First Blog

Yes, opportunity often doesn't knock once or twice, but not at all.  It just floats by quietly. Be alert! Be aware! And don't wait for that knock! Almost everyday, something is there begging your attention, but not making much noise. Indeed, once you start looking, there is so much the problem becomes is one of selection.

It is only a matter of time before the next cell phone innovation will be nicknamed “The Billboard,” so big they are becoming. I would not be surprised if almost every ancient coin (i.e. older than a century) is counterfeit. With modern metallurgy, it is too easy to duplicate old coins, right down to the molecular composition.   On recent medicare for all proposals, once the insurance companies are government-consumed, the hospitals will be next. Just because you can’t see it, that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Morality is old. Morality is new.  It has become the new tool to override sloppiness, laziness, and flat out error.  Morality is hot, worn as a cloak to cover emotion. It is used as substitutes for bad data and for the popular will.  It is used as justification for control. Beware of those perched upon the high branches of the morality tree. If the constitution is a “living” document, then who can change it?   Currently, it is a group of judges not representing any electoral constituency. Thus, law is changed without representation. Intransigence affects process. Under intransigence we have this: “What you want, I don’t want.”    Intransigence is a consequence of polarity. An old joke among the sanitation workers is that you get $12/hr plus all you can eat.  This does not imply you get your news feed from the same source. 

1. Usually the revolution  is antipodal, with two heads, faces, and modalities - like much of everything else. 2. For much of what we think we control, we are merely servants. 3. Often, the seat of government is called a swamp , a dark place with greedy and hungry  creatures.      What would be worse is if it was called a circus , a bright place with distractions and illusions, with clowns, high flyers, trained beasts, and prancing ponies.

The black soldier fly maggot is voracious and really active.   The issue at hand is how thousands of them eat, say a piece of fruit. An important fact about our friends is they only eat for about five minutes and then “relax.”   But if they are still near the food, they will block other maggots from eating.   So for all to feed, they (self) organize.   This is not to say they are intelligent, no more so than the average undergrad.   They organize into a vortex of flow where the hungrier maggots come from below toward the food supply pushing the relaxed maggots up (and over the top).   The result is a vortex-like flow, sort of like a fountain or volcano. View from Below This is an example of dynamics, created by self-organized behavior, that feeds all.   The maggots do this (a) without a plan, and (b) without a leader.   One of the problems in understanding self-organization is to find the driver.   In this case, it is hunge

More and more download the traditional “Mouth App,” where you apply your mouth to every event. Content is irrelevant.  Hollywood types and TV News commentators are big users. ---------------- Haunting you every day are the Done twins, Coulda and Shoulda .  They create regret and remorse, but are often resolved calling on their brother, Woulda . ---------------- It seems the Vatican’s true view of child sexual abuse by priests is that it’s a clerical fringe benefit. You know, room, board, and boys.  And now apparently,  nuns are on the menu. ---------------- There are those who pretend and those who pretend to pretend.  Such as to "greatness." ---------------- What does a college do when applicants have low standardized test scores (e.g. ACT, SAT)?  Eliminate the requirement.  Dress it up in high-minded reasons pertaining to diversity and economics, showing how open-minded you are. Welcome Creighton University in Nebraska, the latest joining a number of ot

A story of the future, in four chapters Chapter 1 . It seems that Artificial Intelligence (AI), with amazing data analysis capacities and algorithms, is already making corporate decisions.  Certainly true for Wall Street with algorithmic trading, self-driving cars, algorithmic medical diagnosis.   Great, I think.   Chapter 2 . But then competitors will also use AI to determine what decisions will be made to make counter decisions. Chapter 3 . Such procedures can regress indefinitely and well beyond the reach of human understanding. Not so great, I think! Chapter 4 . Already, algorithms are adaptive, essentially rewriting themselves. Algorithms will be voted seats on the Board of Directors. Or else! By 2023, we will have the first algorithmic corporate CIO*. By 2025, the first COO. By 2030, the first CEO. End of Story. *Chief Information Officer

First, note these days it seems the quality in politicians is much diminished.   Almost a laugh it is except these folks are running the place or running the opposition.   In modern politics, you must never change your mind or apologize. Doing either is not unlike putting “blood into shark-infested waters.”    If you do, you’re in deep trouble, and you know it. So what can you do? What do you see and hear?   There are four, newly five, accepted excuses. a.   Double down – reaffirm what you said no matter how stupid it was. b. Be unapologetic – stand your ground showing strength not weakness. c. Claim your remarks were taken out of context – a favorite for VIP politicians. d. Deny all – a tenuous move where you truly hope no further evidence pops up. e. Credit your moral correctness – while your statement erred only a “little.”* * Relatively recent

One way to understand any topic is to better understand its opposite or an alternative.   For example, to understand the nature of gravity, it is useful to imagine no gravity.   To understand the qualities of a good teacher for example, think first of the qualities of a bad one.   This prescription - too see me, first see me not - gives broad outlines and shapes, while not rendering fine detail. In this first installment of a new sequence of micro-essays, we consider the differences between… Today, we consider the politician and two new breeds, those coming from business accustomed to deals plus things money can buy, and those emerging from the basement mimeograph machine accustomed to running off provocative missives to save the world. Caution . If you lean left or right, you may not like what’s to come. Businessmen think in terms of deals and profit (i.e. money). If dollars are involved all come to their normal levels of wishing for more. Thus, between them understanding

Pig Latin, the language of the future? A. First, you know Yahoo, Google, Facebook, etc, reads your email and messages.   Mostly looking for advertising tips, but all is stored. B. All kids learn Pig Latin in school.   Not taught in classes, all pick it up with ease.   Just take a word such at “stuff” and move the first letter to the end and add and “a.”   So, “stuff” -> “tuffsa   (pronounced “tuff-say”). The sentence, “I want to go shopping” becomes “Ia antwa ota oga hoppingsa.” C. Big Question.   Suppose we all started, like today, using Pig Latin in our messaging.   How long will it be before the big boys write a Pig Latin translator so they can once again read your messages?   One week?   One month?   One year?   That you made a guess proves you believe they would do it. ------------- Chinese Checkers – 2019 style They are resisting, but why shouldn’t China open its markets to the US and even Europe?   They do make very good quality stuff.   And if so, will not th

If you dig ditches for a living, and a robot replaces you, what can you do?   Certainly not repair robots. This requires quite a skill level quite beyond the dig.   You’re out. While it’s true automation creates new jobs, it is false those so replaced will qualify.   The diggers of the ditch is not an asset class. ---------------------------------- Heavy stirrings in this world are afoot, and they are out “to convert” you to the “true beliefs.”   Whose true beliefs?   Mine, of course.   These stirrings are in all Western countries, or more generally democratic countries where people can make decisions by vote.   The tools directed against the unbeliever arrive as words in print, social media, and television. There are also placards, T-shirts, and hats of all varieties. They are often profane, sometimes political, frequently delirious, but mostly sum to filth. In fact, human nature is to emphasize, proselytize, and criticize for (you to) change.   Everybody’s doing it, doing

Repair then and now. I recall listening to a lecture by the great physicist Richard Feynman* where he talked about his teen-years, neighborhood repair business (1930’s) for radios and the like.   He said mostly he just looked for a loose wire or burned tube.   Presto, he fixed it.   He could repair because repair was easy and because he was real smart.   I recall the (very) old Maytag washer/dryer commercials on TV featuring a repairman lamenting he never had any work, because Maytag’s never broke down.   Great add. Great reassurance in the beginning age of home machinery.   I recall myself in the 60’s of stripping my TV of its tubes and taking them to the local drugstore where they had a tester.   Burned ones were replaced and the screen glowed again. Beyond that required an an actual TV repairman - expensive! Today, note whenever you buy anything electronic or mechanical, the seller offers to sell you insurance policies against damage and breakage. Sooooo… What do you wa