Not that it matters to most people but I thought I’d stop in to mention that I have been sick for half of June. In fact I am still sick. That’s a big reason why I haven’t been around here.
I hate summer colds, especially these days. Plus it really cuts into what I can get done.
Oh well, we’ll see how July goes.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Somebody get me a Santayana clue stick
During the Great Depression, the FDR administration began some serious programs to bring the country out of the economic hole that it was in. The plan worked. Then in 1937 conservative pressure lead to a reduction in the spending that had been so successful. The result was a drop in the recovery that was only fixed by increasing spending.
Today, the Obama administration and Congress are talking about cutting spending and reducing the deficit. These are the same mistakes made in 1937, only this time we haven’t had more than three years of serious economic growth to help us first.
So this time around we get the same mistakes with none of the benefits.
Today, the Obama administration and Congress are talking about cutting spending and reducing the deficit. These are the same mistakes made in 1937, only this time we haven’t had more than three years of serious economic growth to help us first.
So this time around we get the same mistakes with none of the benefits.
What’s in a name?
Is Anthony Weiner an idiot? Of course he is. He’s a public figure, a politician and an elected Representative. Anyone who does what he did when they are under that much scrutiny is an idiot. It will never stay private. So yes, he’s an idiot.
There, we’re done. Can we get back to Medicare, Social Security and Jobs now?
Oh, yeah. He lied about it. Is anyone surprised? Especially considering the specific circumstances. Does this really disqualify him as a politician?
By the way – how did these pictures become public? Who had the right to distribute them? I’m a little curious about that.
Now, what about jobs?
There, we’re done. Can we get back to Medicare, Social Security and Jobs now?
Oh, yeah. He lied about it. Is anyone surprised? Especially considering the specific circumstances. Does this really disqualify him as a politician?
By the way – how did these pictures become public? Who had the right to distribute them? I’m a little curious about that.
Now, what about jobs?
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Ya know
Whatever you may think of the latest plan to kill Medicare, it does nothing to control costs.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Island biodiversity
I saw a geographer on TV in February of 2009 – I had made a note of it and searched for the file to get the date. He was talking about a method used to study endangered species by studying environments. As an exercise, he and a colleague had their students do a study to approximate the location of a certain most wanted person who was found last weekend. I remember him as much for how cool I thought his description of the processes involved in being a geographer were as for the ideas he had about where a particular person might be hiding.
This link is to a short article on the Science magazine site: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/05/geographers-had-calculated.html?ref=hp
I couldn’t remember where exactly he said the likely hiding place was, but apparently the analysis came up with a pretty good assessment. It wasn’t an exact prediction, and it was only done as a practical exercise for the students, but one that seemed to me to be worthy of further investigation.
I’m not really surprised there wasn’t much made of this at the time. It’s not a well known science and the existing methods have a proven track record, are better understood (so they’re more effectively used) and this was a system that was never designed to find an individual person. They could just as easily have been off by a thousand miles.
Still, I think it’s a pretty cool science.
This link is to a short article on the Science magazine site: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/05/geographers-had-calculated.html?ref=hp
I couldn’t remember where exactly he said the likely hiding place was, but apparently the analysis came up with a pretty good assessment. It wasn’t an exact prediction, and it was only done as a practical exercise for the students, but one that seemed to me to be worthy of further investigation.
I’m not really surprised there wasn’t much made of this at the time. It’s not a well known science and the existing methods have a proven track record, are better understood (so they’re more effectively used) and this was a system that was never designed to find an individual person. They could just as easily have been off by a thousand miles.
Still, I think it’s a pretty cool science.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Stretched thin
I hope everyone had a good weekend. I had family events on Saturday and Sunday, so I am recovering today. I also had two days of enforced rest on Thursday and Friday. Enforced by me, and I managed to pull it off, too.
As a warning, this will be a physical condition post for those who are curious or want to know they are not the only ones in their particular predicament.
So…
That task I set myself of preparing for possible new appliance deployment, though it was an intermittent effort, really did me in. I may have hurt myself. Last Wednesday I realized that I had hit a point that I haven’t been at it in quite a while. I ignored the warning signs, like easy things leaving me exhausted, and I kept pushing. My wife calls this being manic, I say it’s being obsessed, so we compromise and call it a compulsion. It’s a state where I don’t want to let myself stop because I worry about things backsliding.
But I went way too far and actually started going backwards physically. I am more than tired. I have a deep exhaustion that permeates my being. Just to be a geek, I will mention that the perfect description is from The Fellowship of the Ring – Bilbo Baggins, his age unnaturally extended, describes feeling thin and stretched, like butter spread over too much bread.
That’s how I feel. There’s nothing left. There are no energy reserves, no more strength, no more stamina – and yet I still feel as if I need to keep doing things. Something, anything, to prove that I can get things done and to accomplish something more than being, well, more than being what I am and admitting to my limitations. I am forced to face those limitations when this sort of thing happens.
I hope the fact that I managed to rest for a couple of days indicates that I am learning from all of this. That would mean that there’s hope for all sorts of improvement, in a careful, moderate sort of way.
As a warning, this will be a physical condition post for those who are curious or want to know they are not the only ones in their particular predicament.
So…
That task I set myself of preparing for possible new appliance deployment, though it was an intermittent effort, really did me in. I may have hurt myself. Last Wednesday I realized that I had hit a point that I haven’t been at it in quite a while. I ignored the warning signs, like easy things leaving me exhausted, and I kept pushing. My wife calls this being manic, I say it’s being obsessed, so we compromise and call it a compulsion. It’s a state where I don’t want to let myself stop because I worry about things backsliding.
But I went way too far and actually started going backwards physically. I am more than tired. I have a deep exhaustion that permeates my being. Just to be a geek, I will mention that the perfect description is from The Fellowship of the Ring – Bilbo Baggins, his age unnaturally extended, describes feeling thin and stretched, like butter spread over too much bread.
That’s how I feel. There’s nothing left. There are no energy reserves, no more strength, no more stamina – and yet I still feel as if I need to keep doing things. Something, anything, to prove that I can get things done and to accomplish something more than being, well, more than being what I am and admitting to my limitations. I am forced to face those limitations when this sort of thing happens.
I hope the fact that I managed to rest for a couple of days indicates that I am learning from all of this. That would mean that there’s hope for all sorts of improvement, in a careful, moderate sort of way.
Learning
I find it hard to believe, even as cynical as I am, that I live in a time when people need to be convinced of the importance and benefits of public education.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)