First Blog

What we see in the current political races, both Democratic and Republican, is a race to the extreme.  The Democrats are not only drifting left but racing that away.   There is no limit to social programs they propose; cost seems not to be an option. The Republicans are constantly invoking the Reagan litmus test of conservatism.   Realism is lost.  The Republican candidates, such as Cruz, argue against the non-conservative purity of Trump.  They view this as key.  Each of them scrap against the over who is the most pure.  Ronald Reagan has achieved political sainthood.   Programs are irreverent; purity is. For the Democrats, both contenders are vying to inherit the Obama legacy, and both are traveling even further than Obama even dared toward the progressive agenda.  Both are trying to capture their base.  For the one, the rich are an infinitely taxable asset.  For the other, the rich comprise an achievement goal.  Both are dead wrong. The news outlets love this.  It gives extreme

Most of us have debt.   We may owe money to the bank or favors to our friends.   We may owe allegiance to our country, company, or commitments.   We may owe a debt to ourselves for things we have or have not done.   We live in a sea of debt, most of it simply the cost of living.   Those of us without debt are either lucky or just not living.    Another form of debt, technical debt , has emerged only in last 25 years.   Originally, it was created as an aspect of computer code.   When a large code is created, many decisions must be made.   Often budget or time issues take a commanding position.   Sometimes, the quality of the software engineers is not up to the tasks of the complex demands.   Similarly, the knowledge base can be insufficient to proceed correctly.    The orders may be, “Get the code online and quickly, and reduce the costs wherever possible.”   The debt is with the readjustments, fixes, and rewriting of the code as it fails or becomes outdated.   Similar notio

We frequently see "man on the street" segments on various channels of how ignorant Americans are about geography.  We're not discussing where Burkina Faso is on the map but where the heck is Iowa? Many, too many Americans just don't know.  The why is simple; it is simply not taught well in the schools.  Here's how I taught my kids the states and the world years ago.  I posted a map of the USA on the wall near the breakfast table.  This map contained only the states without names.  Every morning while the kids were scarfing up their corn flakes, I would point to various states and ask what state it was.  By and by, they knew every state, including the little ones. This took years.  So, repetition over  years does work.  Indeed, this is the way for example that math is taught, though in a more formalized way. So, let me make a suggestion to teachers for grades K-8.  Every morning, show the map of the USA without names.  Point to states and ask the class which it