First Blog

An eternal impossible problem/situation of the conflict variety Suppose there is an ascending, aggressive appearing, nation emerging and building military might. Their threat is ominous though they assert no claims for territory are in their plans. The developments are only for defense. What is the response of the other nations? There are two. Type A. We should fortify this location or making alliances with nearby nations thereby hedging in this imminent threat, making clear our intent to delimit any strategies they may have, and demonstrating the severe cost to territorial ventures. Let us negotiate from strength. Type B. We should not fortify because it will anger and possibly even enhance their build-up making them more dangerous. It may even trigger a venture for territorial gain. Let us accept their word that they do not seek aggression with other nations. Let us negotiate from good will It is remarkable how consistent these strategies with variations have sustained over most

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." --- Shakespeare The legal profession has about the broadest range of intellectual ability as any of the prominent professions.  Known to most as an important profession, necessary in a complex society, but for which billed fees are perceived as disproportionate to the services rendered.  This we know.  However, it is the range of skill of lawyers, from supreme intellect to barely literate that we come upon.  It's all in the licensing. Many folks could handle simple wills, property closing, contract execution and enforcement, and numerous lawyerly skills. For most of these tasks there are strict procedures of practice. Very little actual legal knowledge is required. There is a difference between understanding the nature of the law and preparing a will or trust for some needful client.  To be sure, without licensing the doors would open to completely unscrupulous, incompetent, and immoral practitioners.  Licensin

On theory and belief.  Theories are containers of our beliefs, ideas, and sometimes desires.  They are our vessels of  understanding.  There are levels and criteria for acceptance of theories. When a theory is believable it gets believed.  When a theory fits with one's beliefs it gets believed. When a theory is believable and refutes another but undesired theory, it gets accepted.  Others: When a new theory conflicts with an older and accepted one, it will not be accepted. When two theories collide, there results a conflict between the proponents. When power intervenes, it suspends the search for truth.  When a theory recruits power, open investigation is suppressed. Included are theories of religions of various types, genetics, anthropology, disease, climate change, physics (M-Theory), astronomy, i.e. origins of almost anything. Many have fallen from favor including previous theories of matter, disease, astrology, polytheism, astronomy, alchemy, and more. On power. 

Are you watching "The Vikings"  television series on the History Channel?  It takes place in Scandinavia, probably what is now Sweden.  It features slaughter and ritual as a way of life.  Moreover, it is totally violent; it has intrigue; it show fidelity and infidelity;  it shows intelligence without and without learning; it demonstrates conflicts of belief; it supports a life of fate depending on gods. It is anything but post modern.  Yet, it is attractive, entertaining, fascinating, and even horrifying. Among the gods it features Thor, the master, and Loki, the belligerent trickster - but with not innocent tricks.  BTW, many religions feature these two conflicting forces in life, including the bushmen of southern Africa. It involves priests, and seers, all culminating with important political decisions made in the wake of their assessments. It titillates us all in our highly antiseptic world of political correctness, high secularism, social equality, fair share economic

  Actor Herbert Mundin, playing Munch in the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood (starring Errol Flynn) is charged by Prince John's troops of slaying a royal deer in the royal Sherwood forest.  The punishment is death.  Though the events of this film are a portrayal of events dating to the 15th century, they became by the 19th century a "robbing from the rich for the poor" theme so often depicted in other film genres. The William Tell legend is another. The plot is simple.  A poor man desperate to survive tastes the forbidden fruits owned by the authority, and is condemned. I would love to hear this event debated on the current TV news shows.  On the one hand, Munch would be a champion in service to his family.  On the other hand, his legal rights are restricted by legal authority. so, the argument would proceed.  Legal scholars cite statutes chapter and verse, while others would root for the common man.  Fast forward to 2014. Parallels between the poor Munch an

Doubling down. Theory, ideology, faith, whatever it may be, we see now in current affairs the intransigence of public and scientific players the willingness to persevere with a policy or theory, of some position despite the evidence it  seems not to be working. The remedy is not to revise, readjust, or relegate the program or  position, but to double, even triple, down upon it.  It is true, they argue, we just haven't given enough time or resources to fulfill its benefits.  It doesn't matter the topic, ranging from health care, to green solutions, to capitalistic markets, adherents will not let go.  Their theory is correct, they contend, we just need to persevere along this path. Persistence is the by-word of all too many.  This country, founded greatly upon William James' concepts of  pragmatism, has reversed course to pure belief.   Now this leads us to an conundrum.  It is seemingly impossible to let go, reverse course, or reformulate.  Remarkably, this is a partic

National Standardized Tests. For those interested in the current state of K-12 education in the United States. The 2014 round of standardized exam administration got underway in several states this week. As predicted by FairTest and our Testing Resistance & Reform Spring (TRRS) allies, opt-out campaigns and other forms of protest exploded in many communities. See http://www.resistthetest.org The CCSS, Common Core of States Standard, is more-or-less a set of national standards aimed at improving K-12 education.  In mathematics, its goal is to increase thought provoking curricula with an emphasis on problem solving in all grades.  Of coruse, this sounds great.  It sounds as though at least someone has found the true path.  And 47 state agreed.  Currently, only Indiana has opted out. Of course, in the interest of accountability, there are the associated high stakes tests to measure compliance and achievement of the so-called "Core."  An unsurprising controversy has emerged.

From March 20, 1990. This morning on National Public Radio (NPR), I heard a piece centered on industrial phsychology and its attempt to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual employees, and to match the employee to the job to enhance productivity. The admission has been made that certain people are good at one thing but not at another. This is in contradistinction to the 70's and 80's claim that "you can be what you want to be.'   Probably, this reaches even into the 50's and 60's for in my own memory the truism is what guided many of us into our chosen paths and certainly kept us to them - once begun.  This new attitude is a window in a larger screen.  For example, "We can tame and control nature to our own ends."  This, a familiar cry from decades past, has been abandoned.  For women in the 80's, "You can have it all," have realized that choices must be made.  Having it all is not possible. The new attitude (actually

A memory is an event or object stored in your brain.   Memories are neither perceptive nor conceptive as these are more-or-less contemporary events.   Objects of the memory are therefore objects of the past.    The principle two types of memory are the acts of remembering and of recollection.   Recollection can be regarded as imperfect memory that singles out similarities with perhaps a large group of memories each having some commonality to the presence of event at hand.     In this note, we expand the idea of memory beyond remembering and recalling.   These are the more subtle memories we need and which allow us to survive and thrive. Instincts.   First, consider a new approach to instinct .   It is differentiated from the hard-wired instincts (discussed below).   It is discussed here as a aspect of possible forgotten memory.   It forms a type of memory in the sense that when an event occurs, there can result an “instinctive” reaction without the benefit of either recall o

Kathleen Sebelius may be the new heroine of the right.  That's right! How's that? A cogent argument can be made that HHS Secretary Sebelius, foreseeing the possible economic disaster resulting from the ACA(Affordable Care Act), decided to sabotage the bill by appointing totally incompetent officials (e.g. Marilyn Tavenner) to oversee its implementation and by approving an equally incompetent software firm to write the massive code. One can claim her work and aims were achieved with the emergence of a non-functioning website, riddled with problems, often not working, and with no data security provisions in place.  These conditions persist, though the website now seems to work - but only after millions more were expended to correct the errant code. Additionally, there are thousands of pages of sometimes contradictory regulations required to implement the 2000 page bill.  It is certain an army of administrators, operatives, and lawyers will feed off these regulations for gener

We are residents in a silver bullet society.   We believe just about any problem has a simple pinpointed, highly targeted, definitely focused solution.    The problem complexity is irrelevant.   The overarching simplicity of the solution neutralizes complexity, creating a silver bullet solutions environment.   This is not to say the proposed solution is cheap or even simple, but it is single-minded and simple to comprehend.   It is easy to sell.   It is believable to the uninitiated, to the gullible, to the willing expert, and to the inexperienced.   It is simplistic and makes promises of a total resolution of the problem.    It comes to, “To solve problem X, just do Y.” The silver bullet paradigm compels believers to accept simplistic, often expensive, solutions.   It resolves problems, not by study and consensus, but rather by fiat, by denying alternatives, by denying study, and by rejecting alternative views.    Such solutions often address a symptom of the problem, and