Do not or do doughnut, that is the question. Aside from two pieces of mustard bread and half a bag a chips late last night, we have not had any solid food since Sunday brunch, so it seems appropriate to eat something lacking nutritional value to get this travel day going. There is a bakery around the corner from the hotel so I purchase enough sugar coated pastry to jump start the metabolism. We quickly finish off a pot of room service coffee and contemplate the need to clean up, pack up and get going.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Birthday Girl Sunshine
It’s just another beautiful day in Austin and the sunshine illuminates the freshly washed city in celebration of Lola’s birthday. A gift of perfect weather is so thoughtful and sincerely appreciated. There is no rush to do anything and we leisurely get ready for the day before taking a taxi over to east Austin looking for Sunday Brunch. The driver goes through the neighborhoods of small houses east of the interstate and pulls into the parking lot of a closed and empty building. Plan A comes to a quick and total halt.
Plan B is nearby and we are dropped off at the front door of Hoover’s Cooking on Manor Road. The restaurant is mostly full and we get a table in a side room that we share with two large groups of black teens dressed in their Sunday go to church best. This place was recommended for authentic local food and we order barbeque chicken and sausage with sides of macaroni and cheese, fried okra and green beans. The beans taste exactly like my mother used to make and the meal is perfectly good home cooking.
When we finish we step outside, look around and decide to just start walking. Heading west we cross under the interstate and find ourselves on the University of Texas campus. The direction we are headed keeps sloping downhill as we pass stadiums and resident halls and bus stops and oil wells. Lola takes a homemade poster offering a reward for the return of a Salsa Dancing Squirrel off a street light. We want the picture to make sure we have the right critter before making any attempt to capture the varmint. Past the capital grounds and federal buildings we just keep walking in sunshine until we are back.
Taking only a few moments to refresh we grab a cab to go hear Dale Watson play the Chicken Shit Sunday show at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon in north Austin. Ginny’s turns out to be a small white building standing alone on a small city lot. The front door and the back door are open to let in the air and Gene Kurtz, the bass player, is hanging around waiting for Dale to show up. In the meantime people are eating the free hotdogs set out on a table by the front door. At one table a group is playing dominos to pass the time.
Around five o’clock Dale rides up on an Indian motorcycle which he parks by the back door with the other cycles. People are beginning to spill outside, sipping on beers and waiting for the chicken. Lola and I inherit two seats at the bar and we take turns holding the space for each other. The music starts and the joint is packed and the lady tending bar is keeping real busy selling beers and set ups. Every now and then the band breaks and people line up for numbers corresponding to the grid floor of the wire mesh chicken cage. There is always a crowd around that cage waiting for that chicken to answer nature’s call.
The tip hat gets passed around and people chat intently with each other as if the band playing is nothing out of the ordinary. A camera crew from the cable channel A&E shows up and that is outside of the norm. Dale warns the crowd that attendance is consent but think twice if you should not been seen with the person on your arm. Ginny sits on a stool behind the bar and looks over a scene that is the epitomy of all that is good and authentic about real country music and honky-tonk culture that nurtured the sound. Heading home I’m thinking this is as Texas as Texas gets.
Plan B is nearby and we are dropped off at the front door of Hoover’s Cooking on Manor Road. The restaurant is mostly full and we get a table in a side room that we share with two large groups of black teens dressed in their Sunday go to church best. This place was recommended for authentic local food and we order barbeque chicken and sausage with sides of macaroni and cheese, fried okra and green beans. The beans taste exactly like my mother used to make and the meal is perfectly good home cooking.
When we finish we step outside, look around and decide to just start walking. Heading west we cross under the interstate and find ourselves on the University of Texas campus. The direction we are headed keeps sloping downhill as we pass stadiums and resident halls and bus stops and oil wells. Lola takes a homemade poster offering a reward for the return of a Salsa Dancing Squirrel off a street light. We want the picture to make sure we have the right critter before making any attempt to capture the varmint. Past the capital grounds and federal buildings we just keep walking in sunshine until we are back.
Taking only a few moments to refresh we grab a cab to go hear Dale Watson play the Chicken Shit Sunday show at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon in north Austin. Ginny’s turns out to be a small white building standing alone on a small city lot. The front door and the back door are open to let in the air and Gene Kurtz, the bass player, is hanging around waiting for Dale to show up. In the meantime people are eating the free hotdogs set out on a table by the front door. At one table a group is playing dominos to pass the time.
Around five o’clock Dale rides up on an Indian motorcycle which he parks by the back door with the other cycles. People are beginning to spill outside, sipping on beers and waiting for the chicken. Lola and I inherit two seats at the bar and we take turns holding the space for each other. The music starts and the joint is packed and the lady tending bar is keeping real busy selling beers and set ups. Every now and then the band breaks and people line up for numbers corresponding to the grid floor of the wire mesh chicken cage. There is always a crowd around that cage waiting for that chicken to answer nature’s call.
The tip hat gets passed around and people chat intently with each other as if the band playing is nothing out of the ordinary. A camera crew from the cable channel A&E shows up and that is outside of the norm. Dale warns the crowd that attendance is consent but think twice if you should not been seen with the person on your arm. Ginny sits on a stool behind the bar and looks over a scene that is the epitomy of all that is good and authentic about real country music and honky-tonk culture that nurtured the sound. Heading home I’m thinking this is as Texas as Texas gets.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
A Rainy Saturday in Austin
It’s a wet raining morning and Lola insists we venture outside for a Tex-Mex breakfast at Las Manitas on Congress Avenue. We hoist umbrellas and sally forth against the onslaught of the environment. Sloshing through the constant drizzle we end up at a crowded little hole in the wall restaurant and move into a freshly vacated booth. It’s all eggs and beans, salsa and juice and we snarf it down until every last crumb has vanished.
With bellies loaded for the day we wander slowly back to the hotel, stopping in shops to seek refuge from the rain. Stores full of trinkets and junk and stores filled with objects of art like toy cars made from Pepsi cans. Socialist realist ceramic Chairman Mao figurines are on sale while supplies last. We drink coffee in the lobby of the Frost Bank building so we can check it off the sites visited list. All the time the rain keeps falling with no end in sight.
In the middle of the afternoon we grab a cab to the Continental Club for the afternoon matinee show. Redd Valkaert has a band playing and Billy Dee is onstage playing bass guitar. Billy used to tour with Dale Watson and I will forever remember the night Billy played the pillar of strength while Dale got blitz drunk on stage at the Club Tavern. The music twangs in the old small room and the waitress passes the hat around gathering offerings from the congregation. The people are giving freely in appreciation of the rapture.
At dark we managed to grab the last two seats at the end of La Traviata’s bar. Lola orders cold roasted beets and sweet red peppers and bresaola for an appetizer. The dried beef reminds her of the Wisconsin farmhouse dried beef Aunt Eileen made in winter from the fall slaughter. An orange labeled bottle of Seghesio Barbera proves fine as all the Seghesio vintages have been. After pasta with wild mushrooms Lola gets the staff talking about their excellent establishment and their recommendations for tomorrow.
Walking back under the cover of our two umbrellas the cold night rain has the buildings dark and the streets glistening. We spend a couple hours at The Vibe while a jam band plays under the covered deck in open air in the back lot. The place ranks in the top two for worst restrooms in the district, however, the air is chilled and the beer is chilled and the band is playing slow harmonic twisted riffs to a backbeat of natural percussion. We make a few more stops on the way back home because the journey truly is part of the reward.
With bellies loaded for the day we wander slowly back to the hotel, stopping in shops to seek refuge from the rain. Stores full of trinkets and junk and stores filled with objects of art like toy cars made from Pepsi cans. Socialist realist ceramic Chairman Mao figurines are on sale while supplies last. We drink coffee in the lobby of the Frost Bank building so we can check it off the sites visited list. All the time the rain keeps falling with no end in sight.
In the middle of the afternoon we grab a cab to the Continental Club for the afternoon matinee show. Redd Valkaert has a band playing and Billy Dee is onstage playing bass guitar. Billy used to tour with Dale Watson and I will forever remember the night Billy played the pillar of strength while Dale got blitz drunk on stage at the Club Tavern. The music twangs in the old small room and the waitress passes the hat around gathering offerings from the congregation. The people are giving freely in appreciation of the rapture.
At dark we managed to grab the last two seats at the end of La Traviata’s bar. Lola orders cold roasted beets and sweet red peppers and bresaola for an appetizer. The dried beef reminds her of the Wisconsin farmhouse dried beef Aunt Eileen made in winter from the fall slaughter. An orange labeled bottle of Seghesio Barbera proves fine as all the Seghesio vintages have been. After pasta with wild mushrooms Lola gets the staff talking about their excellent establishment and their recommendations for tomorrow.
Walking back under the cover of our two umbrellas the cold night rain has the buildings dark and the streets glistening. We spend a couple hours at The Vibe while a jam band plays under the covered deck in open air in the back lot. The place ranks in the top two for worst restrooms in the district, however, the air is chilled and the beer is chilled and the band is playing slow harmonic twisted riffs to a backbeat of natural percussion. We make a few more stops on the way back home because the journey truly is part of the reward.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Reconnaissance
Lola insists that I get out of bed since it’s after 11 AM. The sun is slightly brighter through the cloud cover today and it’s time to eat. She takes us to an old building beside a deep gully that drains into the nearby Colorado River. The Iron Works was once a blacksmith shop in the frontier days of horse shoes and wrought iron fences. Workers on early lunch break keep the staff busy but the food is nothing special. No work calls us back today so when we finish the meal we just start walking down Chavez Street with no particular goal in mind. Upon reaching the Congress Avenue Bridge I coax Lola into walking across. To get to the other side is a legitimate, valid and time honored answer to the question why.
South of the river is a neighborhood retail area known simply as South Congress. In slow incremental stages, with frequent pauses to debate the wisdom of going forward, we eventually walk all the way to that six block cluster of small commercial buildings. Buying coffee at Jo’s we sit outside watching pedestrians dart through gaps in the arterial traffic flowing in and out of downtown. We glance around in stores of brightly painted imported Mexican objects and Lola points out the Continental Club for future reference.
At the end of the district we enter a small house remodeled as a gallery where a talkative young woman goes on in detail about what they have done and what they have for sale. Her husband emerges from a back room and we discuss all the advantages of abandoning cabinet doors and painting the walls red. We have browsed through the art shops and antique stores, plus the boot shop selling every color that can be dyed into leather and Lola decides this is the place to buy something for herself. Politely declining to sign a guestbook we dash across traffic with our loot to catch the free bus ride back downtown.
As early evening settles in we walk to a section of downtown where old warehouses have been salvaged and transformed into restaurants. Friday night dinner crowds fill the streets and we feel fortunate to get quick seating at a small table in the front room of the Malaga Wine and Tapas Bar. I love brick walls all time worn and weathered and Lola loves being able to sample a variety of flavors, so the place suits us both. Small roasted red peppers stuffed with goat cheese in olive oil with capers are among the seven Tapas tonight. We conclude with Flan and Port to maintain the Iberian consistency of the meal.
After dinner Lola walks us around the corner to Antone’s where Marcia Ball is playing a nine o’clock benefit. We already have tickets to see her at Luther’s in two weeks and I really want to explore something new. We walk around the block once and Lola agrees to head back to Sixth Street. I hear a blues band playing at the 311 Club so we settle into a back table to listen. The band is generically blues in the best sense. A bit raw and unpolished but when the guitar’s blend together just right, the sound is healing to the mind. Later on in the night a packed house at B. D. Riley’s Pub gets buzzed by the tighter more electric blues of the Eric Tessmer Band. Walking home I’m real happy.
South of the river is a neighborhood retail area known simply as South Congress. In slow incremental stages, with frequent pauses to debate the wisdom of going forward, we eventually walk all the way to that six block cluster of small commercial buildings. Buying coffee at Jo’s we sit outside watching pedestrians dart through gaps in the arterial traffic flowing in and out of downtown. We glance around in stores of brightly painted imported Mexican objects and Lola points out the Continental Club for future reference.
At the end of the district we enter a small house remodeled as a gallery where a talkative young woman goes on in detail about what they have done and what they have for sale. Her husband emerges from a back room and we discuss all the advantages of abandoning cabinet doors and painting the walls red. We have browsed through the art shops and antique stores, plus the boot shop selling every color that can be dyed into leather and Lola decides this is the place to buy something for herself. Politely declining to sign a guestbook we dash across traffic with our loot to catch the free bus ride back downtown.
As early evening settles in we walk to a section of downtown where old warehouses have been salvaged and transformed into restaurants. Friday night dinner crowds fill the streets and we feel fortunate to get quick seating at a small table in the front room of the Malaga Wine and Tapas Bar. I love brick walls all time worn and weathered and Lola loves being able to sample a variety of flavors, so the place suits us both. Small roasted red peppers stuffed with goat cheese in olive oil with capers are among the seven Tapas tonight. We conclude with Flan and Port to maintain the Iberian consistency of the meal.
After dinner Lola walks us around the corner to Antone’s where Marcia Ball is playing a nine o’clock benefit. We already have tickets to see her at Luther’s in two weeks and I really want to explore something new. We walk around the block once and Lola agrees to head back to Sixth Street. I hear a blues band playing at the 311 Club so we settle into a back table to listen. The band is generically blues in the best sense. A bit raw and unpolished but when the guitar’s blend together just right, the sound is healing to the mind. Later on in the night a packed house at B. D. Riley’s Pub gets buzzed by the tighter more electric blues of the Eric Tessmer Band. Walking home I’m real happy.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Arrival
Vacation begins precisely 4 PM as Lola and I settle into our 12th floor room at the Omni in downtown Austin, Texas. All the stuff during the earlier part of the day, driving to the airport as the radio plays "Stand by your Man", pulling your damn belt off so the damn metal detector stops screaming then killing time with solitaire in the air, all that stuff is travel. Vacation begins the moment we start making the decisions about what to do next.
Casino el Camino is a dark bar on Sixth Street with black walls and Mayan decorations like the back patio mural of a priest, a corpse and a heart. Sixth Street is about night life and there is still daylight through the front wall windows just below the ceiling. Lola plays the jukebox and I punch in "Invitation to the Blues" by Tom Waits which causes one of the twelve people in the place to grumble about unlistenable music. The bartender pours himself four shots as the front windows slowly become darker and recommends we see the bats. The bats love the Austin nights.
A few blocks back towards Congress Avenue the Rasta boys and beggars are intermingling with normal folks just waiting for the bus stop. Through the bright windows of Buffalo Billiards I notice the Wisconsin - Michigan State game on a monster screen and the Badgers are getting trounced. Lola chit-chats the locals and I concede defeat to a father and son dressed in green and cheering for State. It's an early evening after work crowd, standing in small groups around gaming tables, drinking beers, smacking balls, sliding pucks and paying with plastic. About this time I start looking around for any gold coins on the ground.
Lola insists that we have drinks at the Driskill Hotel which is all opulence and indulgence with bronze statues and light fixtures fashioned like handguns. Champagne and Brandy as the piano player plays to the room. Our young server says he wants a career in "health promotion" and I promptly question how bartending looks on a resume for that field. The discussion drifts into an analysis of prohibition and I caution him never to discount government overreaction to a legitimate problem. After all, this is the very place where Landslide Lyndon waited for the mystery votes that doomed poor Coke Stevenson.
It's a cool night, the kind that's good for walking and the Capital of Texas is literally up the block. Lola and I amble towards the dome until we hear singing. In a small room, an old black lady is playing keyboards while she sings in distinctive voice. "Austin's Own Legend" according to the table card. The audience is a guy wearing really bad drag, one K. D. Lange body double with entourage, assorted troubled youth and an 80 year old birthday girl. The Thompson machine gun on display means this is two bars in a row with firearms as decoration. On the way out after she finished, we tell Margaret Wright her singing stopped us and drew us in, which is true.
Casino el Camino is a dark bar on Sixth Street with black walls and Mayan decorations like the back patio mural of a priest, a corpse and a heart. Sixth Street is about night life and there is still daylight through the front wall windows just below the ceiling. Lola plays the jukebox and I punch in "Invitation to the Blues" by Tom Waits which causes one of the twelve people in the place to grumble about unlistenable music. The bartender pours himself four shots as the front windows slowly become darker and recommends we see the bats. The bats love the Austin nights.
A few blocks back towards Congress Avenue the Rasta boys and beggars are intermingling with normal folks just waiting for the bus stop. Through the bright windows of Buffalo Billiards I notice the Wisconsin - Michigan State game on a monster screen and the Badgers are getting trounced. Lola chit-chats the locals and I concede defeat to a father and son dressed in green and cheering for State. It's an early evening after work crowd, standing in small groups around gaming tables, drinking beers, smacking balls, sliding pucks and paying with plastic. About this time I start looking around for any gold coins on the ground.
Lola insists that we have drinks at the Driskill Hotel which is all opulence and indulgence with bronze statues and light fixtures fashioned like handguns. Champagne and Brandy as the piano player plays to the room. Our young server says he wants a career in "health promotion" and I promptly question how bartending looks on a resume for that field. The discussion drifts into an analysis of prohibition and I caution him never to discount government overreaction to a legitimate problem. After all, this is the very place where Landslide Lyndon waited for the mystery votes that doomed poor Coke Stevenson.
It's a cool night, the kind that's good for walking and the Capital of Texas is literally up the block. Lola and I amble towards the dome until we hear singing. In a small room, an old black lady is playing keyboards while she sings in distinctive voice. "Austin's Own Legend" according to the table card. The audience is a guy wearing really bad drag, one K. D. Lange body double with entourage, assorted troubled youth and an 80 year old birthday girl. The Thompson machine gun on display means this is two bars in a row with firearms as decoration. On the way out after she finished, we tell Margaret Wright her singing stopped us and drew us in, which is true.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The Danger in Kelo
Many blogs are discussing a U.S. Supreme Court case described in this Analysis of Kelo vs. the City of New London. The essence of the dispute is the government’s power of eminent domain vs. the protections against seizure granted individuals by the 5th Amendment. The city government of New London Connecticut wants to take land from holdout homeowners so that Pfizer Corporation can complete building a privately designed research park. The city believes the jobs and tax revenue that should result from this private enterprise justifies taking existing ownership rights away from the remaining citizens.
The troubling aspect of this case is that normally when private land is taken under the power of eminent domain, the ownership of the land transfers to the public as represented by the government. Applied fairly this seizure power provides things like public roads and city parks. In this instance, which is not unique, eminent domain is being used to transfer the ownership rights from one private party to another private party, with the hope that the new private owners will make the land available for public use.
At the heart of the dispute is what the “public use” phrase in the 5th Amendment means. Privately owned and open to the public, for example retail shops and restaurants, is a classic business model that can be considered public use of land. This is very different from publicly owned and used by the public such as a community swimming pool. It is meaningless to use the term “public use” without direct reference to the property being used.
In this case the city government believes the greater good of the community will be served by seizing private homes for the benefit of a private organization. If the amount of revenue a government can receive from a property is the determining factor in exercising the right of eminent domain, then the whole concept of private property is mute. If the government can legitimately transfer ownership rights between private parties based on the highest bidder, then there is no meaningful right of private ownership, only a right to fair compensation as determined by the government.
The troubling aspect of this case is that normally when private land is taken under the power of eminent domain, the ownership of the land transfers to the public as represented by the government. Applied fairly this seizure power provides things like public roads and city parks. In this instance, which is not unique, eminent domain is being used to transfer the ownership rights from one private party to another private party, with the hope that the new private owners will make the land available for public use.
At the heart of the dispute is what the “public use” phrase in the 5th Amendment means. Privately owned and open to the public, for example retail shops and restaurants, is a classic business model that can be considered public use of land. This is very different from publicly owned and used by the public such as a community swimming pool. It is meaningless to use the term “public use” without direct reference to the property being used.
In this case the city government believes the greater good of the community will be served by seizing private homes for the benefit of a private organization. If the amount of revenue a government can receive from a property is the determining factor in exercising the right of eminent domain, then the whole concept of private property is mute. If the government can legitimately transfer ownership rights between private parties based on the highest bidder, then there is no meaningful right of private ownership, only a right to fair compensation as determined by the government.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Alderman Austin King: Oil Addict
I don’t think that the average homeowner in Madison understands how extreme left the Madison City Council has become. It knocked me on my head when I came across the following story featuring Madison Alderman Austin King founding Oil Addicts Anonymous. It turns out that the Four Lakes Green Party already holds three of the 20 city Alderman Seats and they are included as part of the Progressive Dane Party which holds another three seats for a total of six positions on the City Council. It would be less problematic except for the fact that the remaining City Council chairs are all held by the Dane County Democratic Party. It’s time to stop what has happened in Madison.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Social Security: The Solution
Social Security the problem: When the time comes you can no longer consistently depend on the strength of you body to provide you income, then you need to depend on your mind, or your ownerships, or you will have nothing outside of friendships to offer anyone to help keep you alive.
The solution to this problem starts with turning the existing system upside down. Take the current social security tax collection system and keep it in tact. The most cost effective way to change the system involves keeping the entire infrastructure in place and then reprogramming the output. All social security taxes on the persons first $30,000 goes into an ownership account, accessible at some future date for that individual.
A person’s first obligation to society is to take care of their individual self. An obligation to society means the individual owes a financial debt to society that is paid to the government of that society. A person’s second obligation to society is to take care of others. Subsequently the tax from the income over $30,000 goes into a protected fund to pay benefits to current Social Security recipients.
When the current social security stop tax income level is reached, the individual has paid off the social debt to pay for others. The first principal of society needs to be that a citizen must be able to satisfy any debts. In other words, society can not burden an individual with a permanent debt to the government. This provision is essential to a truly free society governed by citizens elected to and authorized to administer temporary power. Social Security taxation must have both fixed annual and fixed lifetime limits.
The solution to this problem starts with turning the existing system upside down. Take the current social security tax collection system and keep it in tact. The most cost effective way to change the system involves keeping the entire infrastructure in place and then reprogramming the output. All social security taxes on the persons first $30,000 goes into an ownership account, accessible at some future date for that individual.
A person’s first obligation to society is to take care of their individual self. An obligation to society means the individual owes a financial debt to society that is paid to the government of that society. A person’s second obligation to society is to take care of others. Subsequently the tax from the income over $30,000 goes into a protected fund to pay benefits to current Social Security recipients.
When the current social security stop tax income level is reached, the individual has paid off the social debt to pay for others. The first principal of society needs to be that a citizen must be able to satisfy any debts. In other words, society can not burden an individual with a permanent debt to the government. This provision is essential to a truly free society governed by citizens elected to and authorized to administer temporary power. Social Security taxation must have both fixed annual and fixed lifetime limits.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Why Traffic is Wonderful
Matt Kenseth’s motor blew up very early in the race and Jeff Gordon went on the win the Daytona 500 this afternoon. The 2005 NASCAR Championship Season is underway and if you don’t “get it”, this is the best way I can explain the attraction. Traffic re-affirms my belief in the basic intelligence of people. In American society the majority of adults operate complex heavy machines in motion, while in close proximity to multiple other individuals doing the same thing. Traffic is common, almost always present at some level and remarkably safe for a largely self-regulating dynamic system.
It turns out that human perception and motor skills are by and large pretty good and that individual self interest does a remarkably good job of allowing people to pursue diverse and divergent goals on their own time schedule. Traffic works without centralized control or planning of the actual daily activities of people and it works regardless of the formal educational level of the participants. Aside from basic operating and regulatory instruction, almost all adult humans have the biologic intelligence to drive safely.
There are problems that occur with traffic but the reason only fatal crashes make the news is that these are exceptions in a system that functions extremely efficiently. The frustration most of us occasionally encounter with other drivers only makes the point that we expect traffic to work without problems. Humans are so instinctually good at driving that the best individuals can do it at for long periods of time at nearly 200 mph, and still have time to calculate how to beat another driver to a given point.
It turns out that human perception and motor skills are by and large pretty good and that individual self interest does a remarkably good job of allowing people to pursue diverse and divergent goals on their own time schedule. Traffic works without centralized control or planning of the actual daily activities of people and it works regardless of the formal educational level of the participants. Aside from basic operating and regulatory instruction, almost all adult humans have the biologic intelligence to drive safely.
There are problems that occur with traffic but the reason only fatal crashes make the news is that these are exceptions in a system that functions extremely efficiently. The frustration most of us occasionally encounter with other drivers only makes the point that we expect traffic to work without problems. Humans are so instinctually good at driving that the best individuals can do it at for long periods of time at nearly 200 mph, and still have time to calculate how to beat another driver to a given point.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
The Wow That's True Moment
Browsing around the web this morning I had a “wow that’s true” moment when I came across a link to a brilliant Michael Crichton Speech. Crichton sounds a general warning about the way science is being misused and fraudulently represented to advance political agendas. I have been looking for this type of calm reasoning because for some time now I have been concerned the scientific method I learned has been totally left out of the rhetoric passing as scientific debate.
The scientific method is what makes some knowledge “scientific”. That is the essential fact missing from so much of the current discussion. The term scientist is an informal title used for individuals working in disciplines built upon scientific knowledge, but everything scientists do is not science. When a physician talks about the stock market, the commentary does not make the stock market a medical procedure. When a pastor talks about health insurance that does not make the policy language religious text.
The defining property of scientific knowledge is universally reproducible and observable results. The power of scientific knowledge arises from this complete dependability of results. If you start with one set of conditions and take one set of actions, then you will always get the same conclusion. Science is a small part of the entire wealth of human knowledge, and incorporating some science as a aspect of a larger scholarly effort does not make the entirety of the product and conclusions of that effort scientific.
There is a distinction between math and science and the difference seems to be overlooked in discussions between scientific professionals, and even more so in the public presentations of the scientific community to the general public. Science is limited to the observable properties of the real world. Science describes a portion of how the existing world works, but it does not predict the whole of the future. On the other hand, mathematics is an internally consistent logical language that can be used to describe the existing world, but can also be used to describe imaginary and impossible events as well as events which have never happened. Houdini knew fortune tellers weren’t scientists.
The scientific method is what makes some knowledge “scientific”. That is the essential fact missing from so much of the current discussion. The term scientist is an informal title used for individuals working in disciplines built upon scientific knowledge, but everything scientists do is not science. When a physician talks about the stock market, the commentary does not make the stock market a medical procedure. When a pastor talks about health insurance that does not make the policy language religious text.
The defining property of scientific knowledge is universally reproducible and observable results. The power of scientific knowledge arises from this complete dependability of results. If you start with one set of conditions and take one set of actions, then you will always get the same conclusion. Science is a small part of the entire wealth of human knowledge, and incorporating some science as a aspect of a larger scholarly effort does not make the entirety of the product and conclusions of that effort scientific.
There is a distinction between math and science and the difference seems to be overlooked in discussions between scientific professionals, and even more so in the public presentations of the scientific community to the general public. Science is limited to the observable properties of the real world. Science describes a portion of how the existing world works, but it does not predict the whole of the future. On the other hand, mathematics is an internally consistent logical language that can be used to describe the existing world, but can also be used to describe imaginary and impossible events as well as events which have never happened. Houdini knew fortune tellers weren’t scientists.
Friday, February 18, 2005
WORT Blues and Texas Honky Tonk
Friday night in front of a three day weekend and all I really want to do is fall asleep. Lola had on WORT for Blues Cruise but has switched over to Jimmy Dale Gilmore CD's. She has already pledged to our very own community radio station, this time to get on the guest list for Marcia Ball. The mercury is diving towards single digits and it's a good evening to rest up since there are only six more days until Austin. I hope it reaches 60 degrees in Texas. 60 degrees and sunshine right up until darkness, and then stage lighting and flashing neon. It's all good when the flashing lights are in front you and not the other way around.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Wow Fades but Truth Lingers
Watching the History Channel do a snippet of a program on the development of medical imaging, it strikes me once more how much human understanding of the dynamic structure of the physical world has improved the past several centuries. This is not an original thought and not an uncommon thought. I suspect the moment of "wow that's true" wonderment is a universal human experience. The emotional "wow" component fades over time but the "that's true" belief lingers. Over time the accumulation of these moments produce the structure of our thinking and form the basis of our ability to determine the initial property of any statement as true or false.
True or false: I own the clothes I'm wearing.
True or false: I own the clothes I'm wearing.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
The Jigsaw Puzzle Without a Picture
Some days the reality that there is an ongoing global war against the Islam of Human Sacrifices, and ongoing struggle for the intellectual direction of this country is just depressing. I was taught not to worry about events and actions outside my personal control, but rather to focus on the immediate problems. Still there are so many words to be strung together in so many ways and there is no picture on the puzzle box for guidance.
Dane County Democratic Party Endorsements came out in the middle of January for this year. Steve Holtzman has retired from the city council and Noel Radomski is running unopposed for that Alderman seat. The Konkel-Cieslewicz Administration team handpicked Radomski who is already working on two city committees. By April he will become a predictable vote for the Mayor on the council and so it is already time to start monitoring his activity as he ascends into his new role in the government.
Dane County Democratic Party Endorsements came out in the middle of January for this year. Steve Holtzman has retired from the city council and Noel Radomski is running unopposed for that Alderman seat. The Konkel-Cieslewicz Administration team handpicked Radomski who is already working on two city committees. By April he will become a predictable vote for the Mayor on the council and so it is already time to start monitoring his activity as he ascends into his new role in the government.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Taliban Country: The Movie
On the UW campus tonight, Madison’s Chapter of Amnesty International is showing a short film by Carmela Baranowska. In his review of Taliban Country Isthmus film critic Kent Williams is shocked by the abuses of the American military. The film maker bravely interviewed Afghan residents and elicits the following testimony:
“Some men claim to have been stripped, photographed, even submitted to having fingers inserted in their anuses.”The left is now appalled by the abuse equivalent of a physical examination with x-rays. Blood, Bruises, Burns, Broken Bones, Bullet Holes: No, No, No, No, No. Prostate exam by a soldier: Torture Crisis in the American Military.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Unborn Bacteria Status
I am an unconcieved bacteria in the TTLB Ecosystem. I do however have Lola, bubbles, homemade lasgana and chocolates. Evolution requires time but there is lots of time. Some experts theorize more than 6000 years worth of tick tocks.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Social Security: The Socialist Theory
Flipping on the Weather Channel the first thing this morning I could see the wall of green moving with irresistible force towards Madison. The local forecast reads: chance of rain 90%. It looks more like chance of rain 100% but fortune tellers always like to give themselves an out. The problem with trying to predict the future is that it is impossible to be completely accurate. The best that can be done is to understand what has occurred in the past, measure what can be measured, apply principals as you believe them, and then guess.
Social Security will be destroyed under the guise of fixing it reads a prophetic declaration, and since the authors are Northwestern University History Professors I believe they have studied the past and reviewed the current numbers. The interesting parts are the principals that underlie their prophecy. On a side note, I am amused that the root word “profess” has multiple meanings, including both speaking with knowledge and speaking insincerely. I have always trusted professors to be knowledgeable.
Their treatise begins with a clear concise statement of the historical problem. “Social Security was established in 1935 above all to prevent the elderly from falling into dire poverty.” Poverty and old age is now and will always be an issue each generation of society must address. The debate going forward should not stray far from this fact. The world is very different from 1935 and it is disingenuous to take the position that the solution from two generations ago should not be evaluated for both efficiency and effectiveness. If you are looking to the past for knowledge, the past began an instant ago.
The professors next state a refreshingly strait forward explanation of the 1935 solution. “The underlying principles of Social Security are a kind of social contract that is both intergenerational and intragenerational. That is, those who are working pay the benefits of those who have retired; and those who have never done paid work (widowed homemakers and dependent children, for instance) receive benefits from those who have worked or still do.” I hope the Howard Dean democrats embrace this as their true belief.
If the democrats are honest about and proud of their values, they will make the same case against fundamental social security change as the professors. “More important, allowing the establishment of personal accounts with Social Security premiums would violate the intergenerational and intragenerational social contract on which Social Security was founded. This social contract stands for mutual support, while personal accounts represent a completely different idea: self-interest.” This sounds like the old socialist idea that the rights of society take precedence over the rights of the individual.
The advocates of progressive government in their hearts do not trust individual citizens to take responsibility for their own lives. In their belief system, a collection of individuals acting out of self interest to improve their individual prosperity in life does not have the cumulative effect of building a better society. America is over 100 years past the time when private wealth could be accumulated by the forced exploitation of others and since then individual self interest has lifted most Americans out of total abject poverty.
The hallmark characteristic of poverty is the absence of assets. The wealthy are rich because they own things and the poor are impoverished because they don’t. The existing social security system is based upon taking money earned by the young in exchange for a promise of future help if they get old. The program has worked to keep the problem of old age poverty in check, but it has done nothing to help the young build real assets. People escape poverty when they create and keep money and objects of real value from their labor. The current design blunts the effects of elderly poverty but does nothing to help younger individuals build enough wealth to ultimately avoid the poorhouse. We can do better.
It is proper that there is an ongoing debate about how a free society deals with both treatment and prevention of destitute old age. Policy wonk nuances such as means testing, asset allocation percentages and government guaranteed benefit levels will eventually be determined. The battle for the hearts of minds of the American public will be won when we elect a government that expects, enables, trains and trusts the majority of adults to be responsible for their own lives, and uses assistance only for those who truly need it.
Social Security will be destroyed under the guise of fixing it reads a prophetic declaration, and since the authors are Northwestern University History Professors I believe they have studied the past and reviewed the current numbers. The interesting parts are the principals that underlie their prophecy. On a side note, I am amused that the root word “profess” has multiple meanings, including both speaking with knowledge and speaking insincerely. I have always trusted professors to be knowledgeable.
Their treatise begins with a clear concise statement of the historical problem. “Social Security was established in 1935 above all to prevent the elderly from falling into dire poverty.” Poverty and old age is now and will always be an issue each generation of society must address. The debate going forward should not stray far from this fact. The world is very different from 1935 and it is disingenuous to take the position that the solution from two generations ago should not be evaluated for both efficiency and effectiveness. If you are looking to the past for knowledge, the past began an instant ago.
The professors next state a refreshingly strait forward explanation of the 1935 solution. “The underlying principles of Social Security are a kind of social contract that is both intergenerational and intragenerational. That is, those who are working pay the benefits of those who have retired; and those who have never done paid work (widowed homemakers and dependent children, for instance) receive benefits from those who have worked or still do.” I hope the Howard Dean democrats embrace this as their true belief.
If the democrats are honest about and proud of their values, they will make the same case against fundamental social security change as the professors. “More important, allowing the establishment of personal accounts with Social Security premiums would violate the intergenerational and intragenerational social contract on which Social Security was founded. This social contract stands for mutual support, while personal accounts represent a completely different idea: self-interest.” This sounds like the old socialist idea that the rights of society take precedence over the rights of the individual.
The advocates of progressive government in their hearts do not trust individual citizens to take responsibility for their own lives. In their belief system, a collection of individuals acting out of self interest to improve their individual prosperity in life does not have the cumulative effect of building a better society. America is over 100 years past the time when private wealth could be accumulated by the forced exploitation of others and since then individual self interest has lifted most Americans out of total abject poverty.
The hallmark characteristic of poverty is the absence of assets. The wealthy are rich because they own things and the poor are impoverished because they don’t. The existing social security system is based upon taking money earned by the young in exchange for a promise of future help if they get old. The program has worked to keep the problem of old age poverty in check, but it has done nothing to help the young build real assets. People escape poverty when they create and keep money and objects of real value from their labor. The current design blunts the effects of elderly poverty but does nothing to help younger individuals build enough wealth to ultimately avoid the poorhouse. We can do better.
It is proper that there is an ongoing debate about how a free society deals with both treatment and prevention of destitute old age. Policy wonk nuances such as means testing, asset allocation percentages and government guaranteed benefit levels will eventually be determined. The battle for the hearts of minds of the American public will be won when we elect a government that expects, enables, trains and trusts the majority of adults to be responsible for their own lives, and uses assistance only for those who truly need it.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
The Automonist Theory
Mother Nature dropped an April afternoon right smack into the middle of February and so every single person in town left their homes and went outside. Weekend traffic around the west side malls is often heavy but today was like the last shopping day before Christmas. Lola points out that today is the last shopping Saturday before Valentines Day, but since Valentines Day is a fictional holiday I still believe it was just the sunshine.
Almost all the cars are wearing a layer of salt left over from the battle against the road ice monsters earlier this week. Now and then you pass a vehicle all clean, bright and shiny from the car wash. Even in Madison, Wisconsin many people love their cars and the ability to drive where and when it best suites their needs. The American economy grew strong with the building of the railroads, and subsequently exploded with the advent of affordable cars and extensive public roads. The current prosperity in American society is directly the result of dependable personal transportation and competitive private business.
Of course Madison is also home to an enclave of troubled souls who have convinced themselves that traffic is a bad thing and therefore it is reasonable to pursue policies that attempt to pressure citizens out of their cars. This week even the Governor went so far as to propose taking state transportation funds and using them for projects favored by his special interest contributors. These progressive government types just don’t understand that “the car is not merely a convenience but one of history’ greatest forces for good, an invention that liberated the poor from slums and workers from company towns, challenged communism, powered the civil rights movement and freed women to work outside the home”.[1] Of course this reality does not help those politicians whose desire for government money and power is the basis for their lifetime careers in public service.
Almost all the cars are wearing a layer of salt left over from the battle against the road ice monsters earlier this week. Now and then you pass a vehicle all clean, bright and shiny from the car wash. Even in Madison, Wisconsin many people love their cars and the ability to drive where and when it best suites their needs. The American economy grew strong with the building of the railroads, and subsequently exploded with the advent of affordable cars and extensive public roads. The current prosperity in American society is directly the result of dependable personal transportation and competitive private business.
Of course Madison is also home to an enclave of troubled souls who have convinced themselves that traffic is a bad thing and therefore it is reasonable to pursue policies that attempt to pressure citizens out of their cars. This week even the Governor went so far as to propose taking state transportation funds and using them for projects favored by his special interest contributors. These progressive government types just don’t understand that “the car is not merely a convenience but one of history’ greatest forces for good, an invention that liberated the poor from slums and workers from company towns, challenged communism, powered the civil rights movement and freed women to work outside the home”.[1] Of course this reality does not help those politicians whose desire for government money and power is the basis for their lifetime careers in public service.
[1] John Tierney, New York Times Washington Bureau. NYT Magazine September 26, 2004
Friday, February 11, 2005
The Freedom to Say No Without Benefit
There was a letter for me in the mail today. “Thanks for insuring your home with American Family. The enclosed Wisconsin amendatory endorsement, which excludes property coverage for fungi, wet or dry rot or bacteria, will be applied to your policy on your next renewal date… Your premium will not be affected.” Wait a minute. I think this really means less benefit for the same amount of dollars. Am I supposed to be happy with this change in our agreement?
The letter goes on to explain: “If the endorsement is not acceptable to you, Wisconsin state law allows you to cancel your policy”. In other words, I can say “no” to the change but I forfeit claim to the any of the benefits. That is the beauty of freedom which is best defined as the ability of the individual to say “no” without punishment. It is important to understand that not receiving what you don’t pay for is not punishment. Using force to take my money, possessions, time or mobility is punishment, and in America no private business can do that to an individual. The right of punishment people is reserved for the government and if I decide to I am completely free to say no to my insurance company.
The letter goes on to explain: “If the endorsement is not acceptable to you, Wisconsin state law allows you to cancel your policy”. In other words, I can say “no” to the change but I forfeit claim to the any of the benefits. That is the beauty of freedom which is best defined as the ability of the individual to say “no” without punishment. It is important to understand that not receiving what you don’t pay for is not punishment. Using force to take my money, possessions, time or mobility is punishment, and in America no private business can do that to an individual. The right of punishment people is reserved for the government and if I decide to I am completely free to say no to my insurance company.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
The Problem of Human Sacrifice
North Korea announced they have nuclear weapons, once again focusing the thoughts of the world on the consequences of releasing overwhelming amounts of energy. The first law of thermodynamics: matter and energy can not be destroyed but can be changed into one another. The second law of thermodynamics: concentrations of energy disperse when released from confinement. Life is the intricate structural containment and slow dispersion of energy, and living constructions exist intact only briefly and only within a narrow range ambient free energy.
There are people who will not accept the apparent paradox that some religious extremists and some non-religious extremists are part of the same single danger. The paradoxical appearance exists if all you consider is evidence of direct connections and combined actions. The danger is the common core belief that there is desirable personal gain to be achieved by the murder of other humans, and access to the technologies and materials for killing. The entire course of history is filled with common criminals who use lethality for worldly gain, and civilization has emerged as the will of the peace desiring majority unites to keep criminal violence in check.
The danger in our present time is heightened by the re-emergence of the ancient belief that divine power rewards human sacrifice. For roughly 500 years since the decline of the Maya, earth has been free of large populations that believe spiritual favors may be obtained through the killing of humans. Islamic extremists who are taught to believe, Allah grants rewards in an after life paradise for killing people, are undeniably practicing human sacrifice. The idea that God rewards killing is a vastly different belief than God forgives killing.
There are people who will not accept the apparent paradox that some religious extremists and some non-religious extremists are part of the same single danger. The paradoxical appearance exists if all you consider is evidence of direct connections and combined actions. The danger is the common core belief that there is desirable personal gain to be achieved by the murder of other humans, and access to the technologies and materials for killing. The entire course of history is filled with common criminals who use lethality for worldly gain, and civilization has emerged as the will of the peace desiring majority unites to keep criminal violence in check.
The danger in our present time is heightened by the re-emergence of the ancient belief that divine power rewards human sacrifice. For roughly 500 years since the decline of the Maya, earth has been free of large populations that believe spiritual favors may be obtained through the killing of humans. Islamic extremists who are taught to believe, Allah grants rewards in an after life paradise for killing people, are undeniably practicing human sacrifice. The idea that God rewards killing is a vastly different belief than God forgives killing.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
The Freedom To Say No Without Punishment
Two inches of snow fell overnight and lasted intact on the ground the entire day. This is Wisconsin and it was absolutely absurd to think spring last week. All day long we would glance at each other in passing and comment that after all it is still February. After all, I would add, we are all grown adults and we are free to live anywhere we want. Freedom, the word, is being used in all types of discussions these days and like many words it has complex and varied meanings. The meaning I like most is this: the ability to say no without punishment. We are free to go live in San Diego or Gulf Port if we don’t love snow.
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