"Our job is not to make up anybody’s mind, but to open minds, and to make the agony of decision-making so intense you can escape only by thinking."
- Fred W. Friendly (1915-1998)

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth will make you mad."
- Aldous Huxley

"If you have ever injected truth into politics, then you have no politics."
- Will Rogers

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Not Much to Celebrate

The tenth anniversary of the Iraq "war" invasion was this past week -- and not surprisingly no one was celebrating.  There has probably never been a period in American history that was so costly in lives, dollars, prestige, and general reputation. 

Monday, March 18, 2013

We Need Thinkers in Congress...Not More Sycophants and Fools

We desperately need to start electing intelligent people to Congress...personally I think a great start would be to outlaw political parties, but I am sure that unfortunately the 'right of association' clause in the Constitution protects such gatherings of idiots.  But we could still make them a lot less influential.

Actually this thought line first formed when I ruefully contemplated the results of the last election....not a single individual from any state that I would definitely and proudly refer to as a "thinker" was elected.  This wasn't actually surprising, but depressing nonetheless. 

I found myself thinking that we really need a "vote of confidence" provision (in the US) in our election process.  Basically, if a majority of the voters vote "no confidence" in the current Congress (as a whole body -- no special consideration for the Senator who kissed your baby) then all 535 members of Congress are instantly unemployed, and forbidden from running again for a national office for....lets say two election cycles. This would suddenly make winning an election into something other than a platform from which to start garnering favors and money for the next election, and might actually reduce the influence of lobbyists in the bargain.

When the number of opportunities that have been blown by politicians starting in the 90s but particularly in the opening decade of this century are examined...you really wonder if there isn't a 'cone of stupidity' over Washington DC.  Take just one example...on September 11, 2001 this country was attacked in a particularly cowardly manner that very nearly met bin Laden's stated objective of ruining the US financially...particularly considering the cost and complete ineffectiveness of "George's wars'. 

One much more effective thing that could have made a difference:  in September of 2011, the price of a gallon of gas was hovering just slightly over $2.00 per gallon -- a ridiculously unrealistic price given the true costs but that is for another time.  If George II had immediately gotten his cronies in Congress to impose a $1.00 per gallon gas tax, it would have forced a decline in consumption, and if the tax proceeds had been dedicated to alternative fuels research and production and independence from imports, it would have struck a more meaningful blow against the oil-kingdoms (particularly Saudi Arabia) that funded 9/11 than the very ineffective and costly wars George waged instead.  However, that requires creative forward thinking.....

Tom Friedman has weighed in with a similar lament about our current-day situation concerning the US debt which was largely run up during the fruitless "George Crusades".

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Pure Science

This is just cool, interesting science...I am afraid more and more of it is occurring outside the US however, as we continue to crank out useless MBAs from our colleges destined for Wall Street. 




Power of Thinking

Margaret Heffernan's talk at TED in Edinburgh last year caught my attention because it centers around the central purpose for this blog...that of thinking! 

There is probably too much mention of thinking and reasonable, scientific thought in this piece to be attractive to the Fox News/MSNBC/Idol/Survivor generation....but I hope a few of them might be inspired anyway!




The Challenge of Charity

While the media has been obsessing over the changing of the pope, I have been catching up on some TED videos.  Here is one that I found very informative and persuasive.   Dan Pallotta is an activist and the founder of AIDS Ride.  The point of his message is how unfair we as a society are to charitable foundations and organizations, having expectations of them that we celebrate and reward with billions of dollars and widespread approval if only they were 'for-profit' organizations. 

Thought-provoking at least, which is one of the points of this blog....



Friday, March 15, 2013

Maybe F-35 CAN Fly...But Only Circling the Drain

This story gets better and better.  If I've already quoted Will Rogers in this depressingly expensive series then I apologize....but man...."Folks, I couldn't possibly make this stuff up".

Now it appears that for the first time there are people associated with the program that may be thinking that gurgling sound they are hearing is not necessarily the sound of more money pouring uncontrollably into the proudly unauditable Pentagon (or the sound of the not-too-efficient F-35 engines chugging fuel) but maybe the first death-gurgles for the project as a whole.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Gold Plated Doorstop

We have to be talking of course, about the F-35...now officially the most expensive airplane and the most expensive (unauditable Pentagon) weapons system in the works by some four times that even our allies don't want.   Oh yeah, and it still can't shoot among other things.....

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Beauty of Coding

OK, I confess up front that being a career-long "software guy" probably gives me a bit of a bias.  But when I see an entire generation of college graduates trying to become Wall Street brokers and hedge fund managers through the pursuit of the "holy MBA", I have to ask:  "What the he__ do you think you are going to build the next pyramid/bubble from if no one is producing anything?". 

Particularly when the rest of the world is.....



The False Expectations of Tar Sand Oil

There are other costs to the "tar sands" oil reserves in addition to the fact that they are extremely expensive (the most expensive form of oil to date to make usable) and the simple fact that for the Keystone Pipeline -- most of that oil is being shipped across prime US agricultural land simply to get onto the world oil market. This TED Talk is worth listening to and thinking about:




Saturday, March 9, 2013

A Bully Blow for Victims

Unfortunately bullying of a wide variety is fairly common, much more so than when I was in school.  This Ted Talk by a talented poet named Shane Koyczan is very unusual, but oddly inspirational (I hope) to those who are victims of this particularly nasty crime against the young and impressionable, usually committed by their peers.  In a short space of just over 12 minutes it goes from comedy to thought-provoking pathos, the spoken-word poem backed by images from artists around the world, and some beautiful but very subtle and effective violin accents from Hannah Epperson.

 

F-35 - The Ultimate Doorstop?

Maybe they can put this into one of those pricey Abercrombie and Fitch Christmas time sales that make the news for extravagantly expensive gifts.  The inescapable fact is that ten-plus years into the project, the Pentagon continues to pour billions into a "warplane" that at this point apparently only taxis reliably, and that might be a dubious claim!

The article referenced in this earlier post has been updated to reflect the fact that Air Force test pilots in recent (very limited because of the plane's shortcomings) test flights don't like the plane very much.  For one thing the radar doesn't work a lot of the time, and the systems are difficult to use and operate.  For $120 $162.5 million a copy one might reasonably expect that the pilot could actually see out of the cockpit...but no!!! 

Oh, and it averaged about four hours of flight time even in the constrained tests they were forced to use --- before a 'critical failure' occurred.  

I can just hear the upcoming discussion now.... "But the manufacturer's warranty doesn't actually cover any unusual activities like actually FLYING!".

Friday, March 8, 2013

IWD - Celebrate and Reflect

On International Women's Day (today) which believe it or not is a 100-year old observation in multiple countries, it is good to reflect on progress...but sobering to reflect as well on just how little difference there is in many parts of the world where women are second or third class citizens...or not even citizens at all.



Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Slow, Slow Politics of the US in the Middle East

It strikes me that no matter what the party in power in Washington, the US really has no cohesive, workable policy in the Middle East and has been proving that again and again for the last 50 years.
I looked up this Goodreads review of mine of Kenneth Pollack's book called "A Path Out of the Desert" and was somewhat startled to realize that I had read it two years ago...when Syria first started shooting its own people and everyone thought the "Arab Spring" was a really cool thing....

Sadly, the problems it points out and the advice it gives are every bit (or even more) timely today as the region continues lurching around from crisis to crisis.



A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle EastA Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East by Kenneth M. Pollack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book at a particularly fascinating time - Late February and March of 2011. Each evening when I read another chapter, it seemed the day's actual events had just rendered the strategy outlined by Mr. Pollack in that section moot. The wave of revolutions large and small sweeping the Middle East as of this writing represent the 'worst case' scenario Pollack outlines if the US does not aggressively pursue a coherent and consistent strategy there.

However, despite the major theme of the book literally becoming obsolete as I read, it was still a very worthwhile undertaking. The deep history of the politics of each country and insight into the motivations behind them is very valuable. To be reading the section on Syria on the very day that the government was gunning down protesting citizens was not only a bit surreal, but added greatly to my understanding of the 'big picture'. It also confirmed my observation that television news in particular, but even some 'mainstream' Internet news sites are very shallow if not outright misleading in their coverage. It is plain that the very unpalatable choices faced by the US in response to today's events are the direct result of inadequate US policies in the past, particularly those of the 'Bush 43 administration', as Pollack refers to it, that probably aggravated and accelerated the unrest and instability in the area seen today.

Pollack's main theme - basically a consistent policy of constructive engagement (a 'carrot and stick') approach, perhaps even in concert with China (the other soon-to-be major superpower), is still worth studying and remembering. If the Middle East ever settles down from the current turmoil, the principles outlined will still be a useful guide. The new regimes will undoubtedly be less friendly to the US, but due to an insatiable appetite for oil in the US they will need to be dealt with...and Pollack's Path would make a good foundation.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Who Knew...

...that poop and pee were so important? 

Seriously, here is another jaw-dropping TED Talk from this year's just concluded TED Conference.  I have said elsewhere that one of the cool things about science is the uncertainty. Today's proven and accepted idea is only good until...the next better one comes along.   This is something that the science-ignorant masses do not "get", nor do the religious zealots but it is a strength that they cannot match.

This gentleman is soft-spoken, but he brings the courage and conviction of having been proven wrong before...and by experiencing the crucible of patient, long-term experimentation and study.   Truly an amazing idea and a very effective talk.


   

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Protect the F-35 Mess!!

That is the battle cry at the unauditable Pentagon apparently, which was careful to protect its precious black-hole of a weapons program (see the Pentagon Spending topic in the Tags cloud to the right) from anything as nasty as the so-called "sequestration". 

Friday, March 1, 2013

Overwhelming Support of a Bad Idea by the Ignorant

We have in our state a certain segment of voters who think a 2/3 majority requirement for tax increases is a great idea.  Only problem is, they keep trying to change it through the initiative process which is our state is a laughable platform for the feeble-brained to see how many of their equally ignorant voter-buddies they can persuade to get behind the latest hare-brained but populist idea (if you are drunk enough or high enough on the state's latest cash crop).  Fortunately our state constitution has a clear-as-day statement that the legislature needs a simple majority.  What a boring concept to even have to repeat for a democratic, representative form of government.

Of course the idea itself is completely ridiculous - completely destroying the democratic process and putting any kind of wacko political minority permanently in the driver's seat.  The proponents like to point to the 'overwhelming support' the initiative got --  but given the generally paltry voter turnout for any election, the 'overwhelming majority of the vote turns out to be a pretty paltry number of the actual population.  And especially given the extremely low level of US citizen's knowledge about how government even works, one has to question just how useful or meaningful this vote was (or if these people should have been allowed to vote).  A 2011 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center showed that among the US citizens polled:

  • Only 38% could even name all three branches of the U.S. government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
  • One-third (33%) were unable to correctly name any of the branches.
  • Among those who claimed to know the purpose and role of the three branches of government either very or somewhat well, only 50% could name all three branches.
  • When asked about presidential veto powers, only half of Americans (51%) know that a two-thirds majority vote by Congress will overturn it.
  • While 91% of Americans know that the U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States:

    • Only 37% know that a Supreme Court decision cannot be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeals.
    • Only 62% of Americans know that the U.S. Supreme Court is the final decider as to the constitutionality of a law.
  • Less than half know that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision know that such decisions have precisely the same effect as 9-0 ones.
  • Just over half are aware that Supreme Court justices usually announce their decisions in writing