A lot of people to the right of, oh, say Hilary Clinton are trying to scare everybody by fear mongering about what a commie Barack Obama is.
Moi, as always, I'd rather worry about life's important questions like, who wrote the book of love. Still, the need to soothe my nervous nellie countrymen and women weighs heavily on me. I shall do what I can, because I shall do what I must with all the humility I can muster.
An Investors Business Daily editorial is in a tizzy because we are about to see Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism if your man is elected. The last guy to institute socialist policies in this country called it "Compassionate Conservatism."
Anyway, IBD accuses Barry of using code words. Oh, that's never happened before. Under the rubric, "economic justice," we have a wish list,
• "Universal," "guaranteed" health care.
• "Free" college tuition.
• "Universal national service" (a la Havana).
• "Universal 401(k)s" (in which the government would match contributions made by "low- and moderate-income families").
• "Free" job training (even for criminals).
• "Wage insurance" (to supplement dislocated union workers' old income levels).
• "Free" child care and "universal" preschool.
• More subsidized public housing.
• A fatter earned income tax credit for "working poor."
• And even a Global Poverty Act that amounts to a Marshall Plan for the Third World, first and foremost Africa.
He also wants a $10 minimum wage. The shocking thing is that he didn't suggest free braces and whitening for senior citizens. If they are going to have drug induced smiles, they should at least be on straight, bright teeth.
Now, as the Democrat Party is merely a cargo cult, there is little different from what any other Dem would propose. He was talking to a black audience and was trying to get some racial cred at the time. If you think, as Mencken did of an election as an auction in advance of stolen goods, what does one expect?
So what is actually going to happen when the O man ascends to the throne? If past is prologue we know pretty well what will happen. We know because someone has figured it out.
Howard Katz, The Gold Bug has looked into the matter and it is clear how presidents act,
A study of politicians from JFK on shows that most of them fulfill the campaign promises of their enemies and violate their own promises. The left still does not want to admit that it was their beloved JFK who got us into Vietnam with a carefully planned dance of two steps forward (toward war), one step back (toward peace). LBJ followed (what he thought was) Barry Goldwater’s program for war in Vietnam. The Republicans promised no price and wage controls in 1968 and enacted them in 1971. Ditto, ditto “peace with honor” in 1972. Ronald Reagan promised that he would not negotiate with terrorists and that he would follow Milton Friedman’s prescription to limit growth in the money supply to 2%-6%. 1986 saw an 18% increase in the money supply. George Bush, Sr. said, “Read my lips; no new taxes.” Then he enacted new taxes.
Clinton said he was the “woman’s candidate,” and women voted for him in large numbers. It turned out he was the woman’s candidate, but not in the way that people thought. Instead he fulfilled the conservative program of cutting back welfare, reducing the size of the Federal Government and balancing the budget.
So, President Obama will turn out to be ......President McCain. Oh joy. Start your office pool now as to what countries Obama will bomb.
Mr. Katz makes the case for voting third party.
So to answer our original question, how to vote in 2008, voting for the major party candidate closest to one’s position is not a good option because, if elected, he will betray his promises. However, voting for the major party candidate farthest from one’s position does not work either. All politicians, from whatever party, study the results of each election carefully and estimate what each vote means. If you vote for a candidate you do not support, then your vote will be estimated by these people to stand for the exact opposite of what you believe.
Therefore, if your vote is to count for anything, you must vote for the minor party closest to your position. That is, you must vote for a man who stands up for his ideology, and in this case it is an advantage that he cannot win. These minor party candidates are men of principle, but even if one of them weren’t, he could not betray you because he is not going to get elected. The major party candidate who wins then “steals” the minority candidate’s position, and your vote for him is a winner. For example, in 1932 the 3 far-left candidates together gathered a million votes (2½%), and F.D.R. “stole” their position (as Norman Thomas later complained).
Right now there are two minor party candidates, Ralph Nader running on the program of returning society to the Middle Ages and Bob Barr running on the program of increasing the amount of liberty in our society. Both are polling about 6% in this early part of the race. Barr has never run for President before, and it will be interesting to see how he does. He has already far outpolled any previous Libertarian Party presidential candidate.
I'm not convinced. Mr. Katz rails against the Federal Reserve. His logic is convincing, but there are just too much in powerful special interests that support American central banking. Barr could get 25% of the vote and it would not change anything. The system has to completely crash for things to change and it is not certain at that point the gold standard nirvana would come.
Still, even though I agree with Loren Lomasky, that voting is like cheering, I shall duly cast my vote for Mr. Barr, despite my reservations about him.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Some People See a Problem, We See Opportunity
Over at Defense and the National Interest they note that the no fly list is at a million no flyers. It appears Bill Lind and his crew are not amused. To quote those skeptics,
Your first reaction might be that if the number of terrorists is into seven figures we are truly doomed — it only took 19 plus a support organization of perhaps a few dozen to carry out 9/11.
We say why fight the progression. It is foolish to do things piecemeal. Let's go for it and put everyone in the country on the no fly list. Look at the problems we take care of.
1. The oil crisis is solved.
2. We can finally stop shaking in our boots. A nation on lockdown is a safe nation.
3. It'll probably happen anyway. Better we do it at one fell swoop then taking years.
4. There will be no more problems with the frisky friskers at airports having their passionate desire to do a good job being mistaken for passionate desire.
This list of benefits is surely not exhaustive, but we at the voice of humility have only so much time to spend saving the nation.
Still, if the Department of Fatherland Security, wishes to call on us, we are here for them.
Your first reaction might be that if the number of terrorists is into seven figures we are truly doomed — it only took 19 plus a support organization of perhaps a few dozen to carry out 9/11.
We say why fight the progression. It is foolish to do things piecemeal. Let's go for it and put everyone in the country on the no fly list. Look at the problems we take care of.
1. The oil crisis is solved.
2. We can finally stop shaking in our boots. A nation on lockdown is a safe nation.
3. It'll probably happen anyway. Better we do it at one fell swoop then taking years.
4. There will be no more problems with the frisky friskers at airports having their passionate desire to do a good job being mistaken for passionate desire.
This list of benefits is surely not exhaustive, but we at the voice of humility have only so much time to spend saving the nation.
Still, if the Department of Fatherland Security, wishes to call on us, we are here for them.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Fit to be Tied
Steve Sailer has a post about a New York Times article that notes violent criminals tend to be fit. Duh. Do you think someone will attack you unless he possesses force majeur?
A Libertarian Party presidential candidate once had the idea that criminals should spend the first month in jail in bed. That way, they would be less physically fit and easier to control. A riot by 90 lb. weaklings is not to be greatly feared.
There should be no physical training equipment in prisons. The diet and exercise program should be tailored to make sure the lads (and it is mostly lads) come out unfit.
Eric Nagourney, the author cites a Dr. Walker that “Those who are fit may have personalities that are more likely to make them violent.” Even if we can't expunge the propensity, I would much rather be threatened with mugging by someone who is wheezing from the effort.
A Libertarian Party presidential candidate once had the idea that criminals should spend the first month in jail in bed. That way, they would be less physically fit and easier to control. A riot by 90 lb. weaklings is not to be greatly feared.
There should be no physical training equipment in prisons. The diet and exercise program should be tailored to make sure the lads (and it is mostly lads) come out unfit.
Eric Nagourney, the author cites a Dr. Walker that “Those who are fit may have personalities that are more likely to make them violent.” Even if we can't expunge the propensity, I would much rather be threatened with mugging by someone who is wheezing from the effort.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Vive La France
July is here. We’ve had the fireworks and barbecues to celebrate our national holiday. Our sister republic, without whose assistance our fourth of July would have come to nothing, also celebrates its national day this month. Actually, Bastille Day est maintenant and my thoughts stray to the the glories of La Belle France. They are many and despite what some neocons might say, eating cheese has never caused them to surrender and les jeunes filles do not look like monkeys.
Much of our punditry loves to trash the French. Men who have organized their lives to be certain they never got near a battlefield, make fun of France’s Twentieth Century military record. It is true that the hundred years before the new millennium were not the epoch of La Gloire. France did have that. Les Polius were the bad boys of the late Eighteen and early Nineteen Hundreds. They ended up looking like the drunk in a bar, offering to take on the house. It ended predictably as it did for Les Boches approximately a century and a half later. It is premature to suggest that our current trajectory bears comparison, but only premature.
One thing Les Gaulles do not have going for them is their national slogan. For a nation that prides itself on logic, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité is about the dumbest and least well thought out statement in world history.
How can liberty and equality coexist. If a man possesses liberty, than he is free to rise or fall. If he can, then he can rise above his fellows or fall below them. His freedom or his neighbor's must be curtailed if equality is the goal to be maintained.
Now the Fraternity stuff. When someone uses that word, like most Americans who never belonged to TKE, I think of Animal House. That is not what they had in mind during the Revo. That Liberty thingee, is again the problem. If I am free, I am free to not be your brother, or for that matter, your sister. Heck, a brotha is free to not be a brotha, considering black on black crime statistics. Brothers, I have none, but my sisters were glad to see the last of me, as they lack the revolutionary spirit.
So how do we stack up against the frogs. Hmmm, that Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness* thing seems okay, but the last part has a narcissistic sound to it. Anyway, it’s already contained in the liberty part except someone might scream at me, “You don’t know the difference between libertine and liberty. Ah non, mon cher. True, there are a lot of words I do not have the exact meaning of even at my advanced age. I, having attended college in this country, do know the meaning of libertine and have looked up liberty so no one could call me on it.
Thomas Jefferson supposedly changed it in the Declaration of Independence. I like the other way better, as the Civil Rights entry in our Short Dictionary of Politics has it:
Civil Rights: In truth, there can only be three: Life, Liberty and Property. Anything else is the attempt of one group to secure privileges at the expense of another group or society itself. Of the three above, Property is the most important. If the individual's property is secure, there is little reason for anyone to take his life or liberty.
*I know that’s not our official motto, but I would be okay with Life, Liberty and Property. Of course property seems a bit of Yankee conniving. So thanks to Jeff, Southern love crept into it.
Much of our punditry loves to trash the French. Men who have organized their lives to be certain they never got near a battlefield, make fun of France’s Twentieth Century military record. It is true that the hundred years before the new millennium were not the epoch of La Gloire. France did have that. Les Polius were the bad boys of the late Eighteen and early Nineteen Hundreds. They ended up looking like the drunk in a bar, offering to take on the house. It ended predictably as it did for Les Boches approximately a century and a half later. It is premature to suggest that our current trajectory bears comparison, but only premature.
One thing Les Gaulles do not have going for them is their national slogan. For a nation that prides itself on logic, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité is about the dumbest and least well thought out statement in world history.
How can liberty and equality coexist. If a man possesses liberty, than he is free to rise or fall. If he can, then he can rise above his fellows or fall below them. His freedom or his neighbor's must be curtailed if equality is the goal to be maintained.
Now the Fraternity stuff. When someone uses that word, like most Americans who never belonged to TKE, I think of Animal House. That is not what they had in mind during the Revo. That Liberty thingee, is again the problem. If I am free, I am free to not be your brother, or for that matter, your sister. Heck, a brotha is free to not be a brotha, considering black on black crime statistics. Brothers, I have none, but my sisters were glad to see the last of me, as they lack the revolutionary spirit.
So how do we stack up against the frogs. Hmmm, that Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness* thing seems okay, but the last part has a narcissistic sound to it. Anyway, it’s already contained in the liberty part except someone might scream at me, “You don’t know the difference between libertine and liberty. Ah non, mon cher. True, there are a lot of words I do not have the exact meaning of even at my advanced age. I, having attended college in this country, do know the meaning of libertine and have looked up liberty so no one could call me on it.
Thomas Jefferson supposedly changed it in the Declaration of Independence. I like the other way better, as the Civil Rights entry in our Short Dictionary of Politics has it:
Civil Rights: In truth, there can only be three: Life, Liberty and Property. Anything else is the attempt of one group to secure privileges at the expense of another group or society itself. Of the three above, Property is the most important. If the individual's property is secure, there is little reason for anyone to take his life or liberty.
*I know that’s not our official motto, but I would be okay with Life, Liberty and Property. Of course property seems a bit of Yankee conniving. So thanks to Jeff, Southern love crept into it.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
I wish I thought of that
Quoted below is a post on the Parapundit blog in its entirety:
Stop Calling Elected Officials Leaders
Modest proposal: We should stop calling our elected officials "leaders". We should stop referring to the "national leadership". We should stop calling for "strong leadership". We should stop seeking to be led.
I agree we should stop though I don't remember ever having called an elected official my leader.
One of the comments intelligently, if depressingly, explained the phenomenon:
Unfortunately, it is the genetic nature of the majority of the human species to need leaders, especially when there is a confusing situation that threatens the usual way of life.
For example, the 9/11 event that was an unexpected and difficult to understand situation, made the majority of the nation far more submissive and obedient to the leadership, and the nation became willing to do things that were against its best interests, without thinking.
Similar situations have occurred every time a nation suffered a major military-economic setback like Germany after WW I, of Japan facing a terrible economic collapse before WW II. The list is endless.
But the fascinating question is how exactly leaders whose IQ scores are only slightly above average, can gain so much power during crisis. It must be a combination of factors, such as charisma and intensity of personality of the leaders that easily influence the masses that are desperate to be told what to do during crisis, and also the fact that behind these leaders, there are some very intelligent people who do the calculations (always so).
This phenomenon of mass servility during crisis, is an area of psychology that must be studied more seriously and thoroughly, because history repeats itself without duplicating itself, and it is difficult to discern when and how exactly the mass servility phenomenon will spontaneously manifest itself.
A few observations,
I think "fuhrer" means leader.
If the commenter Wolf-Dog is correct, most of us are Aristotle's natural slaves. Except of course you and I.
It exists at all levels. Even Ralph Adams Cram supported FDR.
Can we as a species overcome this? Let's say together, "Yes We can!"
Stop Calling Elected Officials Leaders
Modest proposal: We should stop calling our elected officials "leaders". We should stop referring to the "national leadership". We should stop calling for "strong leadership". We should stop seeking to be led.
I agree we should stop though I don't remember ever having called an elected official my leader.
One of the comments intelligently, if depressingly, explained the phenomenon:
Unfortunately, it is the genetic nature of the majority of the human species to need leaders, especially when there is a confusing situation that threatens the usual way of life.
For example, the 9/11 event that was an unexpected and difficult to understand situation, made the majority of the nation far more submissive and obedient to the leadership, and the nation became willing to do things that were against its best interests, without thinking.
Similar situations have occurred every time a nation suffered a major military-economic setback like Germany after WW I, of Japan facing a terrible economic collapse before WW II. The list is endless.
But the fascinating question is how exactly leaders whose IQ scores are only slightly above average, can gain so much power during crisis. It must be a combination of factors, such as charisma and intensity of personality of the leaders that easily influence the masses that are desperate to be told what to do during crisis, and also the fact that behind these leaders, there are some very intelligent people who do the calculations (always so).
This phenomenon of mass servility during crisis, is an area of psychology that must be studied more seriously and thoroughly, because history repeats itself without duplicating itself, and it is difficult to discern when and how exactly the mass servility phenomenon will spontaneously manifest itself.
A few observations,
I think "fuhrer" means leader.
If the commenter Wolf-Dog is correct, most of us are Aristotle's natural slaves. Except of course you and I.
It exists at all levels. Even Ralph Adams Cram supported FDR.
Can we as a species overcome this? Let's say together, "Yes We can!"
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Change You Can Believe In
I believe. Yes, I believe that when Barack Obama says he is for change you can believe in, because when he was told to jump your man said how high,
And,
changed his mind on foreign policy.
How can anyone not believe that change.
Anyway, as regarding his followers, anyone who would chant "Yes we can" would just as readily chant "Sieg heil."
And,
changed his mind on foreign policy.
How can anyone not believe that change.
Anyway, as regarding his followers, anyone who would chant "Yes we can" would just as readily chant "Sieg heil."
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Note to Governor Patrick, there appears to be a flaw in the State Police examination process!!
Your Excellency,
Last evening, July 2, 2008 at 8:27 Pm two Massachusetts State Policeman were stopped at the light at the intersection of Route 148 and Route 20. When the light turned green they lingered. I beeped my horn after the one in the right lane left. Instead of moving, the fellow in the cruiser in front of me jumped out and yelled, “Are you beeping at me?”
I do hope this is an anomaly and the fellow slipped through the cracks as It can only have been moi who beeped. If the examination system is allowing this to happen, I am worried.
The fellow excoriated me for not being patient as they were on police business. He said someone had been beaten up using the past tense. How his not moving along after he had finished speaking with the other officer helped the victim's situation is an excellent question, but he seemed not to be in a question answering mood.
I did mention I paid his salary, he told me not to go there implying he makes so much that I hardly covered his pay. Duh. His powers of cognition leave one to wonder if he might be overpaid.
As he walked back to the cruiser, I asked his badge number, but he ignored me. Not behavior one would expect from a public servant. No matter, his plate was either 894 or 984.
As he drove off, he did not put on his left turn signal. Not merely bad form to add to bad manners, but a ticketable offense. As the man who enforces the law should be held to the same or higher standard, I hope you will look into this.
To be fair, I’ve met many very professional state troopers and have been generally treated fairly. The bad apples need to be made aware they work for the citizens.
Thank you, Governor, for your attention.
Un Citoyen
Last evening, July 2, 2008 at 8:27 Pm two Massachusetts State Policeman were stopped at the light at the intersection of Route 148 and Route 20. When the light turned green they lingered. I beeped my horn after the one in the right lane left. Instead of moving, the fellow in the cruiser in front of me jumped out and yelled, “Are you beeping at me?”
I do hope this is an anomaly and the fellow slipped through the cracks as It can only have been moi who beeped. If the examination system is allowing this to happen, I am worried.
The fellow excoriated me for not being patient as they were on police business. He said someone had been beaten up using the past tense. How his not moving along after he had finished speaking with the other officer helped the victim's situation is an excellent question, but he seemed not to be in a question answering mood.
I did mention I paid his salary, he told me not to go there implying he makes so much that I hardly covered his pay. Duh. His powers of cognition leave one to wonder if he might be overpaid.
As he walked back to the cruiser, I asked his badge number, but he ignored me. Not behavior one would expect from a public servant. No matter, his plate was either 894 or 984.
As he drove off, he did not put on his left turn signal. Not merely bad form to add to bad manners, but a ticketable offense. As the man who enforces the law should be held to the same or higher standard, I hope you will look into this.
To be fair, I’ve met many very professional state troopers and have been generally treated fairly. The bad apples need to be made aware they work for the citizens.
Thank you, Governor, for your attention.
Un Citoyen
Monday, June 30, 2008
WWSNS?
What Would Sam Neil Say?
I'm not a Tom Clancy fan. As a Mick, I think he goes overboard in making his hero Hibernian, but he also did too much in making the man a tool of the Brits in his anti IRA screed. Still in the movie, The Hunt for Red October, There is a small scene where Sam Neill's character is talking with Sean Connery's. Neill talks about how he is going to travel from state to state in his recreational vehicle. At one point he says, "No papers?" and Connery affirms, "No Papers." I loved that.
That was of course in the old Evil Empire days. Nowadays, we are scared of everything. I saw a post at Squirmelicious detailing the decline in our privacy and the increase in our surveillance.
Kids, we're all going to die. Hate to break it to you. Get out from under the bed and face the day. After all, when you sneak out of the house, you have a greater chance of dying for your country going to the 7-eleven and getting in a car crash than being attacked by Achmed. Got a swimming pool? An undertaker wife told mine that her husband had a lot of business from his affluent clientele's drowning children. Never said international terrorism got one.
Oh, speaking about "The Troubles," they said instituting surveillance cameras in the Six Counties was just to watch "terrorists." Gee, guess what's all over Britland now. I guess your Lumpen Limeys are all terrorists, or so HMG thinks.
I don't think as Squirmelicious does that Obama is the answer as he's flipped the flop on the Mid East. I think the people are the problem. If we did not see a bogeyman at every turn, the powers that be would not run with it.
I'm not a Tom Clancy fan. As a Mick, I think he goes overboard in making his hero Hibernian, but he also did too much in making the man a tool of the Brits in his anti IRA screed. Still in the movie, The Hunt for Red October, There is a small scene where Sam Neill's character is talking with Sean Connery's. Neill talks about how he is going to travel from state to state in his recreational vehicle. At one point he says, "No papers?" and Connery affirms, "No Papers." I loved that.
That was of course in the old Evil Empire days. Nowadays, we are scared of everything. I saw a post at Squirmelicious detailing the decline in our privacy and the increase in our surveillance.
Kids, we're all going to die. Hate to break it to you. Get out from under the bed and face the day. After all, when you sneak out of the house, you have a greater chance of dying for your country going to the 7-eleven and getting in a car crash than being attacked by Achmed. Got a swimming pool? An undertaker wife told mine that her husband had a lot of business from his affluent clientele's drowning children. Never said international terrorism got one.
Oh, speaking about "The Troubles," they said instituting surveillance cameras in the Six Counties was just to watch "terrorists." Gee, guess what's all over Britland now. I guess your Lumpen Limeys are all terrorists, or so HMG thinks.
I don't think as Squirmelicious does that Obama is the answer as he's flipped the flop on the Mid East. I think the people are the problem. If we did not see a bogeyman at every turn, the powers that be would not run with it.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Not The Meaning of Life, but Not Without Meaning
Linked from the resurrected Ilkka is a blog post about Tim Russert. Of course, by now it should be Tim Russert who? The import of the article is that Tim was fat, but he had no trouble getting on the case of deceased smokers. People talking about him are tiptoeing around his weight. Rest his soul, but he was hefty and did nothing about it and felt very good about being a non smoker.
When I was a kid, pre civil rights, there was a story told in Black American dialect that I thought contained a lot of wisdom. I suppose it might offend someone, but it is apropos and I'll recount it.
Preacher engages a ferryman to take him across a river. As ferryman is rowing the preacher asks him, "Son, do you smoke?" Ferryman answers, "Yes Rev, I does." "Son, one fourth of your life is over."
Little while later, preacher asks, "Son do you drink?" Ferryman, "Yes, Rev." "Son two fourth of your life is over."
Later, "Son, do you chase women?" "Yes." "Son, three fourths of your life is over."
The ferryman is now very nervous. So nervous and shakey, he forgets his skill on the river and hits a rock. The boat crashes and the ferryman swims to shore.
From shore he shouts to the preacher, "Hey Rev does you swim?" The preacher answers, "No son, I do not." The ferryman shouts, "Well Rev, four fourths of your life is over."
When I was a kid, pre civil rights, there was a story told in Black American dialect that I thought contained a lot of wisdom. I suppose it might offend someone, but it is apropos and I'll recount it.
Preacher engages a ferryman to take him across a river. As ferryman is rowing the preacher asks him, "Son, do you smoke?" Ferryman answers, "Yes Rev, I does." "Son, one fourth of your life is over."
Little while later, preacher asks, "Son do you drink?" Ferryman, "Yes, Rev." "Son two fourth of your life is over."
Later, "Son, do you chase women?" "Yes." "Son, three fourths of your life is over."
The ferryman is now very nervous. So nervous and shakey, he forgets his skill on the river and hits a rock. The boat crashes and the ferryman swims to shore.
From shore he shouts to the preacher, "Hey Rev does you swim?" The preacher answers, "No son, I do not." The ferryman shouts, "Well Rev, four fourths of your life is over."
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Death Conditioning
The Black Sea left the following comment on my last post.
On a more personal level, I can attest to the power of this phenomenon. Three years ago, a colleague whom I barely knew, and considered fairly odd, died in his mid-50s of leukemia. Although his death naturally received no media hype, I was surprised at how much it saddened me. I'd only ever spoken to the guy a couple of times, but still, in his mid 50s . . . (I was in my 40s, and at this point ten years passes rather quickly, so perhaps I was really premeptively lamenting my own demise).
Yep, that's us.
Contrast that with my old man. In Huxley's Brave New World there is death conditioning where kids are socialized to not worry about death. I think that happened in the world pre WWII society. My dad's brother was killed by a trolley at seven years of age. There was a lot of that in inner city neighborhoods in those days. Of the six kids my grandmother gave birth to, I only knew three.
That was a less safety conscious world. Also, it was pre antibiotic. Calvin Coolidge's son, who would have had the best treatment available died of a simple infection. Penicillin would have cured it with ease.
One of my dad's favorite entertainments was going to wakes. I have never seen the man more at ease than when conversing with friends a few feet away from a stiff.* Not for nothing do they call the obituaries the Irish Sports Pages where I come from.
His reaction to hearing about the situation Black Sea mentions. "Hey, yah hear about Mikey. Leukemia. Only 55. Got the paper? Gotta see when the wake is." He would have a hard time not appearing exhuberant.
Himself went at 93. A respectable wake, but nothing like the old days. He had been to the wake of just about everyone he knew. Other than his best friend from childhood, there was no one left.
Moi, I almost never get the paper and I never check the obituaries, if only for fear I might be in there.
*I never saw anyone partake of alcohol. Just had to get the stereotype thing out of the way.
On a more personal level, I can attest to the power of this phenomenon. Three years ago, a colleague whom I barely knew, and considered fairly odd, died in his mid-50s of leukemia. Although his death naturally received no media hype, I was surprised at how much it saddened me. I'd only ever spoken to the guy a couple of times, but still, in his mid 50s . . . (I was in my 40s, and at this point ten years passes rather quickly, so perhaps I was really premeptively lamenting my own demise).
Yep, that's us.
Contrast that with my old man. In Huxley's Brave New World there is death conditioning where kids are socialized to not worry about death. I think that happened in the world pre WWII society. My dad's brother was killed by a trolley at seven years of age. There was a lot of that in inner city neighborhoods in those days. Of the six kids my grandmother gave birth to, I only knew three.
That was a less safety conscious world. Also, it was pre antibiotic. Calvin Coolidge's son, who would have had the best treatment available died of a simple infection. Penicillin would have cured it with ease.
One of my dad's favorite entertainments was going to wakes. I have never seen the man more at ease than when conversing with friends a few feet away from a stiff.* Not for nothing do they call the obituaries the Irish Sports Pages where I come from.
His reaction to hearing about the situation Black Sea mentions. "Hey, yah hear about Mikey. Leukemia. Only 55. Got the paper? Gotta see when the wake is." He would have a hard time not appearing exhuberant.
Himself went at 93. A respectable wake, but nothing like the old days. He had been to the wake of just about everyone he knew. Other than his best friend from childhood, there was no one left.
Moi, I almost never get the paper and I never check the obituaries, if only for fear I might be in there.
*I never saw anyone partake of alcohol. Just had to get the stereotype thing out of the way.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Another Blogger Notices Tim Is Dead
Tim Russert's passing affected me personally. No, I did not connect with him because he represented me on the TV in some way. It affected me because we are or were the same age. Mr. Russert was on a few different drugs for maladies that I associate with older people. Could he have saved his life by leaving his job and taking up like moi the life of the self-employed, under-employed swamp yankee? Don't know. I could keel over tomorrow, so today is lucky.
My lifestyle is the anti-Russert. I do self-medicate. A couple of cups of coffee in the morning. A glass (well, closer to two) of red wine with dinner. I follow a strict dietary regimen of using bacon fat as a cooking medium for eggs (lots of 'em). Bacon fat is the olive oil of the north and those of us melanin challenged people from colder climes ignore its healing properties at our peril.
As to Tim himself. Like Princess Di, I had no connection with him other than hearing his voice simulcast over the radio on Sunday evenings once or twice. That people say nice things about him is okay, but the deification is a bit over the top. The biggest reason he had his job, and you would realize this if you only heard him on radio, is his pleasant voice. He could savage Ron Paul and still seem a nice guy. TV is a "soft medium," he was kind of a drug. That nice guy persona helped him even if he used it in the service of a bitter partisanship.
On a newscast they played at his memorial some bit of rock noise that had been on his ipod. My first thought was why did they embarrass the man by playing his guilty pleasure of low music. Ah, but this is the Republic of Bad Taste and he was his country.
I quote the best comment about him and his class,
...professionally, he was not a "great journalist," because a great journalist searches for the truth and asks fundamental questions about the status-quo. He was successful at rebuilding Meet the Press into the highest-rated Sunday morning news program. He was successful at becoming a celebrity and making a lot of money. In short, he was a successful media animal. But his very tenure at an establishment mouthpiece like Meet the Press is de facto evidence of his real professional legacy, of which this article’s transcript, and the gushing tributes this week from establishment politicians and journalists, are further proof: Tim Russert was a shill for the state and the power elite who control it.*
Oh well, we are only supposed to get 15 minutes. He had a half hour. After the canonization is done, he will be forgotten.
*Johnny Kramer at LRC
**Justin Raimondo probably has the best titled article, Enough Already!
My lifestyle is the anti-Russert. I do self-medicate. A couple of cups of coffee in the morning. A glass (well, closer to two) of red wine with dinner. I follow a strict dietary regimen of using bacon fat as a cooking medium for eggs (lots of 'em). Bacon fat is the olive oil of the north and those of us melanin challenged people from colder climes ignore its healing properties at our peril.
As to Tim himself. Like Princess Di, I had no connection with him other than hearing his voice simulcast over the radio on Sunday evenings once or twice. That people say nice things about him is okay, but the deification is a bit over the top. The biggest reason he had his job, and you would realize this if you only heard him on radio, is his pleasant voice. He could savage Ron Paul and still seem a nice guy. TV is a "soft medium," he was kind of a drug. That nice guy persona helped him even if he used it in the service of a bitter partisanship.
On a newscast they played at his memorial some bit of rock noise that had been on his ipod. My first thought was why did they embarrass the man by playing his guilty pleasure of low music. Ah, but this is the Republic of Bad Taste and he was his country.
I quote the best comment about him and his class,
...professionally, he was not a "great journalist," because a great journalist searches for the truth and asks fundamental questions about the status-quo. He was successful at rebuilding Meet the Press into the highest-rated Sunday morning news program. He was successful at becoming a celebrity and making a lot of money. In short, he was a successful media animal. But his very tenure at an establishment mouthpiece like Meet the Press is de facto evidence of his real professional legacy, of which this article’s transcript, and the gushing tributes this week from establishment politicians and journalists, are further proof: Tim Russert was a shill for the state and the power elite who control it.*
Oh well, we are only supposed to get 15 minutes. He had a half hour. After the canonization is done, he will be forgotten.
*Johnny Kramer at LRC
**Justin Raimondo probably has the best titled article, Enough Already!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Prospects Dim
Third quarter earnings for Clinton Inc. are expected to nosedive. The company, founded in 2001 to take advantage of the earnings prospects of William J. Clinton who was leaving a chief executive position due to the legal limitation of length of service. He was continuing his association with Hilary Clinton. It had been a tumultuous period of service for both.
Clinton Inc. had positioned itself as a major player in the influence peddling sector and had steady growth since operations began. Hilary Clinton, however, has been rejected as the next holder of her husband's old ceo position. This is expected to cause growth to, in the words of Monty Python, "not so much fly, as plummet."
The rumors that Ms. Clinton will now separate from Clinton Inc. to found Rodham Partners as a new company are probably untrue as interest appears nil. A breaking apart of the entity, due to the different outlooks, if not incompatabilty of the two senior staff is not ruled out.
Clinton Inc. had positioned itself as a major player in the influence peddling sector and had steady growth since operations began. Hilary Clinton, however, has been rejected as the next holder of her husband's old ceo position. This is expected to cause growth to, in the words of Monty Python, "not so much fly, as plummet."
The rumors that Ms. Clinton will now separate from Clinton Inc. to found Rodham Partners as a new company are probably untrue as interest appears nil. A breaking apart of the entity, due to the different outlooks, if not incompatabilty of the two senior staff is not ruled out.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Okay, is it time to panic yet?
A few days ago, oil drops a fiver, and I'm thinking an overbought market. Yesterday, up near $11 on war rumors. It's like getting whiplash watching a tennis match, except the trend is one way.
So, if an attack happens, and the Strait of Hormuz gets blocked, we shall see if the center can hold. We'll see if we can even have a center.
A few years ago, through a friend, I sort of had a writing audition for a small Western Massachusetts newspaper. I was to review a book on the then new subject of peak oil. I flunked the assignment as the editor thought I was trying to bring a tad too much humor to the task.
Now, peak oil is out there as a subject, but like global warming, how much can a non expert know. The book, Out of Gas by David Goodstein is a few years old now, but if you are a non science geek, it is a good read. Mr. Goodstein explains it so we non nerds can comprehend it.
I liked his book, but I can't say I've learned enough to make a judgment. My doubts about peak oil are not related to science, I still don't know enough to be confident one way or the other. It's a human thing. Everybody is jumping on the peak oil band wagon. Usually, that means the crowd has joined at the wrong time in my life's experience.
Out of Gas, by David Goodstein
Repent, the end is nigh. No, this time we really mean it. Sort of. You see, the world is running out of the stuff that makes it spin. Ah, but it started running out of that stuff on the day of the first gusher in 1859. Now, however, we really do have a gasoline crisis.
According to David Goodstein, author of Out of Gas, we have used up or are about to have used up half of all the petroleum that ever will be available on this planet. In a world where demand for black gold only increases, a declining supply being fought over by nations, not to mention individuals, reminds one of the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” Life may get interesting indeed.
Yeah, but some might say, we had those long gas lines in the seventies and a few years later, gasoline prices were lower, adjusted for inflation than ever. Still. I occasionally like to get my paranoa juices flowing. After all, I haven’t had so much fun since before the y2k scare fizzled. Who is this Dave Goodstein, another crank? Would that he were. Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D is a physics prof at Caltech, which is not a school advertised on matchbook covers. His biography is a lengthy list of accomplishments. He is the real thing who, lucky for me, has the ability to communicate to primitives with an entertaining style of writing.
Doctor Dave, lays out the problem well. He recaps the now well discussed Hubberts Peak. For those who have not heard about it, geophysicist M King Hubbert predicted in 1960 that oil production in the lower 48 would peak around 1970. He was right. It has been downhill ever since. Recently, other geologists have been using Hubbert’s methods. Brace yourself. Peak is coming within this decade. It may even have already occurred.
What does this mean? It means more people competing for less oil, forever. The crisis does not begin when the last drop is pumped, but when the half way point is reached. And, what happens when such a competition begins. One thing is, the price starts to rise. Now the author avers that a steep inflation will occur as we all compete for all the various petrochemical products. I tend to agree with him, but for a different reason. Inflation does not occur when the price of one commodity, or even a set of commodities become scarce and prices rise, for in a system where the central bank could actually control itself, the prices of other commodities must decline. If past is prologue, don’t expect the fed to exercise restraint.
So, how do we replace the missing energy? Do we go to a methane economy, making up the shortfall with natural gas products? Will we actually be better off when spurred by higher energy prices, less polluting forms of enegy come into production? Goodstein looks at a lot of alternatives.
About that methane economy. The use of natural gas as an alternative for Texas Tea could be done, with some effort. The problem is that peak natural gas will come just a couple of decades after peak oil.
Okay, scratch that. What else? Well the author notes there is a lot of elemental carbon buried beneath our planet’s surface. The stuff is coal. You can even liquefy it for driving in a process that is energy intensive and expensive. Oh, there are a few drawbacks. It is very dirty and gives off a lot of waste such that if we go over to a coal economy and you eat a lot of tuna, you may be able to take your own temperature.
The good doctor also looks at nuclear. He actually likes it. As mentioned above, I am a primitive and that may explain a fear of nuclear power. I would not wish to live next to an atomic plant, nor would I wish that fate for someone else. Reality, however, causes me to realize that when the bulbs start to flicker, my countrymen and women will look at things in a different light, so to speak. Of course, I would not like to live next to a coal fired plant either. It is a dilemma we may be forced to choose, assuming we are even asked. The greenhouse gas spewing chimneys or a potential mountain of spent fuel.
There is even a peak uranium problem as if we go full bore on nuclear we have only a twenty five year supply tops. That little problem can be circumvented by building breeder reactors to change a form of uranium into plutonium and providing a lot of fuel and fissile material for electricity and bombs. Anyway, whatever help nuclear provides, it won’t work in you car.
There is a clean form of atomic power. It’s called fusion. The author discusses it and its arrival is devoutly to be wished. His comment on it and another hope, shale oil, is all we need mention, “It has been said of both nuclear fusion and shale oil that they are the energy of the future, and always will be.”
As to hydropower, been there, done that, at least as much as we can on this planet. Wind? It’s great stuff, and it has a place. Unfortunately, it does not have enough places. Photovoltaics gets a “needs improvement” on the prof’s report card. He has a lot of suggestions on space based solar and improving what already exists. All of them good ideas, but of limited utility if peak is occurring now.
Obviously, the poor man spends way to much time in the classroom and needs to get out more. Just doing a little sociology led me to an energy solution that will be cheaper than any Manhattan Project . You see, I watched the movie Super Size Me wherein Morgan Spurlock eats only at McDonalds and almost becomes poster child for save the whales. Well, Professor Chazz Weaver, an economist went on the McDiet for a month, but exercised an hour a day and lost weight. Morgan’s movie spent a good deal of time on the epidemic of obesity. He had statistics and a lot of visual evidence to prove there is a big (pun intended) problem in our homeland. actually, I kind of relished (I can’t believe I did that) his scenes of people whom the Good Lord should have never given tee shirts and shorts. My love handles don’t feel so bad.
Still, there is an energy crisis to solve, Anybody with a McDonald’s jones that shows within certain guidelines should be required to exercise on a stationary bicycle attached to a generator that is plugged into the electrical grid. The bike would measure the amount of effort necessary to use up enough calories to be of benefit to the rider. Business loves to tout the win/win solution to a problem. Heck here we have a win/win/win/win/win. MickeyD’s wins because its customers are now svelte. The environment wins because other than some panting much less CO2 is belched into the air to produce electricity. The health care system wins as there will be fewer ambulances rushing to emergency rooms. Big Mac lovers win as they will feel and be (sort of) healthier. I’ll win as I’ll be on my way to Stockholm to pick up my Nobel. Or maybe this paragraph explains why Doc Goodstein teaches Physics and I’m just hacking around here in hillbilly Massachusetts.
The question does remain, is David Goodstein right or wrong. If he is right, and we don’t have adequate fixes in place, our world, as we know it will come crashing down on us. His worst case is that 95% of us are superfluous. Volunteers? His best case is we go to methane as a bridge while working on newer technologies.
One bit of anecdotal evidence that we are responding to peak oil here in Nova Anglia is the increased sales of outdoor wood stoves. Recently, friends of mine have mentioned their purchases and have related it to getting out from under fuel bills. Now this may not be a response to declining energy supplies. It could be a reaction to the possibility that Mr. Greenspan might no longer be able to work his magic in restraining inflation. No matter. If either becomes a crisis our Saudi Arabia of wood here in the Northeast will be gone in short order. A logger friend of mine related a couplet that described Massachusetts in the 19th Century,
From Pittsfield to the sea
Nary a tree you could see.
So it could be again.
I have been reading about the peak oil crisis for awhile now. So far, most of the press has gone to people who are believers. It has taken a small effort, but I have found some who disagree. The best of the lot appears to be Michael Lynch, President, Strategic Energy and Economic Research, Inc., and Research Affiliate, Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lynch is cited in the footnotes of Dr. Goodstein’s book. Mr. Lynch attacks the Hubbert Model as being inadequate and has fun pointing out that the peak crowd have been crying wolf for a while now. Most famously, he tells about Colin Campbell, one of the movement Gurus, prediciting imminent peak since 1989. From what I have read, I tend to agree more with Mr. Lynch. That is, up to point. The demand pressure is great what with the new Chinese and Indian middle classes wanting to join the ranks of car owners, but if the oil industry can react to demand by exploration and research, they may push the day of reckoning off for a few decades. If their efforts gradually reach a point of diminishing returns, that other technologies (some we may not be all that pleased with) will almost seamlessly take up the slack.
I would guess, if we are going to have a real life changing twenty-first century energy crisis, it will have a big political aspect to it. An invasion of Iran could do that trick.
For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this book was the review of junior high school science. Actually, it was science put in terms simple enough that an eighth grader could understand. Thanks Doc for coming down to my level. I know you had to travel.
Some biographical info below:
Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D., is Vice Provost and Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Caltech, where he has been on the faculty for more than 35 years. In 1995, he was named the Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor. In 1999, Dr. Goodstein was awarded the Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and in 2000, the John P. McGovern Medal of the Sigma Xi Society. He has served on and chaired numerous scientific and academic panels, including the National Advisory Committee to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the California Council on Science and Technology. His books include States of Matter (Prentice Hall, 1975, Dover, 1985) and Feynman’s Lost Lecture (Norton, 1996), written with his wife, Dr. Judith Goodstein. In the 1980’s he was Director and host of The Mechanical Universe, an educational television series that has been used by millions of students all over the world.
In recent times, while continuing to teach and conduct research in experimental Condensed Matter Physics, Dr. Goodstein has turned his attention to issues related to science and society. In articles, speeches and colloquia he has addressed conduct and misconduct in science, the end of exponential growth of the scientific enterprise, and issues related to fossil fuel and the climate of Planet Earth.
Dr. Goodstein has been Caltech’s Vice Provost since 1988.
So, if an attack happens, and the Strait of Hormuz gets blocked, we shall see if the center can hold. We'll see if we can even have a center.
A few years ago, through a friend, I sort of had a writing audition for a small Western Massachusetts newspaper. I was to review a book on the then new subject of peak oil. I flunked the assignment as the editor thought I was trying to bring a tad too much humor to the task.
Now, peak oil is out there as a subject, but like global warming, how much can a non expert know. The book, Out of Gas by David Goodstein is a few years old now, but if you are a non science geek, it is a good read. Mr. Goodstein explains it so we non nerds can comprehend it.
I liked his book, but I can't say I've learned enough to make a judgment. My doubts about peak oil are not related to science, I still don't know enough to be confident one way or the other. It's a human thing. Everybody is jumping on the peak oil band wagon. Usually, that means the crowd has joined at the wrong time in my life's experience.
Out of Gas, by David Goodstein
Repent, the end is nigh. No, this time we really mean it. Sort of. You see, the world is running out of the stuff that makes it spin. Ah, but it started running out of that stuff on the day of the first gusher in 1859. Now, however, we really do have a gasoline crisis.
According to David Goodstein, author of Out of Gas, we have used up or are about to have used up half of all the petroleum that ever will be available on this planet. In a world where demand for black gold only increases, a declining supply being fought over by nations, not to mention individuals, reminds one of the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” Life may get interesting indeed.
Yeah, but some might say, we had those long gas lines in the seventies and a few years later, gasoline prices were lower, adjusted for inflation than ever. Still. I occasionally like to get my paranoa juices flowing. After all, I haven’t had so much fun since before the y2k scare fizzled. Who is this Dave Goodstein, another crank? Would that he were. Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D is a physics prof at Caltech, which is not a school advertised on matchbook covers. His biography is a lengthy list of accomplishments. He is the real thing who, lucky for me, has the ability to communicate to primitives with an entertaining style of writing.
Doctor Dave, lays out the problem well. He recaps the now well discussed Hubberts Peak. For those who have not heard about it, geophysicist M King Hubbert predicted in 1960 that oil production in the lower 48 would peak around 1970. He was right. It has been downhill ever since. Recently, other geologists have been using Hubbert’s methods. Brace yourself. Peak is coming within this decade. It may even have already occurred.
What does this mean? It means more people competing for less oil, forever. The crisis does not begin when the last drop is pumped, but when the half way point is reached. And, what happens when such a competition begins. One thing is, the price starts to rise. Now the author avers that a steep inflation will occur as we all compete for all the various petrochemical products. I tend to agree with him, but for a different reason. Inflation does not occur when the price of one commodity, or even a set of commodities become scarce and prices rise, for in a system where the central bank could actually control itself, the prices of other commodities must decline. If past is prologue, don’t expect the fed to exercise restraint.
So, how do we replace the missing energy? Do we go to a methane economy, making up the shortfall with natural gas products? Will we actually be better off when spurred by higher energy prices, less polluting forms of enegy come into production? Goodstein looks at a lot of alternatives.
About that methane economy. The use of natural gas as an alternative for Texas Tea could be done, with some effort. The problem is that peak natural gas will come just a couple of decades after peak oil.
Okay, scratch that. What else? Well the author notes there is a lot of elemental carbon buried beneath our planet’s surface. The stuff is coal. You can even liquefy it for driving in a process that is energy intensive and expensive. Oh, there are a few drawbacks. It is very dirty and gives off a lot of waste such that if we go over to a coal economy and you eat a lot of tuna, you may be able to take your own temperature.
The good doctor also looks at nuclear. He actually likes it. As mentioned above, I am a primitive and that may explain a fear of nuclear power. I would not wish to live next to an atomic plant, nor would I wish that fate for someone else. Reality, however, causes me to realize that when the bulbs start to flicker, my countrymen and women will look at things in a different light, so to speak. Of course, I would not like to live next to a coal fired plant either. It is a dilemma we may be forced to choose, assuming we are even asked. The greenhouse gas spewing chimneys or a potential mountain of spent fuel.
There is even a peak uranium problem as if we go full bore on nuclear we have only a twenty five year supply tops. That little problem can be circumvented by building breeder reactors to change a form of uranium into plutonium and providing a lot of fuel and fissile material for electricity and bombs. Anyway, whatever help nuclear provides, it won’t work in you car.
There is a clean form of atomic power. It’s called fusion. The author discusses it and its arrival is devoutly to be wished. His comment on it and another hope, shale oil, is all we need mention, “It has been said of both nuclear fusion and shale oil that they are the energy of the future, and always will be.”
As to hydropower, been there, done that, at least as much as we can on this planet. Wind? It’s great stuff, and it has a place. Unfortunately, it does not have enough places. Photovoltaics gets a “needs improvement” on the prof’s report card. He has a lot of suggestions on space based solar and improving what already exists. All of them good ideas, but of limited utility if peak is occurring now.
Obviously, the poor man spends way to much time in the classroom and needs to get out more. Just doing a little sociology led me to an energy solution that will be cheaper than any Manhattan Project . You see, I watched the movie Super Size Me wherein Morgan Spurlock eats only at McDonalds and almost becomes poster child for save the whales. Well, Professor Chazz Weaver, an economist went on the McDiet for a month, but exercised an hour a day and lost weight. Morgan’s movie spent a good deal of time on the epidemic of obesity. He had statistics and a lot of visual evidence to prove there is a big (pun intended) problem in our homeland. actually, I kind of relished (I can’t believe I did that) his scenes of people whom the Good Lord should have never given tee shirts and shorts. My love handles don’t feel so bad.
Still, there is an energy crisis to solve, Anybody with a McDonald’s jones that shows within certain guidelines should be required to exercise on a stationary bicycle attached to a generator that is plugged into the electrical grid. The bike would measure the amount of effort necessary to use up enough calories to be of benefit to the rider. Business loves to tout the win/win solution to a problem. Heck here we have a win/win/win/win/win. MickeyD’s wins because its customers are now svelte. The environment wins because other than some panting much less CO2 is belched into the air to produce electricity. The health care system wins as there will be fewer ambulances rushing to emergency rooms. Big Mac lovers win as they will feel and be (sort of) healthier. I’ll win as I’ll be on my way to Stockholm to pick up my Nobel. Or maybe this paragraph explains why Doc Goodstein teaches Physics and I’m just hacking around here in hillbilly Massachusetts.
The question does remain, is David Goodstein right or wrong. If he is right, and we don’t have adequate fixes in place, our world, as we know it will come crashing down on us. His worst case is that 95% of us are superfluous. Volunteers? His best case is we go to methane as a bridge while working on newer technologies.
One bit of anecdotal evidence that we are responding to peak oil here in Nova Anglia is the increased sales of outdoor wood stoves. Recently, friends of mine have mentioned their purchases and have related it to getting out from under fuel bills. Now this may not be a response to declining energy supplies. It could be a reaction to the possibility that Mr. Greenspan might no longer be able to work his magic in restraining inflation. No matter. If either becomes a crisis our Saudi Arabia of wood here in the Northeast will be gone in short order. A logger friend of mine related a couplet that described Massachusetts in the 19th Century,
From Pittsfield to the sea
Nary a tree you could see.
So it could be again.
I have been reading about the peak oil crisis for awhile now. So far, most of the press has gone to people who are believers. It has taken a small effort, but I have found some who disagree. The best of the lot appears to be Michael Lynch, President, Strategic Energy and Economic Research, Inc., and Research Affiliate, Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lynch is cited in the footnotes of Dr. Goodstein’s book. Mr. Lynch attacks the Hubbert Model as being inadequate and has fun pointing out that the peak crowd have been crying wolf for a while now. Most famously, he tells about Colin Campbell, one of the movement Gurus, prediciting imminent peak since 1989. From what I have read, I tend to agree more with Mr. Lynch. That is, up to point. The demand pressure is great what with the new Chinese and Indian middle classes wanting to join the ranks of car owners, but if the oil industry can react to demand by exploration and research, they may push the day of reckoning off for a few decades. If their efforts gradually reach a point of diminishing returns, that other technologies (some we may not be all that pleased with) will almost seamlessly take up the slack.
I would guess, if we are going to have a real life changing twenty-first century energy crisis, it will have a big political aspect to it. An invasion of Iran could do that trick.
For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this book was the review of junior high school science. Actually, it was science put in terms simple enough that an eighth grader could understand. Thanks Doc for coming down to my level. I know you had to travel.
Some biographical info below:
Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D., is Vice Provost and Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Caltech, where he has been on the faculty for more than 35 years. In 1995, he was named the Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor. In 1999, Dr. Goodstein was awarded the Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and in 2000, the John P. McGovern Medal of the Sigma Xi Society. He has served on and chaired numerous scientific and academic panels, including the National Advisory Committee to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the California Council on Science and Technology. His books include States of Matter (Prentice Hall, 1975, Dover, 1985) and Feynman’s Lost Lecture (Norton, 1996), written with his wife, Dr. Judith Goodstein. In the 1980’s he was Director and host of The Mechanical Universe, an educational television series that has been used by millions of students all over the world.
In recent times, while continuing to teach and conduct research in experimental Condensed Matter Physics, Dr. Goodstein has turned his attention to issues related to science and society. In articles, speeches and colloquia he has addressed conduct and misconduct in science, the end of exponential growth of the scientific enterprise, and issues related to fossil fuel and the climate of Planet Earth.
Dr. Goodstein has been Caltech’s Vice Provost since 1988.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Edward Moore Kennedy
When Ronald Reagan was shot, not a few left wingers made remarks about how fortuitous it might be if the man bought the farm. I remember the girlfriend of a friend making such a remark. I called her on it and she "cleaned it up" by saying, no, it would be wrong to wish for his death, but okay if he were incapacitated.
WTKK replayed the Jim and Margery show from the day after the announcement of Ted Kennedy's illness. I have mentioned Jim Braude and Margery Egan before. She center left and he, off the charts de la gauche. In Massachusetts, center left and out there lefty are terms much different than say, in Kansas.
Anyway, there were mostly encomia about what a wonderful man our senior senator is. There were also comments that even the right wingers were fulsome in praise. One might surmise that they take the high road because they are better or because they are too scared. We do not speculate as to motive.
I am glad there no comments wishing he were dead after horrible suffering. There are few in this country who have not had a family member who has gone through it. My family, has been mostly immune despite irresponsible dietary choices. A dear family friend, however, went through years of the battle and one knew that no matter the treatment torture, death would be the reward. For those years, my reaction was a heaving sigh of resignation. The cheerful smile became suffering and was then no more. Sad the person who would wish it on another as was my friend's girl's death wish for Reagan.
That out of the way, the praise of Senator Kennedy is, in itself sad. People go out of the way to praise him as the friend of the working man, the poor. He stood against this or that, ad infinitum.
Margery said of him that he dedicated his life to public service, and opined that she had not. The suggestion being this made him a great man. For all that time in the Senate, a seat he was anointed to. he received a salary. There is no record that I know of his refusing to cash paychecks out of noblesse oblige. While working so hard for us in the Senate, he had a staff paid by us. He supported laws that took taxpayer money to help those he favored. In these endeavors, he did not expend his own substantial fortune. Put aside whether or not his father made the money honestly or not, Ted earned none of his wealth. While serving us, he lived a life of privilege, not going without in the least for his office. If you think about it, his tenure kind of reminds one of Evita Peron whose praise was in the same vein.
As to an example of the vaunted public service we have the No Child Left Behind boondoggle. It has changed nothing for the better for the nation’s kids, but the educrats have done well out of it. If nothing, the senator has been an effective toady of teacher unions. The voice of humility has dealt with the oppression of the taxpayer due to the condominium of government worker unions and government. Ted is part of this ongoing civil war.
We’ll give him his opposition to Iraq. Was it principled or just political? Don’t know, but we concede the benefit of the doubt as to motive.
Margery's colleague Jim was as effusive in praise. He at one time mentioned a possible memoir that would address the elephant in the room. Chappaquiddick was mentioned less as a tragedy for the Kopechne Family, but more as a burden for Ted. The import being how all he achieved outweighed what happened on Martha's Vineyard.
Of course, who is the voice of humility to gainsay such sentiments. Churlish we would be to point out the numerous folk who opine in his favor, have not lost a child in that situation. We would pose a question to the callers and pundits who feel the value of his service outweighs a young lady's drowning. If you believe it so, and could bring back Mary Joe, would you be willing to drown your daughter for the greater good?
Mr. Braude used to excoriate Cardinal Law, the prelate who shifted pedophiles for his role in the church scandal. Though Jim seemed to take pleasure in it, he was right. Law, evaded legal problems by artful methods and escaped to Rome. Kennedy used legal means to keep Chappaquiddick from being fully disclosed. Law was abetted by the Massachusetts legal apparatus and so was Kennedy. I have to beg Jim to answer, why one should get away from the full legal treatment and one deserve it?
Cardinal Law should come back to his archdiocese and present the district attorney a full report of all he did during his reign and suffer the consequences and regain a tad of honor. Ted should release every fact of the night his passenger drowned. Whether it was an error in judgment or manslaughter, I'm under no illusions that it will make a difference to the electorate here, but it is the right thing. Whaddya think, Jim?
After all,
"Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law?
Or is there one system for the average citizen
and another for the high and mighty?"
- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973 -
Res ipsa loquitur.
WTKK replayed the Jim and Margery show from the day after the announcement of Ted Kennedy's illness. I have mentioned Jim Braude and Margery Egan before. She center left and he, off the charts de la gauche. In Massachusetts, center left and out there lefty are terms much different than say, in Kansas.
Anyway, there were mostly encomia about what a wonderful man our senior senator is. There were also comments that even the right wingers were fulsome in praise. One might surmise that they take the high road because they are better or because they are too scared. We do not speculate as to motive.
I am glad there no comments wishing he were dead after horrible suffering. There are few in this country who have not had a family member who has gone through it. My family, has been mostly immune despite irresponsible dietary choices. A dear family friend, however, went through years of the battle and one knew that no matter the treatment torture, death would be the reward. For those years, my reaction was a heaving sigh of resignation. The cheerful smile became suffering and was then no more. Sad the person who would wish it on another as was my friend's girl's death wish for Reagan.
That out of the way, the praise of Senator Kennedy is, in itself sad. People go out of the way to praise him as the friend of the working man, the poor. He stood against this or that, ad infinitum.
Margery said of him that he dedicated his life to public service, and opined that she had not. The suggestion being this made him a great man. For all that time in the Senate, a seat he was anointed to. he received a salary. There is no record that I know of his refusing to cash paychecks out of noblesse oblige. While working so hard for us in the Senate, he had a staff paid by us. He supported laws that took taxpayer money to help those he favored. In these endeavors, he did not expend his own substantial fortune. Put aside whether or not his father made the money honestly or not, Ted earned none of his wealth. While serving us, he lived a life of privilege, not going without in the least for his office. If you think about it, his tenure kind of reminds one of Evita Peron whose praise was in the same vein.
As to an example of the vaunted public service we have the No Child Left Behind boondoggle. It has changed nothing for the better for the nation’s kids, but the educrats have done well out of it. If nothing, the senator has been an effective toady of teacher unions. The voice of humility has dealt with the oppression of the taxpayer due to the condominium of government worker unions and government. Ted is part of this ongoing civil war.
We’ll give him his opposition to Iraq. Was it principled or just political? Don’t know, but we concede the benefit of the doubt as to motive.
Margery's colleague Jim was as effusive in praise. He at one time mentioned a possible memoir that would address the elephant in the room. Chappaquiddick was mentioned less as a tragedy for the Kopechne Family, but more as a burden for Ted. The import being how all he achieved outweighed what happened on Martha's Vineyard.
Of course, who is the voice of humility to gainsay such sentiments. Churlish we would be to point out the numerous folk who opine in his favor, have not lost a child in that situation. We would pose a question to the callers and pundits who feel the value of his service outweighs a young lady's drowning. If you believe it so, and could bring back Mary Joe, would you be willing to drown your daughter for the greater good?
Mr. Braude used to excoriate Cardinal Law, the prelate who shifted pedophiles for his role in the church scandal. Though Jim seemed to take pleasure in it, he was right. Law, evaded legal problems by artful methods and escaped to Rome. Kennedy used legal means to keep Chappaquiddick from being fully disclosed. Law was abetted by the Massachusetts legal apparatus and so was Kennedy. I have to beg Jim to answer, why one should get away from the full legal treatment and one deserve it?
Cardinal Law should come back to his archdiocese and present the district attorney a full report of all he did during his reign and suffer the consequences and regain a tad of honor. Ted should release every fact of the night his passenger drowned. Whether it was an error in judgment or manslaughter, I'm under no illusions that it will make a difference to the electorate here, but it is the right thing. Whaddya think, Jim?
After all,
"Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law?
Or is there one system for the average citizen
and another for the high and mighty?"
- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973 -
Res ipsa loquitur.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Can she control this?
In her husband's first administration she channeled Eleanor Roosevelt. It appears in this campaign, she is now channeling Tonya Harding.
Please, I beg of the Secret Service to provide sufficient protection for the frontrunner. I am already picturing him whining "Why me, why me?"
It's bad enough she has her TH moment, Barrack as Nancy Kerrigan would be the end.
Please, I beg of the Secret Service to provide sufficient protection for the frontrunner. I am already picturing him whining "Why me, why me?"
It's bad enough she has her TH moment, Barrack as Nancy Kerrigan would be the end.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Touché, Rev.
I served six years in the military.. Does that make me patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?
I'm still not joining your church, Rev. but that was delicious.
I don't mean to insult the Black Church, but the only time I like to listen to a sermon is to cure insomnia...
There is one black church I would have loved to be part of, Rev. Leroy's Church of What's Happenin" Now. I would say with everyone, "Make it crawl, Rev., make it crawl" at the collection.
Here's to you, Pastor Flip, wherever you are.
I'm still not joining your church, Rev. but that was delicious.
I don't mean to insult the Black Church, but the only time I like to listen to a sermon is to cure insomnia...
There is one black church I would have loved to be part of, Rev. Leroy's Church of What's Happenin" Now. I would say with everyone, "Make it crawl, Rev., make it crawl" at the collection.
Here's to you, Pastor Flip, wherever you are.
Friday, April 25, 2008
It Wasn't All That Depressing
The end of the world is coming. Real Estate prices are in the tank and Walmart won't sell you more than a few grains of rice. Should we panic now, or when the depression actually hits and how will we know when it does?
Mr. Howard Katz in a blog post titled Reality has a different take.
The things in reality which are generally called recessions are credit contractions; they are periods when wealth flows from the paper aristocracy back to the ordinary American. During a credit contraction about 95% of the American people get richer. (During the Great Depression real wages rose, per capita meat consumption also rose, the nation ate less margarine and more butter and gave more [per capita] to charity.) The periods designated as depressions and recessions were such for the paper aristocracy but not for the average American. And the idea was to convince the average American that he was getting poorer when in fact he was getting richer (and vice versa). This is why after two decades of “economic growth” under the leadership of someone the media described as a “miracle man,” the people of the world are rioting and killing each other for food. This does not quite fit my definition of economic growth.
I am no economist, but am the son of people who lived through the depression. I can only inflict family narratives on my few readers.
My father, at the beginning of the depression had a bit of a hard time. When he got a job with a large enterprise, through some nepotism I suspect, things changed. He had a paycheck and some relative wealth. He would speak wistfully of how low prices were during the depression.
My mom's family did not have such a good time. With her dad out of work, it was tough. Oh, her dad's loss of work was injury related not economy related.
The 95% figure sounds high as I've heard unemployment figure that were persistently high. Still, the increase in meat consumed make it hard to argue the point. After all, how many steaks can a Rockefeller eat?
I feel much better.
Mr. Howard Katz in a blog post titled Reality has a different take.
The things in reality which are generally called recessions are credit contractions; they are periods when wealth flows from the paper aristocracy back to the ordinary American. During a credit contraction about 95% of the American people get richer. (During the Great Depression real wages rose, per capita meat consumption also rose, the nation ate less margarine and more butter and gave more [per capita] to charity.) The periods designated as depressions and recessions were such for the paper aristocracy but not for the average American. And the idea was to convince the average American that he was getting poorer when in fact he was getting richer (and vice versa). This is why after two decades of “economic growth” under the leadership of someone the media described as a “miracle man,” the people of the world are rioting and killing each other for food. This does not quite fit my definition of economic growth.
I am no economist, but am the son of people who lived through the depression. I can only inflict family narratives on my few readers.
My father, at the beginning of the depression had a bit of a hard time. When he got a job with a large enterprise, through some nepotism I suspect, things changed. He had a paycheck and some relative wealth. He would speak wistfully of how low prices were during the depression.
My mom's family did not have such a good time. With her dad out of work, it was tough. Oh, her dad's loss of work was injury related not economy related.
The 95% figure sounds high as I've heard unemployment figure that were persistently high. Still, the increase in meat consumed make it hard to argue the point. After all, how many steaks can a Rockefeller eat?
I feel much better.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Not that seeing you on TV would be special, Justice K.
As someone living in a small Massachusetts town and who is afflicted with a minor elected position, I get to see collegiality at work. It ain't pretty. At our annual town meeting, every adult has a vote, yet it is poorly attended. The Woody Allen comment about showing up being eighty percent of success is evident. The members of the town boards are there and everything is adopted rather than rock the boat. If the highway department opposed a salary increase for the cops then collegiality would be shattered and no one wants that so the heck with the taxpayer.
And, of course, we see the curse of collegiality in the church abuse scandals. "Father Tom might be diddling some kid. Let's call him in to warn him and move him to Saint Swithin's. He is really wonderful except for that problem. He was in my seminary class. Quality of mercy, you know."
So it goes.
But, to some, collegiality is a virtue. The Skeptical CPA reports on an article by Nat Hentoff on Anthony Kennedy's defense of his warm relations with his fellow justices.
Y'all remember Tony. He's the guy who read into his oath of office that the constitution isn't enough and that foreign law needs to be cited. Maybe if there is a disputed election he will quote Salic Law to disqualify Hillary.
Well, Tony is worried that if Supreme court sessions are televised, things may not be cosy among the brethren and sistern of the bench.
"We teach that we're judged by what we write and by what we decide... I do not want an insidious dynamic introduced into my court that would affect the relations that I have with my colleagues.
"It would be unhelpful for the collegial relations... I don't want to think that one of my colleagues asked a question because he or she was on TV. And I don't want that temptation to exist... We (justices) think that we should be entitled to at least a presumption of correctness and to some deference in determining how best to preserve the dynamic of the wonderful proceeding that we know as oral argument."
Yeah, I guess Nino saying to Justice Bader Ginsburg, "Ruth, you’re an ignorant slut, by the way, did you get us tickets to Daughter of the Regiment?" on TV might ruin their off bench friendship.
Some points for Big Tony,
1. It is not your court. You seem to forget who pays your salary. Everybody in government does, but this is a bit of a reminder.
2. I take “I don't want to think that one of my colleagues asked a question because he or she was on TV. And I don't want that temptation to exist...” as an admission that there may be some losers on the court that need to grandstand. Not yourself, of course. Anymore of those foreign law citations coming along?
3. "It would be unhelpful for the collegial relations...” Tony, your relationship to the constitution is more important than your relationship with the other functionaries. Next time, join a seminary if it’s collegiality you want, though Benny seems to be cleaning up that act.
4. "We (justices) think that we should be entitled to at least a presumption of correctness and to some deference in determining how best to preserve the dynamic of the wonderful proceeding that we know as oral argument." Maybe your being overly presumptuous there, Tone.
Anyway, Mr. Justice, if you don't think you can hack it, maybe that Judy woman is available.
And, of course, we see the curse of collegiality in the church abuse scandals. "Father Tom might be diddling some kid. Let's call him in to warn him and move him to Saint Swithin's. He is really wonderful except for that problem. He was in my seminary class. Quality of mercy, you know."
So it goes.
But, to some, collegiality is a virtue. The Skeptical CPA reports on an article by Nat Hentoff on Anthony Kennedy's defense of his warm relations with his fellow justices.
Y'all remember Tony. He's the guy who read into his oath of office that the constitution isn't enough and that foreign law needs to be cited. Maybe if there is a disputed election he will quote Salic Law to disqualify Hillary.
Well, Tony is worried that if Supreme court sessions are televised, things may not be cosy among the brethren and sistern of the bench.
"We teach that we're judged by what we write and by what we decide... I do not want an insidious dynamic introduced into my court that would affect the relations that I have with my colleagues.
"It would be unhelpful for the collegial relations... I don't want to think that one of my colleagues asked a question because he or she was on TV. And I don't want that temptation to exist... We (justices) think that we should be entitled to at least a presumption of correctness and to some deference in determining how best to preserve the dynamic of the wonderful proceeding that we know as oral argument."
Yeah, I guess Nino saying to Justice Bader Ginsburg, "Ruth, you’re an ignorant slut, by the way, did you get us tickets to Daughter of the Regiment?" on TV might ruin their off bench friendship.
Some points for Big Tony,
1. It is not your court. You seem to forget who pays your salary. Everybody in government does, but this is a bit of a reminder.
2. I take “I don't want to think that one of my colleagues asked a question because he or she was on TV. And I don't want that temptation to exist...” as an admission that there may be some losers on the court that need to grandstand. Not yourself, of course. Anymore of those foreign law citations coming along?
3. "It would be unhelpful for the collegial relations...” Tony, your relationship to the constitution is more important than your relationship with the other functionaries. Next time, join a seminary if it’s collegiality you want, though Benny seems to be cleaning up that act.
4. "We (justices) think that we should be entitled to at least a presumption of correctness and to some deference in determining how best to preserve the dynamic of the wonderful proceeding that we know as oral argument." Maybe your being overly presumptuous there, Tone.
Anyway, Mr. Justice, if you don't think you can hack it, maybe that Judy woman is available.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Question is the Wrong Answer
Over Market Watch from Dow Jones I saw the following poll question,
Who do you think has the right cure for the looming Social Security Crisis?
John McCain
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
Yeah, okay. It is a question as useful as, say, Which would make a better conversationalist, an amoeba or a spirochete?
Some will tell you to vote for a nominee because if you vote third party as they cannot win.
It does not matter, whichever of the above wins, you lose.
Who do you think has the right cure for the looming Social Security Crisis?
John McCain
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
Yeah, okay. It is a question as useful as, say, Which would make a better conversationalist, an amoeba or a spirochete?
Some will tell you to vote for a nominee because if you vote third party as they cannot win.
It does not matter, whichever of the above wins, you lose.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Good Point, Ron
In Ron Paul's April 7, 2008 weekly column about the amended the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the congressman states,
We have been told that this power to listen in on communications is legal and only targets terrorists. But if what these companies are being compelled to do is legal, why is it necessary to grant them immunity? If what they did in the past was legal and proper, why is it necessary to grant them retroactive immunity?
Why is he one of the few to use commonsense?
It is like the fact that we needed a constitutional amendment to take away drink, but not to take away someone's nickle bag (are they still called "nickle bags?") If you are reading this from prison and are righteously indignant because you are spending valuable time as a state guest because of some nasal ingestion, don't bother calling your lawyer. Nothing is going to happen.
Oh, and the law Ron Paul opposes, it is going to probably pass. Ronnie is one of the few who reads the laws and he is also one of the fewer who even understands them.
That is why the voice of humility proposed The Second Grand Reform based on the words of Jonathan Swift
No Law of that Country must exceed in Words the Number of Letters in their Alphabet, which consists only of two and twenty. But, indeed, few of them extend even to that Length. They are expressed in the most plain and simple Terms, wherein those People are not mercurial enough to discover above one Interpretation: And to write a Comment upon any Law is a capital Crime. As to the Decision of civil Causes, or Proceedings against Criminals, their Precedents are so few, that they have little Reason to boast of any extraordinary Skill in either.
Like our friends in prison, let us not hold our collective breath. Of course, if it ever did become law, it would not mean our solons understood the legislation they voted on. They would, however, lose the excuse that they had not read it.
We have been told that this power to listen in on communications is legal and only targets terrorists. But if what these companies are being compelled to do is legal, why is it necessary to grant them immunity? If what they did in the past was legal and proper, why is it necessary to grant them retroactive immunity?
Why is he one of the few to use commonsense?
It is like the fact that we needed a constitutional amendment to take away drink, but not to take away someone's nickle bag (are they still called "nickle bags?") If you are reading this from prison and are righteously indignant because you are spending valuable time as a state guest because of some nasal ingestion, don't bother calling your lawyer. Nothing is going to happen.
Oh, and the law Ron Paul opposes, it is going to probably pass. Ronnie is one of the few who reads the laws and he is also one of the fewer who even understands them.
That is why the voice of humility proposed The Second Grand Reform based on the words of Jonathan Swift
No Law of that Country must exceed in Words the Number of Letters in their Alphabet, which consists only of two and twenty. But, indeed, few of them extend even to that Length. They are expressed in the most plain and simple Terms, wherein those People are not mercurial enough to discover above one Interpretation: And to write a Comment upon any Law is a capital Crime. As to the Decision of civil Causes, or Proceedings against Criminals, their Precedents are so few, that they have little Reason to boast of any extraordinary Skill in either.
Like our friends in prison, let us not hold our collective breath. Of course, if it ever did become law, it would not mean our solons understood the legislation they voted on. They would, however, lose the excuse that they had not read it.
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