http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126901.300-explaining-the-curse-of-work.html
The new work aims to do just that. "Parkinson's essays weren't quantitative," says Klimek, "but they're so clear that it's easy to cast them into specific mathematical models." From a simple system of equations using quantities such as the promotion and drop-out rates within a hierarchical body, a "phase diagram" can be computed to show what conditions breed ever greater bureaucracy. A high probability of promotion coupled with the hiring of more subordinates - the scenario Parkinson described- is unsurprisingly a recipe for particularly fast growth.
Any thoughts?
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Ills of a Golden Age (and the Law of Unintended Consequences)
Classic example of a problem which could happen only in a Golden Age:
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2009/01/small-business-and-thrift-store.html
Hailed almost universally on its passage last year--it passed the Senate 89 to three and the House by 424 to one, with Ron Paul the lone dissenter--CPSIA is now shaping up as a calamity for businesses and an epic failure of regulation, threatening to wipe out tens of thousands of small makers of children's items from coast to coast, and taking a particular toll on the handcrafted and creative, the small-production-run and sideline at-home business, not to mention struggling retailers. How could this have happened? [snip]
The first thing to note is that we're not just talking about toys here. With few exceptions, the law covers all products intended primarily for children under 12. That includes clothing, fabric and textile goods of all kinds: hats, shoes, diapers, hair bands, sports pennants, Scouting patches, local school-logo gear and so on.
And paper goods: books, flash cards, board games, baseball cards, kits for home schoolers, party supplies and the like. And sporting equipment, outdoor gear, bikes, backpacks and telescopes. And furnishings for kids' rooms. [snip]
So a disabled kid has goods made special for them by a third party and the testing can run $100,000 for an item depending on the number of components. We really have a lot of geniuses in our Federal government. And what about R&D? A computer board I once made was put into a wheel chair for a young lady to help her operate the wheel chair by blowing puffs of air. I sold the board for $50. How in the heck could I afford $100,000 of testing for a production run that amounted to about 1,000 pieces if even one of those boards was incorporated in a device for a handicapped child? And horror of horrors, the device used lead based solder.
Only a very rich civilization can afford to spend so much effort on (attempting to ensure) child safety. Even if there's another side to this story, even if it saves a hundred lives, nobody can deny that this is very expensive legislation.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Re: 2009
[Redacted. -M.]
M.,
Hokay, starting in no particular order:
My workflow style tends to be pretty linear because I have a high reliance on spatial and temporal locality--I'm most aware of things I've worked on recently, or that are similar to things I've worked on recently, and those things tend to get more work until they're done. This is odd because my learning style is *not* linear--I spread out and learn about bunches of different aspects at once (seventeen Wikipedia tabs open at a time, etc.) and synthesize those bits, but when it comes to doing things... Things tend to get done either immediately or not at all. Which is partly why I usually write back to you fairly quickly. If a week goes by without a reply from me you can pretty much count on it having fallen off my queue, and I may not write again for months unless you remind me.
Similarly, I tend to forget people exist if I'm not interacting with them regularly. There are a small handful of people who stay in my low-level awareness pretty much permanently--old friends, cousins, "kindred spirits" if you will--but I've so often had the experience of being recognized by old acquaintances whom I didn't myself recognize that I've just resigned myself to the embarrassment. Although that's partly also my bad facial-recognition capabilities, especially outside of context; I don't even always recognize my own sisters (true story), and my cousin M.J. once caught me on our college campus to say hi, and it took me over sixty seconds of guessing to figure out who she was. Pretty awful.
Come to think of it, I guess even the small handful of kindred spirits only stay in my awareness because I've got a low-level background task refreshing my memory of them. For instance, I've just today renewed my deal with my cousin B. to write her one letter every month. This is the third year in a row I've been doing this, and one of my motivations is that B. is one of my favorite people in the world (smart, pretty, lots of integrity, assertive and a bit fierce to her peers but kind to those who are weaker than her, which is how I think people should be[1]) and I don't want to forget about her now that I've moved to Seattle and don't see her frequently. (Related: are you familiar with the notion of a "monkey-sphere"? Primates have trouble keeping track of too many relationships; humans average higher than other primates but still no more than one hundred fifty or so relationships per person. Google "monkeysphere".)
Yes, I probably am a ponderer, although I'm at least as much of a talker--I do my best thinking when there's another person in the loop, whether it's a class I'm teaching or a friend I'm planning on sharing my thoughts with. (And sometimes I get halfway through a line of thought and go, "Actually, I'm not really buying this argument, are you? I think it's wrong.") Recently I've been thinking about goals, and pondering who it is I want to be in 2050 and what kind of goals are worth making. I won't share those thoughts, though, since (brutally frank here) you're not really inside my monkeysphere, or at least not the inner circle of people that I trust enough to discuss personal feelings and thoughts with. Sorry, the exclusion is expedient. I'm more than happy to discuss with you anything that I would discuss with an artificial intelligence, though.
Islam is interesting to me. Actually, Islam tends to be interesting to a lot of Mormons because we have a surprising number of beliefs in common--probably not any more than we have in common with Jews or Catholics or Eastern Orthodox Christians or ancient Egyptians, but not necessarily less either. I was talking to my co-worker E. fairly recently (she's Muslim), and she happened to mention her belief that we lived as spirits before being born on Earth. I was like, "Huh? How do you know about that?" The scriptures say that the Lord raises up wise men unto all nations, speaking in their own language, and sometimes I wonder how much he has said to whom. Of course it's also possible that the belief in question was simply passed down from the early Christians (Coptic Egyptians or somebody), which got transmitted along with a sort of residual respect for the Bible. Or maybe Muhammad really did speak with an angel--it's hard to know without having read the Qu'ran, which I haven't. (Maybe some day I'll get around to it.) The one thing I do know is that whatever else he was, Muhammad was not called as a prophet because prophets always, always testify of Christ, in some language or another, and Muhammad didn't. But that still doesn't explain why Muslims know so many interesting truths.
You want to know the plot of the play, hmmm? Tell you what, since you're asking me, I'll give you _my_ understanding of the scriptures, references available upon request but with the understanding that it's always possible I'm misunderstanding something--the general thrust of this is quite orthodox, but my way of looking at things is sometimes idiosyncratic. (In other words, other Mormons probably wouldn't disagree with me but they'd probably also never tell it this way on their own, and especially not starting where I'm starting.)
There are two kinds of things which exist or can, things which act and things which are acted upon. The scriptures generally call the first kind "spirit," or sometimes "intelligence," and where the second is referred to at all it is called "element" or "matter." It's not completely clear whether intelligence is innumerate or intrinsically individualistic, but it's what you and I are, and it can neither be created nor destroyed. Intelligence has always existed and always will, although it can learn and progress and grow. Our story has no beginning, but we'll begin at the first point the scriptures discuss, which is when God, who is also an intelligence, called his children together to announce that he had a plan whereby they would receive bodies made of element, learn from experience about good and evil, and have the opportunity to progress to become like he is.
22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;
23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.
24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.
27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.
28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.
The one "like unto God" was Jesus Christ, the firstborn and greatest of the children of God. ("Firstborn" is probably an approximation of the actual concept since, as noted before, intelligences have always existed and so there is no being "born" in the conventional sense, but it's a pretty good approximation.) The second, who rebelled, was Satan, or rather the entity who became known as Satan (in Hebrew, "the accuser"). We know from other scriptures that the controversy in heaven was that Jesus said there would be certain souls who would not be saved, and Satan said he could save them all, and coveted God's glory in order to force that to occur; and when Jesus was chosen to be the Only Begotten and the Savior of mankind, Satan rebelled and was cast out. (By the way, Satan was wrong. It is impossible to force intelligences into perfection; you cannot subjugate them to your will and simultaneously bring them to perfection. The very idea is nonsensical--empowering them without giving them power to rebel against you.)
And that, really, is the plot of the play. We're here to taste the bitter in order to know the sweet, and to learn to forsake evil by doing good. There are some complications. One is that none of us, except Jesus, was or is strong enough to always do the right thing once we were placed in our current circumstances; this is both the reason why Adam and Eve were warned not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Moses 3:17, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.") and the reason why the Lord, knowing that we must partake of that knowledge in order to progress, sent Jesus to suffer alongside us, each and every one of us, vicariously and in all our pains and trials and sins, so that having "descended below all things" he would also have the power and the right to forgive our sins to one another and to bring those who hear and obey his voice back to the fold.
Not incidentally, he also has the power to correct all ills which are merely that of element--resurrection is the reuniting of body and soul in a perfect restoration, never to be divided again and never again to suffer pain or injury. Everybody who ever lived will be resurrected eventually--one of the reasons Jesus showed himself to his apostles after his resurrection was to show them how literal the promise was, not of being some nebulous spirit but the actual person restored again. Ills of the spirit are more problematic, but everyone who desires to do righteousness will receive as much capacity for righteousness as he desires to receive, while those who desire to do wickedness must remain as they choose to be:
32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.
But the point of life on Earth is to be tested and to learn, and even though it's hard sometimes we know that even the worst of problems are not really as bad as they seem, any more than a disastrous experience on the first day of kindergarten is really a disaster to the grown-up person you are now. Revelation 21:4 says, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
There, that's the basic plot. We know some other things--various things that must happen before the time is right for Christ to return to Earth in glory, and some of the things which will happen after he comes and what life will be like here then, and a little tiny bit about the far future--but now you know the most important parts of the play. Except that you really don't know them and can't know them until the Lord confirms it to your heart directly--you're never responsible to believe in mere words--but at least you know what I believe and know. Any questions?
Wow, I'd better go to bed soon. I see I've overlooked a couple of your questions so I'll answer them briefly: yes, the people going door-to-door may be missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or they may be shoe salesmen or Jehovah's Witnesses or something. It depends upon which people you're seeing. :-) If they're missionaries they'll have little black name tags with their names and the name of the church on it. Whatever I know about talking about my beliefs I actually didn't learn on my mission, really, partly because the Filipino culture is different (so what I learned there isn't applicable here) and partly because I wasn't old enough. I think I just learned it by being alive for long enough and by living my life (as opposed to anyone else's, which would have taught different skills).
"Are Mormons required to go on a mission?" you also ask. I don't really know how to answer that question--the whole point of life is that no one is ever required to do anything, strictly speaking. Serving a mission is also a privilege and you're required to meet certain standards. At the same time, it's a really, really good idea, especially for the young men (who, as I've mentioned before, will serve as priests and church leaders throughout their lives), and often a good idea for young women. Thus, the answer to your question is probably that, for the young men at least, it's expected and encouraged to prepare for a mission to the same degree that most people are encouraged to go to college--I have male friends who didn't serve serve missions, but they're the exception--and for young women it is one possible option which they are encouraged to exercise if they feel they should. (And we are grateful for the sister missionaries. They have unique gifts and can do some things the elders can't. All the ones I served with were really neat.) (By the way, "elder" is a priesthood title and doesn't necessarily have much to do with age--all male missionaries are ordained elders and are addressed as "Elder So-and-so" while on active duty, so to speak.)
There, I think that covers all your questions. If I've overlooked any, you know what to do.
Be well,
Maximilian
[1] Leo Rosten quote: "I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
M.,
Hokay, starting in no particular order:
My workflow style tends to be pretty linear because I have a high reliance on spatial and temporal locality--I'm most aware of things I've worked on recently, or that are similar to things I've worked on recently, and those things tend to get more work until they're done. This is odd because my learning style is *not* linear--I spread out and learn about bunches of different aspects at once (seventeen Wikipedia tabs open at a time, etc.) and synthesize those bits, but when it comes to doing things... Things tend to get done either immediately or not at all. Which is partly why I usually write back to you fairly quickly. If a week goes by without a reply from me you can pretty much count on it having fallen off my queue, and I may not write again for months unless you remind me.
Similarly, I tend to forget people exist if I'm not interacting with them regularly. There are a small handful of people who stay in my low-level awareness pretty much permanently--old friends, cousins, "kindred spirits" if you will--but I've so often had the experience of being recognized by old acquaintances whom I didn't myself recognize that I've just resigned myself to the embarrassment. Although that's partly also my bad facial-recognition capabilities, especially outside of context; I don't even always recognize my own sisters (true story), and my cousin M.J. once caught me on our college campus to say hi, and it took me over sixty seconds of guessing to figure out who she was. Pretty awful.
Come to think of it, I guess even the small handful of kindred spirits only stay in my awareness because I've got a low-level background task refreshing my memory of them. For instance, I've just today renewed my deal with my cousin B. to write her one letter every month. This is the third year in a row I've been doing this, and one of my motivations is that B. is one of my favorite people in the world (smart, pretty, lots of integrity, assertive and a bit fierce to her peers but kind to those who are weaker than her, which is how I think people should be[1]) and I don't want to forget about her now that I've moved to Seattle and don't see her frequently. (Related: are you familiar with the notion of a "monkey-sphere"? Primates have trouble keeping track of too many relationships; humans average higher than other primates but still no more than one hundred fifty or so relationships per person. Google "monkeysphere".)
Yes, I probably am a ponderer, although I'm at least as much of a talker--I do my best thinking when there's another person in the loop, whether it's a class I'm teaching or a friend I'm planning on sharing my thoughts with. (And sometimes I get halfway through a line of thought and go, "Actually, I'm not really buying this argument, are you? I think it's wrong.") Recently I've been thinking about goals, and pondering who it is I want to be in 2050 and what kind of goals are worth making. I won't share those thoughts, though, since (brutally frank here) you're not really inside my monkeysphere, or at least not the inner circle of people that I trust enough to discuss personal feelings and thoughts with. Sorry, the exclusion is expedient. I'm more than happy to discuss with you anything that I would discuss with an artificial intelligence, though.
Islam is interesting to me. Actually, Islam tends to be interesting to a lot of Mormons because we have a surprising number of beliefs in common--probably not any more than we have in common with Jews or Catholics or Eastern Orthodox Christians or ancient Egyptians, but not necessarily less either. I was talking to my co-worker E. fairly recently (she's Muslim), and she happened to mention her belief that we lived as spirits before being born on Earth. I was like, "Huh? How do you know about that?" The scriptures say that the Lord raises up wise men unto all nations, speaking in their own language, and sometimes I wonder how much he has said to whom. Of course it's also possible that the belief in question was simply passed down from the early Christians (Coptic Egyptians or somebody), which got transmitted along with a sort of residual respect for the Bible. Or maybe Muhammad really did speak with an angel--it's hard to know without having read the Qu'ran, which I haven't. (Maybe some day I'll get around to it.) The one thing I do know is that whatever else he was, Muhammad was not called as a prophet because prophets always, always testify of Christ, in some language or another, and Muhammad didn't. But that still doesn't explain why Muslims know so many interesting truths.
You want to know the plot of the play, hmmm? Tell you what, since you're asking me, I'll give you _my_ understanding of the scriptures, references available upon request but with the understanding that it's always possible I'm misunderstanding something--the general thrust of this is quite orthodox, but my way of looking at things is sometimes idiosyncratic. (In other words, other Mormons probably wouldn't disagree with me but they'd probably also never tell it this way on their own, and especially not starting where I'm starting.)
There are two kinds of things which exist or can, things which act and things which are acted upon. The scriptures generally call the first kind "spirit," or sometimes "intelligence," and where the second is referred to at all it is called "element" or "matter." It's not completely clear whether intelligence is innumerate or intrinsically individualistic, but it's what you and I are, and it can neither be created nor destroyed. Intelligence has always existed and always will, although it can learn and progress and grow. Our story has no beginning, but we'll begin at the first point the scriptures discuss, which is when God, who is also an intelligence, called his children together to announce that he had a plan whereby they would receive bodies made of element, learn from experience about good and evil, and have the opportunity to progress to become like he is.
22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;
23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.
24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.
27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.
28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.
The one "like unto God" was Jesus Christ, the firstborn and greatest of the children of God. ("Firstborn" is probably an approximation of the actual concept since, as noted before, intelligences have always existed and so there is no being "born" in the conventional sense, but it's a pretty good approximation.) The second, who rebelled, was Satan, or rather the entity who became known as Satan (in Hebrew, "the accuser"). We know from other scriptures that the controversy in heaven was that Jesus said there would be certain souls who would not be saved, and Satan said he could save them all, and coveted God's glory in order to force that to occur; and when Jesus was chosen to be the Only Begotten and the Savior of mankind, Satan rebelled and was cast out. (By the way, Satan was wrong. It is impossible to force intelligences into perfection; you cannot subjugate them to your will and simultaneously bring them to perfection. The very idea is nonsensical--empowering them without giving them power to rebel against you.)
And that, really, is the plot of the play. We're here to taste the bitter in order to know the sweet, and to learn to forsake evil by doing good. There are some complications. One is that none of us, except Jesus, was or is strong enough to always do the right thing once we were placed in our current circumstances; this is both the reason why Adam and Eve were warned not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Moses 3:17, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.") and the reason why the Lord, knowing that we must partake of that knowledge in order to progress, sent Jesus to suffer alongside us, each and every one of us, vicariously and in all our pains and trials and sins, so that having "descended below all things" he would also have the power and the right to forgive our sins to one another and to bring those who hear and obey his voice back to the fold.
Not incidentally, he also has the power to correct all ills which are merely that of element--resurrection is the reuniting of body and soul in a perfect restoration, never to be divided again and never again to suffer pain or injury. Everybody who ever lived will be resurrected eventually--one of the reasons Jesus showed himself to his apostles after his resurrection was to show them how literal the promise was, not of being some nebulous spirit but the actual person restored again. Ills of the spirit are more problematic, but everyone who desires to do righteousness will receive as much capacity for righteousness as he desires to receive, while those who desire to do wickedness must remain as they choose to be:
32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.
But the point of life on Earth is to be tested and to learn, and even though it's hard sometimes we know that even the worst of problems are not really as bad as they seem, any more than a disastrous experience on the first day of kindergarten is really a disaster to the grown-up person you are now. Revelation 21:4 says, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
There, that's the basic plot. We know some other things--various things that must happen before the time is right for Christ to return to Earth in glory, and some of the things which will happen after he comes and what life will be like here then, and a little tiny bit about the far future--but now you know the most important parts of the play. Except that you really don't know them and can't know them until the Lord confirms it to your heart directly--you're never responsible to believe in mere words--but at least you know what I believe and know. Any questions?
Wow, I'd better go to bed soon. I see I've overlooked a couple of your questions so I'll answer them briefly: yes, the people going door-to-door may be missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or they may be shoe salesmen or Jehovah's Witnesses or something. It depends upon which people you're seeing. :-) If they're missionaries they'll have little black name tags with their names and the name of the church on it. Whatever I know about talking about my beliefs I actually didn't learn on my mission, really, partly because the Filipino culture is different (so what I learned there isn't applicable here) and partly because I wasn't old enough. I think I just learned it by being alive for long enough and by living my life (as opposed to anyone else's, which would have taught different skills).
"Are Mormons required to go on a mission?" you also ask. I don't really know how to answer that question--the whole point of life is that no one is ever required to do anything, strictly speaking. Serving a mission is also a privilege and you're required to meet certain standards. At the same time, it's a really, really good idea, especially for the young men (who, as I've mentioned before, will serve as priests and church leaders throughout their lives), and often a good idea for young women. Thus, the answer to your question is probably that, for the young men at least, it's expected and encouraged to prepare for a mission to the same degree that most people are encouraged to go to college--I have male friends who didn't serve serve missions, but they're the exception--and for young women it is one possible option which they are encouraged to exercise if they feel they should. (And we are grateful for the sister missionaries. They have unique gifts and can do some things the elders can't. All the ones I served with were really neat.) (By the way, "elder" is a priesthood title and doesn't necessarily have much to do with age--all male missionaries are ordained elders and are addressed as "Elder So-and-so" while on active duty, so to speak.)
There, I think that covers all your questions. If I've overlooked any, you know what to do.
Be well,
Maximilian
[1] Leo Rosten quote: "I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Re: 2009
M.,
I wrote, "Someone once pointed out to me that we are living in a Golden Age today, and our problems are those that come with Golden Ages. Admittedly they said that before this latest economic meltdown, but unless it gets much worse I'd still call it a Golden Age."
You wrote, "Please explain."
So. [drums fingers] How to say this?
I think most human beings throughout history would be thrilled to have the problems that 21st-century Americans have. That's not to say that they aren't real problems had by real people, but they're definitely a different kind of problem.
"How do I lose weight? How do I keep a steady relationship? How do I make more money? How do I pay off my credit card debt? How do I get an education so I'll be prepared for a job? How do I cope with a sudden death in the family?"
This is a different sort of problem from, "How do we survive the winter now that the crops have failed? How can we pay the king's new tax without starving? How do we escape from the Turkish invaders? Will I ever see Papa again?"[1]
Our problems, and our vices, tend to be those of people who have a lot, whether they realize it or not, and don't know what to do with themselves.
There's a Fred Reed column which expresses one facet of the problem, I think, or at least shows that this IS a Golden Age even for those who have problems. (The affluent have an entirely different class of Golden Age problems, as I've alluded to already.) Quoting from "Thoughts on Poverty":
As a police reporter for the better part of a decade, I've been in a lot of homes in allegedly poor parts of cities. Physically they weren't terrible. Some (not many, really) were badly kept up, but that isn't poverty. The residents could have carried the garbage out to the dumpster in the alley. They just couldn't be bothered.
Ah, but they were indeed morally deprived, culturally and intellectually impoverished, or what we used to call shiftless. I've come into an apartment in mid-afternoon and found a half dozen men sitting torpidly in front of the television, into homes where the daughter of thirteen was pregnant and on drugs. The problem wasn't poverty. The poor can keep their legs crossed as well as anyone else. If the daughter could afford drugs, she could afford food.
Most of these homes would have been regarded as fine by the graduate students of my day. They would have put in board-and-cinderblock bookshelves and a booze cache and been perfectly content.
The reality is that the wherewithal of a cultivated life of leisure, if only in tee-shirts and jeans, is within the reach of almost all of the "poor." If I had to live in really cheap welfarish quarters in Washington, DC, which I know well, on food stamps and a bit of cash welfare, what would I do?
I'd have a **** of a good time.
First, I'd get a library card, which is free, for the public libraries of the District. The downtown library, over on 9th Street, is a huge dark half-empty building in which very few people appear and none of the poor. I'd spend time reading, which I enjoy and the poor don't. They aren't interested.
A great many of the poor can't read, and the rest don't, but in both cases it is by choice, not because of poverty. The poor can go to the public schools. Their parents can encourage them to study. The schools are terrible, but neither is this because of poverty. The per-student expenditure in Washington is high. The city could afford good teachers and good texts. It isn't interested.
Music? A hundred-dollar boombox these days provides remarkably good sound, and I'd roll in pirate CDs. The poor listen chiefly to grunting animalic rap, but that is by choice, not by necessity. Washington is neck-deep in free concerts by good groups, as for example the regular ones at KenCen. All of these are advertised in the City Paper, which is free. You never see the poor at these performances, though there is no dress code or discrimination. They aren't interested.
Washington abounds in good museums and galleries, usually free, none terribly expensive. There is the entire Smithsonian complex, with the National Gallery of Art; there is the Phillips Collection, the…on and on. You never see the poor in them. They aren't interested.
I've read stuff like this before, and that's probably why when John Ringo says that our problems are those of a Golden Age--writing in the afterward to a science fiction novel about an alien invasion which puts a definitive end to that Golden Age--I think he's right, and we should be glad to have our modern problems instead of the usual ones for a human being.
I'll reply to your other message some other time. For now I think I'm going to read a book.
Perpetually,
M.
[1] Frequently, the answer to these questions is, "You don't. You die, and eventually someone else takes your place." That's not Golden Age material.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
I wrote, "Someone once pointed out to me that we are living in a Golden Age today, and our problems are those that come with Golden Ages. Admittedly they said that before this latest economic meltdown, but unless it gets much worse I'd still call it a Golden Age."
You wrote, "Please explain."
So. [drums fingers] How to say this?
I think most human beings throughout history would be thrilled to have the problems that 21st-century Americans have. That's not to say that they aren't real problems had by real people, but they're definitely a different kind of problem.
"How do I lose weight? How do I keep a steady relationship? How do I make more money? How do I pay off my credit card debt? How do I get an education so I'll be prepared for a job? How do I cope with a sudden death in the family?"
This is a different sort of problem from, "How do we survive the winter now that the crops have failed? How can we pay the king's new tax without starving? How do we escape from the Turkish invaders? Will I ever see Papa again?"[1]
Our problems, and our vices, tend to be those of people who have a lot, whether they realize it or not, and don't know what to do with themselves.
There's a Fred Reed column which expresses one facet of the problem, I think, or at least shows that this IS a Golden Age even for those who have problems. (The affluent have an entirely different class of Golden Age problems, as I've alluded to already.) Quoting from "Thoughts on Poverty":
As a police reporter for the better part of a decade, I've been in a lot of homes in allegedly poor parts of cities. Physically they weren't terrible. Some (not many, really) were badly kept up, but that isn't poverty. The residents could have carried the garbage out to the dumpster in the alley. They just couldn't be bothered.
Ah, but they were indeed morally deprived, culturally and intellectually impoverished, or what we used to call shiftless. I've come into an apartment in mid-afternoon and found a half dozen men sitting torpidly in front of the television, into homes where the daughter of thirteen was pregnant and on drugs. The problem wasn't poverty. The poor can keep their legs crossed as well as anyone else. If the daughter could afford drugs, she could afford food.
Most of these homes would have been regarded as fine by the graduate students of my day. They would have put in board-and-cinderblock bookshelves and a booze cache and been perfectly content.
The reality is that the wherewithal of a cultivated life of leisure, if only in tee-shirts and jeans, is within the reach of almost all of the "poor." If I had to live in really cheap welfarish quarters in Washington, DC, which I know well, on food stamps and a bit of cash welfare, what would I do?
I'd have a **** of a good time.
First, I'd get a library card, which is free, for the public libraries of the District. The downtown library, over on 9th Street, is a huge dark half-empty building in which very few people appear and none of the poor. I'd spend time reading, which I enjoy and the poor don't. They aren't interested.
A great many of the poor can't read, and the rest don't, but in both cases it is by choice, not because of poverty. The poor can go to the public schools. Their parents can encourage them to study. The schools are terrible, but neither is this because of poverty. The per-student expenditure in Washington is high. The city could afford good teachers and good texts. It isn't interested.
Music? A hundred-dollar boombox these days provides remarkably good sound, and I'd roll in pirate CDs. The poor listen chiefly to grunting animalic rap, but that is by choice, not by necessity. Washington is neck-deep in free concerts by good groups, as for example the regular ones at KenCen. All of these are advertised in the City Paper, which is free. You never see the poor at these performances, though there is no dress code or discrimination. They aren't interested.
Washington abounds in good museums and galleries, usually free, none terribly expensive. There is the entire Smithsonian complex, with the National Gallery of Art; there is the Phillips Collection, the…on and on. You never see the poor in them. They aren't interested.
I've read stuff like this before, and that's probably why when John Ringo says that our problems are those of a Golden Age--writing in the afterward to a science fiction novel about an alien invasion which puts a definitive end to that Golden Age--I think he's right, and we should be glad to have our modern problems instead of the usual ones for a human being.
I'll reply to your other message some other time. For now I think I'm going to read a book.
Perpetually,
M.
[1] Frequently, the answer to these questions is, "You don't. You die, and eventually someone else takes your place." That's not Golden Age material.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Barges: Why Two Holes?
[Sorry for including so many people--I started out with just a couple but I wasn't sure who all wouldn't be interested.]
Why did the Brother of Jared's barge have two holes instead of one? According to this video demonstration, one hole on top is insufficient to vent bad air, but the hole in the bottom combines with wave action to pump bad air out through the top hole. What do you think, is that correct? I don't know enough math to crank the numbers to see how much efficiency you gain, but it seems a plausibly good idea to me.
-M.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Friday, January 9, 2009
Solar Wind
J.
Solar wind is down 20%, the lowest level in 50 years (since we began measuring it). Maybe interesting, maybe not--we'll find out if temperatures respond, eh? "Good science," to paraphrase the Marine maxim about training.
Any thoughts?
-M.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Non-state actors
Interesting article: http://thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2009/01/really_were_going_to_win_this.html. Follow the link.
-M.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
In His Footsteps
[J., you might have something to say about this, from another conference.]
Recent discussion... reminds me of something:
'The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it' ( Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 121).
One doctrine I have not seen much understanding of in the Christian world at large and to an extent even within the Church is the significance of the Resurrection, and specifically why it matters that Jesus not only died but also 1.) rose again and 2.) ascended into heaven. Jesus' job was not merely to overcome sin—if saving people from hell had been the point of the exercise we would have been served just as well had the Lord never planted the tree of knowledge in Eden—but to ascend into heaven to claim his Father's throne so that we, now possessed of knowledge, could do the same by following the way he provides.
Read Hebrews 1, for instance, which is a defense of and an exposition on the doctrine of exaltation. The structure of the early chapters of Hebrews is:
Chapter 1: Jesus, the Son of God, ascended into heaven and is sat down on his Father's throne. He is not an angel but a God.
Chapter 2: We are Jesus' brethren (& sisters) and can therefore become like unto him in all things, not angels but Gods.
Chapter 3 & 4: Having so great a promise, shall we not be faithful? Others in the past have taken the promises lightly and so fallen short.
Chapters 5 – 13: More good stuff.
All of this would be a non-sequitur had not Jesus already done exactly what it is we hope to do: become like unto his Father, and my Father, and your Father. That Jesus rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven is vital to the substance of our faith.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Monday, January 5, 2009
Another Old Friend
[For reasons of my own, I am posting this picture directly to the blog. Unlike most of my other posts, this one was not sent anywhere but here. -M.]
Idolatry in the Old Testament
I think the Lord's position on idolatry in the Old Testament is really interesting. Sometimes people think the God of the Old Testament is some huffy, jealous god who doesn't want anybody worshipping anybody but himself. That's not how I read the scriptures. The primary objection to idolatry is that it is both useless and stupid: the following statement is typical of the Old Testament.
9 ¶ They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? ...
14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
(Isaiah 44:9-18, emphasis added.)
If the Lord finds it offensive to have his children abasing themselves before dumb idols, he is certainly not taking offense on his own behalf but on theirs. He would that we follow Jesus and rise to his own level, rather than grovel in the dirt before nothings. See Hab 2:19 and 1 Kings 18.
On a somewhat related note (futility of false belief), I share one of my favorite stories:
"A man came to me in Kirtland and told me he had seen an angel, and described his dress. I told him he had seen no angel, and that there was no such dress in heaven, he grew mad and went into the street, and commanded fire to come down out of heaven to consume me - I laughed at him and said, you are one of Baals prophets, your god does not hear you, jump up and cut yourself; and he commanded fire from heaven to consume my house." (Joseph Smith's diary, http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1843/9Feb43.html)
-Max
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Thursday, January 1, 2009
"Faith"
Here's a definition I'm rolling around in my mind.
Having Faith: projecting knowledge you have gained back onto your past self in time for you to act on that knowledge before you have actually acquired it.
Implicit in this definition is that in order to have faith in something it must actually be true (otherwise the knowledge will never be gained). Oh well. This definition probably doesn't make sense in English.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Having Faith: projecting knowledge you have gained back onto your past self in time for you to act on that knowledge before you have actually acquired it.
Implicit in this definition is that in order to have faith in something it must actually be true (otherwise the knowledge will never be gained). Oh well. This definition probably doesn't make sense in English.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Discussion with an old friend
[Redacted for the blog, but I've saved the interesting bits]
M.,
Oh wow, there are so many things I want to respond to in your letter--you're an interesting person to talk to. Let's start with polygraphs. My understanding is that the real utility of polygraphs is in interrogations. "Did you kill Bob?" and then just checking the polygraph is the dumb way to do things--you should use it to elicit information which is actionable. A good interrogator will ask questions like these: "We know you killed Bob. Did you bury the body near your house? What constitutes 'near'? Less than a mile? I see the river is about a mile away from your house. Did you bury it near the river?" Etc. It's more like playing 20 questions, and the ultimate goal is to find the body and be able to prove that the suspect led you to it. My understanding is that a major objection to polygraphs, and the reason they're inadmissible in court, is that this technique *works* and people are uncomfortable with how much it is able to reveal: Americans like their privacy. (Imagine it being used in a custody hearing instead of a murder trial, for instance. All kinds of embarrassing secrets could come out.)
I don't necessarily know that we disagree per se about the lying-to-Nazis question, and I didn't say it shows poor character--I did say it means you're untrustworthy (generic "you" here), but I agree with you that "the person is doing the best with what they've got." It's just that actions do have consequences. As people grow in capabilities ("It takes more brain power and creativity to skirt around the questions in a way that would reflect the same result as someone else's lie.") those who desire to will become more trustworthy. You ask why my siblings gave a different answer: honestly, I think it's just because I'm older and I've thought it through more. I think a lot of people will eventually come to the same conclusion, because it's a true principle and therefore cannot be avoided. :) That's pretty arrogant, huh? The alternative is that I'm the one who's wrong, in which case I will eventually and inevitably change my mind.
S.'s contact info:
[Redacted]
Out of curiosity: you didn't know I was Mormon--I presume though that you knew that S. is too? We probably would not have been such good friends if we had only interacted at school and stuff, but she was one of the four girls in my age group in Sunday School, so she was pretty special to me, kind of a quasi-sister although not exactly. I haven't met her kids--haven't seen her in person since leaving Washington--but now that I'm back in Seattle I may get the chance, next time I'm down in the Portland area.
I haven't been back to the Philippines since my mission (I got back in 2001), although now I'm done with school and therefore no longer poor :) I am considering a recreational visit next year (2010) with a buddy of mine who will be finishing his Ph.D then. (My goal would be to gain some perspective on history and technology, to satisfy my curiosity about how fast the Philippines is industrializing, to visit some old friends, and to remember some things I've forgotten and brush up on the language.) That mission relates, of course, to your question about how did I become a priest and what does it mean. Firstly you should know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purports to be the same church that Jesus organized before the world was and established in Jerusalem during his mortal life, now restored to Earth in the last days. One implication is that there are a lot of Christian traditions that you will see in Christian churches from the 2nd through 21st century that we don't have. Thus. We have no full-time, professional clergy at the local level (although the church as a worldwide organization does employ e.g. auditors and computer programmers and such, and I think the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles receives a living stipend, although they're generally all old enough that I expect they have retired from their professions as nuclear engineers and lawyers and teachers and whatnot) and all young men are expected to prepare themselves to serve as ordained representatives of God wherever it becomes necessary (and eventually to become "kings and priests unto God and His Father," per Rev. 1:6). The story for young women is a little harder to explain so I'll leave that aside for now. Anyway, the practical effect on a day-to-day basis is that I am expected to and can bless the bread and water for the Sacrament on Sunday, participate in or perform certain ordinances for the dead in the temple (proxy baptism, eternal marriages), and hop to it when we decide something else needs doing like digging out blackberry bushes for an old lady. Maybe this reflects on my earlier response to the Nazi question, after all--I've pledged to live up to a higher standard.
You say, "I don't believe you need to actually be in a church building to pray or be a good servant." True principle, that. I agree.
Perhaps it's a slight tangent, and this may sound a little bit odd, especially in light of the preceding paragraphs, but I've never really thought of myself as a particularly religious person by nature. I participate in organized religion (the Church) because my understanding about the nature of reality indicates it as the best way to get things done, as well as it being a fulfillment of commitments I have made--but the personal understanding comes first. In other words, I see my life as organized around facts, not religion. Yes, I'm a weird kid. Always have been. :)
Going back to your earlier point about intentions, "If a man who works everyday in the best job he can find but still can't make enough money to feed his family steals milk to feed his child is it wrong?" There's no simple answer to that question. The simple answer would be, "Yes." He's been forced into a situation where every answer within his power is wrong. Welcome to mortality, kiddo. That's why Jesus' Atonement was necessary, actually. It's also why the Lord warned Adam not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge--once you hit mortality, unless you happen to be as capable as Jesus was, which you're not, you will inevitably do wrong things and die, spiritually as well as physically. But at the same time there's no way to learn good from evil without having that very opportunity to make mistakes, so God arranged a way for Jesus to pay the balance for our mistakes on our behalf--to satisfy Mercy without robbing Justice--so that he could still send us down here into this terrible, messy, mortal situation without it permanently destroying us. That's how it looks to me, anyway. But anyway, for the moment, yes, you do the best you can.
I agree that it would be fun to take a polygraph, just to see if I could beat it. This is one reason I love games like /Scruples/. It doesn't count as lying if you've announced in advance to everyone that, for the duration of the game, you will be lying like rugs. It's the only chance I have to see if I can do it without getting caught--aside from acting I guess, but I haven't done any plays recently.
Perpetually,
Max
P.S. Last night? I stayed up until 12:04 a.m., called a friend to wish her happy New Year's, and then since I hadn't slept all year went straight to bed.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
M.,
Oh wow, there are so many things I want to respond to in your letter--you're an interesting person to talk to. Let's start with polygraphs. My understanding is that the real utility of polygraphs is in interrogations. "Did you kill Bob?" and then just checking the polygraph is the dumb way to do things--you should use it to elicit information which is actionable. A good interrogator will ask questions like these: "We know you killed Bob. Did you bury the body near your house? What constitutes 'near'? Less than a mile? I see the river is about a mile away from your house. Did you bury it near the river?" Etc. It's more like playing 20 questions, and the ultimate goal is to find the body and be able to prove that the suspect led you to it. My understanding is that a major objection to polygraphs, and the reason they're inadmissible in court, is that this technique *works* and people are uncomfortable with how much it is able to reveal: Americans like their privacy. (Imagine it being used in a custody hearing instead of a murder trial, for instance. All kinds of embarrassing secrets could come out.)
I don't necessarily know that we disagree per se about the lying-to-Nazis question, and I didn't say it shows poor character--I did say it means you're untrustworthy (generic "you" here), but I agree with you that "the person is doing the best with what they've got." It's just that actions do have consequences. As people grow in capabilities ("It takes more brain power and creativity to skirt around the questions in a way that would reflect the same result as someone else's lie.") those who desire to will become more trustworthy. You ask why my siblings gave a different answer: honestly, I think it's just because I'm older and I've thought it through more. I think a lot of people will eventually come to the same conclusion, because it's a true principle and therefore cannot be avoided. :) That's pretty arrogant, huh? The alternative is that I'm the one who's wrong, in which case I will eventually and inevitably change my mind.
S.'s contact info:
[Redacted]
Out of curiosity: you didn't know I was Mormon--I presume though that you knew that S. is too? We probably would not have been such good friends if we had only interacted at school and stuff, but she was one of the four girls in my age group in Sunday School, so she was pretty special to me, kind of a quasi-sister although not exactly. I haven't met her kids--haven't seen her in person since leaving Washington--but now that I'm back in Seattle I may get the chance, next time I'm down in the Portland area.
I haven't been back to the Philippines since my mission (I got back in 2001), although now I'm done with school and therefore no longer poor :) I am considering a recreational visit next year (2010) with a buddy of mine who will be finishing his Ph.D then. (My goal would be to gain some perspective on history and technology, to satisfy my curiosity about how fast the Philippines is industrializing, to visit some old friends, and to remember some things I've forgotten and brush up on the language.) That mission relates, of course, to your question about how did I become a priest and what does it mean. Firstly you should know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purports to be the same church that Jesus organized before the world was and established in Jerusalem during his mortal life, now restored to Earth in the last days. One implication is that there are a lot of Christian traditions that you will see in Christian churches from the 2nd through 21st century that we don't have. Thus. We have no full-time, professional clergy at the local level (although the church as a worldwide organization does employ e.g. auditors and computer programmers and such, and I think the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles receives a living stipend, although they're generally all old enough that I expect they have retired from their professions as nuclear engineers and lawyers and teachers and whatnot) and all young men are expected to prepare themselves to serve as ordained representatives of God wherever it becomes necessary (and eventually to become "kings and priests unto God and His Father," per Rev. 1:6). The story for young women is a little harder to explain so I'll leave that aside for now. Anyway, the practical effect on a day-to-day basis is that I am expected to and can bless the bread and water for the Sacrament on Sunday, participate in or perform certain ordinances for the dead in the temple (proxy baptism, eternal marriages), and hop to it when we decide something else needs doing like digging out blackberry bushes for an old lady. Maybe this reflects on my earlier response to the Nazi question, after all--I've pledged to live up to a higher standard.
You say, "I don't believe you need to actually be in a church building to pray or be a good servant." True principle, that. I agree.
Perhaps it's a slight tangent, and this may sound a little bit odd, especially in light of the preceding paragraphs, but I've never really thought of myself as a particularly religious person by nature. I participate in organized religion (the Church) because my understanding about the nature of reality indicates it as the best way to get things done, as well as it being a fulfillment of commitments I have made--but the personal understanding comes first. In other words, I see my life as organized around facts, not religion. Yes, I'm a weird kid. Always have been. :)
Going back to your earlier point about intentions, "If a man who works everyday in the best job he can find but still can't make enough money to feed his family steals milk to feed his child is it wrong?" There's no simple answer to that question. The simple answer would be, "Yes." He's been forced into a situation where every answer within his power is wrong. Welcome to mortality, kiddo. That's why Jesus' Atonement was necessary, actually. It's also why the Lord warned Adam not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge--once you hit mortality, unless you happen to be as capable as Jesus was, which you're not, you will inevitably do wrong things and die, spiritually as well as physically. But at the same time there's no way to learn good from evil without having that very opportunity to make mistakes, so God arranged a way for Jesus to pay the balance for our mistakes on our behalf--to satisfy Mercy without robbing Justice--so that he could still send us down here into this terrible, messy, mortal situation without it permanently destroying us. That's how it looks to me, anyway. But anyway, for the moment, yes, you do the best you can.
I agree that it would be fun to take a polygraph, just to see if I could beat it. This is one reason I love games like /Scruples/. It doesn't count as lying if you've announced in advance to everyone that, for the duration of the game, you will be lying like rugs. It's the only chance I have to see if I can do it without getting caught--aside from acting I guess, but I haven't done any plays recently.
Perpetually,
Max
P.S. Last night? I stayed up until 12:04 a.m., called a friend to wish her happy New Year's, and then since I hadn't slept all year went straight to bed.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Monday, December 22, 2008
Praetorian Guard
I really ought to read up on Roman history sometime. And why does this description of American soldiers, from a Frenchman, remind me so much of Rome?
http://johnringo.com/Home/tabid/1574/EntryID/71/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.
And they are impressive warriors ! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump. [snip]
We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.
To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America's army's deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers".
I've mentioned this before, but I don't think Daniel 2:41-42 refers only to Rome. I think it refers at least as much, and perhaps primarily, to the United States of America.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
http://johnringo.com/Home/tabid/1574/EntryID/71/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.
And they are impressive warriors ! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump. [snip]
We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.
To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America's army's deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers".
I've mentioned this before, but I don't think Daniel 2:41-42 refers only to Rome. I think it refers at least as much, and perhaps primarily, to the United States of America.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Friday, December 19, 2008
Life-to-date
[To blog: I edited this a bit before sending it on. It's a reply to an old, old friend who asked me for a summary of my life since leaving Olympia.]
M.,
It's nice to hear from you. Yes, in fact, I did move to Hawaii. Senior year, I think, which was kind of irritating actually. I'm more mellow about it now, but there were a couple of things that drove me nuts. One is that--well, you don't know this, but I have a lot of patriotic sentiment running in my veins, and they're kind of anti-American over there. (I know, it doesn't make any sense, they *are* American. But there you have it.) So that kind of got under my skin. The other thing was that I thought the girls in Washington were cuter. :) Shallow, I know, but I was pretty attached to our Olympia girls, especially the ones in my ward at church, and I resented being yanked away. Anyway, I was only there for nine or ten months and then I left for college (BYU), served my mission in the Philippines ('99 to '01), and came back to BYU for my Bachelors'. I was originally planning on going into genetic engineering, but it rapidly became clear to me that the technology wasn't yet as good as I had thought it was, and that we were a long ways away from being able to do the interesting stuff. (It really bugged me that we couldn't even predict what a protein would look like from knowing its codon sequence--we knew the amino acids, but we couldn't predict which way it would fold. I understand there have been some advances made since then.) Anyway, I had taken some computer programming classes at the same time just out of general interest, and eventually I decided that if I couldn't build nanomachines that I'd build software: a computer programmer is someone who is so lazy that he will spend three days writing himself a program to save ten minutes. :) Because then, hopefully, you never have to do that ten-minute job ever again, and neither does anyone else in the world.
Anyway, I finished in 2005, and stayed on to take some grad classes. Eventually I decided that I wasn't smart enough for grad school, or at least my research wasn't going anywhere, and so in 2007 I dropped out to work for, yes, Microsoft. Good guess. :) I work on a team that makes tools for developers, with a particular focus on networking applications. You probably know that programs and web sites are usually not written from scratch; there are a lot of sort of pre-assembled pieces that perform common tasks and get re-used between e.g. Gmail, ebay, and blogspot (to pick three random examples). I help build some of those common pieces that come for free with Windows. Anyway, enough geekiness from me today.
Let's see, what else do I owe you a response on? A day in the life:
Depending upon how cold it is outside and whether I'm having good habits that week, I get up at 5 a.m. or so and go running along my regular route a little bit north of my apartment complex, through a residential neighborhood. I get back by 5:30 or 6:00, depending upon whether I get lazy and cut in short, and... you know, somehow time vanishes into gaps in the morning. I'm not sure where it goes. I shower and eat and read my scriptures and check my email and somehow I never get to work before 8:00 at the earliest, although of course that's still an hour or two hours before the building actually starts to fill up. I usually leave work between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m., and if it's a Monday night I go to Family Night (I'm single, so of course I can't have *real* Family Night with my non-existent wife and kids, so my singles' ward at church gets together instead to have a lesson and play games and have treats--one that I really liked was where we did human foosball in the gym). On Tuesday I usually go to Institute of Religion class (like seminary, but for adults). Wednesdays I sometimes go see a movie or a play, but I often try to go to the temple and help with some ordinances. (You know I'm technically a priest, right? Actually you probably didn't.) Thursday and Friday are kind of open-ended. I guess I usually end up reading on those nights or playing games, or going out with girls. (Again, that depends on how social I'm feeling.) Saturday is weekend tasks like shopping, laundry, etc., and Sunday is church and rest time, and maybe write some letters and stuff. That's pretty much what my weeks look like, I think.
[Remarks of merely personal relevance deleted]
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
M.,
It's nice to hear from you. Yes, in fact, I did move to Hawaii. Senior year, I think, which was kind of irritating actually. I'm more mellow about it now, but there were a couple of things that drove me nuts. One is that--well, you don't know this, but I have a lot of patriotic sentiment running in my veins, and they're kind of anti-American over there. (I know, it doesn't make any sense, they *are* American. But there you have it.) So that kind of got under my skin. The other thing was that I thought the girls in Washington were cuter. :) Shallow, I know, but I was pretty attached to our Olympia girls, especially the ones in my ward at church, and I resented being yanked away. Anyway, I was only there for nine or ten months and then I left for college (BYU), served my mission in the Philippines ('99 to '01), and came back to BYU for my Bachelors'. I was originally planning on going into genetic engineering, but it rapidly became clear to me that the technology wasn't yet as good as I had thought it was, and that we were a long ways away from being able to do the interesting stuff. (It really bugged me that we couldn't even predict what a protein would look like from knowing its codon sequence--we knew the amino acids, but we couldn't predict which way it would fold. I understand there have been some advances made since then.) Anyway, I had taken some computer programming classes at the same time just out of general interest, and eventually I decided that if I couldn't build nanomachines that I'd build software: a computer programmer is someone who is so lazy that he will spend three days writing himself a program to save ten minutes. :) Because then, hopefully, you never have to do that ten-minute job ever again, and neither does anyone else in the world.
Anyway, I finished in 2005, and stayed on to take some grad classes. Eventually I decided that I wasn't smart enough for grad school, or at least my research wasn't going anywhere, and so in 2007 I dropped out to work for, yes, Microsoft. Good guess. :) I work on a team that makes tools for developers, with a particular focus on networking applications. You probably know that programs and web sites are usually not written from scratch; there are a lot of sort of pre-assembled pieces that perform common tasks and get re-used between e.g. Gmail, ebay, and blogspot (to pick three random examples). I help build some of those common pieces that come for free with Windows. Anyway, enough geekiness from me today.
Let's see, what else do I owe you a response on? A day in the life:
Depending upon how cold it is outside and whether I'm having good habits that week, I get up at 5 a.m. or so and go running along my regular route a little bit north of my apartment complex, through a residential neighborhood. I get back by 5:30 or 6:00, depending upon whether I get lazy and cut in short, and... you know, somehow time vanishes into gaps in the morning. I'm not sure where it goes. I shower and eat and read my scriptures and check my email and somehow I never get to work before 8:00 at the earliest, although of course that's still an hour or two hours before the building actually starts to fill up. I usually leave work between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m., and if it's a Monday night I go to Family Night (I'm single, so of course I can't have *real* Family Night with my non-existent wife and kids, so my singles' ward at church gets together instead to have a lesson and play games and have treats--one that I really liked was where we did human foosball in the gym). On Tuesday I usually go to Institute of Religion class (like seminary, but for adults). Wednesdays I sometimes go see a movie or a play, but I often try to go to the temple and help with some ordinances. (You know I'm technically a priest, right? Actually you probably didn't.) Thursday and Friday are kind of open-ended. I guess I usually end up reading on those nights or playing games, or going out with girls. (Again, that depends on how social I'm feeling.) Saturday is weekend tasks like shopping, laundry, etc., and Sunday is church and rest time, and maybe write some letters and stuff. That's pretty much what my weeks look like, I think.
[Remarks of merely personal relevance deleted]
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
If Programming Languages Were Religions
I thought this was hilarious. :) http://www.aegisub.net/2008/12/if-programming-languages-were-religions.html
C would be Judaism - it's old and restrictive, but most of the world is familiar with its laws and respects them. The catch is, you can't convert into it - you're either into it from the start, or you will think that it's insanity. Also, when things go wrong, many people are willing to blame the problems of the world on it.
Java would be Fundamentalist Christianity - it's theoretically based on C, but it voids so many of the old laws that it doesn't feel like the original at all. Instead, it adds its own set of rigid rules, which its followers believe to be far superior to the original. Not only are they certain that it's the best language in the world, but they're willing to burn those who disagree at the stake.
C# would be Mormonism - At first glance, it's the same as Java, but at a closer look you realize that it's controlled by a single corporation (which many Java followers believe to be evil), and that many theological concepts are quite different. You suspect that it'd probably be nice, if only all the followers of Java wouldn't discriminate so much against you for following it.
C would be Judaism - it's old and restrictive, but most of the world is familiar with its laws and respects them. The catch is, you can't convert into it - you're either into it from the start, or you will think that it's insanity. Also, when things go wrong, many people are willing to blame the problems of the world on it.
Java would be Fundamentalist Christianity - it's theoretically based on C, but it voids so many of the old laws that it doesn't feel like the original at all. Instead, it adds its own set of rigid rules, which its followers believe to be far superior to the original. Not only are they certain that it's the best language in the world, but they're willing to burn those who disagree at the stake.
C# would be Mormonism - At first glance, it's the same as Java, but at a closer look you realize that it's controlled by a single corporation (which many Java followers believe to be evil), and that many theological concepts are quite different. You suspect that it'd probably be nice, if only all the followers of Java wouldn't discriminate so much against you for following it.
Lisp would be Zen Buddhism... [continued]
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Polywell fusion
This news is a little old so I may have an update later, but it looks like WB-7 was enough of a success that there may be a WB-100 (which I gather is a supposed to be scaled up to the break-even energy point).
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Monday, December 15, 2008
Choice and Parenthood
http://dir.salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/05/06/breeding/index2.html
For all the truth about the innate physiological rewards of mothering, he says, "The happy people are the ones who wanted kids and had them or didn't want kids and didn't have them.'
I have my doubts about the biases of the writer, but this statement rings true to me. Marriage, and raising a family, is a lot of work; it helps to know what you're getting into, and if you don't want it that much you're better off not starting. (c.f. Luke 14:28-30)
-Max
-- "The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Nuclear Power-In-A-Box
I think this is more on an idea I sent you earlier this year. Apparently they're putting one up in Alaska, although I don't know the timeframe (and Obama's administration could presumably kill the idea). http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/03/business/03power.html?_r=1
There is a coal seam about 10 miles away. But no one builds coal plants that are small and clean enough, said the manager, Marvin Yoder, and the cost of permits to open a new mine might make the whole project impractical.
The town even looked at solar power, Mr. Yoder said. But demand in Galena is highest in winter, when it is dark 20 hours a day, and residents need electricity to keep cars and even diesel fuel from freezing.
But then along came Toshiba, which performs maintenance and repair work on conventional nuclear reactors around the world. The company is trying to develop a new reactor that would run almost unattended and put out 10 megawatts of power, about 1 percent as much as a typical United States plant.
It sees Galena as a test market for a product that could appeal to other isolated small towns, factories and mines.
Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December the City Council voted unanimously to take it.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
There is a coal seam about 10 miles away. But no one builds coal plants that are small and clean enough, said the manager, Marvin Yoder, and the cost of permits to open a new mine might make the whole project impractical.
The town even looked at solar power, Mr. Yoder said. But demand in Galena is highest in winter, when it is dark 20 hours a day, and residents need electricity to keep cars and even diesel fuel from freezing.
But then along came Toshiba, which performs maintenance and repair work on conventional nuclear reactors around the world. The company is trying to develop a new reactor that would run almost unattended and put out 10 megawatts of power, about 1 percent as much as a typical United States plant.
It sees Galena as a test market for a product that could appeal to other isolated small towns, factories and mines.
Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December the City Council voted unanimously to take it.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Fireball
This video makes me appreciate the Sun.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Friday, November 21, 2008
Cheerful
A friend wrote me and asked:
You used to have a line in your signature that went something "be polite if it kills you". What do you think that means?
"Be pretty if you are, Be witty if you can, But be cheerful if it kills you." It means that you don't need to let your emotional state leak into your demeanor. E.g. this can still be a good-natured, cheerful interaction.
M: Hey, how's it going?
J: Pretty rotten actually. My dad just died and I'm processing it emotionally.
M: Oh, that's too bad!
J: Yeah, well. How are you?
Compare this positive, upbeat worldview with someone who gets all gloomy.
M: Hey, how's it going?
V: Rotten. My life stinks.
M: What's wrong?
V: My boss just called me to come in for some overtime and now I can't find my keys. My life stinks.
M: Um, that's too bad.
It's all about keeping perspective. You know everything's going to be fine in the long run. Do you rule your emotions or let them rule you?
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Tale of Courage
When he saw a man fall into the path of a New York subway train, Wesley Autrey did not hesitate.
The 50-year-old building worker jumped down on to the track and tried desperately to haul him to safety.
But the man, who had suffered a seizure, struggled. And as certain death roared towards them, Mr Autrey made a decision of breathtaking courage.
Instead of saving himself, he pushed the man down into the space between the tracks and lay on top of him, wrapping his arms and legs tightly around him.
With the train just feet away, he told 20-year- old Cameron Hollopeter: 'Please sir, don't move. If you move, one of us is going to lose a leg or die.'
Next second, the first carriage thundered over them before the train screeched to a halt. On the platform, Mr Autrey's two young daughters were among the crowd who had seen the heart-stopping moment and feared the worst.
Then Mr Autrey's voice rang out from below, calling for silence. And as a hush fell, he shouted: 'Tell my little girls that Daddy is okay and the man is okay!' Delighted onlookers burst into applause.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Monday, November 17, 2008
SYMs (Single Young Men)
Some interesting quotes from young men that make me think about China's male surplus and some of my male cousins and co-workers. Prolonged bachelorhood is not good for the soul, but I have no solutions to offer.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Jujitsu
Since 2006, Iran's leaders have called for direct, unconditional talks with the United States to resolve international concerns over their nuclear program. But as an American administration open to such negotiations prepares to take power, Iran's political and military leaders are sounding suddenly wary of President-elect Barack Obama.
"People who put on a mask of friendship, but with the objective of betrayal, and who enter from the angle of negotiations without preconditions, are more dangerous," Hossein Taeb, deputy commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Wednesday, according to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency.
"The power holders in the new American government are trying to regain their lost influence with a tactical change in their foreign diplomacy. They are shifting from a hard conflict to a soft attack," Taeb said.
Heh heh heh. Go America!
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
"People who put on a mask of friendship, but with the objective of betrayal, and who enter from the angle of negotiations without preconditions, are more dangerous," Hossein Taeb, deputy commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Wednesday, according to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency.
"The power holders in the new American government are trying to regain their lost influence with a tactical change in their foreign diplomacy. They are shifting from a hard conflict to a soft attack," Taeb said.
Heh heh heh. Go America!
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Ethics of restraint
[From another conference, in response to a news story about gay activists storming a church (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111104.html)]
Very interesting. One thing I've learned from watching Israel deal with its enemies in the Middle East: while it is tempting (and emotionally satisfying) to hit back against assaults like this, in the manner of "an eye for an eye," when coercive measures fail you will be left with a choice: either back down and let them stomp on you without stomping back, or make them all become dead.
Very interesting. One thing I've learned from watching Israel deal with its enemies in the Middle East: while it is tempting (and emotionally satisfying) to hit back against assaults like this, in the manner of "an eye for an eye," when coercive measures fail you will be left with a choice: either back down and let them stomp on you without stomping back, or make them all become dead.
Making people become dead is best reserved for existential threats, which gay activists are not. In this case, I personally feel it's best to attempt reconciliation before stomping on anybody at all. Thus, "turn the other cheek" is a directive of simple practicality as well as a gospel imperative. (cf. Joseph Smith and Governor Reynolds.)
Storm away, people. I'm sorry you're upset, and hope you feel better soon.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Storm away, people. I'm sorry you're upset, and hope you feel better soon.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Proposition 8
Interesting article. If you must skip, skip to the second page where the writer discusses prophetic counsel on responding.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Monday, November 10, 2008
Toxoplamsa gondi
Hold this for me please, will you? It came up in a discussion on homosexuality and I had to hunt it down again.
Thanks,
Max
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/science/cochran.html#IQ5
Toxoplasma gondi is a small intracellular protozoan parasite that can infect any warm-blooded animal. So says the Merck Manual, and imagine being the guy who proved _that_. It invades and multiplies asexually within the cytoplasm of nucleated host cells. With development of host immunity, multiplication slows and tissue cysts form. Sexual multiplication occurs in the intestinal cells of cats ( and apparently only cats) ; long-lasting oocytes are formed and shed in the stool.
Toxoplasmosis is dangerous in individuals with weak or incompletely developed immune systems. It can be devastating before birth, and is a big problem in people with AIDS. It likes to get into the brain - in animals other than cats.
This is a standard pattern - a parasite with a complex life cycle, that infects an intermediate host and enters the definite host ( cats ) when the definitive host eats the intermediate host. When this happens , manipulation of the intermediate host can help the parasite - manipulation that increases the chance of the intermediate host being eaten. I mentioned toxoplasmosis in a talk earlier this year and suggested that it might manipulate intermediate hosts, and it seems that it does. Recent work shows that uninfected rats fear and loathe the smell of cat urine. Infected rats are at best neutral - some actually seek out cat urine. Pretty obviously, toxoplasmosis is pushing buttons in the rat brain that increase its chances of ending up in a cat stomach. It doesn't appear to do much else - the rats act reasonably normally otherwise, don't look sick, etc.
I think that this supports two points I've been pushing - one, that persistent infections that don't cause obvious pathology may still be doing something, two, that we have to consider the possibility that infectious agents might alter behavior - including human behavior - as a part of their evolutionary strategy.
The third point is that having toxoplasma cysts in your brain may not be a good thing. Only a few billion people do. The infection rate varies a lot from place. It's about 20% in the U.S., about 87% in France ( which might explain a lot).
Thinking about this a bit more, it just might be that the state of being a cat-lover has a simple cause and cure.
Gregory Cochran
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Thanks,
Max
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/science/cochran.html#IQ5
Toxoplasma gondi is a small intracellular protozoan parasite that can infect any warm-blooded animal. So says the Merck Manual, and imagine being the guy who proved _that_. It invades and multiplies asexually within the cytoplasm of nucleated host cells. With development of host immunity, multiplication slows and tissue cysts form. Sexual multiplication occurs in the intestinal cells of cats ( and apparently only cats) ; long-lasting oocytes are formed and shed in the stool.
Toxoplasmosis is dangerous in individuals with weak or incompletely developed immune systems. It can be devastating before birth, and is a big problem in people with AIDS. It likes to get into the brain - in animals other than cats.
This is a standard pattern - a parasite with a complex life cycle, that infects an intermediate host and enters the definite host ( cats ) when the definitive host eats the intermediate host. When this happens , manipulation of the intermediate host can help the parasite - manipulation that increases the chance of the intermediate host being eaten. I mentioned toxoplasmosis in a talk earlier this year and suggested that it might manipulate intermediate hosts, and it seems that it does. Recent work shows that uninfected rats fear and loathe the smell of cat urine. Infected rats are at best neutral - some actually seek out cat urine. Pretty obviously, toxoplasmosis is pushing buttons in the rat brain that increase its chances of ending up in a cat stomach. It doesn't appear to do much else - the rats act reasonably normally otherwise, don't look sick, etc.
I think that this supports two points I've been pushing - one, that persistent infections that don't cause obvious pathology may still be doing something, two, that we have to consider the possibility that infectious agents might alter behavior - including human behavior - as a part of their evolutionary strategy.
The third point is that having toxoplasma cysts in your brain may not be a good thing. Only a few billion people do. The infection rate varies a lot from place. It's about 20% in the U.S., about 87% in France ( which might explain a lot).
Thinking about this a bit more, it just might be that the state of being a cat-lover has a simple cause and cure.
Gregory Cochran
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Barnett on Bush
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/nov/09/what-bush--cheney-got-right-with-china/
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Friday, November 7, 2008
Educational Reform: (Graduating Early)
From my sister:
New Hampshire is planning to let 10th graders test out of the last two years of high school. Cool beans.
-Max
Right now, Tucker argues, most American teenagers slide through high school, viewing it as a mandatory pit stop to hang out and socialize. Of those who do go to college, half attend community college. So Tucker's thinking is why not let them get started earlier? If that happened nationwide, he estimates the cost savings would add up to $60 billion a year. "All money that can be spent either on early childhood education or elsewhere," he says.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Right now, Tucker argues, most American teenagers slide through high school, viewing it as a mandatory pit stop to hang out and socialize. Of those who do go to college, half attend community college. So Tucker's thinking is why not let them get started earlier? If that happened nationwide, he estimates the cost savings would add up to $60 billion a year. "All money that can be spent either on early childhood education or elsewhere," he says.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Breaking news: sunspots & agriculture
Hey guys,
Guess what? According to NASA heliologist David Hathaway, we may be past the solar minimum, in which case global warming should start back up again soon.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/07nov_signsoflife.htm?list1109684
Good. Cold produces famine. This is good news for Russia, which has 480,000 square miles of arable land (out of 7.65 million worldwide, which means it's about 8% of the world total). As I recall, an acre of land was once sufficient to feed a family of four on potatoes back in Ireland ("it is crudely true that as long as a human being manages to get enough calories, it will somehow stagger to maturity and manage to reproduce itself"). At 640 acres to a square mile, Russia could feed 300 million families, or just over a billion people. Of course you sort of expect modern crop yields to be better than 17th century yields. Point being, global warming makes more land arable, which is good for Russia and Canada. Maybe not so good for Mexico.
And of course, we don't all eat potatoes any more. :)
http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2008/11/russia_break_out_the_sickles.html
Of course, sunspot activity could die back down again. Still, this is a good sign.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Solar Power: a response
This source (http://www.jerrypournelle.com/mail/2008/Q4/mail543.html#Thursday) indicates that inefficiency of photovoltaics at a low angle is a minimal concern compared to subtended angle (which I knew about) and longevity (which I hadn't considered). Of course you know the problem with a shallow angle: a six-inch photovoltaic will only really be catching three inches of sunlight if it's at a 60 degree angle to the sun. I just picked up the impression from the article that photovoltaic inefficiency dropped even faster than that, but he thinks not and he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. I guess the chief concern would be durability, though: the fact that solar has to last 20-30 years to be economical is well-taken.
As with so many "breakthroughs" in photovoltaics, the new antireflective coating developed at RPI seems to be overhyped:"Lin's discovery could antiquate these automated solar arrays, as his antireflective coating absorbs sunlight evenly and equally from all angles. This means that a stationary solar panel treated with the coating would absorb 96.21 percent of sunlight no matter the position of the sun in the sky. So along with significantly better absorption of sunlight, Lin's discovery could also enable a new generation of stationary, more cost-efficient solar arrays."While an improved AR coating might boost overall photovoltaic efficiency by a few percent, the primary reason for heliostatic tracking is not to maximize absorption, but to maximize the subtended solid angle of the panel or array. That is, when the sun is at an angle away from normal incidence (away from perpendicular to the surface) the light incident on the panel is proportional to the cosine of this angle, so it is maximum when the angle is zero and falls to zero when the angle approaches +/- 90 degrees. Absorbing 96.21 percent of the sunlight is not terribly helpful if the panel, because of it's angle, is only receiving 30 percent of the light it would if optimally oriented.Since I worked in the field 25 years ago, there have been hundreds of "breakthroughs" announced aimed at improving the efficiency of mass market photovoltaics. With very few exceptions, the added cost of these "breakthroughs" makes them not viable, or they are found to degrade over the 20-30 year service life required for payback of investment. The high volume solar panels being sold today are only a couple percent more efficient than what was being sold back then.In fairness, some of the more exotic technologies are used in space power applications, where efficiency is king and low cost is not a high priority.Doug Ely
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Domain Specific Languages
Subject: Domain Specific Languages
Dr. Pournelle,
Here's an interesting video from PDC on a new tool that Microsoft built sort of by accident for defining and using textual domain-specific languages. Instead of writing raw XML or regular expressions, you can write context-free grammars and get free syntax highlighting and/or token checking (red squigglies like a spellchecker), plus structured data in the output. Basically, you can produce any structured data (like XML files, comma-separated values) from your own domain-specific language. It probably fits in the same niche as lex/yacc, gump, or the Boost Spirit parser. Some neat capabilities. Anyway, it's an interesting presentation if you can find 45 minutes.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Solar power
I don't really understand this, but it's interesting: http://www.physorg.com/news144940463.html
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
McCain's concession speech
Classy speech.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/11/john-mccain.html
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth....
I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited. Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that....
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought -- we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours....
I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength...
This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years....
Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/11/john-mccain.html
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth....
I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited. Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that....
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought -- we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours....
I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength...
This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years....
Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
May the God of heaven bless America!
I am glad that I'm privileged to live in a country where I can afford to lose an election without losing my freedom, my property, my family's future, and my life, and where the outgoing party feels the same and relinquishes power peacefully. This is how a republic works. (Saudis and Russians and Zimbabweans, take note!) It's a great country.
-Max
P.S. I presume Obama is not going to back Biden's pledge to prosecute members of the Bush administration. Biden was just flapping his mouth, because that is how you destroy a republic.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
-Max
P.S. I presume Obama is not going to back Biden's pledge to prosecute members of the Bush administration. Biden was just flapping his mouth, because that is how you destroy a republic.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Cool quotation
Attributed to Thomas Jefferson: "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Global affairs alert: Zimbabwe (starvation approaches)
You guys may find this interesting. Sad, but interesting, and it's better to see these things coming. Who knows, maybe knowing will even let us do something to mitigate--or prevent it from happening again:
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/fiddling031108.htm
In the past two weeks the Zimbabwe economy has seen two really significant developments. The first is the total collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar and the second is the sharp deterioration in basic food supplies.
On Tuesday a local banker told me that the cost of money transactions in Zimbabwe dollars now exceeded the value of their transactions. Simply put that means if you are trading or shifting money in the form of the Zimbabwe domestic currency, you will be losing money even if you are charging interest and other charges related to the transactions that are involved.
So business here is now only possible if you work in a hard currency – the Rand or the US Dollar. This creates two other problems – how to obtain the hard currency in the first place and then, once you have the money, to use it without breaking the law which still prohibits such transactions. [snip]
On the food front the situation has deteriorated sharply in the past month. Humanitarian agencies have full warehouses but cannot get the food to the people who need it. The reasons are that the agencies cannot access cash for their operations – hard currency transactions are still illegal and the cash withdrawal limits and other restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank are making local payments impossible – they cannot pay for hotels or staff salaries and cannot pay transporters to take the food to where it is needed. [snip]
So far all we can find evidence of are contracts for a total of 175 000 tonnes and even this meagre import programme seems to have spluttered to a halt. That leaves a total shortfall of 625 000 tonnes – possibly 800 000 tonnes because it is most unlikely that local production was 600 000 tonnes – most commentators say 425 000 tonnes.
This means that the shortfall is still probably 50 per cent of consumption and we still have 5 months to go to the end of the forecast supply period (April 2008 to March 2009).
-Max
P.S. I'm going great. I made a surprising discovery recently. Hope you're all well.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/fiddling031108.htm
In the past two weeks the Zimbabwe economy has seen two really significant developments. The first is the total collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar and the second is the sharp deterioration in basic food supplies.
On Tuesday a local banker told me that the cost of money transactions in Zimbabwe dollars now exceeded the value of their transactions. Simply put that means if you are trading or shifting money in the form of the Zimbabwe domestic currency, you will be losing money even if you are charging interest and other charges related to the transactions that are involved.
So business here is now only possible if you work in a hard currency – the Rand or the US Dollar. This creates two other problems – how to obtain the hard currency in the first place and then, once you have the money, to use it without breaking the law which still prohibits such transactions. [snip]
On the food front the situation has deteriorated sharply in the past month. Humanitarian agencies have full warehouses but cannot get the food to the people who need it. The reasons are that the agencies cannot access cash for their operations – hard currency transactions are still illegal and the cash withdrawal limits and other restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank are making local payments impossible – they cannot pay for hotels or staff salaries and cannot pay transporters to take the food to where it is needed. [snip]
So far all we can find evidence of are contracts for a total of 175 000 tonnes and even this meagre import programme seems to have spluttered to a halt. That leaves a total shortfall of 625 000 tonnes – possibly 800 000 tonnes because it is most unlikely that local production was 600 000 tonnes – most commentators say 425 000 tonnes.
This means that the shortfall is still probably 50 per cent of consumption and we still have 5 months to go to the end of the forecast supply period (April 2008 to March 2009).
-Max
P.S. I'm going great. I made a surprising discovery recently. Hope you're all well.
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Polling critique
Interesting, and knowledgeable, commentary. Election results aren't in yet, so I'm not posting this with any special foreknowledge of the real voter demographics. :) Basically he's asserting that polls in recent years have become cargo cult science.
OK, that's pretty harsh, and I want to emphasize that many polls are indeed trying to be professional and accurate, as much as the business will let them be. And even in the media whore groups, there are individuals who are honest and honorable (and probably miserable) and trying to put out a solid product. The problem comes from two directions. First, polling has become a business more than a profession, meaning that the guys directing the polls have become too willing to sell a story, even if that story is not exactly true. This becomes apparent when polls report shifts which are not caused by valid events, most easily seen in the phenomenon of convention 'bounces'. It's one thing to expect a party's base to become energized when the nominee is finally known and he comes out formally in a way that shows confidence and capability, but in recent years the pollsters have also decided this somehow affects the opposing party's support levels, a patently absurd notion on its face. I mean, what did Obama do at his convention that is supposed to have won over some Republicans, and just why should we believe that a number of Democrats, even briefly, supported McCain because he chose Sarah Palin for his running mate? That's manipulation of the data, folks, and cannot be explained any other way. It's been going one a while, that roller-coasting of the numbers, since polls in the media need to keep attention, and to do that they need to be exciting, even if it means being dishonest. They get away with it because they have a lot of time to worry about closing in on accuracy in the late weeks. Of course, some years they blow that, too. It needs to be said, repeated and repeated again, that polls blow the call by more than their published margin of error about 40% of the time.
The other problem is the Obama Machine. There are a lot of unprecedented conditions in this election, and I do not think the polling groups ever really sat down and thought about what the new conditions would be. Well, actually they did, but they did not test their conclusions, and as a result bought into some pretty tall tales from the Obama people. This year, the polls assumed the following things would be very different about this year:
1. Barack Obama being the first black to receive a major party nomination for President, black voters would be greatly motivated to register and vote, and this would swing decisively towards Obama. This led some polls to over-sample black voters, in the expectation that their influence would be more significant this year.
It's true and false. Black voters have indeed become more motivated this year, but as a demographic group blacks have always been enthusiastic, and have always overwhelmingly supported the democrat's nominee in presidential elections. As a result, it is mathematically impossible for black voters to significantly change the outcome of the election by supporting Obama. In a tight race, the increased participation could make the difference in some states, but nationally the effect is minimal and polling models should not be changed because of it.
Commentary continues. I found it interesting.
-Max
OK, that's pretty harsh, and I want to emphasize that many polls are indeed trying to be professional and accurate, as much as the business will let them be. And even in the media whore groups, there are individuals who are honest and honorable (and probably miserable) and trying to put out a solid product. The problem comes from two directions. First, polling has become a business more than a profession, meaning that the guys directing the polls have become too willing to sell a story, even if that story is not exactly true. This becomes apparent when polls report shifts which are not caused by valid events, most easily seen in the phenomenon of convention 'bounces'. It's one thing to expect a party's base to become energized when the nominee is finally known and he comes out formally in a way that shows confidence and capability, but in recent years the pollsters have also decided this somehow affects the opposing party's support levels, a patently absurd notion on its face. I mean, what did Obama do at his convention that is supposed to have won over some Republicans, and just why should we believe that a number of Democrats, even briefly, supported McCain because he chose Sarah Palin for his running mate? That's manipulation of the data, folks, and cannot be explained any other way. It's been going one a while, that roller-coasting of the numbers, since polls in the media need to keep attention, and to do that they need to be exciting, even if it means being dishonest. They get away with it because they have a lot of time to worry about closing in on accuracy in the late weeks. Of course, some years they blow that, too. It needs to be said, repeated and repeated again, that polls blow the call by more than their published margin of error about 40% of the time.
The other problem is the Obama Machine. There are a lot of unprecedented conditions in this election, and I do not think the polling groups ever really sat down and thought about what the new conditions would be. Well, actually they did, but they did not test their conclusions, and as a result bought into some pretty tall tales from the Obama people. This year, the polls assumed the following things would be very different about this year:
1. Barack Obama being the first black to receive a major party nomination for President, black voters would be greatly motivated to register and vote, and this would swing decisively towards Obama. This led some polls to over-sample black voters, in the expectation that their influence would be more significant this year.
It's true and false. Black voters have indeed become more motivated this year, but as a demographic group blacks have always been enthusiastic, and have always overwhelmingly supported the democrat's nominee in presidential elections. As a result, it is mathematically impossible for black voters to significantly change the outcome of the election by supporting Obama. In a tight race, the increased participation could make the difference in some states, but nationally the effect is minimal and polling models should not be changed because of it.
Commentary continues. I found it interesting.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Open source hardware
Via Thomas P. M. Barnett:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing
What's really remarkable, though, is Arduino's business model: The team has created a company based on giving everything away. On its Web site, it posts all its trade secrets for anyone to take—all the schematics, design files, and software for the Arduino board. Download them and you can manufacture an Arduino yourself; there are no patents. You can send the plans off to a Chinese factory, mass-produce the circuit boards, and sell them yourself — pocketing the profit without paying Banzi a penny in royalties. He won't sue you. Actually, he's sort of hoping you'll do it.
That's because the Arduino board is a piece of open source hardware, free for anyone to use, modify, or sell. Banzi and his team have spent precious billable hours making the thing, and they sell it themselves for a small profit — while allowing anyone else to do the same. They're not alone in this experiment. In a loosely coordinated movement, dozens of hardware inventors around the world have begun to freely publish their specs. There are open source synthesizers, MP3 players, guitar amplifiers, and even high-end voice-over-IP phone routers. You can buy an open source mobile phone to talk on, and a chip company called VIA has just released an open source laptop: Anyone can take its design, fabricate it, and start selling the notebooks.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing
What's really remarkable, though, is Arduino's business model: The team has created a company based on giving everything away. On its Web site, it posts all its trade secrets for anyone to take—all the schematics, design files, and software for the Arduino board. Download them and you can manufacture an Arduino yourself; there are no patents. You can send the plans off to a Chinese factory, mass-produce the circuit boards, and sell them yourself — pocketing the profit without paying Banzi a penny in royalties. He won't sue you. Actually, he's sort of hoping you'll do it.
That's because the Arduino board is a piece of open source hardware, free for anyone to use, modify, or sell. Banzi and his team have spent precious billable hours making the thing, and they sell it themselves for a small profit — while allowing anyone else to do the same. They're not alone in this experiment. In a loosely coordinated movement, dozens of hardware inventors around the world have begun to freely publish their specs. There are open source synthesizers, MP3 players, guitar amplifiers, and even high-end voice-over-IP phone routers. You can buy an open source mobile phone to talk on, and a chip company called VIA has just released an open source laptop: Anyone can take its design, fabricate it, and start selling the notebooks.
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Monday, November 3, 2008
Laban and the Law
From another conference:
Quoth Alan: Consider Nephi—he killed Laban, at God's command—and against the law.
Says Max: Are you certain that it was against the law? As I recall the Old Testament, it's basically one big long story about the Israelites not keeping the Law of Moses, even though they said claimed to. In fact that's why Jerusalem was destroyed. See for example Exodus 21:2 (compare Jeremiah 34:8-17), Deuteronomy 27:19 (see Jeremiah 7:6 and Psalm 94), Exodus 20:8 (see Jeremiah 17:21-24—see also Lev 26:33-35 and 2 Chronicles 36:21), and Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
This last one is peculiarly appropriate, both to Laban's situation in particular and to the whole House of Israel (as well as the lesson that Nephi, as future leader, needed to learn). I will therefore quote it:
18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Laban was not only a drunkard (as well as were, apparently, the elders of the Jews with whom he had been partying that night, according to Zoram), he was also a robber and a murderer at heart. He was emblematic of the whole reason Jerusalem at that time needed to be destroyed. Read Ezekiel if you want more gory details about what was going on in Jerusalem at the time. So I therefore ask again: are you really sure that Nephi was breaking the law? Because it looks to me like he was executing a (legally-authorized) sentence.
-Max
P.S. Just in case I'm being unclear: the point is that putting family loyalty or affection ahead of righteousness brings iniquity and eventual destruction. You can't get to the point of treading on widows and orphans and murdering the poor if you're careful to cast out iniquity from among you (by stoning or exile, it doesn't matter, or by fasting and prayer if it's in yourself). "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Quoth Alan: Consider Nephi—he killed Laban, at God's command—and against the law.
Says Max: Are you certain that it was against the law? As I recall the Old Testament, it's basically one big long story about the Israelites not keeping the Law of Moses, even though they said claimed to. In fact that's why Jerusalem was destroyed. See for example Exodus 21:2 (compare Jeremiah 34:8-17), Deuteronomy 27:19 (see Jeremiah 7:6 and Psalm 94), Exodus 20:8 (see Jeremiah 17:21-24—see also Lev 26:33-35 and 2 Chronicles 36:21), and Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
This last one is peculiarly appropriate, both to Laban's situation in particular and to the whole House of Israel (as well as the lesson that Nephi, as future leader, needed to learn). I will therefore quote it:
18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Laban was not only a drunkard (as well as were, apparently, the elders of the Jews with whom he had been partying that night, according to Zoram), he was also a robber and a murderer at heart. He was emblematic of the whole reason Jerusalem at that time needed to be destroyed. Read Ezekiel if you want more gory details about what was going on in Jerusalem at the time. So I therefore ask again: are you really sure that Nephi was breaking the law? Because it looks to me like he was executing a (legally-authorized) sentence.
-Max
P.S. Just in case I'm being unclear: the point is that putting family loyalty or affection ahead of righteousness brings iniquity and eventual destruction. You can't get to the point of treading on widows and orphans and murdering the poor if you're careful to cast out iniquity from among you (by stoning or exile, it doesn't matter, or by fasting and prayer if it's in yourself). "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Economics and jobs
The Law of Unintended Consequences: I know you know this, but it's illustrative.
First, "Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require that employers provide seven paid sick days per year," states the Obama campaign's Web site. "I give three paid sick days," explained the business owner. His extra cost for this one new regulation would be $24,960 (4 extra days, 52 employees, at an average of $120 per day). "That's one of the women in the office," he said. "I can make up that cost by letting one of the office people go."
Second, Obama states that employers will be required to pay 100 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums for 100 percent of their employees or face a tax penalty. "I pay 75 percent of their coverage," explained the owner. "The family policy is about $11,000. For single guys, it's about $5,000." At an average annual cost of $7,000 per policy, his additional cost for 52 employees to cover the 25 percent of the premiums that he currently doesn't pay is $91,000. "That's the price of three installers," he said. "Just to stay even with where I am, I'd have to fire three more people or raise some prices and fire two."
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
First, "Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require that employers provide seven paid sick days per year," states the Obama campaign's Web site. "I give three paid sick days," explained the business owner. His extra cost for this one new regulation would be $24,960 (4 extra days, 52 employees, at an average of $120 per day). "That's one of the women in the office," he said. "I can make up that cost by letting one of the office people go."
Second, Obama states that employers will be required to pay 100 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums for 100 percent of their employees or face a tax penalty. "I pay 75 percent of their coverage," explained the owner. "The family policy is about $11,000. For single guys, it's about $5,000." At an average annual cost of $7,000 per policy, his additional cost for 52 employees to cover the 25 percent of the premiums that he currently doesn't pay is $91,000. "That's the price of three installers," he said. "Just to stay even with where I am, I'd have to fire three more people or raise some prices and fire two."
-Max
--
"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F. Smith (manual, p. 69)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
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