Internet Protection

My sincere hope is that the internet can push forward a new age of public service and accountability and common sense (of the people, by the People and for the PEOPLE) in our government and democracy around the world. It's a tool we cannot afford to lose.

The danger, however, is not past.

Read this article about SOPA/PIPA and international agreements that loom.

Swings, Ebbs and Flows

Heard something on This American Life the other week about how, once someone is convinced that global warming is a theory, that it is very, very difficult to change their minds, even with widely accepted facts (Act Two. Climate Changes. People Don't). The show was fascinating and vaguely horrifying. 


The most interesting sociological moment was the exchange between a scientist, trained to teach kids about global warming, and a teenager who knew her own mind. Somehow the producers managed to convey the chasm that opened, seemingly before our eyes, between the two. The science did seem to become misty, ideological, while the teen stood firmly, arms metaphorically crossed, on ground we have hallowed as a nation: Question Authority.


So we are left with an impasse. Deep and threatening, no matter how far back we would like to stay from the edge.


What do you do when falsehoods, repeated over and over, seem to erode fact? How DO you reach people once they have decided your, or the entire scientific community's, or the government's, or the church's, or the parent's credibility is shot?


It doesn't escape my attention that growing up includes being able to see the world from more and more various points of perspective. Like a cool camera trick where the videographer spins in place, providing a 360 degree view, then suddenly the image shifts to circling something - the room, the "person" whose view started us. Surely it always makes us dizzy to do that shift, from "helio" or earth or personal-centric to spinning from the outside looking in.


I imagine this is why growing up is so damn difficult - not to mention that those frontal lobes (or whatever part of the brain it is) aren't fully developed yet. 


But just like women's brains are different from men's and our hormones deeply affect how we see things and how we think about them, so do children and kids have a great deal to offer in how we grapple with an essential (imnsho) question:


How do we "grow up" as a society without gutting all the staid, safe, reasonable institutions that we have carefully constructed over millenia? How do we not get caught up too much in the "old order" and outdated modes of thinking, while not cutting our collective nose off to spite our face(book)? lol.


There is still plenty of confusion promoted, I think, by persistent internet rumours and "urban legendesqe" (read: misleading) emails. There is also the far right's - oops, no, edit that. There is the radical's blatant interest in a misinformation 


Enter the Age of the Moderate. 


My new theory is that societies and humankind have to go thru these strange periods of vicious, vitriolic, vituperative battles of ideology - an epic clash of Beliefs.  It's Jews and Pagans, it's Greeks and Jews, it's Christians and everyone, it's Inquisitions and Renaissance, it's science and religion, it's industrial and agrarian, it's government and religion, it's communism and socialism and democracy, it's science and religion, it's conservatives and liberals, it's institutions and upstarts, it's radicals and moderates.


I know who I'll vote for :)

Anyway, this is a cool excerpt, on the topic of science and global warming:

We know that the rise in temperatures over the past five decades is abrupt and very large. We know it is consistent with models developed by other climate researchers that posit greenhouse gas emissions — the burning of fossil fuels by humans — as the cause. And now we know, thanks to Muller, that those other scientists have been both careful and honorable in their work.
Nobody’s fudging the numbers. Nobody’s manipulating data to win research grants, as Perry claims, or making an undue fuss over a “naturally occurring” warm-up, as Bachmann alleges. Contrary to what Cain says, the science is real.

from Review of the science by a skeptic who changed his mind 

One of the Worst Chapters in Our History

Lillian McEwen breaks her 19-year silence about Justice Clarence Thomas

It's been 19 years since I lost faith in a big chunk of "the system".

Of course most knew or suspected that Clarence Thomas was a philanderer and had indeed harassed women all around him. Why else would women come out of the woodwork, most notably Hill, and risk being grilled over an open pit of vitriol from the right?

Beyond that my gripe is that the ABA (American Bar Association) didn't approve him as fit for the job, first time ever for a Supreme Court nominee. But his confirmation showed the writing on the wall - that our judicial system, even at the highest and most hallowed levels, was becoming politicized to the point of turning a blind eye to lack of qualifications.

Thomas' appointment tainted the Court.

side note: I didn't know he had worked for John Danforth, former Senator from Missouri, partner in a firm where I once "worked" and an ordained Episcopal Minister. I have a lot of respect for Danforth. Too bad his ethics and class didn't rub off on Thomas.

Smoke and Mirrors?

This article has been on my mind for the last ten days. Still absorbing.

Op-Ed Columnist - Hey, Small Spender - NYTimes.com

Small Comfort

Report gives stimulus package high marks

Didn't He Campaign on a Promise of Changing Prior Administrations' Abuses?

Report: Obama Administration Wants to Update Wiretapping Laws � VOA Breaking News

Why We Need Judicial Oversight...

oh, but that doesn't seem to work anymore either :(

Discovery of GPS tracker becomes privacy issue - CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, Sports

Campaign Finance Reform - dead horse?

Found this today, after following the $3 billion being spent on this year's elections. So far.

Obama dropped ball on campaign reform - CNN.com

And the Republicans missed their chance too.

Plutocracy - The influence the wealthy minority of the population has over the political arena includes campaign contributions, as well as bribing to achieve corporate objectives (exclusively profit related), refusing to support the government financially by refusing to pay taxes, threatening to move profitable industries elsewhere, and essentially any form of manipulation of the government. It can also be exerted by the owners and ad buyers of media properties which can shape public perception of political issues (see also: fourth estate)." wikipedia

It's Not Rocket Science

David M. Cutler: Health Reform Passes the Cost Test - WSJ.com

Love and Totalitarianism

"I grew up in a society where the motto was, "Those who are not with us are against us," implying that if somebody doesn't agree 100% with a certain point of view, he or she is the enemy and must be eliminated. This is how totalitarian societies are created. This is horrific on a societal level and such an approach certainly has no place in the Arts."

Astute commentary from one raised in Russia and imprisoned because he was Jewish. His observation draws a haunting parallel, for me, to the state of our politics, the polemics and polarized politicians who can't seem to work together for the common good.

Conversation with Mischa Maisky

The performance in which I fell in love with Maisky.

Amazing performance, in the last few years

A Hidden Corporate Subsidy

This is interesting, an article about imported workers, tho it's a bit dated. I thought I was a bit dense because I couldn't find figures for how many foreign workers are working in the country. I'm not a zenophobe. My degree is in International Business. But there is a limit to our hospitality, isn't there?

Here is more about importing labor:

No labor shortages

Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman called the program a corporate subsidy, as quoted in a 2002 article in Computerworld.^[15] The accuracy of this quote can not be ascertained, however, as Mr. Friedman has since died. Others holding this view include Dr. Norman Matloff, who testified to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration on the H-1B subject. Matloff's paper for the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform claims that there has been no shortage of qualified American citizens to fill American computer-related jobs, and that the data offered as evidence of American corporations needing H-1B visas to address labor shortages was erroneous.^[16] The United States General Accounting Office found in a report in 2000 that controls on the H-1B program lacked effectiveness.^[17] The GAO report's recommendations were subsequently implemented.

The Real Unemployment figures

New figures are in

There are about 15 million people unemployed

About 9 million are underemployed (working part time but want full time work)

2.5 million are "marginal" meaning they haven't looked for work in the past 4 weeks, for various reasons, but have looked in the last year. These are the folks who have given up.

So that's really about 25.5 million people unemployed.

And the Senate couldn't get a jobs bill passed. Makes you wonder if the now $10 billion package (it was $15 billion a few days ago) wasn't passed by the House just yesterday because they knew the new unemployment figures were coming out today.

How, if we lost another 36,000 jobs, did the unemployment rate stay the same? Did we add that many more imported workers?

(As best as I can tell about 100,000 workers are working under what is called an H-1B visa - wouldn't that make a lot of jobs for our American residents, to just send everyone home who has a green card? I'm pretty sure it's a LOT more than 100,000 workers.. H-1B visas are just for "highly skilled" workers, meaning anyone who can run a computer :)

Wow.

Schwarzenegger Seeks Shift From Prisons to Schools - NYTimes.com

Maybe we should educate instead of imprison in the first place. Schwarzenegger Seeks Shift From Prisons to Schools - NYTimes.com For every dollar we spend in early childhood education (and problem prevention) saves $4 incarceration costs.

Shifting Power Structures

Anyone see something wrong with this picture? China Manufacturing Expands I think maybe in the midst of a world wide recession the shift of economic power is becoming all too obvious. Foreign interests own our assets, and the trade deficit is climbing. I have been looking for the total number of green card workers in the country now, and can't find a solid figure, although about 40,000 - 60,000 are granted each year. Nothing wrong with immigrant labor, as long as unemployment is reasonably low. My beef is with companies who now import skilled labor to avoid paying decent wages. Anhauser-Busch is one of them, who brings in thousands of Indian nationals to staff their IT department, but of course now they are foreign owned as well.

Unchecked healthcare costs will ruin America

Good article but especially see comments by Canadians on Candadian health insurance! Unchecked healthcare costs will ruin America - health - 21 September 2009 - New Scientist

The Wrong Way to Criticize Healthcare Reform - The Atlantic Business Channel

Good short article about some of the crazy ways this health care reform debate is morphing into rhetoric. The sad part is it's still stalled. What has happened to politicians - elected leaders - who could LEAD? It's not just Obama, but within the parties too? Where are our compassionate conservatives? Who looks out for us, we the People, against gigantic corporate interests? No one, apparently.

The Wrong Way to Criticize Healthcare Reform - The Atlantic Business Channel

Just heard btw (on NPR last night) that the Atlantic Monthly was the most prestigious and widely read magazine in the country during the Civil War and after. I am duly impressed.
v

Despite Anti-Vitamin D Bias, CDC Stumbles on Deficiency Link to H1N1 Deaths

I love this guy's website. I don't think the CDC is evil and see it serves a purpose.

Despite Anti-Vitamin D Bias, CDC Stumbles on Deficiency Link to H1N1 Deaths

Then again, why they are into behavior sciences too... I suppose suicide is a disease... but can we just please have another government group - like, I dunno, Department of Homeland Security and Mental Health take care of it?

What's Behind the Anger? - George's Bottom Line

I really like George Stephanopolous and follow him on Twitter. One day I'll find an easy way to link to his Twitaccount. Ok, that wasn't really hard. Spelling his name was harder.

I liked his post What's Behind the Anger? - George's Bottom Line, about how there is so much vitriol and anger on health care reform.

It's similar to this story, out just today, about a Facebook poll about killing Obama, and the increase in hate rhetoric over the summer.

I suspect that a lot of the passions come from people being mired in fear right now. Fears about the economy, swine flu, retirement and our health care, as well as other seasonal stuff like the storms that swept Atlanta and flooded us out.

I've even found myself dreaming of the floods, tho I didn't seem as affected during. I was and am deeply concerned, but didn't worry or fret over it. Nonetheless, mud and rising waters show up in my sleep, along with concerns about caring for my children.

In one dream, children were being catapulted! (I love how my dreaming brain talks to me!) It probably had to do with launching children into an adult world before their time, as well as my fears about how to be a good Mom during all this transition in our lives.

Last week I remember also thinking about how teens so need their parents, and it is our job to remain available and diligent in raising them, even when they pretend to hate us, not need us, and fight to pull away.

A few years ago NPR did an excellent story on the topic. But that is another post, another day.
v

Professional Journalism

You cannot make good decisions with inaccurate or very incomplete information. If you try, you will fail. This isn't my rule, it just is. You may accidentally make a good decision, but it's a fluke. How many major decisions do you want to make on a foundation of quicksand?

Now, how good is your source of information for local, regional and world events? Is it Yahoo or Google or Fox News or the local radio station between songs?

If you ingest primarily junk food, you get fat and unhealthy. Whether you inhale (breathe in) actual junk food, junk movies, junk books, junk news, junk opinion, junk friends, or junk religion, you will see predictable results.

Walter Cronkite's passing two days ago was a sad moment, tho I was generally too young to remember his tenure as one of the most famous television anchormen of all time.

I'm doubly sad to hear of this loss because the state of our country is so very dependent on professional journalism.

How do you find good solid information? The internet? How many of us check multiple quality sources for information on major issues of our times, such as "cap n trade" legislation, which is an attempt to limit pollution emissions? The issues involved will affect every man, woman and child for possibly centuries and could hold the future of our survival - both economically and environmentally.

I've taught my kids: be very careful with whom you associate. Your friends will help define you. They will be smart and loyal and watch your back, or they will draw you into trouble and bail on you when their self-interest is at stake. Good friends will challenge you at times by telling you something you don't want to hear. Honesty and dedication to the friendship is crucial for real trust and credibility.

I propose that your source for news is just as critical a decision. It defines how you think, who you are in your world, and what you believe.

Further, you can't overstate the critical importance of accurate information to support democracy. It is one of the most fundamental underpinnings to our form of government for and by the People. I would rank it as high as the Rule of Law (meaning we have laws and follow them, and don't tolerate rampant corruption or favoritism) or habeus corpus ("show me the body" in court, and file charges or let them go) or the framework of the Constitution itself.

Think about it. If we cannot rely on professional journalists to give us accurate and unbiased information, how can we make informed decisions on any issue?

My deep suspicion of all radicals stems from two things: I usually cannot discern their point thru the filter of rhetoric, and their agenda creates bias that cannot be trusted.

In short, they make me work too hard.

Why should I pay any attention to a news source that is questionable (biased) if I can simply get good reporting from an organization that is still dedicated to the facts, "Just the facts, ma'am." as Agent Friday politely requested.

Why should I have to question every assertion and research their twisted facts because they cannot maintain the journalistic standards to stay out of the story as much as possible? The whole point of journalism is to report the news, not skew it.

Cronkite was not unusual except in his huge popularity. Indeed in his generation the "infomercial" quality of modern journalism would have been beaten back into the swamp from which it slithered.

My father was a journalist - award winning in his writing for south Florida newspapers. I was very sad when he left the profession. Of all the things he did in his life, I considered it the most powerful and important. My mother has also been a successful reporter. Like Cronkite they considered it imperative to keep personal agendas out of the story.

Has anyone noticed how even the evening news on the major networks is now conducted by "anchors" walking around, ad libbing and being "personable"? Anchors are more like ringmasters, than true conductors, with performing seals and amazing animals to wow us. Has our short attention spans actually reduced us to mere entertainment sponges? Do we expect to be simply spoon fed fascinating tidbits of zero substance, sound bites and oversimplified "analysis"?

If so, then we will get what we have asked for, or allowed ourselves to be lulled into... apathetic passive watered down democracy, run by only the radicals who give a damn enough to pay attention and push their agendas.

It is an ethical issue, because so much is riding on holding high journalistic standards. And remember, the FIRST thing to go in countries that are losing their right to self-determination is credible public news sources, ergo their freedom of information. Witness Hitler's Germany, the (former) Soviet Union, China, North Vietnam, North Korea, and countless other war-torn countries. If you control the news, you control the people.

I have to be blunt: any extreme news source is the equivalent of Howard Sterns (altho I do defend his right to be morally decrepit and a poster child for idiocy) and well paid strippers. It's just entertainment. It isn't journalism.

If you don't get the difference, then please do consider yourself part of the problem. :)
v

Bitter Sweet Independence, Service and the cost of Freedom

Fireworks are one of the greatest fun things to watch! I'm full of wonder at them, thrilled and moved by crowds and music and the magic to stand in awe, and also to remember all the hard struggles of our country.

My prayer is that we don't ever lose sight of the key ingredient in democracy - people who care and therefore, pay attention. Then act.

WE the People are a critical part of the checks and balances in our system. Yes, there are the three branches of our government: The presidency, the judiciary and the congress. But there is also us.

We decide to serve - in the military, in government or in other public service. We decide to get involved, to make our voices heard.

The bad rap that government has gotten is well earned, in many cases. But many many more public servants do a good job, care about their work and their role as servants.

Nothing is harder than dealing with the public, and of course no one should stay in a job they don't perform well. But your one bad incident with a DMV official doesn't make them all incompetent.

I just wrote a scathing letter to Sprint for, once again, screwing up my bill. However, I made it clear that I blame their IT systems. Their employees cannot be so incapable as a group!

I include teachers as public servants, especially those in public schools. Take a moment and think of all the great experiences you had in school. I know the system is plagued, and in Georgia we have more problems than most states (with one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country). But most teachers are not power hungry or abusive. Most are devoted to the kids, our kids, and are good people. Their devotion shows because they stay in it despite overwhelming bureacratic demands, children without adequate home support or self respect (and therefore don't respect anyone) and with ridiculously low pay.

Memorial Day just passed, but this weekend I've been thinking about not only our dead, but also our living veterans and soldiers. I read an estimate yesterday that over 300,000 of our military has suffered TBI (traumatic brain injury) which included PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder, from the Middle East wars.

5,014 have died in combat in our two Middle East wars. Now multiply those 5,014 deaths by - what? How many lives are irrevocably changed by a death?

Is it 20 family and friends who are deeply affected by the loss of each life? Many many have more like 50 people or even a hundred who knew them well enough to grieve deeply. If we use 50 each, that's about 250,000 people directly affected by the loss of EACH of our service men and women.

If we add the number of wounded up, there have been 34,508 to date. We don't know how serious the wounds (there doesn't seem to be a "level" system readily found to break down these figures), but almost half of them leave solders out of commission for at least 72 hours. If even just a fourth of those casualties are critical, then that is over 8,000 serious injuries.

Using the same logic as above, if there are even just 10 family members who lives are deeply changed, heavily affected by a serious illness(es)/wound(s) in a service member, that is 80,000 people.

I think of the dead and injured as being the center of concentric circles of love and care. There are their immediate family, and then close family and then close friends, and then good friends and then their communities. Everytime I hear of a death or injury from the wars, I know there are hundreds affected. Ripples of pain and fear and grief.

Now how many soldiers suffer from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)? One estimate is 1 in every 8 soldiers returning from combat. Some estimates put PTSD at 30%, over time, for Vietnam vets. More soldiers from WWII than ever are seeking professional help to deal with their untreated mental suffering.

The good news is more new veterans are seeking help - about 60% according to the story linked above. But that still leaves up to 40% who aren't getting help. The walking wounded. Unaided they will turn to many other means to medicate their pain - alcohol, drugs, estranged from family, divorce, etc.

So the news is grim.

I'll end on an even more sobering thought. While at least (from a ball park guess of the figures above) a million Americans are deeply affected by the war and it's devastation to our troops, here are some numbers on lives lost in the Middle East, just in Iraq since 1980.

It's difficult to quantify how many Iraqi lives have been lost, in the midst of so much turmoil, in the middle of a war. But the link above at least attempts to look at both lives lost in the war, as well as under the reign of Saddam Hussein.

Over a million Iraqi lives lost. Men, women and children.

Evil must be fought at every turn. And we must be careful and wise in our willingness to sacrifice for the freedom of others. More than anything we must continue, imnho, the deadly serious conversations about our role in the world - as keepers of Democracy, as moral and ethical leaders in the world, as role models and as defenders of the innocent and helpless.

We cannot leave a power vacuum in Iraq - and I've always said we must finish what we started. But it will cost us.

Democracy is not easy. Nothing good ever was.

It isn't conferred, but earned.

It's messy and frustrating and maddening at times. But we owe it to ourselves, our founders, our children's children, especially to freedom fighters every where in all of history, to continue the struggle.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

vj