Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Conspiracy of Ignorance
To govern effectively the mass of people must be kept poor and ignorant - Bernard Mandeville, 1670-1733, paraphrased from The Worldly Philosophers, R. Heilbroner
The dumbing down of America is evidence of cynical men in power conspiring to keep Americans poor and ignorant. The men in Washington don't want educated, intelligent, informed voters. They are too hard to manipulate by fear & greed.
cf. Patriot Act - scare the voters into giving up rights & freedoms so we can make more money selling arms & supplies to the military.
How many Senators & Congressmen send their kids to public schools? Why would they, unless they were trying to fund them, to improve them, to produce educated, intelligent citizens? They are not, so they don't.
Simple really.
Why is military spending so far ahead of education spending in the US? Could it be that there is profit in guns, but none in producing an aware citizenry that can't be fooled so easily into electing self-serving egoists like W?
Every time a school board tries to deny access to ideas by banning ideas from the classroom and substituting propaganda - as when Texas replaced science with theology - we lose.
I should have provided the reference to the Texas School Board: here it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html
"AUSTIN, Tex. — After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. "
and,
"In recent years, board members have been locked in an ideological battle between a bloc of conservatives who question Darwin’s theory of evolution and believe the Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles, and a handful of Democrats and moderate Republicans who have fought to preserve the teaching of Darwinism and the separation of church and state.
Since January, Republicans on the board have passed more than 100 amendments to the 120-page curriculum standards affecting history, sociology and economics courses from elementary to high school."
It is done not by revolution, but by erosion. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
The dumbing down of America is evidence of cynical men in power conspiring to keep Americans poor and ignorant. The men in Washington don't want educated, intelligent, informed voters. They are too hard to manipulate by fear & greed.
cf. Patriot Act - scare the voters into giving up rights & freedoms so we can make more money selling arms & supplies to the military.
How many Senators & Congressmen send their kids to public schools? Why would they, unless they were trying to fund them, to improve them, to produce educated, intelligent citizens? They are not, so they don't.
Simple really.
Why is military spending so far ahead of education spending in the US? Could it be that there is profit in guns, but none in producing an aware citizenry that can't be fooled so easily into electing self-serving egoists like W?
Every time a school board tries to deny access to ideas by banning ideas from the classroom and substituting propaganda - as when Texas replaced science with theology - we lose.
I should have provided the reference to the Texas School Board: here it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html
"AUSTIN, Tex. — After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. "
and,
"In recent years, board members have been locked in an ideological battle between a bloc of conservatives who question Darwin’s theory of evolution and believe the Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles, and a handful of Democrats and moderate Republicans who have fought to preserve the teaching of Darwinism and the separation of church and state.
Since January, Republicans on the board have passed more than 100 amendments to the 120-page curriculum standards affecting history, sociology and economics courses from elementary to high school."
It is done not by revolution, but by erosion. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Today's Care2 newsletter held a brief article by Deepak Chopra on the mind/body issue. My reaction is below. Here is his article:
Quote:
"
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/does-your-mind-control-your-brain.html#ixzz1P5PeAxdl"
End Quote.
Sloppy thinking, poor reasoning, unproved assumptions and ridiculous conclusions like these really get up my nose - especially when people get paid for it.
Some points:
"The mind .. because it inhabits physical world like a ghost" - This is called "begging the question" for it is the mind's existence that is at issue. Here Chopra casually assumes the thing which is to be proved.
Western prejudice against the invisible is not prejudice at all. It is healthy skepticism of things for which there is little or no evidence.
"When you die none of this information will vanish.."
Really? What happens to the words on the Scrabble board when the game is over and the tiles are tipped back into the bag?
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.."
"There is growing evidence.." - really? Citations please.
What is mysterious is how long charlatans have gotten away with garbage like this.
Quote:
"
The mind has remained a metaphysical riddle for centuries because it inhabits the physical world like a ghost. But that’s a Western perspective based on our bias for solid, tangible things. We insist that the brain must be the source of mind because the brain is a visible object, which is like saying that a radio must be the source of music because it is a visible object from which music emerges.
The Vedic rishis adopted the opposite perspective, insisting that visible objects couldn’t be the source of mind since the physical plane is the least conscious of worlds.
Our Western prejudice against the invisible isn’t easy to overcome. Mind will only be proved to exist outside the brain if it leaves some kind of footprint, a visible sign that is as convincing as the MRIs that provide concrete evidence of neural activity.
Right now you are a bundle of information in mind and body. You have unique memories; your cells have undergone chemical changes shared by no one else in the world. When you die, none of this information will vanish, because it can’t. There is nowhere for plus and minus, positive and negative to go since the field contains nothing but information. Therefore their only alternative is to recombine.
There is growing evidence that in fact we do share the same mind field. The brain belongs to “me,” but if ideas belong to “us,” then we are participating together in a field, sometimes quite mysteriously.
Adapted from Life After Death: The Burden of Proof, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2006).
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/does-your-mind-control-your-brain.html#ixzz1P5PeAxdl"
End Quote.
Sloppy thinking, poor reasoning, unproved assumptions and ridiculous conclusions like these really get up my nose - especially when people get paid for it.
Some points:
"The mind .. because it inhabits physical world like a ghost" - This is called "begging the question" for it is the mind's existence that is at issue. Here Chopra casually assumes the thing which is to be proved.
Western prejudice against the invisible is not prejudice at all. It is healthy skepticism of things for which there is little or no evidence.
"When you die none of this information will vanish.."
Really? What happens to the words on the Scrabble board when the game is over and the tiles are tipped back into the bag?
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.."
"There is growing evidence.." - really? Citations please.
What is mysterious is how long charlatans have gotten away with garbage like this.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
An Inconvenient Truth: FAIL
Al Gore made a film, established himself as an environmental activist, but in the end it only entertained the liberal-minded, middle-class who already accepted the climate change model he espoused.
The movie was a decent first step but was ultimately useless because the only people who went to see it were already believers. It was preaching to the choir.
I venture to say that no one who had already made up their mind that
"climate is changing as a result of human activity" was bogus, was converted into accepting this as true.
The only thing that will reduce harmful climate change is having fewer people. I see no political will to reduce population voluntarily, thus I suspect that nature will take care of the human over-population problem and it won't be pretty.
Meanwhile, converting to electric cars, recycling plastic bags, etc. doesn't mean a thing while Nigeria and Siberia continue flare off enough useable natural gas to power New York.
At night Nigeria and Siberia are brighter than Paris, London, L.A. put together and there are no large cities in these places.
Look it up:
http://www.earthzine.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/lights_at_night-2.jpg
so, sadly, "every little bit" doesn't help because it lulls people into thinking it is all okay. It isn't
Apart from the gas flaring in these places, on another front, China is building 2 coal-fired electricity generating plants EVERY WEEK
(reference:#22) for the next several years. Don't bother with your personal re-cycling if you aren't going to change Washington's policies on trade with these nations, and know this, 25% of US oil will come from Nigeria by 2025.
These three factors alone outweigh anything individual citizens can do to change matters. This problem was created at a national level and will only be solved at a national level.
The movie was a decent first step but was ultimately useless because the only people who went to see it were already believers. It was preaching to the choir.
I venture to say that no one who had already made up their mind that
"climate is changing as a result of human activity" was bogus, was converted into accepting this as true.
The only thing that will reduce harmful climate change is having fewer people. I see no political will to reduce population voluntarily, thus I suspect that nature will take care of the human over-population problem and it won't be pretty.
Meanwhile, converting to electric cars, recycling plastic bags, etc. doesn't mean a thing while Nigeria and Siberia continue flare off enough useable natural gas to power New York.
At night Nigeria and Siberia are brighter than Paris, London, L.A. put together and there are no large cities in these places.
Look it up:
http://www.earthzine.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/lights_at_night-2.jpg
so, sadly, "every little bit" doesn't help because it lulls people into thinking it is all okay. It isn't
Apart from the gas flaring in these places, on another front, China is building 2 coal-fired electricity generating plants EVERY WEEK
(reference:#22) for the next several years. Don't bother with your personal re-cycling if you aren't going to change Washington's policies on trade with these nations, and know this, 25% of US oil will come from Nigeria by 2025.
These three factors alone outweigh anything individual citizens can do to change matters. This problem was created at a national level and will only be solved at a national level.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Is veganism better for the planet vis-a-vis climate change?
If the argument is about which is better for your health vegan or omnivore, that's one thing, but this thread is about whether producing meat is good for the planet, climate-wise.
If food production produces 18% of the GG problem now - U.N.F.A.O., how much lower do you think it is possible to get it? It won't be zero.
But this is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. You have to solve the population problem first before you worry about how many cows there are. If the population gets to 9B by 2050 as the UN says it will, the question of meat vs. veggies will seem small potatoes, if you will pardon the pun.
As for right now, reducing the number of cattle, pigs, etc. is of small concern while Nigeria and Siberia are lit up brighter than Paris or New York by gas flares you can see from space.
They flare off more natural gas each year completely wasted, than most countries and many states consume.
The GG thus produced make the cows issue trivial.
Come on now, let's focus on the correct issues..
If food production produces 18% of the GG problem now - U.N.F.A.O., how much lower do you think it is possible to get it? It won't be zero.
But this is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. You have to solve the population problem first before you worry about how many cows there are. If the population gets to 9B by 2050 as the UN says it will, the question of meat vs. veggies will seem small potatoes, if you will pardon the pun.
As for right now, reducing the number of cattle, pigs, etc. is of small concern while Nigeria and Siberia are lit up brighter than Paris or New York by gas flares you can see from space.
They flare off more natural gas each year completely wasted, than most countries and many states consume.
The GG thus produced make the cows issue trivial.
Come on now, let's focus on the correct issues..
Monday, November 22, 2010
Koko Classic Triathlon
Just watched 5-0, they faked a triathlon as a backdrop to the drama.
Bad Five-O! Dissing triathlon by stating that they were blood dopers!
Maybe some long distance triathletes have blood-doped but this fake Koko event was a sprint or Oly at most. There`s no benefit to doping for short distance events. The writers got it wrong. I suppose it was jus`t so they could `find` a fingerprint on the blood bag. AND they had the robbers posing as triathletes doing a hard workout the night before the race!
Idiots.
Anyway, a bunch of real triathletes got some on camera exposure as extras on a primetime show, and that has to be a good thing.
3 inches of snow and minus 10C right now. Sucks.
Bad Five-O! Dissing triathlon by stating that they were blood dopers!
Maybe some long distance triathletes have blood-doped but this fake Koko event was a sprint or Oly at most. There`s no benefit to doping for short distance events. The writers got it wrong. I suppose it was jus`t so they could `find` a fingerprint on the blood bag. AND they had the robbers posing as triathletes doing a hard workout the night before the race!
Idiots.
Anyway, a bunch of real triathletes got some on camera exposure as extras on a primetime show, and that has to be a good thing.
3 inches of snow and minus 10C right now. Sucks.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Ten Rules for Modern Life
I received the following in an e-mail today and have seen it before attributed to someone else. Whoever wrote it has some wisdom.
"Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did
not and will not learn in school..
He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a
generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them
up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your
self-esteem.. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you
feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You
won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had
a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about
your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are
now... They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and
listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you
save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try
delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life
HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll
give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't
bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and
very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on
your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to
leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.""
"Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did
not and will not learn in school..
He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a
generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them
up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your
self-esteem.. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you
feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You
won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had
a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about
your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are
now... They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and
listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you
save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try
delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life
HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll
give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't
bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and
very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on
your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to
leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.""
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