Yearly Archives: 2017

For the moment believe Democrats can kick the bums out in ’18

Politics, , ,

It is very hard for Democrats to feel comfortable with the idea of a sweep, an election that changes everything, handing us power once again, at least for a while, and wiping out the other guys. This is hard to feel comfortable with for two reasons. First, it nearly never happens, so any thought it might is easily jinxed, and second, we know full well that once it does happen, if it does happen, we’ll screw it up right away and the counter-sweep will be pretty bad. Continue reading For the moment believe Democrats can kick the bums out in ’18 →

The Rats are Leaving the Ship. What lifeboat are the heading for?

Politics, , , , ,

Yet another Republican in the US Congress is leaving. Bob Goodlatte, of the Virginia 6th, and chair of the House Agriculture COmmittee, will retire in December 2018. His seat will be up for grabs. Here is what he says about it, as reported in WaPo: Continue reading The Rats are Leaving the Ship. What lifeboat are the heading for? →

Falsehood: “People, not guns, kill people”

Falsehoods and Skepticism, Violence and Guns, , , ,

Yes, of course, you need a person (usually) to pull the trigger. But it is abundance of and ease of access to guns that causes the United States to be off the charts in woundings and killings from firearms. This is what the research has shown for a very long time and continues to show. Here, I’ll give you yet another example. All of the following text, and the tables, are exerted directly from the paper. Continue reading Falsehood: “People, not guns, kill people” →

President Obama and Vice President Gore

Syria Will Sign The Paris Climate Accord

Climate Change, , , ,

It is now being reported that Syria will sign the Paris Climate Pact.

This will leave the United States as the only country in the entire world that has not signed the accord. This may be the first time that the US was quite so alone in an international agreement. The reason the US has not signed is because Donald Trump decided this. Many assume this is because Trump, the Petroleum Industry and Russia are in cahoots over oil. I think not. The main driving force for Trump Policy is this one single thing: Did the black guy do it? If the black guy did it, then undo it. Paris is a product of President Obama’s administration, therefore it can not stand under Trump. Never ind what our country, or the world, wants or needs. Continue reading Syria Will Sign The Paris Climate Accord →

A Great Echo Math Skill-Building Skill

Education, Technology

An Echo is a small round robot that lives in your house, and that you can give commands to, converse with, get to run your devices, and learn from.

(See this review of the Echo and related devices.)

An Echo “skill” is an app, essentially, which you can turn on and have available at any time to do whatever it is that that skill does. You can safely think of the word “skill” as equivilant to “app” for most purposes. Continue reading A Great Echo Math Skill-Building Skill →

Is this terrorism?

Violence and Guns, , ,

Is a particular act an act of terrorism? Is a particular person a terrorist?

People want the label applied to acts and people that are readily and resoundingly vilified. It hardly matters if the person is an actual official terrorist. If they killed someone and you are really really mad at them you want them to be a terrorist. Or, if they are just scary. Like the elderly black homeless man in this story, labeled by the Iowa Farmers as a terrorist because it was impossible for him to squeeze his wheelchair through a door gracefully.

We yell at each other about whether or not a person will be labeled as a terrorist, and it is often said that if a mass killer is found out to be brown, he’ll be labeled as one, but if he is found out to be white, his actions will be attributed to mental illness. And so on.

People also want the label to be applied instantly, just as the news of some horrid event is coming out. No matter what. Call the terrorist a terrorist NOW or you, too, are a TERRORIST.

Here’s the thing. What a terrorist is, or what terrorism is, has an official definition. There are probably going to be unclear cases, but the term terrorism has a meaning and it is important to get this right even if getting it right somehow goes against the sensibilities of the Extremely Annoyed. Also, since there is a real definition and details matter, it is absurd to demand that the label be used instantly. It takes time. And, we can wait. There is no gain in instant labeling of a terrorist. Police and investigators would do the same things in either case in the initial stages of an event.

The FBI gives these two definitions of terrorism:

International terrorism: Perpetrated by individuals and/or groups inspired by or associated with designated foreign terrorist organizations or nations (state-sponsored).

–for example, the December 2, 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, CA, that killed 14 people and wounded 22 which involved a married couple who radicalized for some time prior to the attack and were inspired by multiple extremist ideologies and foreign terrorist organizations. Continue reading Is this terrorism? →

A true American Patriot

Politics, , ,

on Thursday, November 3rd, 2017, deactivated Donald Trump’s Twitter account. It was an employee of Twitter on his last day of work. He did what Twitter should have done, by its own rules, months ago.

Trump’s latest violation of Twitter policy was probably his calling for the death of an American Citizen who had just been sentenced for a crime he had pled guilty for, but that was not a death penalty crime.

If I called for the death of someone, they would delete my twitter account, and I can’t really kill someone by saying “kill them.” But the President actually does have that power, and short of actually ordering a black op to have someone murdered, he can insist that someone should be killed, and one of his deplorable followers may well carry it out. If that happens in this case remains to be seen. At this point, anything bad that happens in part or fully due to a Tweet by Donald Trump is Twitter’s fault.

Deo from Burundi and Forensic Geology (cheap books)

Other

In Strength in What Remains, Tracy Kidder gives us the story of one man’s inspiring American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him, providing brilliant testament to the power of second chances. Deo arrives in the United States from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life and shows us what it means to be fully human.

I’ve not read this but obviously I have to: The Forensic Geology Series by Toni Dwiggins.

QUICKSILVER:
Forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws plunge into the dark history of the California gold country, into the dark past of two brothers, into a poisonous feud that threatens lives and the land.

BADWATER:
Death Valley earns its name when a terrorist threatens to unleash lethal radioactive toxins. The only ones who can find and stop him are the forensic geologists, and they are up against more than pure human malice. The unstable atom–in the hands of an unstable man–is governed by Murphy’s Law. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

VOLCANO WATCH:
The volcano beneath the geologists’ home town is seething, and the mayor is found murdered with a note saying NO WAY OUT. The fate of the town now rests in the hands of an emergency planner with his own twisted agenda. As the volcano moves toward red alert, the geologists race to prevent ‘no way out’ from becoming a prophecy.