News Update: Our earth is really a giant fishbowl

In the long gone past, everyone who bothered to think about the shape of the earth would tell you it was flat. They would say that it you went far enough, you could fall off the edge. Anyone who spoke otherwise at the time was kooky, or worse, was a heretic.

Then some people, who thought they were smart, made the claim that the earth was a round globe. They argued their point until most people believed it, and they pointed to the images of the earth seen from space. The flat earth types thought the images were fake but were then labeled the kooky ones.

Now we are being told that the global earth view is wrong. Some people, who think they are smart, tell us that the earth is really a giant round fishbowl. In their view, the fish are being crowded out and humans are being crowded in so much as to threaten all life in the fishbowl. Who would have believed it!

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2222548359/sizes/s/

OSTP and A Sustainable World

The following message was entered at www.change.gov.

Office of Science & Technology Policy: Population increase is testimony to human success but I also would point to the very serious risks of rapid growth in world population. The current growth rate is a harbinger of future failure in responding to global and U.S. ills such as environmental deterioration, poverty, and hunger. My wish for change would be that the OSTP or associated groups encourage leadership and provide focus for the fundamental issue of a sustainable world population. For lack of attention, we increase the likelihood of a sudden global livability meltdown, that would rival or exceed the consequences of the current global financial meltdown.

Who is the decider? The deck of cards analogy

Prof. Philip Heymann of Harvard Law gave a talk that fleshed out for me the uneasy story concerning the U.S. treatment of those labeled enemy combatants. He described in a dispassionate way the tension among different government agencies as each proceeded to implement, or not, new policies that were being promulgated in the aftermath of 9/11. Different decisions won out for different agencies. The policies originated particularly from the top of the federal administration.

After further thought, an analogy with card games occurred to me in which the winning outcome is a decision. I had a sense of the different 'trump' cards that came into play and dominated in the outcome. These cards included the Constitution and Bill of Rights, public (and individual) sense of morality, federal law, international law, appeal to authority, paranoia, fear of liability, and covert subterfuge. I suppose that public complacency could have been a card, but did not seem to be played. The subterfuge card, was the wild card in the pack that some thought could beat out the rest in a winning decision. Others argued, as would I, that subterfuge should not have been in the deck.

The rules of the game continue to develop. A useful rule would include that the trump cards not all be in the hands of one person or one group or one branch of government. Some felt that too many cards moved into the wrong hands.

Why are people celebrating after the election?

The barber giving me a haircut today had heard Obama's speech last night right after the win and asked me, "Why were all those people celebrating? Barack Obama hasn't done anything yet?" I know he had been rooting for the other side. I told him that people who had been feeling hopeless before were now excited because they had some hope for change. He said, "Okay I understand." That made me feel good to think I had an influence in resolving his perplexity. His next question was, Why is it that Hamas and Hezbollah wanted Obama to win? I said that the reasons are complicated, This answer seemed not to satisfy him. But I added, Al Quaida apparently wanted McCain to win. I said this is another complex situation and maybe Al Quaida wanted McCain as a person who could be more easily identified as an enemy to their supporters. I think the barber may have understood my point, but am not sure. I told him I thought both the McCain and Obama speeches last night were excellent. He had not heard McCain's concession speech, which I think would have been helpful to him. He said that the outcome of the presidential election didn't affect him either way, because people still need haircuts. I didn't say any more. I wasn't about to get into too passionate a discussion with him while he was working with scissors in hand, but anyway I was happy to share a different point of view with him.

An Unexpected Peril in House Hunting

Recently, we saw a house for sale and wanted to check it out. The realty company that listed the place was called, and a friendly agent gave us a tour. The agent took pains to point out defects in the place, an approach that seemed a little unusual for someone trying to promote the sale of a property -- but maybe it was just a matter of being friendly and honest. At the end of the tour, we were told about new state regulations requiring paperwork to be signed, so as to protect the interests of a potential buyer. I wanted to be done with this paperwork intrusion, and I could have perfunctorily signed. Instead I quickly scanned the form handed to me, and as I read, alarm bells went off in my mind. The paperwork was a blanket agreement for this friendly agent to become our buyer's agent for any property we might purchase. The seller's agent had morphed into a buyer's agent before our eyes. I said we weren't comfortable with the paperwork, and that was the end of it. Thank goodness I took the time to read. The experience is another reminder to avoid automatically signing a piece of paper before reading it.