Americans move commas, periods, etc., inside quotation marks, whether or not the punctation mark is part of the quote. This is confusing and makes no sense. Another triumph of form over function.
The British put quotation marks around the quoted material.
How sensible.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Another person who should have read Oedipus more carefully
Representative John Dingell (D-Michigan).
His many years of opposing fuel efficiency improvements to "protect" the US auto industry have now helped to destroy it.
See if you can find a copy of a 1993 Frontline episode entitled "The Heartbeat of America". You will be absolutely shocked to hear how the identical problems have been going on for 20 years.
But if the Big Three go bankrupt and default, that could cause some of their suppliers to go bankrupt... and in this just-in-time world, that would be a disaster for everyone.
His many years of opposing fuel efficiency improvements to "protect" the US auto industry have now helped to destroy it.
See if you can find a copy of a 1993 Frontline episode entitled "The Heartbeat of America". You will be absolutely shocked to hear how the identical problems have been going on for 20 years.
But if the Big Three go bankrupt and default, that could cause some of their suppliers to go bankrupt... and in this just-in-time world, that would be a disaster for everyone.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wishing for a thing never made it so... except maybe in A.I.
Information has been doubling for millenia if not for millions of years.
In the past, one could dream of something, but would not live long enough to see it.
We are now in such a steep part of the curve that we can dream something as young people and live long enough to see it come true.
Think personal computers.
In the past, one could dream of something, but would not live long enough to see it.
We are now in such a steep part of the curve that we can dream something as young people and live long enough to see it come true.
Think personal computers.
Another dream of the ages
Proof that there are planets orbiting other stars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR_8799
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR_8799
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Oh, irony of ironies
The financial wizards, in their delusional attempt to kill off the last bit of Risk by creating credit default swaps for everything, have now totally succeeded in making Risk maximal for every single financial endeavor!
No one trusts anyone. No one will lend to anyone. So now everyone is at maximal risk and companies that were doing just fine may suddenly die because they cannot get short term loans. Airlines are now finding that no one will allow them to hedge for oil price fluctuations for 2009, so now they have one less tool to avoid bankruptcy.
A vast caravan of mathematical models, wandering across the landscape, in search of an idea...
Sounds like the people who wanted to make it morning in American but wound up making the evening come sooner.
Sounds like the people who wanted to make us safer but wound up destroying our security.
Sounds like the people who wanted to secure our hegemony but wound up having everything slip through our fingers.
Way to go.
I think they should all have read Oedipus more carefully.
Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta. Before his birth, it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid this fate, the child was given to a herdsman who was told to kill him. The herdsman, out of pity, and yet fearing to disobey, instead gave him to another herdsman. The second herdsman took the infant Oedipus to his master, the king of Corinth, Polybus, who adopted him as his own son. Oedipus then lived as the crown prince of Corinth. Many years later, Oedipus is told that he is not the real son of Polybus and, to confirm this, he seeks help from an Oracle and is told that he is destined to kill his father and mate with his mother. In his attempt to evade the dictates of the Oracle, he decides to flee from home to Thebes, on the other side of the mountains.
As Oedipus was travelling by horse to Thebes, he came to a crossroads where he met a chariot driven by Laius. A dispute arose and Oedipus killed Laius. Continuing his journey, Oedipus encountered a Sphinx, who stopped any traveler and asked him a riddle that no one had yet been able to solve. If the traveler failed, he was eaten by the Sphinx. The riddle was: "What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?". The answer was: "Man; as an infant, he crawls on all fours, as an adult, he walks on two legs and, in old age, he relies on a walking stick". Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx threw herself to her death. The gratitude of the Thebans led them to appoint Oedipus as their king. Oedipus was also given the recent widow Jocasta as his wife, and they had four children.
Many years after the marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta, a plague struck the city of Thebes. Oedipus, with his typical hubris, asserted that he could, and would, end the plague. He sent Creon, Jocasta's brother, to the Oracle at Delphi and found that the murderer of the former King Laius must be found and killed or exiled. In a search for the identity of the killer, Oedipus sends for the blind prophet, Tiresias, who warns him not to try to find the killer. In an angry exchange, Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the killer and suggests that he is living in shame and does not know who his true parents are. Undaunted, Oedipus continues his search. When a messenger arrives from Corinth with the news that King Polybus is dead, Oedipus, still regarding Polybus as his true father, worries about the part of the prophecy that dictates he will mate with his own mother. The messenger reassures him with the news that he is adopted. Jocasta then realizes who Oedipus is and goes into the palace to kill herself. Oedipus seeks verification of the messenger's story from the very same herdsman who was to have left Oedipus to die as a baby. From that herdsman, Oedipus learns that the infant raised as the adopted son of Polybus and Merope was the son of Laius and Jocasta. Thus, Oedipus finally realizes that he had killed his own father, King Laius, at the crossroads, and as consequence, had married his own mother, Jocasta.
Oedipus goes in search of Jocasta and finds she has killed herself.
No one trusts anyone. No one will lend to anyone. So now everyone is at maximal risk and companies that were doing just fine may suddenly die because they cannot get short term loans. Airlines are now finding that no one will allow them to hedge for oil price fluctuations for 2009, so now they have one less tool to avoid bankruptcy.
A vast caravan of mathematical models, wandering across the landscape, in search of an idea...
Sounds like the people who wanted to make it morning in American but wound up making the evening come sooner.
Sounds like the people who wanted to make us safer but wound up destroying our security.
Sounds like the people who wanted to secure our hegemony but wound up having everything slip through our fingers.
Way to go.
I think they should all have read Oedipus more carefully.
Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta. Before his birth, it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid this fate, the child was given to a herdsman who was told to kill him. The herdsman, out of pity, and yet fearing to disobey, instead gave him to another herdsman. The second herdsman took the infant Oedipus to his master, the king of Corinth, Polybus, who adopted him as his own son. Oedipus then lived as the crown prince of Corinth. Many years later, Oedipus is told that he is not the real son of Polybus and, to confirm this, he seeks help from an Oracle and is told that he is destined to kill his father and mate with his mother. In his attempt to evade the dictates of the Oracle, he decides to flee from home to Thebes, on the other side of the mountains.
As Oedipus was travelling by horse to Thebes, he came to a crossroads where he met a chariot driven by Laius. A dispute arose and Oedipus killed Laius. Continuing his journey, Oedipus encountered a Sphinx, who stopped any traveler and asked him a riddle that no one had yet been able to solve. If the traveler failed, he was eaten by the Sphinx. The riddle was: "What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?". The answer was: "Man; as an infant, he crawls on all fours, as an adult, he walks on two legs and, in old age, he relies on a walking stick". Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx threw herself to her death. The gratitude of the Thebans led them to appoint Oedipus as their king. Oedipus was also given the recent widow Jocasta as his wife, and they had four children.
Many years after the marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta, a plague struck the city of Thebes. Oedipus, with his typical hubris, asserted that he could, and would, end the plague. He sent Creon, Jocasta's brother, to the Oracle at Delphi and found that the murderer of the former King Laius must be found and killed or exiled. In a search for the identity of the killer, Oedipus sends for the blind prophet, Tiresias, who warns him not to try to find the killer. In an angry exchange, Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the killer and suggests that he is living in shame and does not know who his true parents are. Undaunted, Oedipus continues his search. When a messenger arrives from Corinth with the news that King Polybus is dead, Oedipus, still regarding Polybus as his true father, worries about the part of the prophecy that dictates he will mate with his own mother. The messenger reassures him with the news that he is adopted. Jocasta then realizes who Oedipus is and goes into the palace to kill herself. Oedipus seeks verification of the messenger's story from the very same herdsman who was to have left Oedipus to die as a baby. From that herdsman, Oedipus learns that the infant raised as the adopted son of Polybus and Merope was the son of Laius and Jocasta. Thus, Oedipus finally realizes that he had killed his own father, King Laius, at the crossroads, and as consequence, had married his own mother, Jocasta.
Oedipus goes in search of Jocasta and finds she has killed herself.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
SPOT SHORTAGES ARE COMING
The amounts of metal ores, grain, coal, etc. (that is, materials that are raw materials for goods such as steel, bread, concrete, and electricity) that are being shipped have dropped off a cliff.
Think about that. The shipping of the entire planet has been paralyzed. What has done this is not a natural catastrophe, but a man-made one: the nearly total freezing of credit worldwide.
There is now no one who will issue entirely routine letters of credit and loans necessary for ships to take goods from one part of the world to another. What this means is that any place that is importing metal ore, grain, coal, etc., has been drawing down what it has in storage for more than a month. No company wants to admit this is happening because their stock price would collapse. So what will happen is that the company will suddenly cease functioning. There will suddenly be no bread, no work, no electricity in local areas all around the world. You may suddenly see domestic pasta, but not imported pasta, for example. This will trigger panic buying of all goods, even goods that are not actually in short supply. So, as soon as you see a spot shortage like this, don't be surprised if there is one thing not there today, 10 things not there tomorrow, and 100 things not there the next day.
The freezing of credit may also cause specialty goods to suddenly be unavailable. For example, there may be plenty of toner cartridges for printers from Company X, but no toner cartridges for printers from Company Y.
What you need to do is walk around your workplace and walk around your house and look at ever single thing and ask yourself: "If I couldn't buy a replacement for that for the next 6 months, would something in my life come to a screeching halt?"
Particularly if it is something cheap.
There is a YouTube video in which a guy describes how his family went to their cabin and found that a rubber seal for the water pump had broken. So, they got in their car and drove 20 miles to buy a tiny piece of rubber. He realized how much gasoline was burned just to obtain that tiny piece of rubber, but without it, the pump would not work and there would be no water...
My cousin has an auto glass business. I called him and explained the potential for spot shortages, and I asked him if there was anything, particularly a cheap thing, that if he couldn't get, would result in complete paralysis of his business.
He said: "Adhesive! If we don't have the adhesive to glue in the windshields, we can't do any work at all!"
He is now preordering a lot of adhesive.
That is a good example of the kinds of things to think about. The shortages may start tomorrow or within a few weeks, but when they start, it will be ferocious beyond belief... something completely outside living memory.
If you couldn't buy food for a few weeks, how bad would that be?
I hope I am completely totally wrong about this and that everyone will be laughing at me in a few months... but how is it possible for global shipping to drop so suddenly without catastrophic consequences? See the following two articles.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/shipping-holed-beneath-the-waterline-995066.html
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/10/international-trade-seizing-up-due-to.html
And then there is the problem of shipping containers being piled up in the wrong place. Since people cannot get the shipping containers, they cannot ship their goods.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97001507
The shipbuilders are going bankrupt. The shipping companies are in danger of going the same way, and that is why this cannot be fixed overnight.
Think about that. The shipping of the entire planet has been paralyzed. What has done this is not a natural catastrophe, but a man-made one: the nearly total freezing of credit worldwide.
There is now no one who will issue entirely routine letters of credit and loans necessary for ships to take goods from one part of the world to another. What this means is that any place that is importing metal ore, grain, coal, etc., has been drawing down what it has in storage for more than a month. No company wants to admit this is happening because their stock price would collapse. So what will happen is that the company will suddenly cease functioning. There will suddenly be no bread, no work, no electricity in local areas all around the world. You may suddenly see domestic pasta, but not imported pasta, for example. This will trigger panic buying of all goods, even goods that are not actually in short supply. So, as soon as you see a spot shortage like this, don't be surprised if there is one thing not there today, 10 things not there tomorrow, and 100 things not there the next day.
The freezing of credit may also cause specialty goods to suddenly be unavailable. For example, there may be plenty of toner cartridges for printers from Company X, but no toner cartridges for printers from Company Y.
What you need to do is walk around your workplace and walk around your house and look at ever single thing and ask yourself: "If I couldn't buy a replacement for that for the next 6 months, would something in my life come to a screeching halt?"
Particularly if it is something cheap.
There is a YouTube video in which a guy describes how his family went to their cabin and found that a rubber seal for the water pump had broken. So, they got in their car and drove 20 miles to buy a tiny piece of rubber. He realized how much gasoline was burned just to obtain that tiny piece of rubber, but without it, the pump would not work and there would be no water...
My cousin has an auto glass business. I called him and explained the potential for spot shortages, and I asked him if there was anything, particularly a cheap thing, that if he couldn't get, would result in complete paralysis of his business.
He said: "Adhesive! If we don't have the adhesive to glue in the windshields, we can't do any work at all!"
He is now preordering a lot of adhesive.
That is a good example of the kinds of things to think about. The shortages may start tomorrow or within a few weeks, but when they start, it will be ferocious beyond belief... something completely outside living memory.
If you couldn't buy food for a few weeks, how bad would that be?
I hope I am completely totally wrong about this and that everyone will be laughing at me in a few months... but how is it possible for global shipping to drop so suddenly without catastrophic consequences? See the following two articles.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/shipping-holed-beneath-the-waterline-995066.html
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/10/international-trade-seizing-up-due-to.html
And then there is the problem of shipping containers being piled up in the wrong place. Since people cannot get the shipping containers, they cannot ship their goods.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97001507
The shipbuilders are going bankrupt. The shipping companies are in danger of going the same way, and that is why this cannot be fixed overnight.
Persian Gulf states in serious downturn
"I don't know if anyone still believes in self-healing market forces... but the market is not self-healing... it is self-mutilating and manic-depressive..."
-Eckhard Wurtz
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97027869
-Eckhard Wurtz
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97027869
Ben Stein said...
Merrill Lynch is an incredibly well-run company... buy, buy, buy!
See video below.
Sounds like he knows as much about economics as he does about evolutionary biology.
Is there no end to the suffering Yale inflicts upon the world?
See video below.
Sounds like he knows as much about economics as he does about evolutionary biology.
Is there no end to the suffering Yale inflicts upon the world?
You have got to watch this...
More evidence that the world is run by idiots... And there is nothing funnier than sneering idiots when they turn out to be completely and totally wrong.
Sixty years ago
When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fail... always.
-Mahatma Ghandi
Satyagraha
There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fail... always.
-Mahatma Ghandi
Satyagraha
Friday, November 14, 2008
Did you know that carrots used to be...
Achimenes hybrids are really terrific these days
http://www.backyardgarden.info/achimenes.php
I saw some astonishing ones recently... should have bought them...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Living in a world of dominoes
No one knows, particularly the ones who are pretending they do, whether it is possible to remove each one of the dominoes without having them start to knock each other over. And before an earthquake happens.
Only 4 million? There are maybe 1 QUADRILLION dollars in derivatives lurking out there...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-domino-effect-road-to-recession-1012202.html
Only 4 million? There are maybe 1 QUADRILLION dollars in derivatives lurking out there...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-domino-effect-road-to-recession-1012202.html
Demographics can overwhelm everything
Demographic changes can sometimes be so overwhelming that they trump almost everything else. A population in which the same number of babies is born every year (that is, one without baby booms or baby busts) is very efficient because, for example, no new schools need be built or be closed, and each generation transits through a static infrastructure.
The baby boomers were told they needed to stay invested in the stock market to grow their retirement money and to buy a house. One interpretation of the current financial crisis is that it is a hangover from massive lending by the boomers.
But this raises three important questions:
To whom will the stocks be sold when the boomers are old?
To whom will the boomers sell their houses to or reverse-mortgage their houses to?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96763713
If economic growth has, for the last century, run in tandem with oil/energy use, what will happen to growth if we walk blindly right into peak oil?
As the number of retirees swells, we can see that these problems may become the biggest considerations. And life extension and genetic engineering have not even kicked in yet. What will the demographics look like with changes like that?
The baby boomers were told they needed to stay invested in the stock market to grow their retirement money and to buy a house. One interpretation of the current financial crisis is that it is a hangover from massive lending by the boomers.
But this raises three important questions:
To whom will the stocks be sold when the boomers are old?
To whom will the boomers sell their houses to or reverse-mortgage their houses to?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96763713
If economic growth has, for the last century, run in tandem with oil/energy use, what will happen to growth if we walk blindly right into peak oil?
As the number of retirees swells, we can see that these problems may become the biggest considerations. And life extension and genetic engineering have not even kicked in yet. What will the demographics look like with changes like that?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Quotes
"...a smashing repudiation of the hideous right-wing faction that has wreaked so much damage on the country" Glenn Greenwald
"Like so many people, I had to be with family and friends tonight. Some things must be shared with the people you love. We're in a state of delirium, disbelief and joy.
So many years of pain and exile and frustration ended. So much hope released. A black man president! A progressive, smart, compassionate man!" Gary Kamiya
"John McCain ... recognized the historic importance of Obama's victory, and 'the special significance that it has for African Americans, and the special pride that must be theirs tonight'. That hit me wrong: A lot of us have a special pride tonight." Joan Walsh
"Like so many people, I had to be with family and friends tonight. Some things must be shared with the people you love. We're in a state of delirium, disbelief and joy.
So many years of pain and exile and frustration ended. So much hope released. A black man president! A progressive, smart, compassionate man!" Gary Kamiya
"John McCain ... recognized the historic importance of Obama's victory, and 'the special significance that it has for African Americans, and the special pride that must be theirs tonight'. That hit me wrong: A lot of us have a special pride tonight." Joan Walsh
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
For these things, many people gave their lives
So that white people could marry people who are not white
So that people could vote
So that children could go to school
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/about/about.asp
So that people could vote
So that children could go to school
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/about/about.asp
Thank you for helping us rise up and live out the true meaning of our creed
From this
to this
I guess a lot of younger people might not have recognized him. He was only on the screen for a few seconds. The tears streaming down his face. That was it... I burst into tears.
We may not be free, but that day may yet come.
Thank you for helping to bring out the good in us.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/11/05/obama
to this
I guess a lot of younger people might not have recognized him. He was only on the screen for a few seconds. The tears streaming down his face. That was it... I burst into tears.
We may not be free, but that day may yet come.
Thank you for helping to bring out the good in us.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/11/05/obama
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
An astrophotograph I took of the Sculptor Galaxy
This is just amazing! Give it a try. You can take a few photos for free.
http://www.global-rent-a-scope.com
Solar water heating is low-tech, cheap, and here now
We have had a solar water heater for 30 years now. No fuss, no muss. It cost $5,ooo in current dollars, and has saved us $30,000.
The freezing problem has been solved by using vacuum tubes. The units are so cheap, they are being mass-produced in China on a huge scale.
Solar Water Heating can reduce domestic water heating costs by as much as 65%.
Solar heated domestic water does not pollute or use valuable non-renewable resources. Even the pump to transport heat from the collectors to the storage tank is powered by the sun (depending on the model). Solar energy is a sound investment in everyone's future.
http://www.codellasolar.com/domestic.htm
Vote your...
Years ago, some OxBridge Tory said to me:
Vote your pocketbook!
I said to her:
Do you think that is what an election is about? About vote-buying? Do you think I care whether a few thousand dollars more or less wind up in my pocket?
This is about how to steer a nation, about how to get the most reasonable outcome for the most people.
Do you think this is a zero-sum game?
As I said, OxBridge and clueless...
Vote your pocketbook!
I said to her:
Do you think that is what an election is about? About vote-buying? Do you think I care whether a few thousand dollars more or less wind up in my pocket?
This is about how to steer a nation, about how to get the most reasonable outcome for the most people.
Do you think this is a zero-sum game?
As I said, OxBridge and clueless...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Credit Default Swaps are not being demonized
By using trigger words like "demonized", many people try to deflect criticism.
Let's put it this way: Credit Default Swaps gave the illusion of no risk.
"This is nothing more than an insurance contract and we treat it as though it has human qualities. You can't have a good or an evil insurance policy," said Roy Smith, professor of finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
"Do we sit around talking about the demon insurance companies who insure the hurricanes?" he asked. "Why not?"
Oh, but we do. We do ask about "demon" insurance companies that by insuring houses on the coast actually encourage people to build where their houses and their lives are at high risk. Because the catastrophes are rare, if the insurance company is lucky, it can go on for years or decades just taking in premiums and not paying out a single cent. What a racket! Until disaster strikes and they cannot pay, and there are a lot of dead people.
When people think there is no risk, they drive drunk, they build houses where they should not, they gamble, they make wars...
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE49U5SU20081031
Let's put it this way: Credit Default Swaps gave the illusion of no risk.
"This is nothing more than an insurance contract and we treat it as though it has human qualities. You can't have a good or an evil insurance policy," said Roy Smith, professor of finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
"Do we sit around talking about the demon insurance companies who insure the hurricanes?" he asked. "Why not?"
Oh, but we do. We do ask about "demon" insurance companies that by insuring houses on the coast actually encourage people to build where their houses and their lives are at high risk. Because the catastrophes are rare, if the insurance company is lucky, it can go on for years or decades just taking in premiums and not paying out a single cent. What a racket! Until disaster strikes and they cannot pay, and there are a lot of dead people.
When people think there is no risk, they drive drunk, they build houses where they should not, they gamble, they make wars...
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE49U5SU20081031
Here comes the hurricane into the real economy
Volvo truck division sold 40,000 trucks in the third quarter of 2007.
In the same quarter of 2008, they sold 155 trucks.
A decrease of 99.5%.
In the same quarter of 2008, they sold 155 trucks.
A decrease of 99.5%.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Why are so many inportant things written in red and green?
I am not colorblind, but in some places about one in ten males is and about one in fifty females.
Today, I was looking at the Reuters Market numbers, and I noticed that market gains were in green and market losses were in red. Given how common colorblindness is, I think this is really inconsiderate.
In other situations, it is downright dangerous.
I have never understood why traffic control signals, the red, yellow, and green lights, are the same shape. Why not make the red light a square, the yellow light a circle, and the green light an upwardly pointing triangle or something? I have never been able to find an estimate of how often a colorblind person mistakes one signal for another, but I am sure it has happened.
Why are emergency signs in red if many people cannot see red? Almost all humans can see blue, so such signs should be in red outlined in blue or some such combination.
Today, I was looking at the Reuters Market numbers, and I noticed that market gains were in green and market losses were in red. Given how common colorblindness is, I think this is really inconsiderate.
In other situations, it is downright dangerous.
I have never understood why traffic control signals, the red, yellow, and green lights, are the same shape. Why not make the red light a square, the yellow light a circle, and the green light an upwardly pointing triangle or something? I have never been able to find an estimate of how often a colorblind person mistakes one signal for another, but I am sure it has happened.
Why are emergency signs in red if many people cannot see red? Almost all humans can see blue, so such signs should be in red outlined in blue or some such combination.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Telescoped endings
The first half of Les Miserables takes 20 years; a Greek tragedy that rolls on and on due to carelessness. The second half takes place on a single day when fate rains down on all.
Friday, October 24, 2008
If you want to know why some people think the stupidest people on the planet live in Hawaii...
The juvenile, hysterical, and confused arguments here are simply astounding.
For some reason, they think they know more than all the Japan Railways engineers who have been building steel-on-rail trains for a century now.
The consideration that trumps all others: If people in Japan drove instead of riding trains, there would have been 250,000 more dead people over the last 25 years. Every year we go without good public transportation on Oahu, the more dead people we have due to traffic accidents. If you want to argue about this, leave your number and I will call you.
Of course everything depends on execution...
http://www.stoprailnow.com/
But why do they assert that there will be more traffic congestion? I just rode home on a steel-on-rail train with 1,000 other people. I read the newspaper and listened to my iPod. We did not try to drive 1,000 cars down a highway.
Bus rapid transit toll lanes may be cheaper, but each bus requires a driver, and the cost of that is enormous. The train I rode on had two drivers, one in the front and one in the back, for 1,000 people.
Energy use with new Japan Railways regenerative braking trains is 1/20th the energy use of a car per passenger, so the assertion that trains use more energy is just plain wrong. This section also asserts that trains are noisy and ugly. What does that have to do with the assertion about the energy inefficiency of trains? This is so confused that I don't know what to say. Kobayashi asserts that trains are noisy. Yes, the Oedo Line is noisy. I hate it. None of the other lines I ride make a lot of noise, and the newest lines, such as the airport line in Beijing and the Fukutoshin Line are nearly silent... They certainly make less noise than a thousand cars going by. Do they think the freeway is silent? Have they ever stood next to the freeway? The light rail would be ugly? Did they think it would be invisible? Have they looked at the freeways, or many of the unbelievably ugly buildings in Honolulu for that matter? Do they think they are invisible? And looks matter more than people's lives?
The budget. Who knows if we can get the funding during the current economic implosion. We could have constructed this a decade ago when the economy was booming, but nooooo...
Money? How much do you think people in the state spend on cars and roads now? Six billion dollars for the train is about 6,000 dollars for each person in the State one time. AAA says it costs more than 8,000 dollars to own and operate a car every year, year after year, and that is not including the costs of the roads. Whether the funding can be arranged properly I have no idea... I bet the Stop Rail Now people have no idea either. I would be glad to spend, oh, say 50 hours discussing this with them. Please leave your number.
The cheap oil is gone. We might be saved by photovoltaics and electric cars, but that does not solve the problem of automobile injuries and fatalities.
Finally, the laundry list of all the reasons rail fails everywhere and will fail in Honolulu. Maybe it will. Execution matters. But why has rail worked in Japan, and not only in the high density parts of Japan, for the last century? What would happen when we have another oil crisis? At least the rail would run on electricity, hopefully by that time partly supplied by wind and photovoltaics. If a train line were built, feeder lines and urban planning would change. In Japan, train stations are ringed by stores, so you walk by one on the way home. To expect the train and urban planning to work the instant the train is built is just plain silly. We would be building the train for a century, not for next year.
Clearly, they did not want to get this on the ballot so that everyone could vote on it. They wanted this on the ballot so that it might be stopped. Hint: see their name.
This kind of behavior is simply not helpful in making rational decisions. The age of cheap oil, when we can do whatever we like, came to an end 30 years ago, but we have been in denial. The train would be built for a century (the one near my apartment is about to celebrate its centennial). Does everyone really think that we will not have an energy crisis at any time in the next hundred years?
If most transit is not by public transportation, there will be many more dead people on Oahu over the next century. That is a fact. Choose. If we make the wrong choice, take responsibility for that and try to improve the system in the future. The alternative is chaos the likes of which this paradise of spoiled children has never seen.
For some reason, they think they know more than all the Japan Railways engineers who have been building steel-on-rail trains for a century now.
The consideration that trumps all others: If people in Japan drove instead of riding trains, there would have been 250,000 more dead people over the last 25 years. Every year we go without good public transportation on Oahu, the more dead people we have due to traffic accidents. If you want to argue about this, leave your number and I will call you.
Of course everything depends on execution...
http://www.stoprailnow.com/
But why do they assert that there will be more traffic congestion? I just rode home on a steel-on-rail train with 1,000 other people. I read the newspaper and listened to my iPod. We did not try to drive 1,000 cars down a highway.
Bus rapid transit toll lanes may be cheaper, but each bus requires a driver, and the cost of that is enormous. The train I rode on had two drivers, one in the front and one in the back, for 1,000 people.
Energy use with new Japan Railways regenerative braking trains is 1/20th the energy use of a car per passenger, so the assertion that trains use more energy is just plain wrong. This section also asserts that trains are noisy and ugly. What does that have to do with the assertion about the energy inefficiency of trains? This is so confused that I don't know what to say. Kobayashi asserts that trains are noisy. Yes, the Oedo Line is noisy. I hate it. None of the other lines I ride make a lot of noise, and the newest lines, such as the airport line in Beijing and the Fukutoshin Line are nearly silent... They certainly make less noise than a thousand cars going by. Do they think the freeway is silent? Have they ever stood next to the freeway? The light rail would be ugly? Did they think it would be invisible? Have they looked at the freeways, or many of the unbelievably ugly buildings in Honolulu for that matter? Do they think they are invisible? And looks matter more than people's lives?
The budget. Who knows if we can get the funding during the current economic implosion. We could have constructed this a decade ago when the economy was booming, but nooooo...
Money? How much do you think people in the state spend on cars and roads now? Six billion dollars for the train is about 6,000 dollars for each person in the State one time. AAA says it costs more than 8,000 dollars to own and operate a car every year, year after year, and that is not including the costs of the roads. Whether the funding can be arranged properly I have no idea... I bet the Stop Rail Now people have no idea either. I would be glad to spend, oh, say 50 hours discussing this with them. Please leave your number.
The cheap oil is gone. We might be saved by photovoltaics and electric cars, but that does not solve the problem of automobile injuries and fatalities.
Finally, the laundry list of all the reasons rail fails everywhere and will fail in Honolulu. Maybe it will. Execution matters. But why has rail worked in Japan, and not only in the high density parts of Japan, for the last century? What would happen when we have another oil crisis? At least the rail would run on electricity, hopefully by that time partly supplied by wind and photovoltaics. If a train line were built, feeder lines and urban planning would change. In Japan, train stations are ringed by stores, so you walk by one on the way home. To expect the train and urban planning to work the instant the train is built is just plain silly. We would be building the train for a century, not for next year.
Clearly, they did not want to get this on the ballot so that everyone could vote on it. They wanted this on the ballot so that it might be stopped. Hint: see their name.
This kind of behavior is simply not helpful in making rational decisions. The age of cheap oil, when we can do whatever we like, came to an end 30 years ago, but we have been in denial. The train would be built for a century (the one near my apartment is about to celebrate its centennial). Does everyone really think that we will not have an energy crisis at any time in the next hundred years?
If most transit is not by public transportation, there will be many more dead people on Oahu over the next century. That is a fact. Choose. If we make the wrong choice, take responsibility for that and try to improve the system in the future. The alternative is chaos the likes of which this paradise of spoiled children has never seen.
What happens when you base economic policy on an Ayn Rand novel
Greenspan "shocked" at credit system breakdown
Thu Oct 23, 2008
Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress on Thursday he is "shocked" at the breakdown in U.S. credit markets and that he expects the unemployment rate to jump.
"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief," he said.
Shocked.... just shocked... to find that there was gambling going on at Mr. Rick's...
Roubini is warning that so many hedge funds might implode that markets may be closed for weeks...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayHUWEWFBGoM
Thu Oct 23, 2008
Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress on Thursday he is "shocked" at the breakdown in U.S. credit markets and that he expects the unemployment rate to jump.
"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief," he said.
Shocked.... just shocked... to find that there was gambling going on at Mr. Rick's...
Roubini is warning that so many hedge funds might implode that markets may be closed for weeks...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayHUWEWFBGoM
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Hiawatha and The True Ship of Dreams
Our teacher, Mr. Share, said to us a long time ago that if we did not read, we would never stand beside Hiawatha on the shores of Gitche Gumee and see the shining Big-Sea-Water...
And so it is with The True Ship of Dreams...
And so it is with The True Ship of Dreams...
I think a certain brokerage I used padded my client information
Imagine my surprise recently when I got a client information update sheet from one of the now dead brokerage houses (what a bunch of Bull)... my annual income was 10 times greater than I was aware of! I wonder who is siphoning all the money out of my bank account... or maybe that is me in a parallel universe... I wonder if the suckers... I mean partners who bought them realize that their client info might have been padded just prior to the sale...
Here is something really shocking
Calculate your wealth compared to everyone else in the world. It is really shocking. We are richer by far than almost everyone on Earth now and almost everyone who has ever lived.
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
It is almost certain life is everywhere in this Universe
Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, seems to be very happy deep underground, really hot, with no light and no oxygen... and alone... it gets the energy it needs to live from radioactive decay of uranium!
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn14906-goldmine-bug-dna-may-be-key-to-alien-life.html
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn14906-goldmine-bug-dna-may-be-key-to-alien-life.html
In the face of a Depression, why the greatest song of the 20th century has something to say in the 21st
Arguably the greatest song of the 20th century... the first time many people had seen a movie in color... an allegory about the economy...
You will never hear it in the same way after you hear this explanation of what exactly it was you were hearing all these years.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94281015
Music makes you feel a feeling... words make you think thoughts... but a song makes you feel a thought...
The moment when Dorothy passes out in monochrome Kansas and awakes in Technicolor Oz may have been more significant than you'd ever imagined. A new study reveals that children exposed to black-and-white film and TV are more likely to dream in greyscale throughout their life.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14959-its-black-and-white-tv-influences-your-dreams.html
You will never hear it in the same way after you hear this explanation of what exactly it was you were hearing all these years.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94281015
Music makes you feel a feeling... words make you think thoughts... but a song makes you feel a thought...
The moment when Dorothy passes out in monochrome Kansas and awakes in Technicolor Oz may have been more significant than you'd ever imagined. A new study reveals that children exposed to black-and-white film and TV are more likely to dream in greyscale throughout their life.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14959-its-black-and-white-tv-influences-your-dreams.html
Sunday, October 19, 2008
This Halloween...
Forget all the Monsters you have ever seen or imagined...
Nothing compares to LAPD Captain J. J. Jones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changeling_(2008_film)
Nothing compares to LAPD Captain J. J. Jones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changeling_(2008_film)
I have been missing out for years!
Why didn't anyone tell me this financial stuff was so funny! Asthma-attack-inducing.
A vast caravan of mathematical models, wandering across the landscape, in search of an idea...
A vast caravan of mathematical models, wandering across the landscape, in search of an idea...
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Why the banks won't lend
Liars think everyone lies; thieves think everyone steals; those who are the worst believe the worst in others.
This is why the banks won't lend to each other.
Honest people have difficulty thinking like that and are perceived as naive...
This is why the banks won't lend to each other.
Honest people have difficulty thinking like that and are perceived as naive...
Ian Blair sacked...
but doesn't have the decency to you know what...
Ah ha ha ha ... they are going to give him a Peerage! And 300,000 dollars a year! Just like they gave the de Menezes family... not...
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/64577/-600k-and-a-peerage-for-ousted-Met-chief
The cops who shot Jean Charles de Menezes were literally covered with blood. Neither have they had the decency to you know what. They just wanted to kill one of them... but they were so stupid that all brown people looked alike... so they shot a Brazilian in the head... seven times... because he looked like one of Osama's friends.... Then they went to Brazil and tried to get the family to sign papers saying they would not sue... You get the idea of what kind of people these are... the kind that make you feel ashamed to be a human...
Even after being the biggest drug dealers in the history of the world, and the worst slave traders, the UK fake economy is crashing. The Olympics will be totally great during a depression.
Why would anyone want to go there, especially if you look like Mr. de Menezes... or anyone else.
I visited for 3 days, 30 years ago... everywhere I went, people asked me why we fucking foreigners didn't leave... the cab driver complained for the whole ride about the fucking Arabs... charming... Another on the list of psycho places to avoid.
Ah ha ha ha ... they are going to give him a Peerage! And 300,000 dollars a year! Just like they gave the de Menezes family... not...
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/64577/-600k-and-a-peerage-for-ousted-Met-chief
The cops who shot Jean Charles de Menezes were literally covered with blood. Neither have they had the decency to you know what. They just wanted to kill one of them... but they were so stupid that all brown people looked alike... so they shot a Brazilian in the head... seven times... because he looked like one of Osama's friends.... Then they went to Brazil and tried to get the family to sign papers saying they would not sue... You get the idea of what kind of people these are... the kind that make you feel ashamed to be a human...
Even after being the biggest drug dealers in the history of the world, and the worst slave traders, the UK fake economy is crashing. The Olympics will be totally great during a depression.
Why would anyone want to go there, especially if you look like Mr. de Menezes... or anyone else.
I visited for 3 days, 30 years ago... everywhere I went, people asked me why we fucking foreigners didn't leave... the cab driver complained for the whole ride about the fucking Arabs... charming... Another on the list of psycho places to avoid.
Why Citi wanted Wachovia
They wanted to be too big to fail.
Ha ha ha...
They should also note this picture of a python that tried to swallow an alligator... and exploded...
These crises have exposed the inherent weakness in mainstream media
Five years ago, many people said that what was on the Web was just "Internet blather".
Now writers on such sites are starting to win Nobels.
After the crises in energy, finance, etc., it is clear that the major newspapers, magazines, and news sites are basically collections of World Book Encyclopedia articles for high school students.
Oh, sure, their articles are "curated", the information is checked, and the English is mostly correct, but in addition to the out and out distortions, they are simply too limited by space and time. (And the curators of such perfect information accurately foretold what is happening, now, didn't they?)
Specialized websites can take readers through literally thousands of pages and can make arguments about a topic over the course of years. A lot of the reader comments are silly, but about one in twenty says something interesting.
You will have to distinguish what is probably right from what is probably wrong for yourself, but it is the difference between reading an article in a newspaper and then reading the research paper itself.
A particularly clueless proponent of the delusion that "curators" and "experts" somehow ensure that information is correct can be heard at http://radio.seti.org/past-shows.php
in the story "TXT MSG: Behavior", third guest.
Keen's (oh, the irony) ideas seem to be:
1. People are stupid.
2. People gossip and spread stupid, incorrect information.
3. Experts alone get it right.
Wow! 1 and 2 are revelations! That never dawned on me!
3 is just plain wrong... he obviously has never met stupid doctors, professors, economists... I can introduce him to many.
I invite Keen to not waste any more of everyone's time and to go to a library and spend the rest of his life reading curated articles written by experts in the World Book Encyclopedia. It seems high school is about his level. I wonder how fragile must be the self image to be so terrified of error as to confine oneself to mastering the game of tic-tac-toe so that no mistakes are ever made... and to spend existence like that.
The rest of us will stumble forward in the 21st century, toward financial booms and busts, war, First Contact, life extension, genetic engineering, The Singularity, and all the rest of the wonderful mess of life, fully aware that information is provisional, that research papers are full of errors, and that the world is run by idiots who have proven that they don't know what the hell they are doing.
We will use the major news sources in the way we would use any brief summary written for ninth graders: as the starting point for real reading.
No one says it better than Henry Rollins.
Now writers on such sites are starting to win Nobels.
After the crises in energy, finance, etc., it is clear that the major newspapers, magazines, and news sites are basically collections of World Book Encyclopedia articles for high school students.
Oh, sure, their articles are "curated", the information is checked, and the English is mostly correct, but in addition to the out and out distortions, they are simply too limited by space and time. (And the curators of such perfect information accurately foretold what is happening, now, didn't they?)
Specialized websites can take readers through literally thousands of pages and can make arguments about a topic over the course of years. A lot of the reader comments are silly, but about one in twenty says something interesting.
You will have to distinguish what is probably right from what is probably wrong for yourself, but it is the difference between reading an article in a newspaper and then reading the research paper itself.
A particularly clueless proponent of the delusion that "curators" and "experts" somehow ensure that information is correct can be heard at http://radio.seti.org/past-shows.php
in the story "TXT MSG: Behavior", third guest.
Keen's (oh, the irony) ideas seem to be:
1. People are stupid.
2. People gossip and spread stupid, incorrect information.
3. Experts alone get it right.
Wow! 1 and 2 are revelations! That never dawned on me!
3 is just plain wrong... he obviously has never met stupid doctors, professors, economists... I can introduce him to many.
I invite Keen to not waste any more of everyone's time and to go to a library and spend the rest of his life reading curated articles written by experts in the World Book Encyclopedia. It seems high school is about his level. I wonder how fragile must be the self image to be so terrified of error as to confine oneself to mastering the game of tic-tac-toe so that no mistakes are ever made... and to spend existence like that.
The rest of us will stumble forward in the 21st century, toward financial booms and busts, war, First Contact, life extension, genetic engineering, The Singularity, and all the rest of the wonderful mess of life, fully aware that information is provisional, that research papers are full of errors, and that the world is run by idiots who have proven that they don't know what the hell they are doing.
We will use the major news sources in the way we would use any brief summary written for ninth graders: as the starting point for real reading.
No one says it better than Henry Rollins.
Pump half a TRILLION dollars PER DAY into the banks... that will fix the problems
Nearly half a trillion dollars pumped into banks per day... even into the ones without problems (so as not to stigmatize the ones who really need the money)... That is what the Japanese did after their bubble burst... Then, the US financial geniuses went to Japan telling them to let banks fail... Now, the US is inviting Japanese bank managers to come to the US and tell them how they handled their problems... and the US is doing exactly the same thing... Hilarious...
Why would anyone want to buy a house there or even go there?
Another place run by nutjobs.
How much money have they spent on this?
City building and safety director Tom Hartung said that an illegally converted garage poses health and safety risks...
What are they? Surely if they had been that bad for 30 years everyone would be dead by now?
Her troubles began when a code enforcement officer spotted a light shining from her garage into the street, a code violation. He noticed her trash cans in front of the house (another violation) and weeds poking through the concrete (yet another one).
OMG! Light shining! Trash cans! Weeds in the cracks in the concrete!
Jarrod Head, Camargo's 29-year-old grandson, who lives with her, was sleeping in the disputed bedroom when they arrived.
"They pushed right in," he said. "I said, 'What's this about?' but they were busy taking pictures. When I asked why they were taking pictures, the police asked me for my ID. I asked why they needed my ID, and they put me in handcuffs."
The judge ordered her to pay a $3,000 fine, which she said she couldn't afford. She asked for the other option -- 30 days in jail.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-garage18-2008oct18,0,5133746,full.story
There are lots of places to steer clear of.
Just wait until this gets on their Wiki page. It will be on the Net for eternity.
There are nearly 600 foreclosures there currently...
http://realestate.yahoo.com/California/La_Quinta/Homes_for_sale/result.html?p=La%20Quinta%2C%20CA&type=foreclosure
How much money have they spent on this?
City building and safety director Tom Hartung said that an illegally converted garage poses health and safety risks...
What are they? Surely if they had been that bad for 30 years everyone would be dead by now?
Her troubles began when a code enforcement officer spotted a light shining from her garage into the street, a code violation. He noticed her trash cans in front of the house (another violation) and weeds poking through the concrete (yet another one).
OMG! Light shining! Trash cans! Weeds in the cracks in the concrete!
Jarrod Head, Camargo's 29-year-old grandson, who lives with her, was sleeping in the disputed bedroom when they arrived.
"They pushed right in," he said. "I said, 'What's this about?' but they were busy taking pictures. When I asked why they were taking pictures, the police asked me for my ID. I asked why they needed my ID, and they put me in handcuffs."
The judge ordered her to pay a $3,000 fine, which she said she couldn't afford. She asked for the other option -- 30 days in jail.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-garage18-2008oct18,0,5133746,full.story
There are lots of places to steer clear of.
Just wait until this gets on their Wiki page. It will be on the Net for eternity.
There are nearly 600 foreclosures there currently...
http://realestate.yahoo.com/California/La_Quinta/Homes_for_sale/result.html?p=La%20Quinta%2C%20CA&type=foreclosure
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