Ex Consulto - Thoughts on Life

National Space Society Conference on Space Solar Power Video

2011-11-16T13:10:00.001-05:00

On Monday, November 14, the National Space Society held a conference on the future of space solar power. You can see the video of the conference here. (Click the word "here")

National Space Society to hold news conference on space based solar power

2011-11-05T13:07:00.000-05:00

NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY TO ANNOUNCE GROUND-BREAKING GREEN ENERGY SOLUTION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 4, 2011

CONTACT
Gary Barnhard, Executive Director, National Space Society, 1155 15th
Street, NW Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 gary.barnhard@nss.org
Office: 202.429.1600 Direct: 301.509.0848

MEDIA ADVISORY: NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY TO ANNOUNCE GROUND-BREAKING
GREEN ENERGY SOLUTION

Washington, D.C.—The National Space Society (NSS) will hold a press
conference on November 14, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to announce the findings of a
ground-breaking space solar power study conducted by the prestigious
International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

"With space solar power technology, energy can be collected from
space and transmitted wirelessly anywhere in the world,” said Mark
Hopkins, the leading Executive Officer of the National Space Society.
"This technology could be the answer to our energy crisis. We look
forward to sharing the results of the IAA's study, and exploring the
potential that space solar power has for creating thousands of green
energy jobs,” he added.

This event is free and open to the public. Members of the press are
encouraged to attend.

Al Qaeda's Miscalculations

2011-09-08T19:16:00.005-05:00

We are awash in the memories of the 9/11 attacks and the horrific loss of life that took place ten years ago. We are bombarded with re-analyses, questions, and replays. When we think of the enormity of the consequences of that fateful day, not only the losses that took place when each plane hit its target or crashed in a Pennsylvania field, the deaths, the destruction, those consequences have to include thousands of deaths in other countries, whether of terrorists or innocent people caught up in the whirlwind of war. We have to consider the long term economic devastation, the effects of two wars, the killing and maiming of our own soldiers, whose lives, my son Leif often pointed out, were surely as worthy of saving as those who died in the 9/11 attacks. We have to consider the psychological effect of our loss of our feeling of immunity to such attacks, our fear of experiencing more of them, the cost of mounting defenses whether through war or through safety checks at airports before we board a plane.

Psychologically, the world is a different place, and when we think of the enormity of the 9/11 attack, and other Al Qaeda terrorist attacks, how can we contemplate that any sort of reason would think that such blind destruction would bring about their aims?

Tonight on the Cafferty File on CNN, Jack Cafferty was asking the question, "Did the terrorists win?" He read a variety of answers, some who thought they did, some not, but none of those who responded thought past the surface of that question to evaluate whether Al Qaeda had achieved its larger aims (aims beyond their glee at destroying targets and killing people), and whether instead, Al Qaeda had fostered some unintended consequences that may have far different results than they could have ever imagined . . . and certainly not what they would have wished.

Someone with a different world view wrote the opinion piece quoted below. The writer's viewpoint is that there are unintended consequences to Al Qaeda's attacks brought about new alignments in the world and new opportunities for some societies to open and change. We probably will not know the full effect of Al Qaeda's impact on the world for another generation or more, but it behooves us to think about the ways in which we have changed as a result, ways that may, because of our own changed actions, result in new alignments and strategies that will not only fight terrorism, but create a climate ultimately hostile to terrorist forces.

Below is the interesting analysis of a global thinker:

Al-Qaeda's Miscalculation

It is tempting for some to see Al Qaeda’s attack on the US as a long-term strategic victory for them. After all, it imposed huge costs on the US economy at the time, and continues to impose them through lengthy engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, costing trillions of dollars the US might be spending in other areas. Al Qaeda achieved its desire to cause the US departure from Saudi Arabia. Its top tier leadership appeared to remain alive and able to inspire new radical elements. It created two breeding grounds for Al Qaeda and its affiliates to sharpen their skills. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan has turned into a US victory march like the liberation of France. Sobering. But have the forces of radicalism really won? Are they really on the advance, or are there other larger tectonic shifts we need to be cognizant of?

In fact, the unintended consequences of Al Qaeda’s strategic blunder are manifold and deeply undercut their own aims, which were doomed from the start.

Al Qaeda’s spectacular attack was meant to incite a clash between civilizations, but in fact it was an attack on the very nature of civilization and what allows us to be civil: the tolerance and pluralism that allow modern civil society to function, and the legitimacy of the monopoly of violence by the nation state. The results were predictable: those who were attacked, who had common interests, united.

The net effect of Al Qaeda’s attack was to advance liberalism, institutionalism, democracy and global governance, and delay state-on-state conflict. In that context, the most important, visible, exciting, enduring, and unexpected consequence of 9/11 was to end the estrangement between India and the United States and link the two largest and most consequential democracies in a partnership that will transform the globe.

This linkage, more than any other, dooms the forces of radicalism. For, as these two dynamic economic and cultural systems become linked, they will only become more dynamic. Areas that were once at the periphery of their sphere of engagement are now critical junctures of conversation and interchange. The forces of radicalism will be caught in a pincer movement, not by any military action, but by the simple fact that while roads and aircraft can carry IED’s or bombs, they also carry ideas, opportunity, and expectations of personal freedom.

The first unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's attack was an end to the estrangement between the US and India, the lifting of sanctions, and thus the legitimization of India as a major power. In the wake of 9/11, the US needed all the help it could get, and the War on Terror provided an opportunity for the US to drop sanctions on India since its 1998 underground nuclear test. The net effect was not only to end the barriers to India’s voice in key rule-making bodies, but to legitimize another secular, democratic, nuclear power to act on the world stage. Had 9/11 not happened, who knows how long the regime, so deeply counter-productive to re-establishing balance in the international system would have persisted?

The dropping of sanctions in turn allowed the bureaucratic organs of both sides to acknowledge the obvious: there is another big country with similar values; why aren’t we cooperating and engaging more seriously? Once the basic prohibitions were removed, bureaucracies do what bureaucracies do: apportion and work the obvious problems and solutions.

The second unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's attacj was that by focusing American attention on South Asia, it created a new awareness of India as a fellow secular democracy, and created the opportunity for a complementary exchange of world views. The United States is a learning entity, and no experience is as powerful a teacher as war. Just as the US came to understand and be engaged with European, East Asian, and South East Asian societies, cultures, and governments as a result of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the US was suddenly confronted with a cultural system and religious mind-set it did not understand, and the reaction was predictably American. Here is a problem to be solved: “Here is something we don’t understand…we better get smart.” And so began an explosion of interest and expansion of area and Islamic expertise of India's neighbors.

This activity brought the US consciousness into the dynamic cultural system of West-Central-South Asia, and a new awareness of India as a fellow secular democracy with rich and deep experience, both with the challenges and success with pluralism, and created the opportunity for a shared world view. Sitting on opposite sides of the world, each corrects the strategic blindness or myopia of the other.

The third unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's actions was to fundamentally alter and preserve the global benefits of Pax America, giving birth to an American leadership that is more acceptable, more inclusive, and more legitimate in the world. America’s over-reaction to the 9/11 strike was also self-critiquing and self-correcting, causing Americans to reassess the utility of unilateralism, and the greater need for broader engagement and institutionalism. The shift happened even before the change in administration, but the voice of the US electorate confirmed the importance of this more humble approach, seeking to be indispensable rather than dictatorial.

The global community learned as well, galvanized to a more active engagement by the fear of a rampaging rogue superpower. Rather than polarizing the world as Al Qaeda hoped, the attacks greatly galvanized intelligence and law-enforcement sharing, global governance, and created a nuanced, diffused world of Lilliputian strings that slowly constricted the activities of terrorists, expanded the number of nations talking, and advanced the cause of liberalism.

The fourth unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's attack is that by focusing nation-states on a common threat and the need to cooperate (as well as contain the US), it advanced global governance and institution building, delaying state-on-state conflict and extending a period of peace between nations at least a decade. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. 9/11 and subsequent attacks made the entire world of nation states feel at risk. That the only superpower could be struck so spectacularly made the threat of transnational terrorism legitimate and believable, causing nations to put off conflicts with their neighbors till this new world was better understood, or distracting them from those conflicts. Had there not been such fear of a common enemy, and the pro-social activity among nation-states it produced, we might have witnessed a very different and far uglier emergence of multi-polarity than we have.

The fifth unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's attack was to inadvertently deepen Islam’s engagement with democracy, causing those both in and outside of Islam to question previous assertions of both religious and cultural incompatibility. On 9/11, Afghanistan was a theocracy; Iraq and Pakistan were both dictatorships. Today they are all democracies with an experience of freedom of the press. Even if they collapse, they have experienced both, and that will mold their expectations. Those freedoms in turn have exerted pressure for reform in Iran, Saudi Arabia and across the crescent of Islam.

The sixth unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's strike was to deepen Islam’s internal conversation and external engagement with the modern world by giving the free Islamic press its first big stories. The spectacle of the Al Qaeda attack sparked conflict, and the new found freedom of those in Afghanistan and Iraq to produce and consume media caused an explosion in global conversation and introspection among the emerging pan-Islamic middle class. Many in the West find networks such as this threatening, when in fact their emergence is among the greatest victories, for a fundamental tenant of liberalism is that if all ideas are allowed to compete, the best ideas will survive. The existence of these networks allows expression and insight into legitimate concerns and injustices, increasing the chances of reform by legitimate political authority, and deepening the understanding of the outside great powers. It likewise spreads stories of success and adaptation to modernity, while at the same time demonstrating the ultimate futility of terrorism in advancing the aims of resolving these same injustices.

That is not to say that there are not downsides. Evidence suggests that radicalism is born principally in the first generation professionals / middle class who have been uprooted from traditional village life and for the first time have broad access to many media outlets. In their credulity and search for more meaning and identity, they are more likely to find such absolutist notions appealing. If we are optimists, “the other three billion” will continue to benefit economically and in personal liberty from the opportunities afforded by globalization, development and urbanization, and so we will have several more generations prone to such radicalism brought about by such social changes.

The seventh unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's campaign was to reassess and reapportion power in the international system toward more inclusive global governance. The limits and disadvantages of unilateralism revealed by the US response to 9/11, and the expanding consciousness of the power dynamics and cultural richness of the Indian Ocean region, has caused the leaders of the world to recognize that going forward, a more representative order will be necessary for legitimate global governance. The most obvious indicator for this is the shift in US position toward India’s position on the UN Security Council. Even if the UNSC does not change, the message is clear: India will be consulted as if it had a seat at the table. India’s legitimacy is obvious.

Only India has gotten it right, resisting the temptations of religious segregation, radicalism and authoritarianism, and proving to the world that vastly diverse communities—including the full diversity of Islam--can function peacefully and coherently in a democracy while sustaining significant growth, playing a responsible role in the global commons, and using its military to come to the aid of its fellow nations. India is the most realistic example of global governance and tolerant pluralistic democracy we have, and a greater engagement of India with its extended neighborhood can only be a net benefit to the world.

The eighth unintended consequence of Al Qaeda's assault is the emergence of a policy goal and consensus to link South-Central-West Asia and Europe. In the wake of 9/11, the international community was forced to focus on how to make Afghanistan a self-sustaining success. What is clear is that a land-locked country cannot flourish without overland trade, and so there is an emerging consensus of a “Silk Road Strategy” to create both the hardware (road and rail), and the software (border crossings and liberal trade regimes) from India through Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Imagine the central Ring Road of Afghanistan with five spokes. The first and most important intersects at its southeast corner, retracing the Grand Trunk Road through Pakistan, across India to Calcutta, accessing the Bay of Bengal and the richness of South East Asia beyond. This cornerstone spoke would allow all of South/Central Asia to benefit from the linkage of the Indian economic miracle to the resources of central Asia, enabling India to export opportunity, and with it the characteristic optimistic, tolerant, cosmopolitan pluralism that would be a tonic for the whole of West/Central Asia. Its mirror image is a spoke that radiates southwest, jutting through Iran to the port of Chab Bahar and into the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman.

The next spoke is due north, into the energy rich states of Central Asia and then Russia. Radiating eastward is the old Silk Road into China, and radiating westward the Silk Road through Iran and into Europe. By calling attention to its backwardness and lack of opportunity, Al Qaeda has engaged the global community to accelerate the emergence of an overland trading system that will bring great opportunity to South-Central Asia, and a web of equities and cross investments that create incentives for stability. The ring road of Afghanistan is becoming the continental equivalent of the Straits of Malacca. The moment the policy push succeeds in activating that first spoke from India, it will inject a shot of cosmopolitanism into the center of the Eurasian subcontinent that will radiate into its many arteries like adrenaline pumped straight into a heart patient, and the success of this strategy will be transformative.

The final uninended consequence of Al Qaeda's actions was to deepen global connectivity and networks. We had a choice; we could have shut down the networks that brought terror to our shores, but we did not. Instead, we have only deepened our connectivity. Any network, whether the networks be roads, sea-lanes, air-lanes, or the global media of cyberspace can carry messages of intolerance or be used to plot or effect violence, but we must resist the urge to close them.

We do not stop global air commerce because of 9/11; we do not stop naval trade because of Mumbai; we do not close the trains because of Madrid, and we will not close the information networks because of a tape from Bin Laden. Liberalism is a long game, a game of statistics, in the belief that for every malicious network transaction, there will be orders of magnitude more beneficial ones. If we keep them open, in the end we will benefit by them carrying more truth, light, and opportunity.*

When I look at things on the balance, I see the overall effect of Al Qaeda’s attack was to advance liberalism, institutionalism, democracy and global governance, and to delay state-on-state conflict. But the biggest and most consequential gift, was to unite the enemies of intolerance and pluralism, the US and India, the two poles of global democracy. Guess who got caught in the cross fire?
*This was originally written over a year before the Arab Spring.

Leave the libraries alone. You don’t understand their value. | Blog | False Economy

2011-01-29T18:12:00.000-05:00

Leave the libraries alone. You don’t understand their value. | Blog | False Economy

Click above to read author Philip Pullman's impassioned and inspiring speech about the value of public libraries and why we should support them.

ISS - Do violent words cause violence? Lessons from the civil rights era

2011-01-11T20:18:00.002-05:00

ISS - Do violent words cause violence? Lessons from the civil rights eraWords worth reading.

Thank you, Senator Bernie Sanders!

2010-12-11T00:07:00.001-05:00

This man has courage. It's about time someone spoke the truth.

Sad Decline in Picture Book Sales

2010-10-08T09:09:00.002-05:00

The New York Times reports a sad trend, the decline in picture book sales. Click here for the article.

Picture books can be wonderful, complex and full of terrific vocabulary that early chapter books can't use; how terrific the illustrations can be, showing children a wide range of art and teaching them to look for details and "read" the story in the art as well. I saw parents pushing their kids to reach chapter books too young. Too many teachers and parents teach their kids to hate reading that way.

Why are so many gay teens dying?

2010-10-01T09:20:00.001-05:00

Why are so many gay teens dying?

It is so inexpressibly sad that young teens are so humiliated by others that they take their lives. How inexpressibly sad that they die in misery and loneliness. How inexpressibly sad that their families are left with such grief. My heart goes out to them.

When is our society going to realize that bullying and humiliating others is wrong, sinful, hateful?

We need to protect our children.

We need to realize that we cannot force everyone into the same mold and that love is precious wherever it is found.

Bravo to those that started and are participating in the "It Gets Better" project.

Are you smarter than a Christian?

2010-09-30T11:20:00.003-05:00

Are you smarter than a Christian?

I don't like the title of this article, but I found the report and the reasoning interesting and worth reading. Here is a link to a modified version of the test given by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

America's True History of Religious Tolerance

2010-09-30T11:04:00.001-05:00

America's True History of Religious Tolerance

How fortunate we are that we had Jefferson and Madison framing the religious freedom in America. How different our country might be, otherwise. This is an outstanding article about the true history of religion in America, by an imminent historian.

Justice Scalia Mouths Off on Sex Discrimination

2010-09-27T09:20:00.003-05:00

Justice Scalia Mouths Off on Sex Discrimination
Click in this link.

In 2010, I find it thoroughly shocking and even frightening that an American Supreme Court justice would say or believe this. I guess women don't have "inalienable rights," according to him. No equal protection under the. Law unless legislatures VOTE for it? The way OUR legislatures function, that will never happen. No Equal Rights Amendment has been passed. What does that tell you?

National Space Society Endorses Ground-Breaking Policy Work on Space-Based Solar Power

2010-09-13T10:26:00.001-05:00

In a press release on September 13, 2010, the National Space Society endorsed Peter A. Garretson's groundbreaking policy study on the possibility of the United States and India cooperating on developing space-based solar power. Find the press release here.

India-US space-based solar power programme urged

2010-09-13T10:13:00.002-05:00

India-US space-based solar power programme urged

Click the title text link above for an article at IndiaTalkies about Peter A. Garretson's study concerning the potential cooperation between the United States and India on space based solar power.

Christopher Hitchens and Rabbi David Wolpe: The Great God Debate

2010-09-12T21:51:00.003-05:00

Christopher Hitchens and Rabbi David Wolpe: The Great God Debate, fascinating video of the debate hosted by Tom Ashbrook on PBS Forum Network. From the page accompanying the video:

The polemic "anti-theist" writer Christopher Hitchens engages in "The Great God Debate" with Conservative Jewish leader Rabbi David J. Wolpe. Does God exist? Is religion a force for good or evil in the world? Can ancient texts be squared with modern science? Can morality be divorced from religion? How important is God to Jewish identity?

Christopher Hitchens is one of the most prominent and controversial writers in the media today and the author of the best-selling book 'God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.' David Wolpe, Rabbi of Temple Sinai in Los Angeles, was named the #1 Pulpit Rabbi in America by Newsweek. He is the author of seven books, including Why Faith Matters, a response to the ideas of Hitchens and other atheist thinkers. Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR's On Point moderates the debate.

Asteroid Discovery From 1980 - 2010

2010-09-10T23:38:00.001-05:00

This video will show you why we need to develop a defense for planet earth.

News Media Gone Nuts

2010-09-10T19:31:00.006-05:00

The news media in this country have sacrificed real news and reporting to stories of the crackpot of the day. Why else would they be giving so much time to the nutty pastor of a tiny church in Gainesville, Florida, who threatened to burn the Koran? This is major news? Not until they MADE it so. Not until they gave this misguided man a national, nay international, platform and exposure, and helped him create a backlash, which they also glory in reporting.

It's a field day for the ratings-seeking networks, a bonanza of scandalous threats endangering our troops and making America look foolish around the globe.

And Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post agrees.

As Walt Kelly, author of Pogo, wrote, "We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us."

They need to drop it. Or else investigate the man. Who knows what they might find?

Sky’s No Limit: Space-based solar power, the next major step in the Indo-US strategic partnership? | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

2010-09-09T10:18:00.003-05:00

Sky’s No Limit: Space-based solar power, the next major step in the Indo-US strategic partnership? | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Click on the link above for an innovative look at the possibility of India and the USA cooperating on developing space-based solar power.

The Violation of Creation

2010-08-30T13:56:00.002-05:00

It is utterly beyond my comprehension how anyone on this earth, of any religion, can possibly think that a loving Creator who created the universe and all that is in it, could possibly want one of his creations to kill another, especially in His name, especially thinking they are doing his will.

The Plight of Afghan Women: A Disturbing Picture

2010-08-03T22:41:00.001-05:00

The Plight of Afghan Women: A Disturbing Picture

It's a shocking photo and a horrifying story, and I have a lot of sympathy for women all over the world who are in abusive and dangerous circumstances.

But the fact also remains that while we are staying there, we are dooming our soldiers to death and crippling injuries and mental disorders like PTSD and suicide. Are their lives worth any less?

More Birther Nonsense - Obama's 1981 Pakistan Trip

2010-08-03T13:57:00.002-05:00

More Birther Nonsense - Obama's 1981 Pakistan Trip

I am sick of being sent garbage about Obama's supposedly refusing to produce a birth certificate and other nonsense. Factcheck.org is a very reputable source that documents these matters . . . and many others . . . on both sides of the political spectrum. You can dislike Obama and disagree with his politics, but at least base that on reality, please.

Introducing the Oprah of Afghanistan: Mozhdah!

2010-07-28T11:53:00.001-05:00

Introducing the Oprah of Afghanistan: Mozhdah!Bravo to this brave and committed young woman. I hope she continues in her quest and her popularity without some offended fundamentalist doing her harm.

Recipe for Longevity: No Smoking, Lots of Friends

2010-07-28T11:28:00.001-05:00

Recipe for Longevity: No Smoking, Lots of FriendsThis is fascinating. We all know that we are happier and feel better when we are in contact with people we care about, but this study takes that even farther . . we are healthier, too. What interesting creatures we humans are!

Deep Underground, Miles of Hidden Wildfires Rage

2010-07-24T16:58:00.001-05:00

Deep Underground, Miles of Hidden Wildfires RageNot only an environmental catastrophy but a horrible waste, yet no one seems to have a clue how to stop it. We hear about oil spills, but this? I knew there were coal fires but I had no idea they were this bad, this prevalent, lasted so many years, or had so many environmental effects.

In the "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" department

2010-07-20T17:56:00.003-05:00

It struck me today after seeing more critical complaining on the "news" about various politicians, and reading the Newsweek article about Charlie Crist, that neither the news media or the public can quite make up their minds about how politicians should behave.

If they change their policies based on polls, they are accused of doing or saying anything people want just to get elected, but if the DON'T change to go along with the polls, they are accused of not listening to the voters.

Hmmmmmmm

Charlie Crist has been liberated

2010-07-20T12:50:00.003-05:00

The rise of Charlie Crist as an independent politician is exciting and reassuring. It's a healthy sign that people in Florida (and probably in the rest of our country) are more interested in reality than ideology, more interested in practicality than dogma. Go Charlie! Here's the Newsweek article about his "resurrection" after the Republicans dumped him.

Sarah Palin in '12? Why She's for Real

2010-07-16T12:23:00.001-05:00

Sarah Palin in '12? Why She's for RealShe's attractive; she knows how to manipulate people with emotion; she knows how to play to the media. . . . but for President? That's a scary thought. Let's hope it's not true that a country gets the government it deserves if we vote her in.

Washington's Revolving Door: How Oil Oversight Failed

2010-06-09T12:28:00.001-05:00

Washington's Revolving Door: How Oil Oversight FailedSo what else is new? So much of our government and regulation is really buy corporate influence, not voter choice. It's a money and experience game. Who else knows enough about the oil industry but those IN it??? As usual, it's like asking the fox to guard the chicken house.

Are Liberal Judges Really 'Judicial Activists'?

2010-06-09T12:20:00.001-05:00

Are Liberal Judges Really 'Judicial Activists'?Important and timely article on why all judicial decisions, particularly Supreme Court decisions, require interpreting the law.

Bob Herbert writes "An Absence of Class"

2010-03-24T09:55:00.002-05:00

Bob Herbert in the The New York Times writes on Republican Party tactics in "An Absence of Class."

Truth in Advertising

2010-03-20T22:19:00.003-05:00

How is it that a purported "news" organization that calls itself "fair and balanced" can get away with spending so much of it's time openly CAMPAIGNING politically? The way I learned it, journalism isn't supposed to be a 24-hour a day campaign for a particular point of view or against a particular party. It's supposed to REPORT, and make an attempt to be unbiased.

There have always been political commentators, but they were open about their partisanship and didn't insist that they were "fair and balanced."

Fox has freedom of speech, but they should be registered as a political organization, not a news channel, and they should be subject of the rules of truth in advertising. "Fair and balanced" should be abolished from their vocabulary. That's rather like a tobacco company advertising it's cigarettes as "air purifying and healthful."

Beautiful Sky

2010-02-09T04:00:00.002-05:00

One of the things that I love is a beautiful sky.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Heart of the Matter: Paper Earthworks and Digital Tides

2010-02-05T12:04:00.000-05:00

The Heart of the Matter: Paper Earthworks and Digital Tides

Very interestsing post on the future of print and digital books.

Thoroughly Disgusted With Our Political Parties

2010-01-29T13:46:00.004-05:00

I've taken to saying, "The Republicans ruin the government and the Democrats can't govern." They both spend their time demonizing and pointing fingers, tactical maneuvering and planning to stay in power, not working together to govern the country. They talk a lot about bipartisan values and then do their best to destroy and possibility of it. Power is more important than our future to them.

I applaud President Obama's State of the Union Address, his efforts to get beyond the uncompromising and bullheaded and insulting dialogue in Washington but I fear his efforts will go nowhere.

There are more and more independent voters like me, disgusted with the lot of them.

Our country and its citizens don't seem to realize that we are heading for bankruptcy, and loss of power in the world, and a lessened standard of living for most of us if we don't get it together and stop the failures to govern. We will be the losers, all of us that aren't rich. Most Americans still seem to think we can throw our weight around the the world, have unlimited resources and military power and troops, but we don't have that, either. People don't want to see the truth and do something about it.

Can you imagine a parent so bullheaded that if his family were starving and he needed a whole loaf of bread would refuse half a loaf because it didn't fit his full specifications?

Or perhaps the family across the street might offer a whole loaf, but the starving family is so bullheaded they refuse it because it isn't the "right" kind of bread.

That seems to be the way our politicians are operating. If they don't get their way (or a big bribe in the legislation), they won't play, won't support anything, and would rather defeat everything.

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
~Abba Eban

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
~Abraham Lincoln

The very essence of a free government consists in considering offices as public trusts, 1 bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party. - John C. Calhoun, Speech, Feb. 13, 1835.

Women Pay More Than Men For The Same Products

2010-01-04T11:34:00.004-05:00

"Why It Costs More to be a Woman," by MP Dunleavey, from MSN Money. This is an eye-opening and disgusting article about how women get ripped off by companies who charge them more than they charge men for the same products. Well worth reading. One more way women are discriminated against.

Clean Energy Centers Growing Worldwide, Not in U.S.

2009-11-30T11:23:00.000-05:00

Clean Energy Centers Growing Worldwide, Not in U.S.

The US could be a leader in innovative new energy development and technology, resulting in new jobs and cleaner energy, but instead the USA is losing it's leadership and other countries are forging ahead. We will be the losers and end up purchasing the techology from other that we could have developed and sold. It's a shame. We ought to be in the forefront, especially as one of the primary users of energy.

Click on the above title to read more about this.

Tapping cell phones | Spyware | Mobile Phones | Spy Software - WTHR |

2009-10-11T09:22:00.002-05:00

Tapping cell phones | Spyware | Mobile Phones | Spy Software - WTHR |

Shared via AddThis

This is scary stuff. Protect yourself. Don't leave your phone lying around unattended, for one thing.

Overrated Optimism: The Peril of Positive Thinking

2009-10-10T08:32:00.001-05:00

Overrated Optimism: The Peril of Positive Thinking

Like so many other psychological fads, overdoing positive thinking can lead to terrible results when we dump realism for unbridled optimism. this Barbara Ehrenreich piece is worth reading and thinking about.

As someone who was once accused of being negative on the job because I insisted on being realistic, I know how it feels to be pounced upon for looking at a situation with clear-eyed realism instead of unjustified enthusiasm.

Sometimes optimism and good cheer is wonderful; sometimes it's invaluable. And sometimes it's a trap.

For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning ...a note from Michael Moore | MichaelMoore.com

2009-10-05T00:00:00.002-05:00

For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning ...a note from Michael Moore | MichaelMoore.com

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Michael Moore's essay is well worth reading and pondering. It echoes thoughts I have had for a long time. I wonder often how some of our people can profess to be Christians, not just because of greed and selfishness, but because of the way they look down on those who have less. We should be ashamed.

Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test - space - 23 September 2009 - New Scientist

2009-09-27T11:33:00.003-05:00

Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test - space - 23 September 2009 - New Scientist

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This article in New Scientist is mind-jarring. Until I saw Peter Garretson's (mentioned in this article as leading a Pentagon exercise to evaluate response capabilties) briefing a couple of years ago, I thought the possibility of an asteroid or large meteor striking earth and doing serious damage was primarily science fiction despite the fact that I had known about Meteor Crater in Arizona since I was a child.

There's not much use going around our daily lives panicked about the possibility of being wiped out by an asteroid collision, but we are foolish if we don't at least make what plans we can to minimize death, and look to the future for both notification of these "near earth objects" and what we might do to protect ourselves.

Asteroid Attack: Putting Earth's Defenses to the Test

2009-09-27T11:32:00.002-05:00

It's not just science fiction. Excellent video that accompanies the article above.

Debtors Revolt Publicity Pays Off for Ann Minch

2009-09-23T16:29:00.002-05:00

Debtors Revolt Publicity Pays Off for Ann Minch

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Credit cards ought to be called by their right name: LOAN cards or DEBT cards. That's what we are really doing when we use them, taking out a loan and increasing our debt, but can you even imagine agreeing to a car loan at 25% interest? How about a home loan? NO WAY. But somehow, we are foolish enough to "agree" to interest rates like that on credit cards. Just using them means we "agree."

I pay off my balances every month. Never late. But today I got a letter from one of my card banks saying they were raising the interest rate on that card to over 25%. Imagine what that would mean if I didn't pay it off monthly. At even simple interest, a $100 item costs over $125 with a year's interest. Someone who runs a balance of $1000 is paying over $250 EXTRA for whatever they bought. Think what that extra $250 could buy you if you weren't paying it!

The banks are rushing to raise credit card interest rates as fast as they can before the new laws go into effect. They shot themselves in the proverbial feet by not only extending but PUSHING credit to people who could little afford it and who would be tempted to buy things they couldn't pay off, and now when they get a lot of defaults, the rest of us are paying for it.

I'm for this woman's revolt. DON'T PAY their exorbitant interest. If you use credit cards, use them wisely and pay them off monthly. If you can't pay them off, at least minimize the amount on the card and look for one that isn't charging you usurious rates. Where to find good information about better cards? Here's a reputable site that can help, and also has a lot of other excellent financial information:

bankrate.com

Jesus H. Christ cancels Healing Insurance for the poor

2009-09-17T21:36:00.002-05:00

Jesus H. Christ cancels Healing Insurance for the poor

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Federal appeals court to decide suit over wounded veterans -- latimes.com

2009-09-16T09:39:00.002-05:00

Federal appeals court to decide suit over wounded veterans -- latimes.com

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It's pathetic that our wounded and sick veterans have to resort to a lawsuit to try to get the VA to process their claims and needs in a reasonably timely fashion, but as the judge says, he can't make that happen. The injuries and other service-connected health problems that are forced upon the members of our military services are one of the consequences of wars. Our goverment always pays great lip service to taking care of them, but when it comes to actually doing it, is unprepared and doesn't have the necessary money and facilities. Of course not . . . raising taxes is seen as anathema. They need to think about that when they send people to war.

Disgusted with the media

2009-09-15T17:01:00.002-05:00

I'm thoroughly fed up with the media, and this evening, especially with television news. We have an entire world of important stories and issues and what do they spend hours and hours on? Again? Serena Williams and someone else's outbursts on the tennis court. Congressman Wilson's outburst during Obama's health care speech. And several other rude bloopers. On and on about apologies, and what should be done, and censures, fines, etc. This is ridiculous tempest-in-a-teapot journalism. Not one of these incidents is worth spending more than two minutes on. Instead, we are subjected to endless "reports" and discussions about them instead of anything actually important or substantive. Same with the death of Michael Jackson.

Come on people, get on with it. REPORT on something worth caring about and worth educating us about.

Free Press Calls on Obama Administration to Resist Extremism in the Media

2009-09-09T21:51:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON -- Van Jones, an adviser to the Obama administration and a former Free Press board member, resigned from his White House post after being ruthlessly attacked for weeks in a smear campaign started by Fox News pundit Glenn Beck. Beck, who has also called President Obama a "racist," targeted Jones for his background in environmental and civil rights activism.

Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, issued the following statement:

"Most Americans want affordable health care, good schools and clean air. But if you watch Glenn Beck’s show, you would think the opposite is true: that the only proponents of these ideas are socialist, anti-American radicals operating out of the White House basement.

"At Free Press, our focus is on structural media policy, not on media content. But we take this extraordinary step because what’s happening is so poisonous to American political discourse.

"That Fox News Channel lets Beck use its media megaphone to stir up hatred and fear of others is repulsive, divisive and beyond all common sense or decency. By giving Beck a nightly platform for such McCarthy-esque witch hunts and smear campaigns, the national news network undermines our democracy. But Fox News is not alone. Unfortunately, this kind of rant is endemic to a media system that cares about ratings far more than about the truth.

"Beck has a First Amendment right to stoke prejudice, and we do not and will not support efforts to silence him. This is not about censorship; it’s about sanity. Our leaders have a responsibility to condemn fear mongering in all its forms, defend those who are unfairly attacked, and support a more diverse media system that provides alternative voices to the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and other extremists. The lesson from the shameful McCarthy era that culminated in 1954 is that we must confront the politics of personal attack with decency, reason and a commitment to more political speech, not less.

"It's time for our elected officials -- from the White House to local town halls -- to join people across the country in a stand against agents of fear and misinformation."

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Joseph A. Palermo: Glenn Beck vs. Van Jones: McCarthyism Enters the 21st Century

2009-09-09T21:49:00.002-05:00

Joseph A. Palermo: Glenn Beck vs. Van Jones: McCarthyism Enters the 21st Century

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Thought-Provoking New York Times article on military members blogging and using social networks

2009-09-09T11:29:00.005-05:00

Should our military members be allowed to use social networking like Facebook and MySpace? Should they be allowed to blog? This is an interesting conundrum for the military. Fascinating New York Times article.

This was posted on Facebook by the DAV but for those who don't subscribe there I'm passing it along. Years ago when I was a military wife, I wrote a column in a German newspaper. I did submit the columns to an army public affairs officer for review before publication, but I didn't realize until sometime after I started that my columns were making it into the briefing books of the main army Europe command. No one ever tried to stop me, though I also never wrote anything detrimental to the army, the US, or OPSEC (for you civilians, that's Operation Security, referring to the need to keep sensitive information about military operations close-hold, not that I had any knowledge of anything OPSEC sensitive in the first place). I know people who are currently serving our country who use social networking and blog on them, and I wonder how they will be affected. I, for one, WANT to be able to read what the troops have to say.

The issue of freedom of speech is complicated when it comes to the military, who often give up some of the freedoms they fight for.

BTW, I believe the blog mentioned in the beginning of this article is by invitation only and not for the general internet public. If that's not correct, I apologize.

Some military bloggers do cloak their identities, as do some civilian bloggers.

Shocking Article on Debit Card Fees from the New York Times

2009-09-09T08:03:00.002-05:00

Overspending on Debit Cards is a Boon for Banks

Bravo Laura Bush!

2009-09-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

Just yesterday I said that I wished that Laura Bush, as a former school librarian and educator, would come out in support of President Obama's address to school students and today she did. Bravo, Laura. Her husband, President George W. Bush, addressed school students, too, as did President Reagan. It's terrific that presidents engage our young people.

Text of the president's education speech

2009-09-07T12:23:00.002-05:00

Bravo!

Text of the president's education speech

and here are the lesson plans from the Department of Education website. Look for the "Classroom Activities" box and you can download them in either PDF or MS Word format.

Gibbs: Resistance to Obama school speech just plain ’silly’ | csmonitor.com

2009-09-04T15:19:00.002-05:00

Gibbs: Resistance to Obama school speech just plain ’silly’ | csmonitor.com

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Now I know too many people in our country have totally taken leave of their senses. When the President of the United States can't give a back-to-school speech encouraging kids to learn, study and stay in school without people getting upset, we have reached a new and foolish low. Those that say the President is playing politics with this ought to go look in the mirror and feel ashamed. We should be thankful we have a president that cares enough about the kids in our country to express these thoughts to them.

The Republican (Catholic church) Captivity | National Catholic Reporter

2009-09-04T11:06:00.002-05:00

The Republican (Catholic church) Captivity | National Catholic Reporter

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Lack of data hinders prevention efforts | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

2009-09-04T11:01:00.008-05:00

Lack of data hinders prevention efforts | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

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A 2008 Congressional Research Service Report on the issue put it bluntly: "There is no nationwide system for surveillance of suicide specifically among veterans."

How can the rising numbers of suicides among our military veterans be prevented? It's terrible enough that they suffer in war, are sent away from their families, and deal with PTSD and injury, but then to die by their own hand because of their suffering, how terrible for them, their families, for all of us.

'Surge home' overwhelms Veterans Affairs clinics | csmonitor.com

2009-09-04T10:57:00.002-05:00

'Surge home' overwhelms Veterans Affairs clinics | csmonitor.com

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Why so scared of the "public option"?

2009-09-03T19:11:00.003-05:00

The fear of the so-called public option for universal health care is ridiculous. Medicare is a public option. I don't see seniors out campaigning to get rid of Medicare, complaining of rationed care or not being able to choose a doctor. Instead I know people who are anxious to become 65 so they can have Medicare.

Instead of I know people who have employer-sponsored or other private health care plans that require them to use only network doctors (not much doctor choice there!) or the plan either doesn't cover them or covers only a small percentage of the cost.

Instead I know people whose medical insurance plans don't cover needed services or only allow so many visits for a particular condition. Talk about rationed care!

The idea that the health insurance companies (translate, "big business" in it for huge profits) either could or would "do things better" is nonsense. They've had YEARS to do it better and haven't made the effort. Too much money in business as usual. They are behind the campaign to get rid of a public option because they are scared they will not have profits as high as they do now. People might begin to see through the smoke screen.

The idea that government is always a bad choice is also foolish. I don't see the public screaming that we should get out of national defense (the military), law enforcement (from the FBI to the courts, from local police to state troopers) because private enterprise can do it better. I don't see the public screaming to replace the federal highway system (federally administered but contracted to contractors) with a hodgepodge of business interests.

From what I have seen, my friends and relatives on Medicare have more choice of doctors and hospitals and less rationing of care than those on many of the private plans sponsored by employers.

My family has had federal health care insurance for over 40 years due to military service. Whatever problems we've had weren't the result of the insurance, and we are very grateful for the health care we have received. We have a choice of three plans with varying copay and deductible arrangements. One is an HMO plan.

We are extremely thankful that we have not had to fear a lack of affordable medical care or going broke because of a family illness or injury. We would like to see that kind of security and freedom extended to everyone in our country.

The lost art of reading -- latimes.com

2009-08-19T21:08:00.002-05:00

The lost art of reading -- latimes.com

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What Came Before the Big Bang?

2009-08-17T11:14:00.001-05:00

What Came Before the Big Bang?

Expedition Sets Sail to the Great Plastic Vortex

2009-08-10T10:43:00.001-05:00

Expedition Sets Sail to the Great Plastic Vortex

Noise pollution!

2009-07-26T11:56:00.002-05:00

I'm all for saving trees and reducing waste but what about noise pollution and hearing damage? So many places are using incredibly LOUD electrc hand dryers and auto-flushing toilets that I'm pretty sure the decibels are way higher than needed to damage hearing. And too many of those self-flushing toilets flush repeatedly and unnecessarily, wasting precious water.

US Reputation for Scientific Achievement Flagging

2009-07-11T13:49:00.002-05:00

U.S. science, medicine and technology were under the microscope in the latest survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, and one finding that's generating headlines is that only 17 percent of the public participants held the belief that American scientific achievements are the best in the world.

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"Outsourcing" Jobs to Machines

2009-07-08T09:20:00.003-05:00

In the past few years we've heard a lot about the outsourcing of American jobs to lower paid workers in foreign countries and there's been some outrage over it, but where do you hear any outrage over the loss of jobs to machines?

This morning I was at the local post office and instead of four clerks on duty, there was one. I waited 20 minutes in line and listened to an exchange between the lone clerk and another one who was supposed to get behind the counter as well but was rushing around doing other jobs that were on his list of duties such as replenishing the supplies of everything from passport application forms and delivery confirmation forms to instructions on how to do an online change of address. He remarked to those of us in line that if we didn't want to wait, there was always the machine in the lobby, the "APC" or automated postal center. He said it could do everything they could do.

I am a frequent postal customer and because I send a lot of orders by Media Mail, I stand in line because the APC doesn't do that feature (although if you know what amount of postage you need, you could purchase stamps for that amount). By the time it was my turn, he was behind the counter and I told him that the APC didn't talk to us. He said, yeah, there will always be a certain number of people who want that kind of personal service, but that "there will never be four of us behind the counter at once again because the postal service wants people to use the machines." They are, of course, cheaper than humans.

It isn't quite true that the machine can do everything a clerk can do, but it can do most of it. However, they don't always work, as I've discovered on at least two occasions.

His remark about reducing the number of clerks serving the public prompted me to remark about how many jobs are being lost, beginning years ago with gasoline stations. When I was a teen, there were plenty of teenage boys who had their first jobs at gas stations, pumping gas, checking tire pressure, washing windshields and checking oil levels. That used to be the accepted standard service at any "filling station." Free maps, too. I miss those days. At least I KNEW that my oil and tire pressure were getting checked regularly and didn't have to remind myself to do it, and a lot of young men had jobs that no longer exist for them.

That got me started. Think about it. Banks have fewer tellers. You use an ATM. Big stores are adding self-checkout lanes where no cashier is needed. Even libraries are adding self checkout machines.

It could be argued that all of this is progress, convenient, efficient, reduces lines (for now anyway) and cuts business costs. However, none of those machines can answer questions, solve problems, or fix themselves when they break down . . . or operate when the electricity goes off. Business may like not having to pay employees or the payroll taxes and benefits that go with them, but they are reducing service. The public may like (some of them, anyway) the convenience and time saved (until they get stuck on a broken machine!), but what are we losing?

We are losing JOBS. We are losing HUMAN CONTACT.

It isn't just the outsourcing of jobs or the recession that is taking away jobs. It's replacement by machines, too.

Bottled drinks

2009-07-07T11:57:00.002-05:00

Here's an idea that's overdue: bottled drinks that are half the size of those being sold now, which are way too big for kids and small adults and take forever to drink, or get wasted.

More female veterans are winding up homeless - The Boston Globe

2009-07-06T09:58:00.002-05:00

More female veterans are winding up homeless - The Boston Globe

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No mass movement

2009-06-29T10:27:00.002-05:00

If the prospect of so-called socialized medicine is so awful, why aren't the
Millions on Medicare and other federal insurance like that for federal employees and the military on Tricare all clamoring to get rid if it and go private?

If the private sector can do it so much better, why haven't they? They have certainly had years of ample opportunity.

Why solve any of our problems?

2009-06-20T11:17:00.004-05:00

I am so disgusted with both the politicians and much of our population. It seems no one is willing to compromise to find solutions. No one is willing to give an inch to make better things possible. No one wants to govern for the benefit of all, just to advance an agenda. We are like lung cancer patients that insist on continuing to smoke. We are not ostriches with our heads in the sand. . . we SEE the problems, but we, as a society, are just so determined not to solve them. It seems to be far more important to follow a party line, not to give up any of our "living standard" or our wasteful ways, than to face reality. No matter what anyone proposes, the opposition not only begins to campaign against it, they imput evil motives to the other side.

Take the health care crisis and the need for universal medical insurance. Those against it insist that it will be a disaster, that we will have "rationed" medical care, that doctors will be "government employees," that you will have to wait in line for care until you die. First of all, I completely doubt the likelihood of these scary stories coming true. If so, why aren't all the people over 65 clamoring for the repeal of Medicare? If a government administered plan is so bad, why are all of us older folks so glad we have it? Why are so many physicians willing to accept it? Why are so many private companies happy to sell supplement policies? Ever meet a senior who is refusing to use his Medicare benefits?

Try telling all those that have NO health insurance that a government plan would be so terrible for them. They have NO insurance now and can't afford to get care. If they go to an emergency room, they are charged premium rates because there is no insurance to negotiate a rate for them. If they can't pay, they are stuck with terrible debts. They do die standing in line for care. And there are more of them every day.

Try telling the families that have a government health care insurance for their children that it's a bad thing, that they should refuse it. it may not be perfect, and nothing created by man ever is, but it's far better than nothing.

Then let's look at our energy problems, our infrastructure problems, our financial industry problems, our trade problems. The same thinking applies. We can't solve any of them because we can't agree. As a society we are more interested in arguing our points that figuring out what works.

We will go to our doom arguing about our problems when we could have fixed them, improved them, or at least tried.

Socialism -- unless you like it

2009-06-05T23:01:00.004-05:00

I'm finding it rather disingenuous the way so many "conservatives" are screaming about how we don't want "socialized medicine," and yet try taking away social security or Medicare. As my son was fond of pointing out, we don's use the word socialism when we talk about our communal defense forces, our communal fire departments, our community schools. We aren't clamoring for the privatization of any of them. Can you imagine the mess if you had to find your own private police department, your own private fire department, and so on and on? Of course, there will always be those who can contract for extra high priced protection such as their own bodyguards, but we seem to agree as a society that we should provide "for the common defense." My son was also fond of pointing out that there aren't many things more directly connected with promoting "the general welfare," as the constitution says, than providing basic health care.

Today I was in a dentist's office. She was making negative comments about how the health care insurance problems will get worse if the government is involved. My comment was to tell that to the people who have no insurance now.

There are also ready forces campaigning to stop universal health care using the usual scare tactics, making it sound like there will be a sudden scarcity of both doctors and medical care. Why? Are all the doctors going to quit practicing? They make it sound as though you'll have no choice about what doctor you see. Why? You can always pay for your own care if you don't like what the insurance will offer. My son worked for the health care industry. His was passionately in favor of universal health care and said that what would develop is what has developed elsewhere . . . basic covered services for nearly all of us, and those with more resources will be able to get a higher tier of care on their own money, just as they do now.

Socialism? Not any more so than so many other things we do as a society (hmmm .. society -- socialism, sounds linked) and don't feel required to label as socialist. Building roads, bridges, harbors, for instance. But maybe you'd like them to be private, too.Medica

Websites Pet Peeve

2009-05-25T02:19:00.002-05:00

It's a small thing -- TOO small a thing. Why is it that web designers insist on making the "logout" link on nearly every website so TINY and hard to find? We're supposed to log out of sites we have logged into, and you'd think they'd want us to follow through with that for our own security, but they sure make it harder. It should be easy to find a logout button or link. Not only easy, OBVIOUS. Logging IN isn't hidden in miniscule text. Logging IN gets nice text boxes, prominence.

Plain old logic and business sense teaches us that if you want people to do something, make it easy for them. So, web designers, make logging out EASY.

Hotels and laundering towels

2009-05-16T21:41:00.003-05:00

Many hotels I've been in the past few years have laudably posted signs that we can help the environment (and their costs, of course) by using towels more than one day, that if we wish to do that, to hang up the towels. If we want fresh towels, to leave them on the floor. However, I have found that at just about everyone, even IF I hang them up, the maids STILL change them for fresh towels. I don't know whether this is a training issue or a language issue, or whether something else is at work, but the signs aren't working.

The other thing that prevents it from being a successful campaign is the lack of good towel racks to hang the towels ON. Most hotels have these skimpy racks that work fine for folded towels but are lousy for hanging wet towels that need to be dried. There's never enough space for them. I imagine more people would be willing to use the same towels the next day if they thought they had a prayer of drying. I've even tried hanging them on hangers in the closet, when there were ENOUGH hangars, another rarity.

So, there's one of my pet peeves. If they really want this campaign to be successful, save water (a critical issue here in Florida where we are in the midst of a drought), save money, and benefit the environment, they need to train their maids to FOLLOW the rules and put decent towel bars in the rooms.

I think I've written about this before, on this blog, and I've sent it to Ann Landers or Dear Abby, too. Maybe someone will "listen."

Where did the ambition go?

2009-05-16T21:38:00.002-05:00

I have sadly neglected this blog in the past year, dealing with my son's death, writing a daily blog about him and our experiences, our sadness, at his death. In January, I posted here that I felt a renewed ambition, but it did not last. I remained committed to the blog about him, not to continuing this one about other subjects. I still am focused on his remembrance blog and probably will be for a long time to come.

That doesn't mean I don't think about anything else, that I don't have opinions about the current political scene, world events, local news. It does mean there isn't energy enough and time to do both, not for now. So, although I may post from time to time, it won't be consistent, though I hope that that day will come.

Renewed Ambition

2009-01-02T23:35:00.002-05:00

I began this blog one year ago, and initially I did well at my goal of posting nearly every day. However, a family tragedy in April, the death of our son Leif, not only took away my interest in writing this blog, but took away any time I had for it as well.

Instead, I began writing a blog about his life and death, and our feelings about them. I'm still writing Remembering Leif, and will continue it, but at last I am feeling more interest in other writing and life in general, so one of my New Year's resolutions is to begin writing again, here on Exconsulto, and also other writing for publication. I hope I will be able to stick with that.

There was so much to write about in 2008, the political scene, the economic disasters, and I had much to say, but that is now OBE, as they say in the military (overcome by events) and I am not going to look back.

New Documentary Shed Light on Space Based Solar Power

2008-11-18T23:58:00.001-05:00

New Documentary on The Futures Channel Highlights Space Based Solar Power

Great Einstein quote on research

2008-11-15T10:39:00.002-05:00

"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called Research." - Albert Einstein

Video - Powering the Planet - Space-Based Solar Power

2008-11-10T23:34:00.001-05:00

Watch a 19 minute video on the future and development of Space Based Solar Power on The Future Channel:

Space Based Solar Power - Alternative Energy Solution

2008-09-04T22:45:00.001-05:00

Read the statistics closely. Think about what they mean to our future. There is tremendous opportunity here . . . and tremendous risk if we don't get to work.

The Height of Folly

2008-08-11T23:27:00.002-05:00

Is Nancy Pelosi nuts? This folly of asking the President to release oil from the national reserve is just crazy. What if we need it for the purpose for which it was intended? A national emergency. We would have to replace that oil with HIGHER priced oil. Again, nuts! As a nation we would just spend even more. Besides, although it HURTS and our economy is suffering, we'd better just suck it up and get used to the higher oil prices. They're going to fluctuate, but I don't think they are ever going down really low again. Even at $4 a gallon, we are paying far less than the rest of the world and using more of the world's oil. Oil is not going to be cheap, ever again. Using foolish measures to try to lower the price is just throwing money away.

Alaska Jellyfish

2008-06-23T23:36:00.001-05:00

These jellyfish at the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, Alaska were so beautiful and graceful. I never got the perfect photo because they were moving too quickly in the dark water to get clear focus, but the short video clips turned out pretty nicely.

The water sounds are added. We couldn't hear any water noises through the aquarium glass, and I doubt that they make any noise, anyway. However, the ambient noise in the room was distracting and I thought that adding something more appropriate than music would be soothing.

Moon Society Creates Space Solar Power Demo

2008-06-23T22:43:00.004-05:00

The Moon Society (see Blog Links For Curious Minds at right) created a demonstration project for the National Space Society Conference at the end of May, working from an original design by LTC Peter A. Garretson, USAF. For more information and photos, see this link, or, if invisible, check the links at right.

The Anti Woman, Anti Hillary Prejudice Marchs On

2008-05-08T16:56:00.002-05:00

It isn't even subtle. It's blatant. I ask you, if another man were running neck and neck with Obama, there wouldn't be constant calls for him to get out of the race. In fact, if he left, someone would fault him for quitting.

The anti-Hillary bandwagon has been in full swing since long before she ever decided to run. We aren't getting "news," we are getting propaganda.

It doesn't matter whether you are for Hillary or against her. What matters is FAIRNESS and the treatment of a female candidate. It's disgusting.

Photo of the Day - Shawl seller

2008-03-30T02:15:00.001-05:00

Many of the street vendors who have stalls in China display their wares with a fine sense of color and design.

"The Great Risk Shift" by Jacob S. Hacker

2008-03-30T02:06:00.002-05:00

It's amazing that our President seems unaware of the myriad reasons that Americans are feeling insecure. The current financial industry crisis and the devaluing of our homes is the latest, and most visible, blow to middle class American families, but it's hardly the beginning and not likely to be the end.

In this important book, subtitled, "The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of th American Dream," Hacker details the swift eroding of many of the underpinnings of the basic security we once worked for, and now can't achieve, from the decline and near disappearance of pensions to the lack of health insurance or underinsurance. He documents the rise of the so-called "Personal Responsibility" crusade for the "ownership society," a crusade and society that can only work for those of wealth. For the rest of us, it is financial brinksmanship, keeping us on the ladder of middle class status only if we are fortunate enough to avoid a major financial disaster . . . which would not likely be of our own making, such as losing a job, or having a health crisis for which we cannot pay (even with insurance).

He makes a strong case that this kind of insecurity costs society greatly, and that there has to be some basic security for opportunity to be real.

Read this important book. Then think about where our country is headed. As he says, get mad. Then do something about it.

Reading is Fundamental funding to be cut

2008-02-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

In a shocking display of behavior contradicting the lip service given to "No Child Left Behind" the Bush administration proposes deleting funding for Reading is Fundamental (RIF), a program funded since 1975 to help improve literacy. If Laura Bush knows about this, I can't imagine that as a former school librarian, she's taking it lightly.

A mere "$25.5 million in funding for this program, RIF would not be able to distribute 16 million books annually to the nation’s youngest and most at-risk children." What a bargain!

Read the RIF press release on this blow to children and reading here:

Reading is Fundamental Home Page - with link to campaign for funding reinstatement:

If the links do not appear, please see them in the Sites/Links list on the right side of the page.

Photo of the Day - Roofs at the Forbidden City

2008-02-08T09:46:00.000-05:00

The yellow glazed tile roofs in the Forbidden City in Beijing created many interesting compositions with their angles, upswept ends and marching animals meant to keep out bad spirits.

Watch out! Your bank may be out to gouge you

2008-02-06T10:37:00.001-05:00

Take a close look at your bank statements. Check all transactions online. Make sure you look at every line of your credit card statement. If you don't, you may end up losing significant amounts of money.

I got a shock this morning. My bank subtracted a "monthly maintenance fee" of $20 from my savings account. This has never happened before, though when I called to protest it, I was told there was no change in the rules for my accounts.

No change? I've had this account for several years and never been charged $20 a month for the "privilege" of having this bank keep my money and invest it for themselves, paying me a small interest rate, nor have I greatly reduced the amount in the account. This account has always had a healthy amount in it, and is not one of those accounts that incurs a fee from lack of activity.

The explanation from the bank? I must have this account "linked" to a particular kind of checking account, and maintain a combined daily balance of over $15,000, or I will get this fee. This checking account incurs its own fees. I've had a checking account at this bank for over three years with none of these fees or problems.

What a rip-off. Banks, including this one, are advertising how they are helping people save, but then they turn around and subtract $20 a month of those savings if they aren't maintaining large amounts at low interest rates. Most passbook or money market accounts won't even earn that much interest in a month, so it's a net loss to the customer and a great net gain for the bank.

In my 45 years of banking, I have never encountered such usury until recently. First it was the excessive fees and interest rates on credit cards, which I luckily haven't had to pay, though I have canceled two cards from this same bank just on principle, but I know they are hurting others who have far less than I do and can little afford it.

The first time I encountered this kind of "disincentive" for savings was several years ago when a young person I knew opened a small savings account(at a different bank in a different state) . . . and found out that unless he had at least $100 in it at all times and at least one transaction a month, the bank was going to subtract $5 a month as a "maintenance fee." Maintenance of what? How much work was it taking their computers to keep track of that account? How can banks "encourage" saving that way?

Protest. I called the bank and complained. They took the $20 charge off "this one time," but I told them I will be taking my money elsewhere . . . that is, if I can find a decent bank without such policies.

On top of the annoyance and loss of funds, I hate the time it takes to deal with these things, and they probably count on that to keep people right where they are. Moving my money market account will be an inconvenience to me, but $240 a year in excessive charges are not worth "conveniennce" to me.

Photo of the Day - Lychees

2008-01-10T22:23:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up in landlocked Kansas, the only time I saw lychee "nuts" was the canned variety, rarely at home or in a Chinese restaurant. By that time, their prickly reddish rind had been peeled off and the small seed removed leaving only the white fleshy fruit in the canning syrup. I had no idea why anyone would call them "nuts" or what they looked or tasted like when fresh.

When I was in China, I saw fresh lychees for sale in the Guilin area . . . on the baskets of street vendors on bicycles, on carts, in markets. It was a treat to peel them and eat them fresh. I still found it odd that they are called nuts and not fruit, since we can't eat the slightly poisonous nut. After all, we don't eat peach pits but we don't call peaches "peach nuts."

I had a similar experience in Japan. I grew up only knowing mandarin oranges as the canned product, but in Japan, I went "mikagari," or mandarin orange picking. How wonderful, fragrant and tasty the fresh ones were!

The Horse Race

2008-01-10T22:06:00.000-05:00

It was greatly satisfying to hear Brian Williams read email from viewers disgusted with the media coverage of the election, nailing them for treating it like a sports event and reporting only polls, campaign strategy and commentary like calling Hillary Clinton's passionate and emotional reaction a "near breakdown" (hardly!), and asking where the real reporting on the issues, candidates stands on them, and plans is.

The media got their comeuppance in the new Hampshire primary. Kudos to the people of New Hampshire for not allowing media polls to tell them how to vote! Whether you're for Hillary or against her, you should applaud and welcome this scenario in which all the pollsters and pundits will be forced to reevaluate. NO ONE should be "anointed" as the nominee this early in the process. Let the voters have their say without being told their candidate is already out of the running or bound to win. Make them rethink polling that fails to take into account that people change their minds, that events can change minds, and that candidates continue to evolve. Do not let them hijack the process!

While we're at it, let's remember this campaign as something special in the history of American politics, where a woman, an African American and a Hispanic all ran as serious and creditable candidates for the presidency of our nation, and realize that among the voters, there may be more pulling us together than pulling us apart. Let's hope the policitians get it.

Let's hope whoever wins the nonimations will be up to the job and truly understand the important problems facing our nation and the world.

Photo of the Day - Bamboo Raft on the Li River

2007-12-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

Beautiful tall stands of bamboo grow along the Li River near Guilin, China, and local people craft rafts from the long poles. This man was poling his raft near our riverboat in hopes of selling his wares.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

2007-12-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

It's an ultimate irony. George W. Bush insists "we" brought freedom to Iraq by deposing Sadam Hussein's government, but have we unleashed and given freedom to a spirit of hate and persecution? Tonight, 60 Minutes showed a report on the persecution and murder of Christians in Iraq. We've seen reports of terrible treatment of women, those women that Bush was so proud of having liberated, who are now worse off than under the dictator Sadam. We have liberated the sectarian violence. If freedom were only the freedom to live a good life and respect one's neighbor, it would be a desirable outcome, but if "freedom" means violence, hatred, death and destruction, anarchy and chaos, what have we wrought?

We keep hearing that the news out of Iraq is "better." Better because there is less killing, not because it has stopped, not because the Iraqi government has risen to the occasion to unify the country, not because the country is pulling together to find a common, peaceful future. Well, it's a start . . . but will it lead anywhere? Anywhere we can be proud of? It looks grim to me.

Photo of the Day - Hong Kong at Night

2007-11-10T12:37:00.000-05:00

Hong Kong has changed immensely in the 25 years since I was last there. The number of skyscrapers in such a small space is astounding, just as it is in Shanghai. This photo was taken from the Star Ferry about 10:00 PM.

Disgusted with the lot of them - and us

2007-11-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

They talk a good game about working together bipartisan to solve problems. Then they turn right around and call each other names, misstate each other's positions, and stymie any progress. The lot of them. When did it become more important to block the other party than to govern the country? When did it become more important to misrepresent the facts and the opponents than to work on real solutions? When did it become acceptable to spend wildly and act as though taxes to pay for it was irresponsible? Have they all gone completely nuts?

When did causing anarchy in a country, killing its citizens, ruining its infrastructure, and trying to engineer disruptive, fast social and economic changes equate to bringing freedom? Is freedom really, as the song says, "just another word for nothing left to lose"?

Where is a real statesman, stateswoman, who looks at all the immense problems facing our country and the world and is more interested in truth and solutions than playing word games to win?

Where are real voters who care more about truth and issues than reassuring platitudes, more about major issues than symbols, emotional issues, and avoiding paying their fair share? Where are people who realize that American can't and shouldn't rule the world, who respect other countries and cultures, who realize we can't change them to fit our specifications? Where are Christians who even recall the Golden Rule?

Even if a real statesperson ran and won the presidency, the opposition party would see to it that he or she could not govern, could not get a program through Congress. They are more interested in a political football game than in our country. They all talk a good game, sure, love to throw in what they think Americans want and how patriotic they are, but when do they look at the big picture? When do they look at what will WORK?

We love to quote Harry Truman, but what politician today is willing to let the buck stop with him or her? Willing to talk plain truth and tell it like it is?

Where is it written in the Constitution that political parties have this kind of power? Did our founding fathers have any clue that we would have politicians running up unimaginable debt and not be willing to pay for it? Would they be horrified at the attempts to create an imperial presidency and negate the carefully crafted checks and balances? Would they be rightfully frightened at a president that encouraged the formation of private armies, paid more than our military, to avoid keeping the military we need?

And what about the "free press" that is supposed to keep us informed? What passes for "news"? They report on the the political campaign as though it were a football game or a horse race. They focus on who is ahead in the polls, who spends the most money, who has the best television ad, who made a mistake or misspoke, but NOT ON THE ISSUES, not on whether any of them have plans that work, not on their previous records, other than to make passing mention of it here and there. It's like a long beauty contest, reality show, or sports event. Where is the serious reporting?

The so-called debates give us a little bit of a chance to see the candidates in action, but it's really a series of farces. None of them have time to really explain any answer, or to actually DEBATE each other. It's more like a spelling bee. A bunch of would-be presidents standing up there answering shotgun questions with very short time limits on the answers. About all you really find out is how fast they think and how well they can position themselves.

If you really want to know about them, you have to go and dig, spend a lot of time, and hope you aren't getting a bunch of biased "information" put out by someone with an axe to grind.

We've had eight years of bad government. The saying is, we get the government we deserve. Let's hope we don't continue to deserve anything like this!

And, let's hope we quit looking for miracles and voting to avoid paying for what we want . . . or give it up and decide we don't want our government to do it. Until the public uses some sense, we can't expect Washington to do it. They want to get elected, and they will do just about any damn fool thing we want to get what they want. Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.

Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire C-SPAN

2007-10-31T23:37:00.001-05:00

What happened to Cheney's sense of reason after 1994?

Photo of the Day - Dragon Post on Xian City Wall

2007-10-27T12:52:00.000-05:00

Although Xi'an (China) is most famous for the terra cotta warriors, we were impressed with the intact city wall. On the wall are these dragon lantern posts, very stylized and attractive.

Space Based Solar Power

2007-10-16T15:21:00.001-05:00

Photo of the Day - Hong Kong Ceiling

2007-10-14T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is the beautiful ceiling in one area of the Harbourside shopping center in Hong Kong, an ultramodern enclosed center with high class brand name stores beyond my means and an incredible contrast to the more traditional Hong Kong shops just a couple of blocks away, those much more familiar to me from my visit there 25 years ago.

Space based Solar Power

2007-10-14T11:32:00.000-05:00

Think about the possibility of unlimited solar power beamed from space. This idea is not new, but in light of the dwindling oil reserves, Mid East unrest, and increasing world energy demands, an office at the Pentagon and a group of scientists and interested parties including astronaut Buzz Aldrin are advocating the development of this energy source. A press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC presented the interim report. Accounts of the conference are online, including audio from NPR, and the interim report is also available. If you are interested in this exciting possibility, please see the Sites for Curious Minds section on the right side of this blog, or Google "space based solar power" and Pentagon for more.

Photo of the Day - Water Buffalo

2007-10-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

Along the Li River near Guilin, China, we saw many mother water buffalo with calves.

Photo of the Day - Beijing Panda

2007-10-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

This panda in the Beijing Zoo was quite the performer. We were fortunate to be there early in the day when he was active, climbing and seemingly posing. Ever seen a dirty panda? It was wet and rainy, and some of the pandas had gotten their pretty white coats quite mussed up, but this fellow was still looking spiffy.

Photo of the Day - Sweet Gum leaves

2007-09-06T07:31:00.000-05:00

I like photographing groupings of leaves. It amazes me all the different shades of green, and other colors, that leaves have.

The Larry Craig Witch Hunt

2007-09-05T22:27:00.000-05:00

Have you read the police officer's account of what happened in that airport bathroom? Even if the motions that Craig made with his feet and hand were signals soliciting gay sex, so what? He didn't harm anyone, and I certainly don't see how he was "disturbing the peace." Whose peace? No one except Craig and the police officer even knew what was going on.

Whether Craig was actually trying to proposition someone or not, we may never know, but if someone other than a police officer had been in the next stall, nothing would have come of it. Either the guy would have just ignored the signals or told Craig to keep it to himself, or, if both we so inclined, they may have engaged in some actual activity, but probably not flagrantly in front of other people in the restroom.

Women get propositioned all the time, or have come-on remarks or gestures made to them, in ways that are far more direct and annoying, or disturbing, than this incident, but most of them aren't made into criminal cases.

So, did Sen. Craig deserve to have his name dragged through the mud, his family embarrassed, and his political party desert him and treat him like dirt to be washed off? No, I don't think so. Not for THESE actions at any rate.

However, I do worry about his judgement in pleading guilty and thinking it would just go away. Not in our poison political atmosphere.

Shame on his colleagues for pushing him to resign. I'll bet a fair number of them have done worse things than this. Just no police officer on the scene . . . .

How many have drunk driving citatiuons and convictions, for instance? That's FAR more dangerous to the public and far more disturbing of the peace.

I don't know whether Sen. Craig is a good senator or not, whether he is gay or not, or much of anything else about him. I don't think he was entrapped. No one enticed him into doing what he did. But what he did does not deserve this nasty witch hunt.

Doonesbury takes on the federal debt

2007-09-02T23:14:00.000-05:00

According to today's comic strip, the Republican presidencies, Reagan and the two Bushes, account for 70% of the federal deficit . . . . since 1776!

Whatever happened to Republican fiscal conservancy? They ought to be ashamed!

The Invisible Elephant

2007-08-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

I just listened to the Democratic debate in Iowa. While I like the candidates, they, just like their Republican counterparts, and the journalists questioning them, are all ignoring the mammoth invisible elephant. Sure, we want a lot of things, but how are we going to pay for them? We can't pay for what we are doing now! We have become the world's largest debtor nation, our excesse being financed by foreigners. Thirty years ago we were told that the federal debt and deficit spending didn't really matter because we "owed it to ourselves."

That has long since ceased to be true. We are mortgaging our present and our future and risking our way of life by spending beyond our means, and far beyond our willingness to actually pay for it. I think too many Americans think Uncle Sam has deep pockets lined with excess cash he can just throw at anything we decide we want. Wake up! He not only doesn't have cash in those pockets, the only way he gets any is from our taxes or borrowing from China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and the like. We are like children who don't see why our parents can't buy everything we ask for. We don't see the consequences of our unwillingness to pay our own way.

Our federal government is like a family spending it's way into bankruptcy, paying the mininum due on a raft of credit cards, juggling the debt and spending more and more, but no one in the family is willing to cough up something to pay down the principal, or refuse to spend more. And the Republican "religion" that taxes should be cut is crazy. Like the family saying, well, we have all this debt, but let's take a salary cut and make it even harder to pay our bills. (Yes, I know, they think it will stimulate the economy and bring in more taxes, but where's the proof? Faith is not enough.)

The current financial industry and housing market meltdown is part of the same foolish psychology -- unregulated companies loan too much money to people who can't pay it back. Greed is great until they start to feel the pinch - and then ask Uncle Sam to help out. Who is more foolish? The lenders? The people who spend more than they can pay? Our government doing the same? It's a country and society-wide illness. We all need a 12-step program for overspenders!

There are many deserving programs that we would like to have, but it's time for an across the board evaluation of what the basic needs are, not the extras we would like to have. It's time to figure out how we are going to really pay for the things that matter most and admit to ourselves we can't have it all.

And let's stop pretending "welfare" is a bad word if the government is going to hand out corporate welfare in the billions. Go back to some reasonable regulation and make corporations behave in a fiscally responsible manner so we don't have to bail them out -- with Chinese dollars.

Are any of the candidates on either side courageous enough to tell the truth about this? Or are they all just going to keep promising more and more that we can't pay for?