Economics--the infantile science
At the start of the 21st Century, it shouldn't take a Nobel-Prize-winning mind to understand that all dynamic systems need regulation in order to function and last.
The first steam engines ran away with themselves and blew up. Engineers came up with a simple, elegant, and totally non-controversial solution. They added a governor, a device that throttled back the flow of steam into the engine when it revved up too much.
Are Americans Ready For A Depression-Era Sense Of Sacrifice?
It's been observed that a voluntary sacrifice is the height of virtue but produces lessons with an abbreviated half-life. In contrast, a forced sacrifice requires little virtue but its lessons are nearly eternal, written as they are in our psyche with indelible ink. With those caveats in mind, we examine Gregory Rodriguez' recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, which makes the remarkable case that Americans are eager to prove themselves as worthy as the generation that struggled its way through the Depression.
Citing A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life as the timeless transformational artworks that pressed the angels of our better nature into service, Rodriguez argues that our current economic woes offer a unique opportunity for us to "retrieve some moral clarity." He also quotes Barack Obama, who, correctly recognizing a seminal political moment, has stated that "This country needs a sense of national purpose," and that "it's time for a new Greatest Generation."
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Should a White Person Get Hillary’s Senate Seat?
Now that Hillary Clinton is set to become the next Secretary of State, who should New York Gov. David Patterson choose to replace her in the U.S. Senate? What if a white congressman from New York insisted that Patterson select a white person because Hillary is white? I bet there would be outrage from all parts, and rightfully so.
However, Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush, a former member of the Black Panthers, is pulling a similar stunt and few seem to be complaining. He says Illinois' governor (possibly the successor of current governor Rod Blagojevich, who is now facing federal corruption charges) needs to select a black person to move into the vacated Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama.
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Solar Schools Initiative
An initiative to put collectors on Schools would pay huge dividends within the context of a national economic stimulus package.
This blog entry is the first in a series of suggestions for green initiatives that would meet the five criteria outlined in the piece entitled "Hastening the Green Revolution with the Stimulus Package, published on my blog: Unified Visions. UnifiedVisions.blogspot.com"
Bailing Out the Big Three Has No Sensibility
The Answer For The Auto Industry Is Bankruptcy.
Bailing out GM, Ford, and Chrysler how absurd and contrary to the practice of business sensibility! What would normally constitute factionists contesters: The 'Big Three' (auto manufactures and world-wide distributors) have found a symbiotic simpatico with its union's management-their rank and file, the creditor vendors, auto-industry bond/shareholders, and the governing liberal democrats. Such an interesting confederation of transactional counter-parties; what could possibly be the reasoning that binds them?
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The Outrageous Case Against Plaxico Burress
New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress could go to prison for a minimum of three and a half years as a result of accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a New York City nightclub. I know New York City has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but this is ridiculous. In fact, it's completely outrageous.
For one thing, Burress hurt only himself, not anyone else. The pain of being shot should be punishment enough. But, no, he had to turn himself in to the police, be put in handcuffs, be booked for "criminal possession of a weapon," and post $100,000 bail. Now he faces a trial and mandatory prison time if convicted of the charges against him. Many street thugs don't get treated this harshly. And to top it off, we have ultra-liberal New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg making the asinine declaration that the city should "prosecute [Burress] to the fullest extent of the law."
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The Left's Brave New World
Even casual observers of American politics are aware of how adept the left has been at eschewing the term 'liberal' in favor of 'progressive.' Writing in Salon, Michael Lind provides a lucid historical analysis of the American left, or, as he euphemistically calls it, the 'center-left,' but concludes with a construction of liberalism that is entirely out of sync with its modern incarnation:
"Liberalism is a theory of a social order based on individual civil liberties, private property, popular sovereignty and democratic republican government."
A Connecticut Checkmate
I raised some ire among a few folks recently with my suggestion that Obama should demonstrate his magnanimity by welcoming Lieberman back into the fold. By 8pm on the evening in which I wrote the piece, the evening news had broken a story that Obama himself had let it be known to Harry Reid that Lieberman should be allowed to caucus with Democrats.
Having taken my stand and then having it reaffirmed by Obama, I would hasten to say that this does not mean that Lieberman should be welcomed back without having to accept some responsibility for the policy positions that he took during the campaign which are inconsistent with the visions of the new President. Lieberman has plenty of skills but on national/domestic security issues he has proven himself unworthy of the leadership roles that he previously held. Just as he should be welcomed back because we are better than those who would shun him. He should not be given a leadership position on national security because we are better than the vision that Senator Lieberman expounded in his support of the McCain ticket.
GOP Must Purge the Kooky and the Credulous
In spite of John McCain's and the Republican National Committee's best efforts, Election Day will likely result in their party losing the White House and sinking deeper into a minority status in Congress. I believe political extremism will ultimately be cited as one of the major culprits.
Therefore, it's high time the GOP made a return to common sense conservatism in order to have any chance of making a comeback in 2010 and beyond. Of course, this means it must purge from its ranks all the kooky and credulous people who have become attached to it over the years.
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An Appeal to Racism and Fear: The Strategy of the McCain/Palin ticket?
Before turning to politics, I want to take a moment to remember Hurricane Katrina, an event that called to mind our Nation's collective racism and classism. I was asked the other day, why we "liberals" blame Bush for Katrina. After all, he can't control the weather (ironically, though, he has managed to slow down or completely stop any legislation that would control the greenhouse gas emissions that have been linked to climate change and one of its likely symptoms--stronger and more frequent storm systems). But yes, Bush doesn't control the weather.
What he does control is funds and how funds are allocated. Bush cut drastically into funds for the Army Corps. of Engineers and FEMA, and shelved the former's project to improve the levees in New Orleans. He completely gutted funding to conserve and strengthen wetlands, which play a crucial ecological role in absorbing floods from hurricanes. Due to the military's personnel constraints overseas, there was a lack of officers here on the ground that could deal with this domestic security issue. When state officials, non-profits and even corporations such as Wal-Mart attempted to become involved and ship goods to stranded citizens in the aftermath of the disaster, Bush's "federalization" of it impeded progress. While NGO, state and private business reps. stood by, awaiting clearance from the federal government, people suffered starvation, dehydration and death. The federal government not only failed to respond effectively, but then with a misguided pr stunt, deterred other entities from taking the lead.
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McCain's Challenge: It Can Be Done
If you're somewhat despondent about Senator McCain's performance in last evening's debate, count yourself among millions of Republicans who sat in stunned silence as the presidential hopeful peppered his opponent with jabs but was unable to fell him. There were so many missed opportunities and unclosed loops that it became frustrating to watch. But before we become too immersed in self-pity, let's look to the mastermind of political strategy, Karl Rove, for some encouragement.
Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Mr. Rove provides the context necessary to calm our jittery nerves, noting that the most reliable poll, from Investor's Business Daily, says this is a three-point race. And, although Obama is outspending McCain nearly two-to-one, Rove reminds us that Senator Kerry outspent President Bush in 2004 by $121 million and still lost. Moreover, the Washington Post/ABC poll found that a remarkable 45 percent of voters still don't feel Obama is qualified to be president.
How much CO2 can we live with?
How much atmospheric CO2 can we live with?
That's the question James Hansen, director of the NASA-Goddard Institute for Space Studies, addressed on October 7 at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, in Houston, Texas.
Election Day Will Not Be the End of the World
No matter who comes out victorious in the presidential election on November 4, it will not be end of the world. It will not result in any cataclysmic events and the republic will not fall apart. Barack Obama will not transform the U.S. into an Islamic state, nor will he import communism from Cuba or socialism from Europe. John McCain will not start World War III or set off some kind of nightmarish recession. Obama is not the Antichrist, nor is he a Muslim. McCain is not a warmonger, nor is he suffering from dementia.
For the next four years, life will go on as it always has. Of course, try telling that to rabid partisans on either end of the political spectrum. I suspect that some of them will need to check into therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if their candidate loses. Those are the folks, many of them bloggers, who are so fanatical about their candidate that they can't stand for one anyone to say anything nice about the other. Their candidate can do no wrong, while the opposition can do no right. They just can't comprehend a guy like me, who generally has both positive and negative things to say about all political office seekers.
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APA backs out of the torture business
It took several years of grass-roots advocacy and a rare vote by the entire membership, but the American Psychological Association (APA) has finally bowed out of the dark realms where torture is carried out.
Following a long series of revelations about how some American psychologists have wittingly or unwittingly abetted the Bush administration's program of coercion and abuse of prisoners in the war on terror at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and CIA black sites throughout the world, activists within the APA forced a vote on an unequivocal anti-torture resolution.
Sarah Palin--Black Swan
A Black Swan, according to philosopher/stock trader Nassim Taleb, is an intrinsically unpredictable, completely unexpected event with major consequences.
Based on a lifetime of studying and trying to deal with Black Swans, Taleb believes that in our highly dynamic, intimately interlinked, and intensely non-linear world, these rare but extremely potent bolts-from-the-blue actually dominate most human affairs, including economics and history.