Scoundrel Act

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. - Samuel Johnson

Extension of the Patriot Act is being 'debated' in Congress. We'll keep this question simple so that even politicians can understand: which provision of the Act would've prevented 9/11? Any other provisions should be removed. I'd bet there'd be little if anything left of the bill.

And here's a handy guide to legislation: if the name of the bill tries to suggest that opponents must be heathens or idiots, the law is probably bad. You can bet that the unintended consequences of the "Motherhood and Apple Pie Act" would make apples unaffordable and send mom to the salt mines.

Courage under Fire in DC

The US armed forces are advertising for recruits. They could not hope for a better "poster boy" than General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His behavior is exactly what the military aspires to: spontaneous courage and morality.

Courage under fire is an abstract concept for most of us, thankfully, but courage to correct your boss? That's something we can all appreciate and admire. It must be especially hard for a military man, who is presumably accustomed to following orders. In this case, the General corrected the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, a boss already shown to punish those who disagree with him. Fortunately, General Pace recognizes that his real boss is the American people and, ultimately, his own soul.

Rumsfeld, the moral dwarf, had said that the responsibility of American military was to report any torture they observed. Pace demurred, stating that "it is the absolute responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene, to stop it" (emphasis added). General Pace courageously defended his position in the face of Rumplestiltskin's fierce attempt to "correct" or clarify the serviceman's responsibility.

It's a sad state of affairs when it takes personal courage to be moral. This administration is the most deceitful and vindictive since Nixon's. It will be interesting to see how the Pentagon and administration toadies, who seem to outnumber those with backbones, will respond.

Buying into an Ownership Society

The Republicans talk about an ‘ownership society’. The concept is that owners take care of their property. When Jack Kemp says it, it means empowering the poor and middle class to invest and build, simultaneously enriching everybody. When the Bush administration says it, they really means the owner’s society: deforming social security and giving more to the super rich.

Why don’t the politicians start with something relatively simple: like implementing the ownership society in government? The federal budget is incomprehensibly big – what’s another $100 million for a bridge or $10 billion for a weapon? To make things understandable, we should know where our tax dollars are going, what exactly we are buying. Someday, we should be able to choose what we want to ‘own’. Do you want your family's taxes to buy 10 minutes operating costs for a submarine or 6 months salary for a border patrol officer? People might soon ask the real questions, like just who is the sub protecting us from?

This is actually an old idea. Rich Athenians bought triremes for their navy and bought art for public places. Those ships were likely built on budget and the art was probably better than the wall coverings that now pass for public art.

Tortured Logic

Apologists for torturers are fond of the ‘ticking time bomb’ example. Their favorite scene: your prisoner knows the details about a bomb that is planted somewhere in the city and will explode soon. They contend that the urgent danger justifies using torture to extract information. Let’s examine their case.

The dilemma hinges on knowing the prisoner is guilty. We need to add a few real-world details. Just how exactly do you know there is a bomb?
* Did the prisoner tell you? Maybe the prisoner just wants to cause panic.
* Did one of your own people tell you? How can they be sure?
* Did someone else tell you? Maybe this person is lying. Or maybe they know more than they are telling you. Clearly, their credibility is weak if they were members of the terrorist organization. How likely is it that you know your prisoner is a terrorist and you know that a bomb is ticking but you don't know where or when?

The case for torture fails on another logical point. If torture succeeds in making the prisoner say where the bomb is, then you stop the torture while the information is confirmed. This takes time. A lie is as good as the truth to stop the pain, while (putative) the bomb keeps ticking.

Finally, two brief mentions. First, the experts (Israelis) don’t believe that short-term torture is effective. Second, nobody would prosecute an agent who kills a would-be assassin, so certain exceptions are made. There is no benefit to legalizing torture. Experts recommend drugs and psychology, not torture, to get the truth.

Cruise in for a Bruisin’

After 20+ years of stardom, Tom Cruise is in deep trouble. What was that boy thinking advising Brooke Shields on her response to postpartum depression? I’m a guy, so what do I know, but I’ve heard and read that most people, especially female people, will ask for advice if they want it. Don’t hold your breath, buddy. What make it worse in this case is that Brooke Shields seems to be a thoughtful person. So rule #1 (since you ask): no unsolicited advice. This rule is carved in granite when you are biologically incapable of literal sympathy (same feelings).

Probably 80% of Tom’s fans are female. I’m a guy, so what do I know? I loathed Top Gun and Risky Business was ridiculous but A Few Good Men showed promise and Born on the Fourth of July was brave and brilliant. And he’s been very good in many other films. But this isn’t about his development into a fine actor. This is about his being a Movie Star. His latest, War of the Worlds, was probably hurt by his personal appearances and comments. It won’t help that he fired his sister/agent. She didn’t get him in this trouble.

Now, he’s gone and said something stupid like “quiet!” to the mother of his child. Worse, he apparently believes she should be quiet while delivering their baby! Remember rule #1 in granite. Add mantra: I’m a guy, so I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ babies.

He can still recover so that this midlife crisis isn’t fatal to his career. He has to return to the basics: smile, laugh, and don’t take himself so seriously. If he wants to proselytize, run for elected office. It didn’t hurt Clint Eastwood with the right wingers (much) that he was mayer of a lefty town. Keep Good Morning America and Today for happy talk! But what do I know, I’m just a guy.

Mirthless

Representative Murtha, a veteran and Democratic hawk, has called for an orderly withdrawal of most US armed forces from Iraq because they have become the principle targets of violence. He proposed an “over the horizon” force that could return in force as necessary to help the Iraqi government. The White House turned like a rabid dog on Mr. Murtha. They snarled a mischaracterization of his proposal as “surrender” and “cut and run”. Even loyal Republicans are aghast at the stupidity of the White House. This administration is practically over – it has lost all credibility, it shows no sign of even trying to reform itself, and the events it set in motion show all signs of worsening in the future.

There should be no mirth even among the most staunch Democrats. If this were a game, we might enjoy the discomfort of the administration. But this administration is in power for another 3+ years. Although this administration has been a disaster for America and the world, leaderless drift benefits nobody.

Let’s hope the administration comes to its senses. Cheney must resign. Attribute it to his health, or use the excuse popular in business, “wanting to spent more time with his family”. Nobody will care why and everybody will applaud the most hopeful signal that the administration could send. Hell, if you need it to seal the deal, give him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Carbon “Footprint” and the Human Energy Reference Day (HERD)

A new ad campaign by BP (British Petroleum, or, if they prefer, beyond petroleum) asks people whether they know their "carbon footprint". The first ad was all people saying, essentially,"huh?". The second has people guessing, correctly, that it refers to our individual use of fossil carbon fuels and contribution to greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2). This could be a wonderful example of corporate responsibility. At least it might get more of us thinking about our collective and individual impact on the earth.

How should we measure our impact? What's a meaningful measure? Tons of CO2? Barrels of oil? These measures are pretty abstract. Let's do some calculations and see if we can derive a more useful unit of measure.

We each use about 2,000 k calories each day just living and breathing. A serious athlete might use twice as many while a comatose patient might use half as many. These calories all come from carbon, which we consume as food and exhale as CO2. This is our absolute minimum "footprint". I propose we use this as our measuring unit, a human energy reference day (1 HERD).

Here are a couple examples. If you use a 2 kilowatt hours of electricity in a day, that's about the same as your body burns, so 1 HERD. If you use 10 gallons of gas per week, that amounts to 45,000 kcal per day, or 20 HERDs. Looks like carbon "tire tread" is more appropriate than carbon "footprint".

By the way, eating more food than you need produces fat but not CO2 as long as you're alive. America's epidemic of obesity is not all bad. Taken together, these unburned calories represent an enormous carbon sink that should help mitigate global warming! Can you say carbon credit?

Bush – guilty of lying?

Bush came out today, Veteran's day, accusing Americans against the war in Iraq of revisionist history. He wants you to think they are traitors for undermining the war on terror, but that dog won't hunt anymore so he's trying to be lawyerly. Let's examine his claims.

According to Bush, the administration didn't lie because everybody thought Saddam Hussein had WMD. It must cause heartburn to even the most loyal right wingers to cite their supposed agreement with Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and worst of all, the French. Going to war should be akin to a criminal, not a civil suit: guilt must be beyond reasonable doubt and not just the preponderance of the evidence and certainly not simple opinion. Unlike similar historical situations, we had weapons inspectors in Iraq who could examine any site suspected of WMD. They could have provided definitive evidence. It always mystified me that the sites featured in Colin Powell's UN presentation weren't simply visited by the inspectors. The inspectors never found any, which would give pause to any reasonable person. But lying is worse than not knowing the truth. The evidence of lying comes from Richard Clarke and others, who consistently reported that Bush was committed to war against Iraq and built the case through any means available. You may remember that Rumsfeld thought Afghanistan didn't offer enough good targets - one more administration reason for going to war against Iraq.

The administration did not lie only about WMD. Cheney and others continued in public speeches to link Iraq to al Qaeda and 9/11 long after the connections were disproved. That's not just lying, that's shameless lying. And shame on us for not demanding Cheney admit or at least correct these lies.

The vote in Congress before the war was to authorize the use of force, NOT to go to war. Full disclosure: I attended a rally against the war and wrote my representatives to vote "no" on the authorization. I did not trust this administration. However, I am sympathetic to my opponents' views that voting against the authorization would have invalidated American threats against Saddam. In that respect, the vote was a no-win situation that more foresighted opponents of the war should have avoided. Indeed, the vote was superfluous because the President has a Constitutional right to send troops into battle. The war powers act only limited the time the President can wait before asking Congress for approval. I can only imagine that Democrats are not clarifying their votes were for authorization, not war, because they are afraid of being accused of duplicity. Is this really so difficult?

Rather than arguing with fellow Americans about what happened, this administration should be putting every effort into winning in Iraq and Afghanistan. But can these inveterate liars change their stripes? Maybe, if any of them were veterans of real combat instead of just political infighting, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Is America on (prescription) Drugs?

In the debate over the costs of prescription drugs, these points seem to have been neglected or misunderstood:

• Pharmaceutical companies sell drugs in Canada and elsewhere because they make a profit despite the lower price, not as a public service.
• New medications are generally invented in the basic science laboratories of academia, not in the laboratories of pharmaceuticals companies.

Do the enormous profits protected by American politics help accelerate the development of new drugs? Sure, but most of the money goes toward marketing, advertising, sales representatives, and bribes (politely, physician 'education'). The huge profits can also motivate unethical behavior (e.g., Merck pushed Vioxx even after they knew it increased the risk of heart attack). Big pharmaceutical companies (Pharma) typically buys promising formulas that they hope will lead to drugs. Pharma is absolutely necessary in moving the drugs from the lab to the clinic. But don't swallow their nonsense about needing enormous profits in order to speed new drug discovery. Americans are already paying for drug discovery through basic biomedical science supported by government agencies, especially the National Institutes of Health. Venture (high risk) capital is also helpful in moving the drug to the clinic.

Since we're on the subject, Pharma shouldn't be criticized for failing to offer free drugs. Companies do not typically give away their product, yet Pharma is often pilloried for not giving away AIDS drugs to the poor, especially in Africa. If you think it's such a good idea, become a part owner! When it is some of your own money you're proposing to give away, you'll get more respect from your audience. Buy some stock and make your proposal at the next stockholders meeting.

We have ignition

Everybody knows that life is moving faster. What if this acceleration is simply the warming of the enzyme systems that constitute our bodies and the ecosystems of the earth? The earth has been warming since the last ice age, and more rapidly since the beginning of the industrial age. Enzymes are biomolecules, usually proteins, that accelerate chemical reactions. Simple chemical reactions accelerate 2-fold for every 10 degree increase. Unlike strictly chemical reactions, enzymes can accelerate reactions even more for each degree of heat. This is why reptiles can move much more quickly as they warm. "Warm blooded" animals, including humans, maintain a body temperature that insulates our metabolic changes from ambient temperature. But we still respond to heat, burning calories in cold climates just to keep warm.

Some smart people are predicting that human development is accelerating towards an event, a "singularity" that will change everything. This again has intriguing resemblance to enzymes. As temperature increases, enzymatic acceleration continues.... until with just a few degrees more heat, the enzyme is destroyed and the reaction stops completely.

Every Dollar is a Vote

Congress is again debating drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife "Reserve". Big Oil will not take "no" for an answer – and why should they? It only takes one “yes" and the subject will never be debated again. Eventually, even some rational people can convince themselves that drilling more domestic oil will increase national security, improve the economy, etc. They find it politically convenient to overlook the facts that: (1) even modest conservation would save more oil than drilling can provide, and (2) our long term security requires that we decrease carbon in the atmosphere, not make it cheaper to add more.

Criticizing the oil companies is pointless. These companies are doing what they are designed to do – make as much money as possible. What's an individual to do? Definitely, contact your congressional representatives! But political power is bought – and big companies can buy at a discount. How about doing what we can do and controlling what we can control?

Those who profess to be environmentalists and conservationists must "walk the talk". Walk, bike, and use public transportation when possible. Demand that your tax dollars go to sidewalks and bike paths, not just subsidize more roads. Buy a car that gets many miles per gallon and don't speed. Use as little air conditioning and heating as possible. Reduce, reuse, recycle must become part of our daily ethos. But we must do more than just car pool and monitor the thermostat.

We must act together to rescue the economic and political society from the growing tyranny of the transnational corporations. The principle function of the political state is patron of the corporation. We must use our personal and collective economic power against them. Spend wisely, buying from people you trust. Buy from your neighbors or from small regional companies when possible and from only the most ethical larger companies when necessary. Pay off your credit card debts. Save with credit unions and community banks that invest in local development. Small acts, when multiplied by millions, can change the world. Every dollar you spend is a vote. You can cast your vote thousands of times every year. Vote, and may we all win!

American Humor – Dead

Rumors of the death of American humor were confirmed when this year's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was awarded to Steve Martin. Even 20+ years ago, when he could actually make you laugh, his humor was based on juxtaposing silly statements with his conservative appearance and demeanor, resembling an ingratiating shoe salesman. Oh yeah, with an arrow apparently through his head. Since then, his movies have been forgettable, if you try hard enough, when they weren't insultingly bad. Next stop on the slide the bottom: an award to Jim Carey? Sure, why not, swap mindless mania for silly somnambulism.

Twain is honored for his pithy, clever, insightful, and timeless comments on human nature. Such humorists are rare. Will Rodgers was another. But it's easy to criticize. If one were obliged to make an award, who would be a better choice? Woody Allen would have to be on any short list, though his personal life now complicates our appreciation of his humor. Maybe Jerry Seinfeld, though the requisite folksy he ain't. Political humor? Hmm, let's think 2 nanoseconds... Jon Stewart. Or pick one of the redneck humor guys – Jeff Foxworthy, for example, who are bringing appreciation to a new audience. Naw, we'll have to wait until their humor is moribund.

In interviews, Martin says he doesn't want to be labeled right or left, liberal or conservative. A great humorist elevates above partisan bickering, allowing both sides to laugh at their own foibles (see above: Stewart, Jon). I suspect Martin's real fear is insulting potential customers – his movies are marginal enough financial propositions now. No, it's better to keep them guessing: just look conservative and say wild and crazy (liberal?) things.

Martin seems like a nice guy and it's not his fault that some misguided institution felt obliged to celebrate itself by making this award. What's he supposed to do, say “no thanks”? But let's not fool ourselves, he's no Twain.

Inventive Genes

Magazines like Wired or Time celebrate and hype the inventive individual: the brilliant scientist alone in their lab, the sole inventor tinkering in their garage, or intrepid solo explorer climbing out of their craft. They certainly make nice glossy pictures, looking thoughtful, posed against a backdrop of colored liquids or blinking screens. We want to admire our modern equivalents of Prometheus, da Vinci, or Archimedes.

But it is largely romantic bunk. Most progress is accretion: hundreds or thousands of small advances make bigger things possible. Darwin needed then-new geological information and theories of fecundity on which to base his observations and insights. Watson and Crick, of DNA fame, based their insight on solid information from structural and biochemical studies. Brilliant scientists, certainly, but the adulation heaped on the individuals inevitably reduces the appreciation for the process and the contributions of others.

Just as there is no designer for the honeycomb or architect for the ant hill, save the Original, exploration is in the human DNA. Creation is a community effort, brought forth by the midwife chosen by timing, coincidence, and luck. On a related note, the single individual credited with the idea or advance is often not the first to have made the observation. Instead, it's as though the community waits for the right representative, the right salesperson perhaps, before the idea is accepted.

W's Winning the (Wrong) War!

Reagan said of the war on poverty, "poverty won". More accurately, his administration withdrew from the field, unilaterally disarmed, and surrendered unconditionally. The Bush administration has returned to the battle -- on the other side.

The only war this administration is capable and really interested in winning is the undeclared class war. The super rich have easily won every battle -- inheritance and income taxes, bankruptcy laws, trade policies -- while the merely rich and everyone else have lost. Brilliantly, the administration has shifted the costs of this war to the middle class. They will pay for their losses for generations, through increased national debt, tax cuts for the super rich, jobs lost to people with fewer benefits and less labor protection, cuts in education (to pay for testing), and extraordinarily expensive no-bid contracts given to cronies' companies. The permanent war on terror ensures steady profits for these companies.

The bankruptcy act is this administration's neutron bomb -- hurting people but protecting property. In a surgical strike on the consumer, Senate leader Bill Frist showed his skill in destroying their protections while protecting their collateral. The Republicans understand and abhor this form of "collateral damage". Sure, the bankruptcy laws needed reform, but this was designed to hurt the most vulnerable almost gratuitously. One example: victims of Katrina who lost nearly everything but their debts will have to pay a consumer credit agency to counsel them on living within their means. Special legislation may protect these refugees but not the many more families suffering, individually, equally catastrophic disasters.

I argued previously that this administration was incompetent -- having lost the Iraq war through stupidity. This alternative explanation is more consistent and comprehensive -- and entirely compatible with stupidity. This is a war the super rich are waging on the rest of us. Wake up, America! You have nothing to lose but your Cheneys.

Heart of Dimness

Stupidity and arrogance are responsible for the American failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iraq war can be attributed directly to the blood lust of the administration's cowardly war profiteers. However, the most damaging miscalculations were the unintentional and inevitable consequences of their scorched-earth approach to selling the war to an (initially) skeptical public. This administration consistently ignored, ridiculed, attacked, and fired (when possible) the experts -- Brent Scowcroft (Sr. Bush's National Security Advisor), Richard Clark (bipartisan counterterrorism expert),Eric Shinseki (US Army General who called for more troops), "empty" Hans Blix (UN WMD searcher), etc.. The administration's own disciples have been rewarded for following directions and quietly presiding over an evolving disaster. The administration cynically believes that awarding (and debasing) the Medal of Freedom to Brenner, Franks, and Tenet can obscure their roles in the miserable failures.

Similarly, the advertising campaign (better known as the election) vilified and ridiculed Bush's opponents. This was supposed to be the better business administration, directed by a chief executive who, though weak on detail and prone to malaprop, had a heart of gold and a vision born of 9/11. Instead, what we've got is the big business administration -- bloated budgets, deep deficits -- with a leader who embodies the worst of CEO detachment. Bush is seemingly content with incompetence and could not communicate a vision even if his teleprompter displayed text handed down on holy scrolls.

After 5 years of relentless and rapacious self interest, enormous immorality, and financial incompetence, even the occasionally blundering Democratic pandering to special interests looks pretty attractive.

Neat (no ice)

New reports from environment scientists conclude that the melting of the artic ice cap is accelerating. In addition to moderating temperature by absorbing and releasing heat (thereby melting and freezing), the fact that the ice cap is white reduces solar energy absorbed by the earth because a lot of solar energy is reflected (80%). As warmer temperatures melt more snow and ice, more of the sun's heat is absorbed, which melts more snow, and so on until there is no snow left.

Some want to fix the symptoms instead of the disease. They want to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it, thereby reducing the greenhouse effect. How long until one of these dim bulbs suggests spreading white plastic at the equator, where it would reflect much more solar energy (because there is so much more there)? Their spinners will argue how these shades will help the poor in third world countries, likely adding something shady about freedom and democracy. Here's a "solution" that even the petrochemical-plastics industry can welcome.

Heck of a job, Brownie! You're fired.

Former FEMA chief Brown spent all day defending himself against an aggressive, almost entirely Republican Congressional panel grilling him on the failed response to Katrina. It looked a lot like a desparate effort to find a scapegoat. Brown has been helpful, accepting the role when he resigned shortly after the problems became apparent. Now it appears that either he is not willing to accept all the blame, or perhaps he believes there are additional problems. Oh really? How about the cronyism that led to an unqualified person being appointed in the first place?

Bush is looking tired. He's not used to these 8 hour days, day after day. After all, he hasn't had a vacation in about 3 weeks. First, he praised Brown, then gratefully accepted his resignation. Now he's musing about making the Pentagon the leader in domestic disaster relief. Some "solution"! After sending the state-controlled National Guard overseas, he wants to move the Army into the states. The Department of Defense is already responsible for the developing disaster in Iraq. Let's let them concentrate on that. Meanwhile, let's bring the National Guard, which has historically had a role in disaster relief, back home.

Heck of an idea, Bushie! Now show some character and resign.

NASA, then and now

There was a time when NASA sent out robots that did more than expected. NASA landed men on the moon and brought them safely home again. When accidents occurred, they got out their slide rules and figured out how to get the astronauts home. Now, NASA crashes probes into local planets because they mix metric and English measurements. Now, they can't launch or land safely. The engineers say "no" but the administrators hear "go".

What's changed? Here's a suggestion. Have a look at the old pictures of Mission Control. You'll note all the men with buzz cuts. These are not people concerned with appearances. I doubt if any of them ever trained to spin press conferences. They solved problems instead of addressing concerns or dealing with issues. And there is usually a pall of smoke obscuring the scene - cigarettes for working and cigars for celebration. Not many were worrying about their health.

Maybe, in this arena that demands precise and brutal force, we need renewed, absolute dedication to the job.

Fatso and Fatwa

Rush and Pat – one needs to get off drugs and the other needs his medication adjusted. Pat Robertson, who does business as a Christian minister, issued a fatwa encouraging the killing of an elected leader of a democratic country. Fortunately, Pat finally apologized. I'm not a professional, preacher, but may I suggest ministering or praying instead of killing? Rush Limbagh is supposed to have characterized Katrina's destruction of New Orleans as God's vengeance for sin – Sodom and Gemorrah updated. [In the Bible story, God agreed to spare S&G if Abraham could find even a handful of decent people in the city (Abe bargains respectfully with God: initially 50, finally only 10 innocents would have saved the city. Genesis 18).] I exposed myself to the big lies on his site for as long as I could take (although I happen to also think attributing Katrina to global warming is stupid - but not because there isn't global warming). However, I cannot find anything explicit in the transcripts. Plenty of pompous, arrogant, dangerous stupidity, but no explicit gloating.

Insensitive is insufficient to describe these two. Self absorbed stupidity is more accurate. Maybe they don't have any real friends left in their entourages - just a bunch of hangers-on, all dependent on the status quo. Hangers-on can help a famous person deny any problem, even if the problem is obvious to most independent observers. These people need their real friends or religious leaders or someone to tell them to take a breath - without expelling it through their vocal cords.

Katrina hits Crawford - Bush decamps to DC

National Guard troops could not have stopped the hurricane or reduced its immediate devastation. However, a few 10,000 trained and organized troops available in the aftermath could well make a real difference in the on-going efforts to provide order, supplies, and assistance.

This administration is legendary for quickly recognizing potential political liabilities and mobilizing to counter them. And they are trying. The problem for them is that the video and 24/7 reporting make it obvious to everyone. Armed force could stop looters in New Orleans. Helicopters and Hummers could help the hundreds of people wading through dirty water. Only the National Guard could provide help on a scale that is commensurate with the need.

President Bush's credibility has been melting away as Americans belatedly correlate (1) the growing costs - money, lives, morality - of the war-without-end with (2) their knowledge that it was avoidable. A soldier's mother's vigil called more attention to the failures of leadership. Now mother Nature has mercilessly exposed how overextended we are. Everybody will feel it soon in higher gas prices - the auto service manager said today his supplier was raising prices $.40 overnight. We can be thankful that we share only a trivial part of our countryman's devastation. Releasing oil from the national reserve is a desperate effort to appear effective. The price of oil did not increase much because it is the refineries, not the crude oil, that is limiting. It is the limitations of our national leaders, now tragically exposed, that is the most damaging.

Rich men, poor country

This is rich: Alan Greenspan and other economists are warning about excessive government and individual debt. As Chair of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan has been a key regulator of the US economy for 18 years. Now, in his last year as Chair, his swan song is a lament for irresponsible financial behavior that he has aided and abetted!

Greenspan explicitly defended the current administration's penchant for increasing spending without increasing taxes to pay for it. Inheritance taxes were cut to allow the richest to pass nearly all their wealth on to their heirs. Taxes on the top 1% have fallen the most dramatically while CEOs in the US increased their pay over 50% last year. Our class mobility is disappearing - the very rich get richer, the poor stay poor. We celebrate the very few "jackpot" winners that manage to beat the odds and get rich, but its rarity proves the evisceration of the meritocracy. Moreover, we delude ourselves into thinking we are owners in an ownership society when in fact we are debtors in an indebted society. A poll reported that 20% of Americans thought they were already in the top few percent of income earners while an additional 20% thought they soon would be. This isn't optimism, it's delusion.

Just 25 years ago, Ronald Reagan was elected president with a promise to reduce the national debt. Instead, he tripled it. Republicans once provided financial discipline but since Reagan was beatified by the right, the wanna-be candidates of both parties have hardly given lip service to debt and compete only in pandering. Party on and don't worry about the bills: (no) bread and circus.

Gee! Email....

Soon, we will have to be reminded that there was seach and email and instant messaging and blogging, etc. in the benighted days before Google (BG), because G is working towards dominating all these functions. I am devoted to Google search - anything else is cluttered, slower, and seems less reliable. But now I've got Gmail - email from Google. And, as you can see, I bloG...

Talk about "viral marketing" and buzz - you've got to be invited to join Gmail! A friend offered - how could I refuse? All the old (and new) adages tell you to just do it: don't look a gift horse in the mouth, opportunity only knocks once... Nevermind that we are talking about just a webmail site. Invitation! The Gall! In G's defense, the service is in beta development stage so they may want to limit the load before they let in the great unwashed. See how insidious the invitation-only approach works? It's like getting past the bouncers at some hot new club (I can only imagine). I'm shocked, shocked at my own smug response...

Unlike Google search, the Ur G (the UrG to search?), which was a breath of fresh air after the increasingly cluttered and slow-loading search pages of the time, Gmail does not appear dramatically different from other webmail sites such as Yahoo (which I rely on). Gmail does offer an intruiging, attractive, and perhaps actually intuitive new discussion metaphor for organizing emails. Instead of each email having its own line in the inbox, whole email threads (postings and replies) occupy a line. When you click on the line, the emails separate and sort themselves vertically based on the sent/received time. Folders are supposed to be replaced by better search tools. Gosh (©), I'm talking myself into liking Gmail in principle.

G bought the Usenet archive from Deja.com in 2001. Blogger was a developed by someone else and bought by G in 2003. Now G is starting instant messaging - which, after a rumored dalliance with meetroduction, is apparently home grown. So far, this looks like Microsoft in their days of assembling Office and then buying a web browser. But somehow it feels different. Maybe that's because G has been free so far. We can try and never have to buy. Sure, there are hidden costs, but there are very small increments and easily ignored. Also, the products to date have set new standards for ease of use and function, something that could rarely be said about MS products since the early years. Google, founded in 1998, is only 7 years old...

Nice pair!

Lee Iacocca and Snoop Doggy Dog, an old hustler and a real one, appear together in a commercial for Chrysler cars. Maybe Lee (“mocha-Cocoa” Snoop?) can supplement his retirement income by appearing in some of Snoop's “girls gone wild” videos. Geezer Gangsta. Suggested tag line: “If you can find better soft porn, buy it!”

How does Snoop maintain his street credibility (he does, doesn't he?) while appearing in so many movies, ads, etc aimed at the middle class? He's a self-admitted former pimp (corrections welcome if I've slandered him) and still obviously exploits women sexually for profit through the videos. Why is he acceptable in a country that won't tolerate even a glimpse of breast during the Super Bowl? He does seem like a nice guy – is that enough?

Credo (this I believe)

Although individual “this I believe” essays on NPR are thought-provoking, collectively they are repetitive and unsurprising. Sure, we all want to make the world a better place. The interesting differences come in how we imagine this better place and how we think it can be attained. These differences would be stark if the essayists were drawn from a wider range. The essays are from people in "all walks of life". Let’s have a Nazi or an anarchist state their beliefs (and not just a libertarian or a smooth right winger posing as a patriot). I think they can be skilled at presenting an attractive, compelling or at least coherent and consistent world views. Internal consistency alone is persuasive. I suppose it might be challenging to get a real Nazi to say what they think for the benefit of National “Pinko” Radio listeners.

What do I believe? I believe in the importance of asking questions. But why do I believe this is important? Is it because it was rewarded during a formative stage in my life or because it was internally rewarding? "Internally rewarding" sounds at least potentially noble but it probably translates into "a behavior that causes the release of some endogenous, morphine-like substance". I don't claim any universal higher value in being open. I think it's largely a consequence of self doubt and awarness of error. How nice an assured self confidence - the unexamined life - would be! Or would it...?

I’m learning too slowly the profound truth underlying the casual aphorisms "it takes all kinds" or “different strokes for different folks”. Before, I thought it was just a tolerant attitude towards differences. Now, I think it reflects the amazing range of perception experienced by people and animals. I’ve been deeply moved by things that leave my friends unmoved and vice versa. The Bible story of Mary and Martha is a good start for appreciating differences but the brilliant truths (if not Truth) within the Bible were too layered for me. One “bright line” or guiding principle is my “gut reaction”. However, some reactions are learned prejudices and should be unlearned. Others should be listened to. I long ago gave up trying to “appreciate” a live symphony orchestra but I just love to hear opera, especially live, or Broadway show tunes, or a country music song with a good story. Why?

Tgrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr [<- typed by Sarah, who is more panther than "Tiger"!]