Recently in Ponderings Category

The police often say 'We put our lives on the line every day to serve and protect' and as far as it goes, they do.  A typical, well known example is the cop approaching the driver of the car he just pulled over - will the driver pull a gun and try to shoot the cop?  Some few times the answer is yes and some fewer times the cop ends up dead.

But what about the times they don't risk their lives?  What about the times they blast away at someone rather than risk their lives? 

Consider that time in NY, February 4, 1999, when 4 undercover cops blasted away at Amadou Diallo, a civilian in the shadows who was attempting to show them his identification?  One cop said he thought the victim was pulling a gun, and in fear for his life, this cop opened fire on the victim.  When his brother cops realized the first cop was shooting at the victim, they joined in.

These cops didn't know if the victim had a gun, they were just 'afraid' he did.  Rather than risk their lives in order to determine if the victim intended them harm, they shot him down in a hail of 41 bullets.

"We risk our lives."  Compare that statement to the soldier's: "We give our lives."  What does it mean when someone risks their life but stops short of giving it?  Or contrast the cop's stance with that of those hero's of Search and Rescue who say "If I have to give my life for yours, I will".

Sometimes cops actually go beyond merely risking their lives to giving them.  On That 2001 NY day, scores of cops became rescue workers, and three score perished. 

As harsh as it sounds, I want the cops to default to dying rather than killing innocents.

"Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing." George Bernard Shaw

Fun Facts to Know and Share:

Per year averages for the 15 year period from 1980 through 2005:

§  10,751 cops were assaulted by folks using weapons - 22% of these assaults involved firearms

§  About 50,000 assaults on cops without weapons

§  140 cops were killed - 56% of these deaths were accidental, the remaining 62 were felonious 

In 2004 there were more than 800,000 full-time sworn law enforcement officers in the United States, yielding an average of 8 deaths per 100,000.  The homicide rate from 1976 through 2005 was 7.8 per 100,000.  While my calculations here are only approximate, it seems that being a cop is about as risky as not being a cop.

"The changes in the U.S. homicide rate over time are interesting. In 1900 there were few gun laws. New York had no handgun law and California no waiting period. Guns of all types could be ordered by mail or bought anonymously. And the homicide rate was 1.2 per 100,000." David C. Stolinsky, MD

Bumper stickers that caught my eye:

"The only thing that I feel when I kill, is the recoil."

I would implement a 50 year plan to end the use of combustibles for energy:

1)     3 years: Cancel all combustion based generating plant projects that haven't broken ground

2)     5 years: Require all new construction to include as many free-fueled energy devices and/or eco-helpful environments on the roof as practical

3)     20 years: All oil fueled generating plants would be dismantled

4)     30 years: All fossil fuel generating plants would be dismantled

5)     50 years: Fossil fuels would no longer be used for transportation

6)     Possible exceptions: Air and Space travel; military and emergency; waste reclamation

 

Make it a criminal offense for members of the media to come in physical contact with their subjects or the subject's escorts.  This would include:

·         Being propelled into contact by another would not be allowed as a defense

·         The subject initiating contact would not be allowed as a defense unless the subject actually chased the member of the media

·         Mandatory jail time for 2nd and subsequent offenses

·         Escalating fines for both the contactor and their employer

 

At my own expense, commission:

·         The development of an inexpensive consumer device that lets me control the magnitude of the difference in volume between the quietest to the loudest in any audio stream

·         The present day equivalent of a Statue of Liberty gift for France honoring the creation of the EU

 

Correct the Educational System by:

1st.        A return to a catechism oriented classical curricula

2nd.       Require any school experiencing an unacceptable level of violence to implement a comprehensive surveillance system

3rd.        All students will be subject to searches of their persons and effects at the reasonable discretion of the teachers (law enforcement searches will still require a warrant).

4th.        If a student creates a serious problem, and strenuous efforts to correct the problem fail, place the student in a problem student class

5th.        Require much more from the brightest students

6th.        End the strict association of age with grade; all students would advance a grade only after demonstrating mastery of the current grade's material

7th.        Resurrect the Primary and Secondary education systems by guaranteeing that only those who have mastered the curricula receive diplomas

8th.        Require everyone to complete a year in the military followed a few months later by a year in an approved militarily structured organization by their 29th birthday

9th.        All college applicants would have to pass a comprehensive entry test before enrolling in their first course

 

Apply the 4th Amendment to current technology:

v  Medical Information:

a.       Within 5 years, create a national medical database containing everyone's entire medical history and all the data generated by providers and funders and other stake holders. 

b.       All the information in the database will be under the sole ownership of the patient and classified as a Federal Secret; access granted by permission only, and only as far as necessary to provide the proper care. 

c.       Unless authorized by the patient, possession and/or use of this information will be a criminal offense.  Insurance companies and employers and recruiters, and their agents, are specifically prohibited from accessing this information

v  Personal Information:

a.       All the information and data generated by a person's personal activity are the sole and exclusive property of that person (with an exceedingly long and specific list of exceptions). 

b.       Except for extreme situations and parents testing minors, all drug tests are prohibited and possession of recreational drugs will be decriminalized.

 

Let our children be children:

         I.            Return responsibility for and authority over our children to their parents.  This especially includes medical, health and reproductive activities; religious beliefs and values; associations; education, corporal punishment, etc...

       II.            Return the voting age and majority age to 21; active military stays 18

     III.            Require DNA verification of parenthood for all children born to minors. The parents of the father and mother are responsible for children born to minors until the mother's and father's majority

    IV.            Allow minors to marry only with their parent's permission

      V.            Bring back the curfew

 

Make sure we all speak the same language: Require all commercial, political and legal communications to be in English (with a long list of exceptions)

 

 

Quotes:

 

"MAGPIE, n. A bird whose thievish disposition suggested to someone that it might be taught to talk. "  Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary:

 

"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

 

Fun Facts to Know and Share:

 

The term "basket case" originated after WWI to refer to a wounded soldier who has lost both arms and both legs to amputation, and had to be carried around in a basket.

 

Bumper stickers that caught my eye:

 

"I've read about the evils of alcohol, so I gave up reading."

 

"To err is human; to blame it on somebody else shows management potential."

We humans, smart as we are, oft confuse complicated with difficult, and simple with easy.  In my experience, it's the other way around plenty of times; the simple can be extremely difficult.  Ask any physicist about the difficulty of dealing with an equation as simple as

E = mc²

Or a person simply trying to do the right thing; Or even just counting out loud to 10,000 without error.

Much of the beauty scientists find in their work is in the elegant, and simple, laws underlying their reality.  But this hasn't been the case in the "soft" sciences.  Ask one of them why? and instead of writing a few figures on the blackboard, they will tell you volumes, and still not have it completely correct.  I don't believe this is only because of the subject matter; I suspect it's mostly the attitude of the practitioners thinking that the truths of their field are frightfully complicated. 

Well, I'm not a practitioner of any soft science, so it could only be my ignorance talking, but some "human" things are very, very simple.  For instance ...

In the case of our current violent conflict with the "islamists", they will win because they are willing to kill, and we aren't willing to die.

It really is that simple.

If you don't believe me, do your own brief survey of the armed conflicts America has been in.  You will find that every time we weren't victorious we were also not willing to die.  Compare three recent examples where Americans were outraged at the deaths of our soldiers: Vietnam, Somalia, Korea; with WWI and WWII.  If you're still not satisfied, pick any military history you like.  As soon as one side says "we've done enough dying, and will do no more", the other side wins.

Isn't that just about the same as surrender?

Quote:

"American supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today." George Soros, MoveOn.org's billionaire benefactor

I have seen this quote attributed to Soros many times in many places, but was unable to verify it on the net.  After checking the web thoroughly, the closest I found was a transcript of CNN Crossfire, Aired May 31, 2004 - 16:30 ET which says " ...Soros explained to 'The Washington Post' this fall ... Soros went on to compare the president of the United States to the Nazis. And then he said something even more offensive. Soros described the United States as -- quote - 'a danger to the world.'"

Fun Facts to know and share:

There is an intersection in Houston: Clinton & Fidelity

Bumper Stickers that caught my eye:

If You Don't Vote, DON'T WHINE

Don't Worry What People Think.  They Don't Do It Very Often

Or, one of the things surfers have in common with every mature, experienced person.

I find everything about surfing a blast.  I like riding the wave the best.  Next best I like getting outside.  Next best I like wipeouts.  They can be as cool as a marble in a shoe box, or better still, a sock in the washer.  And best of all wipeouts, a sock in the drier, going round and round and round.  Of course, if you hit something it could mess you up, and sometimes it seems as if the Ocean will never let you up; I only like these wipeouts when reminiscing.

The overriding lesson surfers learn, is that the Ocean always wins.  If you fight her, she will win.  Always.  You've just got to learn to live with her under her rules.  When she has you, many ordinary things become impossible, like breathing for instance.  If you don't recognize or accept her omnipotence, you'll get into trouble.  You'll get into trouble anyway, but if you learn the things she'll let you do, and learn to do them the way she likes, you'll hardly be powerless.

So in the surfer's world, there is this group of things that are just impossible to do; they know this group intimately.  There is also this other group of things that can be done, but only if you do them 'just so'; they know this group intimately also.

It is in the acceptance of the world the way it is; it is in the letting go of the impossible; it is in the learning what can be done and how to do it; it is in these that the surfer is the same as the conservative.

When a conservative looks at society, she sees lots that's impossible to do; and puts those things away until they become possible.  Then she gets busy learning what can be done and how to do it.  Then she does it and it works.