Wish you were right Walt Disney! A Baby Boomer’s reflections on the future

Good Day World!

Like most baby-boomers, I grew up with an optimistic world view. And why not? America’s economy was strong, vibrant with growth and promise.

We were reaching out to the stars – and even landed a man on the moon. Disneyland featured exhibits like “Tomorrowland” which gave us glimpses into a mythical future rife with progress and peace.

The future is here now for us – the hopeful (yet always rebellious) - children in post-war America. Peace and Love was our mantra.

As I look around at the reality of the 21st Century, I realize that not only are my days numbered – and a generation’s with me – but our hopes for the future, specifically for peace in the world have been dashed.

There’s no peace in America. We’re polarized by race and party lines. Race protests get more extreme as a new generation of black men express their anger over judicial injustices.

Instead of protesting civilly, like their fathers, they prefer to shock and anger people by doing outrageous things to get their message across.

PROTESTORS INTERUPT AWARDS CEREMONY FOR 100 YEAR-OLD VETERAN

Despite scientific advances in all fields of study, mankind is still at war. The world has become a global village thanks to the internet, smart phones, and other communication devices yet undreamed of in my youth.

With all this progress came opportunity for the haters of the world. The terrorists and murderous cults – once small regional problems for various countries – are now worldwide threats.

Charlie Hebdo Shooting: 12 Killed at Muhammad Cartoons Magazine in Paris

“The Internet is a prime example of how terrorists can behave in a truly transnational
way; in response, States need to think and function in an equally transnational
manner.”

- Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations

Walt Disney – it turns out – was probably one of the biggest optimists of all time.

He was known for his futurist views and, through his television programs, showed the American public how the world was moving into the future.

Tomorrowland was the realized culmination of his views. And dream.

In his own words: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."

I wish you could have been right Walt! RIP

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Internet is a prime example of how terrorists can behave in a truly transnational
way; in response, States need to think and function in an equally transnational
manner.”
Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations

True Story: ‘I spared Adolf Hitler’s life’

Good Day World!

Fate can be a fickle mistress.

Seemingly small acts can cause massive repercussions down the line. There’s no better example of this than one man’s decision not to kill the future Fuhrer of Germany.

(Photo-Adolf Hitler circa WWI)  

The First World War was in its last hours, millions of soldiers on both sides were dead and those who fought on knew the end was near, as did English Private Henry Tandey who served with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

In September of 1918, on the French battlefield of Marcoing, he won the Victoria Cross for bravery, one of many medals the 27 year old would win during the 'war to end all wars.'

As the battle of Marcoing raged, Allied and German forces engaged in bitter hand to hand combat. The defining moment for Private Tandey and world history came when a wounded German limped directly into his line of fire.

"I took aim but couldn't shoot a wounded man," said Tandey, "so I let him go." Years later he discovered he had spared an Austrian Corporal named Adolf Hitler.

(Photo-Adolf Hitler, front row left. Circa WWI)

Hitler himself never forgot that pivotal moment or the man who had spared him.

On becoming German Chancellor in 1933, he ordered his staff to track down Tandey's service records. They also managed to obtain a print of an Italian painting showing Tandey carrying a wounded Allied soldier on his back, which Hitler hung with pride on the wall at his mountain top retreat at Berchtesgaden.

He showed the print to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain during his historic visit in 1938 and explained its special significance.

The Führer seized that occasion to have his personal gratitude relayed to Tandey, which Chamberlain conveyed via telephone on his return to London from that most fateful trip.

Henry Tandey left military service before the start of World War II and worked as a security guard in Coventry. His "good deed" haunted him for the rest of his life, especially as Nazi bombers destroyed Coventry in 1940 and London burned day and night during the Blitz.

"If only I had known what he would turn out to be. When I saw all the people, woman and children, he had killed and wounded I was sorry to God I let him go," he said before his death in 1977 at age 86. (Source)

Did you know that Apollo 13 was a nuclear catastrophe waiting to happen?

Good Day World!

As is the case with most history, the public doesn’t always get the full story.

There’s numerous examples of this. Today, I’m sharing one of those stories that I’m betting you never heard about!

The drama surrounding the ill fated Apollo 13 mission was an ideal subject for a series of books and movies.

But the most disturbing aspect of the near disaster has mostly been neglected.

Apollo 13 was a nuclear catastrophe waiting to happen, as aboard the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) was a plutonium power cell.

Called 'Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power' (SNAP-27) it contained 3.8 kilograms of plutonium, which is so toxic that less than a millionth of a gram can cause cancer.

Designed to be left behind on the moon, the crippled Apollo 13 was forced to carry it back to Earth. Not only were the three astronauts in danger but millions on the ground unwittingly lived under threat from the toxic space junk.

When the paralyzed Apollo 13 re-entered Earth's orbit, the astronauts transferred back to the command module, and the LEM with its nuclear payload was jettisoned.

It re-entered the atmosphere somewhere over New Zealand and although the LEM burned up, SNAP-27 survived re-entry and plunged intact into the Pacific Ocean off Tonga, where according to NASA it is "isolated from man's environment."

SNAP-27's radioactivity will last 2000+ years and its watery grave comprises some of the world's prime fishing grounds.

NASA successfully concealed the crisis from the world at the time, and continues to power some spacecraft with plutonium, recently launching the Cassini probe with a 33 kilo plutonium cell. (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Fighting the Flu: Uninvited Bug Invades My Home

Good Day World!

I hope you’re in good health, and not a victim of the headline-making enterovirus EV-D68.

I haven’t had the flu for over fourteen years, but that changed about a week ago. That nasty virus is still kicking my butt today. My wife and son are also getting their butts kicked.

Editor’s update: the flu that my family and I have is the H3-N2 virus. The enterovirus EV-D68 is the one infecting children, and the symptoms are different.

I’ve been drinking a lot of liquids, sleeping, and dosing with over-the-counter cold medicines. One day I start feeling better, then I suffer a setback the next day. I’m seriously wondering when this stuff will go away.

I’ve noticed on social media that people who have – thus far – stayed healthy during this national outbreak aren’t afraid to give advice. You might want to be wary, because what’s trending doesn’t mean it’s scientific fact.

Take yogurt, “prebiotics” and teas such as kombucha. They all have a dash of science showing that gut bacteria can affect your weight, your risk of cancer and your susceptibility to infectious disease.

That’s nice. However, until scientists are able to show which is the “good” bacteria and the “bad” ones there’s nothing definitive on whether eating or drinking any particular food can change the balance of your gut bacteria.

Probiotics fall squarely into the category of being good in theory, but the jury’s still out on which formula is best.

There’s way more research debunking Echinacea than supporting its use.

Part of the problem is that different commercial products contain different amounts of the plant, and even vary on what plants they contain. Some plants, such as astragalus and licorice root, can be dangerous.

There’s more “testimonials” out there on how to avoid the flu. But, before you place your trust in yogurt to stay healthy, you might want to do a little research on the subject.

I should also point out that flu shots are probably the best way to avoid these nasty bugs. One caveat; this current enterovirus EV-D68 has evolved after the vaccine for it was developed.

So, even the recommended way to avoid the flu is not fool proof.

Time for me to slowly walk on down the road…

Poem: ‘Sandbox Tree Story’

Good Day World!

I had fun with this poem…hope you enjoy it!

Sandbox Tree Story

the Sandbox Tree is an evergreen tree of the spurge family

found in North and South American tropical regions

it’s nicknamed ‘no climb monkey’

a peculiar moniker for any tree

The Sandbox Tree can grow up to 200 feet tall

and has large leaves that grow to two feet wide

but that’s not the strangest thing of all

it’s fruit is an exploding ball!

ripe pods catapult seeds for hundreds of feet

at speeds of up to 160 mph

it’s quit the feat

and a visual treat

Also known as the Dynamite Tree

for the explosive sound of ripe fruit popping

and splitting into segments rapidly

it’s as strange as any tree can be!

 

The end

Famous Last Words: I hope my last words make a list someday!

Good Day World!

I’ve always been fascinated with people’s last words. It probably comes from watching too many dramatic movies.

Whatever the reason, I think those final parting shots make a good read.

For example: 

Marilyn Monroe allegedly said, “Say goodbye to Pat, say goodbye to Jack and say goodbye to yourself, because you're a nice guy” to actor Peter Lawford, president John F. Kennedy’s brother-in-law, over the telephone the night she died.

AND

One of the most mysterious last words I’ve ever read came from Boris Karloff, best known for his portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster.

He simply said, “Walter Pidgeon.” Everyone was puzzled. Why would the last words from his lips be the name of a Canadian actor? Now that’s strange.

The following list of links will give you a plethora of famous last words. Enjoy!

• Famous Last Words: Criminals
• Famous Last Words: Fictional Characters, Books and Plays
• Famous Last Words: Ironic Comments
• Famous Last Words: Movie Characters
• Famous Last Words: Musicians
• Famous Last Words: Religious Figures
• Famous Last Words: U.S. Presidents
• Famous Last Words: Writers/Authors

Time for me to walk on down the road…

NASA’s Plans for Spotting Space Aliens in 2015

Good Day World!

Well, here we are…2015.

The earth continues to turn on its axis, and babies are born every moment. Scientific research has reached out to the stars with startling results:

We can now land on moving asteroids and send space research vehicles to other galaxies far, far, away. Private companies on earth are vying to be the first to offer space travel to the general public.

Other worlds draw nearer all the time. The Mars Exploration Program is a science-driven program that seeks to understand whether Mars was, is, or can be, a habitable world.

The number one goal is to see if there’s life on Mars.

Current Missions to Mars:

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will seek to find out about the history of water on Mars with its science instruments. They will zoom in for extreme close-up photography of the martian surface to analyze minerals, look for subsurface water.

Mars Science Laboratory

NASA proposes to develop and to launch a roving long-range, long-duration science laboratory that will be a major leap in surface measurements and pave the way for a future sample return mission.

MAVEN

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN), set to launch in 2013, will explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind.

HOW WILL WE DETECT ALIEN LIFE?

Swiss researchers have tested a new kind of life-detection device that's sensitive to motion rather than organic chemistry — and they say it could be used on future space missions to look for alien life.

• How Do You Find Life on an Alien Planet?
• Souped-Up Tech Could Help Find Life on Mars
• A Dirty Trick for Alien Hunters: Look for Pollution

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Happy New Year! History and Traditions Through the Ages

                                      Good Day World!

Happy New Year!

Civilizations around the world have been celebrating the start of each new year for at least four millennia.

Ancient Babylonians first celebrated the new year over 4,000 years ago. Check out this video history of New Year's Eve.

Today, most New Year’s festivities begin on December 31 (New Year’s Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue into the early hours of January 1 (New Year’s Day).

Common traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays.

In many countries, New Year’s celebrations begin on the evening of December 31—New Year’s Eve—and continue into the early hours of January 1.

Revelers often enjoy meals and snacks thought to bestow good luck for the coming year. In Spain and several other Spanish-speaking countries, people bolt down a dozen grapes-symbolizing their hopes for the months ahead-right before midnight.

In many parts of the world, traditional New Year’s dishes feature legumes, which are thought to resemble coins and herald future financial success; examples include lentils in Italy and black-eyed peas in the southern United States.

Because pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork appears on the New Year’s Eve table in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and other countries. Ring-shaped cakes and pastries, a sign that the year has come full circle, round out the feast in the Netherlands, Mexico, Greece and elsewhere.

In Sweden and Norway, meanwhile, rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is served on New Year’s Eve; it is said that whoever finds the nut can expect 12 months of good fortune. (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

The Man Behind the Mask Used in Modern Day Protests

Good Day World!

Have you ever wondered why so many protestors worldwide are all wearing the same mask?

You know the one I mean.

A stylized portrayal of a face with an over-sized smile and red cheeks, a wide moustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard.

The man behind the mask is a terrorist named Guy Fawkes.

The Guy Fawkes mask is a modern depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605.

The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations.

The modern mask was designed by illustrator David Lloyd, and it came to represent broader protests after it was used as a major plot element in V for Vendetta, published in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation.

After appearing in Internet forums, the mask became a well-known symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous, used in Project Chanology, the Occupy movement, and other anti-government and anti-establishment protests around the world.

The mask has turned up in new venues, like Ferguson, Mo., and New York City – both locations where black men were killed by police officers in the line of duty, sparking protests.

The Guy Fawkes mask has become a worldwide symbol of grass roots protests against government actions.

But, it also doubles as a symbol for cyber terrorism - via Anonymous - and other secret groups with their own agendas.

Check out all the mask photos in this article/photo essay:

The mask popping up in protests around the world

Guy Fawkes is probably smiling somewhere, knowing he’s a star in the 21st century!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Why Is It That When One War Ends, Another Always Looms?

Good Day World!

Another war has been declared over.

America officially left Afghanistan after 13 years. Our longest war has quietly slipped into history along with 2,200 trooper’s lives.

On December 28th, the war in Afghanistan came to an end at the cost of one-trillion dollars. President Obama told the nation it was the "responsible conclusion."

In other words, it had to end someday.

Just like the war in Iraq, right? Or, the war in Vietnam. They had to come to a conclusion too. In all three cases, our legacy was, and is, chaos. Democracy no longer even a memory in Vietnam. 

Iraq is under siege from ISIS because their army – the one trained by the US – has already fallen apart after we left. Over 50,000 of their military is a “ghost army.” Men who bribe there way out of serving through a scam.

So we are back in Iraq…helping militarily. Unwilling to watch the country fall to terrorists.

Meanwhile, the truth is Afghans hate Americans and are glad to see us leave their country. The pretense of Democracy will wither as warlords once again gain control. The country will convulse in continued agonies as the Taliban seek to reestablish themselves.

The real unavoidable truth is our wars will never end as long as the US military industrial complex – and the other industries that benefit from providing supplies for our war machine – control the Pentagon and Congress.

Hints of war. We’re in an undeclared war with ISIS now. Who will be next?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Six 2014 Research Stories That’ll Leave You Shaking Your Head in Wonder

Good Day World!

Here’s my contributions to the madness that was the Year 2014:

1) Study: Marijuana use has increased in Colorado – I’d like to nominate this article for the “Most Obvious Result” as Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational sales of the drug. Duh.

2) Proved at last: Men really are idiots – The most insulting thing about this so-called research paper is someone actually paid grant monies to those idiots who call themselves researchers!

3) Top IBM Research Stories of 2014 - A Guinness World Record. A new kind of plastic. Oh, and a chip modeled after the human brain!

4) University of Wisconsin to reprise controversial monkey studies - This study really sickened me. The researchers intentionally deprived newborn monkeys of their mothers, a practice designed to impact a primate’s psychological well-being.

5) Controversial Study Photographed 29 Courses in Total - The purpose of the study, according to preliminary findings, came from the fact that undergraduate attendance had not been “comprehensively or rigorously or measured.” Really? How earth-shattering!

6) Why Men Love Lingerie: Rat Study Offers Hints -  A new study has concluded male rats are turned on by female rats with tiny jackets on. The researchers gleefully declared those jackets work just like lingerie which (as we all know) makes human males horny. Sigh…

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Poem: ‘We are all Travelers in This World’

Good Day World!

Here’s a short poem I wrote just for you.

Just because:

we are all travelers in this world

passing though time and space

our years full of lessons learned

as members of the human race

we all are so unique

each road we take in our life

offers challenges

and sometimes strife

In the end

we leave behind a legacy

a roadmap of personal events

describing who we use to be

our paths are paved with our deeds

roads followed over the years

milestones dotted with family and friends

and laughter and tears

we are just travelers in this world

so tread softly and love along the way

live to learn

and to make the most of your day 

 

The end

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Which of These Two Political Stories from 2014 is Weirder?

Good Day World!

Every year there’s a bumper-crop of weird political stories. 2014 was no exception.

Trying to decide the weirdest was no easy task with all the competition the characters offer.

I’ve selected the following two stories for your consideration, but I can’t decide which one should be rated #1 for the year. 

I leave that up to you gentle readers. What do you think?

The Palin Family Got Swept up in an Epic Brawl

It started out as nothing more than a well-attended birthday party for a competitive snowmobiler on a cool Saturday night last September in Anchorage.

But by the end, it was a scene straight out of “Roadhouse,” a drunken, bare-knuckled brawl involving 20 people backed by the soundtrack of a live band that, according to witnesses, never missed a beat amid the surrounding melee.

Police were called, but no charges were filed. And the fight likely would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the people involved: Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate turned reality TV star, and members of her family.

Suddenly, the political world salivated over every detail of the fracas, from the gleaming white stretch Hummer that delivered the Palin clan to the festivities to the red, white and blue high-tops the woman who was almost elected to the nation’s second-highest office wore as she stood screaming on the sidelines of the fight.

Everybody had a different account of what happened. Palin’s oldest son, Track, told police he got into a fight with men who were insulting one of his sisters. His father, Todd, who also happened to be celebrating his 50th birthday that night, jumped in, ending up with a bloody nose.

But other partygoers blamed the Palins — including the former governor’s 24-year-old daughter, Bristol, who allegedly punched a man six or seven times in the face before she was shoved to the ground — for starting the brawl.

Bristol, who was visibly drunk, according to the cops, denied the claim and said she was attacked while trying to defend her younger sister, Willow, from rude guests.

After weeks of silence, Sarah Palin finally addressed the scandal in a Facebook post, calling the experience “humiliating and frightening.” “My kids aren’t proud of what happened,” she wrote. But she also slammed the media, accusing them of mocking her daughter after she had “been assaulted by a man.” — Holly Bailey

Chickens Became a Major Issue in a U.S. Senate Race

Leave it to Iowa, a major agricultural state, to turn a dispute over chickens in a lakeside residential community into a full-fledged campaign issue garnering national attention and affecting the course of a U.S. Senate race.

Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley never quite knew how to recover from the controversy Republican operatives helped create over Braley’s dispute with his Holiday Lake neighbor over four therapy chickens she kept on her property near Braley’s vacation home.

The Braleys had said they could smell neighbor Pauline Hampton’s free-range chickens, which she used for “animal-assisted therapy” with children, and that birds violated the local homeowners' association guidelines about the keeping of non-pet animals.

Hampton eventually penned her hens, but word of the dispute — and a Braley phone call to the homeowners’ association raising the specter of legal action — leaked.

Republicans used the anecdote to help paint Braley as out of touch with the culture and values of the farm state and unsympathetic to the concerns of average Iowans.

Nor were the chickens the only famous animals in the race. Braley’s opponent, Republican Joni Ernst, launched her campaign with an advertisement touting her farm state bona fides by announcing, "I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm."

It worked for her: She’s going to be sworn in as the state’s first female congressperson in January. — Garance Franke-Ruta

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Imagine the Beatles in ‘Lord of the Rings’ – it almost happened!

Good Day World!

Try to imagine John Lennon playing Gollum in the Lord of the Rings adaptation.

While your at it, imagine Paul McCartney as Frodo, Ringo Starr as Sam, and George Harrison as Gandalf.

It almost happened! 

Easily one of the strangest movie “what ifs” considered, there was once talk of a Lord of the Rings film adaptation starring The Beatles, with none other than Stanley Kubrick approached to direct.

And it was actually The Beatles — specifically John Lennon — who were adamant about getting a feature film made.

What do you think?

After Apple Films saw the success of Beatles films A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, and Yellow Submarine, the production company knew the kind of potential a Lord of the Rings adaptation might hold, considering Lennon was one of the film’s biggest supporters.

Apple Films would later feel confident enough with both the film’s idea and The Beatles’s interest to approach Kubrick about directing. Kubrick would ultimately turn the offer down because he believed the scope of the film was too big to translate to the screen. (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Merry Christmas! 9 Poems & The Christmas Tree Story

I hope you’re having a great day.

It’s my pleasure to share the following poems with you for the occasion: 

Christmas Bells
Christmas in India
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Christmas Is a Time for Love and Fun
I'm Your Christmas Tree, All Brightly Lit
The Twelve Days of Christmas
That Midnight Hour
The Gift Of God
Bethlehem And Calvary

ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE

For families in North America, Germany and other parts of Europe, the Christmas Tree is the symbol of the Christmas season. Americans adopted the symbol along with many other customs from these countries.

Christmas Trees play a symbolic part because they stayed green and alive when other plants appeared dead and bare. They represent everlasting life and hope for the return of spring.

Scholars say that 500 years ago the religious meaning began to be associated with them. They still are strongly associated with the religious side of Christmas – invoking everlasting life through Jesus Christ.

May peace be with you today, and everyday!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, When All Through the Shelter…

                                       Good Day World!

(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore’s 'Twas the Night Before Christmas)

‘Twas the Night before Christmas, when all through the shelter

not a dog or cat was awake.

Hopeful adoption papers in stockings were hung with care

outside each little space,

in hopes that someone soon would be there.

 

The animals were nestled all snug in their little beds

while visions of adoption danced in their heads.

The shelter employees had just settled down for a long winter’s nap

When out on the shelter roof there arose such a clatter

They sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.

 

Away to the windows they flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

gave the lustre of midday to objects below,

when, to their wondering eyes should appear,

but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

 

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

they knew in a moment it must be St.Nick.

More rapid than eagles, his courses they came,

and he whistled and shouted and called them by name:

 

“Now Dasher! Now Dancer!

Now, Prancer and Vixen!

On Comet, On, Cupid!

On Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the shelter!

To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away!

Dash away all!”

 

When the employees opened the door (there was no chimney)

a chubby and plump, right jolly old elf,

made them laugh in spite of themselves.

He spoke not a word, but when straight to work,

filling out each adoption paper like a saintly clerk.

 

The employees watched him spring to his sleigh

and give his team a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

They heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to ALL a good night!”

                                    The end

Please think about all those beautiful animals that need adopted from shelters throughout the nation during these holidays – and if it’s in your heart, make a friend for life, by saving one.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Seven of the Best Christmas Stories Ever Told!

Good Day World!

With Christmas just two days away, I have some stories that will make your day:

BIRDS’ CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE by Kate Douglas Wiggin
[read online] or [view printable version]

• BURGLAR’S CHRISTMAS, THE by Willa Cather
[read online] or [view printable version]

• CHRISTMAS CAROL, A by Charles Dickens
[read online] or [view printable version]

• CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING by Pearl S. Buck
[read online] or [view printable version]

• CHRISTMAS TREE, A from “Some Christmas Stories” by Charles Dickens
[read online] or [view printable version]

• DULCE DOMUM from “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame
[read online] or [view printable version]

• GIFT OF THE MAGI by O. Henry
[read online] or [view printable version]

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday Inspiration: ‘What A Wonderful World’

Good Day World!

Today’s inspiration comes from the lyrics of Louis Armstrong’s classic song, “What A Wonderful World.”

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and for you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

But what they're really saying is I love you.

I hear baby's crying and I watched them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Oh yeah.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Caution: Be Careful Who You Martyrize

Good Day World!

Martyrs can take a long time to make. The Roman Catholic Church is a good example.

Then, there are instant martyrs.

Canonized in the heat of passion.

They don’t need an organized religion to become martyrs. They represent a segment of society that holds them aloft for whatever reasons.

These newly-minted saints are often randomly selected, names in the midst of impassioned social protests. But for every Martin Luther King, there is a Michael Brown.

One has paid his dues, and helped further freedoms for African-Americans. The other, a thug who thought nothing of robbing a convenience store to stock up on cigars.

Instead of holding Brown up as this innocent “gentle giant,” protest organizers would have been better served to hold up Eric Garner as an innocent black man unjustly murdered by an overzealous white cop.

If you compare the two incidents – you’ll see that the protests in Ferguson went “south” with looting and death threats against authorities. Partly because official information was slow getting to the public, lies from some of the witnesses became truth in many peoples minds.

The whole situation ended up causing a greater divide between black and white Americans.

Michael Brown was a poor pick to make a martyr out of.

In the case of Eric Garner there was no doubt about what happened. It was all on film. In most people’s eyes it was murder. Both black and white Americans believed an injustice had occurred when the officer wasn’t indicted.

Eric Garner makes a better martyr, if one has to be made, to further the call of justice.

And speaking of justice…who will call to martyrize the two New York cops -Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos – who were assassinated by a black man who declared he was going to “put wings on pigs?”

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

  

Partisanship Has a Way of Short-Circuiting Intelligence

Good Day World!

In April and May of 2013, Yale Law professor Dan Kahan — working with coauthors Ellen Peters, Erica Cantrell Dawson, and Paul Slovic — set out to test a question that continuously puzzles scientists: why isn’t good evidence more effective in resolving political debates?

For instance, why doesn’t the mounting proof that climate change is a real threat persuade more skeptics?

The leading theory, Kahan and his coauthors wrote, is the Science Comprehension Thesis, which says the problem is that the public doesn’t know enough about science to judge the debate.

According to author Ezra Klein (How Politics make Us Stupid)

“Perhaps people aren’t held back by a lack of knowledge. After all, they don’t typically doubt the findings of oceanographers or the existence of other galaxies.

Perhaps there are some kinds of debates where people don’t want to find the right answer so much as they want to win the argument. Perhaps humans reason for purposes other than finding the truth — purposes like increasing their standing in their community, or ensuring they don’t piss off the leaders of their tribe.

If this hypothesis proved true, then a smarter, better-educated citizenry wouldn’t put an end to these disagreements. It would just mean the participants are better equipped to argue for their own side.

Partisanship has a way of short-circuiting intelligence.

In another experiment Kahan and his coauthors gave out sample biographies of highly accomplished scientists alongside a summary of the results of their research. Then they asked whether the scientist was indeed an expert on the issue. It turned out that people’s actual definition of "expert" is "a credentialed person who agrees with me."

Imagine what would happen to, say, Sean Hannity if he decided tomorrow that climate change was the central threat facing the planet. Initially, his viewers would think he was joking. But soon, they’d begin calling in furiously.

Some would organize boycotts of his program. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of professional climate skeptics would begin angrily refuting Hannity’s new crusade. Many of Hannity’s friends in the conservative media world would back away from him, and some would seek advantage by denouncing him.

Some of the politicians he respects would be furious at his betrayal of the cause. He would lose friendships, viewers, and money. He could ultimately lose his job. And along the way he would cause himself immense personal pain as he systematically alienated his closest political and professional allies.

The world would have to update its understanding of who Sean Hannity is and what he believes, and so too would Sean Hannity. And changing your identity is a psychologically brutal process.

Kahan has another theory: Identity-Protective Cognition:

"As a way of avoiding dissonance and estrangement from valued groups, individuals subconsciously resist factual information that threatens their defining values."

Elsewhere, he puts it even more pithily: "What we believe about the facts," he writes, "tells us who we are." And the most important psychological imperative most of us have in a given day is protecting our idea of who we are, and our relationships with the people we trust and love.

Anyone who has ever found themselves in an angry argument with their political or social circle will know how threatening it feels. For a lot of people, being "right" just isn’t worth picking a bitter fight with the people they care about.

Today, our political parties have sorted by ideology, and now neither the House nor the Senate has any Democrats who are more conservative than any Republicans, or vice versa. This sorting has made the tribal pull of the two parties much more powerful because the other party now exists as a clear enemy.”

Time for me to walk on down the road…