global climate change is involved but something weird is going on.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Saudi Arabian Women Drive!
I went to Saudi Arabia in 2000 on business and saw firsthand what second (or even third) class citizens women are there. It is pretty shocking to the Western mind, particularly those bold women who have been a part of the advancement and at least somewhat equalization of women in many Western countries.
Some female Saudi pioneers are trying to push the envelope again -- I offer this video mostly because you just have to see and hear the (male of course) argument against women driving at about the 3:00 mark. It is absolutely Neanderthal, and while I read about it elsewhere I wasn't ready to believe it until I saw this.
This also points out the kind of thing that can happen if church and state are mixed or not completely separated. This is in reality a religion-based dictate, but the ruling House of Saud is teetering between wanting to be accepted and deal with the modern world, and obeying the dictates of the senior clerics who call the shots in most of the areas where religious law (in their eyes) should apply.
Some female Saudi pioneers are trying to push the envelope again -- I offer this video mostly because you just have to see and hear the (male of course) argument against women driving at about the 3:00 mark. It is absolutely Neanderthal, and while I read about it elsewhere I wasn't ready to believe it until I saw this.
This also points out the kind of thing that can happen if church and state are mixed or not completely separated. This is in reality a religion-based dictate, but the ruling House of Saud is teetering between wanting to be accepted and deal with the modern world, and obeying the dictates of the senior clerics who call the shots in most of the areas where religious law (in their eyes) should apply.
Thanks A Lot Richard!
Richard Branson is by all accounts a genial, affable guy with a heck of a lot business smarts, filthy rich (and good looks too). With all that going for him, why did he have to steal the only description I could think of for the spoken-word poet Sarah Kay?
She introduced me and a lot of other people to spoken-word poetry with her "Point B" poem, delivered as part of this TED Talk in 2011:
And here she is again in a talk at the Bonnier Grid 2012 Conference (as reported on the Poets and Writers website).
Oh, and what did Richard Branson say anyway?
"Every time I see this girl she gives me goosebumps. As well as being absolutely beautiful, her poetry takes your breath away."
I have to admit, I couldn't say it any better myself....(but c'mon Richard, I DID think of it first...sort of almost, didn't I?!).
One more...just in case your goosebumps aren't there yet...
In any case, if you have anything of a feeling, evenly faintly poetic receptor in you...you will appreciate this young woman for her wisdom beyond her years, and yes, she will be taking your breath away with her work.
She introduced me and a lot of other people to spoken-word poetry with her "Point B" poem, delivered as part of this TED Talk in 2011:
And here she is again in a talk at the Bonnier Grid 2012 Conference (as reported on the Poets and Writers website).
Oh, and what did Richard Branson say anyway?
"Every time I see this girl she gives me goosebumps. As well as being absolutely beautiful, her poetry takes your breath away."
I have to admit, I couldn't say it any better myself....(but c'mon Richard, I DID think of it first...sort of almost, didn't I?!).
One more...just in case your goosebumps aren't there yet...
In any case, if you have anything of a feeling, evenly faintly poetic receptor in you...you will appreciate this young woman for her wisdom beyond her years, and yes, she will be taking your breath away with her work.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
PBS on Colbert?
The anchors at PBS NewsHour (which I regularly depend upon and is linked to the right) had the opportunity to promote their brand of news (the old-fashioned kind that is actually information) on the Colbert Report recently and I think acquitted themselves quite well.
If you enjoy being a thinker, there is no other comparable source of 'visual' news on TV today, unless your local PBS station also broadcasts the BBC News, which is also excellent and informative, but a bit more world-centered (as it should be).
So the BBC for world news, these women for US (and world) news, and now Hari Sreenivasan has a 'half hour' PBS NewsHour on Saturday and Sundays. Unlike the screeching heads news channels, they realize that most of the rest of the world is still functioning on our weekends.
If you enjoy being a thinker, there is no other comparable source of 'visual' news on TV today, unless your local PBS station also broadcasts the BBC News, which is also excellent and informative, but a bit more world-centered (as it should be).
So the BBC for world news, these women for US (and world) news, and now Hari Sreenivasan has a 'half hour' PBS NewsHour on Saturday and Sundays. Unlike the screeching heads news channels, they realize that most of the rest of the world is still functioning on our weekends.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Good Luck to the Aussies
May a fair wind blow the other way (and some rain be delivered) to help in your fight with some massive fires that are getting worse.
If any American reading this has had the good fortune to spend any time in Australia as I did several years ago, you know what a friendly, warm, welcoming, strong and versatile people they are. They have been hit with some real bad droughts and fires in recent years and are perhaps the first "first world" country to suffer the effects of global warming.
If any American reading this has had the good fortune to spend any time in Australia as I did several years ago, you know what a friendly, warm, welcoming, strong and versatile people they are. They have been hit with some real bad droughts and fires in recent years and are perhaps the first "first world" country to suffer the effects of global warming.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Facebook - A Real Class Act
Sometimes....you just have to let the story tell itself (thanks to the BBC for telling it):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24608499
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24608499
The Myth of GMOs
We seem to be in a run of very-expensive initiatives in our state, and continuing what for me has been a forty+ year run of stupid initiatives that I always vote against. I wrote earlier about the 'recreational marijuana' initiative and true to prediction it has turned into an unholy mess. In the end of this travesty it looks like the slightly-more-legitimate medical marijuana industry is going to in all probability be destroyed completely. The stringent and goofy rules regulating the 'recreational' marijuana industry (a hodge-podge of items to try and keep the Feds at bay and act like the state is in control) will probably have the effect of making sure that no one can make a living growing the stuff...so its easier to just go see the dealer you have been going to for years.
This year's version of stupid is a very expensive campaign for and against the labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). What is interesting about this expensive campaign is that neither side has addressed in any meaningful way whether or not it is even a good and necessary idea. The ads are all about imagined costs and getting either poor farmers or surrogates of corporate farmers (much more in the majority) to bleat about horrendous costs, etc.
The simple fact is that there is no (that is no, as in none) science that says GMOs are bad. The closest anyone can come is 'inconclusive' evidence. A lot of the GMO work done to date is on crops to make them pest-resistant, particularly corn and cotton. One estimate is that an 80% reduction in the use of insecticides (about 123 million pounds) is due to the introduction of these pest resistant modified crops. On the other hand, some attempts to use GMO on plants has apparently resulted in the evolution of resistant weeds that are proving hard to get rid of.
(Anyone else thinking of Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park right now..."nature will find a way"?).
The point is, the science has not shown any harm to humans or even potential harm and in fact the first directly genetically-modified meats or fish have not even been produced yet except for one strain of salmon and it is in testing now.
So...from a thinker's standpoint...this is all a big, expensive campaign that is much ado about no science! Unfortunately I think it says a lot more about the incredible ignorance of the American public than anything else.
This year's version of stupid is a very expensive campaign for and against the labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). What is interesting about this expensive campaign is that neither side has addressed in any meaningful way whether or not it is even a good and necessary idea. The ads are all about imagined costs and getting either poor farmers or surrogates of corporate farmers (much more in the majority) to bleat about horrendous costs, etc.
The simple fact is that there is no (that is no, as in none) science that says GMOs are bad. The closest anyone can come is 'inconclusive' evidence. A lot of the GMO work done to date is on crops to make them pest-resistant, particularly corn and cotton. One estimate is that an 80% reduction in the use of insecticides (about 123 million pounds) is due to the introduction of these pest resistant modified crops. On the other hand, some attempts to use GMO on plants has apparently resulted in the evolution of resistant weeds that are proving hard to get rid of.
(Anyone else thinking of Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park right now..."nature will find a way"?).
The point is, the science has not shown any harm to humans or even potential harm and in fact the first directly genetically-modified meats or fish have not even been produced yet except for one strain of salmon and it is in testing now.
So...from a thinker's standpoint...this is all a big, expensive campaign that is much ado about no science! Unfortunately I think it says a lot more about the incredible ignorance of the American public than anything else.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
OK, We Blew It (Please Do Better)
There are a lot of reasons for me to be disappointed in "our" generation - in general called the "boomers". Just in sheer numbers we should have been a driving force for carrying forward the principles and sacrifices of "the Greatest Generation" that was our fathers and mothers.
But, as boomers came into power and started to run things it quickly turned into the "me" generation, and largely abandoned the principles of responsible and dependable government, raiding the Social Security Trust fund and playing increasingly creative and equally invalid accounting games to make things look like they balanced out and it was OK to "don't worry....be happy".
To mollify the worriers, Congress came up with a born-dead option called the 401K which is nothing more than an another income source for Wall Street but does nothing to assure retirement. As a result, an unprecedented percentage of retirees are planning to work even further into what should be their retirement years, depriving today's incoming young work force of jobs and opportunities.
Unfortunately, coupled with a generation of "greatest-generation-wannabes" politicians who were all too willing to stick our military into untenable and un-winnable situations (a patriot after all is defined as someone who is willing to sacrifice your children for their "ideals") we ramped up spending on the military to unsustainable heights...all the time ignoring the incontrovertible fact that the largest generational bubble yet was going to hit the Social Security and Medicare systems -- the very ones Congress had been raiding to feed the military-industrial maw.
Tom Friedman had a column on the subject recently, and I hope the young people of today take the challenge seriously (I have a daughter in this group....and I am sorry honey, but the people we put in office were not terribly bright and definitely not long-term thinkers).
I sincerely hope the new generation can come up with a formula (as a few countries of the world have done) that assures a certain minimum standard of living including fair and reasonable health care for all the people who live in ostensibly the richest country in the world.
The generation after "the Greatest Generation" has certainly failed.....
But, as boomers came into power and started to run things it quickly turned into the "me" generation, and largely abandoned the principles of responsible and dependable government, raiding the Social Security Trust fund and playing increasingly creative and equally invalid accounting games to make things look like they balanced out and it was OK to "don't worry....be happy".
To mollify the worriers, Congress came up with a born-dead option called the 401K which is nothing more than an another income source for Wall Street but does nothing to assure retirement. As a result, an unprecedented percentage of retirees are planning to work even further into what should be their retirement years, depriving today's incoming young work force of jobs and opportunities.
Unfortunately, coupled with a generation of "greatest-generation-wannabes" politicians who were all too willing to stick our military into untenable and un-winnable situations (a patriot after all is defined as someone who is willing to sacrifice your children for their "ideals") we ramped up spending on the military to unsustainable heights...all the time ignoring the incontrovertible fact that the largest generational bubble yet was going to hit the Social Security and Medicare systems -- the very ones Congress had been raiding to feed the military-industrial maw.
Tom Friedman had a column on the subject recently, and I hope the young people of today take the challenge seriously (I have a daughter in this group....and I am sorry honey, but the people we put in office were not terribly bright and definitely not long-term thinkers).
I sincerely hope the new generation can come up with a formula (as a few countries of the world have done) that assures a certain minimum standard of living including fair and reasonable health care for all the people who live in ostensibly the richest country in the world.
The generation after "the Greatest Generation" has certainly failed.....
Friday, October 18, 2013
The Martians Are Shooting At Us!
Well...not really, but the thought did come to mind when I read this from NASA JPL. It is a good example of how indirect evidence sometimes clears up unrelated mysteries in science.
If you haven't been following the escapades of this mission, you are missing out on some very interesting science occurring in our lifetime...even if it is somewhat 'out of this world'.
If you haven't been following the escapades of this mission, you are missing out on some very interesting science occurring in our lifetime...even if it is somewhat 'out of this world'.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Thank You Senator McCain
I have been a little harsh on Senator McCain in the past on this blog, but I believe in acknowledging positive steps as well. Thank you Senator for pointing out the folly of this whole mess that has paralyzed Washington DC even more than normal.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
The Congress That Couldn't, Wouldn't, Didn't
The rudderless, aimless Congress that hasn't done anything for the last four years seems to be circling the drain...unfortunately they are creating a whirlpool that threatens to take the world economy down with it. I really wish we had the ability in this country to have a 'vote of no confidence' capability. The citizenry at large is beginning to think the same way I see....
By the way, Independents are now a larger group than either political party, so the news is even worse there -- the pool that Congress has to draw from if they ever hope to attract more non-thinkers back to their ranks:
21-Point Swing Against Congressional GOP Among Independents
By the way, Independents are now a larger group than either political party, so the news is even worse there -- the pool that Congress has to draw from if they ever hope to attract more non-thinkers back to their ranks:
21-Point Swing Against Congressional GOP Among Independents
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
First They Got Ignorant
And then they voted.
Sometimes...it is not very satisfying to be proved right.
Update 10/8/2013: Fixed link.
Update 12/28/2013: Fixed link again.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Immigration - From the Other Side
Unfortunately, immigration reform has fallen prey to both the mindless, brainless bickering of the children in Congress and the general overall paralysis in Congress that it ensures so it looks like absolutely nothing is going to happen to improve the shameful record of the country that used to welcome "...your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....".
I offer this Ted Talk as a simple, poignant example of a view from the other side of what can happen....even if the road wasn't always easy.
I offer this Ted Talk as a simple, poignant example of a view from the other side of what can happen....even if the road wasn't always easy.
Mother Nature and Iran
This is a very interesting column by Tom Friedman about the challenges Iran is facing (specifically environmental) that don't make the sound-byte TV news or the headlines.
One of the many things I enjoy about Mr. Friedman's analyses is that he has a keen eye for the complexities of a truly global world (even if US politicians still largely think the world is flat and the US solely occupies the "top" side). He frequently looks in the 'odd corner' or for other underlying factors that the blonde TV bimbos tend to either miss entirely or gloss over.
Happy Thinking!
One of the many things I enjoy about Mr. Friedman's analyses is that he has a keen eye for the complexities of a truly global world (even if US politicians still largely think the world is flat and the US solely occupies the "top" side). He frequently looks in the 'odd corner' or for other underlying factors that the blonde TV bimbos tend to either miss entirely or gloss over.
Happy Thinking!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Jimmy Kimmel - Street-Walkin'
One of the things I have always enjoyed about Jay Leno's version of the "Tonight Show" is the "Jay Walking" segments, where he goes out on the streets and asks seemingly innocent questions, that all too frequently serve to point up the incredible ignorance of the 'man or woman on the street' in the US.
After viewing this particular segment, I don't think there is any question that this fine tradition will be in good hands once Jimmy Kimmel takes over the Tonight Show reins (nor sadly, is there any end to the depths of the average American's ignorance about their country or current affairs).
After viewing this particular segment, I don't think there is any question that this fine tradition will be in good hands once Jimmy Kimmel takes over the Tonight Show reins (nor sadly, is there any end to the depths of the average American's ignorance about their country or current affairs).
Saturday, October 5, 2013
F-35 Strikes...The Pentagon...Again
The unbelievably incompetent saga of the Pentagon and the F-35 continues. The Pentagon's own auditor, the Defense Department Office of the Inspector General says that the Pentagon oversight was both "inadequate" and "ineffective".
At this point in the costly debacle (follow the Pentagon Spending tag in the cloud on the right side of the blog or search for 'F-35'), I think the only appropriate comment is...."no s*it Sherlock"!!!
At this point in the costly debacle (follow the Pentagon Spending tag in the cloud on the right side of the blog or search for 'F-35'), I think the only appropriate comment is...."no s*it Sherlock"!!!
Elizabeth Loftus - False Memories
An interesting TED Talk for you thinkers. The human mind is believe it or not one of the great largely unknown areas of science. This specifically deals with the issue of false identifications of criminal suspects...and why law enforcement in general frequently has a healthy distrust of eyewitness identifications, no matter how "sure" they are.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Tired of the "Shutdown" BS yet?
The idiocy of the morons in Congress (yes, all 535 of them) has gotten the country nowhere...and it really is a debate about nothing going on in Washington right now (see video below). Given that all of the parties involved are political party members, which brings their intelligence into question anyway, there is not a lot of hope.
Enjoy an intelligent, informed discussion of the issues, not available anywhere else on public media except for PBS News.
Enjoy an intelligent, informed discussion of the issues, not available anywhere else on public media except for PBS News.
Monday, September 30, 2013
If You Want a Concrete Reason for the Shenanigans in DC
I know....what ISN'T shenanigans in Washington DC these days?
I am talking specifically about the Repubs and their particular form of insanity. (Insanity of course being defined as doing the same crazy or self-destructive thing over and over again and expecting a different result). Their prolonged childish hissy-fit over the AHCA does have a dark side to it...one that I suspect has a great deal of truth in it, possibly even the primary reason for their insanity. Keep in mind this analysis is written by a former executive at one of the nation's largest health insurers who finally decided he had seen enough:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/30/13474/beginning-end-major-health-insurers
I am talking specifically about the Repubs and their particular form of insanity. (Insanity of course being defined as doing the same crazy or self-destructive thing over and over again and expecting a different result). Their prolonged childish hissy-fit over the AHCA does have a dark side to it...one that I suspect has a great deal of truth in it, possibly even the primary reason for their insanity. Keep in mind this analysis is written by a former executive at one of the nation's largest health insurers who finally decided he had seen enough:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/30/13474/beginning-end-major-health-insurers
Sunday, September 29, 2013
The Pursuit of Ignorance
"Thoroughly conscious ignorance is the prelude to every real advance in science."
- James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)
This is one of the best TED Talks I have send on the subject of science...what it actually is, and why we are teaching it all wrong (and perhaps why we have such an ignorant populace in the US in things scientific). Scientific knowledge properly acquired should generate more questions...or else it is not science.
Dogmatic institutions like politics and religions constantly "dead-end" themselves by declaring "truths" -- at least as they see them to their advantage at the moment. True science follows the truth wherever it may lead, and is constantly pushing the frontier of inquiry forward while the dogmatic approach is constantly building or shoring up old stone walls around whatever they have chosen to be "truth".
Affordable Health Care Idiots
There are more than enough of those to go around...but come on everyone...all of this "I'm so confused" hand wringing and requiring legions of people to stand by the state exchanges and "explain" everything about AHCA is just nuts.
The facts have been known and published for weeks about how things are going to work. Just because the non-journalists that run cable news don't find it titillating enough to make their "breaking news" format or no celeb has made it a 'cause' for gossip sites to pick up on does not mean the information is not there!
The clear explanations are everywhere on state and national web sites. The public just needs to get their heads out of Twitter and their eyes away from Dancing With the Stars for five minutes, and I am sure that it will all become clear!
Somehow everyone found ways to shop and compare and get the latest iPhone right? This isn't any harder!
The facts have been known and published for weeks about how things are going to work. Just because the non-journalists that run cable news don't find it titillating enough to make their "breaking news" format or no celeb has made it a 'cause' for gossip sites to pick up on does not mean the information is not there!
The clear explanations are everywhere on state and national web sites. The public just needs to get their heads out of Twitter and their eyes away from Dancing With the Stars for five minutes, and I am sure that it will all become clear!
Somehow everyone found ways to shop and compare and get the latest iPhone right? This isn't any harder!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
The Tea Party Hates the US
The Tea Party heralds itself as some kind of a heroic 'back to the roots' of America type organization, but I and a number of other thinkers I respect believe it is just the opposite. They are in fact holding us back from the things that need done to undo the damage that has been wreaked on the country by the government and most particularly the "me generation" since the end of the Cold War.
A Soviet expert on the United States (Georgi Arbatov) was prescient at the time when he said "We are going to do a terrible thing to you. We are going to deprive you of an enemy." Oscar Wilde said "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
Since the late 80s, the US has turned inward...while the rest of the world took the innovations largely fostered in the US and used them to open up the rest of the world. In many ways we are now the cloistered, festering, ignorant country that China was before they were 'opened' to the rest of the world. The sad thing is, the Tea Party in particular but all of Washington DC in particular seems to want to keep it that way and nail the doors shut permanently.
The above link is to Tom Friedman's column, and I have just started reading his book (co-authored with Michael Mandelbaum) "That Used To Be Us". This linked column is essentially the theme of the book in a nutshell. Watch this space for a review when I finish it -- it is sobering, yet hopeful reading about the future of the US and what we can yet leave our children if only we can keep the Neanderthals like the Tea Party out of the way.
A Soviet expert on the United States (Georgi Arbatov) was prescient at the time when he said "We are going to do a terrible thing to you. We are going to deprive you of an enemy." Oscar Wilde said "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
Since the late 80s, the US has turned inward...while the rest of the world took the innovations largely fostered in the US and used them to open up the rest of the world. In many ways we are now the cloistered, festering, ignorant country that China was before they were 'opened' to the rest of the world. The sad thing is, the Tea Party in particular but all of Washington DC in particular seems to want to keep it that way and nail the doors shut permanently.
The above link is to Tom Friedman's column, and I have just started reading his book (co-authored with Michael Mandelbaum) "That Used To Be Us". This linked column is essentially the theme of the book in a nutshell. Watch this space for a review when I finish it -- it is sobering, yet hopeful reading about the future of the US and what we can yet leave our children if only we can keep the Neanderthals like the Tea Party out of the way.
Italy Is At It Again
Italy's "form of government" is actually to have no discernible form at all. Italy in short couldn't govern its way out of a wet paper bag. Supposedly elected Italian governments are to serve 5-year terms but that has only happened once since 1945. And now things just blew up again, when the EU is still grappling with the fact that there is only one really strong government and economy in their midst...Germany, who can't be expected to carry all of Europe on its back forever.
As much as I detest political parties in the US, it is even worse in some other countries!
As much as I detest political parties in the US, it is even worse in some other countries!
Friday, September 27, 2013
The BS Squad
Here is a TED Talk that should appeal to thinkers everywhere - the professional "bad ideas and just plain BS cops":
I have to say it...and then they voted!
I have to say it...and then they voted!
The Pentagon Again!
It appears the Washington Navy Yard used "unusual procedures" to acquire a security system that doesn't work.
Why am I not surprised???
Why am I not surprised???
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Affordable Health Care Act Follies
If you are one of those who suspects that when it comes to the Affordable Health Care Act (called Obamacare by the knuckle-draggers), there is more than the normal amount of outright lies as well as a good deal of "I wish this was true...so I will spout it on the Internet and it will be" type of misinformation out there, you are right. The non-partisan Center for Public Integrity has compiled a list of the nonsense skewered by one of their regular contributors (a former death-panel...err I mean health insurance company executive!).
(And yes, Ted Cruz is the biggest idiot of all...even fellow Repubs like John McCain are holding their noses.)
(And yes, Ted Cruz is the biggest idiot of all...even fellow Repubs like John McCain are holding their noses.)
Hope for Research
The US (particularly Washington DC) seems to be intent on proving the maxim that we are a country "designed by geniuses so it can be run by idiots".
Thomas Friedman says there is hope however, you just have to look for it....get away from the mindless drivel of Twitter and the banality of most of the Internet and really look for it. There is a lot of 'hope research' going on in the world. Not just the US, but the world. The nature of how things work and even 'work' itself is changing -- the world really is flat, and my only hope is that we clear out the idiots in Washington and their 1930s mindset soon enough so that we can join in as partners, or we will for sure be left behind.
Thomas Friedman says there is hope however, you just have to look for it....get away from the mindless drivel of Twitter and the banality of most of the Internet and really look for it. There is a lot of 'hope research' going on in the world. Not just the US, but the world. The nature of how things work and even 'work' itself is changing -- the world really is flat, and my only hope is that we clear out the idiots in Washington and their 1930s mindset soon enough so that we can join in as partners, or we will for sure be left behind.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Old McDonald's Farm is Getting Crowded!
I have been doing some research on this subject since I first heard about it a few months ago. The simple statement of the problem is that there is not enough space on earth or resources left to support the number of farm animals required to support the earth's likely population in just a couple of decades. It is partly driven by population growth, but also as societies around the world raise the standards of living and prosperity of their people, more people want to add meat to their diets. (You don't think people eat rice-dominated diets by choice, do you???).
None other than Bill Gates has taken this up as one of his philanthropic causes, a natural fit since many of the Gates Foundation's efforts are in developing countries. Here is an interesting interactive that explains his concern and offers the basic facts surrounding and defining the problem.
Here is a TED Talk from someone who is advocating a high-tech, evolutionary approach to the problem.
I don't know what the final answer will be (but I hope to be around long enough to watch it evolve!). I know I am not willing yet to give up my occasional 'treat' of a nice cut of prime rib or choice steak, but I have already moved away from the "red meats every night of the week" approach of my childhood and if enough of us do that maybe we can give the smart people working on the problem time to figure something out.
I particularly like the tone of the comments at the end of Andras' talk -- maybe this is just the next step of mankind evolving and adapting to the environment and available resources.
None other than Bill Gates has taken this up as one of his philanthropic causes, a natural fit since many of the Gates Foundation's efforts are in developing countries. Here is an interesting interactive that explains his concern and offers the basic facts surrounding and defining the problem.
Here is a TED Talk from someone who is advocating a high-tech, evolutionary approach to the problem.
I don't know what the final answer will be (but I hope to be around long enough to watch it evolve!). I know I am not willing yet to give up my occasional 'treat' of a nice cut of prime rib or choice steak, but I have already moved away from the "red meats every night of the week" approach of my childhood and if enough of us do that maybe we can give the smart people working on the problem time to figure something out.
I particularly like the tone of the comments at the end of Andras' talk -- maybe this is just the next step of mankind evolving and adapting to the environment and available resources.
Friday, September 20, 2013
A Voice Worth Listening To On Gun Violence
This is another cost of the rampant gun violence in the US -- burnout and frustration by the people who are left to patch up the victims, day after day, night after night. After all, they are just "collateral damage" for a society that reveres gun ownership far above life.
Lets See What Real People Outside the Beltway Think
Aside from the fact that I believe that most polls suck, I think in light of the House of Representative's vote to basically defund the Healthcare Reform Act, it would be interesting to take a nationwide poll right now -- it only has one question.
(Any member of a political party is disqualified...they are by definition not intelligent enough to have an opinion that is worth anything.)
Which political party do you think has your best interests in mind as an American citizen based on their performance in the last 13 years in Washington?
(Any member of a political party is disqualified...they are by definition not intelligent enough to have an opinion that is worth anything.)
Which political party do you think has your best interests in mind as an American citizen based on their performance in the last 13 years in Washington?
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Costa Concordia - Upright!
I haven't posted about the success of the Costa Concordia salvage operation in setting the ship upright because the link in my old post (a couple of days ago) to the BBC coverage was updated by the BBC, so I didn't want to send you in circles.
But I do want to acknowledge a scientific/engineering task well planned, and well done!
But I do want to acknowledge a scientific/engineering task well planned, and well done!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Navy Yard Shootings Part II
I was listening to an NPR report on this tragedy this afternoon, and while it wasn't the major focus of the report, I could not help but think to myself as I listened..."social media" blew it again!
It turns out that almost every salient fact that was reported on social media during or immediately after the incident at the Washington Navy Yard yesterday was pretty much 100%, unequivocally wrong. Just like the Newton shootings, Hurricane Sandy, and endless other domestic incidents.
It turns out that:
It turns out that almost every salient fact that was reported on social media during or immediately after the incident at the Washington Navy Yard yesterday was pretty much 100%, unequivocally wrong. Just like the Newton shootings, Hurricane Sandy, and endless other domestic incidents.
It turns out that:
- The shooter had no assault rifle, nor 'multiple weapons', only a shotgun.
- There was no accomplice, the shooter acted alone.
- The shooter used his own legal and valid ID to get in, not a stolen one.
- The shooter did have a grudge against the military, the Navy in particular.
- The shooter had multiple run-ins with the law previously, including some involving illegal discharge of firearms.
- The shooter had a valid, current "Secret" security clearance.
Ker-Splash!
The Costa Concordia appears to have been righted almost perfectly according to plan (the official term is "parbuckling" I guess).
Whatever - congratulations to the engineers and the science they employed to get it this far.
Whatever - congratulations to the engineers and the science they employed to get it this far.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Navy Yard Shootings
Here we go again...
Another day, another idiot loose with an assault rifle and who knows what else..."exercising his second amendment rights" (based only on the second half of the second amendment of course).
Any sentient, intelligent, thinking being can quickly come to the conclusion we have a gun problem in this country.
Fortunately true thinkers want to know the facts, and this is one of the studies that scared the crap out of the NRA enough so that they exerted their bribery muscle to shut down all US studies on gun deaths. The NRA stance is "what you don't know won't hurt you...unless there is a gun involved".
Another day, another idiot loose with an assault rifle and who knows what else..."exercising his second amendment rights" (based only on the second half of the second amendment of course).
Any sentient, intelligent, thinking being can quickly come to the conclusion we have a gun problem in this country.
Fortunately true thinkers want to know the facts, and this is one of the studies that scared the crap out of the NRA enough so that they exerted their bribery muscle to shut down all US studies on gun deaths. The NRA stance is "what you don't know won't hurt you...unless there is a gun involved".
Ten years ago (before most of the mass shootings), a study of 23 other high-income countries showed:
- Firearm homicide rate in US - 19.5 times higher than the other countries
- Firearm homicide rate for 15-24 year olds - 42.7 times higher
- US "unintentional" firearm deaths were 5.2 times higher
- 80% of all firearms deaths among these countries occurred in the US
- 86% of women in these countries killed by firearms were US women
- 87% of all children ages 0 to 14 killed by firearms were in the US
The source is a report in the US Library of Medicine at the National Institute of Health:
Easy Does It
The first day of the Costa Concordia salvage has gone according to plan. with discernible progress on the righting process. You can see the old "water scum line" coming out of the water here.
For a live view of this 12 hour (perhaps plus) operation, see here (BBC News Europe page).
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| (This picture is an AP image published by BBC News Europe) |
Sunday, September 15, 2013
It Was There...Really!
I first heard about Apollo Robbins when he made an appearance on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, which is one of my "don't-miss" NPR programs. In his appearance he related several hilarious stories including the one about pickpocketing the Secret Service while they were guarding President Carter.
(If you haven't heard Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, I heartily recommend it. I usually listen to the podcast version at night -- it helps put a funny and upbeat end on any day.)
But back to Apollo Robbins. He was a professional pickpocket for quite awhile, but has made quite a business for himself as an entertainer, speaker and consultant. (His website is istealstuff.com !!!)
Here is his memorable appearance at TED Global 2013 - enjoy!:
(If you haven't heard Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, I heartily recommend it. I usually listen to the podcast version at night -- it helps put a funny and upbeat end on any day.)
But back to Apollo Robbins. He was a professional pickpocket for quite awhile, but has made quite a business for himself as an entertainer, speaker and consultant. (His website is istealstuff.com !!!)
Here is his memorable appearance at TED Global 2013 - enjoy!:
Salvaging the Costa Concordia
Monday (tomorrow) the active part and final stage (hopefully) of refloating and raising the Costa Concordia will get underway.
This is one of those efforts that especially interests me, because while it is certainly groundbreaking (so to speak), it also is at its heart a mixture of basic science and engineering. Leveraged use of gravity, force, buoyancy and hydraulics will hopefully join together to refloat this wreck and send it on its last, ignominious, towed voyage.
This is one of those efforts that especially interests me, because while it is certainly groundbreaking (so to speak), it also is at its heart a mixture of basic science and engineering. Leveraged use of gravity, force, buoyancy and hydraulics will hopefully join together to refloat this wreck and send it on its last, ignominious, towed voyage.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Ig Nobel Prizes - 2013
The 2013 Ig Nobel prizes were officially awarded yesterday. If you don't know about this illustrious (and hilarious) event, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with it. There is far too much seriousness going on and this is an annual reminder that no one, absolutely no one, should take themselves too seriously.
It is also a chance to realize all of the serious science (which sometimes sounds silly) going on around the world into a wide variety of topics. After reviewing these each year I am laughing...but also wondering, why would anybody NOT be interested in science?
I will tease you with just a few of the awards this year with a properly respectful comment or two...have fun reading about the others yourself or from past years at the second link above:
PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: Laurent Bègue, Brad Bushman, Oulmann Zerhouni , Baptiste Subra, and Medhi Ourabah for confirming, by experiment, that people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive. (Boy...it really took a party to prove that, didn't it?)
PEACE PRIZE: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding. (I am simply speechless...and I would hate to inspire any applause!! )
---and a rare double prize:
JOINT PRIZE IN BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY: Marie Dacke, Emily Baird, Marcus Byrne, Clarke Scholtz, and Eric Warrant, for discovering that when dung beetles get lost, they can navigate their way home by looking at the Milky Way. (I guess these are 'country' dung beetles who can actually see the Milky Way, right?)
It is also a chance to realize all of the serious science (which sometimes sounds silly) going on around the world into a wide variety of topics. After reviewing these each year I am laughing...but also wondering, why would anybody NOT be interested in science?
I will tease you with just a few of the awards this year with a properly respectful comment or two...have fun reading about the others yourself or from past years at the second link above:
PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: Laurent Bègue, Brad Bushman, Oulmann Zerhouni , Baptiste Subra, and Medhi Ourabah for confirming, by experiment, that people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive. (Boy...it really took a party to prove that, didn't it?)
PEACE PRIZE: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding. (I am simply speechless...and I would hate to inspire any applause!! )
---and a rare double prize:
JOINT PRIZE IN BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY: Marie Dacke, Emily Baird, Marcus Byrne, Clarke Scholtz, and Eric Warrant, for discovering that when dung beetles get lost, they can navigate their way home by looking at the Milky Way. (I guess these are 'country' dung beetles who can actually see the Milky Way, right?)
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
The Other Side of Syria News
There are people like Richard Engel who actually think about Syria intelligently and with full understanding of the complexities involved. Then there are the majority of talking heads in Washington DC and on cable news who are just complete idiots. But at least they give Jon Stewart plenty of material.
Monday, September 9, 2013
The Great Syria Quandary
Richard Engel is NBCs Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and for good reason.
This column shows it again - combining his actual experiences and observations with an insightful longer-term view that you seldom get from TV news these days, it shows just why people are hesitant about helping "the good guys" in Syria...whoever they might be this week.
This column shows it again - combining his actual experiences and observations with an insightful longer-term view that you seldom get from TV news these days, it shows just why people are hesitant about helping "the good guys" in Syria...whoever they might be this week.
Book Review - War Journal: My Five Years In Iraq
I am posting this Goodreads book review of mine from a couple years ago as a precursor to my next post. It is well worth a read on its own merits:
War Journal: My Five Years In Iraq by Richard Engel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is book is fascinating because of its perspective, but more than a bit disturbing at the same time. It's a little difficult to read at times, yet the pages fly by and the time passes quickly for a five year period. Through the eyes of a long-time Middle East reporter the reader gets a clear picture of just what a mess Iraq was, is, and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. The book runs from the point of the capture of Saddam Hussein and thus the terminus of the then-current motive for the invasion (the 'WMDs' pretext having long since vaporized), through the various flavors of civil war, phony 'show' elections and corrupt US-installed governments up to the 'surge' that was supposed to solve everything.
At the same time Bush and Rumsfeld are railing at home against the 'negative' press that is coming out of Iraq, Engel tells of dodging body parts falling out of trees as he walks by and Iraqi citizens felling palm trees to build defenses against their fellow Iraqi Muslims. Once the centuries-old Shia-Sunni animosities erupt in full-force, the "democratic" elections that the US government touted so proudly quickly fade to the sideshow status that they deserve.
The lessons in the book are many -- the unreal, amazing crazy-quilt patchwork of half-truths and outright inventions that came out of the Bush administration as things went from bad to worse; the frustration of being a journalist who knows the truth, but is faced with a public (and sometimes editors) who don't want to hear it. The one abiding truth that permeates the book from beginning to end, is Engel's continuing admiration, respect, and understanding for the courage and resourcefulness of the US military personnel hopelessly caught in this mess...even when they were forced to stage-play a particular part for the benefit of the folks back home.
Finally, if there was any shred of glamor left in anyone's mind about being a "war correspondent" this book should remove it permanently. Engel's personal experiences, observations, and frustrations with a situation that demanded reporting, but resisted the truth at every turn, as well as personal fears that come out in snatches of his personal video journal lend a humanity and credibility to the story that sometimes seems to be the only thread of sanity in a very strange time.
War Journal: My Five Years In Iraq by Richard EngelMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is book is fascinating because of its perspective, but more than a bit disturbing at the same time. It's a little difficult to read at times, yet the pages fly by and the time passes quickly for a five year period. Through the eyes of a long-time Middle East reporter the reader gets a clear picture of just what a mess Iraq was, is, and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. The book runs from the point of the capture of Saddam Hussein and thus the terminus of the then-current motive for the invasion (the 'WMDs' pretext having long since vaporized), through the various flavors of civil war, phony 'show' elections and corrupt US-installed governments up to the 'surge' that was supposed to solve everything.
At the same time Bush and Rumsfeld are railing at home against the 'negative' press that is coming out of Iraq, Engel tells of dodging body parts falling out of trees as he walks by and Iraqi citizens felling palm trees to build defenses against their fellow Iraqi Muslims. Once the centuries-old Shia-Sunni animosities erupt in full-force, the "democratic" elections that the US government touted so proudly quickly fade to the sideshow status that they deserve.
The lessons in the book are many -- the unreal, amazing crazy-quilt patchwork of half-truths and outright inventions that came out of the Bush administration as things went from bad to worse; the frustration of being a journalist who knows the truth, but is faced with a public (and sometimes editors) who don't want to hear it. The one abiding truth that permeates the book from beginning to end, is Engel's continuing admiration, respect, and understanding for the courage and resourcefulness of the US military personnel hopelessly caught in this mess...even when they were forced to stage-play a particular part for the benefit of the folks back home.
Finally, if there was any shred of glamor left in anyone's mind about being a "war correspondent" this book should remove it permanently. Engel's personal experiences, observations, and frustrations with a situation that demanded reporting, but resisted the truth at every turn, as well as personal fears that come out in snatches of his personal video journal lend a humanity and credibility to the story that sometimes seems to be the only thread of sanity in a very strange time.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
More on Syria
Thomas Friedman had a very good commentary on the Syria mess and more importantly the general mess in the Middle East, which the US and other Western nations have certainly had a primary hand in creating. His remarks are part of the reason why I am still leaning away from doing anything about Syria at this point -- it is not our problem...and we caused much of the original problem anyway.
Part of Mr. Friedman's comments in particular are worth quoting verbatim:
"I still believe our response to Assad’s poison gas attack should be “arm and shame,” as I wrote on Wednesday. But, please do spare me the lecture that America’s credibility is at stake here. Really? Sunnis and Shiites have been fighting since the 7th century over who is the rightful heir to the Prophet Muhammad’s spiritual and political leadership, and our credibility is on the line? Really? Their civilization has missed every big modern global trend — the religious Reformation, democratization, feminism and entrepreneurial and innovative capitalism — and our credibility is on the line? I don’t think so."
The entire article is available here.
Part of Mr. Friedman's comments in particular are worth quoting verbatim:
"I still believe our response to Assad’s poison gas attack should be “arm and shame,” as I wrote on Wednesday. But, please do spare me the lecture that America’s credibility is at stake here. Really? Sunnis and Shiites have been fighting since the 7th century over who is the rightful heir to the Prophet Muhammad’s spiritual and political leadership, and our credibility is on the line? Really? Their civilization has missed every big modern global trend — the religious Reformation, democratization, feminism and entrepreneurial and innovative capitalism — and our credibility is on the line? I don’t think so."
The entire article is available here.
Voting in Australia
Reading about the Australian election returns today reminded me of some things about that amazing, astonishing country. Australians do a lot of things better than we do as Americans, and voting is definitely one of them. (I think I confessed elsewhere my intense liking for Australia -- based on a too-brief visit several years ago on business and working with Aussies on a big project).
For one thing, registration and voting is compulsory for all adult citizens over 18 (some sort of fine is involved I believe unless there is a good excuse for missing a vote). They get a much 'truer' read of actual public sentiment from their elections than we do in ours that struggle to reach 50% participation and avoid any of this corrupt, get-out-the-vote-at-any-cost, ban-early-voting nonsense. Everyone from intellectuals to uninformed chronic whiners gets a chance to go on record -- in the US sometimes I think our elections are decided by far more of the latter than the former.
The second thing is that Australia uses what is generally called preferential or "instant-runoff" voting...a much more civilized, efficient, and accurate form of voting than our goofy, undemocratic mish-mash of political-party dominated primaries, poorly attended general elections, and the Electoral College of all things!
For one thing, registration and voting is compulsory for all adult citizens over 18 (some sort of fine is involved I believe unless there is a good excuse for missing a vote). They get a much 'truer' read of actual public sentiment from their elections than we do in ours that struggle to reach 50% participation and avoid any of this corrupt, get-out-the-vote-at-any-cost, ban-early-voting nonsense. Everyone from intellectuals to uninformed chronic whiners gets a chance to go on record -- in the US sometimes I think our elections are decided by far more of the latter than the former.
The second thing is that Australia uses what is generally called preferential or "instant-runoff" voting...a much more civilized, efficient, and accurate form of voting than our goofy, undemocratic mish-mash of political-party dominated primaries, poorly attended general elections, and the Electoral College of all things!
Friday, September 6, 2013
Lets Play With My Laser!
OK...so imagine you are on a jet airliner.
...Sitting in a chair that is surrounded by a metal pressurized tube.
...It just happens the tube has two wings chock full of highly volatile Jet-A fuel.
...And you are bored.
...So you decide to start playing with your homemade laser (which somehow you got past the TSA)???
...Sitting in a chair that is surrounded by a metal pressurized tube.
...It just happens the tube has two wings chock full of highly volatile Jet-A fuel.
...And you are bored.
...So you decide to start playing with your homemade laser (which somehow you got past the TSA)???
The Syria Intervention Decision
This seems to be dominating the news (although as usual the rest of the world keeps moving on and there are other things happening).
I am kind of lukewarm on either option, but leaning toward not doing anything at this point. Before I explain that, I want to say that I do feel sorry for President Obama in one particular way though.
This in a way is yet another direct legacy of the most miserable administration in my lifetime...that of George Bush II that have bedeviled this current administration from the get-go. Once again he is left with a repercussion of George II declaring war on Iraq, a very sacred and revered (and tenuously balanced) country to those of the Muslim faith.
The number of outright constant lies and fabrications that spewed out of that White House from that administration has cascaded into a massive distrust of anything concerning America going to war or even just dropping a few bombs on people who probably really deserve it. Of course there are also a number of people who either want to see the first black president fail, or just like going to war and/or shooting off guns in general.
I am leaning against it because I am going back to the founding fathers, who wisely counseled not only against political parties but also 'foreign entanglements', and I would like to see us get out of the role of "world policeman".
The strategy/dodge of "hiding behind the UN" is laughable and pathetic - the UN is as completely impotent as it has ever been, and the UN Security Council (containing both Russia and China) is the worst joke of all.
If the rest of the world is really outraged about the goings-on in Syria...then let them step up and take the wheel...and the historical rap for it.
I am kind of lukewarm on either option, but leaning toward not doing anything at this point. Before I explain that, I want to say that I do feel sorry for President Obama in one particular way though.
This in a way is yet another direct legacy of the most miserable administration in my lifetime...that of George Bush II that have bedeviled this current administration from the get-go. Once again he is left with a repercussion of George II declaring war on Iraq, a very sacred and revered (and tenuously balanced) country to those of the Muslim faith.
The number of outright constant lies and fabrications that spewed out of that White House from that administration has cascaded into a massive distrust of anything concerning America going to war or even just dropping a few bombs on people who probably really deserve it. Of course there are also a number of people who either want to see the first black president fail, or just like going to war and/or shooting off guns in general.
I am leaning against it because I am going back to the founding fathers, who wisely counseled not only against political parties but also 'foreign entanglements', and I would like to see us get out of the role of "world policeman".
The strategy/dodge of "hiding behind the UN" is laughable and pathetic - the UN is as completely impotent as it has ever been, and the UN Security Council (containing both Russia and China) is the worst joke of all.
If the rest of the world is really outraged about the goings-on in Syria...then let them step up and take the wheel...and the historical rap for it.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
A New (Old) View of Work
A view of work (particularly 'dirty work' or manual work) that is humorous, but also thought-provoking. When did we lose the value of work ????
Saturday, August 31, 2013
What To Do (or Not) About Syria
The Syria situation is a mess, there is no doubt. I am certainly glad I am not President Obama at this time since it is kind of a Kobayashi Maru or "no win" scenario - except this time he cannot change the rules in order to win.
Shields and Brooks discussed the situation quite intelligently (before Obama announced today that he would seek Congressional input).
The problems I see here are kind of an amalgam of both of their arguments, (and I have the added knowledge that Obama has decided to consult Congress).
I think in the general, we-feel-good-about-ourselves democratic sense it makes sense for Obama to refer to Congress, since I don't think this is in any way a matter of national security in the sense of an immediate life or death, danger to the Republic, barbarians at the gate type of thing.
However, given the miserable and embarrassing record of this Congress at deciding anything, even of a trivial nature may mean that in fact we will by default do nothing for the worst atrocity against civilians by a government in recent history.
David is right - presidents have pretty much been ignoring the Constitution as far as the power to wage war (which supposedly rests with Congress) for all of my adult life. And come to think of it...all of those incidents have also resulted in rather nasty losses in "wars" that were never officially declared according to our Constitution). Congress sort of "officially" absconded its duties with the 70's era War Powers Act...which I am somewhat surprised somehow passed court muster.
I also find this incident instructive in how much the paranoid, lies-based "foreign policy" of the Bush II administration has damaged credibility not only with foreign countries, but with the American people. The fear of "another Iraq or Afghanistan" is palpable. I have always thought that the Bush II Empire would go down as one of the most damaging periods in our history that it would take decades to recover from.
So, on the one hand, we have the outrage and indignation over the government of Syria using chemical weapons on its own people (which I do not think is in any serious doubt).
On the other hand, we have a valid question "why is this our (US) business?".
On the other hand, wait...wait...wasn't it Tevye who finally said "....there is no other hand!!!". I think this is where President Obama (and now Congress if they can pull themselves together enough to actually accomplish something) finds himself/themselves today.
Update 9/1/2013:
I see the predictable fault lines defining the positions on this issue really haven't moved (with the highly entertaining exception that the "blow everyone up", "American might makes right", "we have nukes and you don't" neocons are having convulsions trying to figure out how to support Obama without appearing to ... well ... support Obama.
Secretary of State Kerry also said today that the US had definite scientific evidence of Sarin gas usage in the suburbs of Damascus. Given the additional evidence already known, such as intercepted emails from Syrian government officials basically admitting that gas was used, and there is no longer any doubt that the act was committed by the Syrian government forces.
Still, this really is a tough situation, and passing the buck to a Congress that is made up of people who have not only declared themselves brain-dead, but have spent the last several years proving they cannot and will not get anything done that does not enhance their reelection coffers may not be the smartest move the President ever made. It also delays any impact of retaliation, and gives the Syrian government all kinds of time to attempt to cover up evidence and/or use their remaining stockpiles on their citizens. Remember there is at least one separate incident apparently using a different agent that remains unresolved (and surprisingly out of the public eye).
So, it looks like someone has to do something or this will go on possibly endlessly. Once again it is looking like the US has to be that 'someone' -- I just hope this time we have the fortitude to actually realize the limitations of military action and the continuing need for diplomacy to have a role.
Shields and Brooks discussed the situation quite intelligently (before Obama announced today that he would seek Congressional input).
The problems I see here are kind of an amalgam of both of their arguments, (and I have the added knowledge that Obama has decided to consult Congress).
I think in the general, we-feel-good-about-ourselves democratic sense it makes sense for Obama to refer to Congress, since I don't think this is in any way a matter of national security in the sense of an immediate life or death, danger to the Republic, barbarians at the gate type of thing.
However, given the miserable and embarrassing record of this Congress at deciding anything, even of a trivial nature may mean that in fact we will by default do nothing for the worst atrocity against civilians by a government in recent history.
David is right - presidents have pretty much been ignoring the Constitution as far as the power to wage war (which supposedly rests with Congress) for all of my adult life. And come to think of it...all of those incidents have also resulted in rather nasty losses in "wars" that were never officially declared according to our Constitution). Congress sort of "officially" absconded its duties with the 70's era War Powers Act...which I am somewhat surprised somehow passed court muster.
I also find this incident instructive in how much the paranoid, lies-based "foreign policy" of the Bush II administration has damaged credibility not only with foreign countries, but with the American people. The fear of "another Iraq or Afghanistan" is palpable. I have always thought that the Bush II Empire would go down as one of the most damaging periods in our history that it would take decades to recover from.
So, on the one hand, we have the outrage and indignation over the government of Syria using chemical weapons on its own people (which I do not think is in any serious doubt).
On the other hand, we have a valid question "why is this our (US) business?".
On the other hand, wait...wait...wasn't it Tevye who finally said "....there is no other hand!!!". I think this is where President Obama (and now Congress if they can pull themselves together enough to actually accomplish something) finds himself/themselves today.
Update 9/1/2013:
I see the predictable fault lines defining the positions on this issue really haven't moved (with the highly entertaining exception that the "blow everyone up", "American might makes right", "we have nukes and you don't" neocons are having convulsions trying to figure out how to support Obama without appearing to ... well ... support Obama.
Secretary of State Kerry also said today that the US had definite scientific evidence of Sarin gas usage in the suburbs of Damascus. Given the additional evidence already known, such as intercepted emails from Syrian government officials basically admitting that gas was used, and there is no longer any doubt that the act was committed by the Syrian government forces.
Still, this really is a tough situation, and passing the buck to a Congress that is made up of people who have not only declared themselves brain-dead, but have spent the last several years proving they cannot and will not get anything done that does not enhance their reelection coffers may not be the smartest move the President ever made. It also delays any impact of retaliation, and gives the Syrian government all kinds of time to attempt to cover up evidence and/or use their remaining stockpiles on their citizens. Remember there is at least one separate incident apparently using a different agent that remains unresolved (and surprisingly out of the public eye).
So, it looks like someone has to do something or this will go on possibly endlessly. Once again it is looking like the US has to be that 'someone' -- I just hope this time we have the fortitude to actually realize the limitations of military action and the continuing need for diplomacy to have a role.
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