Skip to main content

Random Thoughts - 13

----------------
The only benefit of disaster. It brings people together, in work and in sympathy. We surely saw it in Hurricane Harvey – to the max.  Let us hope Florida, with Hurricane Irma experiences the same human congeniality, compassion and collective effort.  Deference to government for all help is at best a poor selection.

----------------  

There is a great line from the movie Tremors that applies to Congress.  We see the hero (Kevin Bacon) tell the group, "We always have a plan.  That way we don't have to do anything right now."

In particular, Mitch McConnell loves more than anything else to make a carefully worded speech.  The plan.   Loves it.  This means, he doesn't have to do anything now.  And he doesn't! Leadership is more than merely signing off on documents coming to your desk.

-------------
Most people facing a law suit wear a cloth suit. Moral: don’t wear a suit, or even have soot in your chimney.
---------------------


Have you noticed that insurance mortgage companies always promise to save you money.  Almost always the range is $500-$900, either per month or year.  Why's that?  Because less would be ignored and more would not be believed!

------------------
Trump and Fracking

You might say the President is now into fracking – politically speaking.  He is pumping ideas and deals deep into the American infrastructure of political parties to expose or release votes to support a bounty of results.  It is unclear if anything coming from the ground at this point will fuel any long-term ends.  It is unclear, to listen to fracking deniers, if his efforts will cause political earthquakes. It is unclear if his party (nominally Republican) will be spurned into action.  Certainly, it is unclear if he will make any new friends. But something will indeed emerge from these efforts.  Hopefully, it will not be more gas. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lies, Deceit, and the National Agenda

The world you grew up in is no more.  The world of reasonable honesty and reasonable lies has been replaced by abject dishonesty and blatant lies. Lies.  Yes. People have always told them.  You have told them; so have I.   We need lies; they are a foundational structure of social living.  They both deceive and protect.  Children tell them to their parents to avoid consequences, like punishment.  Adults tell them to their bosses, to enhance their position and/or avoid consequences of poor performance.  Our bosses tell them to their boards to suggest business is good, the project is on target, or the detractors are wrong.  The boards tell them to shareholders to protect their own credibility and most importantly, stock values.   Our politicians tell lies to their constituents, though sometimes innocently with them not actually knowing much more than they've been told.  They enhance their positio...

Behavioral Science and Problem-Solving

I.                                       I.                 Introduction.                Concerning our general behavior, it’s high about time we all had some understanding of how we operate on ourselves, and it is just as important how we are operated on by others. This is the wheelhouse of behavioral sciences. It is a vast subject. It touches our lives constantly. It’s influence is pervasive and can be so subtle we never notice it. Behavioral sciences profoundly affect our ability and success at problem-solving, from the elementary level to highly complex wicked problems. This is discussed in Section IV. We begin with the basics of behavioral sciences, Section II, and then through the lens of multiple categories and examples, Section III. II.     ...

UNCERTAINTY IS CERTAIN

  Uncertainty is Certain G. Donald Allen 12/12/2024 1.       Introduction . This short essay is about uncertainty in people from both secular and nonsecular viewpoints. One point that will emerge is that randomly based uncertainty can be a driver for religious structure. Many groups facing uncertainty about their future are deeply religious or rely on faith as a source of comfort, resilience, and guidance. The intersection of uncertainty and religiosity often stems from the human need to find meaning, hope, and stability in the face of unpredictable or challenging circumstances. We first take up the connections of uncertainty to religion for the first real profession, farming, noting that hunting has many similar uncertainties. Below are groups that commonly lean on religious beliefs amidst uncertainty.   This short essay is a follow-up to a previous piece on certainty (https://used-ideas.blogspot.com/2024/12/certainty-is-also-emotion.html). U...