First Blog

Ways we learn. You want to learn?  You want to achieve?  You want to know?  Go to school, say the educators.  But there are other important ways to learn.        First, we learn from reading books or being taught in the classroom. We learn by solving given problems. Practice and repetition, this is the role and scope of all school teaching. Occasionally, inspiration occurs.           Second we learn from examples and experience. Seeing many examples, some working and some not, and knowing why helps. These build our knowledge and intuition of reality.  Knowledge is a pathway to solving problems, while intuition provides a pathway to innovation.  More simply, we learn by doing.  Attending the school of hard knocks is an expression of this.         Third, we learn from mistakes*.  Make no mistake about it; this is a key way we learn.  How many times have you and I learned this or that of what *not* to do, or what doesn’t work.  However, this is the latest in actual academic re

Anti-trust – 21 st century style All of us know when a particular company or cabal of companies begin to and then control a sector of products, it invokes attention.  These companies are sometimes subject to the anti-trust provisions of the law, i.e. Sherman Anti-Trust.  That was yesterday, when companies created an unfair market advantage to increase profits.  Many companies were broken up in this way, notably Standard Oil. Today is different, with monopolies and cabals created to hold information, the commodity of the future.  Implied here is that large corporations such as Amazon and Facebook contain so much information about citizens, it can actually affect what people do and how they buy.  By marketing information, they will soon be moving into altering what citizens think, and even how they vote.  The tip of this is already evident, with many pundits and news anchors discussing that such firms are becoming too big and controlling too much leverage in America. Alas, even

Freedom vs. Security It is said that by the second century of our era that ancient Romans during the reign of Trajan (Roman emperor from 98 to 117 CE) that at least one provision of current social justice was popular even then, that it is better that the guilty remain unpunished than the innocent to be condemned.  This is a thorny issue plaguing us all today. However, and of more subtle distinction was at this time Romans loved security too much to be capable of freedom.  The distinction should not be lost on modern times.  At least one party in most western countries promotes security above everything else.  In their version of politics, they work to attract groups that venerate security, having persuaded them they never had it and that it is the primal goal to achieve.  Security, however, comes at the price of surrender of power, of thought, and of freedom in all forms. It surrenders to the provider (usually government) virtually unlimited power over their well-being. Freedo

The Hyperloop Elon Musk (i.e. Mr. Tesla Car) has received “verbal” approval from the government to build the world’s longest tunnel for an ultra-high-speed train line to connect New York to Washington.*  Called a Hyperloop , this tunnel is a mere 204 miles long, as the crow flies. Basically, this means the creation of a tunnel into the earth of a very slight angle and linear, i.e. perfectly straight, to Washington DC. The length of this underground tunnel will be about 203.98 miles.  Not much savings there from the crow’s flight. The interesting point is this tunnel will, at its lowest point be 1.3 miles or about 6866 feet below the earth’s surface.  This is deeper than most oil wells.   So you take a trip on the new train in this new tunnel, and it gets stuck midway.  Will happen sometime. At this depth, the tunnel temperature has increased by 98 degrees F above the mean surface temperature.  It’s hot down there. All this implies system failure at this depth will be fatal.  P

What has happened to the US Government?  It seems like Congress is doing little, either party, preferring to squabble internally, or not allowing compromise.  Sometimes both.  The consequence is that the President makes regulations and takes other executive actions.  Both parties here.  The courts have become the legislature, assuming the job of interpreting the law in some preferred fashion – and their “legal” arguments are increasingly weak and partisan*.  I believe this era of polarized politics is the root cause of the dysfunction. I believe some persons or some organizations are at the switch, keeping this state of conflict at high tension.  For some of these, the goal is the reshaping of America toward some uncertain model.  For others, there seems to be a harkening to return to the traditional certainty and comfort of a remembered past. The central issue these days is Obamacare.  It seems no one likes it much, at least those paying the full freight of premiums.  But whi

Politics in Washington is a combination of many factors.  Some of these are contrapuntal, with strong sounds of dissonance. Fear, obedience, strategy, tactics, principles, consensus, leadership, and survival are among the many diverse, contradictory, but sometimes sonorous overtones.  The music is certainly played in a minor key, with multiple tonalities. All these are motives as well as operations, all portions of this strange symphonic band. Perhaps this has always been; the best leaders had a sense on how to arrange this strange concoction into a harmonious symphony of achievement.  This was in the past when politicians could be maneuvered into their place in the orchestra of legislation.  Perhaps the current leaders simply don’t understand the fundamentals of political music.  Perhaps the current politicians are so tone-deaf there is little understanding of how this music is made, much less played.  We also have especially too many minor players wanting to be soloists

You hear much about Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and all those other services selling alternative programming.  Why is that?  It could be little more than enhanced alternatives with another channel for delivery. It could be more choices.  It could be the traditional television networks offer little more beyond their traditional tripe. It doesn’t work any more. ------------------- I’ve been watching on Netflix an Australian series, Dr. Blake Mysteries .  Not bad.  How lucky they were, five years after total war, these citizens during the years 1946-1959.  It is true: Many were still grimaced by the war. Many were still grieved by their losses. Many were still flagged from their suffering.  However, almost all rejoiced in their affirmation of the excellence of our victorious countries, our system, what they stood for, and their preeminent position in the world.  Aside from the horror, there remained a certainty we were right, the enemy was vanquished, and we were the pathfin

“Why police reform is so hard?”  This is the content of a essay from The Conversation website ( http://theconversation.com ).  It is akin to the old chestnut, “Are you still beating your wife?”  The very statement assumes the conclusion.  In the police case, the statement assumes the police need reforming, and that it is not only difficult but nearly impossible.  Always, we see more training is the prescription to correct these egregious offenses. What has happened is that police now live on the defensive.  Pro-active policing is feared by the probability of racist accusations. Crowd control is diminished by the probability of being charged with brutality.  Domestic disturbance interventions are diminished by the possibility of  excessive force charges.  The perpetrators make their charges with the simple goal of making their case tried in the press – usually against law enforcement.   The result is always that more sensitivity training is needed. Police, from the onset of any

Bill de Blasio . It used to be that college students would imitate adults.  Wearing suits and elegant attire, they would act as mature as they could. Nowadays, it is the reverse.  Adults are imitating college students, supporting all manner of youthful positions, mostly extreme uncompromising views – the typical fair of sophomores.  Case-in-point.  With NY City in grief over the loss of a police officer to assassination, the mayor jets off to Europe to hang with a bunch of protesters with seeming goal simply to protest. The man seems to be singularly immature, usually a recoverable illness, but not in his case. --------------------- Presidents . Clinton was bogged down a lot by personal issues. Bush was bogged down by wars in the Middle East. Obama was bogged down by trying to remake the US and the world into a globally unified enterprise.   The question is: Who’s taking care of our country?  This includes the bridges and roadways, the waterways and schools, the power plan

Hacking undone .  How to prevent hacking?  Take your system off the Internet.  This is exactly the situation with the 99 active nuclear power plants in the US.  Recent evidence establishes Russian hacking into US nuclear power plants. Among the targets this time, US officials say, the Wolf Creek nuclear plant in Burlington, Kansas.  (This, according to a recent report by NBC news.) But, and finally a wonderful but, the operational platforms of these plants are not hackable because they are off the net.  Perhaps the perps got emails and billing records, but not the plant operations.  Well done.   Might I suggest the creation of a second Internet channel, one not in any way connected to the main stream.  It should be built from the ground-up with no possibility of a breach built-in.  Televisions  and their commercials.   If you watch a TV show on commercial television, you get commercials about every 7-8 minutes.  The commercials last about three minutes, one after the other.  If

North Korea, NOKO? No worry!  Even the most casual observer will not believe the independent NOKO advance in rocketry to be so unbelievably quick.  Their latest ICBM launch featured a rocket with a look rather similar to a Chinese version.  This suggests China is helping their “bad boy” above the 38 th parallel. But the West persists on focusing on NOKO.  So, NOKO can sell technology to Iran, with China sitting peacefully on the sidelines.  So, China can build military islands in the South China Sea and nobody worries or hardly reports.  So, Kim jung un can play the role of power master.  It is a good bet that China has embedded players in Kim’s inner circle who could act upon command.  Kim asserts and amuses himself by destroying enemies from time-to-time. China is in fact the true key to NOKO.  That oft-described fear of China of being invaded by millions of NOKO refugees is ludicrous.  With no press reporting anything, such an “invasion” would be easily repelled or repress

Stock market man.  Suppose I’m worth billions, and have a reputation for picking stock market winners.  What can I do without thinking too much?   A.  I could continue my work, carefully analyzing markets and companies to make my investment decisions.  Maybe too much thinking. B.  I could identify potential sectors or companies, possibly lacking in current market attention, but with some potential.   Then, I could take a huge position with millions upon millions.   The market would take this in advisement and while not really knowing why it is important, would try to pile-on, on the basis of what we’ll call a “position testimonial.”   While pundits would explain why, they and others would also buy, driving up the price even more.   My investment of $300m might increase almost overnight to $350m.  This is what you can do with huge cash reserves.  Change the perception. Change the market. Enhance your investment. This is a totally legal form of market manipulation.  No insid

If North Korean (NOKO) dictator Kim jong un cared about his people, he would feed them, not go about launching expensive missiles which can do his country no good, except court the enmity of his neighbors and the world. Kim wants his own life more than anything, but I fear if he senses his end is imminent, he may do anything, and I mean anything.  USA and even China should be careful here.  The only possibility to end Kim’s regime is a sudden coup from within. Kim knows this well. What NOKO wants .  Attention, benefit deals, a place on the world stage for Kim.  Possibly a screen for China. What China wants .  A distraction.  As long as NOKO is being the bad boy, outrageous, and blustering, who pays attention to what China is up to – such as building military islands in the South China Sea?  Banking sanctions?  Phooey.  Just move the money around.  China is already prepared for this.  The only peaceful recourse for the USA is to exact tariffs on imported Chinese produced go

The journalism student must learn a broad curriculum.  How to write, how to research an article, making a headline with punch, verifying sources, and ethics of reporting are traditional elements of the training.  Today there is more.  Call it afta-graduate school. The modern reporter must ask many questions: Is grammar really that important when I have a deadline to meet? Does the story fit the narrative of my news agency? Are there distractions that will gain more attention from our salacious readers? How can I integrate my personal or agency views into my story? Is it important to verify a source when I know in my heart it is true? How can I used selected truths*? Is there a method to enhance my career with semi-fallacious, but essentially correct reporting? How can I create or infer derogatory views as actual news?   Hint.   Hypotheticals are easy. There is more to modern news than just the news. * https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141204125055-53504664-the

Politics today. Selling sin is easy.  Selling hate is easier. Our leaders should be more circumspect about what they wish to sell.  They may actually be successful - or bury themselves in irrelevancy. The Press Today Venus Williams won her match at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.  So what was the headline?  She broke into tears when questioned about her involvement in a fatal car crash*.  This was minor compared to discussions about her wearing a pink bra** while playing – in some sort of exception to the Wimbledon white-garb-only tradition.  This is the news today.  The distraction becomes more important than the event. * http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/tennis/venus-williams-breaks-down-crying-10731083 **http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/03/venus-williams-shocking-pink-bra-courts-controversy-wimbledon/

Fidget spinners ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidget_spinner ).  You know, those little devices that spin when held between thumb and index finger. Their only function is to spin around.  They are suggested to relieve stress.  Fidget spinners apparently have a terrible reputation among teachers, who claim they distract students from learning.  Wow!  Students distracted from learning?  Let’s forget drugs, TV, social media, all simply minor annoyances. Germany is destroying 77,000 pounds (38 tons) of these horrible things, i.e. more than half a million of these devil's tools.*  Stomp out those fidget spinners and cure our educational problems!   I recommend every member of congress be issued a fidget spinner This will give them all something useful to do, to relieve their obvious stresses, and to meet their native abilities.  There is more.  These spinners teach them one basic physics lesson, that of angular momentum.**  So, fidget spinners are not only a stress-relieving