Monthly Archives: August 2013

The Simple Life

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As the mariner grows older, his hearing continues to fade. He watches the meaningful television shows, mostly on PBS, but cannot understand the audio portion very well without captions or hearing aids. This is not to say that his ability to think or read has diminished. The mariner knows one thing for certain, though: He will miss the full effect of the new and exciting age of audiovisual technology. It is an exciting age coming toward us as quickly as the wind blows across the prairie.

How we communicate; how we participate in government, retail, and personal decisions about our lives will change. The smart phone is just the beginning. Very soon, entrepreneurs will master cloud technology (simply defined, the ability to maintain your entire life in a database online), It will be as if you had a servant and a parent watching every decision you make.

If you decide to buy a Jaguar instead of a Ford, “it” will know about that aberration and suggest alternatives. A consortium of banks will manage your finances automatically such that you will be unable to go into unreasonable debt.

In entertainment, it will be a glorious release from the constraints of cable where one must buy 200 channels just to watch four. You will be able to shape to a very specific degree what you want to watch – including events that are not part of television as we know it. Three dimensional experiences, where you, the watcher, are part of the action and even able to alter the plot, is not far away.

The future technology will not be limited to your budget and entertainment. Automobiles are within a decade of accident-proof driving. Your grocery purchases will be managed according to your likes and dislikes. Clothing stores will know your size, style and price range. Anything you purchase will be known by your money-managing banks. The downside is that maybe the banks will stop a purchase for one reason or another. Suppose you want to go on a nice vacation but your account balances and credit margins say you can’t go. There is a price to pay for all this technical automation.

Even simple things like doorbells will change. Technology is available today to notice someone is at the door, do a face ID search and announce to you that John and Debbie are at the front door.

Social Networks will become your calendar, schedule your bills, arrange vacations and track not only where you are but where everyone is that you want to know about – and their schedules, too.

Unlike today, where one logs on to a world wide web of choices, your service provider will shape your access according to your history. This happens today if you allow it. The mariner was using email with Google chrome active the other day and mentioned, quite innocently, a psychological term in the text. Google immediately offered me a choice of nearby psychiatrists.

It is truly a new world coming to us. Not only in a personal sense, but we will know in real time the activities of our governments, the global politics and the issues of global warming and anything else –miniscule or overwhelming, that is happening.

Your knowledge can be the sum of the entire world’s knowledge. The father of Greek Philosophy, Thales, would be proud.

Ancient Mariner

A Bit More About Cities

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On August 9, 2013, the mariner wrote about cities becoming the center of new ideas, financial growth, and evolving culture with virtually no assistance from State or especially from Federal governments (The Cities are Taking Over). The mariner recommended a book that portrayed the cooperative nature of city organizations, “Metropolitan Revolution, How Cities and Metros are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy” by Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley.

The book was featured on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS show aired by CNN on August 25. There was a panel of four experts, each with their own book on cities. The discussion reinforced the idea that partisan politics breaks down enough in cities to allow collaborative management in behalf of the city and its citizens.

The new perspective on suburbs was that unless there was a center where city services like retail stores, restaurants, churches, libraries and job-producing businesses existed, the residents would move to the city. The group on CNN cited a number of cities, predominately Denver, Colorado, where several suburban areas were in competition or even in conflict with adjacent suburbs over public utilities, taxes, and competition for drawing new business. Realizing that the competition was destructive, the suburbs met, formed an integrated structure that suddenly made Denver a much larger city – not by moving boundaries or by changing governments but by being part of an integrated business, arts, public services, recreation and entertainment metropolis.

The idea that cities are the strength of a nation and its growth is demonstrated by the fact that China plans to move 2½ million rural people into its cities over the next ten years.

In Iowa, this phenomenon is quite visible. The family farm culture has disappeared leaving many towns and small cities to fade away because the populations, almost by necessity, must move to an urban center for jobs, entertainment and all the other advantages offered by a city. The cities of Iowa, however, are doing well in proportion to their ability to draw rural and suburban families.

The most fascinating element in this subject is the move away from legislative management to a new paradigm comprised almost entirely of unelected citizens. The most common model is the creation of commissions appointed by Governors, County managers or Mayors. In most cases, there are no elected officials on the commission; community activists, business people, politically connected entrepreneurs and philanthropists populate the commission. In the years prior to moving to Iowa, the mariner was a member of a number of commissions. These commissions had no elected officials but had the responsibility for tackling complex issues and proposing legislation and operational policy to the government. In those years, however, the subjects were not associated with the demographic and cultural aspects of cities, suburbs and rural populations.

It is important that local citizens are aware that they can change things without legislative action or court mandates. As long as the group represents a mix of business people, public operations like museums, libraries, churches and banks, virtually any objective can at least be pressed onto the legislative agenda or change the policies of an administrative branch. At best, the group can create a new concept for its jurisdiction – a new model for the future.

Ancient Mariner

The American Health System

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If anyone uses the excuse that the United States should not have a new health system – especially if they say, “In Canada and Europe, you have to wait in line,” tell them that the wait time in the United States is much longer.

About a year ago, the mariner hurt his back trying to lift a 500 pound, seven foot sofa bed up the stairs, his son helping at the other end. It was a comical affair leading finally to a chainsaw to cut the sofa enough that it would bend around a turn like two trolley cars. We completed the job and tossed the bed into a large dumpster. Done and done. At least the mariner thought so.

Sometime in February, the mariner began to feel soreness at the low end of his back. Like anyone, he treated the discomfort with over-the-counter pain relievers. When spring came, with the outdoor chores of planting and cleaning and shoveling, his back didn’t want to participate and told him so by causing muscle spasms along the pelvis, the right hip and up the right side of his back. Many readers can relate.

In March, the mariner called for an appointment in Des Moines with his primary care doctor; first available time was in April. The doctor requested an MRI, which by the grace of his efficient nurse assistant, the mariner was able to get the MRI in Iowa City that night – out of the way but sort of on the way home. Otherwise, the MRI would not have occurred for three days. The primary care doctor scheduled an appointment to review the MRI a week later.

When the mariner arrived for the review, the doctor said it was inoperable. The mariner asked if the doctor had passed the MRI to a neurosurgeon for an opinion. He had. “Inoperable.”

The mariner wanted a second opinion. Through a friend, a quick appointment was scheduled in three weeks at Iowa University Hospital with the head of neurology. When the mariner arrived, another neurosurgeon had his appointment. That neurosurgeon agreed that the mariner’s back problem was inoperable. The neurosurgeon said the next thing to do was to go to a pain clinic. Sitting in his office in May, the pain clinic could not schedule the mariner until September.

The mariner’s primary care physician prescribed stronger pain relievers that prevent spasms but still, the mariner finds it painful to bend over or lean forward.

Obviously, this is not over. It may be true that the mariner did not stand in a line for a doctor visit the very same day; he had the pleasure of waiting at home for weeks and months. Good friends of the mariner traveled to England for a vacation. One of them broke a wrist. They were treated the same day, including x-rays, and never had to pay a dime for treatment even though they were foreigners. The mariner pondered how much it might cost a Brit to break their wrist in the United States.

Ancient Mariner

 

Supreme Court

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It must be true that justice is blind. Blind to cultural values and situations; blind to the well being of individuals; blind to the world at large. Actually, it only seems that way. Each of the nine Supreme Court Justices is part of the political arena despite their claims of jurisprudence and allegiance to the Constitution.

In SHELBY COUNTY, ALABAMA v. HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL, The Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act of 1965 wherein

any “standard, practice, or procedure that results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen . . . to vote on account of race or color,…”

Further:

In those covered jurisdictions, the Act provides that no change in voting procedures can take effect until approved by specified federal authorities in Washington, D. C. … Such approval is known as “preclearance.” The coverage formula and preclearance requirement were initially set to expire after five years, but the Act has been reauthorized sev­eral times. In 2006, the Act was reauthorized for an additional 25 years, but the coverage formula was not changed. Chief Roberts wrote the opinion saying “Regardless of how one looks at that record, no one can fairly say that it shows anything approaching the “pervasive,” “flagrant,” “widespread,” and “rampant” discrimination that clearly distinguished the covered jurisdictions from the rest of the Nation in 1965.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The covered jurisdictions were nine states:

Within two hours, Texas changed its congressional districts to eliminate as much as possible non-white populations. Attorney General Holder already has filed suit against the Texas redistricting.

North Carolina changed voting sites to make it impossible for non-whites and college students to cast votes. The other states are not far behind.

These obviously party -driven abuses involve tens of thousands of citizens who will have to go the extra mile to cast a vote – if they can.

There is no Constitutional restraint related to dates. The Supreme Court should have had the “judgment” to interpret principle rather than an arbitrary date, which, by definition, was still valid.

The blind spot of justice is an illusion. We must understand that the Supreme Court is driven by politics as much as any other branch of government. Sadly, the justices are not subject to reelection or challenge against the very Constitution they portend.

Ancient Mariner

 

2014 Bodes Little or Nothing for the Common Citizen

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The mariner is afraid, readers, that the 2014 election year is more of the same. Local elections for mayors, Supervisors, County and States Attorneys are oddly distant from the tumultuous debates at the Federal Level.

Why is tumult absent from the local elections? The mariner already has written on the process in “How to Restore a Balanced and Fair Economy,” “It is Your Turn to Be the Government” and others.

We could blame the press for ignoring the real issues and focusing on one or two races that promise to be competitive. However, this is a weak excuse. We could discount the silliness of politics to more important things like our jobs and family. This, too, is weak. It is weak because of the fact that we bottom of the pile citizens and small businesses have not insisted on honest and fair wages – leaving us forty years behind the rate of inflation.

There was a time when one income per family was enough, even enough for a nice vacation and a new appliance without even thinking about the budget. There was a time when our retirement funds were untouchable until the mid-eighties when corporations finally had Federal laws passed that would allow corporations to get their hands on our retirement funds and spend them without oversight or corporate accountability of any kind.

There was a time when unions sustained parity as corporate profits rose. That, too, disappeared in the mid-eighties.

The 2008 crash occurred because the regulations preventing such a mishap were removed in the 1990’s and greed ran its course – stealing billions from the economy and from citizen assets.

An interesting thought is that as computers replace more and more jobs, the salary level had best rise to compensate for returning to a one income family.

At the State and Local level, there are battles raging that will directly affect each reader’s future. There is not room for dissertations in this post but here are a few keywords the reader should research:

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has been accepted in 34 states as the rational way to insure more people and slowly begin the process of bringing down costs (Iowa is not one of the 34). This is not an issue of large government versus small government, nor is it a battle of capitalism versus socialism. These philosophic rantings are arguments far beyond the simplicity of trying to bring down insurance costs and provide millions of otherwise uninsured people coverage. Both Christian and economic beliefs support this approach.

Another local issue is infrastructure. With good Governors. good Legislators,  and citizens demanding change (which may mean new names in office), States do not have to play dead because the Federal government is broken.

A third example is transitioning transportation from oil to electricity and natural gas. Further, mass transportation has been forgotten since Eisenhower initiated the Interstate system. Trains and light rail have not had support. However, this is more a local and interstate issue than a Federal one.

A brazen example of Federal intervention into our personal services is the US Postal System. Rather than cut back on the required “tax” that the postal system must pay back to the Federal Government each year, the Congress would rather cut local services.

Many more local projects can improve our local circumstances.

All these issues create jobs.

Practicing your Constitutional right to participate in government doesn’t have to wait for the bumpkins in Congress. The States can start with the 2014 elections – rather, YOU can start with the 2014 election.

Ancient Mariner

 

The Truth Shall Set You Free

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The mariner observed a news item on television that claimed drinking four cups of coffee or less suggests that his life will be extended by lowering his risk of a heart attack. The mariner is skeptical about the statistical announcements that claim to modify one’s lifespan.

When the mariner was a teenager, he owned a 1939 Chevrolet four-door. In those days, motor manufacture was not as precise as it is today. A gallon of gasoline did not go very far; adding a quart of oil when one filled the tank was de rigueur.  Paperback magazines, comic books and newspapers had frequent advertisements for additives to the gas tank or the oil pan that would increase mileage by x miles per gallon, or less oil consumption per gallon.  One ad was for belt wax that assured better performance in all moving parts of the engine.

The mariner once added all the claims and determined, skeptically, that if he used every additive, he could increase miles per gallon by fifty percent.

I recently wrote a post called “Our Brain and Probability.” Its premise was that it is hard for the brain to understand events that may or may not occur. The brain wants to say, “Oh, if I drink less than four cups of coffee, I won’t have a heart attack as soon as I would if I drank more coffee.” Someone within that statistical assumption will have a heart attack tomorrow at age forty-five.

No matter how many samples are in a probability table, the conclusion is never absolute.

The brain can add all the suggested preventatives that minimize heart attacks and determine that one will not have a heart attack until the age 105. Death by automobile accident was not in the table.

The current cause is to eat heart healthy diets. The diet approach does not put a probability in its claims, only that one can live without having a heart attack at all. It does not mention that arthritis, cancer or dementia statistics will rise in old age or that slip in the bathtub….

The point is this: The brain is poor at understanding probability. However, the brain is quite superior in its ability to rationalize. For example, the brain can associate being overweight with eating too much. No probability involved. Given the will, one can lose weight by not eating as much. When one will die is not part of the equation except some pencil person will want to find the probability that being overweight affects lifespan by X percent.

Examples are infinite. Driving habits include dozens of rationalities, for example, whether we choose to be rational or irrational by using our text devices at sixty miles per hour. Being rational or irrational is an issue within the brain rather than executing a probability that you may die. One does not say, “It’s my turn to die so that the probability can be true.”

The modern American has so many information sources that they are overwhelmed with information that is useless, half-true, or bogus altogether. Some information may be true but irrelevant. There are two realities, perhaps even two separate worlds, when one listens to FOX news then listens to MSNBC. At PBS the news is rinsed in cold water before broadcasting.

One also must deal with the surreal world of retail advertising. If one watches a commercial on television, one must be careful not to make rationalizations based on the commercial. The mini-realities in beer commercials are particularly surreal. If you drink beer (brand does not matter), you must be one of those beautiful thirty-year olds who have money to burn and know the words to a beer song. Be thirsty, my friend.

The mariner surmises that his rhetoric comes from a reaction to the falsehood presented by information providers. Remember in the Viet Nam war when the US ran an ‘incursion’ into Cambodia? The true word is ‘invasion.’ Today, a coup is not a coup in Egypt; it is the removal of a troublesome, albeit elected, President by military force. The US President, who is the legal arbiter to determine whether it is a coup, fills the air with “I am not required to execute that law.” (referring to the law that says if Egypt has a coup, the 1.5 billion in US aid will stop).

Politics is as bad as beer commercials except politicians use real bullets and our pocket money to sustain their surrealistic world.

It is very hard for one to obtain unbiased and truthful information that is relative to a person’s daily decisions. I wonder if the historian Josephus had a similar problem.

Ancient mariner

 

 

All Things Evolve – Even Christianity

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The mariner has been watching the dismantling of the political, economic and social mores that began back in the seventies and, in each category, are moving faster and faster toward something we do not understand but will be a change in the status of an American life. Christianity does not escape this change in culture.

There are many books on the market attempting to redefine Christianity for the modern age. The best narrative, both historically and religiously, is Zealot, The life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. Though many still hold to the mythical interpretation of the Jesus narrative, modern history, common sense and the pressures of a modern society 2,100 years distant from the time of Jesus require a better understanding of both the man and the message – which may not be synonymous.

The New Testament, particularly Matthew and Luke, provide a template of how we must behave as Christians. Yet historians, respected in their field, suggest that the Gospels were written after Jesus lived and were designed to support the spiritual message of Jesus rather than to account specifically for his words and actions while Jesus was alive.

Historians say that the time in which Jesus lived the population was immersed in a belief that the apocalypse was about to happen. Many prophets were preaching about preparedness for this event. Some, like Jesus, did the same but went a step further to challenge the divinity of the Roman Emperor, which ultimately led to death on the cross.

We are in similar times today. Our government is dysfunctional; more and more Americans are forced into poverty; the American dream that anyone can achieve whatever they desire has faded away; many who propose to speak in the name of Christianity (Tea Party) attack the relationship between the lessons of the Sermon on the Mount and daily life.

Christians today are challenged: Is the New Testament our word of faith? Is the Jesus of history depicted by artists and religious writers through the ages the real Jesus? More importantly, is the spiritual and moral guidance of the New Testament valid? No doubt, there is substantive truth in these writings. The New Testament has not been replaced by any stretch of the imagination. However, how shall we present it? How shall we, as devoted Christians, defend the meaningfulness of our faith? These are the questions at hand as our society experiences significant change.

We must live the word of Jesus. Words like forgiveness, kindness, goodness, acceptance, constitute a way of life. A Christian, no matter the historical account, is someone who is devoted to the happiness and wellbeing of others – no matter their style of life or their ethnicity. This is the message that must not fade in the midst of these troublesome days.

Ancient Mariner

The Cities are Taking Over

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It is always a pleasant experience when one’s meager and undefined ideas are supported by others who have moved forward on those ideas. The mariner watched the PBS News Hour the other night and two segments related to observations in the mariner’s past posts.

The mariner wrote in the posts “Federalism” and “States in Action” that the transition to a new economy would be driven more by changes at the state and local level. The scale of dollars and the freedom of fifty states contributing to change will be more achievable and occur more quickly.

A new book has been published: ‘Metropolitan Revolution, How Cities and Metros are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy’ by Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley. The authors make the case that the old image of Federalism with the Federal Government sitting atop the US political structure is no longer valid. The energy and creativity to climb from a broken government system is evolving in cities and Metropolitan areas. The book makes the point that cities and metropolitan areas sit on only twelve percent of the nation’s land but comprise two thirds of the population and seventy-five percent of GDP.

Cities have no choice but to be creative immediately. City expenditures occur daily and the Federal Government is not helping in a meaningful way. The book describes how a city is run not just by the mayor and city council, it is run by a consortium of politicians, entrepreneurs, universities, labor unions, city businesses, museums and others who have a need to keep the city running.

These groups are joining forces to find ways to maintain infrastructure, police and firefighters, even social health policies. This effort leads to another observation made by the mariner: As the world develops a global marketplace, there will be room beneath for a local economy.

The cities will learn from one another. Detroit, a bankrupt city has found some success in growing food on vacant city plots. Detroit must develop industries to revitalize its city and provide jobs – it has no choice. Having no choice is the reason that cities will lead the way out of the dysfunctional state of affairs that Congress has provided for the last two decades.

The second segment on the News Hour was the organization of elderly folks to care for each other and to prevent having to go into an institution. For an annual fee, prorated according to income, many in-home services are provided by the members. Every member is called every day. The members can call a number to get transportation to doctor appointments, grocery stores or any location needed. The key to the success of the group, albeit to avoid the threat of being institutionalized, is to care for one another in a hands-on, all-for-one manner. Obviously, a phenomenon based on the Good Samaritan parable and on other caring verses in the New Testament. It is an example of changing the pew paradigm.

To review these segments yourself, search PBS Newshour.

Ancient Mariner

How Can Things Be Fixed? II

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It is common knowledge that the Federal Government, perhaps state and local as well, are out of balance insofar as representing all citizens. A corrupt election process – made even more corrupt by the Supreme Court’s decision that money is free speech (Citizens United vs. FEC), unduly influences elected officials. In effect, the elected representatives at all levels are beholding to their plutocratic backers more than ever before. How can this be fixed?

There are a number of ways. The Internet provides the voter direct access to the representative’s office. Each representative has a website on the Internet. Most are email contacts; some are present on the social networks as well (Face Book, Twitter, etc.). Send an email whenever the reader feels a need to advise their representative about legislation. Further, encourage your friends and acquaintances to do the same.

Petitions may be sent through the postal service or in an email attachment. Make the statement positive and assertive; negative attacks are not as effective.

By staying involved in your party, the reader will know when the representative will be speaking or visiting your area. Attend and ask questions.

If the reader is not satisfied with their representative, actively support someone who can replace him or her.

Run for office yourself. Every indication suggests you will do a better job. When you are elected, do not sleep with the natives.

These methods can be very effective at turning a representative’s position on an issue. Sadly, it does not always work when the reader’s representative is owned lock, stock and barrel by a lobbyist. The recent vote to block gun registration is a good example; ninety percent of US citizens were in favor of gun registration but were ignored by the US Senate. If the representative is that compromised, do not vote for that representative next time around.

FYI, the following Senators voted their lobby’s position instead of listening to their constituency:

 Barrasso   (R-WY), Nay

Begich (D-AK), Nay

Blunt (R-MO), Nay

Boozman (R-AR), Nay

Coats (R-IN), Nay

Cochran (R-MS), Nay

Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Crapo (R-ID), Nay

Cruz (R-TX), Nay

Enzi (R-WY), Nay

Fischer (R-NE), Nay

 Grassley   (R-IA), Nay

Hatch (R-UT), Nay

Inhofe (R-OK), Nay

Johanns (R-NE), Nay

Johnson(R-WI), Nay

Lautenberg (D-NJ), Not Voting

Lee (R-UT), Nay

McConnell (R-KY), Nay

Moran (R-KS), Nay

 Murkowski   (R-AK), Nay

Paul (R-KY), Nay

Portman (R-OH), Nay

Pryor (D-AR), Nay

Risch (R-ID), Nay

Roberts (R-KS), Nay

Rubio (R-FL), Nay

Scott (R-SC), Nay

Sessions (R-AL), Nay

Shelby (R-AL), Nay

Thune (R-SD), Nay

Vitter (R-LA), Nay

An egregious act by representatives is to block voting by unwanted voters. Be aware of these tactics. Another egregious tactic is abusive gerrymandering of voting districts. These tactics must be fought as much as possible because they prevent every citizen from voting and they are tools that allow lobbyists to control elections.

Above all, do not let your emotions get out of control; you will be considered a nuisance and your position will not carry weight.

Ancient Mariner

How Can Things Be Fixed? I

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The mariner has laid out a despairing image of the United States political culture. Will there be a culture crushing tsunami? Are the citizens to wait until another Maximilien de Robespierre leads us to cast out the plutocrats?

Must we wait until a Robin Hood raids the coffers of the wealthy and distributes the wealth to the commoners? Will a shift in the wealth of nations leave the United States as an also ran country? Must we wait election after election after election until the government functions again?

The answer to all is “no.”

Each of us, one person at a time, represents a powerful political force. Each of us is bound to do our share to right the ship of state. This is not the duty of our representatives, though it should be. Each of us must become active defenders of a functioning, efficient, caring, and free United States. Each of us will contribute financially. Each of us will be informed citizens ready to voice our opinion to government, corporations, and bankers that we do not approve of sloth, greed, and inequality. We have the right to bear arms, not with bullets but with conscientious, firm, educated resistance with our vote.

By what means shall we begin this task? By far, the most powerful weapon each of us has is our vote. Look at the following list. Can you find the United States?

 

Country Turnout
Australia   (House) 96%
Turkey 92%
Belgium 91%
Italy 89%
Luxembourg 87%
Sweden 86%
Iceland 86%
Austria 84%
New Zealand 83%
Norway 83%
New Zealand 83%
Denmark 83%
Netherlands 80%
Germany 79%
Germany 79%
Greece 77%
UK (Commons) 76%
Finland 72%
Spain 70%
Canada (Commons) 70%
Ireland 69%
Portugal 68%
France 65%
Switzerland 47%
USA (House) 39%

 

To be kind, it is a poor showing for the leading democracy in the world. Authors who have written on the subject have a common theme: a voter votes for one reason – civic duty. If a person is willing to pay $2.00 for a Power Ball ticket, at 175,000,000 to 1 odds to win even four hundred million dollars, why not vote to influence a government budget of 2,450,000,000,000 with much better odds of influencing the outcome? Because they lack civic duty.

Therefore, your duty as a voter goes beyond casting a vote. Your duty is to participate in your party’s activities and actively inculcate civic duty in your fellow citizens.

To be a responsible voter, educate yourself about who your representatives are, how they voted on legislation and what is their platform for the future, spun as it may be?

For this post, the answer to our largest issues is to vote for the appropriate person rather than the convenient one. Vote for the candidate who says more about what he stands for and says less about how nasty his or her competitors are during a campaign. Negative advertising aims at sentiment; look for advertising that aims at your intelligence.

Ancient Mariner