October 11, 2011
Moving to wordpress
To focus on 'The Gospel According to the Romans', I have moved blog activity to http://robinhl.wordpress.com
July 31, 2011
Yes, the US political system is broken
Yes, the American political system is broken.
1. The US Constitution was a good attempt in the horse-and-buggy era, but it isn't relevant for the information superhighway today.
2. The designers of the Constitution tried to prevent the formation of political parties. Their naivete means that there are no proper rules for controlling parties.
3. The system has evolved into a 2-party system which pervades the courts as well as legislature, so that there are no checks and balances in the system.
4. Big business has bought both parties, so that there is no alternative to a big business controlled party.
5. Without some form of proportional representation (I would suggest a German or a Scandinavian model) there is no chance for a Green, Socialist, Libertarian, etc party to influence government. Only PR would allow a clean (non-business) party to be viable.
6. Voting percentages fall when people have no choice. Americans have less choice than people in most developed economies, which is why they vote less.
7. The US is not so much a democracy as a plutocracy, and it is becoming more so, under the guidance of all Presidents, Congresses and Supreme Courts of the past several decades. There is a deliberate effort to create a strongly differentiated class-based society. The economic condition of the majority of Americans has been stagnant for at least 15 years, while the country as a whole has become vastly richer - i.e., everything has been to the benefit of the wealthiest Americans.
8. So, yes, the American political system is broken.
1. The US Constitution was a good attempt in the horse-and-buggy era, but it isn't relevant for the information superhighway today.
2. The designers of the Constitution tried to prevent the formation of political parties. Their naivete means that there are no proper rules for controlling parties.
3. The system has evolved into a 2-party system which pervades the courts as well as legislature, so that there are no checks and balances in the system.
4. Big business has bought both parties, so that there is no alternative to a big business controlled party.
5. Without some form of proportional representation (I would suggest a German or a Scandinavian model) there is no chance for a Green, Socialist, Libertarian, etc party to influence government. Only PR would allow a clean (non-business) party to be viable.
6. Voting percentages fall when people have no choice. Americans have less choice than people in most developed economies, which is why they vote less.
7. The US is not so much a democracy as a plutocracy, and it is becoming more so, under the guidance of all Presidents, Congresses and Supreme Courts of the past several decades. There is a deliberate effort to create a strongly differentiated class-based society. The economic condition of the majority of Americans has been stagnant for at least 15 years, while the country as a whole has become vastly richer - i.e., everything has been to the benefit of the wealthiest Americans.
8. So, yes, the American political system is broken.
May 26, 2010
"Playing God"
Surely the phrase "playing God" is best applied not to Craig Venter, but to the adults who dress up in funny clothes and pretend to talk to (and even have a conversation with) some god or other of their human and culture-specific imagining.
December 30, 2009
Atheism
This amusing and sarcastic definition of Atheism is circulating on the web:
“The belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs.”
There are two pieces to this attack, with the division being at “creating everything”.
Once you have the universe in existence, you can explain the creation and development of life in two ways: with or without divine intervention. Humans have always sought to find patterns, understand cause and effect, and predict the future. Divine intervention was the best explanation for many things before the rise of Greek philosophy, but it has been in retreat for the past 2,500 years.
The questions of where the Universe came from, or what could bring everything from nothing, or could there be anything before time began, are all unanswerable at present. Saying “God did it” provides no help, except to soothe people who can be soothed with muddy thinking. For where did God come from? And how? And what was before? If God can have existed before time and space (admitting that ‘before time’ is a nonsensical phrase), then so can the Universe. If God can have come into being from nothing, then so can the Universe. If someone can tell me how God came into being, we’ll be close to knowing the same about the Universe.
“The belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs.”
There are two pieces to this attack, with the division being at “creating everything”.
Once you have the universe in existence, you can explain the creation and development of life in two ways: with or without divine intervention. Humans have always sought to find patterns, understand cause and effect, and predict the future. Divine intervention was the best explanation for many things before the rise of Greek philosophy, but it has been in retreat for the past 2,500 years.
The questions of where the Universe came from, or what could bring everything from nothing, or could there be anything before time began, are all unanswerable at present. Saying “God did it” provides no help, except to soothe people who can be soothed with muddy thinking. For where did God come from? And how? And what was before? If God can have existed before time and space (admitting that ‘before time’ is a nonsensical phrase), then so can the Universe. If God can have come into being from nothing, then so can the Universe. If someone can tell me how God came into being, we’ll be close to knowing the same about the Universe.
June 26, 2009
Shit, or get off the pot
Wake up, Obama! You were elected with a mandate to change things. 'Change we can believe in.' You're becoming a miserable disappointment. If you don't have any ideas any more, how about giving someone else a turn? Sen. Clinton for example.
Iraq. Guantanamo. Gay rights. Government secrecy. Work with us here - give us *something* to justify having supported you.
Iraq. Guantanamo. Gay rights. Government secrecy. Work with us here - give us *something* to justify having supported you.
February 13, 2009
Hey Obama, Wake Up!
Mr. President, you weren't elected to appease Republicans - they're just tax-cutting Creationists who spent 8 years destroying everything they touched.
**** 'em.
You were given a convincing victory and a majority in both House and Senate, in order to fix things.
Due to the winner-take-all constituency structure of US politics, you simply don't get coalitions. It's not Europe. You have to work with what you've got. What you've got is a majority. Use it.
**** 'em.
You were given a convincing victory and a majority in both House and Senate, in order to fix things.
Due to the winner-take-all constituency structure of US politics, you simply don't get coalitions. It's not Europe. You have to work with what you've got. What you've got is a majority. Use it.
January 22, 2009
Legalize it, tax it, control it
Legalize, tax and control drugs.
Take the profit away from criminals, and split it between government and business.
Prevent the forced criminalization of naturally-experimenting youth.
Remove the widespread need for lies and hypocrisy.
Help Mexico restore law and order.
Undercut the Taliban's finances.
Make it an issue of civil liberties
or
States' rights
or
A wedge issue for 2012
or
Subject to national referendum, which can help reshape the Constitution.
Take the profit away from criminals, and split it between government and business.
Prevent the forced criminalization of naturally-experimenting youth.
Remove the widespread need for lies and hypocrisy.
Help Mexico restore law and order.
Undercut the Taliban's finances.
Make it an issue of civil liberties
or
States' rights
or
A wedge issue for 2012
or
Subject to national referendum, which can help reshape the Constitution.
January 1, 2009
Superpowers
In the early 1970s in Denmark, my friends were against the entry of Denmark into the EEC (as it was then), because "you take the 4 biggest bastards in world history, the British, the French, the Germans, the Italians, put them all in the same army, and then see what they do to the rest of the world..." Spain and Portugal weren't members yet, the Spanish especially rank right up there, though!
However, while recognizing that Europe hasn't created an army yet, but will, and that only then will we know what will happen... yet so far Europe has been not bad. I think the best prospect for solving the Israeli/Palestinian problems is to bring them both inside the EU (and Sarkozy has made the first moves in that direction with his Mediterranean initiative).
The list of American infractions of international law (illegal wars, bombing of civilian populations, covert assassinations, overthrow of democracies) doesn't begin with either Bush or Clinton. It goes back through Kennedy/Johnson, Teddy Roosevelt, to Polk, Jackson... Even with half-decent Presidents like FDR, Carter, it's still there, entrenched in the bureaucracy, running along quietly, waiting to be unleashed. However, Obama is not going to bomb civilian populations. Doesn't mean he won't invade anyone, but it's not going to be for the purposes of a) imperial power-grab and b) war profiteering for yourself and your friends. It will be to take out Bin Laden, or to prevent genocide in Darfur, or to clean up pirate nests. I can live with all that.
But in another 30 years, when a generation that has forgotten George Worstever Bush comes to power, then we're all at risk again... unless there has been some substantial strengthening of the UN. Which was happening under Clinton (especially the International Criminal Court, that's incredibly important) but was reversed and canceled by GWB.
Happy New Year!
However, while recognizing that Europe hasn't created an army yet, but will, and that only then will we know what will happen... yet so far Europe has been not bad. I think the best prospect for solving the Israeli/Palestinian problems is to bring them both inside the EU (and Sarkozy has made the first moves in that direction with his Mediterranean initiative).
The list of American infractions of international law (illegal wars, bombing of civilian populations, covert assassinations, overthrow of democracies) doesn't begin with either Bush or Clinton. It goes back through Kennedy/Johnson, Teddy Roosevelt, to Polk, Jackson... Even with half-decent Presidents like FDR, Carter, it's still there, entrenched in the bureaucracy, running along quietly, waiting to be unleashed. However, Obama is not going to bomb civilian populations. Doesn't mean he won't invade anyone, but it's not going to be for the purposes of a) imperial power-grab and b) war profiteering for yourself and your friends. It will be to take out Bin Laden, or to prevent genocide in Darfur, or to clean up pirate nests. I can live with all that.
But in another 30 years, when a generation that has forgotten George Worstever Bush comes to power, then we're all at risk again... unless there has been some substantial strengthening of the UN. Which was happening under Clinton (especially the International Criminal Court, that's incredibly important) but was reversed and canceled by GWB.
Happy New Year!
December 28, 2008
Logical Constitutional Reform - Universal Suffrage
Many countries claim to have granted universal suffrage, but none have. Even in the United States, there are three ways in which the right to vote can and should be extended.
1) Allow those in jail to vote. This improves oversight by politicians of the treatment of prisoners. It helps with the reintegration of convicts into society, rather than further separating them. And it removes the ability of politically-minded judges to disenfranchise the poor by jailing them.
2) Allow anyone living in the country to vote. New Zealand, for example, allows all permanent residents to vote in all elections. Some other countries or individual provinces or states allow non-citizen residents to vote in municipal and other subnational elections. The slogan "No taxation without representation" sounds stupid to anyone who has legally lived and worked and built a business for decades in the United States, paying property taxes and municipal taxes and school taxes and state taxes and federal taxes and employment taxes, and yet is not allowed to vote at any level. (And I speak as someone who is in that position, and unable to get a Green Card, let alone citizenship.)
3) Abolish the minimum voting age. It isn't "universal" if 17-year-olds can't vote. Why not open registration up to any child that is interested in voting and able to register and vote unassisted? They will tend to vote the same as their parents, but they will be able to vent teenage dissatisfactions and frustrations, implement cultural shifts, and make politicians more responsive to issues of education and poverty.
Universal suffrage. Everyone says how wonderful it is. It would be nice if someone actually tried it.
1) Allow those in jail to vote. This improves oversight by politicians of the treatment of prisoners. It helps with the reintegration of convicts into society, rather than further separating them. And it removes the ability of politically-minded judges to disenfranchise the poor by jailing them.
2) Allow anyone living in the country to vote. New Zealand, for example, allows all permanent residents to vote in all elections. Some other countries or individual provinces or states allow non-citizen residents to vote in municipal and other subnational elections. The slogan "No taxation without representation" sounds stupid to anyone who has legally lived and worked and built a business for decades in the United States, paying property taxes and municipal taxes and school taxes and state taxes and federal taxes and employment taxes, and yet is not allowed to vote at any level. (And I speak as someone who is in that position, and unable to get a Green Card, let alone citizenship.)
3) Abolish the minimum voting age. It isn't "universal" if 17-year-olds can't vote. Why not open registration up to any child that is interested in voting and able to register and vote unassisted? They will tend to vote the same as their parents, but they will be able to vent teenage dissatisfactions and frustrations, implement cultural shifts, and make politicians more responsive to issues of education and poverty.
Universal suffrage. Everyone says how wonderful it is. It would be nice if someone actually tried it.
December 26, 2008
Logical Constitutional Reform - Judges
What if dentists were accredited, not through studying and passing exams, but through popular elections based on their promise to be painless?
What if engineers were accredited to design and build bridges, not after assessment of their competence by experts in the engineering profession, but through popular election based on their party affiliation?
Then why on earth should judges be elected? And if elected, why by people who know and care nothing about the legal system, and are merely voting a straight party ticket?
Judges could be subject to a recall process if they prove to be flawed, but they should appointed or elected by their Bar Association.
What if engineers were accredited to design and build bridges, not after assessment of their competence by experts in the engineering profession, but through popular election based on their party affiliation?
Then why on earth should judges be elected? And if elected, why by people who know and care nothing about the legal system, and are merely voting a straight party ticket?
Judges could be subject to a recall process if they prove to be flawed, but they should appointed or elected by their Bar Association.
December 24, 2008
Logical Constitutional Reform - Pardons
If the President orders Administration officials to perform an illegal act, and the Court convicts and sentences the officials, is it reasonable that the President should be able to pardon them?
This situation creates a de facto process for the President to operate illegally without facing any penalties if caught.
At the very least, the President's ability to pardon should be restricted to offenses that occurred before he became President... or four years before that, to cover illegal acts in election campaigns.
This situation creates a de facto process for the President to operate illegally without facing any penalties if caught.
At the very least, the President's ability to pardon should be restricted to offenses that occurred before he became President... or four years before that, to cover illegal acts in election campaigns.
December 16, 2008
Throwing Shoes at Bush
Muntadar al-Zaidi is a hero who speaks for millions of us in the United States, as well as millions in Iraq.
The 28-year-old journalist has previously been held for questioning twice by US forces, and was kidnapped and questioned by unknown persons who beat him unconscious. He knew what he was risking by throwing shoes at Bush.
Since being taken into custody this time he has apparently suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding.
Unconfirmed stories have Adnan Hamad, former coach of the Iraqi soccer team, offering $100,000 for the shoes, and a Saudi citizen offering $10 million.
Zaidi is a hero. Reward him.
The 28-year-old journalist has previously been held for questioning twice by US forces, and was kidnapped and questioned by unknown persons who beat him unconscious. He knew what he was risking by throwing shoes at Bush.
Since being taken into custody this time he has apparently suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding.
Unconfirmed stories have Adnan Hamad, former coach of the Iraqi soccer team, offering $100,000 for the shoes, and a Saudi citizen offering $10 million.
Zaidi is a hero. Reward him.
December 10, 2008
Memory and DNA
The New Scientist in November 2008 suggested that long-term memory may be stored in the DNA.
Although the study that they reference was done on the brains of mice, I think it also raises the question of whether "junk DNA" throughout the entire body might not have some memory storage capacity. How vast our memory might be!
Depending on when this memory-storage trick was developed, elephants and whales (with enormous brains and enormous bodies) might well have even vaster memories.
If the whole body is used for storing memory, then cryonics organizations should review their policies on whole-body versus head-only preservation techniques.
Although the study that they reference was done on the brains of mice, I think it also raises the question of whether "junk DNA" throughout the entire body might not have some memory storage capacity. How vast our memory might be!
Depending on when this memory-storage trick was developed, elephants and whales (with enormous brains and enormous bodies) might well have even vaster memories.
If the whole body is used for storing memory, then cryonics organizations should review their policies on whole-body versus head-only preservation techniques.
December 8, 2008
Bringing Haitian Democracy to Canada
Sure, it's cute for Canada to have appointed a Governor-General who is a black female immigrant. But you know man, there is actually a serious function to the mostly ceremonial position, and that function requires a person who understands the concept of a sovereign parliament.
Canada, unlike Haiti, does not elect or need a President. The Prime Minister is simply that individual who is best able to command the support of a majority of the Members of Parliament. Mr Harper seems to believe that he has been elected President. Governor-General Michaëlle Jean seems to agree, and is allowing him to avoid facing a vote of No Confidence. That action of hers is contrary to the functioning of a parliamentary democracy.
The Liberals and the New Democrats together won both more votes and more seats than the Conservatives in the October 2008 election. If the Liberals and NDP can form a coalition, they are the rightful government.
But perhaps only a person imbued from birth with the cultural values of a parliamentary system, rather than a presidency, can appreciate this.
Canada, unlike Haiti, does not elect or need a President. The Prime Minister is simply that individual who is best able to command the support of a majority of the Members of Parliament. Mr Harper seems to believe that he has been elected President. Governor-General Michaëlle Jean seems to agree, and is allowing him to avoid facing a vote of No Confidence. That action of hers is contrary to the functioning of a parliamentary democracy.
The Liberals and the New Democrats together won both more votes and more seats than the Conservatives in the October 2008 election. If the Liberals and NDP can form a coalition, they are the rightful government.
But perhaps only a person imbued from birth with the cultural values of a parliamentary system, rather than a presidency, can appreciate this.
November 6, 2008
2012 US Election Results
And the results are in for 2012!
An increased majority for Obama/Biden with 417 electoral votes, against 121 for Palin/Gingrich.
With a divisive campaign over gay rights and abortion rights, Obama carried all his states from 2008, plus Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia.
Palin carried only the Moralizing Majority of the least educated states.
You read it first here.
An increased majority for Obama/Biden with 417 electoral votes, against 121 for Palin/Gingrich.
With a divisive campaign over gay rights and abortion rights, Obama carried all his states from 2008, plus Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia.
Palin carried only the Moralizing Majority of the least educated states.
You read it first here.
November 5, 2008
Theft-Proof Majority
I'm so grateful that Barack Obama didn't just achieve an Electoral College majority, but a majority that was large enough to be theft-proof - unlike the stolen Democratic majorities of 2000 and 2004.
Never trust a Republican with your money, your civil liberties, or the programming of your voting machine.
Never trust a Republican with your money, your civil liberties, or the programming of your voting machine.
Proud to be in the USA
For the first time in 8 years, I'm not embarrassed to be living and working in the USA.
Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we're free of Bush at last.
Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we're free of Bush at last.
September 3, 2008
John McCain
Fred Thompson said, "Being a POW doesn't qualify anyone to be president, but it does reveal character." Meaning, vote for John McCain.
He could equally have said, "Coming home from years of war to find your lovely, faithful wife has had a horrific accident and lost six inches in height from her legs - dumping her and the kids and picking up a younger, prettier filthy rich heiress - doesn't disqualify anyone from being president, but it does reveal character." Meaning, yup, if you want an cynical opportunist - again - to run the country, vote for John McCain.
He could equally have said, "Coming home from years of war to find your lovely, faithful wife has had a horrific accident and lost six inches in height from her legs - dumping her and the kids and picking up a younger, prettier filthy rich heiress - doesn't disqualify anyone from being president, but it does reveal character." Meaning, yup, if you want an cynical opportunist - again - to run the country, vote for John McCain.
September 2, 2008
Big Government
It's not a matter of more government or less government, it's a matter of good government.
More government doesn't make for better government, it just makes more bureaucracy and worse government.
Less government doesn't make for better government, it just makes for holes in a structure that get fixed with new structures, which generates overlapping and conflicting bureaucracies, and worse government.
Better government is the goal. That means transparency, accountability, and an independent Ombudsman where anyone can go when the government administration is being bureaucratic, unfair or illegal.
More government doesn't make for better government, it just makes more bureaucracy and worse government.
Less government doesn't make for better government, it just makes for holes in a structure that get fixed with new structures, which generates overlapping and conflicting bureaucracies, and worse government.
Better government is the goal. That means transparency, accountability, and an independent Ombudsman where anyone can go when the government administration is being bureaucratic, unfair or illegal.
May 3, 2008
2008 Kentucky Derby
Yesterday Hillary Clinton was saying about today's Kentucky Derby, 'Put a bet on Eight Belles for me - she's the only filly in the race."
So what happens? Big Brown wins! And Eight Belles not only places second, but collapses right afterwards and breaks both front ankles, and is euthanized immediately....
Um, Hillary, any comment...? Isn't this going to be a talking point for the next couple of days? Have you just lost yourself the primaries in three days time?
And just how does this happen? Is this Jung's theory of synchronicity in action? Was it foreknowledge on her part? Was it an inadvertent curse she set? Is it simply too funny, and the gods do it so that (almost) everyone can laugh at the mysterious poetry of the universe?
So what happens? Big Brown wins! And Eight Belles not only places second, but collapses right afterwards and breaks both front ankles, and is euthanized immediately....
Um, Hillary, any comment...? Isn't this going to be a talking point for the next couple of days? Have you just lost yourself the primaries in three days time?
And just how does this happen? Is this Jung's theory of synchronicity in action? Was it foreknowledge on her part? Was it an inadvertent curse she set? Is it simply too funny, and the gods do it so that (almost) everyone can laugh at the mysterious poetry of the universe?
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