There are few things as funny as crazy Rufus flying through the air.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Accelerating the Recycle Cycle
On Friday I received the annual copy of the Yellow Pages. It was deposited on or perhaps ejected on my driveway in a yellow plastic bag. So, just like I have done for the past three years, I removed the plastic bag and deposited the Yellow Pages directly into my recycling bin. I like the idea of putting the resources back into the system as soon as possible.
It is an interesting cycle in many different ways. First, isn't the Yellow Pages in physical form effectively obsolete at this stage? Second, there is the aspect of all of the energy and resources required to produce, print, and distribute the book. Third, there is the energy required to pick up the recycling each week, sort the contents, ship the paper to a place that no doubt sells paper pulp to the printing company. How long it will be until this practice is finally ended. It certainly can't be doing much for the environment, economy, or much of anything else. Of course, like many things, it is hard to let go of "tradition" even when it doesn't make rational sense.
It is an interesting cycle in many different ways. First, isn't the Yellow Pages in physical form effectively obsolete at this stage? Second, there is the aspect of all of the energy and resources required to produce, print, and distribute the book. Third, there is the energy required to pick up the recycling each week, sort the contents, ship the paper to a place that no doubt sells paper pulp to the printing company. How long it will be until this practice is finally ended. It certainly can't be doing much for the environment, economy, or much of anything else. Of course, like many things, it is hard to let go of "tradition" even when it doesn't make rational sense.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Bad News About Understanding the Economy
I was watching parts of the Republican and Democratic debates last night, and found it quite interesting at one point. At one point, the question was, "If we can afford a trillion dollar war, why can't we provide healthcare...?" After going around the candidates hearing their points about healthcare and why it costs so much, etc. McCain made a point about healthcare inflation being about 10%. Ron Paul took up that point and explained how our monetary policy is creating the inflation in the economy. He tried to explain how the printing of more and more money by the Fed is debasing the value of the dollar, which then leads to price inflation for the assets we own, the food we eat, and the services we purchase. He stated that we need to "stop printing money..." which was laughed at by the other Republicans, especially Fred Thompson. Although it was probably missed by many watching, his comments, which were intended to make Ron Paul look bad, showed that he really didn't understand the concept. There was an amusing side-exchange between the two where Thompson said something like "let me get this straight, we stop printing money and inflation will go down..." and Ron Paul answered "... keep trying, you'll get it."
Amazing... Can't we expect a little more? Or do we really have to accept that anyone who has more than surface knowledge or talking points on a subject should be cut out of the debate? They really ought to do some reading - such as any week's issue of The Economist, or The Daily Reckoning.
Perhaps most interesting in all of the debate was the way in which all of the candidates twisted each question they were given into something quite different. Even when asking a "yes or no" question, they simply can't give a straight answer. Ms. Clinton, is the sky blue? "Well, based on my 35 years of experience and my ability to get things to change and in view of my plan on healthcare, I'd like to be able to have the children whose eyesight was saved by the program I will implement answer that question." Mr. Romney? "I'd just like to say that being governor of Massachusetts has shown me that there are days with blue skies and days with clouds and days with rain. We knew that, and we created a universal sky plan that let the citizens choose for themselves what kind of sky they wanted to see each day."
Overall, this simply shows how difficult it is to get people to change. Only one candidate that I heard talked at all about "sacrifice". Energy use is one area where everyone has the ability to make better choices, and if we don't the $100 barrels of oil will only go higher and higher. Or water use... living in Georgia where there is currently a drought of historic proportions, I wonder what it will take to establish the sense of urgency required to make people change their behavior. Even though it is widely reported that we could run out of water in Atlanta sometime next year, I wonder how many people have done anything at all to change the amount of water they use? Shorter showers, wash only full loads of dishes or laundry, not cheating and watering the lawn, fixing leaking faucets, etc. I whatever kind of deficit we have, we'll only deal with it when the crisis is staring us in the face.
Amazing... Can't we expect a little more? Or do we really have to accept that anyone who has more than surface knowledge or talking points on a subject should be cut out of the debate? They really ought to do some reading - such as any week's issue of The Economist, or The Daily Reckoning.
Perhaps most interesting in all of the debate was the way in which all of the candidates twisted each question they were given into something quite different. Even when asking a "yes or no" question, they simply can't give a straight answer. Ms. Clinton, is the sky blue? "Well, based on my 35 years of experience and my ability to get things to change and in view of my plan on healthcare, I'd like to be able to have the children whose eyesight was saved by the program I will implement answer that question." Mr. Romney? "I'd just like to say that being governor of Massachusetts has shown me that there are days with blue skies and days with clouds and days with rain. We knew that, and we created a universal sky plan that let the citizens choose for themselves what kind of sky they wanted to see each day."
Overall, this simply shows how difficult it is to get people to change. Only one candidate that I heard talked at all about "sacrifice". Energy use is one area where everyone has the ability to make better choices, and if we don't the $100 barrels of oil will only go higher and higher. Or water use... living in Georgia where there is currently a drought of historic proportions, I wonder what it will take to establish the sense of urgency required to make people change their behavior. Even though it is widely reported that we could run out of water in Atlanta sometime next year, I wonder how many people have done anything at all to change the amount of water they use? Shorter showers, wash only full loads of dishes or laundry, not cheating and watering the lawn, fixing leaking faucets, etc. I whatever kind of deficit we have, we'll only deal with it when the crisis is staring us in the face.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Good News About Injustice
One book I have been reading is Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen. It contains some first person accounts of his work in things like investigating genocide in Rwanda and other work with the Justice Department. In addition, it is also a book that I would call "religious philosophy". He goes to great extent to answer questions like "why would a kind God allow ...?" and to also inspire you if you are like many who question whether one person can make a difference in this world.
In looking at the news each week, whether it is Iraq, Pakistan, Kenya, or an article about the homeless in your hometown paper, you might find safety in your distance from these issues. This book will bring those things closer to you in some ways, and make you think about what it means to live a moral life.
In looking at the news each week, whether it is Iraq, Pakistan, Kenya, or an article about the homeless in your hometown paper, you might find safety in your distance from these issues. This book will bring those things closer to you in some ways, and make you think about what it means to live a moral life.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
First post - what this is about.
This is a blog about the architecture of things - physical, logical, and spiritual - and how they are all connected. Some of it is technical (from things I do at work), but the inspiration for this is my wife - who showed me how there is a whole world outside that matters much more. So, there are a number of things about life in general, and also some pictures of our four furry friends, Pasha, Jasper, Rufus & Lucy. I guess I should also mention it is a tribute to my wife, who passed away in November 2007. She wanted to be a writer and encouraged me and so many others to think about what their dreams truly are and question why we don't try to follow them.
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