Lying at the EPA

Evaggelos Vallianatos was an analyst for the EPA and is now a self proclaimed expert on pesticide use and corporate farming. He recently pimped his book "This land is their land" on BookTV. After listening to the presentation, I couldn't help but feel that this man is not a scientist. He makes noises like any other liberal arts professor. Worse, he's joined the cult of organic farming. You know, the folks who brought us contaminated spinach? So, I checked his biography, and sure enough, he has a BA in zoology, an MA in Byzantine history, and a Ph.D in Greek and Russian history. With all that education in ecological issues, no wonder the EPA hired him...NOT!

At any rate, to prove how pesticide use has gotten out of control, he read a litany of statistics comparing present day use with 1962 usage. Problem is, in 1962, we were using DDT, an EXTREMELY efficient pesticide, a little went a lot. It was banned during the environmental awakening in the 60's and early 70's. So , no wonder we need more pesticides today! Plus, last time I checked, we got an extra billion of two to feed than in 1962. No one asked about this, they just sat in awed admiration of this huckster.

I know we can't stop universities from passing out advanced degrees in obsolete knowledge. I know we can't stop publishing companies from producing books written by fanatics like this one. And we can't stop people from grabbing the nearest soapbox and peddling their religion. But hopefully, we can stop the EPA and other government agencies from hiring incompetent fanatics and putting them in positions of power.

When 99.9% is not good enough

I'm getting just a tad tired of these commercials saying that some anti-bacterial whatever will kill 99.9% of all bacteria/germs/whatever. That can still leave thousands waiting to attack. Care to stroll through a minefield where 99.9% of all the mines have been cleared? Worse, those that are left are probably immune to the anti-bacterial, and in all likelihood have spawned several generations of resistant strains. Care to stroll through a minefield where the mines left are spawning new mines, all of which are undetectable?

We have gotten way too hygienic these days. With allergies at an all time high, and getting more viscous in their effects, with drug resistant strains staturating our hospitals, isn't it timer we thought about getting just a bit more dirty, and take our chances?

Why is politics so vitriolic?

I think I am beginning to understand why there is so much hate in politics these days. When the conservatives were out of power, they were fighting for their own rights from outside. Defending yourself is easy. It's your money, it's your property, it's your state, your schools...etc. You don't have to get angrily defensive about your position, because possession really is 9 tenths of the law.

The progressives, however, are trying to take over some of what you consider to be your possessions. They have to make the case that:
a) you stole what you have (which is why we have federal and state regulations)
b) you don't deserve what you have (taxes take care of this)
c) you don't need what you have (even more taxes take care of this)
d) others deserve what you have more than you do (the rest of the taxes are here)

It's a hard argument to make. This weekend on BookTV (C-SPAN2), I was amused to hear several different people argue that rural areas have disproportionate representation, and a disproportionate share of the Electoral College vote. Think about that. Electoral College votes are based on the number of representatives and senators you have. Wyoming has 3. California has 55. Imagine trying to argue, as Thom Hartmann and Brian Mann did, that California is not only under-represented, but that it was so under-represented that it was like disenfranchising the entire state of Colorado! Gee, I always though that 55 was much bigger than 3. As a politician, am I going to try to win 3, or 55?

So it's no wonder the progressives need stridency and hysterics to make their points. Over the years they have gotten used to bumper sticker slogans (Bush Lied, Thousands Died) and you cannot make some of their more intricate points with bumper stickers. Their base are people who don't know how to vote (think hanging chads and eliminating those horrible voting machines that are just too complicated) and the liberal affluent. They need to reach the middle class. What they really need is to learn that they cannot reach the middle class by being sly, and making specious arguments. I'm open to arguments I'm not paying enough taxes. But it will take a reasoned argument to wrest more money, or my vote, for the purpose of raising my taxes.

So where are the reasoned arguments from reasonable people? Silenced by Kossacks and scared by the attack on Lieberman, they are being very quiet right now. Instead the airwaves are full of Hartmanns and Frankens and Huffingtons, aiding the Rangles and Pelosi's of the world to fool people into supporting them. It may be working, the polls are tending to a Democratic take-over of the House. Maybe it's a good thing. Give the Democratics 2 years to implement their plans, and watch the Republicans come back in 2008 when the public at large see the fruits of their labors taken from them. Oh well, I can dream.....

Groovin on Tunes and Thinking Weird Thoughts

Just a quick note....listening to Cat Stevens (I know, he's verboten in the post 9/11 age) song called Sitting....the last line is what happens to a lot of people...."life is like a maze of doors and they all open from the side your on, just keep on pushing hard boy, as you may, your going to wind up where you started from...your going to wind up where you started from"...why do we do this to ourselves. Out of 300 million Americans......out of over 3 billion free people in the world..is there not one willing to sacrifice their life to kill Kim Jong Il? Or the looneys in Iran? Think of what one well placed bullet in Hitlers ear could have saved! Or in Stalins ear. Or even Richard Nixon.....sometimes you have to lance a boil before it festers...and save the limb....or the life....why don't we do that?

You want to conquer Saddams Iraq? KILL HIM!!!!!! It will be what you want, or you will kill the next Saddam to rise. One person killing one person....not 3000 killing 30,000....or am I the only one to see this?

VSE - Visionless, Subsidized Extravagance

Let's see now, we will be landing people on the moon sometime between 2012 and 2014, at least 6 more likely 8 years from now. They will be launched on a rocket that is based on the solid rocket boosters from the Space Shuttle, and by putting shuttle main engines directly what is currently the external tank, soon to be the second stage. Oops, I'm sorry, maybe not shuttle main engines, maybe something derived from the Saturn, or Atlas, or Delta rockets, since the SSME's have never be started after launch, and took several years to figure out how to start more than one without blowing them up! They will be flying in a capsule, described by NASA as "Apollo on steroids" and a lunar lander that is still TBD, but likely derived from the original LM. In other words, EVERYTHING is a redesign of what we already have.

I will concede that the redesign is a major effort, you need to renumber all those drawings, add/delete and change text. I am reminded of an observation by Richard Feynman while investigating the Challenger Debacle. To make the SRB sections round, technicians have a jig they mount in a hole on one wall of the section, then have to count a precise number of holes to mount the other side. The technicians wanted witness marks on the sections, so that the counting process could be faster. Upon further review, he found out that these paint marks would cost a fortune to add, not because of the paint, but because of the paper work! Only NASA and its contractors could take a redesign of existing technology and turn it into a multi-billion dollar jobs project for draftsmen and clerks!

Next year will be the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire. 3 years from now, it will be the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. In two years and 6 months, NASA was able to stop, redesign, and restart the Apollo project, from disaster to landing. Yet here we are, 40 years later, and can't redesign anything in less than 6 to 8 years? In the private industry, an engineering team this incompetent would be fired. It's too bad that all the contractors and winners of the design competition were the usual suspects of government and military contractors. In fact, the contract for the "Orion" (read "Apollo on Steroids") was between Lockheed-Martin and Boeing/North American-Grumman. Hell the only one missing was Raytheon, and you could have had ALL the major players in the Military-Industrial Complex (M-I C) as bidders.

I know, I sound angry and frustrated. While, damnit, I am angry and frustrated! 40 years ago, designing a product, any product, required a team of engineers, technicians and draftsmen. The team would have specialists in packaging, power systems, circuit board layout, electronic design, ergonomics, and on and on and on. Now, if you are VERY lucky, you will have a team of ONE EE and ONE ME, with some ergonomic input from marketing or sales. This change has reduced time to market dramatically, and, sorry NASA and M-I C guys, without sacrificing safety, quality, or manufacturability. So why is NASA spending money like it's still the olden days?

The unfortunate truth is - because they can. Because we as taxpayers will let them. Because most people just don't know the changes that have taken place in engineering processes since the days of Mercury. Just as an example, before Project Mercury, there was no way to automatically send telemetry around the world. Christopher Kraft and his team developed the first global telecommunications network to solve this problem. They would have to station ships at sea in precise locations to minimize data loss! Even at that, there were blackouts in certain parts of the world and of course, there was the total blackout waiting for the ships to return through the atmosphere. Nowadays, we use satellites to insure communications throughout the entire flight. We no longer have to solve this problem. Most of the problems no longer have to be solved, they just have to be engineered.

Well....unless you are in the private spaceflight business. This is the "last frontier" of spacecraft design, because there is where the last challenge needs to be met. It's a four letter word, and it's COST. When you have billions like NASA, LockMart and the lot, throwing away a multi-million dollar rocket motor doesn't matter. Like the old Doritos commercial said, "Go ahead, we'll make more." In fact, they LOVE to make more, they LIVE to make more! A commercial launch company cannot afford to throw things away, unless they make it inexpensive. You want a safe job, wasting taxpayers money on a project that the next Democratic president will slow down? Work for NASA, or some member of the M-I C. You want to be creative, to inspire and be inspired, to push the limits of human knowledge and capabilities, take a paycut, or donate your time, and join one of the private space programs. For there, progress is not measured in how many billions we get in a contract, but in how many SWIFT's (Solution We Intend to Find Today) we resolve.

So, there is our future, and here is our choice. NASA is trying to create a time machine, taking us back to the 70's. Remember the 70's? Watergate, Saigon, OPEC, and, must I remind you...Jimmy Carter? Others are looking to a future of space tourism, factories in space, and on the moon, maybe even personal satellites. Where do you want your money to go? Whom would you rather work for? And, more important, which future do you want?

Good for the Goose?

Before I begin, let me warn you, I was brought up Fundamental Baptist, almost went to bible college even. I am constantly amazed at the Wingnut's over-reaction to sound bites from Moonbats. The latest is Rosie O'Donnell's remark that extremist Christians are just as dangerous to America as Islamic extremist. Oh, the outrage at hotair.com, imao, etc. How soon they forget the assasination of physcians, the bombing of clinics, Waco, and on and on. There just happens to be fewer true believers of Christianity than there are of Islam. True believers of Christianity would live meager lives ("it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven", chapter and verse is an exercise for the student), preaching the word of God and donating 10% of their income to the church (Gross or net, depending upon how much you "love the Lord"). And of course, now the pope has entered the discussion, with his "all I did was read a quote, I never meant to inflame!" defense. Yes, of the millions of lines ever written, you happen to think the words of 14th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus who said: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached" were most appropriate? Tell me again what you did during WW II, you fraud! It is only common sense that extremists of any stripe are dangerous. Just because most Christians are luke warm (forgetting "Because you are neither hot or cold, I spew you from my mouth", by the way) there are just fewer loony toonies out there on the Christian side. I say enough, a plague on ALL your houses!

Are we Ready for some Nukes?

An interesting, if shallow, debate at www.popularmechanics.com about nuclear power. Why has there been no plants built in 30years? Because the public outcry after TMI made it unlikely, if not impossible, to get a building permit. It's not the cost of a power plant, it's NIMBY, and ignorance on the part of the public. Wow, in 50 years nuclear plants have been subsidized to the tune of 150 billion dollars. In the same time, we have subsidized LDC's, or the Third World, or Developing Nations, or whatever we call countries run by thieving thugs that slaughter their population and steal the aid menat for their people to the tune of 4 Trillion, yes TRILLION dollars! Let's see, cheap power for Americans for 150 billion, or lining the pockets of third world thugs for 4 trillion.....hmmmmm, let me think... Not to mention the new power plants are even safer than the incredibly safe plants already in existance. Not to mention that fuel reprocessing technology has advanced far beyond the 70's. But enough. If you live in paranoia and ignorance, you will always oppose nuclear power, and nothing will ever change your mind. Enjoy your darness and cold.

It's Happening Again....

Gee, why is it that the latest "report" from the House says that Iran is enriching uranium to weapons grade, but the UN denies it? Sounds a lot like "Iraq had WMD's" argument in 2002/2003. Hopefully we won't be fooled again. Iran was a good option for invasion BEFORE Iraq, now it can't happen. We are too spent, too exhausted to properly handle any crisis in Iran. We took the easy root, invading Iraq when NK or Iran was a more dangerous foe. We have a toehold (NOT a foothold) in the Middle East because of our invasion of Iraq, but it is tenuous at best. Now, with polls showing that Americans are tiring of the folly of Iraq, we are slowly building a case to invade Iran. Sorry, fool me once, shame on you (Tonkin Gulf), fool me twice, shame on me (current Iraq war), and there is no third time. Sorry, Georgie, you lost me.

The Obligatory 9/11 Post

Here it is!

Sorry, there was not much to learn from 9/11/2001. Here is what I think are the lessons:

1) The passengers on the planes should have watched "The Green Mile" where a sadistic killer "used their love for each other to kill them". Nobody on the planes (except for United 93, who had warning, a lot of warning) wanted to be the ones to challenge the threat of the "bombs" they had on the plane, for fear of being the one to set it off. Too bad, if they had, yes, we would have lost 300 people on the planes, but the towers and the Pentagon whould have been untouched.

2) Anybody can do anything if they are brazen enough. So either live in fear, or live.

3) NEVER, EVER, EVER, let the government use a crisis as a time to expand powers, create new organizations, etc.

OK, I've said it, enough of 9/11.

Breaking Up Has to be Done

I don't know why the US insists that Iraq has to be a unified country. There are groups within that country that not only hate each other, they believe their opponents NEED to die! We need to look at India/Pakistan, and more particularly Yugoslavia, where the country needed to be broken up along ethnic and religious lines. It's not ideal, it's leaving the potential for lots of future conflicts, yet it is also the fastest road to peace. The borders of Iraq were drawn practically at random anyways, why not create a few more nations and get some borders that make sense? Remember, the only way we had a Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was by the northern states, not just legalizing, but ACCEPTING the horror of slavery! And 70 odd years later, we needed a civil war to settle the issue once and for all. That was an issue that didn't have a "kill you enemy" religious principle behind it. The issues in Iraq DO have "kill you enemy" belief structures, and are intractable. And, before you say they are not intractable, consider your own religious beliefs. Are Catholics going to hell? Are Methodists? Shouldn't "unbelievers" be shunned, except when you are trying to convert them? There are lots of reasons we are becoming a nation of hypenated Americans, and religion is in the top three. Why should we, a nation breaking up, force a united government on a people already fractured by hundreds if not thousands of years of strife?

Dollars per Pupil

You know, if the teachers unions don't shut up about dollars/pupil, they are going to squashed! I just heard an otherwise intelligent person say "obviously, the richer communities spend more for pupil than the poor communities." That is completely, unequivocally WRONG!! Most urban schools spend 2 times the amount per pupil than most suburban and rural districts. For all this extra money, they perform WORSE than any other region. It's not the money, stupid, it's the bureaucacy! Of course, they can always play the "dollars per capita" card, but even there, they lose 9 times out of 10. Inner city youth do worse in school because money is being squndered on assistant to the assistant vice principals, and oh by the way, have you noticed where the poor people live?? I lived in a town that spent at the bottom 10th per pupil, yet scored in the top 10th. How? Maybe because the kids came home to "relatively" stable homes, with parents who cared, and, more important, had time to assist with homework. If we shrink back the overhead, and use money to help poorer families, maybe this differential between poor and rich communities will melt.

I Plead Guilty of Schadenfreude

The video of a reporter getting beat up by the subject of his investigate report almost made me grin. The number of times that these twit reporters hound people at their homes, work, in stores, always makes me wish one of their victims would turn around and clean their clocks. I know if I was driving home and saw my wife fighting with a group of three men, I would do as Mr. Suleimen did, and start pounding away on at least one of them. Why people think that a reporter chasing a woman while screaming "have you stopped beating your child" type questions makes for good news is beyond me. Mattes, the Fox reporter who appears to be another good looking airhead type that teh various Fox channels are famous for (we got a bunch of them in Boston too), should know better than to stake out a persons home, accompanied by one of his "victims" and a cameraman. Part of me hopes his face remains damaged enough that he loses the pretty boy look, and having no other skills, has to find real work. You can't hound a person, try to destroy their business, their personal reputation, just for ratings and get away with it. I hope the Mr. Mattes is just the first of these TV reporting leaches that gets what's coming.

The Mosquito Party

I should know better, but I have been engaged in a discussion on www.rightwingnews.com about Bill Maher. Failing to assault the logic of the arguments, they have resorted to calling me a mosquito. Here is my response:

CavalierX, that's a better analogy than you may think. Google "malaria" someday, and if you are patient enough to read the history of malaria, EEE, West Nile Virus, etc., you will see the mosquito changed the world. The sparkplug was an adaptation of a device to detect malaria (don't worry, I won't bore you with details that require critical thinking). Refrigeration was developed to aid in the healing of people with malaria. The need for pumps to drain the swamps....oh well, hopefully you get the point. Beware of mosquitos, and beware of ignoring them, for in the long run, we will win back our party.

You know, maybe the Mosquito party is a good name for next great political party. A million bites, 10 million bites, can defeat the Wingnuts and the Moonbats. Our choices do not have to be between religious fanatics and socialists. Care to join?

S Squared, D Squared

Well, it's been awhile, got myself into the world of Zigbee, which looks for all the world like the NEXT BIG THING, and I almost believe it. For now, I see enough niche applications to keep me busy for a long time to come. Checkout www.ember.com to see what all the hubbub is about.

I have been keeping tabs on current events, just not a lot to write about. NASA is late again, again. I had a girl friend like that, she was late every month, got tired of the drama. A lot of people are getting tired of NASA's drama. What do you expect from bureaucrats?

The Wingnuts and Moonbats are at full steam, and there is no holding them back. I'm tired of their drama too. Immigration, stem cells, secret prisons, Iraq, the war on terror, the death tax....ah yes, let the drama continue. The only campaign battle that interests me these days is the one being waged by Porkbusters. They are the one group with some common sense approaches to the exploding Federal budget.

I hope to be back blogging soon, the Zigbee stuff is settling down and my free time is slowly coming back. Catch you all next time!

Forcing Armageddon

Enough already! From now on, we need to ask some additional questions before people get on a plane, besides the usual "have you bags been in your possession..." like "Would you die for your religion" and "Do you believe in Armageddon". Yes to any would mean "you can walk to your destination". Reading the spews of religious fanatics on all sides is slowly driving me nuts. A fanatic is a fanatic, period. I don't care if you worship God, Jesus, Mohammed or Elvis, true believers are irrational and dangerous people, who need to be kept off public ransportation at a minimum, and locked up at best. Maybe then we could carry water on airplanes again.

Only the Worst News Wins

In the opinion of one home builder, we are in the worst housing slump in 40 years. Think about...40 years. The recession of 82, when no one had a job, when interest rates were still 16%, not as bad as now. Stagflation in the 70's? Nowhere near as bad. This is the long awaited housing slump the media has been pushing for 3 years now. Except, they are wrong. Not quite yet. Now that the Fed has paused, let's see what happens. Oh, I forgot, we can't, we found a source saying death and destruction, that is all we need. Sorry kids, been there, done that, and you are wrong again.

Why Do They Do It?

From time to time I supplement my income, and get health insurance, with work through a contract agency. Last one I worked for, oh hell, it was Optimal Engineering, took extreme pains to falsify my COBRA paperwork. Why in the name of all that is holy would they do that? They backdated a letter that by law they had 30 days to write. They took special pains to mail me a letter on 8/1/06 that informed me if I didn't reply by 7/31/06, they would cancel my insurance. When I called them on it, they said the back date was a typo, and they wouldn't touch my insurance for 60 days. Except, when I went online to BCBS today, I was informed my insurance was canceled. I called, and sure enough, as of 8/1/06, I had no health insurance. It's no biggie in the long run, the insurance will be restored retroactively. But why falsify the letter, and lie to me? They cost themselves an employee, future employees (I'm not referring anyone I know to these twits), and perhaps a client or three. Worse, I am refering this to the Department of Labor and the IRS, since they have, apparently, violated federal law regarding COBRA rules. It seems they are fans of the Garek character in ST:DS9, of whom it was said "Why tell the truth when a lie would work just as well." But you know, lying for the sake of lying is just plain stupid.

I Guess I'm a Political Orphan

It's looking more and more my choices for a party are between a bunch of tax-cutting, free-spending, control-your-life yahoos, and a bunch of "give-us-all-your-money, free-spending, hedonistic yahoos. The Libertarian party has some appeal, but I think their priorities may be a bit messed up, depends on what you read. Any suggestions?

Ananias, Barnabas, and the Right Wing

The biblical story of Ananias and Barnabas, on the face, is simple. Frome each according to ability, to each according to need. Barnabas gave all. Ananias said he gave all, but only gave MOST. Thus, god, oops I mean God, killed Ananias and his wife. Tell me again why conservatives are religious? I mean, this is pretty clear...give all or die. They will say it's about lying and deceit, but the root is THEY DID NOT GIVE ALL!!!! Tell me again why conservatives are religious?

They Just Don't Understand the 1st Amendment

Reporters protecting confidential sources has a long been a basic tenet of journalism. Now some bozo, the ACLU and an assortment of the usual suspects want to extend that to video of a public gathering. Where is the confidential source? Where is an expectation of privacy? And besides, bozo, you published and/or sold huge sections of the video already! All the police want is to look at the raw video to have an unedited look at who put the bomb under the police car, is that so unreasonable?

Screw Bank of America!

OK, it started civil, now it's civil war! What a bunch of bloodsucking leeches live at Bank of America. No, not leeches, they are their initials...BOA! A constricting snake, squeezing the life out of their customers. In answer to the question "So making it impossible to pay this off, and forcing me into bankruptcy, is better than keeping the status quo, where I've never been late and always pay more than the minimum?" the answer was "Are you threatening bankruptcy, sir?" No jerkoff, I'm saying that 23% interest is usury, and robbery, and making it harder to payoff, and putting your money more at risk. Somebody has got to explain the logic here, because my bud is off to see a lawyer tomorrow, the lawyer will always get paid, the bank will always suck hind tit, and all because they double the damn interest rate to "protect themselves", rather than be fat dumb and happy at 11.5%! Talk about Abort To Orbit, either NASA is full of ex-bankers, or the banks are full of ex-NASA people!

Gee, and they wonder why people go bankrupt

Let me get this straight. If a credit card company is afraid that you are a risk, they raise your interest rates to the point where they are borderline usury! Amazing. Think of the logic. You owe us money. We are afraid you are not going to pay the money back. Therefore, we will make it ever HARDER to pay it back. I told my friend to just close his accounts. That freezes the rates where they are. It is not a solution to debt, but it prevents usury.

I'm Not Big on Body Art

OK, I understand the need some people have for some kind of tattoo. It's like anal sex, or so I'm told, you got to try it once. But after three or four tattoo's...or is it 6 or 8....and you then go in for gastric bypass.....well, there's something wrong. Sorry, but it's one thing to mutilate your outside, but to then progress to mutilating your inside? Did they grab that unused appendix, and the seldom needed but troublesome spleen while they were in there? Somethings I will never understand.

Good Night, and Good Luck, and I'm Sorry

First, let me apologize to the local cinemas whom I badgered about getting "Good Night, and Good Luck" into their theaters. I never did get to see it on the big screen, the nearest cinema that carried it was about 40 miles away, and I figured I could wait for the DVD. I had somehow thought that the "big screen" treatment of Murrow would be even better than the made for cable movie in 1986, titled "Murrow" and starring Daniel J. Travanti. Boy, was I wrong. The Clooney version, though still very good, is disappointing in every way that Murrow was great. First, it's only 90 minutes long, including credits. Second, there must be at least 30 minutes of vintage Joe McCarthy footage in there, meaning we are only talking about 1 hour of actual acting. Third, when we pull out the waste of time subplot of an "against company rules" marriage between two of the characters, and constantly returning to some singer in a bar, you probably got less than 30 minutes of the famous Murrow/Friendly stuff left, and only a few minutes of the Paley/Murrow/Friendly interaction which is what made the whole McCarthy attack possible in the first place! Hint to George Clooney - if you want to do a documentary, do a damn documentary. This topic is important, damnit, especially in this day and age. Instead we get two minutes of Murrow talking about the importance of TV news, and the difference between censorship and "not stopping you." Those two minutes are what I expected the movie to be about! Murrow was, and still is right....."this instrument...can inspire...otherwise it's just wires and lights in a box." Congrats George, you just contributed to the "lights in a box" movement.

Wingnuts and Moonbats

There is a discussion about Constitutional amendments over at http://www.rightwingnews.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5264 and it's amazing how quickly it centered on gay marrige, adoption etc. Yes, there are mentions of balanced budget amendments, line item vetos and the like, but most of the more virulent discussion is on the Christian Fundamentalists agenda. I've been checking out some of the more popular blogs on both sides of politics, from DailyKos to StopTheACLU. And the one thing in common between them all is that no matter how reasonable the intial point is, the discussion goes to the extreme. Checkout the HBO Real Sports community boards about Bryant Gumbels rant about racism in the Olympics, and what you will find is that over half of the posters would have been members of the KKK or in a lynch mob not too many years ago.
I've never understood the use for Wingnuts and Moonbats in political movements. They get most of the press and just polarize the discussion, and destroy any chance of civil discourse. Tomorrow, Tavis Smiley will be hosting the 2006 version of "The State of the Black Union" it will be televised on CSPAN, and they generally have the videos on their website by Monday. I urge you to watch it. You will hear reasoned, logical discussion about how to correct the state of affairs in the Black community. You will also hear ranting and raving and so much hatred towards whites that it will get uncomfortable, and stir anger. What parts of the panel discussions do you think will make the news? What parts do you think the audience will applaud for? And better yet, what parts will simply play into the Wingnuts racism, and the Moonbats yahooism? The net result will be the status quo remains, and nothing gets better.
Oh well, the beat goes on.

Causal or Correlational: Part 2 - History Repeats

I will never forget an interview in the early 80's with Vladimir Posner, the Soviet talking head of choice back then. That's unfair, the man was (and is) a brilliant debater, a fine historian, just overall damn smart. At any rate, he was being lambasted by some one about the lack of freedoms in the USSR, a fairly thorough Fisking of some recent press release. Finally, Posner asked "Our nation is barely 70 year years old, do you know what your nation was doing when it was 70? It was fighting the Civil War. Keep that in mind when you criticize us." Of course, after the Civil War, we bagan the long climb to universal freedom and liberty, and sure enough, a few years later the USSR became Russia, the Ukraine, and all the others, with liberty and justice for most, if not all. It made me wonder if we ARE condemned to repeat history.

Flash to 2005. The Islamic faith is some 1500 years old. What were Christians doing in 1500AD (oops, I mean CE)? Driving Jews and Moslems out of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition was in full swing, and oh yeah, we traded smallpox to the "New World" for gold and slaves. Are we seeing the beginning of that same cycle? Will Islam rise and conquer the world the way Christianity did up through the 60's? Is there nothing but bitter religious war and battle ahead?

Hopefully, all this date nonsens is just a correlational thing, and not causal, because otherwise, I'm going to have to teach my 5 year old son how to become a global warrior, a profession I had hoped was retired when the wall came down.

Cartoon Servitude

While the rest of the world debates, riots and, in general, goes nutso over some cartoons of The Guy Who Waited For The Mountain (saying his name may be a capital offense too...) I'm amazed we passed by THE cartoon story of the month. A man, yes MAN, was traded for a cartoon!!! Does this not reek of indentured servitude? Shocking, shocking. And the fact that is is Al Michaels ,makes it even worse. He's been traded to NBC for a cartoon, 4 golf tournaments and some sporting events to be named later. ABC made it clear, it was the cartoon they were after. Shame, Shame on the media for such a demeaning move.

Causal or Correlational: Part 1

Ok, if the book Freakonomics teaches anything, it's that discovering whether a relationship between two events is causal or correlational is damn near impossible, and can result in some wild theories. The increase in abortions versus the decrease in crime 15 years later is a prime example. Well, I got two relationships I think need the Freakonomics check.

First relationship, as the number of gods in the pantheon has decreased, scientific and technological advancement has exploded. Back when every bush was worshipped, there was little technology, and even less science. Now we are at less than 93% of Americans who believe in god, giving us .92 gods left in the pantheon. And look all around, medical miracles, computers, the Internet, space sciences, the list goes on and on. Think where we will be if we get to .50 gods!

Second relationship, as the number of strong, national poltical parties has declined, the gridlock and partisanship has increased. Whigs, Federalists, Democrats, Bull Moose, Republicans, the list goes on and on, but as we ended up with just Democrats and Republicans, and their centralized national comittees, political debate has degenerated to a "I know you are, but what am I" type discussion. Whenever there has been a "strong" thirdparty, we ended up with some pretty good leaders, even if they were less than perfect presidents (Anderson gave us Reagan, Perot gave us Clinton). Again, not really a theory yet, just a hypothesis, an intriquing one. Maybe we need to convince John McCain to run as a 3rd party and get us a worthy leader in 2008!

Can You Help Me Out With This?

Why do many pro-life folk support the death penalty? Why do freedom loving Democrats feel entitled to my wallet? Why do the Republicans all think the SOTUS was a thing of awe and wonder, and the Democrats thought it was a declaration of war on our freedoms, and I thought it was a waste of oxygen? Why do the Democrats all think the response by the VA Governor to the SOTUS was a thing of awe and wonder, and the Republicans thought it was a declaration of war on our freedoms, and I thought it was a waste of oxygen? Is it possible to be fiscally conservative (ie low taxes good) and socially liberal (ie it's my life, let me do what I want, so long as I don't hurt anybody)? Must I love one party and hate the other? I guess it's time to rethink how we do things in this country.

NBC selling out to the Left Wing

All I can say is wow, has the unscientific looneys on the left finally made it to the big time like the religious looneys on the right? After watching West Wing's "Duck and Cover" episode tonight, I am apalled at the level of understanding of all those college educated moonbats have of how a power plant works, how a control system works, and that the Navy has maybe a couple of people who might have some knowledge of nuclear power. The anti-nuke message was very clear, but why not save a lot of money and just have a bunch of people shouting "no nukes" like the good old days, instead of meeting the payroll for this episode? Ugh, worst of the season, one of the worst of the series.

Then at 10PM ET, we are treated to defective body armor in Iraq, and a military-industrial complex plot to murder the sargeant who figures out the defect. I understand that Democrats are reeling from a week of plantation talk from Hillary, and the Chocolate King of New Orleans, but come on folks, at least have storylines that have some basis in reality, not your dreams.

Man Vs. Whatever

In the old days, there were three great stories, Man Vs. Nature, Man Vs. Man, and Man Vs. Himself. Since then, thanks to Hollywood, we must add Man Vs. THECORPORATION, and Man Vs. THE GOVERNMENT. I am so sick and tired of movies where the bad guys are a corporation, or the US government. Why is it that we must make demons of the entities that help our lives? Even the most hardened Bush detractor would not kill a Social Security employee. And is the Red Croos, a corporation, oh by the way, deserving of a typical Hollywood maltreatment? I guess I shouldn't be suprised that this is what we've come to, just was hoping for more intelligence on behalf of the American people.

Tooting My Own Horn....NOT!!!

I was just finishing up some software changes this afternoon to a product I'm working on. I did the schematic capture, PCB layout, component selection, software design and coding. You know, 20 years ago I was on a team of 8 engineers working on a smaller project. It's not me, it's the software that makes this possible. For $2000 I get a software development system with simulator that replaces 3 software guys. For $10,000 I get a cad system that does the schematic capture, BOM development, and PCB layout. Yes, I have to tweek a bit here and there, but once the schematic is done, and the physical size is set, the CAD program does the rest. Now the sad fact is, other than the concept, everything else can be done almost anywhere so long as the people have the same tools. You want the worst part? I email the files, and I get PCB's. I have no idea where they came from, nor do I care. There is another vendor who will even populate the boards for me. Where from? Who knows, and should I care? I guess the real bane of existance in the 21st century is that WHERE no longer matters, only WHAT. I think this is a good thing, do you?