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
Monday, September 30, 2013
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 ????
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