Most economists believe the Great Recession ended in the summer of 2009 although a quick look at the numbers reveals President Barack Obama's stimulus measures, widely credited for getting the economy going again, really didn’t work.
In the third quarter of 2009, final gross domestic product growth came to 2.2 percent, according to government data, although when stimulus spending was subtracted from that figure and numbers show the economy contracted. The economy grew 5.6 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009 according to official figures although that figure drops to 2 percent when taken net of stimulus money.
In fact, the numbers show the economy contracted again during the first quarter of 2010. Real growth means that economies are being more productive and real useful jobs are being created.
Government stimulus is an attempt to manipulate growth statistics via inefficient and wasteful government spending. Stimulus does not advance standards of living. The Commerce Department says the U.S. economy officially grew 3 percent during the first quarter of 2010 when compared to the fourth quarter of last year, down from its original estimate of 3.2 percent.
Economists were expecting even better numbers. This is a fairly tepid recovery that is fighting a lot of headwinds. It will be hard to grow rapidly when the economy has to overcome limited credit availability, a modest recovery in housing, high unemployment rates and, as a consequence, depressed consumer confidence ... and uncertainty in Europe.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Society with the eye of Evolution
Journey from Apes ToHumans
About three million years ago, give or take few thousands :), some african apes had been living in trees came down to the ground. There was nothing special about these apes. Their brains were small and they weren't especially smart. They didnt have claws or sharp teeth for weapons. they weren't particularly strong or fast. they were certainly no match for a leopard. But because they were short, they started standing upright on their hind legs, to see over the tall African grass. That's how it began. Just some ordinary apes, looking out over the grass.
As time went on, the apes stood upright more and more of the time. That left their hands free to do things. Like all apes, they were tool-users. Chimps, for example, use twigs to fish for termites. That sort of thing. As time went on, our apes ancestors developed more complex tools. That simulated their brains to grow in size and complexity. It began a spiral; more complex tools provoked more complex brains which provoked more complex tools. And our brains literally exploded, in evolutionary terms. Our brains more than doubled in size in about a million years.
Problem of Evolution:
Brain size has created problem along with helping us, for one thing problem getting born. Big brain can't pass through the birth canal -which means that both mother and child die in child birth. That;s no good. What's the evolutionary response? To make human infants born very early in development, when their brains are still small enough to pass through pelvis. It's the marsupial solution- most growth occurs outside the mother's body. A human child's brain doubles during the first year of life. that's a good solution to the problem of birth, but it creates other problems. It means that human children will be helpless long after birth. The infant of many mammals can walk minutes after birth. Other Walk in a few days, or weeks. but human infants can't walk for a full year. They can't feed themselves for even longer. Being born in an immature state means that human infants have unformed brains. they don't arrive with a lot built-in, instinctive behavior. Instinctively, a newborn can suck and grasp, but that's all about all.
Society and Education system:
Complex human behavior is not instinctive at all. So one price of bin brains was that our incestors had to evolve new stable social organization s to permit long-term child care, lasting many years. So human societies has to develop education to train the brains of their children. to teach them how to act. Every human society expends tremendous time and energy teaching its children the right way to behave. You look at a simpler society, in say rain forest somewhere, and you find that every child is born into a network of adults responsible for helping to raise the child. Not only parents, but aunts and uncles and grandparents and tribal elders. Some teach the child to hunt or gather food or weave; some teach them about sex and war. But responsibilites are clearly defined, and if a child does not have, say, a mother's brother's sister to do certain teaching job, the people get together and appoint the substitute.
Because, raising children is, in a sense, the reason the society exists in the first place. It's the most important thing that happens, and it's the culmination of all the tools and language and social structure that has evolved. And eventually, a few million years later, we have kids using computers.
About three million years ago, give or take few thousands :), some african apes had been living in trees came down to the ground. There was nothing special about these apes. Their brains were small and they weren't especially smart. They didnt have claws or sharp teeth for weapons. they weren't particularly strong or fast. they were certainly no match for a leopard. But because they were short, they started standing upright on their hind legs, to see over the tall African grass. That's how it began. Just some ordinary apes, looking out over the grass.
As time went on, the apes stood upright more and more of the time. That left their hands free to do things. Like all apes, they were tool-users. Chimps, for example, use twigs to fish for termites. That sort of thing. As time went on, our apes ancestors developed more complex tools. That simulated their brains to grow in size and complexity. It began a spiral; more complex tools provoked more complex brains which provoked more complex tools. And our brains literally exploded, in evolutionary terms. Our brains more than doubled in size in about a million years.
Problem of Evolution:
Brain size has created problem along with helping us, for one thing problem getting born. Big brain can't pass through the birth canal -which means that both mother and child die in child birth. That;s no good. What's the evolutionary response? To make human infants born very early in development, when their brains are still small enough to pass through pelvis. It's the marsupial solution- most growth occurs outside the mother's body. A human child's brain doubles during the first year of life. that's a good solution to the problem of birth, but it creates other problems. It means that human children will be helpless long after birth. The infant of many mammals can walk minutes after birth. Other Walk in a few days, or weeks. but human infants can't walk for a full year. They can't feed themselves for even longer. Being born in an immature state means that human infants have unformed brains. they don't arrive with a lot built-in, instinctive behavior. Instinctively, a newborn can suck and grasp, but that's all about all.
Society and Education system:
Complex human behavior is not instinctive at all. So one price of bin brains was that our incestors had to evolve new stable social organization s to permit long-term child care, lasting many years. So human societies has to develop education to train the brains of their children. to teach them how to act. Every human society expends tremendous time and energy teaching its children the right way to behave. You look at a simpler society, in say rain forest somewhere, and you find that every child is born into a network of adults responsible for helping to raise the child. Not only parents, but aunts and uncles and grandparents and tribal elders. Some teach the child to hunt or gather food or weave; some teach them about sex and war. But responsibilites are clearly defined, and if a child does not have, say, a mother's brother's sister to do certain teaching job, the people get together and appoint the substitute.
Because, raising children is, in a sense, the reason the society exists in the first place. It's the most important thing that happens, and it's the culmination of all the tools and language and social structure that has evolved. And eventually, a few million years later, we have kids using computers.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Oil Spill - Spilling the bean
Chronology of Events:
Tuesday, April 20th-A Transocean rig called the Deep water Horizon explodes and catches fire, approximately 42 miles Southeast of Venice, Louisiana, while finishing a well for British Petroleum. U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center receives report at approximately 10 p.m. Of the 126 people on board at the time of the explosion, 115 crew members were accounted for. Of these 115, 17 were medevaced from the scene. Search begins for missing 11.
Wednesday, April 21st-Officials state environmental damage will be minimal. BP mobilizes an armada of ships and aircraft to contain the oil slick.
Thursday, April 22nd-The fire rages. Mid-morning Thursday a second explosion occurs causing the rig to sink. 700,000 gallons of diesel are enclosed tanks inside the pontoons at the time of the initial explosion. Unclear if diesel remains contained.
Friday, April 23rd-Coast Guard state no oil appears to be escaping from the well head on the ocean floor. The U.S. Coast Guard suspends its search for the 11 missing crew members at approximately 5 p.m. ending a three day search that included 28 air and ocean craft and covered ~5,375 square miles.
Saturday, April 24th-With remotely operated vehicles, officials discover the oil is escaping from two leaks in a drilling pipe about 5,000 feet below the surface. Leaks appear to be releasing 1,000 barrels a day.
Sunday, April 25-The oil slick covering 600 square miles and spreading north, is about 70 miles south of the Mississippi and Alabama coastline.
Monday, April 26-The oil slick stretches 80 miles across the Gulf and is 36 miles southeast of Louisiana. Cleanup crews set up booms to block as much oil as possible from coming ashore. Remote operative vehicles are full day into operations to sea oil well on ocean floor. Reuters- “The leaking well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana’s coast, has created an oil sheen and emulsified crude slick with a circumference of about 600 miles, covering about 28,600 square miles (74,070 sq. km), the Coast Guard said on Tuesday. That’s slightly bigger than the U.S. state of West Virginia….The spill, however, is not comparable with the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster, which spilled about 11 million gallons (50 million liters) of oil into the Prince William Sound in Alaska when it ran aground in 1989. BP’s well is spewing about 42,000 gallons (190,900 liters) of oil a day into the ocean, the Coast Guard estimates.”
Tuesday, April 27-Officials consider setting fire to the slick, which has grown to 100 miles across. The fast-moving spill is about 20 miles off the Louisiana coast. A controlled burn of the surface oil is now considered. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar say they are expanding the government’s investigation of the explosion that caused the disaster. Obama administration officials meet with top executives of BP. Governor Bobby Jindal requests Coast Guard set up protective booms around several wildlife refuges.
Wednesday, April 28-The slick nears to 20 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River. British Petroleum states a controlled test to burn the leaking oil was successful late Wednesday afternoon. NOAA-”Workers finish a containment chamber portion of a collection doom that will collect oil escaping from the well at the seafloor. The first rig to drill a relief well arrives on site and will commence drilling on Friday but will not be ready for several months. Good weather allows for both skimming operations and aggressive aerial application of dispersant – over 50,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the surface oil in the last two days.” The U.S. Coast Guard move ahead with a plan to burn off some of the crude from the slick. Mineral Management Service calls off luncheon “to present its annual award for exemplary safety and environmental management.” BP among list of finalists.
Thursday, April 29th-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declares a state of emergency and the federal government sends in skimmers and booms to prevent environmental damage. At morning, the spill is roughly 16 miles off the Louisiana coast and stretches across a 600-mile area. Updated models indicate the the slick may reach parts of the coast by later today or early Friday. President Obama designates the spill of national significance allowing personnel and equipment from other regions to be more easily mobilized and transferred to the scene. BBC-President Barack Obama said BP was “ultimately responsible for funding… clean-up operations”. he US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, is to visit the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow. BP stocks plummet by 7% when admission that oil is leaking faster than original speculations. At current rate of oil leakage in 58 days it will surpass the Exxon Valdez disaster as the largest oil spill in U.S. history. BP official on the Today Show welcomes help from all parties including U.S. military. Concerns grow on impact to Louisiana seafood and tourism industry. As of 8:42pm, “Faint fingers of oily sheen have reached the mouth of Mississippi River…By sunset Thursday, the oil had crept into South Pass of the river and was lapping at the shoreline in long, thin lines.” Jean-Michel Cousteau releases statement of dismay and asks all ot expect more of their governments, “Write your Congressional and State representatives demanding their support for alternative energy technologies and policies at all levels of government, including subsidies.” Senator Bill Nelson FL-D drafts legislation to suspend the Obama administration’s plan of offshore exploration and drilling until a full investigation of diaster and the development of new protocols are developed.
Friday, April 30th-Satellite photos from NASA are released showing a finger of the slick reaching the delta.
Sunday, May 2nd-12 days after the explosion, Barack Obama visited the disaster zone.
Obama’s response to the oil spill was anything but slick
On April 20 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and began spewing enormous amounts of oil as the blow-out preventer apparently failed. It took eight days before Barack Obama could muster a response of any kind. It was ten days before the One could manage to find a spot in his busy schedule for this minor ecological incident. Some people suggests that Obama waited eight days to allow the oil spill to become disastrous so Obama could use the event for political purposes but as appealing as that is, it’s not likely true. Especially since Obama gave that particular oil rig a safety award last year.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/louisiana-oil-spill-feds-gave-safety-prize-transoceans/story?id=10528236
That had to be embarrassing to Obama, even for a guy who accepts no responsibility for anything that goes wrong. Barack Obama’s response (when he finally got to it) was entirely predictable; More government. Obama reflexively proposed to split the Minerals Management Service into two agencies. Sounds great, but government agencies are like green plants. If you split the stem you can wind up with two plants larger than the original. There is no question that is exactly what would happen in this case as well. There would be another ever-expanding federal agency with salaries and pensions to feed forever.
And since no crisis should go to waste, Obama also seized the opportunity to propose a new oil tax.
But the problem isn’t the lack of a new agency. The problem is lack of enforcement of existing law (is it just me or does this sound a lot like other issues?) The AP reported that:
and especially damning:
The mission of the Department of Energy? To reduce dependence on foreign oil.
Like I said, the LAST thing we need is more government. We just need for what we already have to actually function. Is that a lot to ask?
Tuesday, April 20th-A Transocean rig called the Deep water Horizon explodes and catches fire, approximately 42 miles Southeast of Venice, Louisiana, while finishing a well for British Petroleum. U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center receives report at approximately 10 p.m. Of the 126 people on board at the time of the explosion, 115 crew members were accounted for. Of these 115, 17 were medevaced from the scene. Search begins for missing 11.
Wednesday, April 21st-Officials state environmental damage will be minimal. BP mobilizes an armada of ships and aircraft to contain the oil slick.
Thursday, April 22nd-The fire rages. Mid-morning Thursday a second explosion occurs causing the rig to sink. 700,000 gallons of diesel are enclosed tanks inside the pontoons at the time of the initial explosion. Unclear if diesel remains contained.
Friday, April 23rd-Coast Guard state no oil appears to be escaping from the well head on the ocean floor. The U.S. Coast Guard suspends its search for the 11 missing crew members at approximately 5 p.m. ending a three day search that included 28 air and ocean craft and covered ~5,375 square miles.
Saturday, April 24th-With remotely operated vehicles, officials discover the oil is escaping from two leaks in a drilling pipe about 5,000 feet below the surface. Leaks appear to be releasing 1,000 barrels a day.
Sunday, April 25-The oil slick covering 600 square miles and spreading north, is about 70 miles south of the Mississippi and Alabama coastline.
Monday, April 26-The oil slick stretches 80 miles across the Gulf and is 36 miles southeast of Louisiana. Cleanup crews set up booms to block as much oil as possible from coming ashore. Remote operative vehicles are full day into operations to sea oil well on ocean floor. Reuters- “The leaking well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana’s coast, has created an oil sheen and emulsified crude slick with a circumference of about 600 miles, covering about 28,600 square miles (74,070 sq. km), the Coast Guard said on Tuesday. That’s slightly bigger than the U.S. state of West Virginia….The spill, however, is not comparable with the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster, which spilled about 11 million gallons (50 million liters) of oil into the Prince William Sound in Alaska when it ran aground in 1989. BP’s well is spewing about 42,000 gallons (190,900 liters) of oil a day into the ocean, the Coast Guard estimates.”
Tuesday, April 27-Officials consider setting fire to the slick, which has grown to 100 miles across. The fast-moving spill is about 20 miles off the Louisiana coast. A controlled burn of the surface oil is now considered. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar say they are expanding the government’s investigation of the explosion that caused the disaster. Obama administration officials meet with top executives of BP. Governor Bobby Jindal requests Coast Guard set up protective booms around several wildlife refuges.
Wednesday, April 28-The slick nears to 20 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River. British Petroleum states a controlled test to burn the leaking oil was successful late Wednesday afternoon. NOAA-”Workers finish a containment chamber portion of a collection doom that will collect oil escaping from the well at the seafloor. The first rig to drill a relief well arrives on site and will commence drilling on Friday but will not be ready for several months. Good weather allows for both skimming operations and aggressive aerial application of dispersant – over 50,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the surface oil in the last two days.” The U.S. Coast Guard move ahead with a plan to burn off some of the crude from the slick. Mineral Management Service calls off luncheon “to present its annual award for exemplary safety and environmental management.” BP among list of finalists.
Thursday, April 29th-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declares a state of emergency and the federal government sends in skimmers and booms to prevent environmental damage. At morning, the spill is roughly 16 miles off the Louisiana coast and stretches across a 600-mile area. Updated models indicate the the slick may reach parts of the coast by later today or early Friday. President Obama designates the spill of national significance allowing personnel and equipment from other regions to be more easily mobilized and transferred to the scene. BBC-President Barack Obama said BP was “ultimately responsible for funding… clean-up operations”. he US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, is to visit the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow. BP stocks plummet by 7% when admission that oil is leaking faster than original speculations. At current rate of oil leakage in 58 days it will surpass the Exxon Valdez disaster as the largest oil spill in U.S. history. BP official on the Today Show welcomes help from all parties including U.S. military. Concerns grow on impact to Louisiana seafood and tourism industry. As of 8:42pm, “Faint fingers of oily sheen have reached the mouth of Mississippi River…By sunset Thursday, the oil had crept into South Pass of the river and was lapping at the shoreline in long, thin lines.” Jean-Michel Cousteau releases statement of dismay and asks all ot expect more of their governments, “Write your Congressional and State representatives demanding their support for alternative energy technologies and policies at all levels of government, including subsidies.” Senator Bill Nelson FL-D drafts legislation to suspend the Obama administration’s plan of offshore exploration and drilling until a full investigation of diaster and the development of new protocols are developed.
Friday, April 30th-Satellite photos from NASA are released showing a finger of the slick reaching the delta.
Sunday, May 2nd-12 days after the explosion, Barack Obama visited the disaster zone.
Obama’s response to the oil spill was anything but slick
On April 20 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and began spewing enormous amounts of oil as the blow-out preventer apparently failed. It took eight days before Barack Obama could muster a response of any kind. It was ten days before the One could manage to find a spot in his busy schedule for this minor ecological incident. Some people suggests that Obama waited eight days to allow the oil spill to become disastrous so Obama could use the event for political purposes but as appealing as that is, it’s not likely true. Especially since Obama gave that particular oil rig a safety award last year.
The federal agency charged with enforcing safety on deepwater oil rigs has also played a major role in promoting the industry’s claim that it is safe, and in 2009 handed out one of its top prizes for safety to Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/louisiana-oil-spill-feds-gave-safety-prize-transoceans/story?id=10528236
That had to be embarrassing to Obama, even for a guy who accepts no responsibility for anything that goes wrong. Barack Obama’s response (when he finally got to it) was entirely predictable; More government. Obama reflexively proposed to split the Minerals Management Service into two agencies. Sounds great, but government agencies are like green plants. If you split the stem you can wind up with two plants larger than the original. There is no question that is exactly what would happen in this case as well. There would be another ever-expanding federal agency with salaries and pensions to feed forever.
And since no crisis should go to waste, Obama also seized the opportunity to propose a new oil tax.
But the problem isn’t the lack of a new agency. The problem is lack of enforcement of existing law (is it just me or does this sound a lot like other issues?) The AP reported that:
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100516/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_inspections
Earlier AP investigations have shown that the doomed rig was allowed to operate without safety documentation required by MMS regulations for the exact disaster scenario that occurred; that the cutoff valve which failed has repeatedly broken down at other wells in the years since regulators weakened testing requirements; and that regulation is so lax that some key safety aspects on rigs are decided almost entirely by the companies doing the work.
and especially damning:
A citation on Sept. 19, 2002, also involved the blowout preventer. The inspector issued a warning because “problems or irregularities observed during the testing of BOP system and actions taken to remedy such problems or irregularities are not recorded in the driller’s report or referenced documents.” It was asserted by BP’s President that the BOP was modified in 2005 but it’s not clear how much testing and inspecting of this or other BOP’s have occurred since then.The Obama response to this mess was poor and slow, especially given Obama’s harsh criticism of the Bush response to Katrina. That the press is so content to grant Obama a pass after being so harsh on Bush is grinding, but not unexpected. The last thing we need is another federal agency. The Department of Energy was formed in 1977 under Jimmy Carter. In 1979 40% of our oil was imported. Today 65% of our oil is imported.
The mission of the Department of Energy? To reduce dependence on foreign oil.
Like I said, the LAST thing we need is more government. We just need for what we already have to actually function. Is that a lot to ask?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Global Warming a Thought
Imagine that there is a new scientific theory that warns of an impending crisis, and points to a way out.
This theory quickly draws support from leading scientists, politicians, and celebrities, around the world. Research is funded by distinguished philanthropies, and carried out at prestigious universities. The crisis is reported frequently in the media. The science is taught in college and high school classrooms.
I don't mean global warming. I'm talking about another theory, which rose to prominence a century ago.
Its supporters included Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Winston Churchill. It was approved by supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis, who ruled in its favor. The famous names who supported it included Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; activist Margaret Sanger; botanist Luther Burbank; Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford university; the novelist H. G. Wells; the playwright George Bernard Shaw; and hundreds of others. Nobel Prize winners gave support. Research was backed by the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations. The Cold Springs Harbor institute was built to carry out this research, but important work was also done at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. Legislation to address the crisis was passed in states from New York to California.
These efforts had the support of the National Academy of Science, the American Medical Association, and the National Research Council.
All in all, the research, legislation, and molding of public opinion surrounding the theory went on for almost half a century. Those who opposed the theory were shouted down and called reactionary, blind to reality, or just plain ignorent. But in hindsight, what is surprising is that so few people objected.
Today, we know that this famous theory that gained so much support was actually pseudoscience. The crisis it claimed was nonexistent. And the action taken in the name of this theory were morally and criminally wrong. Ultimately, they lead to the deaths of millions of people.
Eugenics
The theory was eugenics, and its history is so dreadful and, to those who were caught up in it, so embarrassing that it is now rarely discussed. But it is a story that should be well known to every citizen, so that its horrors are not repeated.
The theory of eugenics postulated a crisis of the gene pool leading to the deterioration of the human race. the best human beings were not breeding as rapidly as the inferior ones - the foreigners, immigrants, jews, degenerates, the unfit, and the "feeble minded." Francis Galton, a respected British scientist, first speculated about this area, but his ideas were taken far beyond anything he intended. They were adopted by science-minded Americans, as well as those who had no interest in science but who were worried about the immigration of inferior races early in the twentieth century - "dangerous human pests" who represented "the rising tide of imbeciles" and who were polluting the best of the human race.
The eugenicists and the immigrationnist joined the forces to put a stop to this. The plan was to identify individuals who were feeble minded - Jews were agreed to be largely feeble minded, but so were many foreigners, as well as blacks and stop them from breeding by isolation in institutions or by sterilization.
As Margaret Sanger said, "Fostering the good-for-nothing at the expense of the good is an extreme cruelty... there is no greater curse to posterity than that of bequeathing them an increasing population of imbeciles." She spoke of burden of caring for "this dead weight of human waste."
Such views were widely shared. H. G. Wells spoke against "ill-trained swarms of inferior citizens." Theodore Roosevelt said that "Society has no business to permits degenerates to reproduce their kind." Luther Burbank: "Stop permitting criminals and weaklings to reproduce." George Bernard Shaw said that only eugenics could save mankind.
There was overt racism in this movement, exemplified by texts such as "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy", by American author Lothrop Stoddard. But, at the time, racism was considered an unremarkable aspect of the effort to attain a marvelous goal - the improvement of the humankind in the future. It was this avant-garde notion that attracted the most liberal and progressive minds of a generations. California was one of the twenty nine American States to pass laws allowing sterilization, but it proved the most forward-looking and enthusiastic - more sterilizations were carried out in California than anywhere else in America.
Eugenics research was funded by the Carnegie Foundation, and later by the Rockefeller Foundation. The latter was so enthusiastic that even after the center of the eugenics effort moved to Germany, and involved the gassing of individuals from mental institutions, the Rockefeller Foundation continued to finance German Researchers at a very high level. (The foundation was quiet about it, but they were still funding research in 1939, only months before onset of WWII.)
...
Anyway So much for the detail about eugenics.
...
After WWII, nobody was a eugenicist, and nobody had ever been a eugenicist. Biographers of the celebrated and the powerful did not dwell on the attractions of this philosophy to their subjects, and sometimes did not mention it at all. Eugenics ceased to be a subject for college classrooms, although some argue that its ideas continue to have currency in disguised form.
But in retrospect, three points stand out. First, Despite the construction of Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, despite the efforts at universities and the pleadings of lawyers, there was no scientific basis for eugenics. In fact , nobody at that time know what a gene really was. The movement was able to proceed because it employed vague terms never rigorously defined. "Feeble-mindedness" could mean anything from poverty and illiteracy to epilepsy. Similarly, there was no clear definition of "degenerate" or "unfit."
Second, the eugenics movement was really a social program masquerading as a scientific one. What drove it was concern about immigration and racism and undesirable people moving into one's neighborhood or country. Once again vague terminology helped conceal what was really going on.
Third, and most distressing, the scientific establishment in both the United States and Germany did not mount any sustained protest. Quite the contrariety. In Germany scientist quickly fell into line with the program. Modern German researchers have gone back to review Nazi documents from the 1930s. They expected to find directives telling scientists what research should be done. But none were necessary. In the word of Ute Deichman, "Scientists, including those who were not members of the Nazi party, helped to get funding for their work through their modified behavior and direct cooperation with the state."Deichman speaks of the "active role of scientists themselves in regard to Nazi race policy... where research was aimed at confirming the racial doctrine... no external pressure can be documented." German scientists adjusted their research interests to the new policies. And those few who did not adjust disappeared.
Global Warming
Now we are engaged in a great new theory. that once again has drawn the support of politicians, scientists, and celebrities around the world. Once again, the theory is promoted by major foundations. once again, the research is carried out at prestigious universities. Once again, legislation is passed and social programs are urged in its name. Once again, critics are few and harshly dealt with.
Once again, the measures being urged have little basis in fact or science. Once again, groups with other agendas are hiding behind a movement that appears high-minded. Once again, claims of moral superiority are used to justify extreme actions. Once again, the fact that some people are hurt is shrugged off because an abstract cause is said to be greater than any human consequences. Once again, vague terms like sustainability and generational justice - terms that have no agreed definition are employed in the service of a new crisis.
I am not arguing that global warming is the same as eugenics. But the similarities are not superficial. And I do claim that open and frank discussion of the data, and of the issues, is being suppressed. Leading scientific journals have taken strong editorial positions on the side of global warming, which I argue, they have no business doing. Under the circumstances, any scientist who has doubts understands clearly that they will be wise to mute their expression.
One proof of this suppression is the fact that so many of the outspoken critics of global warming are retired professors. These individuals are no longer seeking grant applications and no longer have to face colleagues whose grant applications and career advancement may be jeopardized by their criticisms.
The past history of human belief is a cautionary tale. humans have killed thousands of our fellow human beings because we believed they had signed a contract with the devil, and had become witches.
My View
In my view, there is only one hope for human kind to emerge from what Carl Sagan called "the demon-haunted world" of our past. That hope is science. But as Alston Chase put it, "when the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power." That is the danger we now face. And that is why the intermixing of science and politics is a bad combination, with a bad history. We must remember the history, and be certain that what we present to the world as knowledge is disinterested and honest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
This theory quickly draws support from leading scientists, politicians, and celebrities, around the world. Research is funded by distinguished philanthropies, and carried out at prestigious universities. The crisis is reported frequently in the media. The science is taught in college and high school classrooms.
I don't mean global warming. I'm talking about another theory, which rose to prominence a century ago.
Its supporters included Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Winston Churchill. It was approved by supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis, who ruled in its favor. The famous names who supported it included Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; activist Margaret Sanger; botanist Luther Burbank; Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford university; the novelist H. G. Wells; the playwright George Bernard Shaw; and hundreds of others. Nobel Prize winners gave support. Research was backed by the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations. The Cold Springs Harbor institute was built to carry out this research, but important work was also done at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. Legislation to address the crisis was passed in states from New York to California.
These efforts had the support of the National Academy of Science, the American Medical Association, and the National Research Council.
All in all, the research, legislation, and molding of public opinion surrounding the theory went on for almost half a century. Those who opposed the theory were shouted down and called reactionary, blind to reality, or just plain ignorent. But in hindsight, what is surprising is that so few people objected.
Today, we know that this famous theory that gained so much support was actually pseudoscience. The crisis it claimed was nonexistent. And the action taken in the name of this theory were morally and criminally wrong. Ultimately, they lead to the deaths of millions of people.
Eugenics
The theory was eugenics, and its history is so dreadful and, to those who were caught up in it, so embarrassing that it is now rarely discussed. But it is a story that should be well known to every citizen, so that its horrors are not repeated.
The theory of eugenics postulated a crisis of the gene pool leading to the deterioration of the human race. the best human beings were not breeding as rapidly as the inferior ones - the foreigners, immigrants, jews, degenerates, the unfit, and the "feeble minded." Francis Galton, a respected British scientist, first speculated about this area, but his ideas were taken far beyond anything he intended. They were adopted by science-minded Americans, as well as those who had no interest in science but who were worried about the immigration of inferior races early in the twentieth century - "dangerous human pests" who represented "the rising tide of imbeciles" and who were polluting the best of the human race.
The eugenicists and the immigrationnist joined the forces to put a stop to this. The plan was to identify individuals who were feeble minded - Jews were agreed to be largely feeble minded, but so were many foreigners, as well as blacks and stop them from breeding by isolation in institutions or by sterilization.
As Margaret Sanger said, "Fostering the good-for-nothing at the expense of the good is an extreme cruelty... there is no greater curse to posterity than that of bequeathing them an increasing population of imbeciles." She spoke of burden of caring for "this dead weight of human waste."
Such views were widely shared. H. G. Wells spoke against "ill-trained swarms of inferior citizens." Theodore Roosevelt said that "Society has no business to permits degenerates to reproduce their kind." Luther Burbank: "Stop permitting criminals and weaklings to reproduce." George Bernard Shaw said that only eugenics could save mankind.
There was overt racism in this movement, exemplified by texts such as "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy", by American author Lothrop Stoddard. But, at the time, racism was considered an unremarkable aspect of the effort to attain a marvelous goal - the improvement of the humankind in the future. It was this avant-garde notion that attracted the most liberal and progressive minds of a generations. California was one of the twenty nine American States to pass laws allowing sterilization, but it proved the most forward-looking and enthusiastic - more sterilizations were carried out in California than anywhere else in America.
Eugenics research was funded by the Carnegie Foundation, and later by the Rockefeller Foundation. The latter was so enthusiastic that even after the center of the eugenics effort moved to Germany, and involved the gassing of individuals from mental institutions, the Rockefeller Foundation continued to finance German Researchers at a very high level. (The foundation was quiet about it, but they were still funding research in 1939, only months before onset of WWII.)
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Anyway So much for the detail about eugenics.
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After WWII, nobody was a eugenicist, and nobody had ever been a eugenicist. Biographers of the celebrated and the powerful did not dwell on the attractions of this philosophy to their subjects, and sometimes did not mention it at all. Eugenics ceased to be a subject for college classrooms, although some argue that its ideas continue to have currency in disguised form.
But in retrospect, three points stand out. First, Despite the construction of Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, despite the efforts at universities and the pleadings of lawyers, there was no scientific basis for eugenics. In fact , nobody at that time know what a gene really was. The movement was able to proceed because it employed vague terms never rigorously defined. "Feeble-mindedness" could mean anything from poverty and illiteracy to epilepsy. Similarly, there was no clear definition of "degenerate" or "unfit."
Second, the eugenics movement was really a social program masquerading as a scientific one. What drove it was concern about immigration and racism and undesirable people moving into one's neighborhood or country. Once again vague terminology helped conceal what was really going on.
Third, and most distressing, the scientific establishment in both the United States and Germany did not mount any sustained protest. Quite the contrariety. In Germany scientist quickly fell into line with the program. Modern German researchers have gone back to review Nazi documents from the 1930s. They expected to find directives telling scientists what research should be done. But none were necessary. In the word of Ute Deichman, "Scientists, including those who were not members of the Nazi party, helped to get funding for their work through their modified behavior and direct cooperation with the state."Deichman speaks of the "active role of scientists themselves in regard to Nazi race policy... where research was aimed at confirming the racial doctrine... no external pressure can be documented." German scientists adjusted their research interests to the new policies. And those few who did not adjust disappeared.
Global Warming
Now we are engaged in a great new theory. that once again has drawn the support of politicians, scientists, and celebrities around the world. Once again, the theory is promoted by major foundations. once again, the research is carried out at prestigious universities. Once again, legislation is passed and social programs are urged in its name. Once again, critics are few and harshly dealt with.
Once again, the measures being urged have little basis in fact or science. Once again, groups with other agendas are hiding behind a movement that appears high-minded. Once again, claims of moral superiority are used to justify extreme actions. Once again, the fact that some people are hurt is shrugged off because an abstract cause is said to be greater than any human consequences. Once again, vague terms like sustainability and generational justice - terms that have no agreed definition are employed in the service of a new crisis.
I am not arguing that global warming is the same as eugenics. But the similarities are not superficial. And I do claim that open and frank discussion of the data, and of the issues, is being suppressed. Leading scientific journals have taken strong editorial positions on the side of global warming, which I argue, they have no business doing. Under the circumstances, any scientist who has doubts understands clearly that they will be wise to mute their expression.
One proof of this suppression is the fact that so many of the outspoken critics of global warming are retired professors. These individuals are no longer seeking grant applications and no longer have to face colleagues whose grant applications and career advancement may be jeopardized by their criticisms.
The past history of human belief is a cautionary tale. humans have killed thousands of our fellow human beings because we believed they had signed a contract with the devil, and had become witches.
My View
In my view, there is only one hope for human kind to emerge from what Carl Sagan called "the demon-haunted world" of our past. That hope is science. But as Alston Chase put it, "when the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power." That is the danger we now face. And that is why the intermixing of science and politics is a bad combination, with a bad history. We must remember the history, and be certain that what we present to the world as knowledge is disinterested and honest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
Friday, May 7, 2010
What Racism?????
An elementary public school in Michigan had a field trip last week to meet with an rocket scientist. That's nice and good, isn't it? Students will visit rocket scientist and get motivated for being one... what it has to do with Racism?
Well.... the trip was only for 30 black students to meet with an African-American rocket scientist. Students who are not black were excluded from the outing .
"The district is investigating the allegations of violation of the State of Michigan Proposal 2," a spokeswoman for the Ann Arbor, Mich., school district . "There was no ill-intent or malice in the principal and teachers planning this field trip," she added.
The principal, Mike Madison, who is black, has authorized this trip. The goal of the trip, Madison said, was to close test score gaps and inspire the students to consider careers in the sciences.
The controversy began last week when the 30 students, members of an African-American academic support group, were taken to hear the rocket scientist, Alec Gallimore, speak at the University of Michigan, where he is an aerospace engineering professor and propulsion lab director.
But parents of students who were excluded protested, and the children who went on the trip were booed by their classmates when they returned to school.
Earlier this week, Madison tried to quash the controversy by sending a letter home to parents, in which he wrote:
In hindsight, this field trip could have been approached and arranged in a better way.
But as I reflect upon the look of excitement, enthusiasm and energy that I saw in these children’s eyes as they stood in the presence of a renowned African American rocket scientist in a very successful position, it gave the kids an opportunity to see this type of achievement is possible for even them.
It was not a wasted venture, for I know one day they might want to aspire to be the first astronaut or scientist standing on the Planet Mars....
The intent of our field trip was not to segregate or exclude students, as has been reported, but rather to address the societal issues, roadblocks and challenges that our African-American children will face as they pursue a successful academic education here in our community.
My Views: My view thinks this is racism in true sense... Racism is the belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Or, on the opposite side, racism can be as the belief that a certain race or races portray undesirable characteristics. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or receive preferential treatment.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RacismIn this incidence:
1. Principal Madison thinks - White students are superior students and Black students are inferior students
2. Black students is given preferential treatment because of the race or skin color
3. White students were not given opportunities or denied the opportunities based on race or skin color
4. Trips for Black student, members of an African-American academic support group, authorized by a black principal, to meet black rocket scientist.... ok too many blacks here... replace with white and read and then tell me if this is enough or not..
So the neh neh ne neh neh public who is shouting racism for AZ law... you thinkwhat has happened here in MI?
Terrorist - Miranda rights
I think My Views agrees with what Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) thinks as solution / workaround for Miranda rights debate. It goes hands in hand with my views of using negative reinforcement along with rewards for changing human behavior and being good Samaritan.
Lieberman plans to introduce a bill that would amend a decades-old law aimed at yanking citizenship from U.S. citizens who fight for a foreign military. The amendment would specify that any individual American citizen who is found to be involved in a foreign terrorist organization, as defined by the Department of State, would be deprived of their citizenship.
Such a law would potentially cover terror suspect Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born American citizen charged in connection with the attempted car bombing in New York City’s Times Square. He was apprehended Monday night at the city’s John F. Kennedy airport after he boarded a flight to Dubai.
Logic is simple: If you have joined an enemy of the United States in attacking the United States and trying to kill Americans, I think you sacrifice your rights of citizenship, or to say you don't deserve the rights of citizenship.
Strip their citizenship and ship them to Guantanamo
Lieberman plans to introduce a bill that would amend a decades-old law aimed at yanking citizenship from U.S. citizens who fight for a foreign military. The amendment would specify that any individual American citizen who is found to be involved in a foreign terrorist organization, as defined by the Department of State, would be deprived of their citizenship.
Such a law would potentially cover terror suspect Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born American citizen charged in connection with the attempted car bombing in New York City’s Times Square. He was apprehended Monday night at the city’s John F. Kennedy airport after he boarded a flight to Dubai.
Logic is simple: If you have joined an enemy of the United States in attacking the United States and trying to kill Americans, I think you sacrifice your rights of citizenship, or to say you don't deserve the rights of citizenship.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Cico de Mayo - Fact and fiction
The Battle of Puebla took place on May 5, 1862 near the city of Puebla during the French intervention in Mexico. The battle ended in a victory for the Mexican Army against the occupying French forces. The victory is celebrated today during the festivities of Cinco de Mayo (5th of May).
On September 16, 1862, President Juárez declared that the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla would be a national holiday, regarded as "Battle of Puebla Day" or "Battle of Cinco de Mayo". Although today it is recognized in some countries as a day of Mexican heritage celebration, it is not a federal holiday in Mexico. A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. Grito de Dolores (Mexico's Independence Day) falls on September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish)
This holiday is also celebrated in the United States,however, it is not really celebrated anywhere else in Mexico, but city of Puebla. It was popularized in the United States by the Corona Beer commercials in the 80s and 90s as a popular time to enjoy a Corona.
Thought to share that with you because until 5 minutes back i was under the same impression...
On September 16, 1862, President Juárez declared that the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla would be a national holiday, regarded as "Battle of Puebla Day" or "Battle of Cinco de Mayo". Although today it is recognized in some countries as a day of Mexican heritage celebration, it is not a federal holiday in Mexico. A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. Grito de Dolores (Mexico's Independence Day) falls on September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish)
This holiday is also celebrated in the United States,however, it is not really celebrated anywhere else in Mexico, but city of Puebla. It was popularized in the United States by the Corona Beer commercials in the 80s and 90s as a popular time to enjoy a Corona.
Thought to share that with you because until 5 minutes back i was under the same impression...
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